"are you ready to go?" jungkook asked his sister who was tying up her shoe laces.
she stood up and grabbed her sports bag. "all good."
"extra clothes?"
"yep."
"water jug?"
"yes, kook."
"face towel?"
"let's gooo." jihae whined, growing a little impatient.
the senior chuckled at her eagerness. "alright, alright. you're friends agreed, right?"
the younger hummed in confirmation. "yunho, wooyoung, and a couple others are going to be there as well. you know, for support."
"by a couple others, you mean seonghwa?" jungkook cocked an eyebrow at her who scowled in return.
"no." she crossed her arms. "maybe."
the boy groaned dramatically. "who else?"
"why do seem so annoyed?" she scoffed at him who only gave her a stink eye.
"i'm not." jungkook exhaled. "wooyoung's probably going to be there supporting his boyfriend, and you have that dude."
she faced him with an irritated look before it was slowly replaced by a mischievous one. "can't lisa come?"
"dance club meeting." her brother simply replied with a pout. "anyway, you still haven't answered my question. who else is coming?"
"right." jihae tutted. "well, you already know yunho and wooyoung. redhead who dance with lisa, mingi, and yeosang."
"both chois agreed?"
the younger hummed in confirmation again, making her brother pump his fist in the air.
-
the siblings arrived at the school gym, both thrilled to play. they already heard balls bouncing and getting hit as they walked to the entrance.
"cap!" a female teammate greeted. "everyone, he's here." she informed the rest.
all of them lined up, and bowed.
"heiran, you didn't need to do that." jungkook chuckles. he knows he was well respected but he could never get used to it.
the girl named heiran only gave him a wide grin, turning to the club members and telling them they could get back to practicing.
she made face to face with jihae. "oh, jihae! i'm assuming she's here for," she raised her hands and did a gesture of quote on quote, "try outs."
"yeah." the sophomore replied in a breathy manner.
"jihae, this is baek heiran. the vice captain. she's in junior year." jungkook introduced.
they bowed to each other.
"woah, careful!" the three heard a familiar voice which made them snap their heads to the sound.
just as expected, it was wooyoung together with san. yunho, mingi, jongho, and yeosang were also present.
"sorry!" a short girl piped.
"hey, kids shouldn't be playing around here. where's your sibling?" yunho asked her, causing a scowl on her face.
"i'm part of the team, slenderman." she rolled her eyes. the insult made yeosang laugh out loud and didn't even bother hiding it.
"minjee!" heiran sprinted to them. "i'm so sorry. she gets sensitive with her height."
still shocked from the roast, yunho simply gave an awkward thumbs up while hearing elmo's cackle.
"she c-called you slenderman!"
soon, jungkook and jihae joined them. "wow, you guys came together without me. such betrayal."
"seonghwa isn't even with us. i'm pretty you'd prefer going with your brother rather than five annoying men." yeosang simply stated.
his friends gasps. "hey! we were six in the car." mingi corrected.
"well, i'm not annoying." the brunette confidently claimed.
"i bought you milk tea."
"four and a half annoying men."
upon seeing the tall redhead, heiran said, "oh, macchiato dude." which made everyone wonder what she meant.
mingi turned to her with the same expression. "oh, cashier lady."
"you guys know each other?"
"he always comes by our cafe during my shift, ordering the same thing, so just a familiar face." the vice captain explains while waving her hand around, indicating it's not a big deal.
"alright." jungkook clapped. "we're just going to go through basic drills by pairs." he explains.
"i'm taking-" he turns to look at san. "san, right? i'll have to polish some of your moves."
san nodded affirmatively.
"heiran, i trust you with jihae. you've heard what they said about her. just like me but less." the senior winks.
"no problem, cap." she turns to the girl with a warm smile.
"and minjee, since you're here, you can practice with jongho. you're both in freshmen year, so hopefully you'll get along." jungkook instructed as a final.
jongho turned to the girl who looked like she barely reached five feet. "you're in college?"
"oh, screw you."
-
the pairs separated, as they started the basic drills.
"i don't get why jungkook didn't just let you in. you're a pro!" heiran encouraged jihae as they passed the ball.
the sophomore chuckled at the compliment. "it would be unfair."
"i mean, i did the same to minjee. her dad's a coach at jyp academy, one of the best schools." vice captain informed, resulting jihae to mouth to fall slightly.
"she must be really good."
"good," heiran paused for a dramatic effect. "is an understatement. don't let her height fool you."
with a little bit of distraction, jihae passed the ball more aggressively causing it to bounce further than intended. "sorry."
"no worries. it was my fault for talking too much. i'll get it." the junior jogged to the ball.
jihae glanced over to san, who seemed to be picking up moves jungkook was showing him.
she looked across the court to see jongho already throwing the ball in mid air, hand raising to spike down the ball towards his partner.
her eyes grew wide when she realized the impact that might send the tiny girl flying, but her eyes grew even wider when she saw the female freshman receiving it with ease.
"you have strength, speed, and proper execution. put it to good use." minjee told the boy, dribbling the ball in one hand.
"what?" jongho panted, quite surprised that this girl who looked like she knew nothing about sports was lecturing him.
he was already irritated enough with the fact that she digged up his spikes effortlessly. she even challenged him to hit harder.
of course, he was hesitant at first due to her size, but seeing how great of a player she really is, he realized that there's no reason for him to hold back.
"what i'm saying is, you lack technique. you can hit the ball as hard as you want and i'll still be able to get it." minjee said, hitting the ball towards him.
jongho planned on receiving it, but it was like the ball had a mind of its own and slipped passed his arms.
he huffed at her.
yeosang and wooyoung were watching their youngest friend on the sidelines. mingi and yunho went out and said that they'll buy drinks for everyone.
"wow, how strong is that girl?" wooyoung asked.
"must be freakishly strong for her not even reacting to jongho's spikes." the chestnut haired remarked.
"i bet you twenty dollars, they'll be the classic enemies to lovers." the culinary major placed a bet.
"no fair. i'm betting on the same side."
"yunho and mingi's gullible ass it is." they both chuckled and continued cheering.
-
the newly recruited players were now having a practice match, two versus two. to be more specific, it was sophomores against freshmen.
the score gap had four points in favor of the sophomores, yet the younger ones still kept complaining to each other.
"we're so winning that twenty dollars." yunho high-fived mingi.
"yeah, enemies to lovers, my ass." he snorted.
"toss it to me properly!" jongho complained to his teammate who scoffed.
"get the timing right!" she countered.
the officiators, jungkook and heiran blew the whistle to make both calm down.
"sheesh, they're getting heated." jihae chuckled to san.
"it's the first time i'm seeing jongho talk to a girl his age so comfortably in a short time." he heartily laughs.
the set ended with the sophomores winning. 22-25.
minjee groaned as she caught jongho glaring at her.
"your temper is as short as you." he rolled his eyes at her childish behavior.
"your ego is as big as slenderman over there." she stuck out her tongue.
"what did i do?" yunho sulked, making everyone giggle.
jongho almost laughed at minjee's joke, but he wasn't going to admit it just yet.
"anyone up for a second set?" jungkook asked.
"let me play against him."
"let me play against her."
both freshmen said at the same time which made some of them sigh.
"well, so much for getting along." the captain defeatedly looked down. "girls against boys, then?"
the youngest in the team eagerly agreed as they glared for each other again before huffing ang going to their designated places.
"hi, eonnie!" minjee greeted with a gleeful smile, completely opposite to what she showed when she was with jongho.
"hi."
-
the four players were panting hard as their breaths were staggering.
"guys, let's just call it a draw-"
"no!" both freshmen exclaimed.
"will milk tea be enough to bribe you?" mingi announced.
the game has been going on for what felt like hours to everyone, with a tied score of 38-38, and neither jongho and minjee were about to give up.
jihae and san obviously couldn't careless about the results. they were just making sure to score since it looks like their younger teammates might murder them if not.
"come on guys. don't you feel sorry for san and jihae?" wooyoung asked, hoping to persuade them.
"i've never seen jongho this intense." yeosang whispered.
"same with minjee. she just usually goes with the flow." heiran softly said back.
"guys? milk tea?"
"with the power of team captain, i declare this match a draw." jungkook said trying to be stern, then faced mingi. "do you really have milk tea?"
"yep! me and yunho bought some for everyone a while ago." the musical theatre major confirmed.
"jihae! you better keep this friend!" her brother blew on the whistle.
"but-" the two freshmen were ready to protest but their captain already made himself clear.
"i'll tell you guys your positions later. for now, let's take a break. i got exhausted watching you, you monster rookies." jungkook directed to the two who were still looking like they wanted to crush each other.
san and jihae immediately lets out an exhale of relief. "thank fucking god."
"babe, here!" wooyoung jogged to him with a water jug, towel, and cup which looked like it was filled with milk tea.
"thank you, baby."
this earned a lot of 'awes' all around the court, making san blush.
"yeosang hyung, save me a cup! i'm gonna continue playing with this brat." jongho pointed to the small fuming girl behind him.
"bring it on, loser!"
"we lost together."
their interaction made heiran and yeosang sigh. "i guess we need to make sure they don't tear each other's arms off."
"we could do it ourselves. they're exhausted, we've got an advantage." the male brunette suggested, making the vice captain laugh.
i wonder what seonghwa's doing. jihae thought, instantly shaking her head.
"jihae! here you go." mingi approached her along with yunho who was already busy sipping his cup.
"thanks, gi."
"i'm no seonghwa, but let me take care of you for now." the redhead winked, causing jihae to erupt in giggles while playfully hitting him.
this didn't seem so playful to yunho, though.
to him, it looked like mingi was flirting with jihae.