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Championship Final day. The day that Jeongyeon had been nervously anticipating all week for. The match to decide who would win the championship for this season. Jeongyeon’s team, Incheon Red Angels, were favourites to win the championship, but were finding themselves two - nil down on aggregate from the game played last week against Gumi Sportstoto WFC. But this game was different. Incheon was the home team.
Jeongyeon looked at the digital clock by the side of her bed. 06:43 the clock face read. Jeongyeon shouldn't have been awake for another half and hour, but she needed to get ready and get to the team hotel to catch the bus to the stadium. She turned over and looked at Mina who was still asleep beside her. ‘ I wish you were able to come to the game today. ’ Jeongyeon thought as she softly kissed Mina’s forehead and clambered out of bed and into the bathroom to get herself ready for the big day.
After getting herself washed and ready, Jeongyeon emerged from the bathroom, only to be greeted by a now awake Mina. “Hey babe, you ready for the big game today?” Mina asked.
“I have been training all week for this so I’m as ready as I’m going to be.” Jeongyeon replied as she went and sat on the bed next to Mina.
“Well that’s good then, i just know that you are going to be amazing today.” Mina smiled her gummy smile. She knew it was Jeongyeon’s weakness. Only this time it didn’t seem to be.
“I would only be amazing if you were there, if you aren’t there then it’s only like another day of training. You are my good luck charm Mina.” Jeongyeon leant in towards Mina, with the latter expecting their lips to meet, only to hear a soft whisper coming from by her ear. “Are you sure there is no way you can get today off?”
“Jeong, I’ve tried my hardest for you to get today off. I really want to be there to cheer you on, but work is just too busy today that I can’t get the time off.” Mina looked down to the floor, clearly expressing her disappointment. “But I will be listening to the game on the radio, I’ll be supporting you from work, don’t you worry about that.”
“But it’s not the sa-” Jeongyeon started before being interrupted by knocking coming from the front door. Jeongyeon glanced at the clock on her bedside once again. 07:53 it read. ‘ Why is she so early, I said pick me up at 8. ’ Jeongyeon made a mental not to scold her teammate later. She raised from the bed and towered over Mina, before bending down and kissing her girlfriend goodbye and exiting the bedroom. Jeongyeon picked up the duffle bag, that had everything she needed to bring to the game in it, from off the living room floor and mentally prepared herself one final time at home
As she opened the front door she heard the soft “good luck” coming from the bedroom, bringing a smile to her face. Jeongyeon knew that despite Mina not being there in person today, she would be there with her in her heart. Jeongyeon closed the front door and made her way to her teammates that would take them to the team hotel before heading off to Seoul.
Meanwhile, back in the house, it was Mina’s turn to get ready, except it wasn’t for work. After an hour, she looked at herself in the mirror on the wardrobe, checking that the jersey she was donning looked in perfect condition rather than being creased. ‘ Perfect. ’ Mina sighed in relief. She was ready to make her way to Seoul. Mina was very thankful to her boss for being as understanding as they are.
----------------------------------- A month earlier.
“Excuse me, Sir.” Mina said as she knocked on her bosses door.
“Ah, Good morning Mina, I saw that the Incheon Red Angels won the league this weekend. You must be very proud of Jeongyeon.” Her boss smiled, gesturing for Mina to take a seat.
“I am sir, I’m very proud of her. She has trained all season and she is now in the championship final. And that’s what I’ve come to ask you about” Mina nervously took the seat opposite her boss.
“Oh, well what can I do for you then?” he asked.
“I won’t be able to make the first game, but could I please have the day of the second game off please so that I can support Jeongyeon.”
“Of course Mina, I can tell how important this is for you and Jeongyeon. Just make sure she wins.” Mina’s boss chuckled.
Mina was ecstatic. She was able to watch her girlfriend play in the most important game of her life live. But she knew she was going to keep this secret from her. She wanted to surprise Jeongyeon after the game. “Thank you so much sir, I don’t know what I can do to repay you.”
“You do nothing Mina.” He said. “This is a gift from me to you for how you have helped us here.” He opened the drawer and pulled out an envelope and gave it to Mina.
Mina was confused, but she opened the envelope and found a ticket for the game. It was as if her boss knew exactly what was going to be asked of him. Mina was in a state of shock.
“I brought that ticket the moment I knew that the Red Angels were going to be in the final as a present for you. Now I don’t want to hear no thanks or anything because you deserve this.” His grin was stretching from ear to ear, he was happy with Mina’s reaction, and with all being said and done, Mina returned back to work, but she was unable to focus on work for the rest of the day.
-----------------------------------back to the present day
Mina walked over to her bedside and opened the drawer, pulling out the ticket her boss had brought for her. Sure, she knew that Jeongyeon would have been able to have got her a ticket, but this was special. Mina put the ticket in her bag and picked up her house keys before exiting the house, making sure to lock the door behind her. She walked down the stairs from her front door, heading down to the street level and making her way towards the train station, ready to head to the stadium in Seoul.
After an hour long train journey from Incheon, Mina had finally made it to Seoul station. She had managed to find a few other Red Angels fans who were attending the game and had made conversation with them. The group stuck together and made their way from the station and walked towards the stadium.
Jeongyeon had just arrived at the stadium in her team bus. She exited the bus and made her way into the home team dressing room. She searched for the location of her shirt, telling her where she was going to be getting ready for the game today. She found it in the near right corner of the dressing room. She walked over and placed her duffle bag on the small bench before taking the bottom of the jersey in front of her in both her hands and feeling the kit. Today was actually happening. This was the day dreams were made of for a footballer, but Mina wasn’t there to cheer Jeongyeon today. Jeongyeon pouted when she heard her phone ping.
‘ So sorry I couldn’t be there today Jeongyeon. I asked my boss if there was anyway I could have today off and he said unfortunately he couldn’t because of how busy we are. But please do well, I will be listening. Good Luck. I love you, Mina. ’
Jeongyeon wasn’t disappointed, but she was gutted that Mina had tried one final time and hadn’t been able to get the time off work to come and support her. But she had to forget about that now and had to focus on her teammates and bringing the trophy back home for Incheon.
‘ Thank you for trying babe, I will see you later at home where I can get my compensation cuddles and kisses. ’
Mina saw this message and smiled. ‘ I’ll certainly be giving you those cuddles and kisses, but it will be as a winner and seeing you lift that trophy live will make it all the better. ’ she thought. Now inside the stadium, Mina made her way to her seat just in time to see Jeongyeon and the rest of the team make their way out to start their warm up.
Mina watched Jeongyeon eagerly, but the Jeongyeon on the pitch in front of her wasn’t like the Jeongyeon who had been on the pitch all season before today. She seemed really distracted and down beat, but she was still starting as the lead striker today. Mina thought about texting Jeongyeon to let her know that she was actually here watching her in the hope that the mood would change for when the game actually kicked off, but she knew that Jeongyeon wouldn’t be answering her phone or reading texts now, Jeongyeon now would purely be focused on the game ahead.
Time flew by slowly for Mina once the warm up had ended. It was only twenty minutes, but it was twenty minutes she worried about Jeongyeon. She knew just how much this game meant to her. Mina was snapped back into reality by the stadium announcer welcoming the two teams to the field as they walked out of the tunnel and onto the pitch. The two teams lined up and Mina laid her eyes on Jeongyeon. ‘ She seems focused, that’s good. I hope you have a great game babe. ’
The two teams shook hands and made their way to their respective sides and set up in their formations that they had gone through with their managers. Gumi Sportstoto kicked off the game and the game flew by. Before Mina knew it there were twenty five minutes on the clock. The game was end to end and Jeongyeon had had a few chances to score, but she hadn’t taken them like in the games previously.
‘ Come on Jeongyeon, you are better than this. This is the biggest game of your life and you are playing your worst. ’ Jeongyeon thought to herself. She looked up to the big screen after she had missed another big chance in the game. It just wasn’t her day. The camera had panned round to the crowd, and there. Right at that moment, the destiny of the game changed. She didn’t know it yet. The moment she saw Mina on that big screen cheering her on, a weight had been removed from her shoulders. Her good luck charm was at the stadium supporting her. ‘ Let’s do this, let’s get this win. I’m doing this for you Mina! ’ and like that Jeongyeon’s attitude changed.
Mina also saw herself on the big screen and noticed that Jeongyeon was now playing differently. Mina knew she had an effect on the way that Jeongyeon played when she attended the games, but she never thought it was that big of an impact.
Back on the pitch and Jeongyeon was finally finding some of the rhythm that she had had all season long. The passes weren’t going astray like before, they were finding their target. The shots she was taking were making the goalkeeper have to save the attempt rather than going wide of the goal or over the crossbar. The rest of the first half went by without any action. The referee blew their whistle for half time and Jeongyeon knew the equation. They needed to score three goals, or they lost the final.
After a fifteen minute break, the second half began and the Red Angels all seemed to have more energy about them, and after ten minutes Jeongyeon was running towards the goal. This was the best chance she had had all game. With a swing of her right foot, the ball went flying past the goalkeeper and into the net. ‘ There’s one goal. ’ She thought, and fifteen minutes later another goal for Jeongyeon.
“Come on Jeongyeon, you can do this. I believe in you.” Mina softly said before joining in with the rest of the supporters with the chants, and on the pitch it was as if Jeongyeon had heard Mina’s message of support. This was the last push. The game seemed to be destined to go into extra time when Jeongyeon got tripped in the penalty area with one minute left to play and Incheon Red Angels had one final opportunity to win the championship final. Jeongyeon picked up the ball taking responsibility. She placed the ball on the penalty spot and took deep breaths. This was her moment.
Mina couldn’t watch. She was too nervous. She put her hands over her eyes and waited to hear the reaction of the surrounding crowd. But she soon knew what had happened. The crowd erupted with loud cheers and people around her started to embrace and jump up and down.
Jeongyeon ran up to the ball and fired it past the goalkeeper, sending her diving the wrong way, completing the comeback and the full time whistle was blown by the referee. Incheon Red Angels were champions once again. And this time it was down to the player of the match, Yoo Jeongyeon.
The Red Angels celebrated on the pitch, throwing Jeongyeon in the air and catching her again. Jeongyeon was loving this, but she wanted to see one person more than anyone else. Her Mina. But she couldn’t do that until she had picked up the trophy with her team. They all walked single file and received their medals before the captain of the team lifted the trophy above her head and fireworks went off around the stadium.
Mina made her way down the stairs and into the home team dressing room. She opened the door and heard the team cheering and celebrating, she entered looking for one person, and she found her in the centre of the room, surrounded by the other members of the team. “Jeongyeon.” She softly spoke, but she wasn’t loud enough for Jeongyeon to hear her. But Mina fortunately didn’t need to be any louder, Jeongyeon locked eyes with her.
Jeongyeon escaped from the circle and pulled Mina over to the area where she had got prepared earlier in the day. “I thought you weren’t coming.” Jeongyeon asked.
“Do you really think I’d miss the most important game of my girlfriends life for work? Of course i got it booked off, I’ve had it booked off for a month.” Mina laughed.
“You’ve had it booked off for a month and didnt tell me? Why?” Jeongyeon was shocked.
“Because I wanted this to be a surprise for you. I wanted you to not feel any pressure going into the game with me being here.”
“Mina, you being here removed the pressure from me. I was having the worst game of my life before seeing you on that screen, and as soon as I saw you,” Jeongyeon leant in towards Mina “I knew everything was going to be okay.” Jeongyeon pecked Mina on the lips before trying to pull away, however Mina immediately pulled her back in for a longer kiss.
“Kisses and cuddles are for when I get home Mina” Jeongyeon was stern.
“But I was here, you don’t need kisses and cuddles as compensation now.” Mina replied.
“I need them as compensation for the lies you told me, I mean the surprise is great, but I wish I knew beforehand.”
“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise would it.” Mina stook out her tongue and winked at Jeongyeon, causing the older to roll her eyes.
“Can we go home? I would like my kisses and cuddles.” Jeongyeon pouted.
“Of course we can,” Mina stood up and wrapped her arm around Jeongyeon’s waist. “Who would have thought that my champion girlfriend was a big softie.” she giggled.
“I’m only a softie for you, and that’s the way it will stay.” Jeongyeon gave Mina another peck on the lips before bidding the rest of her team a goodbye and thanked them for helping her have such a successful season. But deep down, Jeongyeon knew the reason for her success was the person in her arms. And in her arms she hoped she would stay for the rest of their lives.