Chapter Text
It was not a usual sunday, it was the sunday where 9 year old Wheein started her first soccer lesson. It was the sunday that Yongsun planned very specially for her kid as she has always commented on her interest in the sport, “you’ll enter an academy when you turn 9.” she promised when Wheein was 7, she had been longing to practice the sport, something she only shared with cousins at times.
Wheein has been 9 for about 48 hours, and she has already pressured her mom to take her to the local soccer academy they always drive through on her way from school. Luckily, Yongsun, always prepared, had already contacted said local academy that told her to take her for try-outs at the field on this very sunday. She anticipated everything, shoes, sport clothes and a backpack to carry everything that would be necessary.
“C’mon mom! I want to get there now!” Wheein cheered, high pitched voice showing excitement, she got herself on the car they owned and buckled herself on. Yongsun always had her being independent but carefully under surveillance; Yongsun was making sure one last time everything was in order: all water faucets closed, stove off, nothing plugged in and the house locked.
They had a cozy home, a two bedroom single-floor house, one living room with her kitchen, as a family of two, they didn’t need much space, Wheein had her own room, enough space to put all her clothes and plushies and a few toys that have been gifted to charity once Wheein feels like she grew up out of them and Yongsun had her own space: her bedroom with no furniture, only her painting stall and materials. Their living room was their favorite spot of their small house, a TV big enough for Wheein to watch her soccer games from her favorite team and a small table to put her snacks to watch it. They weren’t poor, they were happy and happy with what they had. Yongsun made enough money to live (she was in charge of art pieces restoration from many museums across the country that gave her generous commissions), enough money to get something of their desire from time to time and of course, to cover for education and so-desired soccer lessons for small miss Wheein.
They were happy just the way they were, a small family of 2.
“I’m going, I’m going baby. Give me a sec.” Wheein knew that her mother was patient, but if she kept insisting that would get her in trouble. So she now sat still, waiting for her mother to finish and get to the car.
Once Yongsun started driving, Wheein was again consumed in excitement, looking through the window and seeing the big field at now, a closer distance; the Stars F.C. Academy. Yongsun heard about them at a school meeting and overcame her shyness to ask about more details, mentioning that her daughter has always been interested in soccer, another mom from Wheein’s classroom happily shared with her more information.
Finding a parking spot, Yongsun parked in and sighed in excitement, looking down at her daughter who was already unbuckling herself. “Slow down Wheein, we’re here early, no need to hurry!”
“Yes but I want to meet the coach and talk with them so we can set out my position!”
Yongsun had to smile and roll her eyes, in disbelief. Her kid is only 9 but is already thinking of negotiating with her coach and making herself clear, with pride she tossed one strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear and caressed her cheek.
“Any position you play, you’ll be amazing. Just remember to have fun regardless of the feedback you receive, okay?”
With the usual, radiant smile that Wheein gave her mother, she agreed. “Yes mom! I will!”
“Okay baby girl, let’s go make you a soccer star.” With an exciting nod from Wheein, they both exited the room with a comical resemblance and coordination. Finding that there was already another kid and figure in the field, the figure was standing still, arms crossed and shouting instructions at the other girl who was running back and forth with a ball. It was intimidating for both members of the Kim household, who for a few seconds were promising about fun and good times.
This academy was a serious deal.
As the mother-daughter duo approached the other pair, they saw that the figure was another woman, for what Yongsun could catch, she was sporting an academy shirt and on the side of the sleeves, the word “coach” could be read. So this is the person in charge of training the kids. She had to talk to the coach eventually so she whispered to Wheein “she’s the coach, Wheein-ie, say hello.” In an attempt to make her kid start being initiative towards other people, Wheein nodded and dropped her soccer bag next to her mom, trotting to where the coach was standing.
It seems like the coach was too focused in telling directions and instructions to the other kid that didn’t see Wheein nor heard her, only when the 9-year old that was standing next to her poked her and waved.
“Oh, hi! Sorry I didn’t see you there!” She looked behind her to see if the kid arrived on her own but at the sight of Yongsun, she coach turned around, not without screaming one last time: “Hyejin, practice your penalty shoots!”
And a “yes mom! ” was heard back from the girl that had the ball in the field.
Yongsun took a glimpse of the girl in the field, sporting the academy uniform, hair tied and a fit body, very skilled with the ball. She took a look at the coach ( mother of the girl as well?) and saw that the woman had a high ponytail, secured with a cap. Besides sporting a shirt that had the logo of the academy, she was also wearing soccer boots and academy shorts.
The coach had a radiant smile, showing confidence in her aura and being comfortable in all senses, it showed how much experienced this coach was. “Now, who do we have here?”
“Uh, my name is Kim Yongsun and this is my daughter Wheein, she just turned 9 years old so I called in to have her into the category tryouts.” Wheein, being as witty as she is, she also added: “I want to be a midfielder!” with much security, that made the coach smile.
“Do you? Well, I have to make sure to see those quick skills then!” Yongsun realized that she is friendly with the kids, the coach lowered down enough to be at the eye-level of Wheein and Wheein smiled at the motivation. “I’ll keep an eye on you while we start the try-outs, for sure. Why don’t you go with Hyejin-ie over there and start making passes so you can start warming up?” Like a soldier, Wheein put much attention to each word and nodded with gusto.
Sprinting off, she screamed and ran towards the other girl that was dominating the ball, not before nodding and cheerfully yelling: “Yes coach!”
Once the coach saw that they exchanged a few words and a wave, the pair of girls sat down to stretch their legs in a warm up routine, the coach smiled warmly and turned around again to the waiting parent, Yongsun.
“Hello,” she stretched out her hand, waiting for it to be taken “my name is Moon Byulyi, i’m the coach for the all the girls category. I’ll be teaching your kid all she needs to know.” Yongsun holding her delicate hand out, she felt a strong shake that surprised her.
“Hi coach, sorry if we came very early, it’s Wheein’s first session and she has been begging for years to enter the academy.” Coach Moon smiled at the confession and nodded in understanding.
“I understand, no need to worry about the early arrival, that usually puts the girls on my good side, it only shows me how important this is for Wheein. There’s still about…” Coach Moon checks her watch, only to nod to herself. “About 20 minutes for the lesson to start, she can practice with Hyejin meanwhile.”
“Is Hyejin your…?” Yongsun didn’t wanted to intrude or be rude, so she quickly corrected herself “Sorry, didn’t mean to ask personal questions, it’s okay if-”
“Yeah, she’s my kid, but it’s okay, you might think I'm too harsh with her or that she has an easy way to be on the main team but she actually got here all by her own talent.”
“No! Not at all. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s okay Miss Yongsun.” Coach Moon smiled at the other mom, trying to ease off the visible tension the other mom was feeling. “This is a relaxed environment and a safe-place for everyone, I always make sure of this. You might see me as an authority and whilst I am, I am the coach and my word is the final say when it comes to decision making in the field, I work as a team with the parents to make sure their experience is as good as the kids. You don’t need to feel judged or feel that you might offend me in any way.”
Somehow, the Coach was very much grounded and had an approachable vibe in her, she seemed too young though. Yongsun wasn’t going to question the experience the Coach had but still was intriguing knowing more about how she got into this position. Hopefully she can learn more with time and more training sessions.
Eventually, they both sat down at the stands by the field, watching the girls laugh and celebrate each of their plays that ended in goal, that bought a smile to both mothers, Yongsun happy to see that her daughter was making a friend over something she is passionate about and Moonbyul glad to see that her daughter gets to spend time with someone her age; since very little and since Moonbyul was starting to spot herself in the local soccer community, little Hyejin has been surrounded by older people, high school students, adults that spoke about things that weren’t of her interest and whilst she was okay being an only kid, she never felt like she belonged in her own category. At the arrival of Wheein, who was also as passionate about soccer like herself, she felt like finally someone was at her level of talent and passion.
20 minutes of free practice went by and other kids started to arrive, along with their parents, “Give me a second miss Yongsun, practice is about to start and I have to say hello to parents and the kids.” Yongsun nodded, not expecting for Coach Moon to excuse herself.
“Don’t worry, I understand.” Yongsun gathered Wheein’s backpack and put it next to her, nodding in understanding.
“Please don’t leave right after the session ends, I still need to share with you my number.” She didn’t expect a request for them to stay, with a shy nod, she saw the coach leave, getting exciting hugs from the other girls, who were returned by the coach in the same excitement. All the kids seem to love her, the kids and the parents… who both moms and dads, waited for the kids to bolt off to the field to shake hands and even hug the coach.
There was a lot of familiarity in the scene, Yongsun couldn’t help but feel as an intruder but it was matter of time and constancy to feel the same, she believed, whilst checking on the interactions, she never missed a moment of Wheein hearing feedback from Hyejin, who was patiently explaining things to her, showing her kicks, stances and tricks many times, celebrating each time Wheein got it.
This was the right decision for them.
Once the field was filled with many 9 year olds, some parents took seat next to Yongsun and said “Hello” to her in a friendly manner, she waved back and nodded respectfully to others. Like trained soldiers, at the whistle from Coach Moon, they all lined in front of her, and the parents. Some kids were shy and lowered their heads, some others stood with their head up in pride, and that’s exactly what Wheein and Hyejin did.
“Okay kids, welcome into the Juvenile category, it’s a new season!” Coach Moon yelled and some kids screamed in happiness while other parents clapped their hands as well, Yongsun followed them and clapped, mostly at the beginning of a new adventure for her and Wheein, who stood still like a soldier, not missing a detail from Coach Moon. “Now, we have a new face in the team and I want you to welcome her like a new family member; Kim Wheein and her mom, miss Kim Yongsun!”
Another round of applause but this time it put her and Wheein in the spotlight, some parents smiled and got close to Yongsun to shake hands, welcoming her to the team, while the kids all gathered around Wheein who was also surprised and a little taken aback by the sudden attention. She nevertheless smiled and waved and received friendly pats by all the kids.
Another loud whistle was enough to interrupt everything and kids flew back again to their spots, as well as the parents.
Thank god that is over. Yongsun thought to herself a little bit flushed to have experienced that.
“Now, we will start with a warm up, going through some plays and then we’ll end with a match, make sure you have patience with Wheein, she’s a new player and I don’t doubt that she’s perfectly skilled to dominate the game, but make sure to tell her in a friendly way how we do things in this academy. GO.” One last whistle was enough to have the kids trotting around the court, Hyejin telling Wheein to follow her and do as she does.
While that was happening, coach Moon turned around to smile at the parents who waved at her, she just nodded and grabbed some training cones, putting them in different parts of the field. Once Coach Moon was far, she heard behind her a voice: “it’s so nice to see Coach Moon again, always an eye-candy.” and it had the rest of the mothers ushering like teenage girls, Yongsun didn’t move nor mention anything, just kept hearing.
“We hugged today, she was so kind with us, my kid loves her so much. I’ve always wondered why she is still single.” Yongsun felt so invasive to hear the gossip but she still turned around in curiosity. The other mothers noticed and waved at her, giggling and oozing at the coach now trotting with the kids, the figure of her toned legs and arms highlighting the commentaries the older ladies were making.
Oh gosh, I’m in the middle of the groupies, great. Yongsun thought to herself, rolling her eyes and just turning around. It was too late to move seats so she just tried to focus on Wheein, who was equally focused as her new friend Hyejin.
There were multiple whistles during the lesson, and eventually their warm up and technical practice of poses and shoots ended, meaning that only the match between teams was going to happen. Yongsun was starting to be nervous, this meant a lot to Wheein and hoped for her daughter to do the best. Another whistle was heard and everyone gathered in the line.
Now Coach Moon had her ponytail messed up from shooting as well with the kids, sweating a bit and shirt tight to her torso, it made the ladies behind Yongsun squeal at the sign and Yongsun cringed. “Okay, you know the drill, whoever wants to be captain stands next to me.” It seemed like the kids were ready and already chose their team captain: Hyejin on one side and another tall girl on the other.
“So, team blue is miss Hyejin here and team red is miss Youngji. Who wants to start picking members first?” The two girls saw each other and everyone else was watching the interaction, intrigued by whatever was going to follow.
“Youngji can go first, it’s okay.” Hyejin said, raising her shoulders and smiling at the girl, with no mean intention behind that, Youngji nodded in agreement and shook hands with Hyejin.
Coach Moon nodded in understanding, snorting at the brief interaction. “Okay ladies, suit yourselves, please choose captain.” So they went on, picking one by one the players they want on their side, Wheein being Hyejin’s first option, making Yongsun relax at the uncertainty of having her kid being chosen last.
Once their teams were decided, kids put on their respective color shirts to identify teams between them. Some kids entered the field and others took seats at the other stand, luckily for the anxious mother, Wheein was playing first, on the side right in front of Yongsun.
“You can do it baby!” She gathered the courage from the excitement that was building inside herself and cheered on her own, not expecting some parents to clap along with her, Wheein took a glimpse at her and exposed her very radiant smile, Making the other parents swoon at how cute that was.
The initial whistle that signaled the start of the game had Wheein darting off to defend her position, pretty much aware of all the rules and exercises she just practiced and studied almost on a daily basis watching her favorite soccer players.
Coach Moon was very observant, whilst Wheein was the new kid, she was also very strict with other players, playing the role of coach and referee, she made sure to follow everyplay, making sure to be out of the way for each of the players, cautious of making sure to signal all the outs, faults and whatnots of the game. She was making sure that they were playing clean and respecting all the rules, calling directions and instructions to both teams, making it a pretty even game.
Yongsun was briefly taking her sight of her favorite player, Wheein waved multiple times to get the ball and she made sure to dribble it like a true pro. In front of her, Hyejin called her name, waiting for a central throw to arrive and score a goal.
And that certain shoot came, perfectly aimed, Yongsun muted all the other cheers and screams by players, Coach, and parents, she only had eyes to the concentrated face that her daughter was making, without noticing she was also doing the same; “shoot now, Wheein!” Coach Moon encouraged at the sight of Wheein being surrounded, in a sly dribble of the ball that fooled two players from the other team, she had a gap and shot it towards Hyejin who was fighting to get the upper jump against the other captain, Youngji, to hit the ball with her head. By that point, many parents, along Yongsun, were standing off, watching how this play was going to end.
The sight of the net being weighed by the ball made the spectators scream: “GOAL!” apparently other parents who were also attentive of Wheein play, celebrated the brilliant collaboration of the two girls; Coach Moon whistled and with a swift hand movement, signaled the score of a goal. The kids from the blue team hurriedly ran towards Hyejin, whom ran towards Wheein, thankful for the perfect center shot that ended in a skillful score.
Yongsun witnessed the moment of adoration, proud of her daughter and the amazing team effort she just made, parents started to congratulate Yongsun for having such a talented daughter. She just smiled, drugged with happiness. She kept clapping for her girl and in a mere casualty, made eye contact with Coach Moon, who smiled and clapped for Wheein, who was on cloud 9 still hugging Hyejin. Coach Moon let the new girl have her moment, for a few seconds more and eventually whistled to keep the game going.
Nothing more interesting happened, the match ended in 1-0, with the goal that Hyejin scored with the help of Wheein, once Coach Moon made a few changes and gave the other kids who were at the bench a chance to play, they were all equally dedicated to the sport, it was nice to see that they had a similar passion for the match, while Wheein was sitting down, she quickly ran to her mother to get her water bottle, Yongsun didn’t want to make the girl unfocus so she said nothing, just kissed Wheein’s forehead and smiled proudly.
Once the match ended, the other girls from both the red and blue team, went to congratulate Wheein on giving such an assisted shot that ended in a goal.
“This was a nice practice everyone, let’s make sure we leave the field clean and tidy for the other players. Clean up your trash and thank your parents for taking you to the lesson. That’s it!” In an almost ear-piercing whistle, everyone clapped and did picked up a few empty bottles and empty packages of snacks. Yongsun was surprised they had some values promoted at the academy but still made sure her daughter helped others.
Once Wheein was done, the field clean and all equipment was picked up, most parents waved goodbye and said thanks to Coach Moon, a couple more, were still surrounding the young coach, who was happily chatting with them and the kids: she had a towel surrounding her neck, to dry of the heat and Hyejin was standing next to her, sly smile on her face but still nodding and smiling every time a parent or a player congratulated her for the goal.
A proud duo, just like Wheein and herself, Yongsun thought.
Wheein finally arrived at her side after making sure she cleaned and removed her soccer booths, carrying her backpack from one side. “Hi mom, I’m ready.” She calmly said, at last, an activity that can wear Wheein tremendous energetic self down.
With a smile, she lowered herself down at the 9 year-old and hugged her. “Hi my winner girl, how do you feel? You were amazing!” She kissed the sweaty cheek of Wheein and Wheein received all the love with a smile.
“I feel so good mom! I can’t wait for another lesson!”
“I know you can’t wait, but i’ll take you to the park to practice on your own tomorrow, okay?”
“Deal! Hyejin showed me and helped me to learn a lot of cool stuff, she’s such a good player!”
“She is my love, but you’re also an awesome player! Give yourself some credit.” Without letting her daughter look down on herself, she praised both girls equally, because Hyejin was, indeed, a pretty awesome player.
“I might be mom, but you know what I mean!”
“Of course I know!” Mom and daughter duo were both still radiating with excitement, but low on energy as well. Yongsun wanted to treat her daughter for doing so good so she hugged her once again. “What do you want for dinner? Pick anything!”
“Anything!?” Wheein knew it was rare for her to pick the dinner, her mother always choosing to eat traditional korean food and very rarely, other type of cuisines, so Wheein gave it a good thought. “Mmm…” her mother was looking at her and she felt the pressure of making a decision soon. “Pizza!” so she went with the most basic decision a kid her age would take. With a snort and a nod from Yongsun, she nodded.
“Pizza will be. C’mon, let’s get going before it gets darker!” She gently pulled Wheein to her side and made her way to the exit of the open field. Yongsun didn’t forget about the Coach request but still, realized that maybe she was too busy to remember, as right now Coach Moon was still shaking hands with her dad. Once they reached the parking lot of the soccer academy, there was a voice that called from behind.
“Miss Yongsun! Wheein! Would you wait a sec?” Trotting, the image of Coach Moon reaching for them could be seen, Wheein, curious about what this is about, looked at her mom with her eyebrow rising. The mom, pretending that it was nothing, she just raised her shoulders. “Sorry for taking so long to say goodbye to everyone, it’s usually like this the first days of the course.” Taking her breath back, Coach Moon smiled at both and the Kims returned the gesture.
“Baby please put your backpack inside the car while I talk with Coach Moon.” Always so obedient with her mom, Wheein nodded and did as instructed. “It’s okay, we didn’t want to interrupt or anything, Wheein had so much fun today, thank you for the warm welcome.” Yongsun was trying very hard not to repeat all the commentaries that she heard from other moms while the kids were practicing. “She got along with Hyejin really well, I’m glad she can start making friends from her team.”
Coach Moon was being very attentive to Yongsun’s words and turned around to look behind, only to see that Hyejin was running with her stuff for practice towards them. Once she reached the pair of mothers, she smiled and shyly waved at Yongsun, who did the same.
“Please, call me Byulyi or Byul, or Moonbyul even, it’s only Coach Moon when i’m in the field.” Dismissing the Coach facade, Moonbyul removed the cap that was holding her high ponytail and arranged it in a more casual style, soccer boots already off and sporting a pair of Nike sneakers. “About Wheein, I'm so glad I can finally have a reliable left side that can make passes like those to my Hyejin. ” with a gentle squeeze to her daughters shoulder, Moonbyul smiled and pressed a kiss to the girls head, Yongsun watched this interaction with a warm smile. It makes her glad to see that outside the field she can be a loving mother.
“Okay, I’ll call you Moonbyul but only if you stop calling me ‘miss’ Yongsun, it’s been years long now that I stopped being miss,” with a soft chuckle Yongsun begged while hearing those words Moonbyul nodded in agreement.
“Deal Yongsun.” Her name slipped out of the Coach, she meant, Moonbyul’s mouth that it was nice. “I was wondering uh… if-”
“If we can have a playdate tomorrow!” Hyejin howled with a smile, interrupting her own mother and excitedly jumping in her place to get Wheein’s attention, who was peeking through the window but listening to nothing.
“Oh, you want to spend the day with Wheein?” Hyejin nodded with a smile “Why don’t you ask her?” Yongsun lowered herself at Hyejin’s level and smiled, signaling with her head to knock on the window glass for the girl to lower it. Once the interaction between the two 9 year old started, both adults stood still watching them in adoration. After a few seconds, it was Yongsun who broke the silence.
“They really are something uh?”
Moonbyul could see that Yongsun was a caring and dedicated mom, “They are, sorry about Hyejin, her energy is a bit too much at times.”
“There’s no need to apologize for your kid if the only thing she’s doing is to include my daughter into the team and being a friend for her.” Yongsun corrected, in no means to be strict or anything, just to let the other parent know that it was all okay.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. So listen, about that playdate, it’s okay if you already have something else to do, Hyejin wanted me to ask because she got along with Wheein really good and she barely does with the ones in the team.” That was a surprise, Yongsun wondered why wouldn’t anyone want to hang out with a girl that is friendly and well behaved like Hyejin. She expressed in a worried tone “Why is that?”
“Well, she scares the kids her age, she’s usually with me all the time and since I also coach the girls from High School and on some weekends I assist with the local university, she’s usually hanging around with much older girls, so her points of view might be seen a little bit too…” Ah, so that is what this is about. Yongsun understood all too well.
“Mature?” she completed. And the relief in Moonbyul’s face was very visible.
“Yeah. She doesn’t talk much with anyone at her current team but today I think it’s the first time I see her so talkative with someone her age, so I didn’t want to miss the chance to talk with you guys first. But again, it’s totally okay if you can’t or don’t want to, no pressure on that, I won’t be mean with Wheein if there’s rejection.” At the very last, there was a bit of dramatism in the voice of the young Coach, making Yongsun laugh and in a momentum of comfort, gently pushed the coach to stop joking.
“It’s not rejection, we haven’t even said yes!” Yongsun was quick to nod in understanding with a smile “I totally understand what you mean, Wheein is a little bit shy and it takes her some time to open up so it really helped her that Hyejin spoke with her, she is very excited to have her as a friend.” Yongsun doubted herself if it was okay to share more personal details about her life with her daughter’s soccer coach. “I’m pretty sure Wheein will say yes, would it be okay if it’s after school? Wheein goes to the school that is a few blocks away.”
“Perfect! We have a long ride back home so Hyejin attends another one nearby, where do you think it’ll be good for us to meet? I can move her to anywhere you need.” It seemed that Moonbyul was pretty much up for anything, so Yongsun tried to think of a place that could work for both families.
“Would it be okay if we met at the huge park downtown? I think there’s a field there and other games for the girls to enjoy, and there’s many restaurants nearby so we can have dinner there as well.”
Wait was Yongsun even planning dinner for them as well? Coach Moon seemed to be liking the plan so she just leave it as it was for now.
“That sounds awesome. Would 4 pm be okay to meet up there? I don’t have any lessons scheduled for tomorrow so it should be fine.” Moonbyul looked again at the girls chatting through the window, both wearing a smile and giggling at times. It made her happy.
“4 pm sounds good. We’ll see you there.” As Yongsun was about to turn around, at the confirmation and time set of their daughter's playdate, she got stopped by again.
“Can I have your number? You know, so I can let you know if I arrive early or anything, just to coordinate well. It’s okay if you can’t or anything, I thought it would be a good idea.” It was visible that Moonbyul was nervous, she was rambling, what for? In the field she looks like loving the attention and dedication from other parents towards her, why would it be hard to ask for a number?
It was cute.
“Sure.” She handed over her own phone and Moonbyul shyly typed her phone in, even sending her a message so she can reply from her own back.
“Okay, perfect, so, we’ll get going and you two can enjoy the night. Again, thank you so much miss- I mean, Yongsun.”
“Don’t worry, thank you coach.” Yongsun made sure to slightly bow before walking back to her car, whilst being seen from afar by Moonbyul, who muttered a soft: “Hyejin, let’s go.” and with only one recall, Hyejin waved back to Wheein and happily returned to her mother’s side.
When Yongsun made sure they were the only car left at the parking lot, she sighed and softly smiled, looking at her daughter whom eyes were on the road, seeing the trail the car owned by Coach Moon left a seconds ago.
“Ready to go?”
“Yes mom. Let’s have pizza!” Yongsun was starting to feel tired, her social battery was a little bit low and finally being able to be in a space that she felt comfortable that is her car and hopefully, soon enough, her home was a relief.
“Let’s go have your pizza, did Hyejin told you anything?”
Yongsun wanted to pry about what the 9 year olds were chatting about so happily.
“Oh, we spoke about our favorite soccer teams, which are the same! Can you believe that? She said that Coach Moon takes her to the matches and it’s so much fun! Besides that, she told me that she’s a single child like me, and that her mom is a single mom just like you!”
With a short snort, Yongsun started the car laughing at her daughter’s words.
“I’m glad to tell you that you can gossip all about your favorite soccer team tomorrow, we’re having a playdate with the Moon’s in the huge park you like.”
It seemed that Wheein’s day couldn’t get any better because she did a celebratory dance in her seat.
The young mother exited the parking lot in a swift motion, on their way to get their pizza and go back home, ready to digest whatever crazy strange world she just got herself in.
She’s an artist, she loves arts and painting and unconsciously she got herself surrounded by 9 year old soccer nerds and a Coach that is waaay too intriguing for her own liking that has groupies. Great.
Two 9 year olds, two single moms, what could go wrong?
In the time they had their pizza, washed off the day of new experiences, and finally got the chance to rest in their rooms, Yongsun took the chance to catch up with clients and messages, only to see the “hello 🙂” of an unknown number, but at the second she clicked the profile picture, it was the image of Hyejin and Moonbyul (obviously) playing soccer, the picture had Moonbyul giving a thumbs up while Hyejin was also doing a thumbs up but with a soccer ball by her feet. The picture had summed up pretty well the energy and attitude both mother and daughter had, Yongsun warmly smiled and tapped into the conversation to reply.
From: Unknown Number
hello 🙂
From: Kim Yongsun
Hi Coach Moon! I mean, Moonbyul-nim.
Quickly saving the contact as “Coach Moonbyul”, both keeping it respectful with the coach but obeying with the name that the woman requested to be used. It took around 10 seconds to get a reply.
From: Coach Moonbyul
Hi! Hope you and wheein have gotten home safe 😀 hopefully the pizza was nice 😋
Yongsun snorted at the emojis used, that was very child-like but it was cute.
From: Kim Yongsun
We did! We’re finally home, pizza was nice, not my personal preference but it was Wheein’s turn to pick due to her good effort at class today.
Why was Yongsun sharing those details? Moonbyul was only being educated. She didn’t care about this.
From: Coach Moonbyul
Aw, that’s nice, she did really good for real! 👏 I’m so glad you two joined the team ⭐
I will let you rest for the night, I’m pretty sure Hyejin has already crashed in her bed 😂 I will need to tuck her in and make sure she changed into her pajamas so I can do the same 💤
From: Kim Yongsun
Hyejin did really good as well, you two deserve some rest. We’re very happy we joined the team. See you tomorrow, Moonbyul-ssi 🙂
From: Coach Moonbyul
Have a good night, Yongsun. 🌟 💤 see you tomorrow 🤩
Yongsun tried really hard not to smile at the interaction, it was all new and interesting but tried to ground herself by thinking that this was for Wheein. It was obvious that the Coach was going to be friendly and educated towards her.
Little did she know that on the other side of the conversation, Moonbyul was sitting in her couch with a soccer match playing in the background, Hyejin fast asleep in her room as already mentioned, the little girl changed her clothes and washed herself to instantly crash and fall asleep deep until the next day. Moonbyul sipped the last of her water to sigh at the interaction she had with the other young mother. She wasn’t looking for anything (did she?) not a relationship (for real?) and even less with another mother from her daughters team (are you sure Moonbyul?). It would be complicated, it would be hard to explain and more to make a connection with the other woman.
Yongsun seemed like a woman that had everything figured out, she was single, yes, but she had everything under control and whilst Moonbyul did the same, she sometimes feared that she wasn’t rising Hyejin properly, so she was insecure in certain aspects of her life and she is very well aware that bringing someone into the picture, in the form of a romantic relationship, would be complex and delicate to explain to her daughter.
She was happy to see her daughter getting along someone so well behaved like Wheein, and Moonbyul was happy that she could finally hang out with another person that doesn’t eat her off with her eyes. Moonbyul wanted this friendship to work, she wanted some stability at last and she was sure that having someone so sure about, well... life, would be a change of air for both Hyejin and herself.
She turned the TV off and walked around their apartment towards her room to change into her sleeping clothes: pants and a casual shirt, a gift from Hyejin whom constantly gifts her cartoon t-shirts. After turning everything off and making sure all doors are closed and sealed, she stumbled once again into her room, her bed very welcoming and luring her slowly to sleep. Tomorrow she had a play date with another mom, a mom that was interesting, a mom that was beautiful and cared for her kid as much as she did for Hyejin. She hoped for the best and hoped that everything would go well, that hopefully Moonbyul herself wasn't cringy enough or that she gave a bad impression.
It was a lot and it made Moonbyul feel on fire, Yongsun felt the same way too and the kids were way too eager for tomorrow, hence they're sleeping the night off to meet each other tomorrow.
Soccer joined them together and hopefully it would stick them closer.