Chapter Text
"I have a problem."
But admitting them were never her strong suit. She'd rather keep them to herself than express whatever that is bothering her.
Today was different, however.
The moment the setence left the raven hair girl, her best friend, Cho Miyeon, quickly directed her gaze from her phone towards her. Miyeon was almost 2 years older than Soyeon, but they got along perfectly despite the age gap, acting more like sisters than friends with their opposite personalities.
"Spill." Miyeon blurted
"I need 16 more community service hours by next week, or I can't participate in the competition." Soyeon whined, stretching out the '-tion' in competition, as she planted her face facing downwards on the cold plastic cafeteria table.
Soyeon had always had a passion for rapping, unknown to most. She'd been practicing and practicing for the annually rapping competition ever since she discovered it. Initially she was too young to join, but finally, she was old enough to participate, the only problem was that she needed more than 720 hours (a month's worth) of community service hours to join, or she wouldn't be eligible. So she ended up working her ass off for days, volunteering at local stores around the area for the hope of being able to earn those hours before the competition sign up deadline rolls around. This leads her to her current situation, Chuseok was right before the deadline, meaning all the local stores she'd usually volunteer at would be closed...
So she either had to obtain these 16 hours some way else next week or kiss the opportunity goodbye for another year.
only if she had read the newly updated requirements sooner..
But thanks to the Cho's, Miyeon was born and had the perfect plan to help Soyeon out.
"Why don't you help out score keeping for the girl's volleyball teams with me?"
Soyeon lifted her head, chin resting on the plastic surface, "Yeah, and get a black eye from a flying ball? No thanks. "
"The ball barely even goes out. The teams are that good!" Slaming her free hand on the table. "Plus, it's not like you're gonna earn enough hours with the amount of time you have left if you volunteer at those shops, you know."
Defeated already, she placed her head back down. Miyeon did make a good point, she only had 5 days left (excluding weekends) to get 16 hours and would only be able to get 2 hours per day volunteering, so the math wouldn't add up and she'd be 6 hours short.....
"How many hours.." Soyeon mumbled against the plastic table, refusing to meet Miyeon's gaze.
"Four hours total." Miyeon proudly spoke, eyes fixated back on her phone.
"Jeez, how long are these things?" Soyeon questioned, finally sitting up straight. She'd probably fall asleep in the first 30 minutes if she had to sit there for that long.
"Two hours per game," Miyeon explained, "Two hours for the seniors and two for the juniors."
"Oh." That definitely made more sense...
"So, are you interested?"
Soyeon sighed for what felt like the 100th time that evening, "I guess.."
Miyeon screeched, eyes lighting up, a total 180° from her nonchalant attitude she was displaying right before when inquiring her. They Earned some glares and odd looks from others sitting nearby, "Ahh! Im texting Minnie about this, you a never agree to do these things with me!"
Beaming with energy as she hurriedly tapped away on her phone.
"Minnie is gonna be there?" Great, she's gonna be third wheeling now. It wouldn't be the first time Soyeon got stuck in between the two lovebirds, there's been multiple occasions, too many in fact that she'd need to use her toes to count and that still wouldn't be enough!
"Mhm!" Miyeon hummed in agreement, "She's a part of the senior team, "
Naturally, a teasing grin spreaded across Soyeon's face, "So you're only score keeping so you can see Minnie then, huh~?"
Miyeon's face quickly flushed red, "Yah! I am not! You know I'm training to become a coach!"
"How can you become a coach when you can barely throw a ball?" Soyeon teased remembering one day when they combinded P.E. classes to play baseball, and it was Miyeon's turn to throw. Soyeon couldn't help but laugh. The ball went straight down, landing a few feet away from Miyeon. If someone else saw it, they might have thought Miyeon had just dropped the ball.
Miyeon instantly caught on, " That was one time! " She squealed, " It was hot out, and my hands were sweaty! "
Soyeon could only continue to laugh at the expression on Miyeon's face, it looked like Miyeon just watched a cute little bunny get ran over by a car as she whined and rambled on about how she's good at sports.
Finally, Soyeon interrupted Miyeon, not taking anything she said to heart, " Okay, okay, when are the games? "
" Oh, yeah, I'll send you the schedule and refer you to the coach. Just remember to check in with him. "
"Got it!"
Sneakers screeched as they made contact with the floor, balls slammed with power bouncing, landing on the ground while the gymnasium doors swung wide open. Soyeon had rushed straight from her last period class to the gymnasium, not wanting to be late. She briskly spotted Miyeon across the room already sat, talking with another girl she quickly recognized as Seo Soojin as she approached the table.
Soyeon had met Soojin in her first year and ended up bonding over similar interests. She didn't have any classes this year with her, so they started to talk less, but Soyeon would count her as one of her few friends. She just hopes Soojin does, too.
"Hey Miyeon, hello, Soojin," Soyeon greeted
"Soyeon, you came!" Miyeon practically yelled, "The referee said he wants to see you!"
"Huh?" Dumbfounded, Soyeon scanned the room quickly for the referee, "Why is the referee looking for me?"
"For score keeping most likely," Soojin mumbled
"There he is!" Miyeon exclaimed and pointed.
Soyeon's eyes darted towards where Miyeon was pointing and saw an older man wearing a track suit stride towards them.
"Jeon Soyeon? " He questioned, expanding his hand out for a hand shake. Soyeon hurriedly replicated the motion and pulled out.
" So you're going to be one of our line girls? "
What?
"Oh, um,"
aren't I suppose to score keep?
" I'm guessing it's your first time. Do you need a rundown? " The coach questioned
All Soyeon could do was nod her head slowly. Maybe it was another term for an individual person who is score keeping or maybe she should have spoken up..
"It's quite simple. You'll stand outside the boundaries of the court with this red flag."
Wait.
On the court?!
Now she was really freaking out. Seemed like her nightmare of getting a black eye from the ball will really come true. Maybe she'll even get a concussion from how hard the ball will hit her!
Soyeon's hands started to get sweaty and sticky, shifting her balance between her feet as she tried to listen to the coach.
"This means out," the referee raised a flag up high, "This means in," then pointing the flag down and out a little in front of him. Next, he positioned the flag normally and took his other hand and layed it straight on top of the flag, making a 'T,' " This means touch, you only do that when the ball is touched by a player and then lands outside of the boundaries, " the coach explained.
Information overload much! Sure, Soyeon was kinda known to be a genius, but it takes time to learn and get good at something! And it didn't help that all Soyeon could focus on was how loud her heart was pounding in her chest, like a lion trapped in its cage, longing for freedom.
"Got that?" Soyeon nodded, "Perfect, the other girl should be here soon. If you got any questions, don't be afraid to ask," the coach exclaimed.
As he walked away, Soyeon let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding in.
"I thought you were score keeping with us," Soojin said once the coach was far away from them.
"I thought so, too!" Soyeon shouted trepidatiously, turning back around to face Miyeon and Soojin.
"I swear I referred you for a score keeping position," Miyeon chimed in, a worried expression present on her face that probably reflected her own anxious one.
It can't be that bad, right?
Oh boy, was she wrong.
Standing on the ouside corner of the court, closest to the boundaries, Soyeon's heart raced each time the ball came anywhere near the back or where she was standing.
Serve, set, spike, receive and repeat, that's how it went for two hours. Finally the senior team got their hard earned win with 3 sets versus 1, and Soyeon's legs started to feel like jelly.
She glanced towards where Miyeon and Soojin were sitting comfortably with their legs feeling not a single ounce of pain. Soyeon envied them in the moment. How did she end up in pain for some community hours...
Minnie soon rushed towards Miyeon and gave her a hug, squealing excitedly. Soyeon finally looked away when she realized they started to lip lock..gross..
Focusing her gaze else where she noticed the junior teams making their way onto the court, wearing jerseys with their school's colors, but unlike the senior team, they were basic. Their junior team only had two out of the three of the school colors and no special design, just a plain white jersey with cyan accents on it, while the senior team had at least some grey patterns. Well, now that she thinks about it, neither of them were the best..
Another thing Soyeon noticed was the colorful hair. She always wanted to dye her hair, but her parents always said after she graduated high school. On the opposing team, a few girls had brown and even one with dark red hair. There was also a girl, compared to the others, stood out like a sore thumb with her almost bleach blonde hair. She was surprised she hadn't seen the girl around school with how bright it was, then again, these were juniors, and it wasn't like she paid attention to everyone who passed by her making mental notes about their hair color! She couldn't care less.
Drawing Soyeon out of her thoughts, the referee yelled from his watch tower, "Ready?"
With the blow of the whistle, the game began.
Everything went smoothly for the first two sets. The ball barely even came near the back, thankfully.
And just as she was finally getting used to the pace of the game, the expected but unexpected happened.
The ball was coming right towards her.
She watched in terror as the ball approached at a rapid speed. Her feet were glued to the floor even though her mind was racing, and her heart was pounding. She clenched her fists. If that ball hits her, she'll land herself in the hospital with probably some brain damage or a horrible concussion with how fast the ball has been tossed around.
Her head buzzed with these thoughts as her breathing became heavy. Suddenly, a thick voice cut through them, bringing her cautiousness back to the matter at hand.
The voice quickly became louder and louder and louder..
One second, the match is going smoothly, and then the next second, Soyeon finds an attractive woman on top of her.