#he’s just like an emotionally unstable child to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jennaissantes · 1 year

Text

1 4 3 POINTER — n.rk

pairing: fem!reader x sports captain!riki

synopsis: after forcing yourself to stop playing basketball due to peer pressure, you meet nishimura riki – who reminds you of past you ; and you hate it. you hate him. So why do you find yourself wanting to help him when he's going through tough times?

genre: comfort fluff, sports au, angst, enemies to lovers

warnings: profanity, injuries, mentions of food, theyre also very young and emotionally very unstable. peer pressure is bad. some trauma dumping, mentions of reader getting bullied. please dont stay quiet if you know someone whos going through something bad!

featuring: enhypen + hanni pham and danielle from newjeans!

WC: 19k ( yeah so when I said 10k i meant 19k pffft obviously)

playlist: if youd like to listen to it!!

FIC TAGLIST: @prdxinvade @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs @catseong @winteringdream @ahnneyong @dimplewonie @flower0930 @officiallyjaehyuns @kualdie @pagesofmiracles @j-wyoung @grey-gteam @dudufodd @operawritesthings @roseyrays @iirene304 @mimisamisasa @channoticedmeuwu @nicholasluvbot @kimsohn @dazed-hee @amakumos @chiyuv @dearhee @yyunari @beomsbeanie @soobnny @soov @luvhyun3 @tnyhees @xiaoderrrr @kimipxl @1-800shutthefuckup @taegyuul @yjck121 @w3bqrl @gyuwrites @enhacolor @sjyuniverse @jaeyunverse @wonyofanclub @atrirose @goldenhypen @flrthwang @nokacchan @shionmarryme @ddeonudepressions @luvistqrzz

authors note: ITS HERE!!! FINALLY. I’ve given every piece of me to this fic. i love it so much. i hope you guys do too. im so so excited to post it and i would absolutely LOVE, LOVE to get feedback on it. thank you @soobnny @jaeyunverse @chiyuv and @amakumos for proofreading this oml you guys are the best ily i hope this meets everyones expectations haha.

Its easy to ignore the world. It always has been.

You weren't a stranger to pretending that people's comments didn't affect you as much as they did. Masking your feelings was something you were good at. While that was a skill, it also proved to be a factor leading to your downfall.

You, Y/N L/N, were the star player of Hybe Academy’s women's basketball team.

Were.

Your parents first realised that you had a special talent for basketball when you were just 4 years old.

It wasn't very often you saw a 4-year-old score a clean goal, the swish of the net echoing through the silence in the room as your parents stood there stunned. While most parents would've cheered, caught the moment on camera and laughed it off as luck, yours took it as a message from the universe to sign you up for basketball lessons.

You loved basketball.

You loved the adrenaline. You loved being a part of a team.

Turns out, your teammates didn't like being one with you. It could've been jealousy, it could've been something else, but none of your teammates in your old school fancied playing with you. Neither did your coach.

You tried your best, you put in one too many hours trying to perfect your skills. Yet, nothing seemed to make your coach content. Your parents, however, were beyond proud of you.

You never told them about your teammates because you didn't want to worry them. They weren’t putting in so much value into your sport for you to just complain about your bad teammates and a pushing coach. No, you'd rather stay silent about it.

But your mother found out. She was enraged—not at you, but at your school. Your parents immediately sent in a withdrawal letter to the school effective as soon as possible. They wanted the best environment for you to grow your talent in.

Except you didn't.

All the bullying, the pushing, the constant not-good-enough looks from your coach demotivated you. You began to hate the sport. The same sport you would have given your life for became a tiresome chore.

It felt monotonous. The same practice routines, the same drills, the same swish of the net. It no longer excited you.

You were a child-prodigy. But maybe that was all you'd ever be.

To say that you were looking forward to joining a new school was a lie. You weren't really excited.

Talking to new people and making new friends wasn’t your thing. You preferred being in your own little space—just you and your orange striped ball.

“Honey, I’m sure you're going to love it at Decelis! I've heard they have a really good team too. If you want you can try out,” your mother spoke to you at dinner before your first day.

At the mention of a basketball team, you began fiddling with your food, chewing on the skin inside your mouth. It was a sensitive topic, but your mother was always careful not to talk about it too much.

She sounded so hopeful that you didn't want to disappoint her.

“Sure, mom. I'll check it out, maybe.” You sent her a small smile, feeling a bit guilty when her eyes lit up and she made eye contact with your father, smiling.

Who knew? Maybe you would go and check out the school court sometime.

The next day, you woke up way ahead of time. The anxiety of going to a new school was finally getting to you.

You were ready by 6:45 am. Too early. You didn’t have to be in school until 8 am.

Why were you this nervous? Joining new crowds was never a problem for you earlier. So what was the matter now?

Maybe it was the thought of people judging you that scared you, or maybe it was the fact that the team here might be exactly like the one back in your old school.

Brushing off your negative thoughts, you put a smile on your face for the sake of your parents and headed down to get breakfast. Your mom chirped a ‘good morning, honey!’ and set down your breakfast on your table.

You knew how much these moments mattered to her. When you were on the team, you barely had any time to spend with your family. Going early to practice and coming home late, tired but not hungry. worried her. You were stuck in an unhealthy cycle of exercising but not nourishing yourself enough to make up for it.

You were glad to have such loving parents who took care of you.

Your dad dropped you off at school, hugging you tight by the carpark so you didn’t need to worry about getting embarrassed in front of the other students.

“Good luck, kiddo. Have a great day.”

You found the administration office easily. You were glad the school campus wasn’t very confusing.

“Hi! I'm Y/N. It's my first day and I think I'm supposed to come here, right?” You smiled warmly at the admin, who clapped in glee at your arrival.

“Ah! Y/N! I've heard so much about you. We’re so glad to have you here. I'm Mrs. Taeyeon. I hope you find this school welcoming.”

You thought Mrs Taeyeon was a kind lady and returned her smile.

She handed you a paper, which you assumed was your class schedule. “Not surprisingly, you'll have a guide for a few days.”

She chuckled upon seeing the slight discomfort on your face.. “Don't worry. Danielle is a very nice girl. You have most of your classes with her too!”

You nodded, finding some comfort in her words.

Before you left the office, Taeyeon called your name.

“Don’t worry too much, yeah? You'll fit right in.”

ii.

You took a liking to Danielle.

She was more than happy to show you around. Her cheerful personality almost immediately brought you happiness. As the admin had said, the two of you shared most of your classes, leading to you hanging out with her the most.

Your first day of school started off much better than you had thought it would. Your locker was pretty spacious and you were able to paste your small Seth Curry poster easily.

You never saw who had the locker next to yours though.

Maybe they're not present today, you thought to yourself.

You liked the idea of having a friend whose locker was next to yours. You made a mental note to try and keep a close circle of friends.

In your second period, which was AP calc, you found yourself wondering that maybe shifting schools wasn't so bad. Maybe it would all be okay.

Your seatmate, Hanni, seemed to click with you really well. She knew Danielle and asked you to sit with her during lunch and you couldn't say no to her.

“So.. what’s your hobby?”

Ah. Now, how to answer.

You smiled at her sheepishly, “I don't really know…”

Should you tell her?

“I mean… I used to play basketball.”

She gasped.

“Oh, what position?”

“Shooting Guard.”

“That is so cool. Sorry if I'm bothering you with too many questions. We don't really have any good players in our school. Unless you count Nishimura Riki, but he's just tiresome.”

You laughed at her enthusiasm, “It's alright.”

Hanni nodded. “Don't worry, most of us are nice. Present company included,” she added, playfully nudging your shoulder with hers.

It felt almost strange, not having to think about basketball all the time. Now that you thought about it, you had no idea how you managed to spend so much time on sports and manage your studies along with it.

Not having to worry about so many things felt nice, but there was always a void in your heart—one that could only be filled by basketball. You kept telling yourself that thinking about the game wouldn't help you in any way.

After all, it was in the past right?

The rest of the day went by in a whir. You enjoyed Hanni’s company. She didn't leave your side, and you were thankful for her. It was nice to have a couple of good friends.

For the first time in years, you walked back home with a smile.

Your mother was overjoyed to hear about your day. She was happy that you seemed to finally be able to enjoy life as a teenage girl. Your parents often wondered if they had done the wrong thing by making you sign up for basketball all those years ago. They didn’t mean for it to take a toll on you like it did.

Over the next few days, you walked into school and walked to class with Hanni. She would wait for you, excited to spend the day with her new friend. Danielle came along with you guys, gushing about some guy she found cute in the previous days.

“— and Oh, my god, I swear he is to die for.”

You and Hanni giggled at her words. “Yeah, yeah. I bet he's a dreamboat alright.”

Walking to class, Hanni pivoted towards you and smirked. “Say… did any of the guys catch your attention yet, Y/N?”

Danielle turned as well, waiting expectantly for your answer. Truth be told, you hadn't really considered checking out any of the boys. You'd been far too busy being nervous about having a good first day.

When you didn’t answer immediately, Hanni started naming some people you might have seen the previous day. “What about Jungwon? He's our class president, remember? He's really cute.”

You remembered the face of the cat-like boy. He had welcomed you into class with a kind smile and some small talk. He was cute but he wasn’t your type.

“I mean, I guess he's nice.”

Hanni stopped. “You guess? Oh, come on, the guy’s got everything! Good grades, pretty face and a great personality—what's not to like?”

You smirked at the way your friend talked about him. “Do you like Jungwon, Hanni? You seem to be very interested in him.”

Hanni’s eyes widened and she shook her head in denial, but her red cheeks said otherwise. “No, I don't! What makes you say that?”

You and Danielle shared a knowing look before walking into your class, leaving Hanni confused about her own feelings.

During lunch break, you remembered your mothers words. Should you go and check out the court? If your mother said it's really nice, then it must be, right? But what if it brought back unwanted memories? And what if the team was just like the one back in your old school?

The constant worry was always going to be there.

Danielle noticed you playing around with your food and realised you'd zoned out. She waved her hand in front of you to bring you out of your reverie.

“You okay? You're not eating anything,” she asked, concern evident in her tone. Hanni also looked worried.

You quickly smiled at them and let out an awkward chuckle. “Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something.”

Hanni and Danielle seemed sceptical, but they didn’t say or ask you anything more.

After school ended, you decided to go and check out the court. Just walking around won't hurt anybody, right?

Sending a quick text to your mother, you told her you'd be back home a little late.

You half expected the court to be empty since you’d assumed most people would have gone home by now.

You didn't expect to see a tall individual being scolded by a comparatively shorter one. The former's head was hanging low.

You didn’t mean to pry, but you couldn’t help but eavesdrop.

“What's really going on, Riki? This isn't your usual performance. Your layups were messy, and that assist? Really? Is that the best you can do?”

You assumed the taller man to be the coach, and the slightly shorter boy to be Riki. Said boy mumbled something along the lines of ‘I'm sorry. I promise I'll do better.’

The scene seemed all too familiar to you.

You didn’t notice a water bottle in your way, causing you to trip over it. The sound made by your stumble echoed through the room, catching the attention of the two men. Riki looked up to see you struggling to steady yourself from tripping again. He scowled, walking toward your figure.

“Who are you and why are you here?”

Oh boy.

iii.

You stood there awkwardly in the middle of the bleachers, trying to form a response in which you didn’t end up embarrassing yourself.

Why was it so hard to form words? You weren't even doing anything wrong.

Maybe it was the tall guy’s sharp gaze that was making you have a hard time replying.

“Oh. I uh—”

“Save it. You're probably some loser fangirl who's here to watch Heeseung hyung or something. Piss off, seriously. He's not here today.”

You prayed to whatever god was out there to not lose your cool.

“Excuse you. I'm not here to fangirl over anyone. I simply wanted to walk around and check out the court.” you scoffed.

“Yeah right. Now buzz off, kid.”

It took every ounce of patience in you to not snap at the boy. You weren't even short, for him to call you a kid. Seriously, what was with this boy?

Now, if only you could remember his name. You had just heard his coach call his name, so why were you not able to recall the boy's name?

Huffing and walking out of the gym, you realised that you had forgotten your phone on one of the bleachers. You walked back in to grab it and get out of there quickly, not wanting to have another row with the unnamed tall boy.

You walked in, trying to be quiet so you didn't bother him. Your eyes don't bother looking at the boy from earlier, who was now shooting the ball into the hoop effortlessly.

You found your phone pretty quickly, sitting neatly on one of the bleachers. Just as you were about to leave, your eyes flitted towards the court again, wanting to see what the player was doing all by himself.

You watched as he dribbled the ball towards the hoop from just beyond the three point line, increasing in speed just a bit before slowing down to do his layup. The ball only just almost made it in.

“You should angle your hand a bit more to the left. That way when you jump up, it'll stay more balanced so you can hoop it easily. Your hand is a bit stiff.”

Your voice echoed through the almost empty room. Only after a few seconds of no response from the basketball player did you realise that it was probably a bad idea to interrupt him.

Great. Now he probably hated you even more. So much for a first impression.

Although you were standing pretty far from where he was, you could see the expression on his face. He looked startled when you spoke, which quickly turned into a displeased emotion.

Who were you to tell him what to do and how to do it?

“Yeah, as if I'm listening to you. You probably don't even know what you're saying. Now, get out before I call someone.”

You rolled your eyes at him. If only he knew.

“Take my advice if you want to. If not, then it's your loss. Doesn't affect me in any way after all. Have fun by yourself.” Saying so, you walked out of the gym, not wanting to deal with the boys' very annoying, know-it-all attitude.

You didn't think much about the boy on the way back home.

At dinner, your mom asked you if you had maybe gone to see what the court looked like. You nodded, telling her that it was a really nice court. You don't mention the mysterious but arrogant boy you had met, choosing not to bring in unwanted reactions of your parents making fun of you and asking if it meant you'd be getting a boyfriend soon.

While you lay down on your bed, your mind kept reeling back to the events of the day.

You remembered how you walked in on the boy and his coach talking. His coach wasn't harsh. He had sounded genuinely worried for the boy. It made you think of your old coach and how harsh she used to be with you.

You don't think she had ever asked you why you were feeling down on your bad days. You could've been tired, or maybe something bad might have happened which affected your practice, but your coach never made time to sit and actually talk to you ; ask you if you were okay.

How come he had it better than you? Jealousy began to seep through your veins.

You decided to keep these thoughts of yours locked up far away in your brain, telling yourself that you shouldn't be jealous of someone just because you didn't have it as well as they did.

The following day, you decided to leave for school a bit earlier than usual, wanting to go sit by the court again.

Although you told yourself you'd never play basketball again, being near the court gave you some comfort.

You were glad to see that there wasn't anyone in the hallways. You weren't really expecting anyone to be in school at 6:30 in the morning anyway.

As you walked nearer to the gym, you were sure you could hear the squeaking of shoes and the bouncing of a ball. You were way too accustomed to knowing the sound.

Who was in school this early?, you thought to yourself. You were sure that you were the only person crazy enough to be in school at the crack of dawn.

When you opened the door to the gym, you were surprised to see the same face from yesterday. What was he doing here at this hour?

At the sound of your coming, the boy looked up from the floor of the court, his expression morphing into something of annoyance once he recognised your face from the previous day. You were sure your face held the same emotion as his.

“What are you doing here… again?” The boy didn't stop dribbling the ball around as he questioned your presence.

You walked into the court and placed your bag on one of the bleachers, ignoring his question. Sitting down, you crossed your legs and raised an eyebrow at him. “Where I choose to be is none of your concern. Now, continue whatever it is that you were doing.”

Scoffing at your words, the unnamed boy continued his practice. You found yourself watching his movements, analysing out of habit.

“You really should try using my advice from yesterday. You're still too stiff.” your voice bounced off the walls of the court. You were only trying to be helpful. It wasn't like you were praying for his downfall. You barely knew the guy.

However, your advice seemed to be the last thing he wanted. Smacking the ball on the ground, he walked up to you, almost seething in anger.

“Look, I don't know who you are–”

“I'm Y/N. What's your name?” you interrupt him, smirking. You were sure that people like him probably hated being interrupted.

And based on his reaction, you were right.

iv.

Ever since that incident, you swore to yourself that you would try and avoid the cocky basketball player. You really didn't want to deal with him anymore.

Looked like luck wasn't on your side.

A few days later, as you were walking towards your locker, you noticed a familiar figure standing near your locker.

Oh god, no.

Why was he standing next to your locker? And why was he opening the locker next to yours?

You slowly walked towards him, but decided to ignore him to avoid any weird conversation. Oh but of course he just had to start one.

“Don't tell me the locker next to mine is yours?”

You glare at the boy. “Boo-hoo, oh what will you do now?”, mock pity heavy in your tone.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, you heard Hanni calling your name.

Thank god.

“Y/N! Here you are, oh god. Dani saved us a table. Lets g— wait, why are you talking to Nishimura Riki?” she stops midway her sentence when she notices the boy next to you.

Nishimura Riki? This was him?

Walking away from your locker after grabbing your books, you begged Hanni to stop bombarding you with her questions of why you were acquainted with the boy.

“You talk to Riki? Why didn't you tell us?” Hanni asked you on the way to the cafeteria where Danielle was waiting.

Before you could answer her, she turned to Danielle, who had no clue what the two of you were talking about.

“You hear this Dani? Y/N knows Riki. And she never told us.” she slumped down on the chair as the girl beside her gasps.

“Oh My God? Why didn't you tell us?”

They were not accusing you, they were just curious and slightly bemused. You opened your lunchbox, telling them the whole story of how you had stumbled across him in the court a few days ago.

You didn't forget to tell them how much you hated his attitude.

“I swear to god. He and his high and mighty attitude can go fuck themselves. He's so infuriating, oh god. I was just trying to give him some tips to help him. And he had the nerve to be so rude about it—”

You thought your friends would agree with you, even hum in agreement. But all they did was look at each other, a smug guise masking their face along with a few knowing gazes shared in between, a look that threw you in shallow pits of confusion, but you continued to complain about the said boy.

“—and now I just found out that his locker is right next to mine. Just great. Wait, why are you guys smiling when I'm telling you how much I hate his guts?”

Hanni smiled, “Okay first of all, that's the most I've heard you speak and it's about a boy you're weirdly attracted to at school. Second of all, Nishimura Riki doesn't just talk to people at our school, you know that?”

You're confused. “What do you mean? Also, I am not weirdly attracted to him. I mean… I guess he looks nice but that doesn’t make him any less bearable.”

Danielle only smiled, and it wasn't the usual bubbly one that she carried. It was one of those ‘I-know-something-you-don't’ smiles. And you didn't like it one bit.

“Look, I don't know what you're thinking. But whatever it is, it's not true, okay?” you say with finality.

“What do you think we’re thinking Y/nnie?” Hanni teases you.

“Please, shut up.”

Riki couldn’t stop thinking about you.

It was as if you had plagued his mind—the way you had so confidently stood up to him. Most other girls would have probably shied away, or tried to hit on him. But you didn't.

Riki was used to having girls crushing on him and trying to get his attention. He would tune them out constantly, not speaking to any of them or paying heed to any of them.

How come he had never seen you around before too? Were you a new student?

“Yo Riki. You're early for lunch, what happened?” Jungwon’s voice echoed through his thoughts, breaking him out of his reverie.

Riki looked up to see his two best friends, Jungwon and Sunoo.

“Hey guys. Dunno, I felt like eating with you guys today.” he said, opening his lunch and smiling at them. Sunoo raised an eyebrow at his statement.

“You literally never eat with us anymore.” the older boy scowls as the younger sends him an embarrassed smile.

“I want to, but I need to put in more practice. Our match against Riverwoods is just weeks away, and I haven't been improving at all.”

Jungwon sighs, “You're being too hard on yourself again, ‘Ki. I'm sure you're gonna do great. You need to start attending classes too. Mrs Lee asked about you today.”

Sunoo nods in agreement. “Look, we know you can catch up on studies easily, that's not the main issue here. You really need to start taking more care of yourself.”

Riki knew he had been neglecting everything and everyone around him for basketball, but he couldn't help it. He needed to be the best.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure walking into the canteen.

“Hey Jungwon. Who's that girl? Is she new?” he asks his friend.

Jungwon looked toward where Riki had pointed and saw you giggling with your friends as you sat down to eat.

He turned back to Riki. “That's Y/N. She's a new student in our grade. I think she's been here for a week? Ten days maybe.”

Riki nodded, trying not to act bothered by the girl. He didn't know why, but just looking at you was enough to make his blood boil.

“Why’d you ask though?” Jungwon questions the younger boy. “Oh, nothing.”

Sunoo smirks, “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, I need you to sign here, here and here.”

The lady at the counter, Mina, as you read her name tag, handed you a pen to sign your form. You were signing up to volunteer at a basketball training centre for kids over the weekend.

If you couldn't play professionally, you might as well do this, you thought.

After signing the form and waving goodbye to the lady, you decided to stroll around for a bit by the court.

You came across a seemingly empty court. You saw a bag by the bleachers but you couldn't see anyone around.

Picking up the stray basketball, you decided to try and shoot some hoops. For old times sake, you said to yourself.

Checking your form, you started on one of your old drills—the figure 8 over to a dribble layup. You were glad no one was around to see you. You didn't want any unnecessary questions.

You started with your feet spread apart and the ball in your right hand. Then you dribbled the ball through your legs to your left hand, and immediately dribbled it back to your right hand.

You moved forward, increasing your speed a bit and performing a beautiful layup.

You were glad you hadn’t lost your touch. All those hours of practice had done you some good.

“Not you again.”

There was no way.

You turned back to be faced with Nishimura Riki, who was now walking towards you. You wore an unimpressed look on your face.

“Oh look, it's a dickhead.”

“I hope you trip over yourself.”

You stuck your tongue out at him. Immature, you knew, but you needed some satisfaction.

He holds his hand out, asking for the ball in your hand. You reluctantly pass the ball to him. The tall boy begins to walk around, the sound of the ball bouncing echoing through the four walled court.

“So, you play huh? Not bad.”

His voice cut through the silence between the two of you.

You choose between wanting to humour him or just ignoring him. Deciding on the former, you say,

“No, I begged the school admin to magically make me a basketball player”

“You know for someone with average skills, you've got a big mouth on you.” You felt yourself getting ticked at his antics.

“Do you ever shut the fuck up? And just so you know, my skills are so much better than yours. You couldn't even do a proper layup the other day.” you fired back. Riki stopped in his tracks, faltering at your words.

Glaring at you, he walked away, grabbing his bag from the bleachers and walking out of the court.

Had you gone too far?

No, you convinced yourself, he deserved it.

Riki walked out of the court, thinking about what you had said.

You were right, he couldn't even do a proper layup. How pathetic.

How would he even play during the upcoming match? He was totally out of shape.

“I need to practise more,” he thought. Your words had hurt him. He had seen how you had rendered the drill so effortlessly. How come you did it so well?

As much as he hated to admit it, your advice proved to be true. A few days after your first meeting with him, he had been thinking about what you had said to him.

He tried it out, angling his hand a bit more so he could shoot it directly into the hoop, and it worked, which made him even more frustrated.

You, an almost complete stranger to him, knew how to play it out in the court better than he did, and that enraged him.

Walking back home, you realised that Riki was a lot similar to you. He kept pushing himself. Every time you had come across the boy, he was practising.

It didn't take you much long to realise that the boy was losing hope in his passion, just like you had.

He was doing well, but was frustrated that he wasn't able to do any better. The same frustration was the reason he was so distracted, why he couldn't push himself to do any better.

You didn't like that he reminded you of yourself. He was hard on himself, you saw it on the first day. The way he muttered under his breath, ‘not good enough’, the way he was at the court so early in the morning, just like you used to.

You didn't want to witness someone losing something they loved either. Looking at him reminded you of the way you had slowly stopped loving the sport. Although his reason differed from yours, the result was the same.

Telling yourself that it didn't change that he was an asshole, you went to sleep.

Hanni had invited you over to her house.

You had never had the time to make proper friends at your old school, after your ex best friend had left, and because of basketball.

So when Hanni asked you if you wanted to go over to her house one day, you found yourself saying yes. Your mother was over the moon. You had told her about Hanni and Danielle and she was ecstatic that the two girls were by your side always.

“Hey mom! We’re home!” Hanni’s voice echoed through the walls of her house. Not long after, a kind face popped out of the kitchen.

“Oh my! You must be Hanni’s friends! Nice to meet you. She talks about you a lot.”

You smiled at Lilian’s warm-heartedness. “Thank you Mrs Pham!”

“Mom, this is Y/N, my best friend.”

Best friend. You liked the sound of that.

You and Hanni headed upstairs to her room to get comfortable. Once the two of you had seated yourself on her bed and grabbed some snacks, she turned to you.

“So what's going on between you and this Riki? Tell me everything.” she said with an impish grin. You let out a sigh in annoyance.

“Oh don't even get me started. He is the absolute worst. Did I tell you I met him again? Like yesterday?”

The girl beside you gasped comically, eyes widening. “No, tell me everything.”

You shifted around on the bed, ready to rant about the mentioned boy.

“Okay so I was at the community centre. I wanted to sign up to volunteer to help some kids out with basketball. After I finished that I was just walking around and I ran into him. Again! Can you believe my luck?”

“I can't actually. Must be destiny or fate or whatever you call it.” Hanni said, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth. You look at her in disgust.

“No way you actually think that me and … him, would ever become anything close to friends.”

She rolled over to you,, “I actually think you guys might become more than friends.”

“Like… best friends you mean?”

Hanni rolled her eyes, “No dumbass. I meant boyfriend and girlfriend. A walking enemies to lovers cliche.”

You laughed it off, changing the topic.

“So, what do you wanna watch?”

The next day in school, you watched as Danielle ran up to you, grabbing your hand and taking you with her.

She brought you to the noticeboard, pointing to one of the notices.

“Look! There's tryouts for the girls basketball team! You have to try out. Hanni and I will cheer you on!”

Oh.

Smile fading, you shuffle in your place awkwardly, not making eye contact with your friend.

“Ah … I'm not so sure I wanna try out, Dani.” she looks at you, puzzled. “What? Why not?”

How do you tell her without telling her?

“Nothing, I just…don't know if I have the time to manage both sports and studies anymore. Yeah…”

She doesn't buy it, but doesnt ask you any further.

Over the next few days, you didn't see Riki at school much, and you assumed that he was practising for his game. You were almost glad you don't see him as often anymore. Although you would've never admitted it, you secretly wondered if he was doing okay.

He had definitely rubbed you in the wrong way, but that didn't mean you were a monster. You had half a heart to strike up a conversation with him and ask him how it was going, but decided against it once you remembered how much you hated each other.

Why was it so hard to just ignore and forget him?

Riki was blinking back tears.

Today's drill had gone particularly bad, but the coach had not even scolded him, which made him feel worse. Why wasn't he scolding him?

“Riki? Is everything alright? You seem out of it today. Do you need a break?” was what he had asked.

Shaking his head, he faced his mentor. “No. I'm fine. I don't know why I'm so distracted these days. I'm sorry, coach.”

Mingyu smiled at Riki, taking pity on the boy. “Don't apologise. I want you to do something. Get off early today, I think you need a break.” He thinks I'm not doing well.

“Go and rest a bit.” You're distracted.

Riki tried not to show how disappointed he was. Grabbing his bag in a huff, he packed his things up, thanking his coach once again before walking towards the door of the court. Mingyu sighed as he watched the younger boy walk away.

“He's taking it too hard on himself again.” he shakes his head, hoping that his star player would get better soon.

Mingyu had seen Riki at both his worst and his best.

He knew that Riki was talented, with a burning passion to keep improving. The only thing he didn't like was how negative he was.

Riki would constantly take positive criticism in a negative manner. He closed off to everyone, not wanting any advice. Anybody who questioned his actions, or tried to help him improve, Riki would scowl at them and tell them to go away.

He tried to act like he wasn't affected by it, but Mingyu knew that deep down, the boy was hurting.

It had taken him years to get Riki to where he was today. He had been patient enough with him to have brought him to this level. Riki had always been pretty reserved, even as a child. He was cautious, not wanting to associate with anyone he found intimidating, although he looked intimidating himself.

Mingyu watched as Riki walked towards the door. Just as he was about to open the door, it was opened from the other side, by you.

You expected him to scowl or glare at you, maybe throw in a few spiteful words too. But he just walked right past you, not even making any eye contact. Watching the boy walk away, you entered the court to see his coach, Mingyu, walking around.

“Um, hello.” you said, not wanting to be rude to him. The school coach returns your greeting with a smile.

“Are you the same girl from the other day? I think I recognize you.” Mingyu's voice startles you as you chuckle awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to his question.

“Yeah. Sorry for interrupting.”

The older man waves it off with a smile.

It takes every cell in your body to stay still. You want to just grab the stray ball lying on the floor of the court and play. But you bit back the feeling.

“You're the new kid right? Do you play?” Mingyu didn't really need an answer to his question. He knew a good shooting guard when he saw one.

You fiddled with the sleeve of your shirt. “I um… I used to play but I stopped.”

“Ah, I see. Why did you stop?”

His question made you hesitate. “You don't have to answer me. It's okay.”

“No, no. It's okay. Uh it was because I wasn't really comfortable playing in my old school. I just… kinda stopped after that, I guess.”

Mingyu nodded to your answer, thinking of how to respond without causing you any more discomfort.

“Well then, I hope you find your spark again. And if you ever feel like you want to play again, even just a little bit, you know where to find me.” saying so, Mingyu got up, heading towards the exit.

Just before he left, he turned to you. “Oh, by the way, we’ve got tryouts in a month. Think about it, maybe.”

vi.

Riki didn't expect to see you again at the community centre again.

He had walked into the court, to see you helping out with some of the kids. You were fixing their form, making them do a few drills, and so on.

“Hana, you need to be a bit faster, yeah? Just a bit. But you're doing great!” he watched as you smiled at one of the girls, giving her a high five. He found his lips turning at the corners.

What?

He caught himself quickly, walking away and wondering why the sight he had just seen had made him smile. He rarely smiled. It only appeared during games, after he won. Or after he beat his friends at Mario Kart.

Shaking away his thoughts, Riki began his practice.

His stances were getting better. He had been able to do his usual drills flawlessly. All that was left was to nail the layup.

The one he always managed to mess up.

It was so easy, an intermediate basketball player could most probably do it much better than him.

He took a deep breath, dribbling the ball on the hard surface of the floor, advancing closer to his goal.

Increasing his speed, he took one, two and three steps forward, jumping on the third one and letting go of the ball into the hoop. Holding his breath, he watched as the ball went straight into the hoop, not even touching it at the rim.

He had done it.

Finally.

“I see you've got it. Must feel good huh?”

He couldn't say he was surprised to hear your voice. It was only inevitable he’d meet you in the same community centre.

He turned back, a stoic expression on his face. “What do you want?”

You made a small noise of disapproval at his tone. “Keep your tone in check, boy.” he gave you a pointed look.

After a few moments of silence, you turn to him. “Oh, right. I came here to tell you that Mina wanted an extra volunteer to help with the kids. Just for today.”

“I don't have the time for that. I need to practice.”

You roll your eyes. “You're always practising. I'm sure you can spare some time.”

The black haired boy glares at you, walking closer. “Oh, yeah. Like I don't have anything better to do. Unlike you, I actually play basketball. And I don't spend time on anything unnecessary. Now leave me alone.”

His words were straight venom to your heart. You bite back an insult, turning on your heel and walking away from him.

If only he knew of the countless hours you had sacrificed, never paying any heed to any distraction that came your way. If only he knew how much hard work you had put in, for it to all have gone to waste.

You walked back to the kids, smiling as some of the kids came up to you, asking for your help.

Unbeknownst to you, Riki felt bad.

He knew he had not been very amiable with you, from the beginning. He was having a bad week, and he was sure that everyone and their mother knew that.

He saw how you gulped at his comment. And when you turned back to go, he had half a mind to call you and apologise, but the other half scoffed at him, telling him that you were just another annoying girl who was trying to get his attention. Plus, it wasn't like you had been very nice with him either.

After about an hour of trying to perfect a few of his moves, Riki decided he was done for the day, which surprised him. He would practise for hours on end with no breaks.

Maybe his coach was right, he needed to slow down a bit.

While passing the second court on his way out, Riki tried to catch a glimpse of you, but much to his disappointment, you weren’t there helping the kids out. He frowned.

“What? Looking for me?” He turned his head, to see you coming his way, with a few bottles of water in hand. You looked like you were struggling to hold all of them by yourself.

“Yeah, right. I was um.. I was just—“

“Save it, asshole. I'll be on my way now.” saying so, you walked past him and into the court, smiling when you saw the tired little kids run up to you, pleading for some water.

Riki stood there, debating with himself on whether or not he should wait until you’re free and say sorry. Deciding against it, he walked back home.

The following day, much to your dismay, Riki joined your class for Lab. You were almost positive he wouldn't be there since he would usually be at the court training during this time. Danielle often asked you how and why you could remember his schedule, teasing you for it.

The only free seat was right next to yours, so Riki had no choice but to sit next to you.

God why was he sitting so close to you? It was as if he was invading your personal space. And there wasn't much space between the chairs anyway.

Shifting slightly, you pushed his feet away from you, trying to make some area around you. Riki looked up at the sudden contact and scowled at you, pushing his feet right back at you under the table.

You glared right back, rolling your eyes. Pushing him away from you one final time, you stepped on his feet for good measure, watching him wince in pain silently. He remained mum after that, but would send you dirty looks from time to time, which you reciprocated.

Hanni and Jungwon could only look between each other and laugh at the two of you in whispers.

vii.

You and your friends walked into the cafeteria, spotting an empty table for the three of you to sit in. But just as you guys reached it, someone else had sat down there.

You guys looked around in dismay, wondering how you'd find a table in the crowd.

“Hey Hanni! Over here!” a familiar voice called out to your friend.

It was Jungwon. He motioned with his hand towards the table he was sitting at. The three of you smiled, walking towards him.

You sat opposite Jungwon, Hanni and Danielle. “You sit alone for lunch?” you asked the class president.

“No, I usually sit with—“

“What's she doing here?”, a deep voice echoes through your conversation.

“—Riki.”

Great. Of course he did. You should’ve known they were close friends.

“Riki, meet my friends; Hanni, Danielle and Y/N.” Your friends waved at him, making eye contact with you and smirking.

“Yeah, I know Y/N.” he set his food down on the table, clearly not wanting to sit with you again.

“Bravo! Do you want me to give you an award for it?” You smirked at him, knowing just how to push his buttons.

“You’re insufferable.”

“Likewise, asshole.”

Over the next two weeks, your small friend circle expanded. You became well acquainted with Jungwon and Sunoo. (And Riki but it's mostly just snide remarks and teasing from your side.)

Danielle often tried to subtly remind you about the tryouts, but you pretended to not understand what she was hinting.

As much as you wanted to try out, the fear of not being liked by the team, or failing to do well since you were so out of practice, scared you. Your past trauma just wouldn't let you go for it.

A few days later, you were at Danielle's house for a sleepover. Hanni had come too. The two of you were picking your snacks while Hanni picked out a movie on the couch.

After grabbing a bunch of snacks that was commonly liked, the two of you made your way back to the couch, to see that Hanni had picked out a movie.

Hustle.

You froze.

“We’re watching… Hustle?” You asked as you sat down between your two friends

Hanni smiled, “Yeah, it's a good movie isn't it?”

Hustle used to be your favourite movie. Obviously it involved basketball in it. You used to watch it whenever you were feeling a bit down. Had they picked this movie on purpose?

Yes, they had.

Your friends were a bit concerned about you. They noticed how you alway backed away from talking about the sport. It was always a sensitive topic to bring up, as they noticed.

Danielle had talked to Hanni, telling her how you had said you didn't want to try out for the team, but she noticed how you'd often glance at the people training by the court, as if you wished to be part of it too.

They decided they'd somehow try to get you to tell them why you didn't want to try out, but not by forcing you to tell them. They didn't want to make you uncomfortable either.

“Y-yeah it is a good movie. It used to be my favourite movie, actually.” you said.

The two girls looked at each other. “Oh really?”

You nodded. “Yeah… but not anymore.”

“Why not?” Hanni moves closer to you and holds your arm as a way of showing you that you could trust them and open up to them.

You still hesitate.

“I just.. I don't know.”

Your friends looked at each other and smiled in understanding. You weren't ready to tell them yet, and they were okay with that.

You couldn't have been more glad to have found such amazing friends who were patient with you.

You didn't feel the need to have to keep it from them anymore.

“I stopped basketball because I got bullied in my old team.” You spoke suddenly, startling both of your friends. But when they caught hold of what you had said, they turned to you.

“Bullied? What?” Hanni couldn’t believe it.

“In my old school, I used to be the team captain. But no one treated me that way. They'd take me for granted and do whatever they liked. They used to make rude comments when I tried so hard to play well on the court.”

You felt the tears brimming your eyes.

“Even my coach was hard on me. I tried so hard to be what she wanted me to be. She was never happy. I don't remember even one time where she smiled at me and told me I did well.”

Cue the waterworks.

You couldn't stop your tears now. Your friends took pity on you, hugging you from both sides.

“I used to practise from early in the morning until late in the night, but she was never satisfied. My teammates would often not pass the ball to me during our games, even when I was nearby. We’d often lose because of that. I tried to talk to them about it too, but they'd just laugh at me and walk away, calling me a pathetic team captain. I stopped playing ever since.”

You wiped your tears away, sniffing.

Hanni and Danielle couldn't believe it. You had been so silent about it for so long. They wanted you to play again, especially after hearing what you had said.

“Oh honey, you weren’t a pathetic captain okay? The pathetic ones were your teammates. They were probably way too intimidated by how good you are.”

Hanni nodded, agreeing with Danielle. “Yeah. You love basketball. I know it's hard, it's been hard. But you've got us now. And we love you. And we’ll always cheer you on.”

You had probably saved a nation in your past life to get so much love and such amazing friends like them now.

It truly does get better.

You had decided you would go for the tryouts.

After you had opened up to your friends, the three of you had talked for hours about how you should go back to playing basketball, since you still loved it so much. Your friends convinced you to go for the tryouts.

Now you just need to practise a few times. You still had the game in you, all you had to do was give it a kickstart.

Your mum was overjoyed when you told her you wanted to start playing again. she made a mental note to herself to pay a visit to your friends, to let them know how grateful she was.

Your dad had hugged you tight, telling you how proud he was of you to have overcome your past and start again.

You slept like a baby that night, finally feeling some sense of wholeness.

Basketball was your only love, something that kept you going. When you had stopped, it was like a part of you had been ripped away. You felt empty, the void in you pure black.

You didnt know what to do, when your past teammates would pick on you so much. You thought it was your fault, that you had done something wrong. But you learnt that you werent at fault, later on. And by then, it was too late.

But it was going to be okay now. You were going to be okay.

Smiling to yourself, you went to sleep.

viii.

The next day, you woke up happier than you had ever been for a while.

You ate breakfast and gave each of your parents a kiss on the cheek before running out the door, excited to meet your friends at school.

What you weren't excited for was to see Nishimura Riki’s face staring at you at the bus stop.

At first, you pretended not to notice him, but it was hard to, with him towering over you in the crowded bus.

The smell of his perfume was dizzying. The scent of vanilla with a hint of coffee cream. It wasnt too much, it was just right.

“Quit sniffing me, weirdo.”

Oh shit.

You looked up at the boys’ face, underestimating how close your faces were. Your breath hitched in your throat.

“I wasn't sniffing you. The bus moved forward so I accidentally moved closer to you and you know I had to breathe so I ended up accidentally-“

“Okay okay, jeez. I didn't ask for a whole explanation.”

“But you— nevermind.” You frowned, feeling a bit embarrassed that he had caught you.

Just as the bus was taking a turn, it suddenly increased its speed, jerking you forward, and you stumbled onto the chest of the boy in front of you, holding onto his shoulders for support.

Fuck, you were practically hugging him at this point. Why did it have to be this crowded?

You felt his hand grab you by the waist, holding you steady so you didn't fall.

Looking up, you saw that Riki was already looking down at you, his eyes displaying a worried expression. That quickly disappeared once you cleared your throat. He let go of you as quickly as he had held you.

The mole on his chin was so pretty.

“Ahem, sorry.”

You hated how awkward it was. There was so much tension in the air, and you were so close to screaming because of it.

Just as you thought you couldn't handle one more second in the crowded bus, you arrived at your school.

Getting down, you almost sprinted away as quickly as you could, wanting to get away from him.

Riki, on the other hand, was finally able to breathe after stepping out of the bus.

It was almost suffocating, having you so close to him. But not in a bad way. Riki found himself not hating being in such close proximity with you.

And that thought confused him.

You were undeniably beautiful. Having your face so close to him could only make his heart beat at many miles per hour.

He hoped you didn't notice how his eyes flickered to your lips for a second.

Shaking his thoughts away, he ran to his locker.

You were there too. Of course you were.

Walking up to your side, he took his things from his locker, noticing how you suddenly fiddled with your things when you noticed his presence.

Riki almost wanted to chuckle at you.

Cute, he thought to himself.

‘Wait what? No you're not supposed to think shes cute, Riki’ he made a face to himself.

“What, is it that bad having to stand near me, Nishimura?” your voice echoed through his thoughts.

You were leaning against the locker in an incredibly attractive manner.

He gulped, “ N-no I-“

Chuckling at his flustered state, you walked away, which made him realise you weren't waiting for an answer. You just wanted to make fun of him.

Riki frowned. God you were so annoying.

Yet he couldn't find a way to stop thinking about you.

“Oh my god? He held you by the waist?!”

Hanni and Danielle were squealing over the piece of information you had just told them. You rolled your eyes, “Come on, it was just to hold me steady so I wouldn't fall.”

“Puh-lease, Y/N. If he hates you as much as you tell us he does, he wouldn't have caught you.”

Hanni had a point. It gave you something to think about the whole day. Thoughts of the tall boy filled your mind, distracting you.

You were sure that if it wasn't for his negative attitude towards things, you would've had a crush on him by now. But then again, bad attitude or not, he was just your type. Goddamn him and his nice hair and nice eyes.

You knew he was being harsh on himself. It was like seeing yourself through a different pair of eyes, a different perspective.

You wanted to help him, now that you had recovered from your past. But would he let you help him?

ix.

Riki was having a bad day.

No scratch that. He was having a mother of bad days.

It was one of those days where he woke up grumpy, so his entire day went bad. Or at least that's what his mindset was.

He was running late. He missed the bus by a minute, tripped over his shoelaces, almost forgot to get out at the right stop, and had to wait for the staff to finish cleaning the court.

And he wasn't playing well either.

Running a hand through his hair, he took in a deep breath, and tried to score a 3 pointer.

He couldn't.

Riki felt the tears brimming at his eyes threatening to fall. He tried to blink them back, but failed to do so.

He let out one, two, three tears, before he finally gave up, letting the tears flow freely onto his cheeks.

He hadn't cried like this in a while. While it felt good to let go for once, he was terrified.

The match against the other school was only days away. What would he do? If he was going to play like this, how would he make Mingyu happy? How would his teammates look at him?

Overwhelmed with negative thoughts, he felt his tears continuously falling.

“Riki? Is that you?” your voice echoed through the court.

Oh god no. He couldn't let anyone see him in this state.

“N-no. You've got the wrong person.” Of course his voice had to come out weakly.

You couldn't help but worry seeing the boy crouched down, covering his face. You could hear his broken sobs through the room.

You approached him slowly, not wanting to scare him. He was in a vulnerable situation and you didn't want to do anything to make it worse.

You sat down beside him quietly, not sure if you could comfort him.

After hesitating, you raised your hand and rubbed it down his back, trying to calm him down. Once you saw that he isn't telling you to back off, you faced him properly.

“Do you want me to get you some water?” You whispered. Riki nodded, still not looking up.

You came back with a bottle of chilled water. Giving it to him, you watched as he gulped down some of the water, his breaths becoming more steady.

After a few moments of silence, he caught his breath and wiped his tears away.

“Do you… want to tell me what happened?” You asked him slowly. You didnt want to force him to tell you why he was crying.

“It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I know we aren't on the best terms right now. I can just leave—“

“I'm having a bad day.” Riki interrupts you. You go silent, wanting to listen to what he had to say.

He took in a shallow breath before continuing. “Our game against Riverwoods is in a few days and I dont think I'm doing well enough.”

“Why do you think like that? You've been practising a lot haven't you?” you made eye contact with him, to let him know he could trust you.

Riki nodded slowly.

“Then you'll be fine. Don't stress yourself too much. You’re doing good.” You reassured him. He didn't look completely convinced.

Just like you used to be.

“Hey, look at me. You’re good. You’re doing good. Can you repeat after me? Tell yourself you’re doing well.” You told him. He glanced at you and took a deep breath.

“I'm doing good.”

You smiled on hearing him. “See? That's good. Do you feel better now?”

Riki nodded silently.

You didn't want to make him feel any more uncomfortable than he might have been feeling, so you got up.

“Okay then. Youre fine right? Do you want me to call someone?” He shook his head. “No thank you. I'm good.” He smiled a little and you felt your heart leap.

“I'll leave you to it then. Uh.. I hope you feel better soon.” You walked away from him, waving. He didn't wave back.

Just before you left the court, you heard a deep voice call out your name, making you stop in your tracks and turn to look back.

“I uh.. Thank you. You know… for this.” Riki rubbed the back of his neck.

You couldn't help but smile. “Anytime. I know we didn't have the best first impressions, but I'm not completely evil you know.” saying so, you walked out, grinning.

Riki couldn't wrap his head around you. Why were you helping him? He had been nothing but mean and arrogant to you.

Your voice was gentle. It was… comforting. He found himself leaning into your touch when you tried to calm him down.

Why was he feeling like this?

It was silent in the court.

Other than the sound of your shoes squeaking against the hardboard and the bouncing of the basketball from your hands, of course.

You were training for the tryouts.

Your friends had been there to watch you for a while before they had to leave.

(“So this is the talent you had been hiding from everyone? You're so good!”)

(“You should go pro, Y/N.”)

They had bought you a few bottles of water and juices even though you refused. They wanted you to stay hydrated and take care of yourself even if they weren't there to tend to your needs.

You were pretty confident that you would do well. You were just a bit out of shape, but you were able to fix that easily.

Not one shot out of place.

Satisfied, you decided that you were done for the day. You had done a good few hours of practice and you were content with yourself. Packing up your things, you left the court, walking to the bus stop.

A tiny sound caught your attention. Turning your head to the direction of the source, you saw that the adorable noise was from a small kitten walking by the side of the road.

Cooing, you gently approached it. It took a liking to you, letting you rub its fur lovingly as it purred. You smiled, unable to hold your excitement.

Unknown to you, Riki happened to be passing by the same place. He froze on seeing your figure. He didn't know how to face you after you had seen him breakdown.

He watched as you played with the kitten for a while, unconsciously smiling to himself. You looked so happy. Something so small made you so happy.

Why couldn't he be happy?

Turning away, he quickly boarded the bus that had arrived at the bus stop.

You turned back to see that the bus was already moving. You sighed, deciding to wait for the next one.

Riki watched through the moving window as you sat down on the bench of the bus stop before you disappeared from his view completely.

xi.

“I see you've changed your mind?”

Mingyu smiles as he watches you walk in on the day of the tryouts.

You smiled back, “A few friends helped me see what I was missing out on.” The coach nodded, happy to see you there.

He told you to go sit by the benches and wait until it was time to start. You saw as your friends arrived, keeping their promise to cheer you on. You giggled to yourself on seeing Sunoo and Danielle hold up a banner that said ‘Y/N FTW GO GET EM TIGER!’

Soon, it was time for the tryouts to begin.

You were part of the first group. Taking a deep breath, you got up, walking towards the floor of the court.

There were about 5 of you in each team. You were free to play whatever position you wanted to.

Just before the game began, you saw Nishimura Riki walk up to Mingyu with a clipboard in his hands.

Great, he was going to be assisting Coach.

You took your place, watching as Riki stood in the middle of the court, ball in his hand.

On the whistle, he threw the ball up, and you jumped up to catch it as fast as you could. Once you had the ball in your possession, you observed the position of your teammates and the other team.

Deciding not to hold the ball for long, you passed it to the teammate who was on your right, Minji.

Minji was a good player.

She dribbled the ball skillfully, running towards the hoop. Once she noticed your teammate standing near the hoop, she threw the ball to them, but they failed to catch it. The ball was now in the opposite team’s possession.

Wanting to get the ball back to your team as soon as you could, you ran to the other team's hoop, knowing their first priority would be to score a quick point.

Noticing a weak moment between the opposing teams members, you used the time to grab the ball back to yourself, and passed it to Yunjin who was on your team.

Yunjin passed it back to you when you had reached an optimal spot.

This was your chance.

Spinning around on your feet, you shot the ball from around the 2 point line, watching as the ball went into the hoop effortlessly.

The room erupted in scattered cheers. You heard Hanni whooping in the air, and smiled.

Glancing at Mingyu, you watched as he nodded. Riki was writing something down onto the clipboard, but looked back up and gave you a thumbs up.

The game continued for another five minutes, with Hana from the opposite team scoring a point.

You ran towards your friends as they surrounded you, telling you how well you had done.

You couldn't stop smiling.

It felt so good to be back in the game. The adrenaline, the excitement of the game, it was all coming back to you.

From the corner of your eye, you saw Riki looking at you.

You walked up to him, a triumphant look on your face as if you had proved him wrong.

“Remember when we first met, you said I didn't know what I was talking about when I gave you advice? Yeah, I think I definitely know what I was talking about.”

Riki was stunned. How could someone look so attractive while making fun of him?

Coming back to his senses, he rolled his eyes. “Sure, whatever.”

You giggled at his words. Nothing could make you unhappy today.

“Oh and by the way, Coach wanted to speak with you before he announced the results.” Riki told you, watching as you nodded, walking towards Mingyu.

What could Mingyu have wanted to speak to you about?

You walked up to the taller man, greeting him politely.

“Ah, Y/N! I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes Coach? Is something wrong?”, You asked.

Mingyu rubbed his chin, “No, no. Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to ask you how you’d feel about being the captain of the girls’ team this year.”

Did you hear him right?

“W-what?”

He smiled. “You’re selected, quite obviously, and I think you'd make a great Captain. What do you say?”

What do you say?

You say yes.

xii.

To you, being the captain of a team meant being responsible enough to be in charge of the members of the team.

When you were in Decelis, you didn't think you were responsible enough. Why else did your ex teammates hate you?

You knew now that they hated you for a different reason, but being asked to be the team captain again, brought back many memories.

What if you were a lousy captain this time? What if nobody took you seriously?

You voiced out these concerns to your parents, and they helped you forget your worries with words of affirmation and good food.

You had been chosen to be a part of the team as the captain. You were on shooting guard. You were introduced to your new teammates on the same day.

Minji and Yunjin were the point guard and small forward. Your other teammates were Tzuyu (center) and Haseul (power forward). Yeojin and Yeji were the subs.

You quickly became closely acquainted with Minji and Yunjin since they were with you during most of the tryouts.

Your teammates were lovely. You found yourself enjoying your time with them. None of them seemed to be having any problems with you being the Captain. In fact, they were happy you were the one to lead them.

Your parents were right, you just needed a change of environment.

Over the next few days, you and Riki saw each other more often.

The boys team had been spending a lot of time preparing for their match. It was an important match, which you understood after seeing Riki the other day.

You would often walk in on them playing in the court. Although the two of you weren’t on bad terms, Riki couldn’t find the courage to talk to you; not after you had seen him cry.

Only Jungwon and Sunoo had ever seen him cry before, you being the only other person. He felt comfortable around you.

He didnt know why he did. Maybe it was your voice, the way you spoke so softly to him, the way you didnt make fun of him for crying, the way you were there to help him, even after the two of you bickered often.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jungwon’s voice broke him out of his train of thoughts. He smiled at his friend.

“Nothing. I was just thinking about the girls team.” Jungwon raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you thinking about the girls team or the girl’s team captain?” He smirked, watching his best friend's ears turn red.

“Stop it, Won.”

The older boy crossed his arms. “Why do you think about her so often?”

Riki didn’t know how to answer. “I- I don't know. Just probably because I see her sometimes.”

“You see her almost all the time, Riki.”

“Right.”

xiii.

“What's this for?”

Riki had just placed a juice box beside you, and sat next to you on the bench. Looking anywhere else but at you, he said, “Just a.. thank you gift. Y’know, for helping me out the other day.”

You smiled, feeling warm all over. “Wow, this might just be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Nishimura.” He cleared his throat, nodding awkwardly.

“How’s practice going on? The match is in a few days right?” you were trying to make conversation.

Riki looked at you, surprised that you were continuing the conversation. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah.. yeah it's going pretty good.”

“And you? How are… you doing?” you didn't want to make him uncomfortable with your question. Riki noticed your hesitant tone, immediately wanting to make you not feel awkward about asking him. He shifted closer to you.

Your shoulders were almost touching now.

“I'm good! Good…I’ve been taking more care of myself recently, and not stressing too much. Sorry you had to see me in that state the other day. It was embarrassing.”

You shook your head. “That wasn’t embarrassing, Riki. You were being too hard on yourself, and you were having a bad day. It's normal for men to cry too, y'know.” You said, smiling, nudging your shoulder with his. Riki chuckled, and your heart leapt on seeing his smile.

“I'm just glad you didn't push me away. I was fully convinced you hated me.”, you continued.

“Hate is a strong word, you know. I think I was just intimidated by you.” You raised your eyebrows at him.

“Intimidated? By me? What for?”

‘Because you were so pretty’, he wanted to say.

“I dont know you just seemed so… intimidate-y.” You threw your head back in laughter and Riki felt like his whole body was about to combust.

After a few moments of silence, you spoke up again.

“You used to remind me of myself.” Riki looked at you.

“Oh? How come?” You twisted in your seat to sit facing him.

“Funny thing, really. When I saw you, it was like I was looking at my past self through a different pair of eyes.” Riki couldn't comprehend what you meant, so he stayed silent hoping you'd tell him without him having to ask.

“I used to be the captain of my team at my previous school too.”

Riki gasped.

“No wonder you’re so good.”

“Gee thanks. I'm flattered, Riki.” you say playfully.

“Anyways, I stopped playing after a while though.” Riki furrowed his eyebrows. “What? Why?”

“Because I was never good enough; for my coach or my teammates .”

What? Riki didn’t know how you thought that you weren’t good enough. Before he could open his mouth to tell you that he thought you were amazing, you continued.

“I uh… used to get bullied by my team and my coach.”

Riki didn't know what to say.

Now he understood why you got so sensitive at his comments.

“My previous coach was never happy with me. So I used to train extra hard. Too much even.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't know.” was all Riki could say.

You flashed him a genuine smile. “That's alright. There's no need to be sorry. Happens to the best of us.”

“I used to overwork myself too much, because I thought I wasn't up to everyone’s expectations. But I think… I think I ended up losing myself in trying to find validation from others. I lost all my passion towards my favourite game.”

Riki felt anger bubbling up inside him at the thought of your ex-coach overworking you and making you think you weren't good enough.

“I was just like you— I’d wake up at the crack of dawn to go and practice, stay late after school to practise again. It was unhealthy. I wasn't taking care of myself at all.”

You sighed, thinking about your past self. “I was always unhappy. My parents were constantly worried about me.”

“So I stopped for a while. I don't know if you could tell, but every time I saw you play, I was itching to grab the ball from you and challenge you to a one on one.” You said, earning a chuckle from the boy beside you.

He smirked, “I mean, you could still do that y’know.”

“Maybe after your game, when you're free.” You smiled at him.

“Sure, but I think we both know I'm going to win.” He challenged.

“Oh you're on, Nishimura.”

After laughing, Riki clears his throat and faces you.

“I'm sorry for all the comments I made to you. I didn't know about all this.”

You smiled at him. “That's okay. It's not like I was all nice to you either. Seeing you reminded me of myself and it wasn't that great, so I resorted to being mean to you as well. We’re both in the wrong.”

“But when I saw you break down the other day… I couldn't just leave you alone. I had no one to help me at that time, but I didn't want the same for you.”

Riki winced. “I know. But honestly, I have a great team, I have a great coach, and nothings wrong. It's just… me.”

It was your turn to listen now.

“As a child, my parents always told me to beware of the world. They told me how harsh it was. Probably too much for a kid to understand. So I closed off to anyone who tried to get close to me.”

You nodded, showing that you were listening.

“They scared me, my parents. I know they meant well, but it was too much when I was just a child. I used to think that people always wanted to take advantage of me.”

Riki chuckled dryly. “I remember giving Coach Mingyu such a hard time. Took me quite a while to open up to him. But he never said anything bad to me, which again, I thought of it as pity. So I started overworking myself, to prove to … I don't know… that I don't need anyone's pity.”

You gave him a bittersweet smile. The two of you were so similar in completely different ways and situations.

You placed your hand above his, and Riki took in a sharp breath.

“You don't need anyone's pity, Riki. You're amazing on the court. The youngest of the team being the Captain is so cool. You really need to believe in yourself more. And if you don't, I'll be here to remind you.”

Riki intertwined his fingers with yours in a silent thanks.

“You too. You seem so happy on the court. As if you're in your element, y’know?”

You smiled widely. “I'm glad.”

“Why don't we just… let this let whatever this pointless rivalry is go?”

“That…that sounds nice, I guess. I could live with not going at each other's throats everyday.” You smiled at him.

“So, friends?”

You suck in a deep breath.

“Friends.”

You didn't know how much time had passed with just you and Riki looking at each other, conveying through your eyes what words couldn't.

Just as you were going to open your mouth to ask him something, the doors of the court opened suddenly, revealing your entire friend group.

You quickly let go of Riki’s hand, jumping apart to create some more space between the two of you.

Your friends raised an eyebrow.

“Riki..? Y/N..?” Sunoo looked between the two of you as Jungwon and Hanni giggled.

“Were we interrupting something? Should we leave?” Danielle teased.

Eyes widening, you got up hurriedly, packing all your things and running towards your friends, not glancing back at Riki even once.

“No, not at all! Um.. I was just packing up guys. Let's go.”

You grabbed your two friends, dragging them away with you, rolling your eyes at their teasing.

“Ooh~ Were you guys getting all smoochy in there?”

“Shut up, oh god. I'll tell Jungwon you like him if you don't stop.”

“Oh Christ no.”

xiv.

“You like him don't you? You're thinking about him right now, don't even lie.”

You groaned. Your friends knew you too well.

“What gave it away this time?”

Hanni sighed. “You were staring off into space, and you had this lovesick grin on your face. Yuck!”

You glowered at your best friend. “As if! Not like you're any better when I call you out for daydreaming about Jungwon.”

Hanni’s cheeks turned a crimson hue as she told you to stop.

“So are you guys… dating now?” Dani asked you and you almost choked on your rice.

“Please, we’re just friends..”

She could only smirk and shrug.

“Sure. Don't blame me when I'll be saying ‘I told you so!’ at your wedding.”

“Whose wedding are we talking about?”

Sunoos' voice interrupted your conversation and the three of you widened your eyes.

Turning behind, you saw Riki, Sunoo and Jungwon standing together, mildly amused at your reactions.

“NO ONE’S!” You panicked, spluttering out any response you could think of, watching your friends giggle at you.

“Well, mind if we sit here then?” Jungwon asked sweetly.

“Yeah my hands are in pain from holding the tray for too long so move over.” Riki shooed you over to the side, making some space next to you.

You stared at him with your mouth open. “You have plenty of space on the other side. Why are you sitting here?”

“Are you like, blind? Can you not see that Jungwon wants to sit with Hanni?” He deadpanned and you smirked at your two friends who were now blushing.

“So, are you guys like dating now? You like each other right?” Sunoo asked, only making your best friend and her crush turn even more of a crimson hue.

You and your friends made fun of them, before Sunoo turned to you and Riki.

“Oh no, you guys don't get to laugh either. Last time I checked, you guys were eating each other's heads. How come you’re sending her heart eyes everytime you see her now, Riki?” your friend raised an eyebrow at his best friend.

It was your turn to flush red.

“Stop it, Sunoo. I swear if you don't, I'll tell your mum how you snuck out to go to Sunghoon’s party last week.”

He gasped.

“Oh you wouldn't.”

“Try me.”

You and Riki had gotten closer over the next few weeks.

His game against Riverwoods High had gone amazingly well. They had won the match by a stunning 17 points and Riki was declared the best player of the match.

You were proud of him, and you had let him know that you were. You knew how stressed he was since it was an important match.

You and your friends had gone to watch him play. (“A good girlfriend always supports her boyfriend during his matches, Y/N!”)

As if teasing you for going to his game wasn't enough, your friends went crazy when they saw the two of you hugging after the game, when you had gone to congratulate him.

You smiled to yourself as you remembered the way he hugged you tightly. His arms felt safe.

Sweaty, but safe.

“You look so stupid right now.”

Riki’s voice broke you out of your line of thoughts. You watched as he sat next to you on the bus, despite there being plenty of other seats for him to be seated on.

When you didn't respond immediately, he smirked. “Were you daydreaming? What the hell, Y/N that's so dumb.”

Scoffing, you hit his shoulder and watch him wince in slight pain. “Shut your mouth, pretty boy.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Although you weren't looking at his face, you knew he was smirking ever so slightly at your words.

“Don't get ahead of yourself, yeah? We wouldn't want that big head of yours to explode now.” You lightly patted his cheeks as you got up to get down, Riki following behind you.

“Well for the record, I think you're very pretty too.”

God, he wasn't going to make this whole friendship thing a lot easy, was he?

Unbeknownst to you, it was only going to get a whole lot worse from there.

While the two of you maintained a good friendship, you equally had your playful moments too. You would often play harmless pranks on him (and his team members), resulting in a prank war that would sometimes put you in detention, giggling as you both tried to keep a straight face when the teacher lectured you against your ‘unruly behaviours’.

“Sometimes I wish the two of them would just go back to being enemies.” Danielle complained one day, after seeing how sickeningly cute you and Riki looked, reading a book together in the library.

“Not me. I'm just glad I don't have to listen to Riki admire her from afar and keep denying it.” Jungwon sighed as he thought about the two of you.

xv.

Basketball was going well for you.

Word had soon spread in the school about how good you were, and soon enough, you had guys chasing after you and their girlfriends hating on you.

Although you couldn't be bothered, sometimes you wished they would leave you alone.

“Okay team! I’ve got exciting news for you today.” Mingyu’s voice echoed through the court as you and your teammates stood in a line in front of the older man.

“We’ve gotten our first match of the season.”

As soon as the words had left his lips, multiple reactions were given.

Yeji and Tzuyu gasped, along with some excited whispers from Yeojin. Minji and Yunjin stayed silent along with you, but smiled, happy to finally be able to play a match.

Your first match of the season.

Naturally, you were nervous. Being the Team Captain, your responsibilities would increase only more from then on. You wanted to do well.

You wanted your team to do well.

“First game of the season? That's amazing! I'm so excited for you, oh my gosh!” Your friends squealed in excitement.

“We’ll be there to cheer you on the whole time, okay?” Hanni hugged you.

Although it wasn't a very important game, it was your first game.

Your first game after you had stopped.

Your first game with a new team, a new coach and new friends.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Riki walked over to where you were seated. You grinned at the boy. Somehow his presence always made you feel a lot more at ease.

“I was just…thinking about our upcoming match.”

Riki’s eyes lit up at the mention of your match. “Oh yeah! I was gonna ask you about it. How do you feel?”

You took a deep breath. “Honestly, I don’t know. It's pretty weird. I'm excited, but at the same time, I'm also extremely worried.”

The boy beside you nodded, urging you to continue.

“It's my second first game. You know what I mean right- And I'm the captain. I…sometimes I doubt myself. I wonder if Coach made the right decision in making captain. I keep wondering how long it'll take for my teammates, and my friends, and…you, to be disappointed in me.”

Riki frowned at your words. “You're not disappointing anyone here, Y/N. You're doing such a great job.”

You let out a long sigh at his words, not sure whether you could trust yourself to believe him.

You felt a hand on top of yours and your eyes widened, looking at the boy who was smiling at you.

Badump. Badump.

Why was your breath hitching in your throat? Why did he make you feel like you were burning all over but safe, just by taking your hand in his?

“I’m proud of you, I really am. I know you’re still recovering from what those assholes have done, but trust me when I say that you're doing so well.”

You felt your eyes brimming up with tears, and tried to blink them back.

“And I promise to come watch your game, okay? I’ll be there to cheer you on, along with our friends.”

Our friends.

You smiled at him, intertwining your fingers with his.

Riki felt his heartbeat increase at your action. He noticed the tears threatening to fall down your face and brought up his other hand to wipe it away, moving closer to you to do so. Placing a stray hair behind your eyes, Nishimura Riki looked into your eyes.

Your eyes which were filled with fear, worry, hope…and another emotion which he quite couldn't name.

Riki watched as you took your hand out of his, and wrapped your arms around his neck. The smell of your perfume took over his senses, almost putting him in a daze. Coming back to his senses, he hugged you back, wrapping his arms around your waist.

You let out a deep breath when you felt him hugging you back, smiling when you felt him nudge his nose into your shoulder.

‘I've got you…I’ve got you.’

He hoped you had fallen for him just as bad as he had.

xvi.

“We need to do something about Y/N and Riki ASAP.”

Hanni, Jungwon, Sunoo and Danielle were sick of seeing the two of you being oblivious to each other.

Jungwon had known all along that you would become someone important to Riki.

The moment Riki had asked him about you, he was curious as to why his best friend had suddenly taken an interest in a new girl.

“You’re right. I can’t stand watching them like this.” Dani nodded along with the rest of them.

Sunoo suddenly gasped. “What if we set them up together? Me and Jungwon can tell Riki that Y/N has something to tell him at the rooftop and you guys tell Y/N that he has something to tell her. Make it seem like they're going to confess to each other, you get what I'm saying right?”

Hanni grinned, “That sounds like a good plan. I'll text Y/N right now. She's probably gotten out of class just now.”

Taking her phone out of her pocket, Hanni sent you a message.

hanney: Y/N!!

hanney: Y/NNNNNNNNNNNN

hanney: GIRL

hanney: CAN YOU ONLINE

yn: YES OMG WHAT IS IT

hanney: omg u will not believe what i heard

yn: ????

hanney: i overheard riki telling jungwon he wants to confess to you today

Your heart began to pace.

yn: what

yn: dont play w me rn

hanney: i swear i'm not!!! Jungwon even told me later on to tell u to meet him at the rooftop in 15 mins.

yn: fine i'll go. but istg if this is some sort of joke I WILL KILL U.

hanney: u got this baby (pls trust me i'm not joking)

yn: im omw to the rooftop rn

hanney: yayayayayayaya i'm excited 4 u

yn: ok im here

yn: why is he with another girl um

hanney: WHAT

Hanni looked up from her phone, panicking. “Jungwon you told Riki to meet Y/N at the rooftop right?”

Jungwon furrowed his brows, checking his texts. “Yeah. He’s already there.”

“Why is he with another girl who isnt Y/N then?” Jungwon’s eyes widened.

“Oh shit.”

You watched as Riki kindly smiled at the girl who was trying to conversate with him. You noticed he was trying to look around like he was trying to look for someone, but since you were hiding behind one of the panels, he couldn't see you.

You were used to seeing Riki being approached by girls before, but why did it bother you only now?

Maybe it was because you saw him smile at her, the same way he smiled at you.

Maybe it was because you thought he was only like that with you and no one else.

You took a deep breath. What were you even thinking? He probably didn't like you back anyway. Hanni must've misheard. Why would he choose you over so many girls who wanted him?

You quietly went back down, trying not to be disappointed. You were glad school was over, you weren't in the mood to talk to anyone

The bus ride home was sour. As if the sky knew what had happened, drops of rain started falling down, as if matching your mood. The pitter patter of the raindrops was oddly comforting.

Your mum had noticed how you were feeling. It didn't take her much to understand that something was bothering you.

“Boy problems?”

Her voice startled you. You were sitting against the windowsill, watching the water create puddles on the street.

You sat up straight.

“Um… yeah, I guess. How’d you know?”

She chuckled at you, taking a seat on your bed. “I've been your age too, honey. Doesnt take a genius for someone to know their daughters having boy problems. So… who's the lad who has the honour of being liked by you?”

You giggled at your moms words, and began fiddling with your fingers at the thought of Riki. “He’s uh… His name is Riki. He’s a basketball player, just like me.” You watched your mum’s eyes light up as you told her every small detail you could remember about the boy.

You told her how you thought he liked you back and had promised to come watch your game.

And about what had happened earlier today.

“I think he likes you a lot, Y/N.”

You looked at your mom, not sure what to say. A part of you wanted to believe her, but what if he was just playing with your feelings?

“Honey, you helped him when he was having a rough time, and he made sure to be there for you when you weren't feeling alright. If he really didn't like you, he wouldn't have bothered to even look back when he saw you doubting yourself.”

“And what you saw today was probably just a misunderstanding. You do realise that him just talking to other girls doesn't necessarily mean he's interested in them right?” You nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“It's nothing to be embarrassed about, okay? I'm always here if you want to talk about your boyfriend” She teased you and you whined telling her to stop.

The following few days went by in a haze.

You had so much going on. Your match was in a week, you were confused about Riki (did he actually like you back or was everyone just feeding into your delusions?).

Placing your thoughts about Riki locked away in your brain, you decided to focus on what was important.

Your match.

You had been going back to your old ways, waking up early to practice for unhealthy hours. You knew it was bad, but you needed to be perfect.

Your friends were worried about you. You had not been responding to their messages or calls, and you weren't being yourself.

Overwhelmed by your thoughts and worries about it, you fell asleep, not realising Riki had sent you a bunch of texts asking what had happened to you and whether you were alright.

xvii.

The next morning, you left for the community centre. You were going to practice for a while before you volunteered with the kids.

You were in good shape, but you needed to be the best.

You shot a 3 pointer, it barely made it into the hoop. Fuck.

What if this happened during the game? What if it didn't go in and your team lost, all because of you?

What if you embarrassed yourself in front of everyone and your teammates hated you?

You crumbled to the ground, succumbing to your anxiety.

“So… is this why you've been ignoring my texts?” Riki’s voice filled your ears.

Though it would've been a comfort to you on other days, today was not any other day. Hearing his voice didn't make you feel warm all over like it usually did. Instead, you didn't want to hear it at all.

You chose to ignore what he said, head still in your hands. You stiffened, feeling a figure crouching in front of you. You were afraid to open your eyes and look at him

“Leave me alone, Riki.” You hated how weak your voice sounded.

Riki looked at you, worried. He knew you were anxious about the upcoming match, but he didnt know it was this bad.

He reached out for your arm, gently, only to have it smacked away by you.

“Hey..is everything okay? I'm here for you.”

You wanted to believe him, you really did.

But he was probably just lying to you, just lying to make you feel better. You felt your worry being replaced by anger.

“You’re lying.”

Riki looked shocked. Your tone had changed.

“Wh-what?”

You slowly got up. “You're lying to me. You couldn't care less about me. You're just saying it to make me feel better.”

Riki didn't know what to say. He tried reaching out for your hand for you to once again move away from him.

“Y/N, I do care about you, so much that-”

“Save it, Nishimura.”

Riki felt hurt. He was worried about you. When Jungwon had told him to go up to the rooftop because you wanted to tell him something, he couldn't help but feel giddy.

He had thought maybe you were going to say that you felt the same way about him as he felt about you.

But you never showed up.

“Y/N, I know you're worried about the match but don't push yourself away from me– us, please. We’re all here for you. Danielle told me you weren't responding to anyones texts.”

You felt guilty. But you didn't want him to know that.

“It's none of your business, really. Now just leave me alone.”

Riki wanted to be patient with you, he really did. But he couldn't help but start to get annoyed with you. He wasn't very good with staying calm but he wanted to try for you.

“Look, I came here because you didnt show up the other day at the rooftop, essentially ditching me and I was worried about you and your mom told me you would be here.”

Oh great. Of course she did.

“I'm trying to help you, but you're not making it very easy–”

“Oh so it's my problem now?” You found yourself raising your voice at him.

Riki’s eyes widened. “NO! No, I– That came out wrong.”

“Seriously, just leave.” You glared at him.

You couldn't bring yourself to make eye contact with him. He was clearly hurt. Giving you one last look, he walked out of the court, deciding to leave you alone.

After you had calmed down, you realised what you had done.

‘He was only trying to help.’

Burying your head in your hands again, you felt overwhelmed with guilt. You didn't know why you had gotten so defensive and closed off.

You wanted to run up to him and say sorry. Would he even forgive you?

You felt terrible the whole day. A part of you wanted to check on him and ask him if he was still mad at you for lashing out on him.

You didn't mean to lash out on him. Remembering the way Riki looked hurt when you raised your voice at him, you groaned.

Just as you were about to get out of your bed to go and grab a glass of water, you heard the bell ring.

Opening it, you saw your two best friends standing outside, a bright smile on their faces and a bag of what looked like snacks.

“Hey. We wanted to check up on you since you weren’t responding to any of us.”

You waited one, two, three seconds before letting the exhaustion, frustration and guilt take over you and fall into both of their arms, crying.

Hanni and Danielle were understanding.

They understood what you were going through and let you let everything out.

“Oh honey, we’re so sorry if you felt like you couldnt tell us.” Danielle hugged you tight and you reciprocated the hug, mumbling thank yous into the air.

“Riki had texted us, telling us to check on you. We were planning on doing it anyway but he seemed really worried about you.” You straightened up the moment Hanni mentioned Riki.

“He…asked about me?”

Your friends looked bewildered. “Yeah he did. Why are you surprised?”

You hung your head, guilt creeping back in. “I sort of…lashed out on him a few days ago. He came to check on me but I was not feeling it and I took out all my anger and stress on him. I really thought he’d be mad at me forever now.”

Hanni looked at Danielle, as if putting together two pieces of a puzzle. “Oh no wonder he’s been rather…disturbed lately. We thought it was because he just missed you or something.”

Danielle sat next to you on the bed. “And… we’ve missed you too y’know. We know the game is important to you but you're important to us. And we’ve been worried about you.”

You looked at your friends and mumbled a ‘sorry’. Hanni and Dani both hugged you. “You've got us, okay? It's okay, just breathe.”

You were grateful for your friends a lot of the time, and now was another one of those times. Hugging them back tight, you took in a deep breath.

“Thank you.”

xviii.

You hadn’t seen Riki for the next two days.

You thought you had probably missed him during classes since you were so busy with preparing for your game, but Jungwon told you that he had not come to school. He hadn't even texted.

It worried you. Was he alright? Could something have happened to him?

Was he even going to come to your game? You weren't even sure he would come after you had lashed out at him.

The thought of Riki not being at your game made you feel uneasy.

The next day, you walked into the court to see all your teammates ready and waiting. You looked at them, a bit confused.

“Oh, am I late? I thought we were going to meet here at 11? Or did I miss any messages?” You kept your bag down and took out your shoes, tying the laces.

“Nope. We just wanted to be early to surprise our captain and show her we’re more than ready for today's game.” Yunjin smiled.

Haseul came up behind her and offered you a bottle of water.

“We already warmed up, Cap. Thought we’d save you the trouble.” She chirped and you smiled at them, taking a few sips of the water.

“Okay then, let’s wait for everyone to start coming in.”

After you did a slight warm up, Mingyu walked in and gave everyone a pep talk and instructed everyone about the game. You listened with attention, not wanting to miss out any points.

Around 1pm, everyone had started to fill in the seats. You saw your friends crowd around the front of the seats. They wanted the best seats to see you.

Hanni had yet another banner in her hand and you giggled when you saw it, sending a heart to your friends as Jungwon and Sunoo cheered for you.

You scanned the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tall, black haired boy you had been hoping so dearly to see, only in vain. You told yourself that he would probably show up once the game was about to start.

xix.

He did not show up even after the game started.

The seats were mostly filled up, but the one person you wanted so badly to be there wasnt to be seen anywhere.

A shrill whistle broke you out of your thoughts.

The game was about to start.

Glancing at your teammates, you all took your positions, nodding at each other in a silent ‘good luck’.

You looked at your opposing team. They looked pretty confident, but you were more confident that you could beat them. You believe in yourself and in your team.

Another whistle and the ball was now up in the air.

You had forty minutes to prove your worth to everyone watching.

You leaped forward and jumped to grab the ball, watching the other team captain copy your movements in an attempt to grab the ball from you.

But you were quicker in catching it mid-air.

Now your team had the upper hand.

Your teammates quickly rushed to try to surround you to make it easier for you to get to your position.

Finding an opportunity to pass it to Tzuyu, you dribbled closer to her and passed the ball to her. She made her way towards the hoop, passing it to Haseul on the way.

You took your place near the two point box and signalled that you were open and ready. Haseul tried passing the ball to Minji but the ball was taken mid throw by the other team. You frowned. They were really quick to dribble the ball around the court to their hoop.

You signalled for your teammates to surround the opposing team and try to get the ball back in your possession. Right as they tried to score a point, Minji leaped forward to grab the ball and succeeded.

Your team scored first with a clean shot by Yunjin, who scored a two pointer. The room erupted in cheers as you gave her a thumbs up and Haseul patted her on the back.

The game continued with your team leading. You had scored 18 points so far with the scoreboard reading 26-20. The opposing team was closing in on you guys. It wouldn't be far before they caught up. You needed to step up your game.

Your team walked to where Mingyu was standing. He looked pleased with the outcome so far, but he was still very strict with his rules. He needed you guys to win that trophy. Although it was just the first game of the season, he wanted both his teams to start out well.

As Mingyu instructed your teammates on what to improve and how to identify more weak spots of the other team, you looked towards where your friends were sitting, smiling at them when they sent you signs of cheer and love.

Your eyes flickered towards the entrance door as you saw it open. Your breath hitched when you saw the person you had been longing to see for so long.

He had come after all.

Not wanting to get distracted by him, you quickly look away to avoid eye contact, deciding to talk to him after you had won the game.

Soon, the game had begun again.

The second half of the game went smoother than the first half.

Until the opposing team suddenly started getting so much better. It was almost like you guys didnt have the ball in possession anymore. They were scoring points after points after points and it was stressing you out, making you miss shots.

You were down to the last 5 minutes of the game with the score being 63-65 with your team leading. The ball was in the opposing team's possession.

You had been observing their strategy. They would try to play rough and make quick movements to steal the ball from your hands. And the sequence was always the same. Most of the shots were made by their shooting guard, Seeun, who was assisted by their power forward, Asa.

Realising that they had only one strategy, you quickly motioned Minji and Yunjin to block those two players, smirking when you saw them look at each other, confidence clearly crumbling now that their strategy was uncovered.

Yunjin noticed one of their teammates trying to pass it to Asa and jumped in and caught the ball in her hands. You let out a small cheer and ran towards your position near your hoop, watching as Haseul and Yunjin took turns passing the ball to each other and finally passed it to you.

You glanced at the clock, which showed that you only had a few seconds left before the game ended.

It was now or never.

From where you stood behind the arc, you jumped up, praying to whatever god was out there and letting the ball go from your hands.

It was as if time slowed down as you watched the ball fly to the hoop. The whole court watched in silence as the ball hit the box on the board and fell into the hoop, scoring a perfect 3-pointer.

The room erupted in cheers. Your teammates screamed in joy as you stood there, not fully processing that you had just won the game.

The girls ran to you and lifted you up in the air on their shoulders and you came back to reality, laughing out loud.

You had won. You had actually done it.

As your teammates dropped you back onto the ground, you hugged them tightly. They had all played so well and you wouldn't have won if it wasn't for them.

After celebrating with your team, you ran towards your coach and smiled when he gave you the biggest smile along with a hug, congratulating you on your first win of many more to come.

You ran to where your friends were and gave all of them the biggest hug you could. If it wasn't for their support, you wouldn't have even been able to reach this. You saw Hanni and Danielle tearing up a bit and you felt yourself tearing up too.

“I love you guys so much.”

“We love you too honey, but I think you've got someone else to say that to.” Your friends pointed towards someone behind you and you didn't need them to tell you who it was as you saw Riki walking towards where you were standing with your friends.

“Okay, we’ll leave you two alone then.”

Riki smiled at you, clearly thrilled at the outcome of your first match. You could only smile back even wider, running towards him and wrapping your arms around his shoulder as he wrapped his around your waist, giving you a bear hug.

“I'm so proud of you, Y/N.”

You tore away from the hug and looked at him with teary eyes. You couldn't believe he had shown up to your game.

“I- I thought you werent gonna come watch.” You sniffed, his arms still holding you close.

“Why? What made you think that way? Did you really think I was going to miss my most favourite girl’s match?” He said, and your heart leapt.

“You were absent for days and I thought you would be mad at me for lashing out on you the other day and you didnt show up for the first half of the game so I kind of…thought you werent going to show up.” You frowned.

Riki brought up a hand to remove some of the hair that was sticking to your forehead. “Sorry about that by the way,” He sighed. “My grandma fell sick so I had to stay home to take care of her. She’s much better now, which is why I am currently standing in front of you.”

You grinned at him, before remembering you had to apologise for shouting at him.

“Riki, I'm so sorry about the other day. I was stressed but I know that was no reason to lash out at you. And Im sorry I ditched you that day on the rooftop. I did come there but you were with another girl so I got...jealous and ran away. I understand if you're mad at m-”

You couldn't finish what you were saying because Riki had had enough of your rambling. His lips were pressed against yours in the most gentle way possible and you felt your heart beating out of its cage.

He pulled back after a few seconds and placed his forehead on yours. “I know. It's okay, you weren't feeling your best, and I'm not mad at you at all, okay?”

You were incapable of saying anything to him because you were so dazed from feeling his lips on yours.

“You didnt let me kiss you back.” You murmured, too quietly for the boy in front of you to hear properly.

“What?”

You looked into his eyes, occasionally flickering back to his lips and feeling your breath hitching in your throat as you saw him reciprocate your actions.

“I said, let me kiss you back, doofus.” And your lips were on his again, which he gladly welcomed, smiling into the kiss.

It was as if everything fell into place when your lips met. His lips moulded with yours so softly which contrasted the way he held you close to him. He held you to him as if he was scared that if he let go, you would disappear.

You couldn't have asked for a better first kiss. Although it was a bit awkward at first, it melted into something so pure and full of the love that you held for each other. Riki rubbed small circles on your hip, making you feel dizzy from all the attention he was giving you.

Pulling away to breathe, you kept your faces close as the two of you broke out into wide grins.

“Oh and by the way, that girl you saw at the rooftop was asking for Sunoo hyung’s number, not mine. So youve got nothing to worry about, Im all yours.” He clarified.

All yours. You liked the sound of that.

“So…I read all the signals correctly right? You like me back?” He asked you and you could only nod, still feeling high from the kiss and your win.

“Yes I do, dumbass.” You giggled and gave him another peck for good measure.

He pulled away a bit so he could see your face properly. “So then you'll be my amazing, talented, basketball girlfriend?”

“If you say so.”

Riki couldn't help but let out another wide smile at your response, hugging you again before leaving a kiss on your forehead.

Unbeknownst to the two of you, your friends had been watching the two of you from afar, squealing as they saw the two of you kiss.

“Ugh, finally. Took them months to do this.” Sunoo laughed, the rest of them nodding in agreement. Danielle smirked, looking at Jungwon and Hanni.

xx.

“Now it's your turn.”

AND THATS THE END!!! If youve made it till here, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I rlly hope you liked it :)

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