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Unlike every other girl, Jiae didn't lie when she said she wanted to drop out of school and become a stripper. Well, partially. Because the part about dropping out was truer than her conscience about not tripping the mens' team's pivot every single time in the court. And for the STRIPPER part….she just didn't know any other job that could replace the former.
Jiae wanted to do a lot of things. But transferring to a new school wasn't something in the middle of the school year (and the seasons approaching) she'd quite included in her list. But that happened to be just what both her father and brother had on the top of theirs.
"You ARE going to SM High and that's final. End of argument," is what her father had sternly said as a reply to her continuous hissy fits during dinner, and the best her brother could do was to give her an apologetic look. Even he didn't know when their father had decided to transfer her to the same school as him.
As Jiae walked through the halls of her new high school, often helplessly glancing at her brother who seemed like his sister would disappear if he took his eyes off for a split second. None of them knew why their father was suddenly so dead set on enrolling her into the town's best sports school. Perhaps it was the sports scholarship they had offered, or it could also be Mr. Lee's new job as the boy's team's coach or it could just be both her father or brother's last push for controlling her somewhat unruly behaviour.
In her defense, athleticism and competitiveness ran through each and every vein of Jiae's body. Belonging from a family full of athletes, handball players to be precise, was the reason the year 10 didn't realise that she was supposedly a different breed when she had decided to take up dodging a leather ball into the net while all the other girly girls her age preferred sticking to the benches of the school's ground without a single doubt. And according to her mother, one should do whatever tugs at his heartstrings. But studying gave her some major and minor heart attacks every now and then, so that was a no no.
And everything was just 180 degrees different as soon as her feet touched the court's rubber surfaced wooden platform. The quietest girl of her year flew like a bird, dribbled across like a storm and there was perhaps no one who could stop her from snatching the ball and do what she was here for: winning. Jiae was viciously fast (in her brother's words), accurate and calculative, even though she was constantly on the run. Worst part? She wouldn't mind using a rule or two into her advantage and just uhm...made sure to make the ball hit the lower part of an opponent's leg.
She was no angel, so why not be the devil? Jiae was unstoppable, sometimes (all the time, in Jeno's opinion) if she had set her mind on something. She was stubborn, she knew she was good and took great pride in it, and still somewhat managed to keep her little feet planted hard on the ground. Unlike everyone around her, Lee Jiae kept her hopes and ambitions strictly limited to the court and making herself (and her family) proud.
And this was perhaps the reason why her former school decided to keep up with her. Even when she had stuck a chewing gum into a JYP player's hair after realising the latter had faked a foul play. Or the time when she had refused to take the court after the referee had (very much intentionally) misjudged her throw.
