Her Captain, The Gamemaster

Inner Peace Is The New Success

After they stared at me for a solid 10 seconds, they broke out in laughter. Shocked, I laughed with them.

'I've never had a group of friends before,' I think back to the bad memories of elementary in Seoul and erase them with my newfound happiness.

I feel golden as I laughed with my new friends.

'Sometimes family sucks, don't they?'

I turn to Annie. 'Yeah, they do,' and we shared a smile.

'ANYWAY,' Esme yelled. 'What's the main branch like?'

'It's really big and most of the students are from other parts of China. It's located only a little south of Guangzhou so most of the students live in the city. It's a right angle between Taishan and Guangzhou,' I joke.

The triplets giggle but I hear Annie mutter 'Not math,' and I laugh again.

'Most of the students are the descendants of the previous royals or noble families so they're all rich and well-educated. Most of them are quite talented as well,' I continue.

'Wow, the capital IS for the smart kids. Every XinShan school has their own theme. Like South Korea focuses on practical arts like acting, singing and stuff,'  Wren notes.

'Yea what's your IQ? I heard everyone at the main branch has to get tested,' Isla asks.

'There's no passing score for IQ because they don't care about IQ, only potential. I think my IQ was 167 but I can't seem to apply any of it to math,'

They share a laugh again. 'It happens. We have an IQ of 182 but we can't understand English Lit. or art at all. Supposedly, we don't have an cReAtIvE sIde and our teacher thought it was important to know how to draw ugly dogs chasing bees or whatever,'

There was another round of laughter. 'You guys are really intuitive though. I saw you guys block. You didn't let a single ball pass and your synchronization is so smooth,'

'Hehe, between the three of us, Wren's better at receiving, Esme's better at tossing and I mostly attack but blocking-wise, we are all on the same level,'

'Wow, I didn't even notice the differences,' Annie gaped.

'It's almost invisible unless you're us,' Esme nodded in agreement.

Annie puts away her water bottle and stands up. 'Well, first day is over. Coach is packing up everything,'

They begin to pack up their stuff while chatting and I poke the sleeping girl on my lap.

*Li's POV*

I wake up from another short nap, slightly irritated but I can't do anything about it. I'll just sleep earlier tonight. Or wake up later tomorrow. Same thing.

I get up and I take note of the presence of the other first-years. Soo-ah makes friends quick. She's very likeable but she can never find much similarities between her and the other people in China.

I blindly packed my bag and wait for Soo-ah, who was waiting for the other girls. I sigh, a little bit too loudly and they turned to look at me, which I try to ignore.

'Umm, ready?' Soo-ah asks.

There was a chorus of yeses and we depart the benches. Like usual, I walk next to Soo-ah, trying to sleep while walking (hun i've tried and it's never ended right). I enter my realm of silence and doze off, following Soo-ah.

*Soo-ah's POV*

'Umm, Soo-ah?'

I turn back to face the other four. Annie points at Li and I giggle in realization. 'Li sleeps a lot. It's fine though. She can navigate herself pretty well,'

They nod, slightly confused.

'Do you guys live near?' I ask.

'Uh yeah, I live two streets away,' Annie replied.

'How about you three?'

'We live in an apartment complex in the next neighborhood,'

My eyes widen. 'That's so far! You guys shouldn't be walking the streets alone at night!'

I gesture to the setting sun but they giggle. 'It's ok. We know how to protect ourselves and I doubt anyone can handle us,' Wren laughed, holding up her fists.

I chuckle before Isla reflected my question. 'What about you?'

'Oh, Li and I live just down the street,' I point outside the nearing gates.

'You guys live together?' Esme asks.

'Yupp, we've always had sleepovers and can handle each other pretty well,' I explain.

As we reached the school gates, we paused to say goodbye. The triplets were heading to the left, Annie, the right and we were heading straight forward.

'Get home safe!' I yell at them as they waved back.

I then begin walking back to my new home with Li who was still in her own universe. I tug her sleeve and she begins walking. I smile as I stare at the sky, hands behind my head. 

'Today was good,' I think.

*Li's POV*

Really?

My friend let out a short laugh and smiled at me in reply.

'Yes, Li,' she said telepathically, grinning cheekily at me.

In what way?

'Well, we made the team, met people with promise and you said you've almost found the roof, didn't you?'

I guess.

We arrived home in silence but as I set my bag down on the table, I motion for Soo-ah to shower first. She nodded and I prepared dinner. I made a simple wonton dish with Hong Kong-style egg noodles. I took out some instant milk tea and prepared two hot cups for me and Soo-ah, putting in fresh hot boba pearls.

By the time I finish, Soo-ah had already come down and was rummaging through her bag. I looked at her to tell her that dinner was ready and she takes her bowl from the marble countertop.

We sit down at the dinner table, eating in silence but after a few minutes, Soo-ah stopped eating and looked at me. I looked up at her, tilting my head with question marks in my eyes.

'What's your opinion of this school?'

I shrug.

Same old, same old.

'Really?'

Takeshima is quite basic.

'You chose to come here,' she says with a deadpan expression.

School work aside, the only thing interesting is volleyball.

'I'm assuming you've already covered the entire syllabus,'

Most of them. Except science.

She let out a laugh. 'Of course. And what about our new teammates?'

I think for a second, contemplating my answer, not really knowing what to say about the girls I haven't even looked at yet nor do I know their names.

'They seem interesting. Six first-years? Let's take the regular positions,'

*Soo-ah's POV*

Hearing those words, I know that Li meant the other girls as well, not just the two of us and I feel a smirk etch its way to my face.

I grab my mug containing the milk tea and I bump it against Li's.

'Let's win nationals,'

Author's Note:

no message today. feel kinda nauseous

ehh who cares

thxx.