Hyewon// Don't Delete The Kisses

Chapter Sixteen

The way time passes always amazes me because it happens almost unnoticeably, especially when you're busy with preparations for something important. The same thing was happening once again with the basketball tournament. I barely noticed that two weeks had already passed since our victory over CUBE university and now we were on the verge of competing against JYP university in order to be able to make it to the finals. Every match we played was important but I'm sure that I've never seen the whole team so serious. Our last practice before the game wasn't as playful as always and the conversations after we finished were all about the game and how we were going to play. Everyone seemed determined to win and I could relate to that as well. 

I'm a pretty sore loser, after all. 

So, here we were once again, in the changing room before the game, but this time everything was more intense. The visitors were the same, but they were rather quiet since they could feel how focused the whole team was. At last, Hyunjin decided to say something:

"Okay, I know that we're all trying to focus on the game, but I don't think that being so quiet will help anything. We need to have energy out there, not anxiety".

"Yeah, Hyunjin's right. You guys seriously need to cheer up for a bit"- said Yerim and smiled, but Sooyoung quickly answered her:

"Well, it's pretty damn hard, considering who we're about to face. Do you guys even know who plays for the JYP team? Hwang Yeji, for example, who's one of the strongest players from this season. She's the team captain, actually, and coincidentally happens to play on the same position as me. That means that if we want to win, I'm going to have to outperform her, so don't expect me to be all energized and anxiety-free".

"God, I can't believe what I'm hearing!"- we all turned in the direction of the voice, which was clearly unexpected to hear, and it happened to be no one else but Jiwoo. She clearly looked pissed- "Ha Sooyoung! I've known you for a long time, but never in my life have I ever heard you being so pessimistic"- as she was saying this, she kept walking up to Sooyoung, who was clearly thrown off by Jiwoo's serious attitude and was backing off with each step the smaller girl took towards her- "You promised to show why you're the ace of your team, right? So what if some other girl from another university has had a good season? Does that exclude the fact that you're a good player, and that you have a good team? We might be broken up, but there is absolutely no way in which I can just sit and listen to you tearing your self-confidence down. Keep your head up high and fight until the end, even if it means that you'll have to lose!"- at this point, Sooyoung had her back against a wall and she was looking down at Jiwoo who was almost yelling with the most surprised face that I have ever seen her with. Then, she closed her eyes for almost a whole minute, opened them, and looked Jiwoo straight in the eyes, saying:

"You're right. Fuck, you're so right. I'm being a scaredy-cat, and it doesn't suit me at ALL. Alright, you dense fuckers, it's time to cheer up for a bit. Hyunjin's right"- then she looked at Jiwoo, smiled and said: "Thank you, Jiwooming. You always know the right time to yell at me". 

"Well, that's true. I'm actually very good at yelling"- Jiwoo replied and smiled as well. 

"I can bet that they'll be back together before the final of the tournament"- Jungeun whispered into my ear.

"I don't know about before the finale, but I'm sure that it will have happened by the time this term ends"- Jinsol, who must have heard Jungeun's whispering, added her opinion. 

"I think Jungeun is more accurate this time"- Chaewon joined into the conversation as well, as she was sitting beside me when Jungeun whispered and also heard everything. 

"I think so too, Jungeun, but what was the point of whispering if everyone around you heard what you said?"- I asked the older girl. 

"Not everyone, Hye. Jiwoo and Sooyoung didn't"- she replied and winked at me, which made me feel somewhat disgusted, so I turned around again.