Love, Betray & Crash (Jeonghan)

𝔸𝕔𝕥 𝕆𝕟𝕖 : 𝕊𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕖 𝟙𝟙

Emily is nervous.

She closes her eyes and breathes in heavily before slowly letting the breath out.

It's common for her to get nervous before her matches but for some reason, she is nervous than usual today. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that all of her friends and nearly everyone she knows at this University is going to be watching her compete live.

Undoubtedly, the strong marketing campaign that the student council ran worked brilliantly in their favor because the Sebong school population is definitely very hyped for the upcoming swimming matches. Emily would have never imagined in her wildest dreams that swimming would become a popular sport here.

Emily stands up from the bench in the locker's room and puts on her latex swimming cap on her head. Around her are her fellow competitors, including Yejune, all of whom are focused on their pre-match routine.

Today's is just her very first match in this five day tournament. The 200m freestyle swim.

Not only is there pressure on her to win but today's match will also help determine her opponents and potential competitors for the upcoming Asian Games in the summer. Emily knows that she will see half of the people here today at the Asian Games, so she is treating this collegiate tournament like a pre-game for the Asian Games.

Truth to be told, Emily has been feeling strangely very optimistic for her upcoming matches for the ext few days. Of course, nerves are to be expected but her usual overthinking and anxiety has been relaxed for the past few days.

Strange

Someone comes into the ladies locker room to announce its time to come out and Emily puts her hands on her hips and breathes out before walking towards the door, all the girls around the room following the same.

Today her competitors are eight other girls. A freshmen from Sebong, Yejune and another girl from Korean National University, two Japanese girls, one of which is a national record holder in Japan, two girls from China, both of whom are also on the national team, and lastly a girl from Singapore. The competition is fierce and judging by the tense environment in the locker room, everyone here knows how cut- throat it is.

When Emily walks out, she is greeted by cheers and claps from the audience, most of whom is filled with Sebong students. She looks up at the crowd and spots her friends sitting near the front, looking down from the second floor as they waved down at her and yelled words of encouragement. A smile spread on Emily's face and she gives them a tiny wave in return.

As she is approaching her assigned lane, Emily comes across Joo-hyuck in the crowd. He makes eye contact with her offers her a bright smile, mouthing good luck. Emily smiles back at him and mouths back a thank you.

Unknown to the two, Yejune watches the entire encounter with a frowned face from the side.

When the crowd has settled and all the girls have taken their positions, Emily takes one last glance at her competitors. She feels a different wave of confidence flow in her blood today. Emily knows she is definitely going to come in the top four, if not top three. Judging by her timings and her improvements, the only two people who can realistically beat her are Yejune and the national record holder from Japan, who is favored to win.

Emily slides down the goggles down her face and on top of her eyes and bends down in position to get ready to dive in.

The pool is so silent that you could hear the birds outside as everyone holds in their breath, waiting for the referee to fire the pistol, signaling the beginning of the race. This is the part Emily despises the most. It always creates the most unnecessary butterflies in her stomach.