deja vu || PURINZ

chapter 4: be my girlfriend

Yunjin joined the gang at the cafeteria for their regular lunch date. Regardless of whether there was practice or not, they'd hang out every weekday at their usual table during their break. Yunjin, Yena, Kazuha, Eunbi and Yuri since the year before, Garam and Eunchae were their newest additions to their group since the school semester started a few weeks ago.

When the couple joined the team, Yunjin found out that Garam and Eunchae had been dating for a while. They're high school sweethearts just like she and Chaewon used to be. Sometimes watching the two of them together brought back memories with Chaewon that she would like to forget. But Yunjin knew she couldn't be bitter like that, so she tried to avoid those feelings whenever she could. After all, they're adorable and the goalkeeper had a particular soft spot for both of them.

"Soooo, do we hate her or not?" Kazuha unceremoniously asked after sitting down next to Yunjin.

"What do you mean?"

"The kids told us you and Chaewon talked after practice and you haven't said a word about it yet, so we don't know where we stand here." Yena clarified and Yunjin resisted the urge to roll her eyes at them. Like, seriously, would she ever get any privacy? But okay, it's fine, at least that's a good chance for her to put an end to this matter once and for all.

"Oh, right, we talked. And we, well..." Yunjin took a quick glance at Eunbi who was sitting in the farthest corner of the table, effectively making an effort to avoid eye contact with the rest of the group. "We don't hate her."

"Yes!" Yuri cheerfully quipped. "I know she was like, awful to you or something, but she seems pretty nice." Kazuha cast a repressing glance at her best friend's girlfriend. "Nice- I mean, as far as possible, I guess, considering everything and... stuff." She stuttered, trying to make it sound better. "She's pretty kind and patient with us, and she also has some great tips too. With all due respect to Coach Bae and- and you, of course, but I think she can really help us out this season."

"She wasn't... awful. She just broke up with me." Yunjin was trying to be reasonable. She thought long and hard about it and had come to the conclusion that if she acted like it wasn't a big deal, soon enough her friends would also act the same way. "That's not a crime, as far as I know."

"But it should be." Kazuha deadpanned.

"Still, breaking up by letter was a shitty thing to do." Eunchae absently remarked.

"Oh, great! So everyone knows about this too, even the kids?" Yunjin snapped, throwing a disapproving glance at the rest of the group.

"We're not kids." Garam protested, but she was gracefully dismissed with a hand wave. The nickname had already been adopted by Coach Bae, so there was nothing they could do about it.

"Damage control group, sorry." Eunbi raised her hands in a sign of surrender. "But no one outside this table knows, I promise. And I guarantee you we'll keep it that way." The captain glared at the kids as a warning and they nodded right away.

"Are you sure we don't hate her? I'd love to kick some balls at her and pretend it's an accident." Kazuha suggested and Yunjin chuckled dismissively, mostly because she knew Kazuha wasn't joking.

"Yeah, I'm sure, please keep your shots only at the goal. And would you mind giving me some space, Kazuha? You're almost sitting on me." Yunjin complained about Kazuha's lack of sense of personal space, but she didn't listen.

"Why? Can't think straight when I'm so close?" Kazuha whispered in Yunjin's ear, causing half the table to hold back their laughter while the other half made disgusted grimaces.

"Because," Yunjin softly pushed her away, putting some distance between them. "Every time you get this close I can practically hear your groupies plotting my murder."