Game Changer | Petalz 🌸🍃

Chapter XV

Upon arriving at the locker room the next day, the first thing Sakura notices is that Chaewon and Yunjin are back on speaking terms again, teasing each other and laughing like nothing bad has ever happened between them.

"Seems like things got back to normal," Kazuha whispers behind her.

Sakura glances over her shoulder, and they share a smile of relief, before making their way to their respective lockers.

"Look what Chaewonnie got me." Yunjin grins, showing Sakura the Pikachu keyring Chaewon got her yesterday with the Happy Meal. "It'll be my lucky charm," she says as she hangs it inside her locker.

"Dork." Sakura hears Chaewon mutter fondly beside her. "Okay, I'm ready. You?"

"Go ahead. I'll join you in a bit," Yunjin states, slinging her arm over Sakura's shoulder and ignoring the quizzical looks both Sakura and Chaewon give her.

"Whatever," Chaewon says with a lazy shrug.

And just as the midfielder leaves, Yunjin pulls Sakura into a side hug.

"Thanks, Kkura."

"For what?" Sakura asks, once the blonde releases her from the embrace.

"Don't play dumb." Yunjin lightly nudges her shoulder. "She hasn't told me she talked to you, but I figured it out. She would never go to McDonald's alone and who else would she drag there."

"A-ah, but I don't think I helped much, to be honest," Sakura admits.

"You definitely did. She finally opened up to me." Yunjin leans against her locker with a soft smile. "We bawled our eyes out, apologizing to each other. Well, mostly I did, but she also shed a tear or two. And she even told me how she and Minji broke up."

"Mi– eh, never mind," Sakura mutters to herself resignedly.

"Can you imagine that girl met someone else and decided to leave Wonnie?" Yunjin frowns, folding her arms across her chest. "How could she do that to her? If I ever meet her, I'll punch her in the face for breaking her heart."

Sakura hopes Yunjin never meets Minju, because she sure looks like she's delivering on that promise, and she would hate to see her end up in jail. Aside from that, it's quite endearing how unaware she is that this isn't the typical reaction of someone with purely platonic feelings.

Sakura may feel bad for Chaewon, but she's far from getting into an altercation with her ex over their break-up. Also, she's pretty sure Chaewon is more than capable of fending for herself if there's ever such need for that.

"Better just stick to punching the ball when it's necessary," Sakura says, patting the blonde on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get going."

Apparently Yunjin takes Sakura's advice to heart because during the scrimmage, she punches the ball way more often than usual and sometimes even in situations that would rather call for a catch rather than a punch.

After the training, coach Takahashi tells them he has an important announcement to make. Sakura wonders what might it be as they all sit in the locker room, waiting for him to speak.

"Chaewon," he says, and the smile that shows on his face reminds Sakura of how her dad used to smile at her whenever she made him proud. She hasn't seen that smile in years. "We've just had a call. Congratulations. South Korea wants you on their starting eleven for the next qualifying match. The club agreed, of course."

Jaw hanging slightly ajar, Chaewon stares at their coach. She clearly hasn't seen it coming. Sakura thinks she should have. She had a very good previous season, and her form was always consistent. She would lie if she said she wasn't a little jealous, but more than anything, she's happy for her.