The Boy Next Door

Focus On Me

Jinyoung and Jaebum wake up hyped as hell for the day. Its not often they play two games in one day, but its also not the first time they've done it. And what makes today even more special is that if they win both of these, plus one last game next week they're going to the chamionships.

They're confident they can make it this year. Otherwise they'll have to wait until next year and who knows what kind of obstacles they'll face then? It doesn't matter. They eat a good breakfast of eggs on toast and dress in their uniforms. They hear a  knock on the door and know it must be Mark, who said he was coming over before the game so that he can ride with them.

Every practice they've played this week since Monday they've put him on Goalie, and hes been killing it. Youngjae too has been adjusting to his new position well and they are stronger for it.

All three of them pile into the twin's car and drive to the game. The first one starts at 9 and so they get there at 8, to wait for the others. The rest of their teammates show up around 8:15 with their coach following at 8:30 as the first team is arriving. They're lucky its only March, otherwise they would be in trouble of overheating.

They've played this school before but like many of the schools in their league they have gained new players. It doesn't worry them though, if they can get through these two games they'll be fine, and it will show that they have a good shot at the championships too. They warm up on the field as the stands fill, getting more and more excited. When its 8:50, Jaebum calls them together to hype them up.

"This is going to push us, but its exactly what we need to show we can make it to the championships. We're in this together" Jaebum puts his hand in the middle of their huddle and they pile their hands on top of his. "Go team!"

They shout in unison and the jog to their positions, ready to begin. Kookie especially looks ready to go. With all the players on their positions, the two coaches step forward and the other coach flips a coin. Their coach calls heads in the air so the other team has tails. When the coin lands they call out who has the first kick off: Hansei High.

Since its their ball first, Jinyoung steps into the kick off circle glancing back just a moment at Kookie and Yugyeom, both ready to go. He looks at the midfielder of the other team, smiling just a bit before he kicks the ball. Like a rocket, Kookie shoots out to intercept the ball and Yugyeom follows on the opposite side of the field.

The other team gets the ball from the kick off but as soon as they try to pass it, Kookie intercepts it and passes it to Yugyeom who runs for the goal. Jinyoung gets within scoring range, and Yugyeom passes the ball to him but since there are too many players around him, he passes the ball back to Kookie who kicks it hard into the goal.

That goal practically decides their first game as the half passes without the other team scoring a goal and Jinyoung and Yugyeom both managing to score one on top of it. When they take their positions after half time, the other team looks like they've already lost, scoring only one goal the whole game. Anytime they made it close, Jaebum would get the ball away from them and pass it back, or Mark would intercept their goal.

Their training clearly paid off so the victory was clear; the other team just wasn't fast enough. They group hug when the final buzzer rings, signaling the end of the game. Cheering each other on, they line up to high five the other team before sitting down to wait for the next one. By then its almost noon and the sun is in the middle ofthe sky, only partially blocked by the clouds.

"That was too easy" Yuygeom says, fist bumping Kookie as he sits down next to him to eat a light lunch.

"No kidding, we worked hard out there"

"You guys did great, all three of you" Jaebum says, smiling at the pair and then over at Jinyoung who is sitting in the grass next to Mark.

"Lets not get cocky though," Junhoe says, "we still have one game to go and it looks like they wiped out their opposites about the same"