ELECTRIC ϟ LEE HAECHAN

twenty five

Five minutes.

Five minutes until they had to warm up on the court. Five minutes till the other team was finally arriving.

Double knotting the laces of her shoes, just because you could never be too sure, she sat in the discomfort of the hard bleachers. Fumbling with the ends of her black dry fit jersey, she overlooked the gym where the net was set up.

Familiarity, a sense of reassurance. The net that was never wavering, never moving. It was untouchable, the same amount of little squares always remaining consistent.

The ball the rolled on each side of the court that her teammates were tossing— the exact opposite. Being thrown in different directions, spinning at different angles and hit at varying speeds, it was inconsistent.

Much like her breaths that she paid way too much attention to.

"Choi."

Of course, the long haired brunette had made her way to the spot behind her, adjusting the knee pads that were sat on her ankles as she wasn't playing. Her hair was tied up for once into two braids, the signature wispy bangs remaining on her forehead.

"Yoo." Minseo mumbled, counting the amount of seats in the stands just to find a distraction from the echoing thoughts that wouldn't shake out of her brain.

Hyerin pouted at the tone of her voice, even though it was never the most energetic to begin with. Taking the waviness of her locks into her hands, Minseo almost flinched at her touch.

"I'm gonna braid your hair, I hope you don't mind."

Hesitantly nodding, she let out yet another unsteady breath.

"You did great during the practice game yesterday, what's got you so nervous?" Hyerin questioned gently, brushing her fingers through the texture of her strands.

Swallowing the dryness in her throat even after intaking a nearly unhealthy amount of water, Minseo opened her mouth to form a sentence.

"I have no idea." she admitted, subconsciously tapping the bottom of her shoes onto the wooden floor.

"I don't even get that anxious about game days, but my entire day has been so off." she frowned. The feeling of hands running through her soft locks provided some sort of comfort, tugging it into a beautiful Dutch braid.

"Well, stop thinking too much." Hyerin smiled, tying it off with a brown elastic. "You're gonna be fine during the game, just keep your eyes on the ball. I'm always there to switch out positions, remember that." she got up, jumping to the bottom floor.

Holding out her hand, Minseo tentatively took it to stand up. The remembrance of what she saw in the restroom had resurfaced in her mind, no matter how hard she had tried to push it away.

"Hey, Hyerin?" her voice was quiet, but loud enough for the girl to turn around on the heel of her rubber shoes.

"What's up?"