in which an aspiring athlete meets an actual athlete
all similarities to other stories are probably coincidental.
thanks.
lowercase intended
@vantaeday,,2019
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when she woke up a few hours later, her eyes were so puffy from having cried endlessly that she could barely keep them open. glad that her crying fit was over though, she dragged herself to the bathroom hoping that a warm shower would help her feel better.
after she struggled with the cast, she was finally done and changed into more comfortable clothes. checking the small clock she had on her desk, she saw that it was three in the morning. deciding that she wanted breakfast after having skipped dinner, she grabbed her phone and saw a stream of notifications.
trying not to be alarmed, she saw that her friends, sans yeonjun, had all sent her texts wanting to check up on her. replying quickly, she was about to prepare breakfast when she saw that yeonjun's status had changed from online to typing.
curious, she waited for his text.
it was taking some time, and she managed to successfully pour herself a glass of milk and spread kaya on her toast. munching silently, she was about to give up waiting for yeonjun's message until the screen lit up, showing that he had sent a text.
deciding that it had to be of some importance considering the odd timing that he had sent it, she opened it and could not help but let out a laugh.
"seems like he does pay attention huh." she smiled silently.
-
the next month turned into one of the most painful and frustrating periods for her as she struggled with her cast. thankfully for her, her classmates had all kindly volunteered to help carry either her texts or her bag whenever they had to move classrooms for lessons, or her tray when they were in the cafeteria.
it was stressful at first, since she did not enjoy the feeling of imposing on others, but she was extremely appreciative nonetheless. it was also through this that soobin and yeonjun somehow found themselves feeling less guilty.
she still turned up for practice despite not being able to participate. she mostly sat at the benches, eyes carefully following the balls as they bounced back and forth, or ears pricked as the coach corrected some of their mistakes.
"take this as a sign that you simply don't belong," joohyun had come up one day, "heck, i doubt you would have made it into the team anyway, injury or not."
having grown used to being at the receiving end of her snide remarks, minyoung would oftentimes just shrug her shoulders in response; simply oozing disinterest. the affected her, however, and she simply could not help but wonder if there was truth in what she said.
"what would she know!" seulgi would say whenever she heard about it, "don't worry about her, i'm waiting for the day i graduate so that i can use her, admittedly, pretty little face as target practice."
thus minyoung tried her best to be as positive as she could, practicing swings with her, fortunately, uninjured right arm. sneaking into the tennis courts early in the morning or late in the evenings became almost regular.
"your arm won't heal back to it's maximum potential if you continue whatecer you've been doing." someone approached her just when she was locking up the courts after practice, and she jumped.
"oh, hey!" she greeted a little too enthusiastically as yeonjun frowned at the racket she was attempting to divert his attention from.
letting out a nervous laugh, she hurriedly bid him goodbye and raced off, not wanting to have to answer his questions.
she came early in the morning the next day, and tossing the balls as best as she could, practiced with the tennis wall that was slightly hidden from view.
"seriously?" a frowning yeonjun greeted her, legs crossed at the ankles as he leaned against the wall.
knowing that she could not deny it this time, she simply smiled weakly in response as he approached her.
"how did you even know i would be here?"
"never mind how i found you," he waved his arm impatiently, "i thought i told you not to force yourself like that anymore."
"my arm is better!" she insisted, even trying to lift her arm.
"stop that," his tone was sharp, "whether you feel it is better or not doesn't matter. how do you expect to speed up the healing process if you're being so stubborn about this?"
something in her snapped at the accusatory tone in his voice.
"well, i didn't ask to be injured, did i?" she fired back, purposefully wanting it to sting, "if you hadn't chased soobin i wouldn't be in this predicament today!"
"which is exactly why i'm even bothering!" he raised his voice, "but you're so stubborn that you won't even take the advice i'm giving to you!"
they were yelling now, glaring at each other as they panted.
"i thought you said you were sorry and that you wanted to make it up to me," she choked out, "but now you're stopping me from doing the one thing that i truly enjoy."
"the slim chance you have in making it into the team would cease to exist if you continue being like this."
that stung.
"well, i have to train somehow, don't i?" she deliberately kept the eye contact, "the mixed training programme has ended anyway, you have zero obligation to help me."
hearing all this from yeonjun hurt her the most. as they worked closely together, she gradually found herself seeking his nod of approval; and the mere suggestion that all his compliments and encouragement were lip service hurt.
before the tears fell, she gripped her racket tightly and made her way out. she made sure that her body only barely brushed against his when she passed him, since he was standing in the doorway.
"wait-" he grabbed her non-injured arm but she shook him off and walked away, taking all her willpower not to turn back.
as he watched her retreating back, he let out a frustrated yell and slammed the gates shut. regret at his choice of words kicked in, and as he gathered the balls and put them back into the storage room, he could not help but think back to their argument.
"you have zero obligation to help me."
but yeonjun did want to help, and in the process, found himself looking forward to their practices.
he prayed that she felt the same still.
- i know i always say this but i think its clear that i don't really follow an exact plan when it comes to my stories so i really apologise for any weird skips/holes that may appear. i'm always trying to improve, so feel free to leave comments letting me know:") thank you!
