Most Valuable Player (part 2)
Why is she looking back at me?
Looking away from a pair of dark brown eyes and pretending she didn’t look, Taeyeon resumed eating her lunch. It had been days since she first realized that the girl she had been stealing glances to had also been stealing glances at her. At first, Taeyeon thought it was only a coincidence that Tiffany Hwang was looking at her way. But when she received a stare every time she ‘glanced’ at her, she knew it wasn’t a coincidence anymore. So they started exchanging looks, in the cafeteria, in the hallway… Practically every time they were in the same room. It’s not that Taeyeon intended to look at her nor she intended to know her, but every time she was in the same room with the basketball captain, the sight of her always caught Taeyeon’s eyes. To be honest, Taeyeon was irritated.
What’s with the loud voice? Doesn’t she have enough attention already?
At the other corner of the room, Tiffany was busily chatting with a bunch of tall, lean girls wearing red varsity jackets, famously known as the school basketball team’s jacket. Perhaps they were talking about their next game, their next tactic, or maybe their next boyfriend… Whatever it was it sure looked very interesting. But Taeyeon didn’t care a single bit. The only thing that she wanted to do was enjoying her lunch peacefully. So she threw another irritated glance.
This time the other girl looked away.
Taeyeon decided to give her attention back to Sooyoung, who was telling her all about her new oppa.
“I’m telling you, Tae. He’s so…. Aaaawww… his dimple… his tanned skin…” She lowered her tone to a whisper. “…his muscles... Gosh, hot hot hot!”
“Soo!”
“Oh please…” The tall girl rolled her eyes, “Well, he’s such a hottie… And what makes him more adorable is that despite the fact that he’s five years older than us, he’s so shy… Aaawww…”
“What? He’s five years older than us?” Taeyeon was startled, quickly absorbed in the conversation by learning the new fact.
“So?” She threw an indifferent look at the blonde.
“So? Don’t you think you should be careful?” Taeyeon tried to reason.
Sooyoung laughed, “Chillax Taeng… I know him from my sister. He’s her boyfriend’s friend.”
“Does he know you like him? And what the hell is ‘chillax’? ”
“Gosh, you’re such a nerd sometimes… It’s chill out and relax!” Sooyoung shook her head. “Anyway, I asked him out a few times already…” A big grin. “Friday’s our third date!”
“Third date already? I didn’t even think he’d said yes!”
“Of course he said yes. He’d be nuts if he didn’t.” She threw her a disbelief look. “Look at me… I’m pretty, tall, young and hot.” She looked proudly at her own body.
Taeyeon ignored her remark, “Well… just be careful. I mean if he started to do inappropriate things to you….”
“God… I wish he would do inappropriate things at me!” Sooyoung muttered, earning a hit from Taeyeon. “Well, I mean, he’s so polite… It’s like… I just want to kiss him so bad because he’s so cute, but I can’t because we’re not in that stage yet… It’s like I’m waiting for him, but I don’t want to make the first move… Uggh…” She saw Taeyeon grimaced. “You have no idea what that feels like, do you?” Knowing all of Taeyeon’s dating experience, which was none, Sooyoung understood her respond. “Well, you’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
A series of laughter suddenly broke in the room, startling the two best friends. Taeyeon gritted her teeth and threw an ice cold look at the familiar direction where she knew a pair of eyes would be.
“Can they get any louder than that?” Taeyeon glared at the group of red jacketed girls.
Sooyoung only shrugged, “You can’t blame them… There are a lot of people there. Besides, they’re always like that.”
“I know…” Taeyeon continued sucking her drink while still looking at the group of girls, especially the one with the pink bag. “It’s just... It’s a public place you know… It’s…”getting on my nerve. “…Never mind.” She continued to glare until a familiar pair of eyes caught her eyes. She intensified her eyes purposely showing her disapproval before both of them looked away.
Sooyoung only frowned. Weird. She thought, but decided to shrug it off.
#
“What’s wrong with me?”
Frustrated, Tiffany threw the ball away. “God, I can’t seem to make it right!”
“Hey, hey…” Yuri caught the thrown ball. “You just need to practice more… C’mon, it’s a three point shot we’re talking about. Here, shoot some more.” She threw the ball to Tiffany. “Remember, hold the ball with your finger like a waiter holding a tray. You’ll do just fine.”
Tiffany took her place and tried to make the three-point shot. It had been two weeks since she practiced it and she couldn’t be more thankful of Yuri who had patiently been accompanying her practicing and giving her tips. Well, who’s a better practice buddy than her? She’s Kwon Yuri after all.
The ball didn’t go in.
Tiffany gave her a disbelief look.
“Practice!” Yuri shouted, then running after the ball.
“I know… I know…” She caught the ball thrown by Yuri “Gosh Yuri, why are you so good?” Tiffany muttered to herself. “No wonder you’re always the MVP…”
In the two years that they had played together, Yuri and Tiffany had been in a friendly competition. They even invented their own silly competitions like who’s coming to the practice more often or who will come to the practice earlier. They did sense the competition to have a place in the team, but decided they like each other more as friends so they didn’t go the rough way. Eventually, Yuri had grown to be the team’s best scorer and had a secure place in the team; and even though Tiffany had always been supportive, Yuri knew she was a little disappointed. So when the coach picked Tiffany to be the team’s new captain, Yuri couldn’t be happier for her friend. Tiffany's competitive and determined nature would be a good influenced for the team, besides, they both would make a great team.
Sensing where the conversation was going, she decided to respond in a playful manner. “I don’t know. Talent, I guess… kidding!” Earning thrown ball from the captain. “…and what are you talking about? You’re the team’s captain! You’re just as good, maybe better.” Tiffany rolled her eyes. “I’m serious! You’re better… even if it’s just a little.” She earned another thrown ball. They both laughed.
Since the day Tiffany was appointed as the basketball captain, Yuri noticed that Tiffany had been more eager in her practice. Saying that now she was the captain she should be more contributed in the team. At first, Yuri didn’t understand what she meant by that, but seeing her practicing her shoots alone one afternoon in school answered her question. Ah, Tiffany wanted to contribute more to the team, she thought. So she decided to help.
“Don’t be so modest, Yul. I-“
“…just need a little practice, that’s all. Come on!”
After a few hoops, Tiffany went to the side of the court to sit and stretched her legs, “Can we rest for a little bit? I’m tired.” She reached for two bottles of water and passed one for Yuri who went and sat next to her.
They went silent for a moment, only pants and gulps of water heard. The silence brought Tiffany’s mind to something that had been bothering her. She lied down and wondered about the recent series of glares she received from a particular girl. “Hey, Yuri?”
“Hmm?”
“Am I annoying?”
“Very… Ouch! I’m kidding!” She rubbed the spot where Tiffany hit her and lied down next to her, “Well, I don’t know. I don’t think so. Why?”
“Nothing… I mean if you don’t know me, like if you’re not my friend or you don’t hang with me… Do I seem annoying?”
Yuri chuckled, but noticing the serious expression that her friend’s had, she decided not to tease her. “Hmm… I honestly don’t know. What’s with the sudden question?”
“Nothing… It’s just… Recently I think about what people think about me from the outside… Like do I seem annoying or something?”
Where is this coming from? “Well… I don’t think you do… Just look at the amount of junior fans you have…” She side-nudged her. “I mean, you’ve never concerned about things like these before and look how many people who wants to be your friend... Everyone wants to be your friend.”
Not everyone apparently.
They went silent, but Yuri could feel that Tiffany was thinking.
“So what did you think of me the first time you know me?” Tiffany started again.
Yuri frowned. Seriously, where all these questions coming from? “Hmm… I thought you were friendly. You did come up to me first and introduced your name to me like ‘Hi my name’s Tiffany. I’m from America. What’s yours?’” She mimicked her with a mocking tone, earning her another hit. “Ouch! What? You did! And you were very very loud… You still are.”
“I am?” She turned her head to the tanned girl.
“You are… Oh, don’t give me that disbelief look. You are! Don’t you hear yourself in a game? Shouting, ‘YURI, SHOOT!’ or ‘YURI, PASS!’. The team even started to think you do that in purpose to surprise the other team!”
They both laughing at Yuri’s remark.
“But I still think that’s a good trait though, considering you’re the captain.” Yuri sat up and patted her leg, she then gave her an understanding smile “Whatever it is Tiffany that you’re wondering about… I’m sure it’s all just misunderstanding. If you still bothered by it, you should just show how you really are to them.” She gave her the sweetest smile.
“Thanks Yuri.” Maybe I will.
“Anytime.” She got up and grabbed the ball. “Now, get up. One on one. What do you say?”
“Sure!”
One on one, sounds like a great idea.
#
“No, Jessie, you got that wrong… The answer should be cosine x, not sine x.”
It was not long after school and Tiffany and Jessica were sitting in the school’s garden. Jessica’s singing club practice was canceled and the basketball coach were out of town, so being the top school students like they were, they decided to do their homework until it was time to go home. Besides, Jessica did need Tiffany’s help. So it was a win-win situation. At least for Jessica.
“No, it’s sine x not cosine x because…” Tiffany pointed at her mistake, “Yeaaah… you’re right. Sorry, my mistake. It should be cosine x.” She quickly fixed her answer, “Finally, it's done! God, why does math have to be so hard?” She threw her head back dramatically, “And how can you be so good at it? You got basketball things on your hands but you can still maintain your grade…” She hit her pen lightly at Tiffany’s head. “…that’s not fair!”
Tiffany only grinned. She changed the subject, “So Jessie, how does it go with your boyfriend?” Tiffany started putting her things in her pink bag.
“Like usual, he said sorry and said he’d make up for it…” She also started to put her things to her bag. Jessica looked annoyed. “So we went to this restaurant and I was talking about our end of year performance…”
“But?”
“…but he didn’t pay any attention, at all! God, I really can’t believe him! He was really asking for it. So there, I gave it. I broke up with him.”
“Sorry to hear that Jessie… but good for you!”
“Yeah… Yeah… I know you’d say that.” She threw her school’s dark navy blazer behind her and threw herself on it. “I’m bored with him anyway. It’s his lost not mine.”
“It sure is.” Tiffany couldn’t agree more. Knowing her best friend for so long and hearing all her stories about her dates, Tiffany only wanted the best for her best friend. Jessica had been disappointed so many times by her exes because most of them only wanted to be with her because of her fame and her money. That’s quite a shame actually, Tiffany thought, because she knew that Jessica was one of the most caring and sincere person she had ever met, despite her cool appearance. She hoped that someone could see that and sincerely dating her for her.
“God, I wish I could meet someone who’d listen to me, care for me, and could make me feel so in love!”
Amen to that!
“Tiffany!”
Suddenly, someone called Tiffany from a far. “Who’s tha- Yuri? What are you doing here?”
“Hey, the coach’s not coming?” She turned to Jessica, “Oh, hi Jessica.”
“Oh, hi…”
“Yeah, he’s not coming. I told you that, remember?”
“Oh, that was today? I thought that’s next week! Damn.” Yuri looked a little disappointed, but quickly smiled. “Well, it’s my fault. Glad I meet you guys here. Anyway, I’d better go, my driver’s waiting. Bye guys!”
“Bye...”
“Bye!” Tiffany looked at her pink baby-g watch and got up. “Let’s go Jess. My brother could pick me up any minute. I think we should wait at the school’s pickup point. Jess? Jess!”
“Oh, yeah. What was that?”
“Where were you?” Tiffany gave her a confused look.
“Nowhere. Let’s go.” She lied. “Anyway, so your brother picks you up? I thought you’re going with me.”
“I thought so too, but he insisted to pick me up so…” She shrugged. They both started walking towards the school’s pickup point.
Become the only daughter and having three older brothers in the house gave Tiffany many perks, besides being picked up from school. Thanks to her three brothers, she knew sport and practiced it since the early age, which formed the athleticism that she had today. The Hwangs obviously had the best genes. All the three Hwang boys were Kang-Dae High Alumnus and were successful in their own field… and their own sport. Her first brother, Leo, seven years above her, had been a running back for Kang Dae high. He was married and had taken over the family business and had grown it into an even bigger business. Her second brother, Jiho, five years above her, once a Kang-Dae’s top graduate and top striker, was paving his way in medical school. And lastly, Yunho, three years above her, had been Kang-Dae’s best basketball player, earning him a law scholarship to one of the country’s top university. These achievements that her brothers had was actually what inspired Tiffany to achieve big and succeed in high school, especially a competitive high school like Seoul all-girls High. So she picked up basketball as one of her achievement in high school, hoping that one day she could receive that scholarship she always wanted.
“Which brother?”
“Jiho oppa.”
“Ooooh, Jiho oppa. How’s he doing?” Jessica grinned.
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “He’s doing fine, I guess. He smiles a lot now.”
Jessica threw her a surprised look, “ Maybe he’s dating! Aaaww...”
“Naah… With all his medical stuff, I really doubt it. He doesn’t really date you know.”
“Well, you never know.”
#
Waiting for her brother in the pickup point wasn’t exactly Tiffany’s favorite thing to do. He was obviously late for she didn’t know what. He did however message her telling her to just sit and wait, getting him a ‘I never asked you to pick me up!’ reply from the brunette. She was clearly getting antsy. Thankfully, Jessica was there to wait with her until her brother come.
“It’s okay if you want to go first Jess, I’ll be okay.” Tiffany leaned to the nearest wall.
“Nah… I want to see your hot brother. I’m okay here.” She leaned to the wall next to Tiffany. “So, what’s up with you? Something seems to be bothering you lately. You seem to… wonder a lot. Basketball thing?”
“Oh?” I just wonder what’s wrong with me. “It’s…” a Taeyeon thing. “Nothing…”
“Hey, Taeyeon!” What the…? How did she…? “Sorry, Tiff. Just a minute, okay?”
Gulp!
There she was, wrapped in the school’s dark navy blazer that were still buttoned neatly with little blonde ponytail that were barely touching her neck, Kim Taeyeon standing less than a meter before her talking to no other than her best friend. She knows her?
“What are you doing here, Tae? The practice was canceled!” She heard Jessica said. What practice? Is she-?
“Yeah, I totally forgot about it. Thanks to Juhyun, I didn’t have to wait for so long.” Don’t tell me she’s in the-
“Juhyun?”
“Yeah, she checked the room in case anyone forget. Like usual.” Oh, that dimple… Wait, is she in the singing club or not?
“Good, good… Anyway, we have practice on Thursday, though. Don’t forget! Gotta work on those notes!” She is in the singing club! Wait, how come I don’t kn-
“Don’t worry; I’ve put them on my notes.” Look at me, look at me! “Okay, thanks Jessica.” Why doesn’t she look at me? Is she avoiding me? She looks at me all the time!
“My pleasure.” No, no. Don’t go just ye- “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. Taeyeon, this is Tiffany Hwang, my best friend…”
I know she's my best friend for a reason!
“…and Tiffany, this is Kim Taeyeon, one of the main vocals in our club!” …and the school’s top student, Jess.
“Hi.” A smile.
“Hi.” No dimple.
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Still, no dimple.
Am I really that annoying?
“Hey, I better go, Jessica. My friend’s waiting.” Apparently I am.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t make them wait! See ya! Don’t forget Thursday!”
“Thanks. Bye Jessica!”
“Bye!”
She doesn’t even say goodbye!
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A/N: A little short. Next update may come up sooner, though.
PS. 14 years of age difference is a little too much for someone in high school, don't you think? So I reduce it by 9. Yeay...! The girls' number! XD