CHAPTER EIGHT ; WHY ARE YOU SIDING WITH HER?

"What time are we ending practice today, Coach?" Jaeyun inquired, eyes desperate for an early time. The student coach looked at his watch, eyes curious as to why he was asking. "You know, I have this date with a girl from Whimoon, and I obviously need to give my lips some action."

"You little fool... when will you settle on a girlfriend?" Coach Choi reprimanded, pointing his finger at him. "When you settle, you'll have all you need from her. Why go around asking for it from a variety of girls? Are you not afraid that you'll get a disease?"

"The only disease I suffer from is being too hot," Coach Choi rolled his eyes and the two entered the locker room together, seeing Sunoo frantic. "Woah, Kim. What's going on?"

But, all the two had to do was look down at the basket of soccer balls, seeing them all deflated. The rest of the team was already sitting there, dejected–or honestly, too afraid to calm down the manager. "What happened to the soccer balls?!" Coach Choi roared, making all of them flinch. "Nobody's leaving the locker room until I find out who did it. You better be honest if you want an elevated punishment!"

Jaeyun snorted as he walked to his locker, getting ready to change. As he put in the locker code, he opened it wide–and Beomgyu was the first to take sight of it. "Is that a soccer pump, Jaeyun!?" Jaeyun looked at him, ready to deny it, but when he turned back to his locker, he was surprised to see it there. "Did you deflate all of the balls?!"

"No, no, wait," Jaeyun shook his head furiously, pulling it out. Sunoo gasped and so did some of the team, Sohee facepalming at the sight of Jaeyun's shock. "No, guys, wait! Really, I didn't deflate the balls! Come on, you know that I love soccer like it's my own child! Why would I purposely–"

"Is that why you asked me if we were ending practice early? Because you deflated all the balls and don't want to practice!?" Yeonjun slammed down his clipboard, enraged. "Jaeyun, what the hell is wrong with you!? If you don't want to go to practice, don't show up!"

"No, Coach Choi, really, it wasn't me!"

"The evidence is already stacked against you. There's no one else who has access to the locker room but us!" Jaeyun looked at Sunoo for help, but Sunoo was upset too. This meant that Sunoo would have a lot more work to do, and he and Narae were going to the movies tonight. "Since you're the one who did it, you're going to be the one to pump all twenty-three of these soccer balls back up today. Manually!"

Jaeyun's face dropped. Manually? There was no way he'd finish by practice time! "Isn't that a little too harsh, Coach!?"

"No. I'm not going to have Manager Kim do it when you're clearly at fault. That's what you get for always messing around. The rest of the team will be running today, the one thing they all hate!" Everyone groaned. "See, Jaeyun? When you do stupid stuff, it affects the whole team. Apologize right now."

Everyone looked at him with anger. Jaeyun was still stumped, having no clear memory of doing such a thing. "But I really–!" Coach Choi glared. "Fine! Fine, shit... I'm sorry for uh, deflating all the soccer balls and making you guys run. It wasn't my intention."

Was he so drunk last night that he came to the locker room and deflated the balls? No. Jongseong took him home that night and he went to bed. He never came anywhere close to the room.

"Let's go outside. Jaeyun, you stay here and fill all the balls with air."

"Wait, Coach," Jaeyun paused. "What if one of the judges comes to see me play today and they don't see me at practice?!"

"Then," Coach Choi grimaced. "I'll tell him what you did."

Jaeyun looked at him in horror, speechless. The men pitied Jaeyun, some patting his shoulder for encouragement, while the other ignored him for the sake of not making him angrier than he probably already was.

When the door closed, Jaeyun grabbed a ball, the pump, and his phone, calling up a close friend. As he pumped it with all his strength, his best friend picked it up. "No, I'm no longer doing your dirty work."

Jaeyun rolled his eyes. "That's not what I'm calling about, freak," Sunghoon sighed with relief, phone pressed between his ear and shoulder as he looked for bread to buy at the grocery store. "Some prick deflated all the balls in the locker room and made me look like I did it. How did they even get into my locker? How did they get in the locker room without being seen? Who do you think did it?"

"Woah, Sim, too many questions at one time," That nickname made Jaeyun think of Sowon, and he smirked–but all that temporary happiness fell when his grip slipped off the pump. "I mean, anyone could've done it. You guys didn't have practice yesterday. Maybe it's someone on the team, and too scared to admit, they put it on you so that it would be an elevated punishment."

"Everyone is treated fairly on this team. What kind of bullshit is elevated?" Jaeyun cursed. "Plus, the guys would take the blame for my own shit. They've never offered for me to take it from them. They're too nice."

"Well, who else can you think of?" Sunghoon asked as he threw a baguette in the shopping cart, seeing a decorated cake on display. Going close to it, he saw skates in the middle of it as decoration, thinking of a special someone in particular. When he realized he was gawking at it, he quickly walked away. "Sunoo?"

"No. He seemed too distraught to have done it. Although he sides with–"

Sunghoon frowned. "Sides with who?"

"Sowon," Jaeyun said breathlessly. Sunghoon knew that was it. Who else if not Sowon? But, he was also siding with her too, so he was going to wait until Jaeyun was the one to admit it. "It has to be her! But, how?"

"Sowon's a creative character," Sunghoon complimented, making Jaeyun groan. "I'm serious! Don't you think she has guy friends from Seoul who come to the locker room hallways often? They probably got in, knew your passcode, and did all the popping. Sowon probably wouldn't step foot on Seoul unless someone absolutely forced her to."

"God," Jaeyun groaned as he finished filling up one ball–twenty-two more to go... "I hate that chick. I hate her!"

"You're the one who provoked her."

"No! She's the one who played that stupid shit with me first!"

"But, you probably rubbed her the wrong way at the party. What did you even say to her?"

"Like I fucking remember. Why are you siding with her?"

"I'm telling you, this whole feud between you both is stupid and you guys need to get over yourselves–especially you, don't do anything stupid," Sunghoon told him, lecturing him. Jaeyun slammed another deflated ball on the bench, pressing the pump into it. "If you hurt someone over this, then you're definitely not getting that award."

"What?" Jaeyun asked. "You think I won't get that award anyway? Are you siding with her, seriously!?"

"No, idiot," Sunghoon hissed, fixing the phone between his body parts. "I actually want that dude from Kyunggi to win. At least he's not battling it out with a woman."

"You–! Ugh, fucking you, Park! I'm hanging up."

"Call you later, Sim~" Jaeyun hung up at the flirtatious tone, swinging his phone halfway across the room.

"That little... God, he is so helpful at times, but he's really good at pissing me off," Jaeyun sighed, brushing back at his hair. "Not only did Sowon find out about the noise-making, but she also confronted him too. How is she so good at finding her little loopholes out of my tricks while I'm the one battling for my life? Why is nobody pitying me?!"

Two hours passed, and Jaeyun finished inflating all the soccer balls. He took one and sprinted outside, well, after calling off his date with the girl and having her break up with him because this was his third time having to cancel the date. He wasn't at all upset, and was relieved that he no longer had the burden–he'd just find another girl.

"I finished inflating all the balls, Coach," Jaeyun stared apologetically, offering one in his hands. "Could I practice and play now? Did any of the judges come by?"

"Yes, one did. I told him you were inflating balls after an incident," Jaeyun's face fell. He was fucked. So, so fucked. "The judge said he'd come back next time, and that he hopes you get your act together. I, too, also hope you do that. Now, get on the field with the damn ball and split the team evenly. We're going to play a practice game."

Jaeyun gritted his teeth, unable to go against his coach's order. So, he sprinted to the field and called them close, starting a game. Sunoo walked toward Coach Choi and nudged him, earning an odd look from the university student. "Why'd you lie to him, Yeonjun hyung?"

"So that he gets his act together," Coach huffed. "I need him to feel at least a little horrified by the consequences of his actions. I've been spoiling him too much recently because he brings honor to our soccer team."

"But, you do know that a girl and him are fighting, right? That it's probably her doing?"

Coach Choi flashed a smile. "My girlfriend's sister, right?" Sunoo couldn't help but snicker, nodding. "Unfortunately, family comes first, and I know Sowon is a very bright girl. That's the true consequence of going against someone who has more brains than he does. Sohee would agree."

"Our Sohee or your Sohee?"

Coach Choi flushed red. "My Sohee, obviously. That's her sister," Coach Choi crossed his arms, watching them begin a play. "Ryu Sohee knows about this too, I think. I've told her briefly about it, and she said that she won't interfere with her sister's business–she's too busy with work."

"Aren't you too busy with school to interfere as well?"

"Of course!" Yeonjun sarcastically said, causing them to laugh. "I'm sure the victor will be obvious, but let's see how brutal it gets."

"Upset about the incident?" Sohee asked as he and Jaeyun watched the ball, hands on their hips. "I wish we figured it out so that you wouldn't have to take the blame. Sorry, dude."

"No, it's fine. I already figured out who it was," Jaeyun smiled, breathing sharply. "I'm not as mad as I was doing it. Although, I'm pretty pissed that I looked like a fucking fool. I'm getting her back for that."

"Her? Sowon?" Sohee asked, causing Jaeyun to slowly nod. "Damn. It looks like she's the root of all your problems right now."

"I know, right?" Jaeyun laughed. "Don't worry. I'm also about to be the root of hers. Do you know where I can get a bunch of trash from?"

"Trash?" Sohee widened his eyes at the two jogged for the ball. "What... What kind of trash?"

"Any trash," Jaeyun exhaled, kicking the ball toward Gunwook. "I just need trash. A lot of it. I need it to fill an ice rink to the brim."

Sohee's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You're going to trash their ice rink? Isn't that school property? Vandalism?"

"What? Like they're going to report me knowing damn well I'm the one who did it?" Jaeyun laughed, ego in the air. "Plus, my dad can get me out of trouble. You know, like he always does."

"Yeah, yeah," Sohee sighed. "One day, I'm sure you're going to go very far. I'm not helping you in that matter."

"But you'll help me fill their rink, right?" Sohee gave him an 'are you serious' look. "Come on, asshole. I always help you! Plus, I'll take the blame if we get caught. Trust me and tell the others. I need some connections to Hanseong."

"Yeah, yeah..." Sohee grumbled. "Whatever."

Sohee ran forward, escaping their conversation. Truly, he lost brain cells talking to that dude.