Practice Makes Victory
All for basketball practice with Nayun for the sports festival.
Yeoncheong was ushered out of the classroom with her gym clothes hugged to her chest, and Nayun, following right behind her, urged her on.
"Hurry up, will you?"
"Got it, got it," Yeoncheong said, even as she craned her neck to scan the hallway. "I just have to tell Suyeon."
"She probably went to the club room — just text her... oh, wait, she's still over there."
Nayun, who'd been scanning alongside her, spotted Suyeon first. Following the direction of her pointing finger, Yeoncheong turned her head too.
At the corner where the corridor met the staircase, Suyeon was chatting with someone.
An utterly unguarded back. Remembering all the times Suyeon had pounced on her from behind, Yeoncheong planned her revenge.
"Nayun, hold this for me."
Handing off her gym clothes, Yeoncheong rose on her heels and smothered her footsteps. Suyeon had no idea what was coming. Once she'd closed the distance, Yeoncheong picked up speed and — bam — flung herself onto Suyeon's back.
Suyeon staggered at the unexpected collision, and Yeoncheong, revenge accomplished, burst out in triumphant laughter.
"So, how does it feel to get jumped yourself for once?"
A beat of silence passed. Then Suyeon spoke. From in front of Yeoncheong.
"Yeoncheong...?"
"Suyeon...?"
The person Suyeon had been talking to — hidden from view by the corner — was Suyeon.
Wait. Then who did I just tackle?
Someone with a back so identical that both Nayun and Yeoncheong had taken her for Suyeon. With a creak of her neck, Yeoncheong turned to confirm the identity of her victim.
Long dark-navy hair, half tied up. Mismatched eyes, one red and one blue.
Unprepared for a meeting like this, the girl offered an awkward smile.
"I told you a while back, remember? This is my twin sister, Baek Siyeon."
The girl glaring at Yeoncheong had the exact same build, face, and hairstyle as Suyeon — like they'd been stamped from the same mold.
It was enough to make Yeoncheong wonder if the twins deliberately dressed alike. But identical exteriors clearly didn't mean identical insides.
As Yeoncheong clung to her back, flustered and fumbling, Baek Siyeon snapped.
"If you get it, then let go already?"
"S-sorry...!"
The cold tone, so unlike Suyeon's, made Yeoncheong shrink back.
Smoothing out her uniform, Siyeon looked at Yeoncheong again. Same face, yes — but whether it was her real personality or just her irritation, the aura she gave off was completely different.
"You're Ha Yeoncheong, right?"
"Y-yeah. That's me."
"Watch yourself around me."
Siyeon's gaze slid toward Suyeon standing beside them.
"I absolutely hate being mistaken for her. I'll let it slide this once because it's your first time."
"Hey, if you hate it so much, why don't you change up your look?"
Siyeon shot back at Suyeon's jab.
"I like my hair the way it is. Why should I change it?"
"Well, I like it too."
Watching the sisters squabble — twins, no less — Yeoncheong murmured to herself.
Yep, twins all right...
Mid bicker, Siyeon suddenly turned to Yeoncheong.
"Hey, I can see exactly what you're thinking. Watch it."
With one final warning, Baek Siyeon flitted away.
The two of them were left standing there. Suyeon scratched her cheek.
"Well... didn't expect our first meeting to go like that."
"You two are seriously identical."
"Everyone says that. If we keep our mouths shut and stand still, even the teachers can't tell us apart."
Yeoncheong nodded slowly. Seeing it firsthand, it really was confusing enough to trip up not just teachers but classmates too.
"Still... you'd been planning an ambush like that, huh? I'll remember this. You'd better look forward to later."
"Ah — Baek Suyeon. That one doesn't count."
Their conversation promptly derailed into a squabble. Eventually, Nayun, who'd been waiting in the classroom, came back out.
"What's taking you two so long?"
"Huh? Oh, Nayun, you're here too."
Only then did Yeoncheong remember what she'd actually come out here to do.
"We came to say hi before heading to practice."
"Seriously?"
Suyeon tilted her head, and Yeoncheong's tone turned a bit curt.
"Yes, seriously — I felt bad leaving you alone, so I came out of my way. Happy now? Anyway, I'm off to practice."
On the receiving end of Suyeon's complaints about how long this had taken, Yeoncheong headed for the gymnasium with Nayun.
Left entirely to herself, Suyeon muttered.
"Honestly... I do just fine on my own. It barely counts as anything..."
She hated being alone.
Yeoncheong still remembered what she'd said back when she'd first invited her to join the club.
For no good reason, Suyeon pouted and trudged off toward the club room.
***
Having stuffed her uniform into her bag and changed into her gym clothes, Yeoncheong stepped outside. Nayun grumbled at her for coming out so late.
"Ugh... no spots left."
Probably because Yeoncheong had delayed things running into Suyeon and Siyeon, the gymnasium was packed with students. Following Nayun on a lap around the building, Yeoncheong asked,
"Now that I think about it — you said practice, but is it okay if it's just us? There are other girls on the team, aren't there?"
"Them? They said they couldn't make it today. They'll come tomorrow."
Yeoncheong tilted her head at that.
"The prelims are in two days, though?"
"One or two days of practice isn't going to change anything dramatic anyway."
Still tilting her head, Yeoncheong pointed at herself.
"Then what about me?"
"You need to work on syncing up with me. And Suyeon said you can go with her, by the way."
Without her ever realizing it, the matter had apparently already been settled.
Nayun waited a few more minutes, then turned around.
"Forget it. Let's go outside."
"I peeked earlier — the courts were still pretty wet?"
Yeoncheong followed her out anyway.
The rain had stopped, but its traces remained. Big and small puddles dotted the green outdoor court.
Hop, hop.
Yeoncheong hopped her way around the puddles and into the middle of the basketball court.
"The basketballs are clean over here. Can we use these?"
"It's different from last time. These are the beaters — they're fine."
Nayun tossed her a ball from the basketball pouch. Yeoncheong caught the chest-high pass cleanly and rolled it around in her hands.
It was noticeably worn, the marks of heavy outdoor use plain to see.
Inspection complete, Yeoncheong looked up.
"So what are we practicing?"
"Patterns, obviously."
What came out of Nayun's mouth was surprisingly serious stuff.
Starting with the basics of setting screens against defenders. Then cuts off the ball to create shooting opportunities, and more.
Just listening, you could tell she knew basketball inside and out.
After roughly laying out the plan, the two immediately started working on their timing.
Whoa.
As much as Yeoncheong was stunned by Nayun's knowledge, Nayun was being stunned right back.
She'd assumed Yeoncheong letting it all slide without a single question meant she simply got it — Yeoncheong did seem to know her way around a basketball, after all.
But it didn't stop there. Yeoncheong executed exactly the movements Nayun wanted, and not just with raw individual skill — the timing itself clicked. That was the hard part.
They looked like two basketball club members running a routine practice.
Using Yeoncheong as a wall, Nayun curled around her, and the ball she released kissed the backboard and dropped clean through the rim.
Savoring the rush of success, Nayun's eyes swung to Yeoncheong. Those gleaming amber eyes made Yeoncheong freeze.
"What the heck. Yeoncheong, were you on a basketball team before?"
Chasing down the ball as it rolled toward a puddle, Yeoncheong scratched her head sheepishly.
"Not the club. But... I did work hard at basketball, back in the day."
For a boy, sports mattered — as much as studying, and sometimes more.
Blessed with a hopeless case of lead foot, Yeoncheong had dropped soccer early and poured everything into basketball instead. Thanks to that, her skills had ranked among the best at her old school.
At some point, the look in Nayun's eyes had changed. No longer a friend looking at a friend — a scout eyeing a prized recruit.
"Yeoncheong, wanna join the basketball club next semester?"
It was the same vibe she got from Seoyun-unnie from the tennis club. Yeoncheong cut her off.
"Practice. We're here to practice."
The ball Yeoncheong fired was delivered straight into Nayun's hands. Nayun showed her disappointment at having her pitch cut short, but she clearly wasn't giving up.
"Just think about it."
Once more, she and Yeoncheong took turns drilling one movement after another into their bodies.
***
By the time students finishing up club activities began trickling out of the gymnasium and the school...
Yeoncheong lay sprawled flat on her back on the dry edge of the court. Her words came out chopped to the rhythm of her heaving chest.
"Ugh... I'm... dy... ing..."
At school, Nayun had never had a friend she could really talk shop with about basketball. Riding the high of it, Yeoncheong had run around without a thought for pacing — and paid the price.
Having zipped the ball back into its pouch, Nayun looked down at her.
"Your game's great. Your stamina's the problem."
Her old resolution to start exercising after the fitness assessment had long since evaporated into the bustle of school life. Naturally, her stamina remained exactly what it had been then.
Lifting her head slightly, Yeoncheong forced out her reply.
"Don't wor... ry. I can at least... run through... one game..."
Nayun delivered the bad news to the still-gasping girl.
"Yeoncheong. On sports festival day, you've got basketball, the three-legged race, AND the relay."
"Ah... right."
Remembering the festival schedule, Yeoncheong dropped her head back onto the ground.
"Up you get."
Hauling herself up by Nayun's outstretched hand, Yeoncheong stood while Nayun tucked her own bag under her arm and set Yeoncheong's down beside her.
"You're just heading home in your gym clothes?"
Yeoncheong gave a small nod.
"I'll change into my uniform and come back out, so wait right here."
"Take your time."
Yeoncheong wiggled her blackened, grimy fingers in a lazy wave.
Left alone on the basketball court, Yeoncheong leaned against her bag and waited for Nayun. But before her friend could return, an uninvited guest arrived — drawn, no doubt, by the sight of blue hair shimmering in the sunset.
"Well, well. If it isn't our adorable junior."
"Ugh."
Confronted with the wide, beaming smile of Senior Seoyun approaching, Yeoncheong averted her eyes.
"'Ugh'? Seeing your senior deserves better than 'ugh,' don't you think?"
Seoyun settled in beside Yeoncheong, whose escape routes were long gone.
"What were you up to?"
"Basketball practice. With a friend."
"For the sports festival?"
Yeoncheong answered with a nod instead of words.
"Diligent. I hear the prize for champions is really good this year, so lots of classes are practicing."
"Well, we've also got Suyeon and Hasol on our side."
"Ah, that's true," Seoyun said, clapping her hands. "Yeoncheong, are you running the three-legged race?"
"Yes — that, plus the relay. Three events total."
"I see... I see."
At that answer, Seoyun grinned. In Yeoncheong's experience, that was not a good sign.
"Our junior's working hard to win the sports festival — how could her senior just stand by and do nothing?"
"Please stand by. Please do absolutely nothing."
"Hm? You want to join the tennis club?"
She corrected herself, then pretended to mishear. Several times.
By then, Nayun had changed and come back out.
"Yeoncheong, and... Seoyun-sunbae? What's going on?"
"Oh, basketball — hold on, you're Nayun, right?"
"Yes, that's me, but..."
Nayun looked at Yeoncheong like, what on earth is happening here? But Yeoncheong, worn out from the repeated bickering, failed to even notice her friend's gaze.
Seoyun answered Nayun in her place.
"I've decided to help out a junior who's working hard for the sports festival."
"Help us? Our class?"
"Mm-hm. See you tomorrow."
Smiling brightly, Seoyun-unnie headed for the school gate. Yeoncheong turned to Nayun, who was still staring at her.
"It's nothing. Don't believe a word of it. I have zero plans to see her tomorrow."
Yeoncheong shook her head with violent force.