sylveon’s biggest fan

[From Part 2]

He ordered french fries and an Ice Cream Sundae, while you got an Oreo McFlurry. He pays for his order and hangs around next to you as you complete your order. But just as you were about to pay, a voice scares you. “Look there!” Maki says. You look back at your kiosk and it’s been paid for. Damn, smooth. You stared at him, slightly agitated (in a playful manner). “My treat, don’t worry about it,” he replies while showing his ever so adorable smile, shooting your heart rate up the charts. This guy is crazy AND he drives me crazy…

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You both end up finishing your dessert over small talk and laughter. Time flew by so fast when you both were together. It was to the point where you both didn’t realise it was time for boarding. “Bro shit, my phone has been blowing up since just now! The members are all looking for me omg,” Maki says while quickening his pace alongside you. 

But of course your hand luggage was far too heavy for you to keep up with his pace. Just then, you felt a warm hand around your right wrist as you felt the heavy luggage suddenly leaving your left hand. Maki grabbed onto your wrist and snatched your luggage, lessening your load. There was no other great feeling in the world except your tiny hand in his, as you both rushed to the boarding gates. You could swear that the whole journey was made up of just you staring at him, Careless Whisper playing in your head. 

“Okay, we are finally here,” he says, panting slightly. He waved at his members inside the boarding area through the glass panel as you both underwent security checks. His eyebrows furrowed, wondering why his members were giggling and nudging each other around. And then he looked down. Your hand was still in his. You suddenly feel empty, the warmth that enveloped you leaving your hands so suddenly. And part of you wished he never let go, because it just felt so perfect. But then again, who the hell were you to make him stay? 

After the security checks, he immediately bid goodbye to you before rushing off with his members. And that was when you rolled your eyes. He was only rushing because business class was boarding first, and your peasant ass, who was stuck in economy, had a long way to go before boarding. So you just sat in the waiting area, patiently waiting for your turn as all these expensive and rich people entered the aircraft first. And after what felt like forever, your turn finally came 20 minutes later. And being honest, Maki did you a favour and calmed your nerves before this flight. You see, you had bad motion sickness, which essentially led to your displeasure in taking flights. Usually, you would hug your mother as the plane took off, hoping and praying that your medicine for motion sickness kicks in faster so you could KO until you reached your destination. But this time, you were alone. The smell of the aircraft alone made you feel sick. And as you made your way to the aircraft, you swallowed a pill and popped a sweet in your mouth in an attempt to calm yourself down. But as you were walking down the aisle, you felt someone poke your arm. 

“Hey, finally boarding huh?” Maki teases. “Shut up, I ain’t as rich as your company bro,” you shot back playfully. He chuckles and waves again before you finally find your seat which happened to be right after the separation between economy and business class. This meant that Maki and you were only separated by the separation in between, you were at the front of economy class and he was at the back of business class. But you seriously could care less, because all you felt was your anxiety creeping. You were afraid of flying alone. This was your first time all alone. Or at least you thought. 

Perhaps, your overthinking deemed the medicine as ineffective. You were not falling asleep, which meant trouble because you would have to face the process of taking off. Usually, 5 minutes before the flight took off, you would have been long gone. But this time, you were still wide awake. But just then, you caught sight of a familiar face. Maki. “Ayo, your seat is so near bro. Gonna keep visiting the toilet just to disturb you I guess,” Maki teases. You forced a smile in response to his teasing. But you couldn’t mask your fear and anxiety. “Hey, you alright bro? Why are you so pale?” He asks, sitting on the empty seat next to yours. “I have bad motion sickness. And my medicine isn’t kicking in. I'm scared because this is the first time I’m flying alone…” you managed to say before you entered panic mode. “Okay, wait right here,” Maki says before hurriedly rushing back to his seat. 

Maki rushes back to check if anyone would notice him being out of his seat. Lucky him, all the members and the managers were fast asleep due to the tiring 3 months of flying to and fro for their Asia concert. And so he musters up the courage to keep you company. He grabs his earpiece and blanket and rushes back to the empty seat next to you. When he arrives, he catches you with your head down looking uncomfortable and nervous. He pats you on the shoulder, attempting to comfort you. “Hey, don’t worry now. I’m here, don’t worry,” He reassures you gently as he settles into his now economy seat, a downgrade from his comfortable business class seat. “Just talk to me, it’ll eventually take your mind off things,” He says, while looking straight into your eyes. And so, you both spent the rest of the flight just engaging in light hearted chatting - about the concert, about life and about yourselves.

MAKI POV

She looks so damn familiar. But I just can’t remember where I’ve seen her before. Amidst the chatter, she suddenly reaches down to her foot. Moving her ankle round in circles. 

“What happened? Are you injured or something?” I ask her. “Not really. My mom told me I used to play soccer all my life before I injured myself badly during training. I’ll probably never forgive the girl who did this to me. Just think about it! It was just a training session, I still don’t get why she went all out on me…” She rattles on, slightly agitated. “But then again, I can’t remember anything… But my mom did tell me her name though… Stupid Ruka…” She mutters under her breath. 

Wait. Ruka? Ruka Takamaru? Ruka Takamaru from Singapore International School? The Ruka that used to sit next to me in class back when I was living in Singapore? Then it clicked. Y/N L/N. The captain of my middle school’s soccer team. She was their star player. I literally used to fawn over her. And here she is, right next to me, completely unbeknownst to my strong feelings I had for her a decade ago. She was pretty much the perfect student. I was in Class 9 with Ruka, while Y/N was in Class 1. To some, she seemed arrogant, but to me, she was just pure and wonderful. How can one be so talented and smart at the same time? I remember sitting on the stands, watching her dribble past multiple male classmates of hers during recess breaks. But she still remained humble in her team. She was a passionate and fair captain, who was always there for all her teammates. Once, I remember she carried an opponent she accidentally collided into off the pitch out of guilt and worry. And that sums up the kind of person she really was. But she never knew who I was. 

But why did she mention that she couldn't remember? Did something happen? Bro at this point I was so tempted to ask her, but I was brought back to reality. I am &TEAM’s Maki and she’s my fan. I really shouldn’t be doing ANY of this in fact. But how could I not be drawn to such a pure and kind soul? But my thoughts were brought to an end the moment I felt the severe turbulence. I glanced over at Y/N and she looked visibly scared. Oh if only I could hold her for a second…

[From Part 1]

“You look hella familiar. Are we the same age?” He casually asks. You look at him in confusion and cock your head to the side. But you nod anyway. “Have you studied in Singapore all your life?” He adds. And once again, you nod in uncertainty.  

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But anyway, he walked away smiling as the concert resumed. “That was by far the best concert I’ve ever been to. No offence but, this was better than the Straykidz concert I went to a few years back,” you mention to your friends, obviously with your cracking voice. All they could do was laugh and tell you to drink more water. “You better sort that throat out before you go for your exchange programme. You definitely DO NOT want to embarrass yourself in front of your class, especially since you’re new…” your best friend Sera teased. You hide your face in your hands just at the mere thought of introducing yourself at a new university, all alone, WITH YOUR VOICE IN THAT STATE.

Nevertheless, thank goodness you recovered in time for your part time job at Universal Studios Singapore during the semester break (miracle that your voice was restored after 3 days). It was the last day of your time there, making you dread work even more. ‘For goodness sake I could be sleeping in and packing my luggage instead of manning this stupid meatball ride,’ you thought to yourself. But those thoughts were immediately interrupted upon chancing upon a noisy group of boys that entered the express queue. And that was when all the dreading suddenly turned into sheer joy and happiness. 

It was none other than your dear favourite group, &TEAM. Subconsciously, as they neared the start of the line where you were, you shrieked upon seeing just how handsome K was in real life. And before you knew it, you blurted out your horrible N4 Japanese, expressing just how much you liked them. “Hi, I really… uhm, I am a fan! I was concert there? Oh no I was at the concert…” you managed to stutter those words with K staring at you softly, softly giggling at just how silly you were. 

“Ah you! You got your voice back huh?” Maki teases, speaking in your native language (English). You were beyond delusional. You were practically overthinking it. It may have seemed small, but you felt so seen. It was a feeling that was hard to explain, but yet him switching to English instead of continuing the conversation in Japanese made it more intimate. It was as though he was trying to suit what was more comfortable for you. “Yes… It’s me… But I’m still glad that you remembered me,” you muttered in a shy and embarrassed tone, catching Maki smirking at the corner of your eye. 

But even before you could start a conversation, it was their turn to ride the ride. They bid goodbye while expressing gratitude to you for always supporting them. But your gaze stuck onto Maki. He gave you a soft smile before waving as the meatball ride sucked them in. And that was the last you saw of him. Or at least you thought.

[Later that day]

You finally reach home. It’s past twelve midnight and you still have to pack your luggage to head off to Japan for your exchange programme at Tokyo University. And as the lazy bum you were, packing was such a chore to you. And so you dragged your tired self to pack your luggage before knocking out. 

After what felt like forever, you woke up at 3pm the next day. Your flight was at 11pm so you clearly had ample time to get ready. Once again, your lazy ass wanted to just wear the most lazy fit because you were far too lazy to plan an outfit just for you to sleep and waste it on a flight, but something in you told you to still dress decently. Without knowing why, you trusted your gut and wore a simple yet presentable outfit. You did your hair and the next thing you knew, it was 6pm. 

You pick your friends up and head to the airport to have dinner with them before sending you off. But just as you arrive at the airport, you are met with a jam. You also see a crowd, seemingly awaiting the arrival of an important person. At that point, you didn’t really pay much attention to it. You just continue grumbling at the slow moving traffic and focused on finding a carpark lot. “Stupid people, why would they congregate and then waste my parking lots? I need to fly hello???” you grunt out of frustration. But eventually, after waiting for 20 minutes, you finally got a carpark. “Sera here are my keys, remember to drive my car back to my house okay? I don’t wanna pay $200 worth of overnight parking for months at Changi Airport,” you reminded your best friend. She chuckled and nodded. 

You then headed to a restaurant for dinner and talked over good food. You paid for the meal and walked towards the Departure Hall to check in your luggage. Just then, a bunch of girls bumped into you, dropping her letter that showed ‘To: EJ’. You picked it up for her and returned it to her as you watched her run far away into the abyss. You shake your head and continue walking to check in your luggage. Upon completion of your check in, you bid your last goodbyes, take some pictures and head off into the Departure Transit Hall, going through security. To your horror, all the girls were crowding around that area. Some security guards were also seen trying to tame the wild crowd. You just shook your head once again and headed in while bidding your last goodbyes through the gate to your friends. 

But this was where things escalated (for the better). As if the letter was not obvious enough for your dense self, you catch sight of an awfully familiar face wearing a mask, also entering the Departure Transit Hall, surrounded by bodyguards dressed in black. ‘Is… that… Maki? Oh. My. God. It is &TEAM bro.’ your inner thoughts wanted to slap yourself for being so dense the whole time (hahahah the dramatic irony). You accidentally make eye contact with Maki and immediately walk off in embarrassment. First, at USS. Now, AIRPORT?!?!?! He probably thinks now you’re a sasaeng fan. So you made the decision to briskly walk ahead, just so that he doesn’t catch sight of you anymore. But luck was never really on your side.

“Excuse me!” you suddenly hear. You slowly turned around and pretended to be shocked that it was Maki. “It’s you again from the concert isn’t it? You’re really following us around huh?” Maki teases.

“NO! Don’t get the wrong idea please. I am on an exchange programme at Tokyo University. So, I’m travelling to Japan today… I didn’t even know you guys were going back to Japan today…” you quickly defended yourself before he threw anymore baseless accusations at you.

“You should probably go back with the rest… I don’t think you should be walking with me…” you mutter in fear that his bodyguard would come charging at you. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it. The crazy fans are all trapped outside. It’s safe here. So, what time is your flight?” he asks while staring directly at you, gesturing to the members that he would meet them shortly after.

You avoid his gaze and carefully hand your ticket over to him. “OH! Same flight you stalker!!!” he teases. You hit him and continued walking ahead. You couldn’t believe that you were about to be trapped in a 7 hour flight with your bias. To make matters worse, you have horrible motion sickness. There was no way he was going to see you in that awful state of wanting to throw up every 5 minutes. But what choice did you have? None. So you continued walking with him towards the gate.

“We got another 1 hour 30 minutes before boarding. Wanna grab supper?” he quietly asks, hoping you’d say yes. And true enough, you nod and you both settle for the nearest eatery, which happened to be McDonalds. He gestures for you to sit on the cushion side as he takes the chair (what a gentleman). You both drop our bags and head straight to the ordering kiosk. He orders at the kiosk next to you and asks for your recommendation. He ordered french fries and an Ice Cream Sundae, while you got an Oreo McFlurry. He pays for his order and hangs around next to you as you complete your order. But just as you were about to pay, a voice scares you. “Look there!” Maki says. You look back at your kiosk and it’s been paid for. Damn, smooth. You stared at him, slightly agitated (in a playful manner). “My treat, don’t worry about it,” he replies while showing his ever so adorable smile, shooting your heart rate up the charts. This guy is crazy AND he drives me crazy…

&TEAM Blaze The Way tour in Singapore? Batshit crazy news for you after you completed your Economics Major Final Examination. The paper clearly screwed you up. But it didn't matter anymore because your one and only comfort group was coming to your homeland.

Your story with &TEAM dates way back to 2020. You have always been the biggest fan of K since I-Land days and you were beyond thrilled to find out that he was going to debut in 2022, alongside the &Audition boys. And yes, while K was the one who led you to &TEAM, Maki caught your eye. Indeed adorable. Perhaps it was the similarity-attraction effect that pulled you towards him since you both were born in the year 2006. But he definitely grew on you over the years of supporting them. They saw you through your highschool, college and finally university days, which was why they meant so much to you. From the relentless studying and crying at night to Samidare to finally making it to the top university in your country, you would have awarded the acceptance letter to &TEAM themselves if you could.

Finally, the day comes. The blazing hot Singapore sun was literally blazing the damn way to the concert’s beginning. But after what felt like forever, they finally showed themselves, for the first time ever, in Singapore. And of course, as the traitor you were, your eyes searched for Maki way before K. And there he was, standing there like a prince. But you were pissed. The damn VIP spot you had chosen was so crowded that it made your delusional ass angry. ‘Maki can’t see me from here bruh.’ you thought. Oh but you were so damn wrong.

The concert continued and by the halfway mark, you were literally voiceless. Your voice was pretty much a few octaves lower than it used to be. It was to the point where your friends were busy taking videos of you dying from exhaustion. You were screaming and jumping to all the songs, which obviously left you with a sore throat and an empty energy tank. Your face was glistening with sweat and ironically, you just wanted to leave the crowded venue to enjoy some aircon. But it was not until you suddenly saw all the fangirls turn around to look at you. Suddenly, so many cameras were up your face. What’s going on bro…?

“Seems like someone there got a lil too excited huh. Those friends making fun of you, yeah, they’re real keepers,” Maki says while pointing at you with his ever-so perfect smile and cute dimple showing on the large screen. I think you just wanted to melt on the spot. Did Maki just notice you? You were so damn sweaty though. WORST POSSIBLE TIMING TO NOTICE ME GANG.

“Wait guys, make way for her to come to the front. I wanna hear how bad her voice sounds now,” Maki teases as he walks towards you. He then stops right in front of you, handing you the mic. 

“What?!?!?!?! I am… ahem… not going to embarrass myself bro,” you reply him off mic, with your voice cracking at every word. But he doesn’t budge. He literally just stands there with that idiot smile of his looking all gorgeous while still swaying the mic in your face. “Just do it man, for the LOLs,” he teases you. You roll your eyes and take the mic anyway. Your fingers touch as you take the mic from him. Your heart skips a beat. But all you could think of was ‘I’m going to be all over luneville today…’.

“Hi… This is me after half the songs were played…” you creak with your voice sounding awfully funny, causing the crowd to erupt with laughter. Maki falls to the ground, laughing so hard at you. At that point you just rolled your eyes, not knowing if you felt humiliated or happy that your bias was literally teasing you in front of the whole crowd and laughing at you losing your voice to him flashing his damn abs like it's nothing. 

“Wait for your karma bro,” you teasingly warn Maki as he attempts to get back on his feet. “Looks like many of you guys are excited today! Thank you everyone!” K interrupts as he goes down the row looking for more victims like me to prey on. But suddenly, you see Maki coming for you.

“You look hella familiar. Are we the same age?” He casually asks. You look at him in confusion and cock your head to the side. But you nod anyway. “Have you studied in Singapore all your life?” He adds. And once again, you nod in uncertainty.

[From Part 1]

Then it hit you. Did joking with Maki earlier give everyone the impression that you were interested in him? Did Fuma feel… jealous? Why’d he suddenly bring up me and Maki? Why was it of any significance to him?  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You shrugged it off anyway. You were just a mere fan to him, why would he even bother caring about you? But the next few hours you spent with him proved you very wrong.

Eventually, the break was over and PD-nim called everyone over to get ready for the next segment - the game. You were dreading this moment because you knew you’d slip up considering the fact that you were surrounded by 9 of your favourite men. And again, your ego refused to allow yourself to do that. And because of that, you locked in so hard, you reached flow state. 

Finally, the shoot started, and you were directed to stand over at &TEAM’s side. And of course, as if the heavens knew, you were sandwiched between Maki and Fuma. “You feeling alright?” Maki asks in English, almost as though he wanted to purposefully exclude Fuma from the conversation. 

You simply nodded and gave him a soft smile. And you could swear that a certain someone was staring right at you at that moment. It was none other than Fuma. This made your imaginations run even wilder. But you were cut off by PD-nim’s cue to discuss the formations and positions. “Okay, Y/N, do you have any preferences?” K asked. “If it’s fine by everyone, I would love to play in my own position where I feel most comfortable, which is left-centerback,” you replied. “Oh, then I’ll be the other centerback then!” Maki enthusiastically added as he raised his hands in the air gleefully. “I’ll be the leftback then,” Fuma softly volunteers. But all I could think of was the fact that I was about to be sandwiched between the TWO, yet again.

BEEP. The game finally began. We started to push up as K gave a long ball into our attacking half. But the ball was shortly shot across into our defensive half by Ryu from the opposing team. His long ball went so far it got our defence line urgently running back to defend the incoming attackers. “Drop! And watch your line!” you commanded. But you were so scared. You forgot that your opponents were also made up of the boys team and you knew you physically could not take them on. You grew to become even more fearful when you saw Kento receiving the long ball and driving towards the goal at full speed. He was almost twice your size and you knew he was coming for you as the only girl in the back line. And true enough as you attempted to body him to win back possession of the ball, you found yourself tumbling on the ground. And eventually, you saw Kento put the ball in the net. All you could do was sigh.

And then it was kick-off again. But this time, K played the short pass. This was to draw defenders in before quickly giving a long ball to beat all the defenders at once and also buy time for our attackers to get into the attacking half. A bit of tiki taka was going on, until Kento blocked a pass. It was deja vu. He was coming for you, yet again. “You cover, I’ll go!” Maki yells. And so you did. But Kento was far too skillful that he left Maki on his knees. And you knew you had to do something. So after Maki was beaten, you timed your tackle and won the ball from Kento. You then looked up and saw Fuma waving his hands in the air, gesturing that he was free. You wasted no more time and passed him the ball. But then, Sayu came to intercept the pass and it soon became a counterattack. And then you saw your biggest nightmare, Kento, running towards the goal, waiting for the cross from Sayu. You had to do something. You threw yourself to your charging opponent, and the next you knew, you were rolling on the ground to brace the impact of the fall. That was when you heard a voice you never thought you would. 

“Oi! She’s a girl right? Play with some sense man!” you heard as you grabbed onto your pre-existing ankle injury. You looked up to see an agitated Fuma looking right at Kento. “No! Don’t worry, I am perfectly fine. Kento, it’s alright, I understand it’s all passion,” you reassured Kento as you attempted to separate the two.

“You alright?” Fuma says, as he offers a hand. You took his hand and got up slowly. You nodded and you could swear you saw his eyes glistening with concern. You pat him on the back to reassure him once again that you were alright. “He should know not to go all out on a woman. No matter how strong or skillful you may be as a player, it’s never right to fully body a woman.” Fuma says in a still agitated tone. “It’s fine, really. I’ve had incidents that landed me in the ER before. This is nothing, don’t worry okay? But I do appreciate the concern…” you whisper the last sentence, hoping he wouldn’t catch it. 

And finally, the game came to an end. Both teams took turns to shake hands with one another, before huddling back into their own teams. You then catch Maki walking towards you. “You’re a tough cookie huh? Really rare to see girls like you play with such grit and fearlessness,” Maki says with a smile plastered all over his face. “I’m used to it. In fact, I used to train against boys in my previous academy. It was the only way I could improve.” You shared. And once again you felt eyes watching. Fuma. 

“What a day man!” Taki yells as soon as he reaches the air-conditioned changing room. “And looks like Maki found himself a new friend…” Nicholas jeers. Maki rolled his eyes and proceeded to the showers. 

Fuma felt uneasy. Why was he feeling this way? Why did he hate it that they only saw her with Maki? Why did he hate the thought of you and Maki laughing and joking on the pitch? Who was this mystery girl that suddenly made him feel things? And what was so damn special about her anyway?

Despite shrugging away his thoughts, he felt the urge to get to know you more. He ran off shortly after washing up, hoping to catch you by the hallway before you headed back to your dorm. And as though the heavens knew, there you were, staring right at him as you left the changing room. 

“Oh! Fuma-san, are you heading home alone or with the rest of them?” You asked to mask your nervousness. “Ah, no… Nothing… I mean… We were given the rest of the day off since we just ended our tour, so yea… I guess I’ll be heading home alone…” He stutters. 

I look at him, puzzled. But then again, you knew he was a shy boy since he was little. But you found that absolutely cute and adorable about him. But what shocked you was how fast you ran your mouth even before your brain processed your thoughts. “Perhaps, would you like to join me for dinner at my favourite nearby shop? They sell really good curry don!” You asked innocently, while scratching your head in embarrassment. You were hella embarrassed. But you know these opportunities don’t just come knocking on your door twice. And that’s probably what made you seize the opportunity. 

A part of you knew he would reject it as a global idol. But his response shocked you even more. “Sure, in fact I was waiting for you to ask you the same.” He mentions. That leaves you shocked. But at the end of the day, you miraculously found yourself walking out of the school compounds with him.

You were always a fan of his, but he just never knew. No doubt, as an ordinary Singaporean girl, who never once dreamt of even stepping foot into the K-pop industry for you knew that it was deemed as ‘not a proper job’. While your friends failed to understand, K-pop was one of the things that kept you together throughout your years of mugging and studying non-stop. You would feel tired amidst revising and yet a mere &TEAM Live on Weverse could make her day instantly. Once, you were crying helplessly before an exam and a Weverse DM from Fuma was all it took to get you back on your feet. It was a bonus that you got an A+ on that Biology quiz.

But &TEAM was only one of the 2 things that made you immensely happy. Football was your life. You grew up playing football and that was all that kept you sane. Football was the only thing that could keep your active mind at peace. After every draining day, football gives you back your willpower and happiness. Little did you know, football was going to give her an experience she never knew she would ever encounter. 

&TEAM was getting ready for their shoot on their new show ‘GRandSLAM’.

“We’re finally playing K-hyung’s favourite sport today,” Nicholas mentioned.

“YEAAAA bro we’re definitely going to beat whoever our supposed guests are today,” Maki added with a smug smirk.

Fuma turns so suddenly looking all shocked. He hated what was coming. If anything, this man just hated socialising. Not because he was anti-social but it was just his nature to be more reserved. And the members knew that from how long he took to finally open up to them.

“Eh? I didn’t know there were going to be guests today… Y’all do the talking, I’ll do the watching,” Fuma said as he zipped his maroon PE attire and touched up his fluffy brown hair. 

Maki just nodded while scrolling through his TikTok on his phone. 

“But I heard some of them are girls. Finally getting to meet some real ballers. Aren’t sporty and rough girls your type Maki?” K teased, as the whole room broke out in laughter. But as per usual, Fuma was unbothered, busy with his Pokemon TCG. 

You were so damn lost. As a sport science student on exchange at Waseda University, you wanted to make the most out of your stay there. So you mustered up the courage to join their Women’s Varsity Football team. It was one hell of a decision because you were not used to the weather there in Japan at all. The only training conditions familiar to you was the blazing Singapore heat. Training during winter was no joke at all. Half the time, you were trying your best to stay alive and not let the weather impede your breathing. But most of the time, you would find yourself heavily panting, a feeling you never felt back in Singapore. 

And it was a random day when your Waseda Women’s Varsity Football LINE groupchat indicated cancellation in training. ‘Training on Wednesday, 8am is cancelled. Please head to Waseda Main Field for a shoot with YX Labels. Attire: Red Kit, White socks, Boots and Shinpads. Don’t be late :) (Be appropriately attired since there will be cameras!)’, the text message read. 

Honestly, you could only rejoice in your small dorm room. Finally, you could rest for once. You really didn’t think much of it because of the many deadlines that you were chasing. In fact, you could only look forward to that day because it marked the date of your last major submission for the semester. 

And finally, the day came. You woke up earlier and happier because there were no more assignments to rush. Life started to sound a bit better than the previous weeks. You took your time to get ready, packed your necessary equipment and finally headed to the Waseda Main Field. 

On your way there, you caught sight of a few signages cordoning off the areas that were used for filming. ‘So the filming is really serious huh. I wonder what on earth could be this important.’, you thought to yourself as you chomped down on your breakfast, a banana. Shortly after, you eventually reach the venue, tossing your banana peel into the trash without looking as if you’ve done it routinely. All you could think about was how you were going to hide the shabby crocs you came in from the numerous cameras surrounding the entire field.

“Good toss”, you hear someone whisper. You would have never guessed who it was. THE Maki Mauss from &TEAM. You swore that you could never find non-Asians good looking but Maki was the first Wasian to change your mind. And lo and behold, was he there, staring right at you.

You were dying on the inside. But you chose not to show it. That’s the funny part about you. You don’t play when it comes to your image on the pitch. You hated showing vulnerable or softer sides of yourself on the pitch. You always made a conscientious effort to uphold a certain level of firmness and seriousness when it came to football, or maybe it was just an ego thing. Basically, you really just wanted to portray a nonchalant image on the pitch. And you were not about to let that image of yours go down the drain just because a member from your favourite K-pop group just spoke to you. So all you do is smile and nod, earbuds in, attempting to acknowledge his comment, as you walk away, listening to the very man himself (Maki) sing the chorus in War Cry as you walk past him. 

Then it finally clocked in. YX Labels. ‘So… the entire &TEAM is here? For a shoot?’, you thought to yourself as your heart raced just thinking about Murata Fuma.

Before you knew it, you saw him, standing in front of his makeup artist, who was trying her best to keep his long fluffy hair from covering his beautiful eyes. You felt like the world stopped for a moment, until your captain calls you over to join the team for a short briefing,

“Okay, as apparent as it may be, YX Labels had reached out to Waseda University for a joint shoot with our Women and Men’s Varsity Football Teams and &TEAM in their new show ‘GRandSLAM’. We will be taking part in a few challenges with them and then finally ending it off with a game at the end, Waseda Mixed Team versus &TEAM. As you all should know, a team should have 11 members but they only have 9. So we will need 2 of us to join them during the game time. Any volunteers?” 

You locked eyes with Fuma, as he walked past you. Captain Sayu kept on going, but all you could think of was Fuma. And the next thing you know, you were called by Sayu.

“Y/N, since you’re on exchange, maybe you can join them? It’s truly an experience you’ll never get in your country!” Sayu offered with a smile plastered on her face. You just nodded shyly with your hands by your back.

Upon completion of the warmup, the cameras started rolling.

“Hello everyone! We Link, We are &TEAM!”, they greeted as the field erupted with claps and cheers.

“Today, as you can see, we are at Waseda University and we will be playing… FOOTBALL!!!! We really thank the Waseda Varsity Football Team for making time for us to be here today, and we hope to create new fun memories with you today!” Upon Euijoo’s warm introduction, came the instructions of the games. The first game was 1 v 1 - where a member from &TEAM and a member from the Waseda Football would start from behind their respective goalposts, and upon the blow of the whistle, run and go up against each other and try to score a goal. 

You loved this drill because of how thrilling it was to score a goal. Naturally, you were highly motivated to do well. In fact, you forgot for a moment that Fuma was there, right in front of your eyes. Before the drill commenced, PD-nim mentioned that we would be doing it for 2 cycles, which meant that everyone would have 2 tries at it and that we had to rotate our opponents (basically not going up against the same person you did the last time). 

Ruka, your teammate who was in front of you in line, finally ran off during her turn. She went up against Taki and effortlessly scored. You were next. You looked up and you saw Maki getting ready to run. ‘Maki again’, you thought. Then the whistle beeped. You ran fast, so fast that you started hearing the crowd getting hyped up and excited. And somehow, you got to the ball before Maki did. He came to you slowly, not lunging in, as expected of a good defender. But that didn’t scare you. You took him on. A simple body feint that he bit into left him on his knees. And of course, the rest is history. The thrilling feeling of putting the ball in the net was immaculate. But still, you refused to show any sort of excessive emotion. So as my teammates were cheering for you, you calmly walked to the goal, picked up the ball and headed back to the back of the line. Just before that, Maki offered to shake your hand, while whispering, “You’re really good and nonchalant huh.” You simply flashed a smile and jogged to the back of the line. But at the corner of your eye, amidst everyone who was smiling and clapping, was Fuma, with his arms crossed and a poker face. ‘Did he think I was too arrogant?’ you thought as you were waiting for the next cycle to begin.

And before you knew it, it was your turn again. This time, it was him. It was Fuma. Immediately, you felt your legs go wobbly and a fuzzy feeling in your tummy. Behind closed doors you would squeal over him, yet now you were right in front of him, but your ego protected your image. Finally, the whistle beep sounded. You ran. But you didn’t know why you were slower than before. And true enough, Fuma got the ball that was served because he reached the ball in the center before you did. You bent your knees and got into a defensive position, ready to defend him. But you could feel your usual fierce face softening every time you caught sight of him. But you patiently wait, not jumping in to retrieve possession of the ball. And finally, as he attempted to run past you, you slowly timed your tackle and finally slid tackled him (ball first of course) to win back possession before shooting a long ball from your own half. And there you were with Fuma on the ground, jaw dropped agape at the sight of you counterattacking and scoring from quite a distance. 

You didn’t help Maki up. But something in you urged you to offer a hand to Fuma to pull him up. And he took your hand. “Sorry, hope you are fine,” you muttered as you pulled him back to his feet. “It’s nothing, don't worry,” he said, smiling down at the ground, as he brushed off the debris on his PE attire. 

And that marked the end of the 1 v 1 drill. We all gathered in front of the camera to summarise all that happened and to announce the winner of the drill, as well as the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the game. And there you were, as the MVP. Your teammates cheered you on as PD-nim announced it. 

“We have to agree she’s really good. But don’t you think she was giving Fuma-hyung a chance perhaps?” Maki joked. “I mean, she was 2 times faster when she was up against me, yet against Fuma-hyung she slowed down to let him get the ball… And she didn’t even help me up after I was on my knees! But she helped Fuma-hyung…” Maki added while pouting and playfully acting sad.

“No no! It’s not like that, Maki! I was just tired the second round because you gave me such a great fight at the start,” you joked back. 

“Look at her. She dropped honorifics with me. I think it’s either she likes Fuma-hyung more than me or she just straight-up hates me, PD-nim.” Maki muttered.

“No no no no! Don’t get the wrong idea! We are the same age… So I wanted to speak comfortably with you, you know?” you answered.

“Eh…? Are you a fan of &TEAM? How’d you know my age?” Maki replied, teasingly.

That’s when you knew it was over for you. This rat was annoying you the same way he ragebaits fans on his Weverse DMs and Live. “Yea.. Maybe I am a fan. Who knows? We’ll never know…”, you rage bait him back. 

“Okay, on a real note, who is your bias?” K asks with genuine curiosity, puppy eyes showing just how much he wished it was him.

“I won’t reveal it… or maybe you guys can try to guess and let me know by the end of the shoot?” you teased them. K rolled his eyes, while Maki’s face was full of astonishment, not believing just how unbelievable you were. And just like that the first segment is over, and everyone took an hour break before the final match segment commenced.

The boys naturally gravitated towards the tents to touch up their makeup, ensuring their appearance was tiptop. Then you catch Maki at the corner of your eye. 

“PD-nim says you’re from Singapore, and are you seriously my age?” Maki attempts to start a conversation. But it’s not him that you want to talk to. It’s none other than Fuma. 

“Yeah bro, I’m currently on exchange now. Studying sport science back at home and here.” You chuckled.

“You’re actually really funny you know? But seriously, who’s your bias? Is it me? Is that why you’ve been acting all nonchalant and tsundere-like around me?” His dimple starts to show as he teases you.

“Guess if you can, bro. But just know that it’s not you. I’m not about to give you an ego boost right after I sike-ed you so hard there on the pitch.” You joked with him as you drank a sip of your favourite vitamin water out of your Pokemon Bottle.

Just then, someone interrupted the conversation between you and Maki. “You like Pokemon too?” Fuma questioned with the sweetest smile on his face.

“Oh! Yes, I grew up watching Pokemon and I genuinely loved Eevee and Jigglypuff since young. I’m an avid Pokemon Unite gamer too actually.” You confessed while avoiding eye contact with Fuma.

“You play Pokemon Unite?!?!?” His eyes suddenly lit up upon hearing about Pokemon Unite. 

You nodded and he immediately ran to the changing room, telling me to give him a second. You let out a small laughter upon seeing just how cute he really was in real life. Truly a Pokemon nerd. Upon awaiting his arrival back, Maki came close and whispered, “It’s Fuma-hyung isn’t it? You’re being so obvious right now~” Maki teased. You rolled your eyes and told him to shut up - to which he responded by giggling. 

After what felt like forever, Fuma came back with his phone. “What’s your ID? Let’s be friends on Pokemon Unite,” He asks in his soothing voice. You were star struck. How did you go from reposting edits of him on TikTok to him asking me to play Pokemon Unite with him? It was crazy, but you gave it to him anyway. After you exchanged IDs and accepted each other’s friend requests, he looked over at you, which caught you off guard. You felt your cheeks burning. 

“You and Maki seem to get along pretty well. Such a cool and sporty girl like yourself must like cool guys like Maki too right?” He innocently asks. “You were really cool back there when you beat me just now. I was never like that, I have always been a quiet guy who loved Pokemon and anime. No girls really paid much attention to me in school. So you must have a lot of fans right?” He asks again with the cutest smile on his face. 

“No, definitely not. I am an introvert too. I prefer having a good quality circle of friends rather than many friends and fanboys who don’t truly care for me as a person. So being popular is definitely not in my books. I like to stay low profile and humble, so that I can play football and study hard.” You answered while nodding, slowly failing to maintain eye contact. 

“You’re quite the opposite of what you seem, Y/N.” Fuma mutters. Your head shot towards his direction. He remembered your name. But you shrug it off anyway with a nod of acknowledgement, playing off your inner fangirl. Before the silence killed both of you, you were saved by his makeup artist who called him over to touch up his makeup after the first cut. He gave you a reassuring smile alongside a friendly wave, before heading towards the tent to get his makeup touched up, leaving you there alone. 

Then it hit you. Did joking with Maki earlier give everyone the impression that you were interested in him? Did Fuma feel… jealous? Why’d he suddenly bring up me and Maki? Why was it of any significance to him?