You’re just a game boy Pt. 1
wherein: Sophia, currently being courted by the star captain of the boys hockey team but instead falls for his female counter part of the women’s team. yn who tried her best not to fall harder for Sophia the moment she set her eyes on her and failed to do so regardless of her efforts. or Gameboy if it was jock-filled chaos.
mornings were always a bother to sophia, the sun was almost always shining too bright, the humidity just slightly too sticky. not to mention the start of a new school day, to swing by her locker with that boy who was all but right just waiting to spring the most ridiculous gifts on her. she knew she should feel at least a bit flattered that the prodigy hockey captain, Alex, was courting her, well trying to, but she just felt wrong about in every way possible.
at least her friends knew how much of a chore this was to her even though she never uttered a single complaint and cheered her up before arriving at their first class. the routine was lived in, yet vaguely uncomfortable for her. she never liked him, nor the attention drawn to her because of him, it always felt too overwhelming, too overstimulating, hushed whispers of rumours trailed her every step, and she had to constantly perform as someone she wasn’t.
he was constantly begging her to let him take her out, to accept his physical affections, to come to his joint trainings. it mildly disgusted her how this… boy kept bothering her no matter how many times she politely declined. it had been going on for months, when she decided to peek into of those joint trainings just to shut him up for the exam period as he promised.
it was hard being a woman student athlete, everyone always expected more than your male counterparts. when the guys were barely passing their classes, the women were expected to be almost above average, when the guys got top 3, they were endlessly celebrated, yet when the women were top 2, they barely had any congratulations. yes, they played for the sport and themselves not the recognition, praises and parties, but it can hurt when you see people appreciating others and nothing for you when you were doing better in almost all ways.
and there you were, the newly appointed captain of the season, determined to push the team to champions after being second for the past 2 years. it had been an exhausting few weeks, conditioning yourself as well as the team into tip top shape for the upcoming tournament. days started dark and ended dark, squeezing as much training into the day whilst juggling upcoming finals prep happening in a week, all without burning yourself out.
“COME ON MEGS CHASE IT. DANI SUPPORT HER FROM THE RIGHT. MANZ PRESSURE ON ALEX.” you holler at the girls, tracking the ball with calculated precision. like as if a switch was flicked, megan started sprinting harder, as daniela rounded out 5 meters from the middle with manon slowing alex down from running after megan. as megan controls the ball after barely saving it, she fakes the goalie and flicks it over to daniela who deflects it right into the goal with a loud thud, signalling a score.
the girls let out a scream, laughing at the guys as they hang their heads in disbelief.
“Go on then, 10 laps like you promised suckers” you cackle at them as the girls gathered to hydrate. you dab up daniela and megan who were grinning from the adrenaline and stabilized yourself as manon launched herself onto your back.
“y’all that was sick as hell!! look at them sulking there. frozen yoghurt after training, my treat. you too cap” manon says wrapping her legs around your waist, before dropping down.
sophia who appeared just in time to see that play was astonished. sure, she didn’t know a single thing about hockey, but that goal was incredibly smooth. she grinned as she heard the girl who had shouted earlier cackle at the boys defeat and seeing a girl jump onto her and yet she barely flinched, just made sure her friend didn’t fall off.
at this moment she decided she could live with coming to these trainings as long as she saw this curiously passionate girl play. she continued studying the group of girls softly smirking as she witnessed their antics. all of a sudden, the sun was blocked and when she looked up, there was alex drenched and smelling slightly foul (very. extremely.) smiling at her. she gave him a small, tight smile coupled with a vague nod and tuned him out as he rambled on about things she didn’t understand.
“Sorry one second who’s that girl. the one with the blue streaks in her hair. what’s her name?” she blurted out, unable to take listening to the drone of his scratchy voice.
alex blinks hard surprised, explaining, “uh…? right that’s yn, she’s the cap of the women’s team. anyway, as I was saying…” sophia sighed inwardly, this boy could not take a hint for real… she continued pretending to listen until a certain trios shouts were heard.” HEY LOVERBOY GET BACK HERE WE’RE STARTING” they screamed in unison while the rest of the team started laughing uncontrollably and with an exaggerated eyeroll, alex sauntered down the stands back to the pitch.
as she squinted in the direction of the pitch, she realized that daniela, megan and manon, her acquaintances via yoonchae and lara were on the team too. specifically, that they seemed close to yn. for some reason, sophia was ridiculously interested to get to know her even if she only had caught a glimpse of the girl from afar. their eyes met for a moment, loaded, like it was the start of something she couldn’t define before she turned to her back with a wink. gathering both her belongings and thoughts, she slipped out of the area, already forming a plan in her mind.
you on the other hand was being viciously harassed by your so called friends. the moment alex had stepped into Sophia’s vicinity, the trio perked up and started pushing you around as they teased you about your very known crush on her. you blush hard, flipping them off then proceeded to stomp off to where the bottles were. you chugged down your water then poured out some onto your head to cool off.
“OOOOOH CAPS TRYNA SHOW OFFF TO HER SPECIAL SOMEEEE ONEEE” the girls drawl out all sing-songy just for shits and giggles. you roll your eyes so hard before clapping twice to signal that break was over. “Guys be useful n call that shithead over, will ya?” you sigh out, irritated that alex wasn’t taking his duty as captain seriously for the umpteenth time this week. your wandering gaze locked on hers for a moment before she subtly winked and turned back to her things. your jaw dropped slightly as you trace her exit out of the area.
you shake your head at the sight of the girls taunting alex as you jog over to continue training. sure, that interaction with sophia fazed you, but you weren’t going to let the others know that. you just hoped that wouldn’t be the last of Sophia’s attention diverted to you.
and that, was the start of it all. one glance. two hopeful breaths intertwined. with their somewhat impending doom looming over them.
“Do y’all know her? yn? from the hockey team. I saw that dani, megan and manon were looking pretty close with her.” sophia mused later that night during the trio’s nightly check in.
lara started grinning with that stupid plotting look on her face as she explains that both her and yoonchae are close with her too, and that they had tried to introduce the two of you but of course sophia was busy with her student council duties. oh, and she was in the same literature class, but sophia never noticed.
“Well anyways yn-unnie is super nice, fia. you would like her. she brought me go-karting once when you and lara were too busy with work to hang out with me. still annoyed about that btw. you both owe me a movie and popcorn.” yoonchae declared with triumph as she ruffled through her papers.
“Sooo, fia. how about we all hang out after finals? yn n the girls would welcome a chill day before they start their tourney uk…” lara drawls out lazily as she scrolls through her phone, no doubt planning something chaotic.
sophia hums in agreement but makes lara promise no alcohol. or drugs. you never knew with that girl, the things she could procure is insane.
meanwhile, you and the trio were at the campus frozen yoghurt store, scooping spoonful’s of it hungrily. you sigh softly, still replaying the moment with sophia earlier in the day. for some reason her gaze kept lingering in your brain no matter how locked in you were.
“Cappp u gd? youve been suspiciously quiet since sophia came during training. still dreaming about her huh?” daniela starts as she nudges your shoulder softly.
“I… yeah. I don’t know why but her gaze has been assaulting me non-stop. just something about it was so… unsettling but delicate. and she winked. at me. and slipped away with my heart… I think?” you sigh out yearningly as you play with your yoghurt. the trio exchanged glances, they knew you liked her but didn’t imagine it was this bad. you were on some real loser yearning level n it was pretty funny to them in all honesty.
“Cap uk we all are literally friends with lara AND yoonchae. oh look! lara texted asking if we are gonna be free after final for a chill hangout. uh-uh no buts cap we are going and… done! now let’s just hope we don’t die before that yeah?” megan chirps excitedly, not even giving you any say in whatever they were planning.
you smile weakly at them before savouring the cool yoghurt in your mouth as they started going on about the latest gossip in school. you busied your mind by inputting your opinions on why Ryujin should stop trying to chase after Lia after she got dumped. but still, at the corner of your mind sat Sophia’s gaze, so unnervingly curious and dangerous.
when sophia sat in the last class, she didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. and yet, when yn crossed the threshold of the class, their eyes locked once again. sophia subtly gestured at the seat beside her as lara randomly decided to sit with manon, who was basically yn’s forever seat partner. she slid into the seat cautiously, as if she were hesitant to even exist in Sophia’s space. sophia threw her a casual smile, nodding as yn took out her things, slightly leaning into her space to gaze out the window.
she heard yn take a sharp inhale, signalling that she knew what sophia was doing. it was close but not enough to be intimate yet not too far to be casual. they could feel the warmth radiating off each other, comforting yet sharp. as if a step taken close but not close enough. something quiet that couldn’t be named in both of them shifted simultaneously, just enough to feel it in the air.
they didn’t address it but when yn leaned back after sophia pulled away slightly, maintaining that closeness, she knew yn felt it. the rest of class flew by quietly, only punctuated by discussions assigned by the teacher. after class yn tapped on her shoulder softly and waved good bye before catching up with her group, whom started pushing her playfully as she covered her face in embarrassment. she smiled as she watched yn step out and glance back quickly before turning away with the slightest blush dusting her cheeks.
lara appeared behind her, rambling about the details of tomorrows class presentation. she nodded while she grabbed her bag and started off to student council hurriedly. and whilst it all she kept thinking back to yn’s sheepish smile during class when the teacher praised her for her answer, it was awfully cute now that she looked, really looked at yn.
“DUDEEEEE I’m pretty sure I bombed that shit. I think I’m seeing stars from how hard I tried to use my brain and keyword being tried.” you muttered tiredly to daniela as you step out of the exam room. daniela just nodded in agreement, she didn’t even have the energy to talk shit about the exam, it was that traumatising. the two of you trudged down to the athlete dorms, meeting up with manon and megan along the way coming in the opposite direction, looking as drained and dead as you two.
the four of you part with a flourish of handshakes as soon as the lift dings, with manon and daniela veering to the right, megan and you to the left. they both you dump your bags outside, beelining for your toilets to get ready for a celebratory hangout with lara, yoonchae and sophia.
after an hour of clanging around, throwing clothes all over the shared couch, you and megan were ready.
“AYEEEE YALL CLEANED UP WELLL YOUR FITS EATT!” daniela and manon holler the moment they saw the two of you appear. you started cat walking and posing while approaching them, making all four of you cackle like absolute maniacs. you all pile into Megan’s M3, blasting a mix of carti, billie and ofc katseye. megan speeds over to the girl’s dorm to get lara and yoonchae, then the student government building to get sophia. at this point Megan’s car was choke-full of bodies even with the back seats deployed, and so that’s how sophia ended up sitting in yns lap after much protest from the two of them (yn) and a permanent heavy blush gracing yn’s face.
of all days, megan decided to take the bumpiest route to the mall. every pothole sent Sophia bouncing, and at one point YN instinctively gripped her hips so she wouldn’t hit her head on the roof. by the time megan pulled up in the parking lot, yn flung open the door and softly nudged sophia off her lap, mumbling to watch out for a puddle. turning to face the rest, you catch them pushing and giggling each other while their eye dart between the both of you. you glare at them, it was obvious that they were the ones that had orchestrated the whole situation.
you sigh softly, savouring the contrast of the cool air of the air conditioned mall on your skin that felt like it was burning from the heat, the embarrassment, just everything that went down. you peek at sophia who was a mask of nonchalance, not even a slight indication she was fazed by the situation. it made you feel even more dumb. it was so obvious the only reason you were acting like that was that you were attracted to her. there’s no doubt sophia clocked it and knew how much of a loser idiot you were.
meanwhile, sophia was slowly dying inside, trying too hard to put up her nonchalant face while the moment yn instinctively wrapped around her waist with a soft grunt had her spiralling so deep in delusion, it was depressing. after a quick peek at yn trailing behind her, face adorably flushed. she cursed herself rapidly in Tagalog under her breath, telling herself to get it together. she lengthened her strides to catch up with lara and casually looped her arms with lara in disguise of distributing her weight to keep herself steady, steering lara towards the toilet.
inside the stall, she contemplated how to go ahead, should she tease yn? should she distance herself? should she- sophia froze, confused why she was overthinking this instead of just, being subtle as usual. she slowly exhaled, smacking her cheeks lightly before stepping out to reapply her lip tints. lara raised her eyebrow, practically hearing what was transversing in Sophia’s head. she was about to open her mouth before sophia placed a firm hand up in her direction.
“I know lara. I got it, I’m not going to overthink it anymore. thanks bestie” she sighed out, before recomposing and dragging lara out. she slowly lagged behind lara till she ended up in front of yn, where she slowed down. yn’s shoulder bumped into her hard, making sophia stumble back (total accident yeah right). yns reflexes kicked in, her hands shot out, one holding Sophia’s waist and the other to the small of her back
with their faces inches apart, sophia blinking rapidly while yn had an awestruck stare. the group had turned the moment they heard Sophia’s tiny yelp, grinned at them evilly before snapping pictures. and then Megan’s flash went off, alerting the pair. yn dropped her hands immediately, making sophia drop to the ground.
“Oh, shit sophia I’m so sorry- are you ok? shitshit MANON STOP LAUGHING U DIPSHIT.” yn groaned as she slowly helped sophia stand. yn dusted her dress off carefully, still sporting a deep blush ears included. Sophia’s breath stuttered, eyes flicking to the blush threatening to spread to yn neck and the slight tremble in her hands.
“Oh girl, you look like you just finished training” megan cackles gleefully, zooming into your face. you lunge at her, trying to grab her phone. she swiftly dodged you, her forward training kicking in while sending the video to the group chat. she stuck her tongue out at you, trying to rage bait you into chasing her again. you exhale deeply, before stalking off in the direction of the restaurant. at this point you couldn’t wait to go back and wallow in your room with no interruptions.
the rest of the hang out goes smoothly, well relatively when you have 4 crackheads together. you eventually make a group chat, realizing it wasn’t too bad at all, especially when you could steal glances at sophia.
a month passes, the girls were hard at work, training 5 times a week. and without a doubt sophia would be there. lara teased her endlessly, with yoonchae giving snarky comments here and there. she insisted she was going to support alex and the four girls, but they knew and most importantly she knew deep down she just wanted an excuse to see yn. the first few times felt weird, sophia had never came to trainings before and didn’t really know how she was supposed to be like.
it had taken her a week to actually go up to yn to talk before going back to her dorm. another to get yn to walk her back, an accident according to only them, when she got “lost” and wandered coincidently on yn’s route back. it became routine to do so, the two strolling, sometimes talking, sometimes sharing music and sometimes just absorbing the quiet calm of the evening together. the stolen stares, small brushes of their hands, warmth of yn’s laugh was all sophia thrived on for days.
even so, alex, that brute of a boy, still thought sophia came there just to see him. he constantly jogged over to her to talk instead of hydrating, constantly did unnecessarily showy skills, constantly got distracted looking at the sidelines. it honestly pissed sophia off to no end. he kept blocking her view of yn. although it was amusing to watch yn give him glares, so sharp she could feel them. sophia was on the verge of telling him to get lost too many times but didn’t want to spoil the relationship between their fathers. she knew he would tell on her for being rude and eventually her dad would hear about it.
and so, her dilemma of diplomacy or desire began. it was starting to get on her nerves, really bad.
exhausting. the past month was exhausting. you sighed inwardly as you trudged to training. the only saving grace so far was how much time you spend with sophia. but of course, your ambition to win was above the exhaustion. no matter how lazy you felt, you still showed up, gave it you’re all with no complaints. it was the week before the tournament started and of all times you had to keep team morale at its highest while drilling tactics harder than before.
meanwhile, you were contemplating about sophia. god, sophia. with her soft curling smiles, subtle brushes against you and twinkle in her eyes when she talked about her work. frankly, it was driving you crazy, and even the girls knew no matter how hard you tried to hide it. the tension was so thick when the two of you were together, you could suffocate. you shake your head, storing it to the back of your mind and start to lock in for training. you change, before marching out onto the pitch.
mid-drill, you look towards the bleachers, only to find Sophia’s burning stare trained on you. you look back, finding that alex had stolen the ball, winning the drill. you sigh softly, going to the side to complete your push-ups as punishment. steadying yourself, you look up again and found her eyes on you already. she didn’t even flinch, continuing to stare at you unblinkingly till you ripped your eyes away once you heard giggles from daniela. you tug at your ears that was burning up in embarrassment and want, trying to hide it from the girls.
you exit the stadium, beelining towards the belcher’s exit to meet with sophia. you were feeling so excited to spend time with her after such a harsh training.
“…will you go out with me fia?” you hear Alex’s voice ring out, just as you step in. you freeze, confounded at what you heard. you see sophia facing in your general direction, but she didn’t see you clearly. you step slightly closer to see Sophia’s reaction and just as you do, alex speaks again.
“…is that an, ok?” your face drops at once, eyes glassy just as sophia catches you standing there. you turn on your heel, bolting out of the door as sophia calls out for you not to go. then, the tears came, hot, searing, unstoppable, as if your heart was bleeding out through your eyes. the world blurred around you, with only the sound of your heart breaking in pieces and the taste of your tears, bitter and sorrowful. all that remained was the ache of her rightful place in your soul and the echo of her name in your breath that was sacred.
“FUCK. NO YN PLEASE.” sophia screamed, the moment yn whipped around. she turns back to alex, eyes blazing, body trembling with anger.
“You. YOU. THIS IS YOUR FUCKING FAULT.” Her voice cracked, but she didn’t care. “I was, have been, and never will be interested in you! You’re so fucking dense you can’t tell the difference between being polite and being in love. Leave me alone. I never want to see you again. And don’t you dare run to your father about this, you coward.”
The words tore out of her before she could think, jagged, unrestrained, the kind that could never be taken back. for once, she didn’t care.
sophia spun on her heel and ran, through the exit, down the hall, past the echo of Alex’s stuttering apologies. She sprinted as if the ground itself might give way beneath her if she stopped.
her dorm, empty. the library, silent. even the bench under the old oak, where yn always sat after training, was deserted. there she stood, breathless in the fading light, she realized just how much she’d lost in a single heartbeat. when her legs gave out, she sat there, broken and exhausted till her vision blurred to nothing.
a/n: ouuu first fic aft a LONGGG while...hope yall enjoyss n yes a ref to rio's alex frm mamma mia :D n he will. suffer.
