2jin

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Finally a 2jin fic



Hyunjin is not afraid of anything, really.

As a kid, she used to be terrified of dogs, for some reason she couldn't remember anymore. Then, when she was around five years old or so, she learned to imitate a dog's bark for a school play, and her fear suddenly disappeared. Growing up, she didn't really have any major fears or phobias—just the typical angsty teenage stuff, you know—and she was already used to her friends mocking her for being a bit too fearless for her own good.

Hyunjin is not afraid of anything, until suddenly she is being pushed down a flight of stairs and the only coherent thought she manages is how utterly terrified she is.

When she realizes what's going to happen to her, as she falls down one of the staircases of her school, Hyunjin realizes that perhaps she does fear something. The burning pain she feels on her knee, the way her body hits every single one of the steps, the soft but clear crack she hears when she tries to cover her face with her hands—she has never been this scared in all of her life, because she has never had so many reasons to be.

She doesn't really know how it all unfolds—one moment, she is waiting for Hyejoo at the top of the stairs, playing absentmindedly with her phone. Next minute, she is at the bottom of the staircase, the weight of her body crushing her wrist (she doesn't even need to check, her wrist is definitely broken) and crushing somebody else's body under her. Her head is spinning, her lip is bleeding, her ears are ringing and she feels disoriented yet somehow insensitive, despite knowing damn well her body must be covered in bruises.

In those seconds of confusion and slight panic she isn't really thinking straight, her mind hazy by an odd feeling of numbness, thus her first instinct is to get up so the person under her can breathe. (She can feel them underneath her body, and for a split second she also fears that she might have killed someone by accident, until they start shuffling beneath her and at least she knows they're not dead.) "Bad fucking idea", Hyunjin thinks, as she attempts to stand still.

Only then, when her knee trembles, sending a wave of penetrating, unbearable pain through her whole body, only then she realizes: her entire life is ruined.

She falls back to the floor, screaming both in pain and distress, doing her best to hold back the tears that threaten to fall from the corner of her eyes. Hyunjin can't remember much after that, her mind too clouded by the harsh stinging on her leg and her wrist.

Her head hits the floor and she feels her vision start to get blurry, just as she catches a quick glance of whoever she fell on top of. Judging by the soft wiping next to her, the other person must be in a lot of pain, too.

Jeon Heejin, is the last thing Hyunjin can think of before she loses consciousness.



Hyunjin wakes up in a hospital bed after a successful knee surgery.

After she has recovered from the dizziness of the anaesthesia, her mother tries to explain what happened to her as thoroughly as she can: apparently, some freshmen were playing around the stairs and one of them bumped into her a bit too harshly by accident, which made her trip down the staircase. She broke her knee and cracked her wrist during the fall. According to her mother, she was lucky enough she didn't crack her spine, too, but that sounds more like something she (a worried parent) would say rather than a doctor's words.

It's then when Hyunjin realizes that her leg is covered in compressing stockings and her arm is in a cast. The other one has an IV tube, probably to give her pain medication (her head still hurts like a bitch.) She stares blankly, not quite believing her eyes; it feels like she's not herself, like she's watching everything from outside her body. Maybe it's just the concussion, but everything is just... surreal. "This cannot be happening to me," she thinks. It doesn't feel like it's actually happening to her—it's like some kind of dream, or rather a very vivid nightmare.

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Hyunjin is not stupid. She knows what a broken knee—and a broken wrist and a fucking surgery—means to someone like her: she won't be able to play soccer for a while. She will miss the rest of the season and she will most likely lose her spot as the team's star striker after so many years of effort. Nonetheless, she tries to be positive and not lose all hope yet.

"Honey, I know what you're thinking..." Her mother stops her train of thought in a soft voice, looking at Hyunjin with sadness in her eyes. That only makes her feel worse about, well, everything. "You can't worry about soccer right now. You need to rest, Hyunjin. You could have—"

"I could have snapped my spine, I could have cracked my skull... I know, mom," Hyunjin cuts her off in a mocking tone, feeling a tad too resentful. Seeing the way her mother's face falls, however, makes her instantly regret her answer. "I—I mean... you don't need to worry so much, but..."

"You're worried about playing." This time, her mother is the one interrupting (Hyunjin definitely got her strong character from her), a sad smile on her lips. "I know and I understand, honey, please believe me, but the doctor said..."

Hyunjin quirks an eyebrow in an attempt to look just mildly interested. It fails when her voice comes out too eager, too scared. "W—What did he say, exactly?" She feels her heartbeat slamming against her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

It takes her mother a few seconds to speak. Maybe she's trying to find the best way to say it without hurting Hyunjin. They both know there's no best way—no good way at all—to say those words without them completely destroying what's left of Hyunjin's spirit.

"He said that you might not be able to play this season, or..." Hyunjin holds her breath in anticipation. She knows what's coming next. "Well, he isn't sure if you'll be able to play again, actually."

Words hit Hyunjin harder than any of the steps of that damned staircase did. "He isn't sure you'll be able to play again." Her mother's voice echoes in her ears, in the back of her head, in every inch of her body. She might not be able to play soccer ever again.

It took her 17 years to build her entire life, but it only took a flight of stairs and thirty seconds for it to be completely destroyed. She smiles bitterly at the thought.

Her mother stares at her, brows furrowed with worry, and reaches for one of Hyunjin's hands. Her daughter rejects the gesture coldly—she's not in the mood for affection. She's not in the mood for anything, really. Hyunjin feels like something inside her is now gone.

A nurse comes in and asks her mother to leave. The woman kisses Hyunjin on the forehead, tells her not to overthink things and bids her daughter goodbye. Hyunjin barely manages a few coherent mumbles that sound like "bye, love you". Her head is spinning, and it hurts too much for her to being able to deal with it. It's a pain that isn't physical.

Hyunjin might never play soccer again.



Here's the thing—Hyunjin hates Jeon Heejin.

There are a few things she knows for sure about Heejin:

She's on the track team.
She's one of the top students in her class.
Everybody is, like, obsessed with her.
She dislikes Hyunjin just as much as Hyunjin dislikes her.

Hyunjin met Heejin on her first year of high school, when they both signed up for the track team. They both were very fast runners and overall better athletes than the rest of their teammates, and perhaps that was why an unexpected rivalry between them was suddenly born—since they were the only ones who could represent a challenge for the other, they were constantly forced to compete against one another.

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