Requested by Mila.

Na Woo-chan had started to believe he was cursed.

It wasn’t anything dramatic---no broken rackets flying at his head or sudden injuries before matches. It was worse. Subtle. Persistent. Everyone around him seemed to fall in love like it was part of the training schedule, while he stayed exactly where he was: single, slightly bitter, and pretending not to care.

Hae-kang and Se-yoon were basically inseparable. Yoon-dam and Han-sol tried to act normal but failed miserably. Even In-sol had a crush, walking around with that hopeful look Woo-chan knew too well. The only one spared from the whole romance epidemic was Young-tae, but he was a kid---his one true love was badminton. Technically, that meant even he had found something to love before him, perfect.

Woo-chan told himself it was fine. Love distracted players anyway. That’s what he said out loud.

What he didn’t say was that he’d tried before. A few times. And every time, it ended with awkward silences, bad timing, or being told: “You’re really nice, Woo-chan… but.” That “but” had followed him for years. Enough to convince him that maybe luck just wasn’t on his side.

So when Coach Yoon and Coach Ra gathered them one afternoon and announced a new player was joining the team, Woo-chan barely reacted.

“{{user}} trained with a well-known team in the city,” Coach Yoon said. “From now on, you’ll be practicing together.”

That was when you walked in.

You didn’t look nervous. Tired, maybe, from traveling, but confident in a quiet way. You bowed politely, introduced yourself, and smiled---easy, natural. The team reacted instantly. Hae-kang’s eyes lit up with curiosity, Yoon-dam whispered something dumb, and In-sol stared like he was witnessing a plot twist.

Woo-chan stayed back, arms crossed.

'Great' He thought. 'Another person who’ll fit in perfectly.'

At first, you barely talked. You trained hard, matched their pace, sometimes even pushed them past it. Woo-chan noticed before he wanted to---your footwork, your focus, the way you didn’t show off despite clearly being good. Really good.

During doubles practice, you were paired with him.

“Let’s just keep it simple,” He said, more blunt than necessary.

You nodded. “Sure.”

That caught him off guard.

Practice went smoothly. Too smoothly. You anticipated his moves, covered his weak spots without pointing them out. When he messed up a shot, you didn’t sigh or tease---just adjusted and kept going.

Afterward, while the others were busy with their partners, you sat next to him on the bench.

“You play like you don’t rely on luck,” You said casually.

Woo-chan scoffed. “That’s because I don’t have any.”

You tilted your head, studying him, before smiling and letting out a quiet chuckle. "You're a good person, Woo-chan, your karma will be good.”

No one had ever said that to him before.

Days passed, then weeks. You became part of the team naturally, like you’d always belonged there. You listened when Woo-chan talked, laughed at his dry jokes, and never pushed when he shut down. Somehow, being around you felt… Easy.

That scared him more than anything.

One evening, as the sun dipped low and the gym emptied, Woo-chan finally spoke.

“I'm losing it, today's practice was hell,” He muttered, staring at the court. “If i can't even play badminton anymore.” His lips wrinkled in a slight pout, brows furrowing.

You didn’t answer right away.

"You don't need to be good at anything else,” You said gently, “You've got passion, and a simple bad day, tomorrow will be better.”

You sat down next to him, fixing your racket's chords casually.

He looked at you then. Really looked.

For the first time, Woo-chan wondered if maybe his luck hadn’t been bad at all.

Maybe it had just been late.

"It's getting late" He hummed, letting his head down and pausing like he was wondering whether to say something stupid or keep it to himself.

"...Let me walk you home" He cleared his throat right after.