jeno can see some of the non-starters fighting off giggles at serena's statement. when he looks to the starters, however, none of them are laughing. good. jeno's only lived with serena for a week and he's already been a victim of her vicious playing style three times. 

to be fair, however, that was only because neither of them really knew how to communicate outside of basketball. well, jeno didn't at least. what the hell was he supposed to even say? 

hey sister that's practically a stranger because we've been apart for eleven years and you're nothing like how i remember you because we were literally six and seven! what brings you back to korea? 

there was literally no good way to enter that conversation. it had been eleven years without in person interaction, six years without face to face interaction, and two years without any interaction altogether. that was a long fucking time, sure, but jeno had held grudges for much longer than that. and for what serena had done, he shouldn't have even entertained the idea of his estranged sister living in his house.

but losing to her three times in a row when they played ball one on one was enough to at least get jeno to talk to her. they'd been dancing around the topic of why they'd even lost connection in the first place, but ever since then, they'd at least formed a mutual understanding of each other. an acquaintanceship of sorts. 

it was a temporary ceasefire and neither of them had it in them to continue to fighting at school and at home. so when serena found him right before english and told him that she was finally willing about the thing, jeno had bolted right after class and sat with her at lunch.

there had been some crying, some fighting, some screaming, and even a little love. a little lot of love. the sibling love that had been hiding under layers of years of resentment and guilt had finally risen to the top. nothing had been fixed. the scars serena had left on jeno were not things that were easily forgotten.

but they were much easier to forgive. especially when he finds out the truth of the incident two years ago. after all, serena was the only female in his life; as stubborn as he was, he couldn't stay mad at her forever.

so when she essentially declares war and the non-starters are laughing, jeno can't help but feel bad for them. big bad jeno lee, the one who's entire life revolved basketball, had lost to serena three times in a row. his baby sister. and he couldn't even be mad because she was that fucking good.

"one on one, starting with you - you, the one in the black. what's your name?" the finger is pointed at minhyuk, a freshman with the ego the size of antarctica. if jeno thought him and jaemin were bad, minhyuk was basically bowser. 

minhyuk's eyebrows raise and shrugs, an easy smile on his lips. serena nods in satisfaction. jeno could practically see the wheels turning in her head and it clicks in his head: this isn't for the scouts at all. this was about the team. she was rebuilding the team; inside out. 

she was going to break down every single security they thought they had. not bad. not bad at all.

it seems like the same conclusion has been drawn by haechan because even though he's perpetually pissed by the female, he's looking at her with a newfound sense of respect. 

the shift in the air is subtle but very potent, and everyone with half a brain cell can sense it. 

"well? half court, park. move your ass," serena says, with a sense of cockiness that's reassuring. the type of easy confidence that people who are good at their craft have. the type that guarantees success before ever even dribbling the ball. 

minhyuk's eyes narrows and jeno can see another non-starter, joohyun, grip his arm, shaking his arm. both jaemin and jeno snort at that. these kids were acting up way too much. haechan's almost glad that serena's about to make an example out of this kid. 

it seems coach lee shares their sentiments because he's casually sitting on the bench, scrolling through his phone, only to look up every once in a while to monitor progress. there wasn't much progress to be noted.

minhyuk was losing sorely. serena had even made a half-court shot, successfully, within the first three minutes. by the end of the five minutes, she had barely broken a sweat and minhyuk looked like he was about to directly fax his soul to god. 

"does anyone else have any more doubts about my skill or my advice?" the silence in the gym is heavy. serena smiles a rare smile, which is too smug to be a real smile, and dismisses the team. 

"serena? you're dismissing the team?" the question is voiced by coach lee. he doesn't look upset or even indignant. he asks as if he was just confirming with her. serena nods, and jeno swears he sees a glint of pride in his father's eyes and maybe jeno should be upset or jealous, but he can't bring himself to be. 

someone else is though.

when everyone files out of the gym and jeno and coach lee have gone into the office to discuss the upcoming game, jaemin corners serena, who's marking a few things on her holy grail (her clipboard).

"you play?" god. that was literally the stupidest thing that could come out of jaemin's mouth. serena cocks an eyebrow, french tipped hands running through her hair that has been let down. 

"you doubting it?"

"yeah." 

jaemin doesn't know why he says it. he doesn't even know why he's here, talking to this, this kid. she was the kid that had hurt his coach and her brother, his best friend. even if they were all suddenly chummy, jaemin was not. he wanted to like her, at least for the sake of the two most important people in his life. but he just can't bring himself to forget the raw pain and anger in jeno's eyes when he had first seen serena. 

"play me then." jaemin thinks he mishears her, even though he knows he hasn't.

"what?"

"play. me." serena's already up, tying her hair into a low ponytail and flicking a ball off of the rack. jaemin drops the duffel bag next to the water tank, not really sure what was happening. this felt like a fever dream. 

"you can have possession," serena says lazily, passing the ball to him. jaemin catches it simply, with a grin on his face.

this should be fun. 

he moves carefully and deliberately, stalking towards the basketball hoop slowly, calculating what kind of serena is. the first mistake. he was one step behind her; she already had pinned him down, which was admittedly due to her job, but didn't make any offensive moves. 

she just watched. she let him dunk. let him hit a lay-up. she let him move and use the skills he had accumulated over years of playing. by the time the score is seventeen-zero, jeno and coach lee come out of the office, only to see jaemin trample serena.

the moment jaemin moves to attempt a three to secure the win, it's as if serena has finally come to life. before jaemin can even blink, the ball is in her hands and she's headed straight for a lay-up. she completes it successfully and the ball is back in his hands, officially being jaemin's possession, as the possession changed every time the opposing made a basket. 

jaemin shakes himself off, slipping into the persona well-known and widely feared: the phantom. serena doesn't even flinch, and time and time again, she gains possession of the ball and sinks three after three, humiliating jaemin five times too many.

they're tied at seventeen to seventeen and have garnered quite the crowd. haechan, renjun, and jisung have changed and come back to see what was taking jaemin so long to leave, only to see him get his ass handed to him. 

jaemin's eyes narrow and he sees red, causing him to make his second mistake. his arm comes in contact with serena's chest, completely off from how he had anticipated to block the ball. the basketball flies out of her hands and hits the backboard, falling into the hoop cleanly. the force of the contact between jaemin and serena pushes her onto the ground. 

she looks down for a moment, panting, before looking at jaemin, still shocked at his miscalculation. he meets her eyes and a shiver runs down his spine for the first time on the court. serena holds his gaze, and if she hadn't just beat him, jaemin might've even laughed at the irony: the one on the ground held the power. 

"number twenty-three. flagrant foul. na jaemin, you are disqualified from the game."

the huntress has just found her prey.

+++

a/n: thank you to all the wonderful and lovely people who comment and vote on this silly little story of mine :(( again, a lot of character building, but finally!! we see some things happen!! just based on my non-existent planning of the story, this story is going to be around fifty chapters :))