I saw a chart today that found that over 1/4 of bts Spotify followers are chapter 2 fans and I thought it was really interesting how people are being drawn in by solo works (presumably) and then become invested in the group despite probably not ever seeing them perform live. From what I can tell, this doesn’t seem to be the case with other groups’ solo/group work engagement, or at least not to that extent. I think taemin is one of the most popular solo K-pop artists I can think of but, while shawols from what I can tell are staunchly ot5, taemin also seems to have a very large solo fan base that are not shawols, and the general interest in him may actually outnumber the interest in shinee these days. I don’t really pay much attention to other groups fanbases but I’d be curious if you had any impression of whether this is unique in K-pop. No pressure if you have no idea though!
Sorry I took a long time to reply! I've been rereading Jikook fics in my free time lmao.
I think there are probably several reasons for that. Some things to consider:
I don't really know how they obtained those statistics. I assume they divided the amount of Spotify followers BTS gained during or after June 2022 by the overall number of followers? Or was all of 2022 considered chapter 2?
Most chapter 1 Armys entered the fandom after 2017, particularly after 2019, and especially after 2020. I imagine BTS must've gained around half of their Spotify followers alone throughout 2020 and 2021. Chapter 2 began mid-2022, after their famous Grammys performance. BTS were, and still are, reaping the success of the English trilogy and My Universe. Also, when BTS announced they were enlisting, there was a lot of media coverage, not just in SK (I remember Trevor Noah talking about it), which drew attention to BTS. The members' individual songs and collabs, such as Dreamers, L&R, LC, Seven, etc. also drew attention to the BTS name, since any member is introduced first as being BTS. Same with fashion deals.
Those quarter of followers didn't necessarily join because of the members' solo works. In fact, I'd bet a lot of people only found BTS's solo projects because they recognized the BTS name - case in point, my lovely non-Muggle Army who got into BTS after checking out JK's GMA performance because she remembered BTS's old 2019 GMA performance.
I think it's quite hard to estimate the number of fans who became Army simply because they noticed one of the members and then checked out the group. They probably checked out that member because they knew BTS. It's like a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" thing.
25% doesn't seem like a surprising figure. BTS only became truly mainstream in 2020 and the more the years pass the more mainstream they become. Each year they stick around is another year of people realizing BTS are here to stay, and their ability to retain and attract new fans is undeniable. Imo, it's hard for non-kpop fans to find most of the members' solo works. J-Hope, Suga, Jimin and Jungkook were the only ones who did big overseas promotions (Lollapalooza, Jimmy Fallon, GMA, Radio One, NBA, touring, NYE performance, etc.).
I don't know what I'm saying atp lmao. I think those 25% are not all solo fans or fans who became solos first. Only half of those probably became Army exclusively through any of the members' solo work - most likely Jungkook's. I mean, solo era has done a lot for BTS as a group because it's kept their name alive in people's minds, thus leading to a lot of people discovering the group. It's always Jungkook of BTS, Jimin of BTS, etc. None of the members is being separated from the group brand. Even if you listen to Seven without knowing Jungkook is a BTS member, you will quickly realize that BTS is "only" the biggest group on the planet, which is a sure fire way to decide to check out the group, and not just Jungkook, right? And if you want to see more of Jungkook you will naturally check out BTS content too, since there's a very limited amount of solo content.
The point above shows the difference between Taemin and Jungkook/any BTS member. When I started listening to kpop I kept hearing about Taemin, the father of kpop. I knew he was a SHINee member but as a soloist he was just as legendary, if not more so, as Shinee. It's quite different with BTS. Everyone knows BTS. SHINee weren't active in the years Taemin became a powerhouse performer, but BTS don't have to be active to be very famous - their reputation precedes them, and every member is BTS, there's no separating the member from the group. People who learn about Jungkook, for example, already know BTS or quickly learn that BTS is much bigger than him. That isn't the case with Taemin. He's just as famous as SHINee, but BTS is more famous than Jungkook, or, more accurately, Jungkook is most famous as a member of BTS. Taemin is a rare gem in kpop, he's one of the few really successful male soloists, and he contributes a lot to kpop. He *is* kpop. His fellow members aren't. SHINee, by comparison, are just an iconic boy group - even if they're active, they're not changing the game the way Taemin still. Their appeal is limited to new fans (though now that they're active again, it's a bit different). BTS are the group. Jungkook's success would only make people curious about the group he's from. They'd be like "Ah, so Jungkook is a member of the famous BTS I keep hearing about?". Idk, there's a difference haha.
I really don't know in general. Very few soloists are more famous than their groups or have successful careers alongside their groups. Hwasa is an example I can think of, but most of her fans are Mamamoo fans too, I think. Same for the BP members. I think it depends on how popular the group is, and how active? Baekhyun is pretty popular solo, like Taemin, but, like Jungkook, he's undoubtedly known as a member of a legendary group just as much as he's known for his solo work. I think Taemin is probably a bit of an exception? Like Taeyeon, for example, but Girl's Generation aren't active anymore...
Did I answer your question at all? Sorry! Thanks for the ask!
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(Y/n) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Monday
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday (Part 1) Thursday (Part 2) Friday Saturday Sunday
Spotify Playlist (collaborative)
Pairing: SBI x sister!reader (she/her pronouns)
Warnings: swearing, toxic friends, panic spirals/attacks, injury, taking pills for pain
Summary: you have a very bad week, how will you manage? (Characters are fully human, but based on their DSMP characters. High school AU)
Word count: 4,818
(A/N): I’ve never played volleyball or watched Haikyuu before, so I’m not 100% certain how games work. Also, I probs should’ve split this into two parts, but eh.
“(Y/n) love, you look homeless in that sweater, it’s literally so fucking ugly.”
“Haha, yeah it is. I guess I just wasn’t really trying today.”
Adrian snorted, scanning your body with his cold eyes. “Today? You don’t try at all. You always look like trash.”
“More than trash, you always look like you just rolled in dog shit.” Sammy threw her head back and cackled at her own joke.
Your friends around you erupted in laughter as you four walked down the hallways of the hell that was your public high school. You awkwardly chuckled alongside them, you didn’t really find it funny, but you didn’t want to draw more attention towards yourself.
“Seriously, (y/n), I really don’t know why we still hang out around you anymore. You really let yourself go.”
“Yeah, now that I think about it, you did gain like five pounds in the past week.”
“Really not a good look on you, love. Then again, nothing you do can make you look good anymore.”
You tried to not let their comments get to you, you really did, but sometimes their comments just rooted themselves deep into your subconscious. You didn’t try looking good anymore, you couldn’t wear anything without them criticising it. You could never win.
“Awe,” Adrien poked your cheeks, “stop looking so sad. We’re just trying to give you advice. You really need it.”
“Yeah, (y/n). You’re so sensitive, get a grip.”
“Guys look, I think she’s gonna cry!”
You wiped at your welling eyes with the sleeves of your sweater. “I’m not. I just got allergies.”
Annie rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh. Anyways, what are our plans for Halloween? We should totally dress up like sexy angels! I think that’d be so cool. Like, Clint’s party won’t be ready for us.”
“Oh, about that Annie…”
“God, what now (y/n)?”
“I was actually planning on spending Halloween night taking Tommy and Tubbo trick-or-treating with my brothers and dad. I won’t be able to go with you guys, I’m sorry.”
The group groaned loudly. “C’mon (y/n), you never hang out with us anymore.”
“Oh my god (y/n) you still go trick-or-treating? We’re juniors.”
“I’m sorry, I’ve just been busy with my AP classes and studying for the SAT. My team captain’s really been pushing the team hard with volleyball practice. State finals are soon and we want first this year.”
“No matter how much studying you do, you’re gonna fail. You’re stupid, so why try? Just give up and hang out with uuussss.”
“Yeah (y/n),” Adrien looked at you suspiciously, “you’ve been ignoring us lately. I thought we were friends. Do you even wanna be friends anymore?”
You felt a flare of panic flare up in your gut. “I do! I-I just have so much going on right now. It’s starting to get hard to juggle everything.”
“We’re starting to think that you don’t like us anymore, we want our (y/n) back!” Sammy whined. The others agreed with her, making you feel guilty. You were ignoring them, it was selfish in your opinion. You supposed that you could skip out on taking Tommy and Tubbo trick-or-treating, there’ll be other years you could take them.
“I guess I can take Tommy and Tubbo another year. They’d just have to go without me this year.”
They cheered, giving you praise. You beamed at that, they seemed down lately and you loved it when they’d give you compliments. They didn’t do that much, so that made their praise more special to you. You strived to get compliments.
You four went off to your separate first classes for the day. Yours was statistics, a class you’ve been struggling in lately. You didn’t know anybody in there except for your oldest brother Techno, so you tried to stick with him. Unfortunately, the teacher’s seating chart placed you both on opposite ends of the room, probably because of your last names indicating that you’re siblings. You placed your stuff down on the table and plopped down into your seat, already drained. You had a long day ahead of you; you had a major AP world history test in your next class, you had to give a presentation in your AP english class that was worth a quarter of your final grade, and you had a semifinals volleyball match that would last until late in the night. If your team won, you would be going to state finals, so it was a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You were the main setter, so you had to really focus tonight if you were going to score your team points.
“Alright class, pull out your homework!”
Fuck, you had homework? You looked in your folder, only to see the unfinished sheet full of equations you didn’t understand staring back at you tauntingly. Mr. Mullins walked over to your desk, took one look at your blank homework, and just walked right past you. Another big fat zero in the gradebook for you, just what you needed. At least he wasn’t in the mood to berate you today. You didn’t need any more stress piled onto your shoulders.
The lesson felt like it dragged on forever with you frantically trying to copy down the notes on the board and trying to understand the content at the same time. Overtime, he would call students up to the board. Hopefully, he would skip over you today. “Ms. Minecraft.” Goddamn it, you spoke too soon.
Your head perked up and you looked at him. “Yes sir?”
“Come up to the board and solve this.”
Gulping, you felt panic rise up in you and stood up with shaky knees. On the board was part of the newer content he was just teaching. Something that you understood only a little bit better than the rest, and that’s not saying much. You still didn’t understand the content completely. Your writing was shaky as you wrote what you thought was right on the board. Finding the answer, you circled it and looked at Mr. Mullins. He looked disappointed.
“That’s wrong, Ms. Minecraft. Please sit down.”
You felt like your face was on fire as you saw the entire class burning holes into you with their eyes. Though they looked dead inside, as per usual with any morning class full of tired teenagers, their effects still took hold on you. You wanted to crawl into a dark hole and die. You sat back down and stared at your note packet, you couldn’t focus on the lecture anymore. Your attention was fully on your surroundings, you were hyper aware of every little whisper and bouncing leg in your peripheral vision. You could feel yourself spiraling, usually that wouldn’t happen until after your third class. Today was going to be rough.
The loud chime of the bell startled you out of your thoughts. You shakily put your papers back into your binder and put the binder back into your backpack. Right as you were about to walk through the door, you heard Techno catch up to you. “Hey, you good?”
“Yeah Tech, I’m just peachy.”
“Are you su-”
“Technoblade. I’m fine. Now if you excuse me, I have to get to my next class. I have an important presentation I’ve gotta prepare for.”
Without giving him any room to argue, you rushed off to your english class. You had Adrian and Annie in your class. For your presentation, you were paired up with people that you hardly knew. At least they did their part in the project, you were certain you were going to die if you got paired up with Adrian and Annie again. You loved them, but they never did any part of their portion of work. They left it to you to finish at midnight the day the project was due. To be fair, they both told you they had family emergencies, so you covered for them just that once.
You pulled out your flashcards only to have them knocked out of your hand when someone bumped into you. You quickly crouched to pick them up so you could have them in order by time class started. “Oops, sorry love.”
It was Annie. She and Adrian towered over your crouched form smirking at you. Looking back down to rearrange your cards, you murmured “it’s ok.”
“Are you ready for this presentation, I know I am.”
You smiled a little. “Actually, I think I’m going to ace this. English is my best subject.”
“Yeah (y/n), I wasn’t asking you. I was talking to Annie. Besides, you’re probably going to fail this.” Adrian scoffed.
“Thank you for asking, Adrian,” Annie shot a pointed look at you, “at least someone cares.”
The bell rang, signifying the start of your second block. You felt like you had a lump in your throat blocking your breathing. If Adrian, one of the smartest kids in your english class, said that you were going to fail, then you probably were going to fail. That would take a huge hit on your grade, this project was worth a quarter of your final grade after all. You were zoned out for the entirety of your classmate’s presentations putting yourself into a spiral. You jumped when Mr. Todd, your teacher, called your group up to present.
You stood stiffly in the middle of your two groupmates and clutched your flashcards with clammy hands. Luckily, your part of the presentation was not first. When it came to your part, you were stuttering and tumbling over your words. You even dropped your flashcards in front of everybody, causing half the class to snicker. Your face burned as you hurried to pick them up and your other groupmate took this as a signal to continue the presentation. You still had an important point to make that was integral for the set up to your other groupmate’s part of her presentation. You stared at your flashcards for the rest of the presentation.
When the bell rang, you made a mad dash out of the classroom. You didn’t want to talk to anybody, especially not Adrian or Annie. It was a relief that you had your lunch period at the moment. You could hide yourself in the bathroom nobody used and let your panic attack ride itself out.
You ducked inside a stall and sat on the toilet, bringing your knees up to bury your face in them. The tears and panic you were holding in all day let itself out with explosive effects. You started to hyperventilate as you muffled your sobs with your knee. Your chest painfully clenched so you couldn’t breathe. Your limbs felt like they weighed two tons each and they were shaking intensely. You didn’t hear the end of the lunch bell ring. By the time you calmed down slightly, you were five minutes late to AP world history.
You packed your stuff up in a hurry, power walking through the halls. You probably looked like shit, but you didn’t care, you had a class to get to and a test that you probably wouldn’t be able to finish now. You lost ten minutes of your test time. When you tried to open the closed door, you found that it was locked. You had to knock if you wanted to get in. You raised a shaking hand to knock, but the door was opened by a less-than-impressed Ms. Osborne. She ushered you to your desk and gave you your unit test.
You couldn’t focus. The multiple choice section was usually a breeze to you, but you couldn’t comprehend any of the questions. When you could comprehend them, you couldn’t concentrate on choosing an answer. You did your best to find the correct answers, but you were almost positive that at least half of them were wrong. Your handwriting was nearly incomprehensible and your essay topic was something you didn’t study for. When you were done with half of the body paragraphs, the bell rang and you had to turn in your unfinished test.
You had your independent online psychology course next in the library. You usually worked alone secluded in a corner deep inside the library where nobody went. You would get some solace in being alone. Maybe you’d calm down enough so that you could ride home with your brothers and not go for a long walk so you could avoid them.
You settled down in the comfortable chair and pulled out your laptop to get started. Psychology was your favorite class. It was easy for you to understand, it didn’t have much of a workload attached to it, and it was fun to learn about. It always calmed you down reading about the intricate workings of the brain.
By time the day was over, you got most of your psychology work done and you were on your way to the car you shared with Technoblade and Wilbur. You took out your spare keys and slumped against the window in the backseat. You were absolutely drained after your terrible day and you still felt panic swirling deep within you, waiting for the right moment to strike.
You stretched out your legs across the seat and leaned your back against the door. For the first time that day, you felt peaceful. You still had at least fifteen minutes to yourself until your brothers would start to make your way to the car. You felt the panic subside slightly and you fully relaxed. You closed your eyes and let yourself drift off into a light sleep. You needed your energy for tonight’s match.
The door you were leaning on swung open and you tumbled backwards smacking the back of your head against the metal frame of the car and reverse scorpioning onto the pavement. Your entire upper back and the back of your head exploded in pain and your lower back hurt slightly from having your back bent uncomfortably. You heard laughter above you as you felt tears of pain start to slip out of your eyes. Your legs swung out from their place above your face and landed on the ground with a painful thump.
You saw three blurry figures above you laughing at your pain. You reached up with a shaky hand to wipe at your tears and saw Adrian, Sammy, and Annie. They were cackling as you shakily stood up and sat on the comfortable seats of the car. You waited patiently for them to calm down.
Eventually, Sammy calmed down enough to explain what happened to you through chuckles. “I’m sorry (y/n), it was just too good to resist. You should’ve seen your face.”
She and the others broke back into uncontrolled laughter as they remembered your embarrassing fall. You were used to their antics, and quite frankly it felt good to make your friends laugh, even if it were at your own expense. Just as they were calming down once again, you saw Wilbur and Techno walk out the front doors of the school laughing at something the other said. Annie and Sammy heard their laughter and quickly turned around to watch them. They had massive crushes on both of your brothers, many in the school did.
Your brothers made their way to your shared car and stopped to look at you in slight confusion. “(Y/n), were you crying? What happened?” Wilbur asked worriedly.
“Yea-”
“Oh Wilbur, it was terrible, (y/n) fell out of the car. I don’t think she closed the door before she leaned on it.” Annie interrupted you with a faked concerned tone, a complete contradiction to her reaction before your brothers came.
Techno hastily made his way to the driver’s side door. “Well, if she’s hurt we better get going, right Wilbur?”
“Yes! We better get going, please excuse us.” He sat in the passenger seat and closed the door without hearing Sammy and Annie’s desperate attempts to stop them so they could talk to them. Your brothers thought Sammy and Annie were annoying. They absolutely hated being around them.
Waving apologetically at your friends, you pulled yourself into the car and closed the door. Annie and Sammy looked offended that you had let Wilbur and Techno get away from them. Avoiding their eyes, you looked down at your tightly clasped hands. They were shaking slightly.
After pulling out of the parking lot, Techno glanced at you from the rearview mirror. “You ok (y/n)?”
“Yeah, my back just hurts and I have a headache.”
“Well, do you wanna go and get some ice cream? We still have some time left before we have to pick up Tommy and Tubbo. Dad doesn’t have to know,” Wilbur asked you.
You sighed, you wanted nothing other than to take a nap before your match. “Sorry, but I need to watch what I eat today. We have semifinals tonight and I can’t have anything sugary. I just wanna go home and take a nap.”
Your brothers were quiet for the rest of the car ride until you reached your driveway. Techno twisted his body around in his seat to look at you after he put the car in park. “Did you actually fall out of the car?”
Shit, should you tell him the truth? If you did, they would almost certainly get mad at your friends. Sammy and Annie would never forgive you if you turned your brothers against them. You decided that you would take one for the team again. “Yeah, I wasn’t paying attention.”
Techno snorted. “Well, that was stupid,” he jokingly said. “Next time you’re gonna get run over by a parked car.”
You knew that he meant that as a joke, but it still stung. Stamping your emotions down, you laughed with him and Wilbur. It was stupid of you to do, you shouldn’t have let your guard down if you weren’t at home.
You winced as you slung your bag on your back and walked the best you could back into your house. Your upper back was killing you. You made a beeline to the bathroom and rummaged through the medicine cabinet looking for some pain relief pills. You took some and shambled off to your room to take your well earned nap. You set your alarm’s setting to its loudest volume and passed out.
You jolted up and gasped when you felt a wave of pain hit your upper back. You blearily looked at the time. You had a little under two hours before you had to get back to the school for your match. You groaned when you pulled yourself up, your head pounding with every turn. You pulled yourself out of bed and once again took some pain pills. You went downstairs to grab an apple or something to eat. Your dad was at the stove stirring something around in a pot.
He turned to look at you with an excited smile. “You ready for your match tonight? You’re gonna kill it!”
You only nodded halfheartedly and plopped yourself down at the table with your apple. Philza frowned at your lack of enthusiasm, but he figured that it was just because you just woke up from a nap. You’d bounce back eventually.
“Wilbur told me that you fell out of the car? How’d you do that?”
You shrugged, wincing slightly as it moved your back slightly. “Dunno, must’ve not closed the door.”
Philza was at your side in a hurry, his hands hovering over your shoulders. “Did you get hurt? Show me where it hurts.”
“My back and the back of my head.”
“Can I move your shirt so I could look?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
You felt him gently pull the neck of your t-shirt away from your body to peek at your back. You heard his breath hitch as he looked. Was it that bad?
“Good god (y/n),” he breathed out.
“What, is it bad?”
“Don’t you feel how bad it is? Your entire back is bruised. I think there’s some blood too.”
“Damn.”
“First, language. Second, that’s all you have to say? Aren’t you in pain?”
“Yeah, but the pain pills are gonna kick in soon. I’ll be fine.”
“Would you be able to play tonight? I really think you should sit this one out.”
“No, I’m playing tonight Dad.”
“(Y/n),” oh no, he was using his stern dad voice. “It’s not a good idea to play tonight. You’re hurt, I’m sure they’ll understand if you sit this one out.”
You felt frustration rise up in you. “We’re in the semifinals. They need me, I’m the main setter. They’d lose without me playing.”
“(Y/n), I’m serious. You’re not playing today.”
“Dad, I am playing today. Look, I’ll talk to Coach Williams to see if I could be rotated out more often. I know she’d let me.”
He stared at you for a while before sighing. He knew there was no convincing you. “...Fine. But you better talk to Coach Williams about sitting out for a bit if your back hurts too much or I swear I’ll drag you off the court myself.”
You smiled a little at the small victory. “Thank you! I promise I’ll sit out if needed.”
He quirked an eyebrow at you. “If needed?”
You sighed, “when needed.”
He walked over to the pot, stirring the contents slightly. “That’s better. Dinner’s almost ready, I made some pasta.”
“It smells good, but I think I’m skipping out on it for today. I already ate this apple and if I eat any more I’ll probably hurl on the court.”
He made a displeased noise in the back of his throat, “fine, but you’re eating something when we get home tonight.”
He walked off to go get your brothers and Tubbo for dinner. You could hear their booming steps racing down the stairs towards the kitchen. They raced into the kitchen and almost crashed into the back of your chair. You stood up and looked at the two excitable fifth graders. “Careful boys, don’t want you getting hurt.”
“You’re no fun (y/n),” Tommy whined.
“Sure, sorry bout that,” Tubbo beamed at you.
You chuckled, making your way upstairs to get ready for your match. You took off your clothes with great difficulty and slipped on your jersey and your spandex shorts. They were way too short for your tastes, but you couldn’t wear longer ones, they’d just get in the way. You fondly remembered how your dad flipped out when he first saw you in them, he hated them with a burning passion. He still hates how short they are.
When you were struggling with pulling your hair back into a tight, sleek ponytail, the back of your head throbbed continuously with pain. You most likely bruised your scalp.
You slipped on your shoes that were made specifically for playing volleyball and headed downstairs. You were met with Tommy and Tubbo jumping in excitement seeing you in your uniform. They loved going to your matches, even if they would always pass out in the car after them because matches usually ended late at night. You grabbed your dad’s keys and headed to his car. Before you could lead the boys out the door, Philza’s voice stopped you.
“(Y/n), coat.”
You huffed, grabbing your coat and putting it on before tossing him his keys. You four got into the car and set out for the high school. The short drive was filled with Tommy and Tubbo asking you questions about volleyball and encouraging you.
“(Y/n), you’re gonna kick their butts!”
“Yeah!” Tubbo cheered
Despite their voices causing a spike of pain to shoot throughout your head, you laughed at their enthusiasm. It was always nice to hear your little brother and pseudo brother in the stands cheering you on, they were your and your team’s personal cheerleaders.
Not long after you got to the school, you were stretching with your team on the gym’s floor. Your posse found their way into the stands, sitting in the front row. The away team watched your team like a hawk, analysing every single player for any weakness. It was because of them that you tried to not show any pain when you moved your back. You talked to Coach Williams before the team stretch and she was obviously sympathetic with your situation. She agreed to switching you out with the standby setter every few rotations.
The echo of the whistles caused pain to ring in your head every time someone scored or a foul was called. Your team captain, Haley, was constantly, yet discreetly checking on you throughout the game since she was always next to you. She was the team’s main spiker after all.
The game droned on and on before you realized that the opposing team was targeting you when they were offensive. They probably realized that you were injured a round ago. You tried your best to block every ball that was sent your way, but a few managed to slip past you when you couldn’t move fast enough. This team was good, but your team was better.
The score during the final round was tied and the clock was on it’s last ten seconds as the ball soared your way. You dove to hit it, landing on your shoulder on the hard floor and hitting it up high enough for Haley to spike the ball down. The crowd went wild as the ball bounced off from the opposite end of the court almost simultaneously with the screeching of the referee’s whistle, signifying the end of the game and your team’s victory.
You laid on the floor in pain, you thought you must’ve pulled your tender muscles in your back and shoulder. It hurt to move it. You felt one of your teammates grab your hand to yank you up into a giant full team group hug. You yelped slightly in pain as you felt arms press against your back and hands firmly patting your bruised shoulders. You were whisked away into the locker room to change into the pajamas you brought with you.
“(Y/n), are you alright? That was a pretty hard fall.” Haley’s soft voice asked you. You felt your heart sing in your chest.
“Yeah Hales, I’m fine. I just pulled a few muscles.”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowed together, “are you sure? As your team captain and your friend, I’m worried about you.”
You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face. You felt warm knowing that she cared about you. “I’m sure, worrywart.”
She rolled her eyes playfully and breathed out a soft laugh. “Sorry for asking, grump.” Her laugh sounded like music to your ears.
Your phone vibrated in your pajama pocket, alerting you of your family waiting for you in the car and for you to hurry up. You sighed, “sorry Hales, I gotta go. Dad’s getting impatient.”
She gave you a small smile. “Oh, well, tell your family I said hi! Good work on the court today, I wouldn’t ask for a different setter.”
You felt your cheeks warm up and you watched with wide eyes as she left the locker room. Your phone vibrated again, your dad was really starting to get impatient.
You walked out of the school as fast as you could to find your dad’s car waiting for you up front. Jumping in and softly closing the passenger side door, you slumped against the window.
“(Y/n),” Tommy’s tired voice slurred. “That. Was. Pog…”
You glanced back to see him and Tubbo snoring away in their seats. Your match was more exciting than usual, so that must’ve really tired them out. You chuckled, turning back around to lean against the window. You took care not to put any weight on your shoulder or back.
“(Y/n), you were amazing out there, but why did you dive for that ball? That fall looked like it hurt.”
You hummed tiredly, “thanks Dad. I just did what I thought would win us the game. We’re going to finals!” You quietly sang.
“Did you hurt your shoulder?”
“I actually don’t know, but I think I might’ve pulled a few muscles. Nothing too bad.”
“...I scheduled a doctor’s appointment for you tomorrow morning during your first and second blocks. I want you to get your back, shoulder, and head looked at. You looked miserable the entire match.”
You sighed, too tired to argue, “mmk.”
He chuckled before the car fell into a comfortable silence. The gentle bouncing of the car and the subtle hum of the engine was lulling you to sleep. Your eyelids were drooping by the time you pulled into your driveway.
You drug yourself out of the car and into the house, leaving Philza with the sleeping boys. You walked straight to your room and plopped down on your bed, passing out instantly for the second time that day.
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