Nneeil

Keep it in the Family (148) - Lifting the Trophy

AFC CUP FINAL 2025

Winner — South Korea. 

Confetti came falling like petals and people all around were screaming in exultations.

Everyone was chanting loudly and wearing large, silly smiles, as if the stadium was just a big bar, and a massive celebration was taking place there.

Dae-hyun sprinted to where the fans were seated and immediately gave several of them high-fives.

There, in the very middle of the horde of red supp...

Mia (wearing Jae-il's jersey)

Keep it in the Family (147) - Finals - South Korea vs Qatar VI (Conclusion)

Jassim's POV:

An abyssal roar bursted inside the stadium, and he could've sworn that he was on another planet when he heard the distinct roar from thousands upon thousands of Korean supporters.

Their chants thundered around him.

3-0.

What could Jassim say or think at this point? The reality was just as jarring as it was pathetic. He should've seen this coming from the start. Qatar wasn't going to survive against such a behemoth like So...

Keep it in the Family (146) - Finals - South Korea vs Qatar V

Jassim's POV:

The entire Qatar team now seemed to be functioning in survival mode. A single-minded, desperate scramble to keep the ball as far away from their own goal as humanly possible.

Every single one of them was more exhausted than they should've been by this point, but the fear of conceding another goal was a powerful motivator.

A painful motivator.

The Qatari Number 2, Tarek was onto Jae-il like a hound. He shadowed every step, every feint, eve...

Keep it in the Family (145) - Finals - South Korea vs Qatar IV

Jassim proudly beamed at the applause.

After all that build-up and suspense, Dae-hyun, having gotten his soul sucked by yet another denial from Jassim's clutches, sluggishly dragged himself across the ground.

Jong-su rubbed the back of his neck, sighing, a strained laugh leaving his lips.

"Huh." He mumbled. "Pretty good save."

Dae-hyun looked dispirited; it'd have been a great goal if that went in. And everyone knew that Dae-hyun was nowhere close to be among the top s...

Keep it in the Family (144) - Finals - South Korea vs Qatar III

I nudged the ball with the instep of my right foot, sending it threading through the gap created when Number 4 lunged in too eagerly.

I took one power step forward to explode past him but immediately chopped that short as Number 2 came sliding in across to cut off the angle. His studs came sweeping for the steal. A predictable, panic-slide.

I didn't panic. I just let my hips do the work, rolling my standing foot over the top of the ball and letting my weight hold it in place, then...

Keep it in the Family (117) - Corrosion of Restraint II (REPOST)

Original has been hidden, here's the repost.

Keep it in the Family (143) - Finals - South Korea vs Qatar II

The ball was kicked and passed back. We moved like one entity. The sphere flew around our midfield as we began a boring game of keep-away, probing for gaps in Qatar's surging wall. They pressed high right from the start, eager to snag it away and build momentum from the very first few seconds.

We hoggled possession like children playing keepie-uppy, shifting the ball from one position to the next. Their men formed a loose V shape, wanting to contain and pressure our central trio, with t...

Keep it in the Family (142) - Finals - South Korea vs Qatar

U-17 AFC, Finals.

South Korea vs Qatar.

Last game of the AFC U-17 Tournament

Here we are. The final of something. Certainly not the most important or high pressure tournament, but a final nonetheless. An end of a cycle, and the beginning of a more important one. The World Cup already had our names on it, but a trophy was still a trophy, and having gotten thus far, wouldn't it be good to see a silver and a shiny piece in hand before the real thing came up?

The stadium w...

Keep it in the Family (141) - Mother and Daughter IV (Conclusion)

Eun Ha's POV:

Mia laughed. A painful, tight laugh that sounded more like a wheeze. "You must be insane, mom. We're... brother and sister! How can you say these things...?"

Eun Ha blinked a couple times, as if she was coming out of a daze, then nodded stiffly. "I know, honey... but... it can't be helped, given what I've heard..."

"Then you must be imagining stuff, because nothing's going on!" Mia shook her head vehemently, then put her hands on her hips, expr...

Keep it in the Family (140) - Mother and Daughter III

Eun Ha's POV:

"......."

There was a very pregnant pause. A pause long enough to plant, grow and pick a fruit of the pauses.

"Bring someone over...? Uhh, like for a meal? Or like... a party?"

"Anytime."

The older woman offered. Eun Ha decided not to give Mia a direction for now.

Mia's mind took off immediately and started running on the available tracks. "Hmmmm... I guess the last time would've been like... a couple of days ago, maybe? A wee...

Keep it in the Family (139) - Mother and Daughter II

Mia's POV:

Mia's heart pounded.

It felt like a dream. Her mother giving her advice on how to keep her brother by her side. How ridiculous was that?

And yet it was advice she already knew. Had already, perhaps unconsciously, been acting upon.

Jae-il was desirable, yes. There were other women after him, of course. Women who weren't her or Su Ah. Those were the real competition. Not her sister. Not anyone else in this house. The girls who threw themselves...

Merry Christmas!

This year is almost over too.

I'd like to thank everyone who has been with me for so long. This is a small community, yet I treasure what we've all built together. From those who began following me since the heydays of Paranoia, to those who joined the bandwagon with Keep it in the Family.

Reading had always been an escape for me. And I hope my writing is the same for many of you.

I wish you all a happy christmas, and for those who don't celebrate it, a happy rest of the ...

New Story Attempt (2)

An old acquaintance who claimed he had been to the gates of hell spoke of darkness. That very same acquaintance swore blind on his children, parents, dead relatives and everything good in the universe, that his deceased mother had grabbed him by the foot and pulled him out before they'd locked the gates.

Marcus had been waiting for his mother's hands to grab his foot as well, pull him out of hell, back up to the world of the living so he might get a second chance at living right. <...

Keep it in the Family (138) - Mother and Daughter

Mia's POV:

Mia stopped.

Her back was to her mother, but she could feel Eun Ha's eyes on her.

Her mother wanted to do her nails.

Mia remembered afternoons like that. The sharp smell of polish. Eun Ha's gentle grip as she hummed a tune. They used to talk about everything. School. Friends. Stupid celebrity gossip. Now, all she could think about was whether Jae-il liked red or pink on her nails.

Red. Definitely red.

It'd look good against his s...

New Story Attempt (1)

This is slightly different from the summary I wrote in the poll, but decided to go a different route. I wrote this in one sitting, some stuff may not make sense. Some stuff need revising and explaining.

The story should kick in from the next chapter.

If you don't like this, please leave a comment telling me so and I'll come up with something else.

xXx

"Look, Marcus, you're a nice guy." Ashley said, and Marcus knew ...

Keep it in the Family (137) - A Semblance of Normality III (Conclusion)

Eun Ha's POV:

"Protect him... uh..."

Eun Ha stared blankly at her daughter. The way Mia said it… it wasn’t the casual promise of a protective older sister. It was a territorial declaration. She wouldn't have thought twice about it before; Mia had always been a fierce little thing, as she loved to state at every single given opportunity, and a bad bitch in every other.

But Jae-il wasn't a baby to be coddled anymore, and while Eun Ha loved Mia for taking s...

Keep it in the Family (136) - A Semblance of Normality II

Eun Ha's POV:

She'd seen such marks before, on her own body. On the bodies of her friends back in college. They were love bites. Hickeys. Suck-marks. Or at least, what else could it be? The shape and coloration were a dead giveaway.

Her mind went blank.

"Umh... Su Ah, dear... you have a—"

"Oh, it's nothing, mom." Su Ah's hand flew to her collar, pulling the fabric up to hide it.

The movement was too fast, too defensive.

The silence that f...

Keep it in the Family (135) - A Semblance of Normality

Eun Ha's POV:

The woman in the mirror finally had a semblance of normality again.

Eun Ha tilted her head, studying the reflection as if it belonged to someone else. The cheeks were not as hollow anymore; the circles underneath her eyes didn't seem as dark. Her eyes weren't dead or lifeless, she had regained a bit of her old lightness, of her old self, slowly but surely. She could, slowly, put herself together.

She looked… presentable. Yes. Presentable.

Keep it in the Family (134) - Adding Fuel to the Flames III (Conclusion)

Mia's POV:

"Hey, are you okay, you sound strange..."

Mia kept one hand on the phone, her other hand brushing her hair in front of the vanity mirror. The knots came off, smooth, silk running through her fingertips. She smiled widely at her reflection, the light casting a shine on her hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine... just... a little overwhelmed, I guess."

Came the response from the other end of the line. Jae-il's voice sounded tired. Mia could almost v...

Keep it in the Family (133) - Adding Fuel to the Flames II

Su Ah's POV:

Su Ah would have taken personal offense, because come on, she didn't exactly seek him out to get berated like this, but for some reason, seeing his irritability... it made her smile a little.

This time, though, she kept it tucked.

"Not in the mood for what?"

He leaned his head against a tree. The leaves swayed gently overhead. He closed his eyes. "For what always happens when you show up like this, out of nowhere."

"And what's that?"...

Keep it in the Family (132) - Adding Fuel to the Flames

Su Ah's POV:

She pulled the brim of her cap lower the moment the bus doors sighed open.

Voices spilled out first—laughs, tired cheers, exhausted complaints—then the boys themselves, tall shadows under the streetlights. Su Ah stood across the street, back to a concrete wall, watching as they slung duffel bags over shoulders, pressed knuckles to knuckles, laughing all the way to the training center.

It was almost comical how normal the players looked, comp...

Jae-il

Is this something you'd read?

Been chewing around this idea, let me know if it's a hit or a miss:

Marcus Hale, a 35-year-old everyman from a dead-end town, has spent his adult life scraping by—overqualified for the jobs he can get, underpaid for the ones he has, and perpetually one unexpected bill away from disaster.

Exhausted by years of disappointment and financial ruin, he spends his last savings on a solitary, high-risk BASE jump from a forbidden bridge, seeking, for one brief moment,...