Chapter Text
You come to cheer Hyun-tak up on his new basketball tournament. Don't get the wrong idea, you're here to support everyone!!!
Especially your favourites, Jun-tae, Baku, and... Go Hyun-tak. Gotak for short, you wondered if he'd let Takkie pass as a nickname.
You're sitting at the bleachers with Si-eun and Su-ho, apparently you can't wait with Hyun-tak until the second he has to show up at the basketball court. They're talking about some tactics for the game with their coach, but you're pretty sure that they're actually throwing a ritual in the locker room.
Nobody can prove you wrong.
This time, you had to go to a different school for this game (you called in sick to school this morning), you wonder what Si-eun said to get himself off classes today, did they let him leave this once because of his grades?
"Su-ho, are you good at basketball?" You asked curiously. "You seem good at sports, no?"
He tried to bite down a smile as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He dropped one of his arms around Si-eun.
"Right, you've got a good eye for these things. What else should I expect from you, Y/N?"
Si-eun looked up at him, his big eyes were full of confusion. "You can't even aim the ball properly, what are you—" He put his hand over his mouth.
He laughed it off. "Ha, ho ho, you clearly never saw me play during a good day!!"
You chuckled. Was Si-eun always this talkative?
You sighed. "It's about time they come out... Oh!!! Look!!!" The corners of your mouth quirked up once you saw everyone enter the court.
The crowd chanted encouragingly, even though these aren't the finals yet, there were many people taking up the bleachers. You even noticed some parents.
You stood up with Su-ho to let everyone know where you're seated. "Hyun-tak, Jun-tae!!!" You waved at them.
You wanted to call Hu-min's name too, but Su-ho beat you to it, and when I say it — I mean it. He's really grown to like him a lot, he's almost acting like it's his family member or something...
"BAKU!!!! DESTROY THEM!!! Y'ALL GOT THIS!!"
You swear you heard Si-eun snort.
Okay now, you love Gotak, you really do. But you're not entirely sure about whatever it is that you're watching right now.
Su-ho told you that the lines define the amount you'll gain after scoring a throw. One point if you're throwing in front of the basket, two points if you're in the midrange, and three after that one big line. At least that's easy to memorise.
Baku scored the first point, you cheered for him loudly, it felt a little embarrassing at first, but you need to let everyone know that you're here for them!! Besides your voice gets basically drawn out next to Su-ho's screams. No offence.
They seemed to be doing well, even though you could barely read the score off that board. It looked like it was as old as you, the LEDs barely lit anything up.
Can we stop for a second and just admire Hyun-tak in his spirit?
To be honest, you barely focused on the game, your eyes were solely on him the entire game.
He's not only handsome, he's a gentleman, he's good at sports, he's a great friend, he's impressingly loyal, but at this point you think that it's just the standard in the Eunjang boys gang. They're all amazing, that's true, but he's just... better.
Are you wrong?
When he scored his first point in this game, the first thing he did was look for you in the crowd. THE FIRST THING HE DID WAS LOOK FOR YOU IN THE CROWD!!!!!!!
His smile, his mannerism... his smile... HIS SMILE!!!!
He looked so pretty in that moment, so happy, you felt yourself go back in time to the first time you met him.
But most importantly, you felt your heart swelling with proud.
A lot happened during that day, and that might not be for the best...
Baku's team lost, that's fine, it happens, right?? Of course it does. But you weren't exactly sure what to say at the moment when they came back from their locker room.
You hugged Jun-tae tightly and patted his back. "You did well, you did so good today!!!"
"Seriously." You got off Jun-tae. "You all worked so well today..." You pouted slightly.
"Wanna go to an arcade to lighten the mood? Or maybe eat some tteokbokki?" Their faces didn't even light up at the mention of food.
Was today's game really that important...?
Hu-min sighed. "You're right, we worked our asses off today!" He pointed at Jun-tae. "Your movement was way much better today, you're really improving, junior!!"
"How about some chicken?"
"It's my treat!" He added after a second. Suddenly he had the whole team swooning after him... except for Hyun-tak.
"I'll pass today, thanks." —— "Why, are you this devastated?" Baku's face was full of playful worry. Deep inside, he'd do anything to comfort Hyun-tak. You'll probably never truly understand the bond that ties these two together.
He just smiled. "It's nothing like that, you guys go and eat, I'll head home first."
After a little bit more reassurance from Gotak's way, Baku reluctantly let him have his way.
They offered you to go with them, but you refused.
You silently tagged along behind Hyun-tak.
"You... were really cool today, I mean it!! That—" You cut his way to stand in front of him only to — very poorly, reinact his throw. "That was seriously astonishing!!!"
You smiled brightly, he's not replying. A little bit of nervousness flashed through your face.
"So... are you okay? You must be disappointed." You said unsurely. Does that even sound comforting?
"Earth to Hyun-tak." You waved your hand. "Hello?"
He sighed, you think his breath trembled?
"Hey..." This can't be!! If he's sad then you're sad too, how are you supposed to comfort him then??
You took a step closer. "Takkie?" Is a term of endearment going to do any wonder in this situation?
A little bit, because you saw his lip quirk a little.
"It's nothing new, sometimes you have to lose in life." You said quietly. "Just... don't worry about it, hm?"
And then finally he looked at you, and it was the first time you saw him look so defeated. It tore down the walls of your heart.
He took a deep breath. "Thanks, Y/N—" You hugged him.
Yoru movement was a bit unsure, it was different than hugging your friends or Jun-tae.
When he didn't push you away, you slowly wrapped your arms around his back.
The tension from his body slowly went away, and soon you felt his arms loosely wrapping around your back, high on your back.
"What's this supposed to mean?" You could just see his smirking face.
"Like what— What?" You muttered into his arm. "It's nothing weird..."
"So... are you better now?"
"Yeah, much better."
You didn't want to let go, and neither did he. So you just... stayed like that, his duffel back was laying long forgotten by your side.
The longer he let you hold him, the more you seemed to understand him. It's like his emotions were bleeding into you.
"Y/N." At this point your eyes were half lidded, his embrace felt so safe. You didn't even realise how much you wanted to do this before.
"Yeah?" You practically purred against him.
The day was a little gray, slow. The alleyway you were in was nothing special, and yet his presence made even a place like this feel special.
"Thank you for being so nice. You're really amazing." He had to build up courage for this, even if it wasn't evident in his tone.
You felt your heart skip a beat. Those words felt so... intimate. It's like he's engraving something deep inside you, something that you've only dreamt of.
Your thoughts wandered back to that study that said that men fall in love twice as fast as women. You wondered if this could be the case. Does Hyun-tak like you?
"It's nothing... it's my first time."
He raised an eyebrow. You didn't even notice when he started rubbing small circles on your back. "First time doing what?"
"Being a nice person." You sighed into his shoulder.