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Wednesdays are bad.
Wednesdays are thick Biology textbooks and five-page long Algebra worksheets. Wednesdays are sweaty gym shirts and attempting not to die from countless laps around the court.
Daehwi hates Wednesdays which is only fair because Wednesdays hate Daehwi the same.
They’ve been doing the same exact thing for three weeks since class started – jogging for a total of thirty minutes, sprinting for a total of three, and going through endless circuit training until someone passes out from exhaustion. Daehwi doesn’t think it could get any worse than this.
On their fourth meeting, their gym instructor says, “Starting next week, we’ll be doing team sports.”
Then Daehwi thinks Wednesdays just got worse.
No one else seems to think the same thing, with everyone else rejoicing at the fact that they don’t have to suffer from the strenuous workout anymore. Guanlin loves this arrangement especially, and isn’t able to hide the biggest grin on his face when they’re warming up for the first game.
“You look happy,” Daehwi says as he bends his knees to do half-hearted lunges.
“Of course, I am. I barely have time to play because of cram school,” Guanlin says as he twists his upper body to stretch, enthusiasm overflowing. Daehwi can’t say the same, but he grins at the stupid smile Guanlin sports. “Why aren’t you?”
“If you haven’t noticed,” Daehwi pauses and stands up to wriggle his bony limbs and legs around to prove a point, “I’m not exactly the most athletic person ever.”
Guanlin straightens his posture and looks down at his similarly lanky build. “We’re the same.”
“You’re tall,” Daehwi points this out, putting emphasis on the gap of their heights with a hand. “Besides, you always get picked first. You’re good at basketball.”
Daehwi looks around the gym as he folds his arms on his torso, suddenly feeling incredibly conscious of everyone else warming up in the gymnasium. He’s the lankiest kid in the class, and while he’s the most popular kid during English class, he knows he would always be the last pick when forming teams for gym class. His mother tells him that it could be different this year because it’s a new section, with new classmates, and new friends, but Daehwi has his doubts.
There is no need to pay special attention to his performance in the last few weeks in gym class to know that Daehwi is horrible at physical activities. He trips on his own feet when running and ends up hitting his head on the floor when he does sit ups. Needless to say, there’s no reason why anyone would ever want to team up with him if they’re going to play anything that would require physical exertion. It’s just illogical, unless you want to lose on purpose. Then, yes, Daehwi should be the first pick. But if they wanted to win, they would pick the quick and agile Park Woojin, or strong Jihoon, or perfect and handsome ex-varsity player Bae Jinyoung.
Guanlin frowns at Daehwi’s deflated shoulders. “Is that what you’re worried about?” He waddles beside Daehwi and puts an arm around Daehwi’s shoulders. “I’d pick you first if I were captain.” He urges a smile from Daehwi, and the latter can’t really help one if it’s Guanlin who is trying to cheer him up.
A whistle resounds from the middle of the court and everyone automatically gathers in an unorganized semi-circle facing their teacher. “Lai Guanlin,” he announces, to which Guanlin responds with a raise of his hand. “Bae Jinyoung.” Jinyoung quirks an eyebrow at the call of his name. “We’re playing kickball today. You two are captains. Rock, paper, scissors to pick teammates.”
Guanlin winks as he slowly peels himself off Daehwi’s side and pads to where Jinyoung stood in front of their coach. Daehwi silently laughs to himself and doesn’t pay attention to the game because it wouldn’t matter. He would end up in Guanlin’s team anyway, first pick or last.
“Lee Daehwi.”
The whole class is stunned to silence, and Daehwi could hear the whispers and feel everyone’s stares when he walks over to stand behind Guanlin. The taller boy elbows him on the rib, and only then does he lift his head to actually see all the strange looks the entire class is giving him.
Guanlin stares at him bug-eyed and Daehwi only looks around in confusion. “What.”
“You’re Bae Jinyoung’s first pick,” Guanlin tells him.
Daehwi blinks twice and tilts his head to take a peek at Jinyoung from behind Guanlin. Jinyoung looks at Daehwi indifferently; expressionlessly, and Daehwi is just about as puzzled as everyone else in the room.
Bae Jinyoung, the ex-captain of the middle school soccer team, and the high school freshman who everyone lowkey likes, picked him. Daehwi had tutored him a couple of times two semesters ago but he doubts that someone like Jinyoung would have much recollection of that. A flawless, all-around student like him wouldn’t remember.
He meets eyes with Guanlin one last time, and Guanlin only shrugs his shoulders helplessly as Daehwi forces his feet to walk over to Jinyoung's side
Guanlin then chooses Jihoon, the logical first pick, and Daehwi watches as the class dwindles down in size from the other side. Everyone gets sorted into two different groups, and by the end of it all Daehwi is still left wondering why he was picked first and why Bae Jinyoung, of all people, had been the one to make that decision.
Jinyoung’s team wins, 24-18.
And Daehwi believes this happened without his help, but he celebrates anyway because he’s satisfied he didn’t fall flat on his face. They’re all spent and tired by the end of it all, but at least nobody is throwing up outside the gym. Everyone’s smiling and laughing despite being out of breath. Everyone is having fun.
Guanlin skips over to Daehwi and engulfs him in a hug. “You look like you enjoyed playing."
Daehwi pulls away with a laugh. They’re both sweaty and sticky, but the none of them seem to mind. “Yeah, I did. Even if I missed the ball two times. It was fun.”
“That’s progress. At least you hit the ball on your third try,” Guanlin pats Daehwi’s butt playfully and dodges Daehwi's attempt to smack him on the arm.
Everyone stops by the classroom and heads over to the locker room to freshen up before their last class. Daehwi lags behind, organizing his clothes and books in his bag. The classroom is completely quiet and he thinks that he’s the last one to arrive, so he naturally flinches when he hears the sound of the door sliding open.
Jinyoung enters the room, neck and forearms glistening from sweat and hair parted in the middle.
Daehwi recalls him to be the one who have scored the most earlier, and is also the one who outed many of the players from the other team. For a split second, Daehwi has forgotten that Bae Jinyoung had been one of the most athletic non-varsity player in their section. He also seems to have forgotten that he had been the one to make the most controversial pick ever earlier in class.
“Hi,” Daehwi greets him cautiously, eyes following Jinyoung’s figure as he walks over to his seat directly in front of Daehwi to open his bag.
Jinyoung doesn’t give a verbal reply and only lifts his eyebrows as a greeting. He grabs the towel hanging from the back of his chair, and wipes his face with the cloth.
“Thank you,” Daehwi says. He’s stopped stuffing all of his things back in his bag again in favor of talking to Jinyoung. “For earlier.”
“What for?” Jinyoung asks as he continues to wipe himself dry.
“You know,” Daehwi answers vaguely. “What you did in gym class.”
“What did I do?”
Daehwi opens his mouth and quickly closes it again. “Um, for picking me first? Since I always get picked last.”
“Oh,” Jinyoung pauses and tosses the towel on his bag. He takes the fresh, clean shirt resting on his desk and drapes it on one shoulder. “It’s fine. Don’t mention it,” he presses a smile and walks towards the door.
“But can I ask why?” Daehwi continues, but Jinyoung’s already out of the room before he finishes his question.
Daehwi slumps on his seat and sighs to himself; thinks back to every encounter he’s had with Jinyoung to try and come up with a logical reason for doing what he did. They aren’t friends. They barely talk in class. Daehwi has been wanting to befriend him, has never had the chance to, and doesn’t remember mentioning it to anyone. To him, Jinyoung is just that quiet, well-liked kid in his class who probably doesn't bother with Daehwi's existence.
So, he later concludes that there is no reason, not that he knows of, and that it shouldn’t matter anyway, because this is the first time, and should probably be the last time Jinyoung would pick him first.
-
They have a rule in gym class, and it’s that whenever they’re divided into teams, the captain of the winning team would keep being captain the next week until his team loses.
So Jinyoung does it again and again and again, calls Daehwi’s name week after week, and Daehwi can’t seem to comprehend why. It doesn’t help that Jinyoung is a great captain that his team keeps winning, which means Jinyoung is captain every week, which ultimately means he has to power to pick his teammates no matter what.
And it’s not like Daehwi hasn’t tried asking for an explanation. Daehwi has attempted, every. Single. Week. To try and ask him Why, but Jinyoung never answers; only smirks at the question and tells Daehwi that it’s because he’s doing a good job even when the both of them are well-aware that Daehwi’s contributing the bare minimum to their team.
One week, their teacher tells them they’ll be playing basketball, and Guanlin is ecstatic. Everyone turns to look at him, with some already fist-bumping him or wrapping an arm around his waist to claim him as their teammate. Daehwi, on the other hand, stands quietly at the back of their class, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he anxiously chews on his bottom lip. He knows he wouldn’t be chosen. He just can’t be.
“Park Woojin,” their instructor calls the first captain, “and Bae Jinyoung. Since you won last week. Again,” their instructor says, unamused. “Rock paper scissors.”
Rock. Paper. Scissors. Paper beats rock and Park Woojin picks Park Jihoon. This should be the moment Bae Jinyoung picks Lai Guanlin.
Instead he asks, “where’s Lee Daehwi?”
Daehwi winces at the mention of his name, and everyone steps aside to make a path from where he stood to where the captains are.
Their classmates have somehow gotten used to it, but it’s driving Daehwi even crazier today because it makes absolutely no sense for Jinyoung to pick him first for basketball. Basketball. Putting being kinesthetically-challenged aside, Daehwi stands at five foot six, easily making him one of the shortest guys in class.
Park Woojin smirks at this; picks Lai Guanlin without thinking twice. Everyone’s sure that Woojin’s team is going to win this afternoon.
When the teams are complete, they walk over to one side of the court for a team meeting. Jinyoung discusses strategies, picks out the first five people who will play, chooses who’s going to substitute the players next, and appoints people on positions based on their skill.
“Any questions?” Bae Jinyoung scans each of their faces, and maintains a nonchalant expression when Daehwi raises his hand. “Daehwi?”
“Why me.”
Everyone in the circle turns their heads to his direction and begins to look back and forth at Daehwi and Jinyoung, who have suddenly engaged in an intense staring competition. All Daehwi wants is to understand and if Jinyoung could just explain instead of always blankly staring at him when he asks…
“Actually,” Seonho clears his throat, and raises his hand. “We’re all a bit curious as well.”
Jinyoung pulls his gaze away, ignores this and asks again. “Any questions relating to the gameplan?”
Daehwi and Seonho put their hands down, and everyone else avoids their captain’s eyes. “Good. We can do this.”
Everyone disperses, but Jinyoung manages to get a hold of Daehwi's arm. “You should know why,” is all he says, before giving Daehwi one last knowing look. Jinyoung lets go of his grip and jogs to where their first nine other players have gathered in the middle of the court.
For the first time in six weeks, Jinyoung loses, but no one insults anyone because for a team everyone expects to win by a landslide, Woojin’s team only ends up winning by two points.
They’re all exhausted by their last class of the day, aside from the few students who manage to spare the teacher’s lecture their last bit of energy. The room is hazy, and everyone is feeling slow and lethargic.
It’s English class so Daehwi forces himself to give his teacher a fraction of his gradually-deteriorating attention, even when he’s dead tired after gym class.
In front of him, Jinyoung seems to be putting a bit more effort in paying attention to the lesson than their other classmates.
Then Daehwi remembers all the shots Jinyoung had taken earlier, how he encouraged all of his team members whenever they had the ball in their possession, how he winked at Daehwi every time he scored.
Daehwi realizes that Jinyoung will no longer be team captain next week, which means Daehwi will return to becoming the class’ last pick.
Which totally doesn’t make Daehwi sad, because he totally doesn’t feel special. He totally does not feel his heart flutter whenever Jinyoung calls his name or whenever Jinyoung praises him for not tripping on his face. Daehwi doesn’t care. Daehwi is happy that Jinyoung won’t have a chance to pick him anymore.
He doesn't know why he feels like bursting out in tears.
“Okay,” the monotonous lecture is suddenly disrupted by their teacher who loudly calls for the whole class’ attention. “Seems like you kids need something to wake you all up. Seatwork. Pair-up.”
Everyone lifts their heads from their desks, and robotically moves to pair up with whomever they usually do. Daehwi anxiously chews on his lips as he stares at the back of Jinyoung’s unmoving head in contemplation. He decides to lean forward and whisper, “Hey. Mind pairing up with me?”
Jinyoung tenses on his seat and he twists his neck slowly, as if he’s scared to turn around and face Daehwi. He raises his eyebrows at Daehwi in disbelief. “But I suck at English.”
“Yeah, I suck at Gym class too, but here we are.”
Jinyoung sighs and motions for the chair beside him. “Fine.”
When Daehwi stands up to move to the empty seat beside Jinyoung, Guanlin holds his hand out to protest. “Hey, wait. Why are you sitting next to Jinyoung hyung? Aren’t we partners? What is this disloyalty.”
If Daehwi is going to be honest, even he himself has no idea why he's suddenly associating with Jinyoung, but it's been a weird six weeks, and Daehwi just wants answers from Jinyoung. “Isn’t it unfair that the two students who are fluently able to speak English are partners?” Daehwi attempts to reason out as he moves Guanlin's arm from blocking him. “Go pair up with Yoo Seonho. Seems like he’s been having some trouble with English.” Guanlin pouts at this, frowns at how Jinyoung secretly sticks his tongue out at Guanlin behind Daehwi’s back, and stomps across the room to where Seonho sits, several seats away from Daehwi and Jinyoung.
The floor squeaks as Daehwi drags his desk closer to Jinyoung’s, and he pretends as if he can’t sense Jinyoung boring holes on the side of his head. He carefully spreads out the two-page worksheet they need to finish before the period ends, scans both pages, and estimates that he would be able to finish the whole thing in fifteen minutes by himself, but he knows Jinyoung’s been strugglingwith their lessons. Daehwi says, “Let’s answer it together. You know, instead of splitting it.”
“You don’t trust me, don’t you?” Jinyoung has that stupid smirk on his face again, and Daehwi can feel warmth creeping up his neck and his ears.
“I do,” Daehwi says genuinely. “I just want to make sure you –”
“ – understand everything with me,” Jinyoung cuts him off and finishes his sentence. “Two semesters later and you still say the same thing to your tutees.”
Daehwi’s mouth is dry because Jinyoung remembers. He has recollection of Daehwi tutoring him for English last year in middle school, and apparently has a vivid memory their encounter, if him memorizing whatever Daehwi had said back then was anything to go by.
Jinyoung ignores the fluster on Daehwi’s face and chuckles quietly as he picks his pencil up. “We should start. Wouldn’t want to finish late.”
Daehwi tries to calm his racing heart, and they begin the worksheet together.
Fortunately, they finish on time and Daehwi is satisfied with their answers and with Jinyoung, who seems to understand the grammar lesson better after Daehwi had carefully explained the whole thing to him again.
Two by two, the students finish the worksheets and pour out of the room to go home. Daehwi shuffles back to his seat after passing their paper, to pack his books, pens, and notebook in his bag. Only when he has zipped up his bag does he realize that Jinyoung has been waiting for him the entire time to finish, hovering over his sitting figure, one hand inside his pocket and another on the strap of the bag he has slung on his shoulder.
Guanlin has this bewildered look on his face when returns to his seat beside Daehwi. “Is this a thing now? Are you replacing me with Jinyoung? Is it because he chose you the first time we did team sports? It's not my fault I lost in Rock, Paper, Scissors.” He scrunches his eyebrows and crosses his arms. “I am offended. I’m way better at basketball. I know you like basketball better than soccer, Daehwi. You lowkey cheer for the Golden State Warriors. I know you do.”
Daehwi stands up from his seat, throws his backpack over his shoulders, and collects his binder from his desk. “I’m rooting for Liverpool too,” Daehwi smiles sheepishly at Guanlin’s disgruntled expression. “See you tomorrow.”
Jinyoung follows closely at his tail when he shuffles out of the room and they start walking side by side when they’re along the corridor. Jinyoung raises an eyebrow at Daehwi. “Liverpool, huh? For someone who hates playing sports, you seem be a lot interested in them.”
“I’m physically weak, not disinterested,” Daehwi refutes, hugging his binder close to his chest.
“I figured,” Jinyoung nods his head. “There had to be a reason why you knew all the rules by heart. You always tried so hard."
“Is that why you kept on picking me first?”
Jinyoung contemplates on a reply, and settles for “One of the reasons.”
“What else?”
“I have several.” Jinyoung says. “For starters, you never gave up on me when I was the weak one. Tutoring me must have been difficult, but you’ve managed to endure me. Then, after the first game, I guess I found it nice that you didn’t want to become a burden to the team. Like I said, you tried your hardest. Not exactly the best player in the team, but the effort was very much appreciated.”
Flattered with the sudden compliment, Daehwi covertly lifts his binder up to cover the blush that probably had been dusting his neck and cheeks. His voice is muffled when he says, “That’s it?”
“Well,” Jinyoung skids to a stop just before they’re outside the door and turns to face Daehwi. Daehwi mirrors him and looks up at Jinyoung, eyes wide and inquisitive. “I think you’re cute and I like you.”
Daehwi doesn’t move for a moment; thinks he had been imagining the whole thing in his head and leans forward to make sure he wasn’t hearing wrong. “Say that again?”
Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “I like you.”
“So this is how the great Bae Jinyoung flirts?” Daehwi has the cheekiest grin on his lips, and Jinyoung attempts to grab Daehwi by the shoulder and cover his mouth with his palm, but Daehwi’s quick to back away. “You pick people to be in your team even when they’re pathetically bad at sports?” Jinyoung gives up trying to get a hold of him, and bites his bottom lip to keep himself from smiling. “Too bad you aren’t captain anymore. I can’t be your first pick anymore.”
“You’re still my first pick outside of gym class,” Jinyoung answers coolly as he pulls Daehwi closer and slings an arm around Daehwi’s shoulders. “My only pick.”
Daehwi’s Wednesdays are now filled with Jinyoung, and suddenly, Wednesdays aren’t that bad after all.