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It's almost funny how little interactions between us can change our lives in so many different ways. Some people can make life feel better, others can make it feel like a living hell. Some people will make you wonder how you ever lived without them before, and then there are those who you think you'd be happier never even knowing they exist. And of course, those single meetings with another person that makes you want to find out all about them, but then you figure it isn't all that important, and life goes on like you two never met in the first place.
The first time Jungkook met Seokjin was in his first year in high school. He'd barely just turned 16 when he was accepted to enter the high school of his choice that would give him the best shot at getting a sports scholarship. So far the school was great and he liked all of his teachers and most of his subjects were understandable and easy. His application to the basketball team was still pending but he felt he had a pretty good chance at being drafted because of his record back at his middle school. In all, he figured the next 3 years were going to be great and he hoped that he could make friends soon.
Then one afternoon at lunch when he was going to pay for his meal, he realized he was short of a few hundred won. He felt a bead of cold nervous sweat make its way down his back as he stood frozen in front the cashier, wondering if it was too late to put anything back or if he could somehow convince the lady that he'd pay her back tomorrow or something if she let him off this one time. Yet his tongue felt heavy in his mouth and he could do no more than throw the words over in his brain and scream at himself to say something.
An agitated sigh sounded from behind him as whoever it was came to stand up next to him and pulled out his wallet. "You're holding up a line kid. You should just say you don't have enough money you know. No one's gonna bite your head off." The guy turns his attention away from Jungkook to speak to the lunch lady, "I'd like to pay for both of these meals please."
She nodded and took the notes from the male's hand to process the payment and hand back his change. He thanked the woman and started walking away. Realizing Jungkook had hardly moved, he called to him. "Your meal's paid for already. Go eat." And he continued walking. Next to him, his friend asked why he paid for the first year's meal. He shrugged as he continued to walk to a lunch table to eat. "I was hungry. He was in the way of that. Now let's go."
Jungkook went to sit at his own lunch table surrounded by people in his class that he never even talked to.
The next time Jungkook and Jin meet, it isn't until Jungkook's second year in high school. Midterms are coming up and he needs to study and keep his GPA at a good level if he wants to remain on the basketball team. He's doing pretty well so far and passing all his classes, but he's barely passing math by what he thinks is simply a stroke of pure luck. He never really understood just why math had to be one of those core subjects for pretty much everything, but he figured he was a few school generations too late to query that fact.
And so that's why Jungkook is at the library to see if he can actually get something done. If he stays in the dorm, any and every other thing suddenly seems a hundred times more interesting and he procrastinates playing video games all day anyway. The peace and quiet may just be exactly what he needs to study for his upcoming exams.
However, he figures that maybe he's not the only one who thinks like he does because the library is filled with people. He's surprised so many of them actually know what a library is, more so even use one, but he can hardly concentrate on any one thing with all the study groups in the area. So he moves around to at least find an empty table or one with less people that could disturb him.
He must be lucky because only a few moments later, he sees a table with two chairs on the other side of some bookcases, somewhat secluded from the rest of the tables, but still close enough if someone needed to ask the librarian about a particular book or anything. It was only when he reached close enough that he notices the table is already occupied by someone - a male who looked familiar, but he couldn't exactly remember where from. The man is poring over three books in front of him and jotting down something in a notebook to his right, maybe notes or some key references or something.
Jungkook tries clearing his throat to get the man's attention, but he doesn't even look up. After a few more awkward moments of standing, Jungkook places his bag on the table near the chair on the opposite side of the male.
He finally looks up and then removes his headphones from ears, and it makes sense to Jungkook now why he didn't hear him in the first place. In fact, he wonders why he never thought about studying with headphones before. Then again he thinks about his rather short attention span when it came to studying and decides it's for the best if he doesn't. He nearly loses himself in his thoughts but snaps back into it when he realizes the man is looking at him with a curious gaze. He doesn't really understand why he feels shy all of a sudden, but he looks away quickly and points at his bag and the chair then finally mumbles out "Mind if I sit here?"
The man smiles and shakes his head. "Not at all! Make yourself comfortable." He pulls some of his books closer to him so that Jungkook can put his own books down. He removes his math textbook and his exercise book to begin to study.
Then fifteen minutes later, he falls asleep.
Jungkook wouldn't call himself a heavy sleeper, but waking up isn't his favorite thing to do either. So he isn't really sure if he's dreaming when there's something jumping on his shoulder and a voice whispering at him. Hay? He's not a horse, why would he need hay? Wake up... Wait, but he's not sleeping. He can't be sleeping, he was supposed to study-
Jungkook wakes up with a jolt. Slightly disoriented from his nap, he looks around to get a sense of his surroundings again. He's in the library, that much he knows.
He rubs at his eyes and focuses his attention to in front of him. The man that was studying earlier is looking at him. There's a pencil in his hand and Jungkook wonders why his mind read it as something jumping on his shoulder when he was really lying down and the other guy most likely just pressed it into his shoulder blade to wake him up.
"Shit. Shit, sorry I-" Jungkook stretches, still recovering from his nap.
The guy shrugs. "Don't worry about it. Happens all the time." He pulls back the hand with the pencil. "I just wanted to ask... Are you on the basketball team?"
"Huh?" The question took Jungkook by surprise and he sat there blankly for a moment. "Oh, yeah. Yeah I am." He fishes his phone out from his bag and powers on the screen to check the time. He almost pales. "Shit," he mutters again as he rushes to pack his bag. He has training in 5 minutes and the walk from the library to the indoor basketball field took at least 15 when there weren't any students there to slow him down. Why was everything in this school so spaced out? If this was a matter of life and death he'd have died ages ago.
But the coach was very strict about punctual attendance so this could be as close as life and death scenarios as it comes to Jungkook.
"If you cut through the track field you'll be able to make it there in half the time." The guy is still sitting but he holds out Jungkook's pen for him. The pen had rolled out of his book in his panic and he would have very well left it there and buy a new one later.
Jungkook hoists his bag onto his shoulders. He can feel pencils and book edges poking at his back in protest but it's a minor incident. He'll survive. He reaches over the table to take his pen from the man's hand. "Thanks," he nods at the man who not only woke him up but also saved his tail from being removed from playing in their upcoming game.
The man smiles at him then places his headphones back in and continues his work.
Jungkook bolts across the field and reaches the indoor basketball court in six minutes. He changes into his uniform in record time and the coach reaches a few moments later, apologizing for his own tardiness.
As Jungkook trains with the rest of the team, he wonders in the back of his mind if he was speaking to a man or an angel earlier.
Jungkook remembers the third time he saw Jin. It was about three weeks after they sat opposite each other in the library. The game that they were training for was finally here and Jungkook thinks that they've developed a flawless strategy to beat the other team. He thinks right because the game isn't even at the halfway mark and they're already leading 4 to 1.
He isn't really sure when it is that he notices that someone in the crowd, but he thinks it must be after one of the guys on the team Taehyung shoots a 3-pointer that brings them up to 7 points. The supporters were cheering as expected, but then he heard one particular voice shout "Go Taehyung!" that had him turning around to survey the people who came out to see the game.
There were two sets of bleachers placed next to each other. It was an unspoken rule that the visiting team's supporters would sit on the bleachers closer to the door so that it'd be less awkward if they came late and didn't want to draw attention to themselves. So those weren't the bleachers that Jungkook had to look at.
He focuses his attention on the bleachers closer to where he was standing on the court. They usually had a good supporter turnout so all of the six rows had fellow students, significant others coming to support their loved ones, and parents who were usually encouraged to come to the larger games instead but came to all games regardless to support their sons.
He finds who he's looking for in the fourth row. So he was definitely a man, not an angel. But it's the first time Jungkook has actually looked at him, and he thinks the man probably could be an angel anyway. There was no way his broad shoulders could belong to any human, could they?
Jungkook snaps out of it. The game is still going on. He continues playing until halftime and then goes to the bench to get some water and to relax himself. He looks over at the bleachers. The guy isn't sitting in the fourth row anymore. Jungkook feels a pang of disappointment somewhere inside him and wonders just when he left.
The feeling is replaced with something akin to relief when he still continues looking over the court and notices Taehyung standing with the male away from the bleachers. He hands Taehyung a bottle of water and then laughs at something Taehyung says and hits his shoulder.
Jungkook can't explain what he feels. He thinks he could be a little sad because there's no one there to cheer him up after the game like that, or maybe even a little jealous that Taehyung is the one getting this man's attention for whatever reason. Ultimately, he sort of wishes someone would cheer for him like that during the games as well. Even better if it were that guy.
He longs to go over there and interrupt them simply so that he could see the man's smile up close and personal for himself but he stays rooted to the bench, occasionally looking around the court area so that it didn't look like he was boring holes into their heads.
The whistle blows indicating the end of halftime and Jungkook drains his bottle to stand up and shake out his limbs. The man ruffles Taehyung's hair and then goes back to his spot in the bleachers. Jungkook then realizes he's sitting there with friends because he immediately turns to them and starts pointing out at the field to explain something to them.
Jungkook goes back to playing but he glances over at the bleachers whenever their team scores a point. The man claps for all the members but cheers loudly when it's Taehyung who scores. Somewhere through the second half of the game the guy's friends leave but he stays behind to watch them play.
Jungkook takes it like a challenge to put on a show for the man. His shots earn him louder cheers from the girls in the bleachers and even some from the visiting team's side, but no more than a clap from the man.
The game ends with their landslide victory at 28 to 5. It was nothing more than a friendly match so they congratulated the other team on a job well done and went their separate ways.
Jungkook watches the guy give Taehyung a high-five then a hug. He gives the man his bag and Jungkook figures it's so that he can change out of his uniform in the dressing room. It felt silly watching them from a distance so Jungkook hoists his bag up on his back and leaves. He has to wash the uniform anyway.
As he walks to the dorms he wonders if the male had always been at their games to support Taehyung. He wonders if he always sat in that one spot and how often he stayed till the end of the game. He tries to recall how many times Taehyung never sat with them on the bench but his memory falls short with the fact that he never really cared before so he was always playing games on his phone.
Jungkook isn't really sure why he starts caring now, but at every game after that, he looked out to see if the man was there to support on the bleachers.
When Jungkook recalls this moment, he likes to think of it as accidental fate maybe. He never really liked math and their new teacher in the second semester gave an assignment each week to be graded towards their final mark.
So of course he complains each week at basketball practice because he actually needs to pass this course to continue playing sports.
Then one week Taehyung suggests letting his brother tutor him for a while so that he could understand the work.
Jungkook wrinkles his nose, "A tutor? Am I stupid or something?" He shoots the ball and it hits the rim and bounces back.
Taehyung catches it and purses his lips at Jungkook. "You aren't stupid but you are an idiot for thinking only people who fail need tutors." He shoots the ball. He makes it. With a smirk on hs face he turns back to Jungkook. "Besides, math is my brother's specialty and he tutors on the side so he knows what he's doing."
Jungkook bases his choice on the next basket. If he makes it, he'll study himself. If he doesn't, then he'd accept Taehyung's offer. He shoots. The ball hits the backboard, rolls around the rim, then falls off the hoop.
He missed.
Jungkook resigns with a sigh as he turns to Taehyung. "Well, let's see what your brother can do."
Taehyung grins. "Awesome! I'll text him and ask when he's free to help you."
Later that night Jungkook gets a text from Taehyung.
Hey. You free tomorrow afternoon, round 2? - Taehyung, 20:24
Jungkook watches the text for a moment. They didn't have practice on Thursdays but he had planned to head over to the court anyway and see if he could get better at his 3-point shots. That wouldn't be till later in the afternoon anyway so he figures it isn't too high a demand. He needs to pass more anyway.
Yeah, that's fine with me. Where? - 20:26
Library. He says he'll meet u outside if that's okay. - Taehyung, 20:27
Sure, that's cool. Thanks - 20:28
Jungkook places his phone down and closes his math book. No point give himself a headache now when he may end up even more stressed tomorrow.
He reaches the library five minutes late. But he's completely surprised by the person who's leaning against the library wall, head down in his phone as he scrolls through something. Jungkook guesses it's Instagram since every now and then he stops scrolling to tap on his screen twice.
He doesn't even realize he's staring until the guy looks up and gets off the wall and puts his phone in his pocket. "Ah, are you Jungkook?" The nod in response makes him smile as he puts a hand out. "I'm Seokjin. Everyone calls me Jin though so feel free to do the same."
Jungkook takes his hand in a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you."
Jin laughs and Jungkook isn't sure if his heart skipped a beat or if his throat constricted to prevent him from laughing too.
"It's not the first time we've seen each other I think. It was you in the library that day, right?" He opens the library door for Jungkook to enter and they walk to the table where they were the last time.
Jungkook nods then realizes that Jin's back is to him and he should actually use his words. "Yeah it was me. Thanks again for that tip, I reached in time for practice because of you."
"Don't mention it," Jin smiles as he takes a seat and puts his bag next to him on the floor. "Taehyung had to do that all the time when he first started at tryouts but still wanted to see me. It's a useful tip that I'm glad to pass on."
"So you guys really are brothers?" Jungkook removes his books from his bag.
Jin grins. "Is that what he's telling you all? How embarrassing." He shakes his head, "We aren't actual brothers but we share the same family name and actually lived pretty close to each other so we used to joke when we were younger that we're brothers separated at birth or something."
Jungkook nods. A part of him tells him he should feel a little guilty for being envious of a brotherly relationship, but at the same time something says no one knows he was jealous except him so he didn't have to feel guilty for anything.
Jin exhales loudly. "Okay, what are you having trouble with? Let's see if we can clear that up."
"Oh, uhmm..." Jungkook flips open his books to the page he was working on, "I really don't get matrices at all. Like, it was hard enough with the 2x2 matrix and then they dived straight into 3x3 like I was supposed to just figure it out on my own somehow." He lets out a little sound of exasperation and immediately regrets it when he realizes how childish it sounded.
Jin smiled softly as he took Jungkook's book and looked at his working. "Ah... alright, I see where you're going wrong. See, it isn't all that hard. All you have to remember is that matrices work in a row by column manner like this..."
By the time they're done, Jungkook is about sixty percent done with his homework and understands way more than he expected to at the end of their session. It's after 4 when Jin looks at his phone and tells Jungkook he has to leave.
"Oh." Jungkook stares at him dumbly for a while. Then it's like his brain starts processing in overdrive as he stands up and starts fishing around for his wallet. "Okay, how much was that again? Or when is the latest you accept payments? Should we set a time for me to pay yo-"
"What?" Jin cuts him off with a look of confusion on his face. Jungkook was speaking a bit quickly so it takes a while for him to process just what he said. "Oh! No no, you don't have to pay me." He smiles as he puts his bag on his back. "Just see it as me doing a favor for my brother's friend." He winks.
Jungkook doesn't really want it to end like this. He knows he'll see Jin again at their next game, but he doesn't want right now to end, even if it was just for his dumb math homework. "That isn't fair. I should pay like everyone else."
Jin shakes his head as he places his hands on Jungkook's shoulders and lowers him back into his seat. "Since you insist, you can pay me by finishing the rest of your assignment. Taehyung would be so upset if I took money from you anyway. Don't worry about it. Good luck!" He waves goodbye and leaves Jungkook to sulk over the assignment on his own.
It's just after 5 when Jungkook finally finishes the rest of his homework and he sighs and he packs up his bag to leave the library. He decides to cut through the field again to get to the court instead of walking back through the main buildings.
The February air is still cold with the final touches of winter on its winds, but it wasn't as cold as earlier in the month or back in January so Jungkook embraces the soft chill without the comfort of a jacket. Running around the court by himself would be enough to warm him up anyway.
He didn't know Thursdays were the track and field team's days for practice, but then again he never passed through the field before Jin's suggestion to save time. He would have continued walking if it wasn't for one familiar figure on the field doing laps with everyone else.
Jin was pacing himself on the slow jogs so that he didn't look as breathless as lots of the other boys on the field. In fact, Jungkook would have to admit that Jin appeared to be the fittest on the team. From his muscle to his lean figure and toned legs, Jungkook admires the way Jin's body worked for any setting. In another life - or maybe even later in this one - Jin could be a model. His broad shoulders especially hinted at the types of exercises he probably did at the gym and adds more to the effect of his presence in a room. Jungkook believes he knows those shoulders from somewhere but he can't really remember where exactly. Jin's body makes Jungkook believe that he takes his sports and exercise seriously.
Then again, Jungkook thinks, what doesn't it seem like Jin takes seriously? From sports to schoolwork to friendships and tutoring, Jin seemed like an overall great guy and ideal friend.
He didn't understand where these thoughts were coming from, so he figures it's time to put an end to them. Jungkook watches the team run another lap, then goes to his own personal practice in the court.
After that day, Jungkook didn't know what to make of Jin. To say he was avoiding him was an overstatement because he definitely wanted to talk to the older man again. But time seemed to have different plans for them.
Jungkook sees Jin a lot. More than he used to before. He notices things like where Jin sits for lunch, how he always sits in the fourth row and cheers for Taehyung, how he has this really silly windshield wiper laugh that always has a double effect on his heart and his urge to laugh.
And he really wants to talk to Jin but he doesn't stress over the fact that they don't talk all that much. Besides, he tells himself, they never talked that much before so he doesn't need to talk to Jin now. He'll survive with their smiles and waves to each other in the hallway, and with the nods Jin would throw his way if he passed by their table at lunch to get to his own table, and the way he'd always congratulate him and Taehyung after a game if they won, or encouraged them in the event that they lost. He'll survive with watching Jin practice for track and field, and watching Taehyung greet him openly and hug him like they were actual brothers even if he's just off to the side and neither of them even know he's looking.
He'll be fine with those small moments between them where he can at least pretend that Jin's attention belongs to him alone, even if shortly after he knows he has to come crashing back to the reality that his existence is no more than a dot on Jin's radar that he knows Jin can easily stop detecting.
Jungkook knows he'll survive just fine.
Every moment that Jungkook remembers when he met Jin was something momentous to him. To him Jin's presence was something comforting like a familiar blanket or a warm spring day. Maybe he was the only one who felt like that, but he was also the only one he really cared about; why would anyone else's opinion matter to Jungkook about what Jin felt like?
Jungkook is training alone on the court. He thinks it could be after 6 by now, but he really wants to get the 3-point shot down pat since that's one of the few moves that he'll really need if he wants to raise their points and increase his own professionalism as a basketball player.
He's eleven failed shots in when he exhales loudly and sits on the floor, letting the ball roll past to wherever its spherical shape would take it. Jungkook lies back on the cold floors and closes his eyes. He covers his face with the crook of his right arm and groans. He's tired and sweaty and tempted to just give up and stick to making 1- and 2-point hoops and passing the ball to other members like Taehyung if he was blocked off from taking a good shot.
"You know you could actually make those shots if you bend your knees a little more, straighten your back and arch your arms better, right?"
Jungkook moves so quickly that his order is messed up. He opens his eyes and sees darkness. Only then he remembers and takes his arm off his face as he bolts back into a sitting position and whips around to see the owner of the all too familiar voice.
Jin places himself in the position he'd told Jungkook earlier and throws the ball at the hoop. Jungkook watches in almost slow motion as the ball moves in the air and lands itself perfectly into the hoop; a perfect 3-point shot.
Jungkook jumps to his feet in awe. "I swear if I was a referee, that shot would get at least 5 points because that was amazing!" He applauds as the ball bumps lazily on the floor by the net.
Jin laughs his usual windshield wiper laugh and Jungkook grins at him. "You look tired." Jin tilts his head in the direction of the bleachers as he picks up his bag from where he placed it on the floor, "Let's get a seat, mm?"
Jungkook wordlessly follows him to the bleachers and they sit in the third row. "What are you doing here so late?"
Jin sighs. "Well one, it's only after 5 so it isn't that late at all, and two, I'm looking for Taehyung." He turns to look at Jungkook, "Have you seen him?"
Jungkook shakes his head, "I haven't seen him since earlier this afternoon, he maybe went back to the dorms or out to the mall or something."
Jin sighs as he pulls out a bottle from his bag. He takes a drink then hands it over to Jungkook who sits a distance away from him. "Water?"
Jungkook takes the bottle and drinks, feeling refreshed and wondering why he never brought his own bottle of water to train. He thanks Jin as he hands the bottle back, then leans against the bleacher above them to get into a more relaxed position. He closes his eyes and lets a small breeze lull him into a tempting power nap.
"I'm moving."
Jungkook no longer feels tired as he opens his eyes and looks over at Jin. "What?" He doesn't think he heard properly.
"I'm moving." Jin's head is still down as he fiddles with his fingers and looks straight ahead of him. "I uh... I don't know why I'm telling you this when you probably don't care, but my dad got a transfer down to Incheon and we're all moving to facilitate him."
Of course I care, Jungkook thinks, it's you. I'd always care. is what he wants to say, but instead he finally unties his tongue as he turns his body to face Jin, "When are you leaving?"
"Monday. But I'm taking the rest of the week off to finish packing and stuff." He gives Jungkook a sad smile before putting his head back down, "I'd have stayed if I could but this transfer has been on the books for a while now and they only gave a confirmation after my dad found a good school that would allow me to transfer so late in the school year."
"It's almost the end of the second semester. Isn't this your last year in high school? Won't they keep you back then?" Jungkook feels like he's grasping at straws and he isn't even sure why.
Jin shrugs but shakes his head. "I've been in contact with the school myself. They've given consent to my case and even helped by sending me work so that I'm at the same level as the rest of the students when I get there."
But getting there... means you won't be here. Jungkook swallows as he looks at Jin.
The older male shrugs again, "It doesn't really bother me I guess. I didn't have that many friends here and I already told the teachers that I had to so I'm pretty much good to go. I didn't want to break the news to Taehyung through text but I guess I'll just visit him one day or something." He leans back against the bleachers and sighs, "At least I know once I tell him I'll be good. I won't be missed anyway so that makes leaving way easier."
Jungkook splutters. "Won't be missed? Are you crazy? You're part of the track and field team, I bet they'll miss you. All the people you would tutor, they'll miss you too. The people you used to have lunch with, and the teachers who find students like me unbearable when it comes to math. Taehyung! I-!" Jungkook caught himself and cleared his throat then spoke in a softer voice, "I think you'll definitely be missed." He looks down at the bleachers below them, wishing the ground would swallow him whole at Jin's responding silence.
"Heh... you really think so huh?" Jin looks at Jungkook with an expression he can't quite place.
"Yeah." Under Jin's gaze Jungkook puts his head down and plays with his thumbs, "Yeah I think so."
Not much later after that, Jin gets up and stretches. He explains he should probably get going and he smiles as he thanks Jungkook for what he had said earlier.
Jungkook shakes his head as he stands up as well. "I meant what I said so there's no need to thank me."
Jin gives a small smile as he shakes Jungkook's hand. "Yeah... I guess you're right."
Jungkook walks Jin over to the door of the basketball court. They say their goodbyes and he watches Jin walk away until he turns the corner that will lead him out of the building and literally the next step in life.
Once he's out of sight, Jungkook closes the door and groans as he wonders if that was what they called a missed opportunity - possibly his last opportunity, and he blew it. He doesn't really know how, but he feels like he blew it.
He picks up the forgotten ball and Jin's words resonate in his mind as he imitates Jin's posture and shoots the hoop.
He makes the shot.
Months passed since Jungkook last saw Jin. He isn't sure just when things started feeling back to normal, like before he became aware of Jin, but he does know it takes a while before he got used to the lack of Jin in the pockets of his memory that those moments occupied.
He noticed the empty spaces on the fourth row for a while, before they got filled with a new set of people; a couple who saw the basketball games as their date times during school hours. He noticed when Taehyung started to sit on the bleachers with them, his face usually showing an expression of sadness but never letting it affect how he played at the end of the day.
He notices the spot on the track team that Jin would have filled in their jogging practices, always breathing easily and taking calm paces. He notices the empty table in the library that he can still see Jin's face if he sits there by himself.
Sometimes Jungkook thinks that it would have been better if Jin turned out to be an angel since at least then he could blame his emotions on the fact that he missed the presence of a supernatural being in his life.
That felt better than admitting the fact that he simply missed Jin.
Usually when he's by himself in those moments he wonders if Jin thinks about him the way he thinks about the older male. The answer is usually no but that doesn't stop his thoughts anyway. Especially when spring finally rolls around and Jungkook remembers the way Jin felt to him like a blanket or a warm spring day. He briefly recalls the fact that Jin smelled good as well. A masculine but soft scent always lingered under Jungkook's nose tickling his senses when Jin was near him, even after his own practice.
It's one day when he's practicing alone that he remembers where he knows those broad shoulders from. It was back in his first year of school that Jin had paid for him without so much as a demand back for his money. He laughs at the memory, realizing he never told Jin thank you for what he did. He wonders how many times after that they met in the hallways or bumped into each other accidentally or maybe even spoke to each other.
It also makes Jungkook reflect on the fact that there was so much about Jin that he never got to find out. He always assumed Jin was older, but how old was he? What were his favorite foods? What did he do for fun or what hobbies were he interested in? Things that made Jungkook somewhat sad that he never knew the answer to. Things that he may never be able to ask Jin himself.
Jungkook is counting down the last three and a half weeks before school finally ends and his final exams start. But before that he has the traditional most important game for the end of the season in two weeks and he's putting in way more practice than he was before their coach sounded the alarm that there may even be a scout at the game looking at prospective scholarship students.
His thoughts of Jin have been pushed to the back of his mind for now as he focuses on putting his everything into this one game. Yes, he still has next year to try for a shot at the scholarship, but it's easier if he tries for it this year so that even if he doesn't get it, he can place himself on their radar for a next time.
This means he spends way more time on the court perfecting his shots from different regions of the perimeter in case he has to shoot a hoop at any time from one of those places. He feels the burn during and after each practice but he can't stop because of something as minor as a little pain. No one ever reached far by letting that hinder them.
He tries shooting a 3-pointer from the right center of the court only to have it hit the connecting point between the backboard of the hoop and the rim and ricochet back towards him over his head and bounce of a wall. He groans as he runs a hand through his wet hair and runs over to his bottle of water on the bench next to the perimeter.
"... Posture alone told me you weren't gonna make that shot."
Jungkook almost chokes on his water as he covers back the bottle and turns around.
There, where Jungkook was only a moment ago, Jin bounces the ball on the ground as he gauges the best way to take the shot. Satisfied with whatever he's gotten, he bends his knees slightly and arches his arms before springing up and taking the shot.
The ball soars through the air and circles the rim of the hoop slowly then falls inside.
He makes the shot.
Jungkook remembers a lot of times he met Jin, but he has to say that this may just be one of his favorite memories. Jin spreads his arms wide as he runs around the court imitating crowd noises. He finally reaches the center where he then pretends to calm them down and takes a bow.
Making his way over to Jungkook, Jin smiles and winks at him. "Long time no see, mm?"
Jungkook is surprised. He did not expect Jin to appear now or here, and to look as good as he always did, maybe even better. He shakes his head at himself and the way he always gets lost in his thoughts. Finally fixing his attention on Jin, he grins back. "Yeah. It has been."
And he isn't sure how, but as they're looking at each other with smiles on their faces, Jungkook swears the room gets just a little bit brighter.