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If he has to be completely honest, Hoseok still isn’t so sure of how one wins a volleyball game.
The numbers on the scoreboard climb up way too fast, and then go back to zero inexplicably in the middle of the matches, and the games seem to finish so randomly.
Hoseok could be zoning out, staring at his boyfriend's ass, fit so snugly in these shorts, and when the stands burst out in cheers of joy or polite applause he would promptly follow suit.
He always makes sure to sit in the stands with the spectators supporting the same team as him, following the blue and white supporting gear. He made the mistake of sitting on the wrong side of the stands once and ended up cheering for the wrong team, and he would like to avoid that kind of humiliation for the foreseeable future. Namjoon didn't even get mad (though he just laughed at him, very loud.)
Namjoon is really sweet about the whole ordeal. They haven’t talked about it in a while, but Hoseok suspects he knows that his boyfriend has no idea of how volleyball works at all. That being said, Hoseok feels so dazed and lost throughout the games he wouldn't be surprised if it showed all over his face.
Namjoon told him multiple times that he didn't need to attend all his games, Hoseok waved him off every time. He doesn’t attend every single one of his games anyway, especially the friendly or the training games that would overlap with his own classes and dance workshops. But Namjoon never misses any of his dance showcases, no matter how late they dragged on or how tired Namjoon was from practice. He was always there, sitting or standing at the back of the room, and always bringing flowers or sweets. With time he even got creative with his congratulations gifts, giving him a cassette playlist, rainbow shoelaces, and small tokens crazier than the previous.They never failed to make Hoseok smile so wide his cheeks hurt.
So he may be damned if he doesn’t at least try to attend his boyfriends matches.
Besides, even if Namjoon reminds him that he didn't have to be there at every game, Hoseok can see the way his eyes look for him in the audience. Never during the actual game, Namjoon takes his role as a captain very seriously and focuses entirely on the game and his players as soon as he sets a foot on the court.
However, every now and then during their times-out, or the little breaks they take in the middle of every game (between sets? He still has no idea.) Namjoon's eyes would quickly scan the bleachers. In between drinks and words exchanged with the coach, he would steal glances at the people in the stands, and Hoseok wonders if he is even conscious he does it.
He smiles a little to himself seeing Namjoon scanning the stands, frowning a little until his eyes inevitably find him. His face would break in an unabashedly dimpled smile, melting Hoseok's heart like chocolate under the July sun. Sometimes Hoseok wondered: does Namjoon look for him even when he can't be there? He likes to think that he would mope at least a little upon not seeing him in the crowd, it boosts his ego.
Namjoon is the only reason he ever dragged himself to these harshly lit and smelly courts, so as soon as they locked eyes Hoseok never missed an occasion to exaggeratedly wave his arms at him, sending him all kinds of finger hearts and arms hearts until Namjoon inevitably looked away, flushing with embarrassment.
Hoseok waves at the other players too: Taehyung and Jimin who wave back enthusiastically, and Seokjin, the senior who introduced them during one of the games of their first year Pledge week at uni. They weren’t from the same department but Seokjin was the third year assigned to their group. They were both nervous first years and new Seoulites but Seokjin did a great job as a mediator and they ended up hitting it up pretty well.
That was before Hoseok found out that he was on the volleyball team. He mostly saw Namjoon as a sweet and clumsy guy with his black-framed glasses and dimples who came on campus with a battered bike. A couple of months after, on one of these hot and sticky summer evenings, Hoseok had found himself scouring the campus grounds. They were supposed to meet up at the entrance and join the guys for a round of drinks, but Namjoon was twenty minutes late and wasn’t answering his phone, so he decided to go looking for the court Namjoon was supposed to be in.
After going in circles a little, Hoseok finally found the right sports hall. He considered calling Namjoon yet again but curiosity won him over so he decided to peek, just a little, the doors were wide open anyway.
Confusion took over for a second: the net was empty, standing alone in the middle of the court; a variety of blue and red balls were scattered all over the floor. A grunt followed by a loud noise broke the relative silence and before Hoseok's brain could catch on, a ball was violently rebounding on one of the walls. The ball bounced on the floor and rolled away as if it didn't just give Hoseok the heart attack of his life. He looked in the direction the ball just came from, subsequently short-circuiting his poor brain.
Now, he knew very well Namjoon was on the volleyball team. He had practice most days and arrived late to almost all their nights out. But Hoseok had never taken the time to actually imagine how Namjoon would look like playing. Out with the nerdy glasses, the baggy clothes, and the dimpled smiles. The man standing on the orange court had his hair pushed back from his face with a headband, his eyes so focused they could kill a man. Gone were the usual earthy tones shirts, his white and red jersey was drenched with sweat and stuck to his body, showing off his bulging arms and toned pecs and oh my god, oh my god legs--
Hoseok barely registered the shout before a gust of air passed him, blowing right past his nose and bashing against the door next to his face with an awful commotion.
"Shit, fuck, I'm so sor-- Hoseok?? Are you okay??"
Hoseok was vaguely aware of Namjoon running towards him with a horrified expression. His ears were still ringing with terror and he felt weak in the back of the knees. But having a sweaty Namjoon leaning toward him, his eyebrows drawn together with worry, looking like a kicked puppy really didn’t help.
"I think my soul just left my body."
Hoseok recalled that day very fondly, still teasingly reminded Namjoon not to murder anyone if he happened to practice his jump services or whatever the hell they were called.
So yes, Hoseok still didn’t see the point of running and jumping around without music. But his presence made Namjoon happy so he will be damned if he doesn’t cheer on his boyfriend whenever he can.
The game progressed, the ball kept flying from one side to the other and the players threw themselves to the ground haphazardly
Hoseok tries to get back into the game and keep track of the points but gets distracted by the sight of Namjoon's legs. Why are these shorts so tight and short anyway? And why do the knee and elbow pads look so weirdly hot? What if he suggested to keep them on during sex? He had to run the idea by him first but he could already imagine Namjoon's body splayed under him, chest bare, pecs tensing and the black pads contrasting starkly against his golden skin...
The loud cheer makes him jump out of his skin. He snaps his attention back to the court where Namjoon's team is high-fiving with large smiles. They won! Hoseok enthusiastically joins the applause, whooping and blowing between his fingers (and failing). They meet outside of the sports hall, Namjoon waves off his teams and jogs lightly towards Hoseok.
Hoseok smiles easily.
"Well done today again!" He gins.
"Thank you. Are you okay, it wasn't too long? Why are you so red?"
Hoseok loops his arm around Namjoon's elbow and they head towards the bus stop.
“Listen I’ve had an idea. Listen, just listen before saying no, what do you think about keeping...”