Chapter Text
People usually stared at Hoseok and him and assumed that Jimin was the one that dragged his best friend and roommate everywhere. If they could see him now...
"Please please pleaseee ?"
"Hyung, no. Even if you keep asking, that's not gonna change my mind."
" Pleaseeee ? C'mon Jimin-ah, it's just a game."
"But why do I have to go? I don't even have anyone on the team, not a friend, let alone a boyfriend!"
"Please do it for me," Hoseok asks and pouts, "c'mon, I'll treat you to dinner."
"...fine but I want sushi from that expensive place on campus."
Hoseok squeals and hugs Jimin. "Thank you thank you thank you!!! I'm sure Jungkook would be happy to see you cheering for him in his first game."
"Uhh, sure, I guess.." Jimin shrugs and moves away from the hug. He has talked to Jungkook before but they are more acquaintances rather than have a solid friendship. He goes back to sit at his desk and works on his paper until they have to leave. It's just a game, I guess I can survive seeing a bunch of jocks running for a ball.
Jimin doesn’t hate sports, he couldn’t even say he dislikes them that much, but he simply doesn’t care enough to know more about it. He certainly doesn’t care enough to sacrifice a rare free evening to be a third wheel as Hoseok went to cheer for his boyfriend.
But food was involved now, and Jimin would never turn down free food. He can handle a basketball match.
Jimin is this close to ditching Hoseok and make his way home hungry and alone. No amount of food was worth this .
They had arrived to a loud, screaming crowd and current hits blasting off the gymnasium speakers, making Jimin’s head buzz as soon as he stepped inside. It didn’t get better after that, with both of them elbowing enough people and stepping on more than enough shoes to gain a couple of seats on the first rows near the center of the stands.
“Is it always like this?”
Hoseok laughs "and the game hasn't started yet!"
Jimin huffs. Why did he agree to this torture? It's even worse than he thought it would be! "You didn't mention it'd be this loud." He glances around to see the people there, some have face paint with the colors of the school, some have signs saying GO TEAM . Jimin can't help wondering what they see in the sport that they are so noisy. "If they keep it like this for the next three hours I'm gonna get a headache."
Hoseok laughs again while Jimin glares at his friend. "You’ll get used to it. C'mon Jimin, you're the only one here who’s so gloomy about it. Don't want to jinx the school's first match of the season."
"I don't think I can do that, not with everyone's positive loud cheering," Jimin huffs and crosses his arms, Hobi sighs and side hugs him as he speaks, a serious tone in his voice.
"I promise the noise will become bearable. It’s just this game, I swear I won't ask you to come with me again."
Jimin rubs his forehead a couple of times before he sighs and says, "You're lucky we are friends."
Hoseok smiles and gives him a few pats on the back.
The crowd’s cheers grow louder through the entire auditorium and Hoseok stands up and cheers excitedly while he shows a " Go Jungkook! " sign.
Jimin wonders when he got it.
Jimin stands up as well because suddenly he can’t see what’s in front of him. The squeak of white sneakers and the bright red uniform-clad guys let Jimin know the home team is making their grandiose appearance.
He doesn’t recognize anyone besides Jungkook, Hoseok’s boyfriend. He didn’t lie when he said he doesn’t know anyone on the basketball team. Everyone in the team runs a lap around the court, bringing the noise of the crowd to grow even louder. The teams seem to organize at once, the ambiance on court seeming more serious while the cheers on the stands never really stop.
The crowd finally quietens down as the referee walks to the middle of the court, with both teams walking closer, with one person from each team getting even closer - the captains, if Jimin has to guess. His eyes drift from the opponent team to the blonde head representing their team. He looks small, or at least smaller than most of the players around him.
He watches as the referee throws the ball up in the air, and how the blond guy bends his knees to jump higher than Jimin could have expected him to, slapping the ball towards his team.
Suddenly, Jimin doesn’t know what to say.
“Who’s that?”
Hoseok glances at Jimin and smirks, he had known Jimin for long enough to be able to read him easily. "That one is no other than our team's captain. His name is Min Yoongi," he pauses before adding, "or the guy you're mesmerized by."
Jimin scoffs and turns around to see his friend "I'm not mesmerized by him. It just surprised me. I thought only tall people played basketball," he crosses his arms for good measure but the look on his face tells Hoseok the truth; Jimin is captivated by Yoongi.
Basketball happens faster than any sport Jimin has ever witnessed before. There is the sound of squeaking shoes, the basketball bouncing on the wooden floor, the loud honk when a basket is scored and the cheers of the public whenever it happens. Jimin loses track of who scores or when they score, but his eyes stay unreasonably stuck on Min Yoongi.
He is everywhere , there one second, gone the next. His bright, blond hair makes him hard to miss, so Jimin is able to see as he darts between the players, both his own and his rivals, moving the fastest and furthest from what he can see. Jimin watches as he moves away from the basket, only to twirl around and throw the ball towards the basket, landing inside with impossible speed. The crowd cheers, and the home score increases by three points instead of the usual two Jimin had been observing.
On the court, the team in red gives one another quick hugs and high-fives. There is a big smile on Min Yoongi's face, but his stance screams 'satisfied, instead of 'cocky' or 'overly confident.' The rival team gets the ball and his face appears determined all over again.
He looks passionate. Jimin thinks he looks beautiful.
Watching the game becomes less tedious once Jimin starts focusing on their team’s captain only. The crowd becomes bearable, and he even starts getting the gist of how the game works. He nods along to Hoseok’s comments on the game, and to the endeared compliments towards Jungkook. He refuses to go get snacks no matter how much Hoseok begs him to, and so they remain seated while both teams freshen up.
Jimin pretends to check on his phone while he steals glances at the team in red. The team moves naturally, and even if Jimin doesn’t know a lot, he can see that the teammates must be close to one another, maybe they are friends outside of court, too.
“What’s got you so focused, huh?”
Jimin takes his eyes away from the game to frown at Hoseok. “What are you talking about?”
“I thought you didn’t like the game.”
He gives a shrug, trying to avoid giving himself away. “I was just trying to understand the game, hyung. If I have to be here, I can at least do that, right?”
Hoseok looks like he doesn’t believe him, and Jimin knows that he knows he is lying. They don’t call each other out.
After a while, the game ends, and Jimin allows himself to stand up and cheer along as the home team starts celebrating when one last ring announces their victory. Most of the crowd starts to slowly leave the auditorium, and Jimin moves to do the same when Hoseoks grabs his wrist to stop him.
“What?”
“We aren’t going yet!” Hoseok exclaims, pulling Jimin’s arm to make their way down the stands. “We need to go greet Jungkookie! He’ll be happy to see us here.”
Jimin stands his ground, pulling his hand back. “He’ll be happy to see you . I have to go.”
Hoseok’s face deflates, and Jimin feels bad about it. “He’ll be happy to see you too, I thought you two were friends already.”
He is right, and Jimin knows it. Were it any other day, any other place and any other circumstance, he would gladly go along. But Jungkook is down in the court, Jimin can see him. He is smiling wide, wiping his sweat with his already soaked tank top; and most importantly, he is chatting animatedly with Min Yoongi.
“I’m very sorry,” he finally replies. Stepping back and putting some distance between them. “I’ll make it up to you both, but I really have to go now.” He stops to take a deep breath, and finally continues. “Thank you for bringing me along, Hoseok-hyung. I had a good time.”
Jimin escapes the auditorium before Hoseok tries to convince him to stay. He feels bad about leaving, and even worse about lying, but thinking about facing Min Yoongi makes him even more convinced that it’s not a good idea.
Not a good idea at all.
Jimin is a social person. Sometimes. In any case, he is social enough for it to be normal of him to ask around for information on the basketball team without raising too many eyebrows.
He manages to find out between casual talks, as he walks from class to class with classmates that are way more into the local sports teams than he is, that the basketball team practices in the university’s auditorium every other weekday at six, after all classes are finished.
This almost makes him give up on whatever idea he might have been starting to brew in his head. He would not leave his own practice to get into another practice he has no business witnessing.
He would not .
He would not do it again after this.
It was only a mere coincidence that Jimin’s practice wrapped up before its usual hour, almost fifteen whole minutes. Hoseok has a date with Jungkook, and Jimin tells him he has some studying to do. He knows he won’t be bothered if he’s studying.
He walks to the auditorium like he is meant to go there; the last thing Jimin needs is to look suspicious or to have someone stop him and ask where he is going. There are people around the entrance of the auditorium, sitting on the grass that surrounds the place. Jimin has never been around these areas, and had honestly thought it would be empty.
There are no eyes on Jimin as he goes past the ajar doors of the auditorium. He stays close to the wall, a quick look at the stands showing there are some people there, less than a dozen scattered in different places. Maybe friends of the team? Big fans of the local team? Whatever the reason, Jimin takes advantage of this to quietly but quickly walk his way to the highest row in the stands. There is no one there, but Jimin prefers it over sitting close to the people there.
On the court, the team is wearing sports clothes and there are several basketballs bouncing around.
His heart beats louder against his ribcage, Jimin can't put a finger on why he is feeling so nervous, like he is doing something illegal. Not that he has committed a crime before but he can only guess this is how it feels like. He is waiting for someone to mention something, to call him out and question his motives about why he is suddenly there, and yet none has paid attention to the new person sitting on the highest row. The scene unfolding before him is something different to what he would have expected, at least the media was wrong in telling that team practices are private.
It almost feels like it's another game. There’s people being loud and cheering for the players, and part of their practice seems to be a match between them.
Jimin doesn’t know how much time has passed, he didn’t even notice how absorbed he was in the practice, so captivated by the team captain that he gets startled by the whistle of the coach. “Alright everyone, good job! Go hit the showers.”
The team members cheer up and fool around while they get their sport bags and walk to the locker room. Jimin starts to collect his things as well, since the people around him start to leave. He makes it to the bottom row when he notices the team captain is still there, talking with the coach, probably about the practice and how good the team did. The coach nods after he finishes making some notes and makes his way out. The captain goes back to the court and grabs a ball to keep playing. Jimin wonders what he should do, but staying would be too suspicious since the gym is empty now. He feels the captain side glancing at him, and Jimin makes the decision to leave to avoid raising further suspicion.
Jimin’s heart feels like he had just stopped running, even if he didn’t move a muscle for a long time. As soon as the air outside hits his face, he feels safe again. Enough risks for now , he thinks. He did what he wanted to, and maybe now he is ready to finally take Min Yoongi out of his thoughts. His curiosity is somewhat sated, and he doesn’t need more from the basketball team.
And yet, as the following week rolls by, Jimin’s spot at the highest row has become his spot .