Work Text:
another plain truth
we hugged.
it was a good hug.
if there is such a thing as a hug so good
i did not wish it were a kiss.
— sabrina benaim
Tonight, Jungkook watches him from the sidelines.
His leg still hurts. But sitting down is not in his plans. Not on the list of things to do when the team’s so close to winning.
All thanks to Taehyung.
A pass. Two guys down, Ricky and Henn.
Jungkook watches Taehyung lose the ball, then get it back, almost as if it’d been all a perfectly calculated play.
“Back the hell up!” Coach yells.
Taehyung’s rushing to the net like the 1st Place trophy is waiting right behind the goalie. He wants to take it, grab it with his own hands. Probably with his feet based on how fast he’s running.
“One more!”
Jungkook’s body shakes in anticipation. His heart is thrumming against his ribs.
“To the left, Kim! One more time!”
When Taehyung darts to the right, Jungkook knows he’ll be a dead man after the game. Coach hates surprises, especially when they come from his son and the captain of the team.
But Jungkook also knows what it means.
Taehyung’s about to score.
“Go Kim!”
The only thing Jungkook can hear is the shouts of the crowd in the stands coming from behind. He’s sure his teammates are all screaming, too. Vek must be fucking euphoric.
“Go Kim!”
One more pass, then the ball is back between Taehyung’s feet.
And it happens.
It’s like the crowd goes silent after the kick. No one’s yelling anymore, just Jungkook, calling Taehyung’s name as soon as the ball hits the net and Taehyung turns around to smile at him.
No party follows.
Two major exams and a presentation the next day fuck everything up. It’s almost the end of the year, but not the end of the football season. One more match is on its way.
One last chance to celebrate.
Jungkook’s thankful, actually. This way, he can stay in his room and avoid Taehyung outside of the field, where things are awkward and… suffocating.
But then his window slams open. And Taehyung sneaks inside with a grin.
“What are you doing here?”
“C’mon, Jeon.” Taehyung rolls his eyes as he smooths down his clothes. “You promised.”
“Not right after the game,” Jungkook whisper-yells, closing his window shut. He walks to his door and locks it. “Vek’s in the next room.”
“And I’m here, in your room, ready for what you promised me if I scored.”
“You almost didn’t.”
Taehyung snorts, raising his eyebrows. “Saw your face, Barbie. You liked it.”
“Because we’re on the same team. And just— Please, drop the nickname. It’s getting old.”
“Not when you’re looking like that. If I told my thirteen-year-old self his former bestie would dye his hair blond for the second time, he’d pass out.” Taehyung rests his weight on his right leg. “Sorry, but you’ll forever be Barbie to me.”
Jungkook frowns, leaning on his desk with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Are you drunk?”
“No.” Taehyung looks surprised. “Why?”
“You get flirty when you are.”
“Do I?” Taehyung’s grin softens. He steps forward, close enough for his perfume to hit Jungkook’s lungs. “It’s the hair.”
Swallowing, Jungkook drops his chin. “I’m still with Gegi, Kim.” He pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “We’ll be one year next week.”
“I know.” Taehyung moves closer. “Congratulations. That’s more than your last relationship.”
Jungkook meets his eyes, noticing the way they’re shining.
“Do you have a nickname for her, too?”
“Stop.”
Taehyung breathes in through his nose, pulling up the corner of his mouth. He acts like Jungkook’s in the palm of his hand. Like he could crush him if he wanted to. Squeeze him tight. Run him dry.
He never does, though.
And Jungkook’s always disappointed.
“You promised,” Taehyung whispers.
Jungkook smells the cinnamon in those words. No alcohol or drugs. He wonders if this conversation will make Taehyung regret his decisions later. “Here.” He reaches for the drawer under the desk and drags it open, grabbing the card.
“Original?” Taehyung asks, watching Jungkook’s face.
“I told you. 2003. Gold.” Jungkook lifts his hand in the air, tilting his head. “All yours.”
“After ten years.” Taehyung snatches the little thing, smiles at it. “It was supposed to be mine, y’know.”
That awakens a fluttery mess in Jungkook’s gut. “I won the bet back then,” he says, standing straight. “Fair and square.”
“Of course you did.” Taehyung slips the card inside his front pocket, spinning around. “Always Jeon Jungkook. The greatest of all times.”
“You know it’s true.”
Taehyung brushes his fingers across the bed. “Do you?”
When he sneaks his hand under the pillow, he stops.
“Kim—”
Surprise swirls in Taehyung’s eyes. “You kept the tradition.”
Jungkook nods. “It always worked.”
Slowly, Taehyung pulls his arm out and scans the silver card.
A heavy silence falls around them.
“Put it back,” Jungkook whispers, no bite behind his words.
Taehyung reads out loud what it says. “For more seasons like this one. More wins like the last. Fair and square. Love, Scout.”
Jungkook knows the writing by heart.
“I’m sorry,” Taehyung says. He puts the card back under the pillow and clears his throat. “Now you owe me mine.” He grins.
Jungkook’s heart drops to his feet.
“Right.” Taehyung breathes out. “I’ll go.” He moves to the window, dragging it up. “Next game will be hard. You should practice.”
“I always do.”
“Yeah.” Taehyung crawls out, peering inside for the last time. “See you.”
Once he’s gone, Jungkook slumps on his desk and inhales.
The next time they see each other, Jungkook’s standing outside the library, with one arm hooked around Gegi’s waist.
She’s talking about her friends. The concert she’ll be going to this weekend. The clothes she bought.
Jungkook nods and asks questions, but his eyes are always on Taehyung.
“Can you pick me up at Chris’s house on Sunday?”
Jungkook nods again.
“Cool. Thanks, babe.” Gegi kisses his cheek.
At the same time, Taehyung shoots him a smirk, then raises one finger to his forehead in a salute gesture and walks the other way.
Coach Kim calls Jungkook to his office.
“What club do you wanna play in, Jeon?”
Jungkook shrugs. “I haven’t decided yet, sir.”
“There’s not much time left. One more game and then it’s done. Who called you?”
“The Kressells, the Ponytacs, the Yaishers.” Jungkook breathes in. “They all sound good.”
“But they might not be all good for you,” Coach says. “You gotta make a decision soon. A wise one.”
“What would you recommend?”
“Well”—Coach leans back on his chair—“what do your parents want?”
“They like the Yaishers, sir.”
“I’m guessing because that’s close to home.”
Jungkook nods.
“In that case…” Coach rests his arms on his desk, smiling. “Choose the one you like the most out of the other two.”
Jungkook laughs. “Thank you, sir.”
“No problem. Good luck with that.”
Jungkook stands up, walks out of the room with a smile and the name of the first club that popped up in his head after Coach’s words.
The same one Taehyung received a call from.
Last practice.
Jungkook’s whispering to himself in a corner inside the locker room, while the rest of the team changes clothes.
“We’re gonna win the next match,” Taehyung says, in his friendly captain’s voice. “And we’re gonna make history—”
“—as the first team that started the season from the bottom and reached first place by the end of the year.” Coach claps twice. “Do not let your fears win, kids.”
Jungkook glances at Taehyung, sees annoyance on his face. He knows how much he hates it when his father talks over him.
But Taehyung never says a thing.
He nods, smiles, and pretends he’s just a player and not the coach’s son.
The night before the game, a small rock hits Jungkook’s window and cracks it.
“The fuck?” He peeks outside, sees Taehyung making an embarrassed face next to the bushes. “Why did you do that?”
“Need your help with our tradition.”
Jungkook rolls his eyes. “I gave you the card, Kim.”
“Yeah, but”—Taehyung unearths a black marker and wiggles it in the air—“you forgot to sign it.”
“Don’t shake the desk,” Jungkook warns him, writing over Taehyung’s card. “Unless you want a black smudge on this guy’s face.”
“I’ll punch you if you do that.” Taehyung stands up, paces the room. “He’s Benny ‘Roller’ Ranhe. Don’t disrespect him.”
Jungkook snorts through a grin. “Done.” He rests back on his chair, shows Taehyung the card. “You can’t read it until we’ve won the game.”
“I know, Barbie.” Taehyung snatches the card out of Jungkook’s hand. “I made the tradition up, remember?”
“No. I did,” Jungkook states, yanking his neck back.
“Okay. Whatever you say.”
“Be serious. I came up with it on my own. You were busy with Xia back then.”
Taehyung laughs, sitting on Jungkook’s bed like it were his. “I can hear jealousy coming out of you right now, Barb.”
“Ha ha.” Jungkook jerks up, facing Taehyung with an eyebrow raised. “Is that all?”
Taehyung tilts his head, bites the inside of his cheek to avoid smiling. Jungkook knows that look. “One more thing.”
He gets up, hands in his pockets, and closes the distance between them.
“Don’t, Kim,” Jungkook says, an open palm on Taehyung’s chest.
“Just once.”
“That didn’t happen the last time.” Jungkook breathes in, holds the air in his lungs. “It’s never just one.”
“I know.” Taehyung reaches for Jungkook’s blond hair. “I blame myself every day.”
A rush of disappointment slides up Jungkook’s spine. It has to show on his face, because Taehyung’s quick to change his tone and let his fingers fall to Jungkook’s cheek.
“No, not like that.” He smiles. “I just— I should’ve kissed you more than twice.”
They win the game. 5-3.
A rumor says the party will be held at Coach’s house. But after they all shower and leave, Taehyung sends Jungkook a text with the truth.
Kim: no way in hell i’m gonna have a party at my place
Jungkook: then where?
Kim: i dunno
Kim: maybe gegi knows
Jungkook rolls his eyes at the message and tosses his phone on his bed.
Jungkook hears from Vek that a party will start at Ricky’s place.
He’s in charge of the booze, so he puts on a jacket and walks to the nearest liquor store.
When he strides inside, looking for that beer Vek likes, he bumps into Taehyung. “Hey.”
Taehyung’s already drinking from a half-empty bottle of beer. “You going to Ricky’s?”
“Yeah. Gotta buy some stuff first.”
“Is your girlfriend going?”
Jungkook nods.
“That’s what I thought.” Taehyung walks to the exit, stops by the threshold and looks back at Jungkook. “The tradition worked,” he says, holding the bottle mid-air. “I read your message.”
Jungkook wets his lips, avoids looking at Taehyung. “It’s better this way, Kim.”
“Is it?”
Ricky gets picked by the Ferrens, two hundred kilometers away. He’ll be near Vek, and Jungkook probably won’t see them again.
“Take care, man.” Ricky hugs Jungkook outside their dorm, his suitcases in the taxi waiting for him. “Call me sometime.”
“Will do.”
“Did you choose?”
Vek’s packing his clothes before dinner.
“Nah.” Jungkook still has two days.
“What are you waiting for?”
He looks away, holding onto the door frame and gnawing at his bottom lip. “I don’t know.”
Taehyung’s doing laundry when Jungkook finds him.
“Hey.”
“What’s up, Barb?” He folds a hoodie, then throws it in his bag. “Still here?”
“I’m waiting for one of the clubs to call me back,” he lies.
Taehyung snorts at that. “You? Waiting? Thought they’d be waiting for you to decide.”
Jungkook shrugs, walking over to an empty machine and scratching a label on top. “What about you? Doing laundry for the last time?”
“That’s right.” Taehyung grins, folding a pair of pants and shorts. “I leave tomorrow.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
Taehyung lifts an eyebrow, zips his bag close, and hangs it on his arm. “Does it matter?” He walks to the door, passing by Jungkook.
Jungkook takes a step forward. “Scout—”
Slowly, Taehyung turns around. He waits.
“I’m sorry.”
Taehyung snorts and leaves without saying anything.
“Babe, I think I’ll take the internship at Crosa.”
Jungkook frowns at Gegi, staring at her from her bed with his books scattered around. “Why not Bux?”
“I know I told you that, but”—she spins in her rolling chair—“I don’t know. I really wanna go where Anha’s going.”
“Okay.” Jungkook sits up, feels his stomach crunch.
“That’s all you’re gonna say?”
“I mean—” Jungkook hesitates. “It’s your decision.”
“And you’re okay with it? Just like that?” She looks hurt and disappointed. “Do you wanna break up?”
Jungkook takes too long to reply. “No.”
“Because we can try long distance,” Gegi says, lowering her voice. “Right? I know it can work.”
Jungkook nods, pressing his lips together and looking down at his books. “Yeah. Sure.” He smiles. “We could.”
It takes Jungkook the whole night rolling on his bed to send that email.
His ribs are tight against his lungs. He can’t stop fidgeting with his feet as he types.
Once he hits send, he buries his face on his pillow and searches for his card with his hand.
11 AM. The sun’s hitting hard.
“Tell Gegi she can come anytime,” Jungkook’s father says over the phone. “Not because you’re going far from home means she can’t hang out with us.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Jungkook’s watching Taehyung drag his bags out of his dorm. With no help.
“When are you leaving, bud?”
“On Friday.”
“And?” Silence fills the line for a second. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah. Hey, Dad, I need to go.” Jungkook sees Taehyung struggling with a box. “Talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
Ending the call, Jungkook jogs to Taehyung’s side.
“Here to help me, Barb?” Taehyung smiles, dropping the box on the pavement with the word ‘Fragile’ on it. “That’s kind.”
“Where are you going?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Where— I mean, which club?”
Taehyung stands straight, shoulders down. He tilts his head as a smile stretches his lips. “I’m a Kressell, baby,” he says, opening his arms.
Jungkook’s heart flips. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Taehyung’s expression falls. He shoots Jungkook a flat look before checking his stuff and pulling out his phone. “Are you here to say goodbye or just stare?”
Jungkook snorts, looking down. “Actually—”
An engine rumbles from behind.
Taehyung points at the black car slowing down to a stop. “My ride.”
Jungkook smiles, hands in his pockets. “Here. Lemme help.” He picks up some bags, puts them on the back after the driver unlocks the doors. “You sure you have everything?”
Taehyung stares at him. “I do.” He lifts an eyebrow in curiosity. “Thanks.”
“Wait.” Jungkook stretches out his arm, offering his hand.
Taehyung takes a moment to look at him.
Everything’s silent. But Jungkook can hear his heart pounding against his throat. Taehyung’s eyes stay on him. Gut-wrenching. Suffocating.
Like always with Taehyung.
When Jungkook thinks he’ll be left hanging there with his hand out, Taehyung smiles, huffs out a breath, and hugs him.
It takes Jungkook by surprise. Having Taehyung’s chest against his feels familiar yet rare, but as soon as Taehyung’s scent embraces him, he relaxes in his arms.
They stay that way for a while, completely silent. Just two teammates who have known each other for a long time saying goodbye. They’re the same height, so their heads touch. Until Taehyung breathes in through his mouth and steps back.
Their noses almost brush.
“See you,” Taehyung says, sadness clinging to his eyes. He searches for something on Jungkook’s face before getting inside the car.
“Good luck with the team,” Jungkook tells him.
Taehyung stops, a hand gripping the door, half of his body out. “I won’t need it.”
“I think you will.” Jungkook wrinkles his nose, feeling his lips curve up. “If we’re gonna share the field next fall, you gotta do your best.”
Surprise makes Taehyung frown. He blinks. “Wh—?” His jaw goes slack. “What does that mean?”
Jungkook shrugs, unable to tame down his smile.
“Jeon, are you serious?”
“Fair and square,” Jungkook says, turning around, then facing Taehyung again. He does the salute thing they used to do when they were kids.
And for one last time, he grins.