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“Okay, done!” Soonyoung tells Seungkwan as he ties up his shoe laces. “Seungkwan-ah, you ready?”
“Coming, hyung!” the younger yells back coming out with a tote bag with banners and small balloons inside.
It’s the start of baseball season for Jihoon and Soonyoung has been waiting for nearly a month to finally wear his new jersey (courtesy of his super hot team captain boyfriend!) and he could not be more excited.
Much to Jihoon’s amusement, Soonyoung was serious when he said he would be styling the jersey. He dragged Jihoon along with him to pick out a new pair of sneakers and a few baseball caps.
Soonyoung turns to Seungkwan. “How do I look?”
“Like Jihoon hyung would jump on you the moment they win the game later.” Soonyoung was sporting a white long sleeved shirt underneath his new jersey, along with some denim knee length shorts and a pair of New Balance 550s in cream and navy blue. He tops off the look with a navy blue baseball cap and takes one last look in his mirror before nodding and picking up a banner he had made for Jihoon.
Truth be told, Soonyoung wasn’t sure if Jihoon took his statement of bringing a banner for him seriously. He is well aware of how much more timid and reserved his boyfriend is when it comes to affection. Of course, Jihoon has always relented to Soonyoung’s public displays of his love and has even reciprocated.
And to be fair, they were a small pinch away from making out in front of Yohan when Soonyoung beat that creep’s ass in their match. So the affection has not necessarily been unwarranted.
Nevertheless, Jihoon has never made Soonyoung feel like he’s too much, even when he himself thinks he is. So he happily carries with him the banner he made and takes two tube balloons Seungkwan offered.
They head out and start walking towards the bus stop to head off to the game’s venue. Sadly, much to Hansol’s chagrin (that boy definitely threw a tantrum), the baseball team had to head to the venue much earlier to warm up and the team couldn’t go with their boyfriends to the venue.
All was definitely well for Seungkwan and Soonyoung, though, as they planned to surprise their boyfriends with the banners they made. Both of them were sporting their boyfriend’s name on their custom jerseys and Seungkwan even wore one of Hansol’s beanies as well, knowing how cute the other thought he would look in one of his beanies.
They get to the venue a tad earlier than the actual game but quite a crowd has already gathered. It was much more intimate in Soonyoung’s head, in contrast to the vast spread of green he sees and the extending white perimeters of the playing field.
“Pretty big, huh?” Seungkwan says “Don’t worry, hyung! I’ve been to Sollie’s games before and he always gets us front row by their team! So for sure you’ll get to see Jihoon hyung up close! It’s that way, c’mon!”
Soonyoung follows his teammate closely and tries to spot his boyfriend amongst the little moving figures in blue.
“Soonyoung-ah!” He suddenly hears and squints his eyes to see his boyfriend running towards him.
Jihoon is in his official jersey matching Soonyoung’s own. However, Jihoon’s is tucked into a tight pair of white pants and Soonyoung almost drools at the sight of his boyfriend.
“You’re here!” Jihoon says and immediately hugs Soonyoung tightly. “You look great, Jagi ”
“Me?” Soonyoung incredulously asks “Look at you! Your ass is looking good, Jagi ” and throws Jihoon a wink.
“Silly boy.” Jihoon laughs at his boyfriend’s antics. “Come on! We’re still doing some drills!” He excitedly says as he drags Soonyougn along with him.
Soonyoung feels like he’s in a fever dream. It feels like yesterday when he was crying into a pillow like a child who broke his favorite toy because he almost lost his chance with Jihoon. Now he’s hand-in-hand with the man of his dreams, wearing his name on his back, and supporting him in his first game of the season as his boyfriend .
God, Soonyoung was lucky.
“Sollie!” Seungkwan suddenly says and runs straight into his boyfriend’s arms.
“Boo!” Hansol hugs him as tight as he could. “Finally, my energizer!”
“Such a drama queen, my Sollie!” Seungkwan says and giggles, softly pinching Hansol’s cheeks.
Soonyoung, on the other hand, is still hand-in-hand with Jihoon. They stop near the team’s dugout and only then does Jihoon see the banner and balloons.
“What’s this, my love?” Jihoon says, looking at Soonyoung’s hand curiously.
Soonyoung lets go of Jihoon’s hand and shyly raises the banner to show Jihoon.
It was a pretty decently sized banner made of cardboard with the big bold letters in navy blue: Batter up, Jagi! I love you, Lee Jihoon! There was some glitter in Jihoon’s name and a small up close selfie (cut into a heart, of course) of Jihoon scrunching his face. It was also surrounded by little doodles of baseballs and bats and pink hearts. Of course, there was a tiger replacing the letter ‘O’ in the word ‘love.’
Soonyoung feels a wave of self-consciousness and sudden insecurity when Jihoon doesn't react and is only looking down as he shows the banner.
“Sorry, Jagi , if it’s too much I can just–” Soonyoung is cut off by the sound of a camera shutter.
“Sorry, Soons, I had to grab my phone to take a photo!” Jihoon says and asks him to smile. “Raise it a little higher, please!” Soonyoung happily complies and poses for his boyfriend.
“It’s not too much?” Soonyoung says with a pout, which is immediately met with a big smooch from Jihoon.
“Of course not! I love this side of you!” Jihoon happily says “Although, you couldn’t have chosen a cooler photo?”
“No! You’re already hella attractive when you play. I can't have them seeing your hot photos too! Those are only for me!” Soonyoung cheekily says.
Good Lord, does it feel good to be loved by Jihoon. Soonyoung almost scolds himself from ever doubting Jihoon’s love for his cheeky and affectionate side. He makes a mental note to make an even bigger banner next time.
“Lee, Chwe! Back to some drills!” Their head coach calls out and Soonyoung immediately makes a short sprint to grab Jihoon’s baseball glove to hand over to him.
“Thank you, love.” Jihoon says fondly. “You guys can go sit now. Kwannie knows the way, you can pass by the stairs on our side.”
Soonyoung nods firmly and walks over to Seungkwan who leads them to their seats. Seungkwan wasn’t joking when he said Hansol chose good seats for them. It was at the very first row of the bleachers, just roughly a meter behind the cage-like grills set up high in front for safety.
“Damn, Kwannie. Hansol did choose good seats” he says, bewildered at the view.
From where Soonyoung was sitting, the entire field was clear. He could see the neat structure of the field’s perimeter and could see exactly where and how everyone runs.
Most importantly, he has a front view of Jihoon squatting down as a catcher, and he would definitely be able to stare at his ass like he said he would.
“I told you, hyung! Sollie always knows! And I’m sure Jihoon hyung wouldn’t have let him choose bad seats for you either!” Seungkwan excitedly says as he takes out some balloons and starts giving some out to people he was familiar with.
With Seungkwan busy giving out balloons, Soonyoung can’t help but stare at Jihoon. He’s always known his boyfriend was well-respected as their captain and he’s seen it from the few times he’s watched their practice but seeing him as captain during the game was a sight to behold. Not good for his heart.
He’s observing all of his teammates, correcting them kindly with their forms, and remains firm when he sees them goofing around when it’s not allowed.
Soonyoung decides to step down for a while from his seat and approaches the structure dividing the field and the bleachers. It was raised a little higher from the field but still low enough to have a conversation with the players and if he crouches down or squats, he’d be able to talk to them face-to-face.
He slightly inserts his fingers into the little holes from the crisscross pattern of the structure like a claw and observes his boyfriend a little more. He has his banner on his other hand and gives Jihoon a small wave with it when he sees Jihoon glance and smile at him.
“Hey.” Soonyoung hears before he sees a small frown form on Jihoon’s face. “I’ve never seen you before.”
“Hello” Soonyoung respectfully bows to the man talking. His blindingly red and white uniform tells Soonyoung he was from the other team. He puts his attention back to Jihoon who was staring daggers at the other man.
“I’ve never seen a cutie like you here before.” The man continues saying. Soonyoung only gives a small smile in response, not wanting to seem rude.
The man continues to pester him and Soonyoung is not dumb to not know that he was trying to flirt with him. “Come on, what’s your name?”
“I’m sorry to be rude but–” Soonyoung begins, as carefully as possible. The last thing he wants is to cause a scene. “--I’m not really interested.”
“It’s okay. I like ‘em a little hard to get.” Soonyoung can only frown at him and the annoying smirk on his face.
Before Soonyoung can mutter out a response, a baseball bat lightly (sort of lightly) hits the other man’s chest. Soonyoung’s eyes trace the baseball bat back to Jihoon, back upright, hand in his pocket, and head tilted to the right. Clearly, his boyfriend was unamused.
“Do you not see the name on his banner, Ong?” Jihoon begins, a certain possessiveness in his tone peeking through. “And he already said he wasn’t interested. So. Back. Off.” Jihoon finally says, lightly pushing his bat against Ong’s shoulders at each word.
“A problem, Lee?” Ong says. “Why? Is this cutie yours?” Jihoon only raises his eyebrows at him as the other laughs at the name on Soonyoung’s banner. “It’s okay. Don’t you know? Prey is easier to catch when they’re tied down.”
Soonyoung was about to respond, angered by the sudden line from this man. The audacity of this man to talk about Soonyoung that way.
Jihoon beats him to it, though.
Soonyoung looks to Jihoon, hoping his jealousy doesn’t cause them to fight, or to cause him the game. But the words that came out of Jihoon almost melts Soonyoung.
“Ya, Ong Seongwoo, don’t talk about my boyfriend that way.” Jihoon’s voice is a little raised, pissed, obviously. “My boyfriend is not some animal in the wild or some prey you can catch. And he most certainly is not some pet I own that I can just tie down like a beast. How dare you degrade his character like he was raised with no values. My boyfriend is a man with high morals and dignity. He’s a human being. I can’t say the same about you.”
Soonyoung’s eyes dilate in pleasant surprise. Of course, he should’ve expected only the best from his boyfriend. He was not, at all, being a jealous prick. Rather, he was so offended that anyone would ever think Soonyoung was of a character that could be easily swayed by men or that he would suddenly cheat or leave Jihoon.
Lee Jihoon, you dog.
“Ong! Come on, we need to huddle!” They turn their attention to the other team’s captain.
“Better get back there, Ong” Jihoon smirks “God knows you need help in the field.”
Jihoon turns his attention back to Soonyoung, ignoring the displeased grunt from the other. Jihoon is met with Soonyoung squatting down, eye-to-eye with his boyfriend.
“Are you okay, Soons?” Jihoon asks worriedly.
“Why wouldn’t I? My knight in shining armor is right here.” Soonyoung cheekily says. “Thank you for defending me. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Jihoon says with a smile.
“Lee, Chwe! Game time!” their coach yells and gestures for the two to come closer.
Soonyoung laughs at the loud groan Hansol lets out; he hadn't even noticed he and Seungkwan were in the same position as he and Jihoon were in. Of course, Hansol needed his dose of Boo before playing.
Soonyoung gives Jihoon a sweet peck through the small cavity in the cage before he wishes him good luck.
“Good luck, Jagi ” he sweetly says wiggling his finger through the cage.
“This game’s for you, my tiger.” Jihoon says and lightly shakes the little finger Soonyoung has wiggled through for him before heading back to his team's dugout.
Soonyoung returns to his seat beside Seungkwan and they start raising their banners, mindful of the height in case they block the view of the people behind them.
Two announcers start talking into the microphone, surprising Soonyoung. Announcers in their matches were never this proactive, it was mostly announcing winners or preparation of the players.
“Well good morning to everybody here today we have quite a crowd as we have two strong baseball teams to start off the season!” One of the announcers starts and immediately cheers fill the stadium so loudly that it hypes up Soonyoung and Seungkwan.
The game today was a little more anticipated than usual. Similar to Taekwondo, first games at matches don’t attract too much attention nor does it draw in a huge crowd. But today, two of the biggest universities were playing along with the strongest baseball teams they’ve had in a while.
The announcers call for the captains, so naturally Jihoon approaches the umpire. The other team’s captain, Kang Daniel, approaches as well. Soonyoung vaguely remembers this guy to be the one he secretly beat up after Seungkwan told him that he attempted to hurt Jihoon by throwing his bat a little bit harsher.
The flirty weirdo from earlier and this team captain in the same team? Damn where the hell was this university getting their recruits?
A coin is flipped and it’s easy to tell that Jihoon gets to choose with the way he points to the field and his team disperses through the different bases. They’re on defense and Jihoon begins wearing his gear as catcher.
Feeling a surge of confidence, Soonyoung let’s out a cheer for Jihoon. “You got this, Jihoon! I love you!” a few roars are heard from their side of the stadium and Soonyoung suddenly feels shy from his outburst.
His shyness dissipates quickly though as Jihoon, just like him, pumps his fist to his chest and blows him a kiss. This causes the crowd on his side to go wild.
“Well I guess the Blue Batters have some love blooming in their air, partner! No wonder their captain seems to be in great condition.”
Seungkwan teasingly hits Soonyoung but laughs and smiles with him, nonetheless. They continue cheering and raising their banners when the batters start lining up.
“Batter up!” the umpire says and the first batter takes his position. It was Ong Seongwoo, the flirty weirdo.
“I hope he trips” Soonyoung mutters and Seungkwan can’t help but agree.
Soonyoung keeps his eyes on Jihoon, and is astonished by how focused he is. Anyone near them earlier could tell he was having an argument with Seongwoo. Come on, he was flirting it up and insulting his boyfriend, for crying out loud. Yet, there he is, calm and immersed in the game. Seemingly unbothered by any taunts Seongwoo could have been giving him at this moment.
Soonyoung sees Jihoon twirling his finger from his angle, eyes fixed on Jeonghan. Soonyoung takes a glance at the pitcher and can tell Jeonghan knows what he’s doing.
The whistle is blown and Jeonghan throws a pitch so perfectly angled, not even Sheldon Cooper could decipher the physics behind it. Jihoon catches the ball perfectly in his gloves and smoothly transfers it to his throwing arm.
“STRIKE 1” The umpire says and Jihoon throws over the ball back to Jeonghan.
“Holy crap, no wonder Yohan was fucking bawling at the game.” Soonyoung wonders if Yohan would ever be able to use his dick again after Jeonghan and Jisoo threw baseballs at it-he hopes not.
“Exactly why I told Sollie to call them.” Seungkwan huffs with pride. Soonyoung lets out a small chuckle and returns his attention to the field.
Jeonghan pitches smoothly once again, but this time, Seongwoo manages to predict the angle and hits it just as well.
“SAFE!” The umpire by first base yells as Seongwoo steps on the base just barely a millisecond before Seokmin catches the ball.
“That was a close one!” The announcer says as he joyfully narrates the scene. “Ong Seongwoo-seonsu manages to reach first base just before Lee Seokmin-seonsu catches the ball!”
Seokmin shakes his head out of disappointment but Jeonghan gives him a thumbs up, signalling him that it’s okay. Seokmin then throws the ball back to Jeonghan just as steadily as everyone else.
Good Lord were these people strong.
“Batter up!” Soonyoung hears again and a new player goes up. ‘Choi Soobin’ it reads.
Soonyoung and Seungkwan’s focus on the new batter are disrupted when he suddenly turns back and faces them. They look at each other, confused and trying looking around to find out who Soobin was looking at.
“The cutie in the beanie!” he suddenly calls and blows a kiss towards Seungkwan causing an eruption of cheers from the opposing team.
“Eww” Seungkwan says and makes a disgusted face, stunned that anyone would attempt to make a move on him when he has a huge photo of Hansol with hearts all around it in his hand.
Soonyoung has the mind not to laugh. On any other day, this would have been a hilarious scene for him. But his eyes wandered to Hansol who was right fielder, pretty close to where they were and feels the panic in Seungkwan rise. Seungkwan’s perks up as he sees Hansol marching up to Soobin.
“SOLLIE, NO!” He attempts to pacify his boyfriend but the distance between the player and him too much for it to audible.
Thankfully, Seungcheol interferes and stops Hansol by his shoulders before he manages to do anything that could risk the game.
“Hyung, I’m worried.'' Seungkwan says and grips onto Soonyoung’s arm..
“Hey, Kwannie, relax. Trust in his team, okay?” Soonyoung says, calming the younger.
Soonyoung glances at Seungcheol who was calming his teammate’s boyfriend. But Hansol’s eyes are concentrated to the front. Soonyoung follows Hansol’s gaze and sees that Jihoon raised up his mask and is looking at Hansol sternly. He’s signaling Hansol to breathe which seems to ease the emotions of the younger.
Hansol finally returns to his position and the game starts again once all cheers have died down.
Jeonghan pitches the ball and Soobin manages to hit it at once at a considerable length away from the limited area of the bases. Hansol is running towards the direction of the ball. Jisoo clearly had the better advantage to chase after the ball, but a jealous Hansol is an irrational Hansol. All he’s thinking about is catching that ball so that guy can be called out on their first inning.
“Sollie!” “Hansol!” “Chwe!” A jumble of yells are heard as Hansol catches the ball but falls hard on the ground, causing his body to roll over the field towards their third base.
Soonyoung sees from his line of sight that Hansol holds up the ball and the umpire screams “OUT!” and Soobin returns to their dugot in dismay.
Jihoon, as captain, signals a request for his coach to call a timeout. Soonyoung sees his boyfriend approach Hansol who was assisted by the rest of the team to their dugout.
As expected, their coach is fuming. His hands are flailing around and his fingers are pointed directly at Hansol. Thankfully, Soonyoung does not hear a mention of Seungkwan from the scolding but he continues to calm the other who was worried sick for his boyfriend.
Soonyoung looks at their side and sees Jihoon tap his Coach’s shoulder and nods in respect, silently asking him to take over. His coach relents and the rest of their team step back to let Jihoon handle the situation.
He’s never seen this side of Jihoon as a captain. Yes, he was firm and intelligent, but it’s never occurred to Soonyoung how incredibly fragile a team can get when they all play together in the field. It’s never occurred to him that Jihoon has had to deal with each and every tantrum his teammate could get while they were in the field.
Jihoon only talks calmly to Hansol, words inaudible to Soonyoung. He taps Seungkwan’s shoulder and tells him to look at Hansol and Jihoon. Hansol is only looking down but it’s so obvious that he’s listening intently to Jihoon.
Finally, he sees Jihoon tap Hansol’s shoulder and urges to him to say sorry to his team–Hansol does. Jihoon then points his head towards them and Hansol looks Seungkwan in the eyes.
Hansol takes a deep breath and nods firmly towards Seungkwan, mouthing a ‘sorry’ and Seungkwan nods towards him, relieved to see his boyfriend not injured and safe.
Soonyoung glances at Jihoon and the latter winks at his boyfriend, of course this causes Soonyoung to blush like a fucking school girl. Jihoon then puts back on his mask and takes position in the field and the rest of his team disperses.
“Kwan-ah, why don’t you give Hansol a big cheer, huh? Let them know which player has hit homerun with you?” Soonyoung wiggles his eyebrows
“Hyunggg, why would you say it like that? It sounds gross! Jihoon hyung was right you ARE a pervert!”
“You know what I mean!” Soonyoung sarcastically says, laughing at the obvious blush that blooms on Seungkwan’s cheeks.
“YA! CHWE HANSOL! STOP SULKING! I LOVE ONLY YOU!” Seungkwan yells and raises the slightly larger banner he made, eliciting whistles and roars from the entire crowd.
Hansol points towards Seungkwan and blows him a kiss which Seungkwan gladly reciprocates.
The game continues on, with Soonyoung and Seungkwan taking turns in cheering for their boyfriend. Soonyoung barely takes his eyes away from Jihoon which isn’t hard considering he stays at mostly one spot as a catcher. He also makes sure to raise his banner a little higher whenever Jihoon is up to bat.
Seungkwan does the same with Hansol, making sure to blow him a kiss whenever Hansol manages to catch the ball or does an especially impressive throw.
“Holy fuck, Kwannie, I might actually die” Soonyoung says, hiding a little bit behind the banner he brought. “I can’t watch this!”
“Hyung! It’s the last inning, get your shit together!!” Seungkwan replies as he lightly slaps Soonyoung on the cheek. “Jihoon hyung is the last batter you better not cry right now!”
The last two innings were practically torture to Soonyoung. Their opponent team was much stronger than he had initially thought and their leading by three points.
There was only one way for the team to win: Jihoon bats the ball miraculously far from the playing field and all of them, including Jihoon, make a homerun.
Jeonghan, Mingyu, and Hansol were currently at first, second, and third bases, respectively. Their feet are carefully placed on the base but their stance was set for a sprint for homerun. All guards for defense are extremely high and alert–not allowing their team to lax over their lead.
Jihoon finally takes his position and Soonyoung is so nervous he doesn’t even have it in him to stare at Jihoon’s ass even though he’s been doing so the entire game.
“STRIKE 1!” the umpire screams when Jihoon misses. It’s become very apparent that the nerves and the pressure are dawning a little too fast on Jihoon.
Jihoon takes a deep breath and gets back into position. Nodding at the umpire and letting him know he’s ready for the second pitch.
“STRIKE 2!” a series of grunts from their side of the field is heard and Soonyoung sighs in disappointment as he sees Jihoon let out low curse under is breath. One more strike and Jihoon is out–and their team loses the game.
In his peripheral, Soonyoung sees Seongwoo, who was pitcher, smirks at Jihoon. And it’s so so obvious at this point that he’s trying to mock Jihoon. Jihoon may remain unfazed, but Soonyoung does not. He’s not gonna let anyone even ATTEMPT to distract Jihoon.
“Hyung where are you going?!” Seungkwan asks frantically but Soonyoung only waves him off.
Soonyoung approaches the cage by his seat again before Jihoon gets into position. He claws onto the cage and calls out to get his boyfriend’s attention (and pretty much everybody else’s).
“JAGIYA–” he begins and takes another deep breath when he sees Jihoon look back at him “WON’T YOU WIN THIS FOR ME, MY LOVE?!”
Finally, finally he sees that smile he oh so loves from Jihoon. He sees the confidence he’s always loved about baseball player Jihoon and the focused eyes he’s adored. Soonyoung decides to say one more thing before Jihoon gets into batting position.
“LEE JIHOON, IF YOU WIN THIS, YOU’LL GET TO SCORE HOMERUN WITH ME TONIGHT!” He screams, earning him a mix of expressions from cheers to teasing to disgust from Seungkwan.
Soonyoung sees Jihoon’s face flushed in red--both from the intensity of the game and the words Soonyoung just yelled into the field.
Jihoon lets the umpire know that he’s ready, ignoring the teasing look the umpire is giving him. He bends his knees and straightens his posture for the ball. Jihoon looks at Seongwoo with intensity, letting his eyes tell the other man that Soonyoung is his, and that he’s gonna win this.
Soonyoung doesn’t leave his position and Seungkwan even joins him, holding onto Soonyoung’s arm in anticipation.
Seongwoo pitches an almost perfect one. This time, Jihoon is ready and is confident. He hits the ball flawlessly and Soonyoung’s eye follows the direction of the ball as it approaches the very end of the field, far from the playing perimeter of the athletes. The fielders of the other team grapple to chase the ball as it speeds up in the air.
“SAFE! SAFE! SAFE!” the umpire says, almost in succession as Jeonghan, Mingyu, and Hansol all approach homebase and hit their home run, earning them their deficit.
Only Jihoon is left running and just as Jihoon approached third base, Choi Soobin is carrying the ball and throws it once he nears.
Soonyoung looks back and forth between Jihoon and the ball and both are so close and their catcher is so near and Soonyoung eyes are closed when he hears it.
“SAFE!” the umpire declares and Seungkwan is jumping of joy and pulling on Soonyoung’s jersey.
“We won! We won! Jihoon hyung made it!” he exclaims “Look, hyung!”
Soonyoung opens his eyes and sees Jihoon on the floor, one foot on homebase and the other bent a little to his side. He must’ve slid to homebase at the end, barely making it.
Jihoon’s team lifts him up and starts throwing him up in the air, as if they’ve won championship. He barely hears the announcers gleefully announce the winners as the cheers of the team and the people behind him overwhelm the his hearing.
“Love really does something to you, ey! Blue Batters won almost miraculously today by one run higher!”
“Hyung come on!” Seungkwan is suddenly dragging Soonyoung to the dugout and instantly lets go of Soonyoung when they get there in favor of giving his boyfriend a hug and a peck.
Soonyoung sees Jihoon being slowly put down by his team while they continue to cheer. The moment Jihoon sees him by the field he’s running towards the taller and jumps on him.
“SOONYOUNG-AH WE WON WE WON!” He says as he clings on by Soonyoung’s neck and his legs wrap around his waist. “It’s because of you, you sly sly tiger!”
Soonyoung is still a little shaken up by the game but his mind instantly returns back to its functions once Jihoon kisses him all over his face.
“Congratulations, Jagi” he says and lands a deep kiss on Jihoon’s lips. “You were amazing, my captain” He whispers, snuggling his face into Jihoon’s neck.
“Thank you” Jihoon whispers in his ears. He comes down from climbing on top of Soonyoung and holds the taller’s hand. "I mean it's only the first game but I'm so happy your here and I just ugh I love you" he says and kisses the back of Soonyoung's palm.
“Lee! And Kwon, right?” his Coach suddenly says “Let’s go for a celebratory pizza. You are always welcome here, Kwon.”
“Thank you, Coach!” Soonyoung beams
“It’s nothing. Also Seungkwan is always here. Jihoon would throw a fit if you don’t join us” Soonyoung laughs as Jihoon playfully punches his Coach’s arm.
“I’m gonna change first, okay? I’m too sweaty.” Jihoon says and Soonyoung agrees, even waits for Jihoon outside the locker rooms along with Seungkwan.
“Let’s go, Boo!” Hansol comes out and takes Seungkwan’s hand. Soonyoung stifles his laugh at Hansol blushing when Seungkwan volunteers to take his gym bag. “We’ll be waiting by the bus, hyung!” Soonyoung nods them goodbye and waits patiently for his boyfriend.
“Let’s go?” Jihoon says, who is now in a white shirt and blue shorts and he’s switched his sneakers to a pair matching Soonyoung’s. “I knew you were gonna wear those sneakers, so I brought mine too.” Soonyoung’s heart feels like it’s gonna burst into a million tiny pieces.
Jihoon takes Soonyoung’s hand in his and slowly starts walking with him to the bus.
“You were great today, Jagi!” Soonyoung exclaims and sways their hands as they walk. “You were so focused and oh god how did you even calm Hansol down?! Weren’t you jealous of that Ong guy too? Were you not affected?”
Jihoon gives him a small chuckle before answering. “It’s not that I wasn’t affected. Of course I was! I wasn’t gonna let some guy think about you that way or even attempt to flirt with you. But our game dynamics are different. You know how to calm your team for their individual matches and you know how to keep them from feeling all that pressure. I’ve learned to figure out my team, just like you have, but for a different type of pressure. Hansol is the jealous type, I’ve always known. Can you imagine how Hansol would have been if we were reacting the same way?”
Soonyoung only listens intently and rubs his thumb on Jihoon's knuckles.
“He’s tough and nonchalant but he’s sensitive and he’s also really just a kid. Did you see how hard headed he seemed when coach was scolding him?” Soonyoung slowly nods “And you saw how he softened when I talked to him? He just needed to calm down and be reminded of what’s at stake, without the screaming. I also may have slightly used Kwannie’s name so he would relax.”
“Holy crap, I love you so much” Soonyoung blurts out and Jihoon giggles.
“I love you too.” Jihoon says. Jihoon suddenly stops walking and pulls Soonyoung a little bit closer to him before they reach the bus.
“What’s wrong, Jagi?” Jihoon only smirks at him and tells him to come closer.
“Jagiya, how about we skip pizza and you let me score a homerun in your apartment right now?”
Lee Jihoon will be the death of me.
-- END