Archive of Our Own ^beta

“You clearly don’t love or care about me anymore, let’s break up.”

Oh, so it’s that kind of morning.

Shotaro does nothing but sigh, as he observes a young woman sitting at one of the tables with tears running down her face, crying out at her boyfriend sitting on the opposite side, wearing an obnoxiously bright pink jersey with a ‘5’ on his back.

This is all happening in a lemonade store.

In the lemonade store he’s currently on shift for.

On a shift that has him physically and mentally exhausted.

Couples breaking up in public feels so invasive. It’s just awkward for everyone, trying their best to ignore them and give them privacy in a public space—which isn’t going to happen, obviously. At least, his co-worker is getting her daily gossip. Aeri is not shy about her snooping at all, watching the couple intrigued on what’s happening between them. 

“Oh, he definitely cheated. Look at the guilt all over his face, he can’t be trusted,” Aeri whispers gleefully at him.

He almost wants to tell her to get back to work, but nobody is ordering anything right now, all keeping to themselves, all putting on neutral faces like they aren’t listening to the couple fighting.

Nobody can avoid them. Shotaro can’t even avoid them, he’s stuck here for the next two hours.

The boyfriend stammers to respond, “W-what are you saying? Baby, come on, don’t do this. Of course I still love you—”

“Don’t you baby me, you pathetic excuse of a human being. You’ve been ignoring me for weeks, never checking up on me, never asking if I’m okay. I’ve had to do everything in this relationship while you sat on your ass, doing nothing. It doesn't even feel like we're in a relationship, at all. Just the effort alone to get you here—ugh, I don’t even want to think about it. After calling you so many times and never hearing you respond, not once—I’m tired of it. So, don’t you dare tell me you still love me, you asshole.”

She looks absolutely livid, Shotaro can’t help but start rooting for her.

“Also, do you think I haven’t seen the texts? You were messaging your ex again, you cheating scum! You were planning to meet up too. Don’t try to deny it, I have all the proof right here.”

She waves her phone at the boyfriend. Oh, it looks like Aeri was right.

Aeri grins happily, “I knew it.”

They keep observing the couple, still fighting with each other. Shotaro can see it’s starting to disturb the customers, some of them look scared.

Shotaro notes this as his protective instincts start to kick in, “I should probably stop this.”

Aeri tries to hold him back, hand on his arm, “No, don’t. Let her keep going.”

She pleads with him in Japanese, as if it would encourage Shotaro to listen to her.

“But what if an innocent bystander gets hurt, do you really want to deal with the aftermath?” Shotaro refutes, he knows these situations can get ugly, very quickly.

Aeri lets him go, defeated, “Fine, go, be the good, kind soul that you are, an angel without wings, beloved by all. Truly, nobody deserves your kindness.”

Shotaro pays her compliments no heed, tuning her out. Lovely as her words are, he's more afraid of what could possibly happen in the store with many innocent bystanders around.

Just as he was about to walk up to the couple, all with a brave front… the woman, absolutely furious, threw her lemonade drink, still filled to the brim, directly at the boyfriend’s face, “We are so done.”

Oohs echo throughout the whole store.

She gives him one more look of utter disgust before she’s stomping out the store in a fury.

The boyfriend… well, ex-boyfriend now, looks troubled, bewildered and in lots of pain with the way his eyes and nose are squinting. Ouch.

It seems well-deserved in Shotaro’s humble opinion. 

Shockingly, the ex-boyfriend doesn’t look mad as he just sits there, motionless. Shotaro would prefer it to stay that way as he really doesn’t want to deal with an angry customer right now.

In a surprise turn of events, the ex-boyfriend slowly gets up and bows deeply at him and the customers in apology before walking away, head hanging low, face still dripping with lemonade. The obnoxious ‘5’ in the center of his jersey is the last thing Shotaro sees of him.

Shotaro sighs in relief when he sees him walking away in the opposite direction the young woman had gone off to. That was, definitely, not how Shotaro expected things to go. 

“That was intense. Thought he’d get mad at her for that… I was starting to get worried too,” Aeri comments after some time.

Shotaro goes to the back to pull out the cleaning supplies to clean up the mess left behind, “Maybe he finally realized he doesn’t love her anymore and let her go?” 

Based on what he saw, there was no more love in that relationship.

Maintaining a relationship involves a lot of hard work. If one really respected their partner, they would pour a lot of time, affection and attention onto them, solidifying their love. And if things go south, a relationship filled with love should be able to stand firm when disasters hit. One example being the very messy disaster he’s currently cleaning up off the floor.

“Ah, maybe. But, my god, that was one messy breakup. I hope they never get back together,” Aeri states as she joins him in cleaning up. Shotaro only nods in agreement. 

Some people are just not meant to be dating each other.

It's important for there to be mutual love and respect in a relationship, Shotaro knows from experience, when all the love he gives just isn’t enough to keep the fire alive, love starts to dwindle and soon dies, along with the relationship.

Dating someone will sometimes hurt, but.

Dating someone can be so rewarding.

Shotaro would almost compare dating to basketball—it’s odd, but it makes sense to him.

Both are a labor of love and passion. Both require lots of time and commitment to go into them for it to work. There might be pain, tears, losses and sacrifices, with so much energy and time taken away. But the outcome is what makes it all worth it. It’s love, that’s in the center of them both. It’s love that will win in the end and come out on top, because all the hard work that was put in had finally paid off.

It’s love that keeps the relationship alive, and what makes dating so wonderful.

🏀

The topic of love doesn’t leave Shotaro’s mind once he’s back at his dorm after the shift. It did not help that he was playing love songs on his walk back. He misses being in love, dating and all those wonderful feelings that come from being in a relationship. To be able to love and cherish his special someone. To hold them close, and hug them closer. And to kiss them, softly, passionately, never wanting to let them go.

It’s been a while since he’s shared that with anyone. And now, suddenly, that’s all he wants.

Shotaro misses the way his heart would flutter, fast, when he starts dating someone who shares the same feelings of affection as him. Shotaro misses that enchanting feeling of being in a relationship, blushing, being in the company of someone he adores with his whole heart. Shotaro even misses how his mind would just be thinking about them, only them, to the point it consumes him, all day and all night. 

He falls down into his bed, face first with a groan, heart aching that there isn’t a special someone to distract him from his mundane life. His busy yet boring, mundane life, missing a driving force behind it.

He hasn’t dated or been in a relationship since his first love back in high school—now only a bittersweet feeling lingering in his memories. 

When they dated, she was a sweet, kind and wonderful soul. She was just as beautiful as Shotaro’s first impression of her. He had fallen for her… at first sight. 

That day, he had walked into the wrong classroom by accident. She had stood by the window, the afternoon sun shining down on her, she had been glowing, radiating. 

She was so beautiful. 

Her classmates, an all-female class, had looked at him in surprise. Flustered, he left in a panic, his cheeks blushed red.

The image of her stayed in his mind, for days afterwards, his heart fluttering, beating fast. He shyly approached her a few weeks later to confess and ask her on a date. She said yes.

It was a beautiful feeling, going on dates with her, holding her close, hugging her, kissing her, having many firsts with her. It felt so bittersweet when that beautiful feeling ended. 

They ended their relationship after one year. 

It had been on good terms, they had talked about it, realizing that both of them had simply fallen out of love with each other. It didn’t stop his heart from breaking regardless. He had cried, afraid he had let go of his only love.

He had dealt with his heartbreak by going abroad.

Suddenly hit with nostalgia, he pulls out his phone to check out her Instagram account. Shotaro is still following her, mutual breakup and all, since they broke up. Seeing her most recent post from a few days ago, he double taps it.

She looks happy, which is all Shotaro could ever ask for. She’s such a sweet, wonderful person and he’s happy to have been a small part of her life. Now living very independent, individual and separate lives from one another, they are in completely different worlds—worlds apart from each other.

Ah, he should probably stop thinking about her before he gets emotional. Perhaps, this is a sign to move forward and start dating again.

Another sigh escapes him as Shotaro turns over to look up towards the ceiling, if only he could fit a love life somewhere in his busy schedule, so mundane and lackluster. University had already made his life frantically hectic with Shotaro also juggling his two jobs, his friends and some of his hobbies… somehow.

Shotaro doesn’t even know how to start dating nowadays. As of right now, he doesn’t have time to meet up with anyone.

The only people he has actually hung out with outside classes and work are his friends, none of whom he could see himself dating.

If he really had to pick one, it would probably be Yangyang—no wait, no. Yangyang is way too much like a brother for Shotaro to consider dating him.

Although, Shotaro does like it when he plays basketball with Yangyang. They play together with all their friends when they have time, it’s nice. Shotaro actually can’t remember the last time he played with them. He misses it a lot.

His phone suddenly rings, catching Shotaro off guard. He takes a look at the caller id, it’s Chenle. Odd, he isn’t the type to call out of the blue. 

Shotaro quickly answers, “Hi Chenle.”

“Shotaro, my guy, my dude. How are you this fine afternoon?” Chenle is just as loud and cheerful over the phone as he is in person.

“I’m good… been busy, yourself?”

Shotaro can almost hear Chenle nodding, “Yeah, good, I’m good. Listen, I wouldn’t be calling if I wasn’t so desperate but I’m desperate. Please tell me you’re free for the next few hours.”

He ponders on that, he initially made plans to study for his exams but Chenle does sound desperate, enough to call him urgently. 

It’s a no-brainer which he would pick between studying and his friend.

And now with the sad realization that he’s also miserably single and alone—of course, he’ll skip studying for his friend, “I’m free Chenle, what’s up?”

“Perfect! That’s exactly what I want to hear. You have no idea,” Chenle breathes for a moment, “Okay, here’s the thing. I planned out this friendly game of basketball for today with Jungwoo, you know him right? Basically, he told me that he’s rounding up his best guys to go up against me, all from his university, which I heard has a pretty good basketball team. So obviously, you know me, I can’t lose. I won’t lose. I just need the best all-star team from our side to beat him. I already got Mark, Johnny and Yuta on board so I just need one more, and I need that one to be you. Like, really badly.”

He says all this so fast, Shotaro is just barely keeping up with everything Chenle is saying. Chenle finally takes a break to breathe, only to keep going, the absolute maniac.

“I originally invited Yangyang but he just told me he can’t make it. He said Coco wasn’t feeling well so he’s taking him to the vet. Which is fine, I get it, I’d do the same if Daegal was sick. I do really hope he’s okay. But now, I’m a man short and I desperately need you on my team of all-stars, I can’t let Jungwoo’s team win, dude.”

It was like Chenle had read his mind about how much he missed playing basketball with them.

“So I’m just a replacement for Yangyang? I’m sad you didn’t ask me first,” He can’t help but tease.

Chenle scoffs lightly at that, “You know why I didn’t ask you first, with you being so busy with university, work, dance and everything else you do. Like, genuinely, how do you do it? Do you even have time to go out for fun, or for dates? You barely hang out with me and the guys, I miss seeing you around, dude. It’s actually concerning, like, are you doing okay? Why am I asking, of course you aren’t, you’re an Economics major, you’re crazy.”

Damn, hit him where it really hurts.

Now that he thinks about it, he really hasn’t made time to hang out with his friends lately, prioritizing studies and work. 

Shotaro needs to fix that, immediately.

“Anyway, do you think you can be at the outdoor courts in like half an hour? We need to go through our strategy on how to beat their asses.”

He has a strategy planned, of course Chenle does. This is Zhong Chenle after all, he takes basketball very seriously.

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Shotaro replies, with a big grin on his face.

“Sweet, you’re amazing. Thanks Shotaro, I mean it. I’ll see you then.”

Chenle hangs up after that. Shotaro excitedly bounces out of bed. 

The outdoor courts are only a ten minute walk away from his dorm so he has a good amount of time to get ready. 

He makes a scan of his wardrobe on what he should wear. Chenle usually just wears whatever shirt and sweatpants that are clean, that’s how simple he is. Shotaro however, he’s someone who puts more effort into what he wears, perhaps a bit too much. But he can’t help himself, Shotaro likes to pay attention to his appearance.

He spots a new orange hoodie he hasn’t worn out much yet and a pair of light gray sweatpants that would work nicely together. Shotaro is happy to be right when he wears them. He wears a white shirt underneath for extra layering, unlikely taking the hoodie off.

Shotaro adds a few final touches with some accessories, a few bracelets, an orange wristband, changing his earrings up until the whole look feels right. He is almost considering styling his blond hair but forgoes it, keeping it as it is, straight and almost fluffy in appearance.

He slips on a pair of orange and white Nike sneakers that match his hoodie to finalize the look.

Shotaro takes a glance in the mirror at the complete outfit. Not bad, not bad at all.

He quickly grabs a bottle of cold water and his things before throwing them hastily into his bag, leaving his dorm after one final look in the mirror, with a spring to his step.

🏀

There’s something about being outdoors that makes Shotaro feel so much better. Being indoors all the time is almost suffocating for Shotaro. So whenever he can, he likes to go outside, be it for exercising, eating or studying if he can find a nice quiet spot away from all the noise.

He slips on his headphones and starts playing his dance playlist. Effortlessly, he finds his body moving to the beat as he walks, dances, grooves his way over to the courts. 

Shotaro has always enjoyed dancing, since he was younger, back in Japan. In the back of his mind, he wonders if he should pursue dancing as a future career over economics but, truthfully, he enjoys dancing but doesn’t want to kill his passion through force—the world is already greedy as it is, he won’t let them take away his love for dancing too.

Time passes by so fast this way, that he arrives at the outdoor courts soon after, moonwalking to where Chenle and all his friends are. 

They’re cheering him on as he does an improv dance performance in front of them, smiling brightly at all their reactions. They’re chanting his name, so freely, so loudly he can hear them over the music. They’re clearly not worried at all about what the other people around them may think. 

This is something Shotaro loves about his friends. They just don’t care, they’re so happy to be together, loud, rowdy and full of laughter.

He does a bow once the song finishes, with all his friends applauding, their cheers so loud and clear. They’ve definitely attracted attention but they simply don’t care, that’s just how they are.

“Amazing Taro, bravo!” Johnny praises him as Shotaro takes a seat on the court between Chenle and Yuta, removing his headphones.

“Brilliant as always, Sho-chan!” Yuta follows up fondly in Japanese, throwing himself on Shotaro to give him a hug which Shotaro happily returns.

“Dude, you kill it every time! Are you really sure dancing isn’t your calling?” Mark says with a grin.

“Thanks guys!” Shotaro smiles, feeling so happy to be in the company of his friends, “Also, yeah, I love dancing for fun. I’d hate to ruin that.”

“Fair enough,” Mark smiles at that.

“Thanks for coming, Shotaro. Like I said, I really mean it. Also, you’re so great at dancing, god, I agree with Mark it just feels so wasted but I do get your point, I love playing basketball for fun too. I’d probably hate it if I made it into my career, that’s way too much pressure. So, yeah. Thanks, all of you, for coming and making this possible, my all-star team. I did also invite some of our other friends in case things go south but hopefully you will be my ride-or-die all the way to the end,” Chenle ends his speech with a cat-like grin and a thumbs up.

They all return their own thumbs up, before bursting out laughing—all big smiles, for no real reason, they just do it.

“Now, onto the strategy. I haven’t got a lot to work with, since I have no idea who Jungwoo is bringing. But knowing him, he will definitely bring some tall dudes, so whoever their ‘titan’ is, I need you, Johnny-hyung, all over him. That sounded so weird but just go with it.”

“Got it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” Johnny says with a grin.

Chenle nods, “Jaehyun is the only one I’m really confident will be there, he's the captain of their basketball team after all. So Yuta-hyung please deal with him, I know you got this.”

“No problem, bro,” Yuta salutes in response.

“Jungwoo and the other two will be handled by the rest of us. We might need to size them up to see who goes with who. But I’m not too worried, I trust you both to block and screen them all from making passes during our defense. We need to keep them cornered. Don’t give them power over us,” Shotaro and Mark nod along at that.

“Reserve energy for our offense. I know we agreed to play 5v5 half court, but it’s still a pretty big court, so keep some energy all the way to the end. Try to catch as many rebounds as you can. And be confident in your shots, stay calm in the moment and shoot. If you don’t get them in, it’s fine we’ll be sure we catch the rebounds.”

Chenle lists more how-to knowledge, ever so passionately. There’s no doubt in Shotaro’s mind just how much Chenle loves basketball. He can’t help but admire Chenle for that.

They start to play some 5v5 with their other friends when they come, Chenle coaching them along, energy light to save stamina for later, as they wait for Jungwoo and his team to arrive. 

It’s so easy to get back into the rhythm of playing together again, despite how long it’s been for Shotaro. He finds it so much fun, enjoying the sun outside, being with his friends again like this.

He loves his friends so much.

🏀

It’s not long before Jungwoo turns up with his team, and… wow, Chenle was not wrong at all, Jungwoo really did bring some tall dudes.

“Hello, my friends!” Jungwoo runs up to them with a big smile, pulling Chenle into a hug. He does the same with all of them. Despite that Jungwoo goes to a different university, they are all actually good friends. Shotaro was able to get close with Jungwoo through them, he’s just such a fun guy to get along with.

They part, all smiles, before Jungwoo gestures to the rest of his team, “So, my team, you obviously know Jaehyun-hyung right?”

They do. Johnny even goes up to him to engulf Jaehyun in a tight bro hug with grins on both their faces, “Sup babe?”

“Honey, what’s up!” Jaehyun returns the hug just as tightly, he tries to lift Johnny up but fails which has them both laughing. Johnny pats Jaehyun’s butt affectionately at that.

There’s just something quite perplexing about Johnny and Jaehyun’s friendship that Shotaro finds so odd, he’s constantly scratching his head in confusion. They aren’t together or dating, Johnny had told them one time when questioned about it. They just act the way they do because that’s how they are. Shotaro finds no problem with it, yet he doubts he could treat a friend like that if he has no plans to date them.

Jungwoo is introducing the rest of his team when Chenle comes up behind him, pulling him and Mark in a head huddle. “Okay, let’s mark our players for defense. I think I should take on Jungwoo-hyung, he’s too energetic right now so he’ll easily be a distraction. I’ll be sure to match up his energy and calmly make counter moves. As for the other two, Mark, you take the gray and blue jersey dude with the headband and Shotaro can take the black shirt dude with his sleeves rolled up. Sounds good?”

Shotaro and Mark nod in response. Shotaro looks at the ‘black shirt dude with his sleeves rolled up’ more closely now… the guy who’s standing the furthest away from Jungwoo.

Oh.

He’s handsome, gorgeous even.

Shotaro finds this guy so attractive.

And yet he’s dressed so simply in a black shirt and white sweatpants, not one splash of color in sight. He doesn’t even have any accessories on, even with his ears pierced. The only tiny bit of styling he has done is roll his sleeves up.

How is that fair? 

His hair is a chocolate brown, but when it hits the sun it suddenly turns golden, almost like honey, it’s so captivating.

And his eyes, oh god.

Gorgeous warm shining dark eyes look at him through the curtain of light wispy bangs. Shotaro looks away, cheeks blushed, before he gets caught staring any longer.

This is going to be a long, almost torturous game.

Shotaro didn’t even catch his name, but already he knows this gorgeous man will be his demise.

Chenle introduces their team as well, but Shotaro isn’t listening clearly, he’s still trying to figure out how to play well when there’s this distractingly gorgeous man he needs to keep a watch on throughout the game.

They let Jungwoo’s team warm up, allowing them to observe how they play. It doesn’t take long for them to realize how good they are. 

Jaehyun is the one coaching them, ah, they must all be in the basketball team. He watches the gorgeous man do layup after layup, successfully, with ease. 

Oh, he’s good.

Not only is he tall, handsome and gorgeous but he plays really well too. This will be a fun game.

“Let’s go, team!” Jungwoo chants loudly when his team wraps up with their warm up. They look fired up. It has Shotaro on his toes, excited.

“Let’s go, all-star team!” Mark chants back loudly in response, Shotaro can feel the energy go up instantly. Their team is fired up, ready to play.

Everyone’s mutual friend who’s offered to be the referee, Donghyuck, gestures for them all to get closer on the court, “Now, gather around players. I want a clean game alright? No fouls, no fighting. This is a friendly game, remember that. Yes, I’m looking at you, Zhong Chenle. So, 5v5, half court, any goals made outside the line are 2 points, any goals made inside the box is 1 point. The ball will start from the line. If the other team steals the ball, they need to come back to the line and start playing there. Oh, if there are any fouls, the ball goes to the other team. Let’s do first to 7 points each half, no time limits. If we have a tie, we’ll play one more time so we have a winning team who can call themselves the champions, okay? Alright, now, shake hands players. We value good sportsmanship more than anything else here.”

He’s surprised to see the gorgeous man standing right in front of him with a confident grin, holding his hand out, waiting patiently for Shotaro to shake it in return, “Let’s have a good game.”

Shotaro grips onto his hand in a firm handshake, grinning back at him, nerves and excitement bubbling in his chest as he bounces on his toes, “Yeah, let’s. Good luck out there.”  

Donghyuck makes the suggestion they play ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to decide who plays offense first. Chenle, with fire in his eyes, confidently throws a rock to Jungwoo’s scissors.

“Nice one, Chenle!” Johnny shouts with a hi-five at Chenle. Chenle returns it grinning back, his cat-like eyes fired up, determined.

They all settle onto the court, with the defense pairing up to their designated offense to block. It’s almost not surprising to see that it’s the gorgeous man being the one to mark him. 

Shotaro hates that he doesn’t know his name, it’s driving him crazy. Would it be awkward to ask him now? Just so he can know his opponent’s name—of course, yeah, totally.

🏀

The game begins.

Donghyuck throws the ball over to Chenle to start, who’s standing at the line, ready to go.

Right in a flash, in Zhong Chenle fashion, he’s dribbling right towards the hoop, confident in Mark screening for him, and easily does a layup, the ball going straight through the hoop. 

The first goal of the game, in under ten seconds.

“Gooooal, damn, that was fast! Chenle 1:0,” Donghyuck announces over the cheers of their friends. He continues to say, “Okay, just to make it more interesting, the team that scored gets the ball again.”

Donghyuck throws the ball over to Mark this time. The game continues, though it’s not as easy now to get a goal with the way all the players in Jungwoo’s team are defending so fiercely. 

There’s a lot of switching between offense and defense then, with Shotaro constantly watching over Gorgeous-sama—a nickname Shotaro came up with after no luck of hearing his name out in the open, a placeholder until he learns his name.

Shotaro keeps his eyes on the game too, making sure he doesn’t lose sight of the ball in play.

It’s their offense now. Yuta has just passed the ball to Johnny, who’s now being blocked by the ‘titan’ in Jungwoo’s team, and god, he looks just as tall as Johnny—if not taller.

Shotaro runs towards an opening for Johnny to pass to him. Johnny bounces the ball over to him, Shotaro catching it with ease.

“Sho-chan, over here!” He hears Yuta say to his right, Shotaro does a quick scan to check the coast is clear before throwing it over to Yuta.

In an instant, Yuta bounces it back to Johnny, who’s now free from the ‘titan’ and Shotaro can only watch in awe as Johnny uses his massive height to his advantage and jumps to shoot the ball, perfectly into the hoop. 

“Nice teamwork! Chenle 2:0,” Donghyuck couldn’t help himself, cheering along.

The adrenaline is pumping, Shotaro is on a high, so excited. He really loves playing basketball.

Their offense doesn’t last long after that, with Gorgeous-sama stealing the ball. Shotaro is now trying to block him from passing it. Their eyes lock for less than a second, the smirk on his face is all Shotaro sees before the ball is gone.

And then Gorgeous-sama is gone too.

Shotaro can only watch how the ball gets passed to Jaehyun, to Jungwoo, back to Gorgeous-sama, all at lightning speed, watching him jump past Johnny to do a layup. The ball goes cleanly through the hoop.

The first goal for Jungwoo’s team.

“Nice one! 2:1 Jungwoo.”

That was so thrilling, Shotaro can’t help how his eyes look at Gorgeous-sama after he scored the goal, who’s grinning so brightly, so warmly. He has such a captivating smile, Shotaro can’t stop staring.

Before he can stop himself, Shotaro congratulates him on the goal with his hand lifted up for a hi-five. Gorgeous-sama returns it back with that same bright warm smile.

Ah, his smile is so bright, beautiful even.

The game keeps going like this, at an all-time high, adrenaline pumping, hearts racing. Both teams scored goals, back to back, with their aces Chenle and Johnny scoring most of the goals for their team. Jaehyun and Gorgeous-sama are the clear aces of the other team, scoring their points between them with the rest of their team being an iron wall defense against them.

It’s nearly neck and neck with how close they are. Shotaro feels winded but it’s not enough to tire him, he wants to keep playing. 

The score is now 6:5, in their favor. They just need one more point to win this half.

Shotaro is now the one with the ball. Of course, Gorgeous-sama is right there in front of him, hands up trying to block any potential passes. 

He needs to move quickly. Shotaro does a fake to the right, successfully tricking Gorgeous-sama, before quickly dribbling with the ball to his left. Mark is there, ready to catch when he throws it.

Shotaro runs over to the other side, to a spot with a clear view of the hoop. Yuta helps Mark move the ball forward by screening Jaehyun. 

The ball then gets passed to Chenle. Now holding the ball, Chenle yells over at him with full confidence, “You got this, Shotaro!”

Chenle, who’s blocked by Jungwoo, bounces the ball past him to Shotaro. 

He catches it firmly in his hands. Now is his chance to score. Shotaro thinks back to Chenle’s words of advice. Be confident in your shots. Stay calm in the moment. And shoot.

The ball goes through the hoop with a swish.

“Yes, let’s go Shotaro! Final score, 7:5. Chenle’s team wins the first half,” Donghyuck announces over their friends who are all cheering, shouting his name.

Victory. It’s a sweet feeling.

Shotaro is instantly surrounded by his team, all hugging him, praising him on that final goal.

He’s exhausted, but he can’t help but let his eyes wander over to Gorgeous-sama, who’s looking back at him, exhausted from the first half as well. 

A bright warm beautiful smile, so wide all his teeth are showing, graces his face as he gives Shotaro two thumbs ups.

Shotaro feels his heart flutter.

Oh, that was sweet. Even when things aren’t in his favor, he’ll still smile, so beautifully.

Shotaro finds himself falling. Fast.

🏀

After a break to rest and recover, they start off the second half.

The energy buzzing around them hasn’t faded in the slightest, rather it’s spiked up, the heat around them feels overwhelming.

The players all get back on court and instantly Shotaro zeros in on Gorgeous-sama, spotting something different about his appearance.

During their break, he had gone and rolled up his sleeves even more—now all the way up to his shoulders. His arms are now all out on display. 

Is that a tattoo on his shoulder?

Somehow, it’s this, seeing those distracting arms, that makes Shotaro go a little insane inside. God, this is so embarrassing.

“Alright players, the 2nd half is about to start. Same rules apply, let’s keep the fouls to zero, alright? Remember, it’s a friendly game. Now, if Chenle’s team wins, they win the whole game. If Jungwoo’s team wins, we’ll play one more time to crown a winner. It’s Jungwoo’s ball to start, good luck players.”

Donghyuck whistles loud and clear before passing the ball to Jaehyun standing behind the line, eyes blazing with a determination to win.

Nearly identical to Chenle’s first goal, he’s dashing quickly with the ball in hand—passing Shotaro and Mark who were both screened, and swiftly does a layup before Johnny can stop him. 

Shouts were heard from Jungwoo’s side from all their friends who came along, cheering out Jaehyun’s name.

“Jaehyun is out for blood! Jungwoo 1:0.” 

Shotaro sees Gorgeous-sama give a hi-five to Jaehyun and suddenly Shotaro is reminded again of those arms. Those distracting arms, now with a clear view of a tattoo on his shoulder. 

On close inspection, Shotaro can see a black and grey tattoo of a cute poodle dog on the back of his shoulder. He nearly squeals, it’s so adorable.

He’s so distracted by the arms and the tattoo that Shotaro completely misses Gorgeous-sama, now currently with the ball. He passes Shotaro with ease and moves forward to do his own layup, scoring another goal for his team. The cheers and shouts get even louder.

“Team Jungwoo is on fire! Jungwoo 2:0.” 

That promptly snaps Shotaro out of his daze.

Shotaro looks sheepishly at Chenle when he moves past him with apologies running from his lips—that’s so embarrassing, Shotaro would very much like to hide now.

Chenle just waves him off, telling him to not worry about it and to keep focused.

Which he does, scanning his eyes across everyone on the court… has it always felt so cramped on the court? Suddenly, the half-court all the players are squished onto feels unbearably small. 

Going back into the defense mindset, Shotaro zeros in on Gorgeous-sama to mark him, rolling up the sleeves of his orange hoodie, eyes blazing. 

Shotaro won’t let him pass him again.

Their defense quickly switches to offense when Chenle manages to steal the ball from Jungwoo, failing to pass the ball to Jaehyun.

Chenle bounces the ball to Yuta who’s on the far right of the court. Once Yuta catches it, he’s dashing forward to throw the ball to the hoop ahead. It misses, but Johnny catches the rebound and scores, the ball going in swiftly.

“Nice catch on that rebound. 2:1 Chenle,” The cheers of their friends are loud, Shotaro could barely hear Donghyuck.

Back to offense, Shotaro is almost happy to see Gorgeous-sama come back towards him with a wild grin on his face as he looks at Shotaro. Ah, he’s actually so handsome. How is Shotaro so lovestruck? 

Shotaro feels like a high school boy with a massive crush, all over again.

Yuta has the ball now, passing in over to Mark swiftly, who quickly sets himself to throw the ball from his place. His form is good when he throws it, with everyone watching as the ball hits the rim. Ah, so close. The ball bounces straight up, just to go back down and miraculously go straight through the hoop.

“Insane shot! Now tied, 2:2 Chenle,” Donghyuck cheers alongside their friends.

Shotaro hi-fives Mark as he approaches the line ready to start their next offense play.

Donghyuck throws the ball over to Mark and it begins again.

With Gorgeous-sama being a strong defense against Shotaro, effectively blocking him, Mark passes the ball to Yuta instead. Shotaro flees to escape him—missing how he follows Shotaro, hot on his tail. 

He calls Yuta to pass the ball to him, which he does. Shotaro catches it quickly, his aim now to be as fast as possible, moving his body swiftly to start dribbling the ball towards the hoop, already picturing the layup he’s about to do.

Unfortunately, Gorgeous-sama and his distracting arms were directly blocking his path, a little too closely. 

He’s dashing towards him with no breaks. Fast.

🏀

Gorgeous warm shining dark eyes looking at him in shock are the last thing Shotaro sees before he collides into Gorgeous-sama.

It was almost like it was straight from a rom-com, the way they fell down, slow motion, everything around them blurred out of focus. Shotaro is fast to hold his arms out to stop himself from falling directly on top of Gorgeous-sama, but it wasn’t enough as Shotaro still falls face first into his chest with a whine.

A grunt escapes Gorgeous-sama’s lips, as he lands on his back, head lifted up high enough to not hit the ground.

The ball rolls away from them.

Time stops at that moment.

Shotaro lifts his head just enough to stare at Gorgeous-sama’s face, and god, he really is so handsome, even from this angle below, it’s really not fair. His gorgeous warm shining dark eyes seem to pull Shotaro further in. He can’t escape them, he can’t look away, he can’t think straight at all. Truly, he is not being straight in any way, shape or form right now.

Time starts up again, the noises of everyone around them too hard to ignore.

“Eunseok, dude, you okay?” Shotaro vaguely hears someone ask from over their heads.

Shotaro is quickly scrambling off him in an instant, undoubtedly flustered, cheeks blushed red. He’s kneeling beside Eunseok—finally, he’s finally learnt his name, scanning over him for any injuries, “I’m really sorry, are you hurt?”

He says this in a rush, adrenaline still coursing through him. Eunseok moves to sit up, a quiet whine escapes his lips. Shotaro sees Eunseok’s necklace has completely swung over his shoulder. No thoughts, head empty, he absently adjusts the necklace back in place. It takes him a moment to realize what he just did, to a complete stranger—a completely handsome, gorgeous stranger. He’s a brainless, lovestruck fool.

It takes him another moment to realize he had spoken to Eunseok in Japanese, another slip-up. Shotaro immediately corrects himself and repeats it in Korean for Eunseok to understand.

Eunseok does not reply, he’s not even speaking. He’s just staring at Shotaro with those same gorgeous warm shining dark eyes. It takes more people voicing their concerns around them for Eunseok to finally respond.

“What… what are you?”

Huh. What kind of question is that?

Shotaro’s empty mind is trying hard to interpret whatever that means. It clicks to Shotaro at some point, Eunseok hadn’t said that in Korean, but in Japanese, albeit it’s not exactly coherent—yeah, he has no clue what he meant by that.

He can hear Donghyuck above them berating him, in a strict yet fond tone, for being careless and causing the first foul of the game. 

This has Shotaro blushing red, clearly embarrassed. 

Many hands are reaching out to them to pull both of them off the ground. Shotaro blindly holds onto one of them to pull him up, with thanks leaving his lips as he uses their combined strength to get up. 

Yuta’s warm, comforting smile greets him once he’s back standing up, “Are you feeling okay, Sho-chan?”

Shotaro nods, “I’m okay, thanks Yuta-san.”

The game continues from there, Eunseok with the ball. Donghyuck makes the call to cut it down to 4v4 to give everyone more space to play to stop any more crashing and collisions.

Yuta and the guy Mark had been marking are sitting out this time at the court bench-side—wait, Mark, marking, that’s so funny. He might share that joke with them later.

Shotaro notes the sleeves of Eunseok’s shirt are no longer rolled up, having unraveled from their collision. The shirt sleeves are all the way down now, just a little wrinkled from having been rolled up so tightly before.

He has never been more grateful.

Distractions gone, Shotaro gets his head back in the game. Fast.

🏀

Eunseok, who’s been playing so well before, now seems to be completely off his game. It actually hurts to watch. 

Shotaro still works hard to block him from passing to his teammates, but Eunseok loses the ball just from not dribbling properly. Chenle manages to steal it and score a 2-pointer from behind the line, ball cleanly thrown through the hoop. After a few more slip ups of losing the ball and missing his layups, Eunseok voluntarily swaps himself out with another player.

The fall on his back must have hurt him a lot more than Shotaro realized.

Shotaro, now guilt-ridden, wants to be swapped out as well. He puts his hands up for a timeout, aimed at Donghyuck, making his intentions clear. 

It’s a loud, chaotic mess from there.

Chenle makes it resoundingly clear he isn’t too happy about losing him, loudly whining at him, trying to convince Shotaro to stay. Truthfully, Shotaro wants to keep playing basketball but morally can’t when he got Eunseok hurt from being too careless. He strongly counters back, convincing Chenle to swap him out.

His own conviction finally got to Chenle that he reluctantly lets Shotaro go, adding Yuta back in and going through their final strategy with the team during timeout, his head focused once more on winning the game.

They will win, Shotaro has no doubt in his mind.

Shotaro sits down at the court bench-side as the game continues, reaching for the water bottle from his bag. He can’t help but moan happily when the cold water hits his throat, not realizing just how thirsty he was. He drinks nearly half the bottle empty, almost desperately.

Feeling more refreshed, he sighs, satisfied. Shotaro wipes the spilled water off his lips with the back of his hand, before wiping the sweat off his face. It’s hot. Shotaro kind of regrets wearing the orange hoodie now—choosing fashion over practicality.

He looks back at the game, the sound of the ball being dribbled against the pavement and his friends all chanting different things, be it cheers when one scores or orders to pass the ball—it all bleeds together. It’s almost therapeutic how much it relaxes him as he soaks in the warm sunshine. 

He’s grateful to Chenle for inviting him. This has helped him get a much needed break from his busy schedule and all his studies.

Shotaro looks around to everyone on the bench, all eyes clearly focused on the game. Well, all except for one. 

Eunseok, and his gorgeous warm shining dark eyes are staring at Shotaro instead. Shotaro would almost think this was odd if not for their collision on court. He can see how Eunseok is grabbing tightly at his water bottle, ah, he’s furious at Shotaro.

Well, that sucks. Shotaro doesn’t want Eunseok to be mad at him. 

He quickly makes note to apologize again later, after they wrap up from their game and offer to get him some pain relievers if he needs them.

Shotaro almost considers going up to him now, but that might be too soon… why is he so nervous?

Eunseok looks away once he sees Shotaro looking at him, drinking from his water bottle hastily. Shotaro can’t help but watch how his throat bobs as he drinks, almost in slow motion. The setting sun hitting him in all the right places, he looks so gorgeous in all that sunlight he’s practically glowing. It’s not fair how gorgeous this man is. Shotaro needs to calm himself down. He looks away to watch the rest of the game, nerves bubbling up in his chest.

His heart is pounding. Fast.

🏀

The game ended with Chenle’s team winning the second half too, final score 5:7.

Shotaro isn’t surprised about that, they had an all-star team on their side after all. But the other team was just as good, keeping Shotaro on his toes for the whole game.

That was a fun game. If Shotaro had the chance, he’d love to play against them again.

His team are celebrating with Mark carrying Chenle on his back—the rest cheering around them in typical loud, rowdy fashion. It’s chaotic to watch but so fun to be involved in when Shotaro joins them, arms around Yuta and Johnny, praising them on a good game. 

They slump over each other when exhaustion hits, all tired laughs. They go around to the other team as well to praise them on the good game, all in good sport, tired but happy smiles on all their faces.

Shotaro finds himself gravitating towards Eunseok, hand extended, “Good game!”

Eunseok firmly shakes his hand, “Well played… let’s do it again some time.”

Shotaro’s heart flutters as Eunseok speaks to him in Japanese. He’s so enchanted by him.

He has the beginnings of an apology ready to leave his lips yet Shotaro is pulled away by his friends, all eager to catch up with him after being away from them for so long.

🏀

Goodbyes follow soon after. Chenle suggests they all grab a bite to eat, his treat, yet some people can’t stay around, with other plans and studies to get back to. 

That includes Eunseok and his friends.

Shotaro nearly misses Eunseok leaving with his friends altogether, caught up in a conversation with Yuta and their friends. Once he notices, he apologizes, cutting their conversation short before running after Eunseok.

Even if he doesn’t see Eunseok again after this, Shotaro can’t bear the thought of leaving a bad first impression like that. He should at least apologize properly and make amends.

Although, if Shotaro was being honest, he would like to play basketball with Eunseok again. Or just hang out with Eunseok… that’d be nice.

“Eunseok!” He calls out. Eunseok and his friends all turn to him, with the eyes of his friends brimming at Shotaro with curiosity.

Eunseok silently waves at his friends to go ahead, before walking up to Shotaro. 

It’s like time is moving in slow motion once again, everything around them blurs out of focus with Eunseok being the only one he can see, leaves fall slowly down as the sunset leaves a lovely orange warm glow across Eunseok’s face, he looks so gorgeous, so lovely, so majestic.

Hearing hushed whispers, Shotaro notes Eunseok’s friends haven’t gone ahead but are watching them with wide grins, intrigued on what’s about to happen.

“What is it?”

Oh, right, Eunseok is directly in front of him now. He sees now they’re almost the same height, with Eunseok being a tiny bit taller. 

He feels his ears blushing warm just from seeing him so close.

“Hi, umm, I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry again, for crashing into you and making you fall down during the game. I wasn’t paying attention so it’s my fault. Is your back okay? Is it still hurting you a lot?” Shotaro’s nerves go into overdrive, “You probably would have won if I had just been more careful, oh gosh, I feel horrible. I’m really sorry, again. If there’s anyway I can help, like, buy some pain relievers or something, I can do that—”

“You don’t need to do any of that,” Eunseok cuts off his rambling with a small smile, his gorgeous warm shining dark eyes looking right at him.

Shotaro is flustered, “What, no, I should make amends, I want to, somehow… I-I’m normally not like this. This is the worst first impression to make on you.”

Maybe he should stop talking right now.

Eunseok looks up, almost in thought, before he looks back at Shotaro with such a bright and captivating smile, “Are you seeing anyone?”

Huh. That’s the second time Eunseok has got Shotaro so stumped. He has no idea how he should interpret that, because… he might become hopeful, he might start imagining them dating.

“No, I’m not. But, I don’t understand, what does that have to do with this—”

“Go on a date with me then, Tangerine-san, if you really want to make amends.” 

Shotaro’s whole body stills in shock.

Eunseok had said that so smoothly, so effortlessly, calling Shotaro by such an oddly cute nickname. It’s a cuter nickname than what Shotaro came up with for him.

Had Shotaro really heard him right?

Shotaro thinks he heard wrong, about ready to disregard it, until he sees how Eunseok’s whole face lights up red, from the top of his ears all the way down to his neck. He’s blushing red, clearly embarrassed.

He’s so cute. Truly, there’s nothing about Eunseok that can be considered fair.

“You want to go on a date with me?” Shotaro can’t help but ask, to be sure they are on the same page.

Eunseok looks away from him, blushed so red, as he shyly responds, “I actually thought you were… very cute, that’s my first impression of you, not whatever you think it is.”

Shotaro is definitely blushing now, his face feels so warm, he might faint.

“Oh, okay, sure, I’ll be happy to go on a date with you, Gorgeous-sama,” Shotaro replies just as shyly, blushed, almost too giddy about how well this has turned out.

Shotaro actually forgets Eunseok’s friends were right there until they started cheering for Eunseok with loud shouts and teases, congratulating him for ‘having game’. Eunseok turns to them with his whole face flaring red… he’s so adorable. 

They appear to be ignoring Eunseok’s glares and silent pleads as they continue their cheery teases. Shotaro can’t help but look fondly at Eunseok and his friends, they seem like a fun bunch.

“Pass me your phone, Shotaro,” Eunseok says, looking back to him. Shotaro hands his unlocked phone over without a second thought, happy to hear his name from his lips. Eunseok calls his own phone, before saving his contact. He returns it back with a cheeky grin.

Shotaro looks at his phone, curious. Eunseok saved his contact with ‘My Gorgeous-sama, Song Eunseok’ as his caller id.

Oh, he’s funny too. Shotaro fears it’s over for him and they haven’t even started dating yet.

“You better call me when you’re free to go on the date, Tangerine-san. I think we’d make a great pear!” Eunseok says before he’s running off with a shy grin. Shotaro can only watch, laughing when the joke finally hits him, as Eunseok reunites with his friends who are all clearly teasing him. 

He ignores them to look back at Shotaro, blushed, giving him a wave, along with a gorgeous beautiful smile to compliment his gorgeous warm shining dark eyes.

Shotaro waves back with a smile, just as blushed, butterflies fluttering all over his chest.

Ah, he really caught feelings, so damn quickly.

Shotaro returns back to Chenle and his friends soon after, but he’s clearly too wonderstruck to add anything of worth to their conversation, only fondly staring at Eunseok’s caller id on his phone.

He remembers this feeling well, the first heart flutters of starting to date someone. Shotaro likes this feeling, a lot.

While there’s still the matter of how Shotaro is going to manage a love life with his busy schedule, he’s commited to making time, ready to bring excitement back into his life again. He really thinks it’ll be worth it, finding the right balance of dating Eunseok with everything else going on in his life. 

Shotaro is already gripping with anticipation, going on dates with Eunseok, learning more about him, seeing more of him. Whether they take it slow and steady, or go speeding fast down the highway. It will be new, it will be exciting. His heart is fluttering fast, so enchanted by Eunseok.

Maybe in the future, their independent, individual and separate lives will find themselves bonded together, with all their friends hanging out with each other, in one big group together. Shotaro smiles at the thought, that’d be nice.

Only time will tell. For now, he’ll enjoy the first heart flutters of attraction and see where it takes them. 

Shotaro is hopeful for them.

🏀

+1 free throw

“What are you?”

Eunseok gives him an odd stare over his bowl of ramen. They’re currently on their third date, at a homey Japanese restaurant Eunseok had picked out for them.

They sit side by side in the booths, leaning as close to each other as possible.

Shotaro still feels his heart flutter when he’s with Eunseok, but he’s gotten a lot more comfortable talking to him about whatever’s on his mind. Like now.

“You said that to me during the game, after we crashed into each other. I’ve been wondering what you meant by that,” Shotaro says before slurping some noodles up. Wow, this place serves really good ramen.

“You mean when you crashed into me,” Eunseok smiles at him fondly, napkin in hand, moving up to wipe at Shotaro’s cheek where some broth splashed onto.

Shotaro can’t help but blush lightly at Eunseok’s attentiveness towards him, he’s so perfect, “Tomato, tomato, now spill.”

He stares Eunseok down, almost challenging him to refute back. Eunseok stares back at him, with the beginning of a blush on his face.

“I-I don’t know, you were just so adorable when you looked at me worriedly, like you were this cute guardian angel looking over me, dressed in orange glowing under the sun—oh, you didn’t hear that.”

Eunseok is blushing so red now like a tomato, perhaps even brighter than a tomato.

“Wait, hold on, is that also why you couldn’t play properly after that?” Shotaro looks at him with wide eyes, remembering his poor play afterwards.

“No…” Eunseok instantly denies before he looks sheepishly at Shotaro, “Okay, yes, maybe… but you did throw me on the ground, my back was bruised and hurting after that.”

Shotaro smiles fondly at the pout on Eunseok’s face, “I’m aware Eunseok-ah. I was there for you as your guardian angel, remember? With the pain relievers and ice-packs.”

Eunseok blushes further, if that was even possible. 

He’s so adorable, Shotaro can’t help but tease him a little bit. 

“Remember when you hid that for me and tried to tough it out on our first date, bruised back and all, to the theme park of all places? You are really something, forcing yourself to be on your back during all those rides. We could have easily rescheduled—”

“But I really wanted to see you again, Shotaro-san.”

Eunseok says it so proudly in Japanese while still flushing red, as he tenderly looks at Shotaro with his gorgeous warm shining dark eyes.

As his heart flutters so fast, Shotaro leans over to kiss his gorgeous Eunseok softly in response. Eunseok is quick to return the kiss, just as softly, as he holds Shotaro close, fingers running through his hair. Shotaro can feel himself starting to fall for him.

He might already be starting to… fall in love with Song Eunseok.