Work Text:
“What team?”
“Hanmun!”
“What team?”
“Hanmun!”
“Who’s the champion?”
“Hanmun!”
A maniacal bout of laughter builds up in Taesan’s throat as Jaehyun thrusts the shiny golden trophy into the air. The entire team cheers, jumping up and down as they celebrate. Taesan doesn’t think he’s ever been this happy. Well, he can maybe think of one other moment in his life, but in this moment, he’s invincible, magnificent, larger than life.
They did it. He’s leaving high school a winner. For the second time in a row, Hanmun High’s football team has taken the title. Taesan is pretty sure Jaehyun is crying as he hands off the trophy to Woonhak and pulls his phone out to facetime their former captain, Hanbin, who graduated last year and promptly moved to China to be with his violinist boyfriend. Jaehyun has spent the better part of the year trying to prove that he was just as adept at leading the team as Hanbin was. Taesan is sure he feels it more as Gyuvin and Gunwook, two of Hanbin’s best friends, crush him in a hug between them.
Upbeat girl group music fills the air as Riwoo’s phone connects to the bluetooth speaker and like that, everyone’s yelling, dancing, finally getting changed when their coach comes in to scold them for taking so long. Coach, too, is promptly pulled into the madness. He tries to remain stern, but Taesan can see his lips twitching in amusement.
Tonight, no one’s sad, but Taesan might be the happiest out of all of them.
He leaves the locker room with Jaehyun, still crying and cradling the trophy, Woonhak and Riwoo. There’s a bunch of people gathered outside, parents and friends and Hanmun students who came simply to support the team. Taesan waves at everyone who calls his name, but there’s only one person he has in mind right now.
He finds him standing at the side of the bleachers. Unlike everyone else, he’s not dressed in gear or fanmade shirts, but there’s streaks of bright blue paint on his cheeks. Taesan’s heart stutters. Leehan painted his cheeks for him. Leehan, who doesn’t even like sunscreen on his face, painted his cheeks for him.
A big, dopey grin makes its way onto his face as he skips over.
Leehan’s face is blank where he’s standing, Sungho by his side. Sungho leaves when he sees Taesan approach, clearly having waited only so Leehan wasn’t left alone in the presence of the gaggle of fangirls that’s gathered a little distance away. Taesan knows what they’re whispering about, even if Leehan either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. Taesan frowns at them and they disperse. Sungho claps him on the shoulder as he passes him by, undoubtedly on his way to start his fourteen-step evening skincare routine. Taesan shoots him a brief, thankful smile for keeping Leehan company before he focusses back on what’s most important.
Leehan.
Leehan’s expression changes when he sees Taesan. He smiles, big and bright and reaches for him. Taesan doesn’t hesitate to jump into his arms. It’s over-the-top and Leehan staggers, but that doesn’t matter. This is his day and his boyfriend and Leehan came. He came and painted his cheeks in the colours of Taesan’s team and Taesan is overjoyed.
“You won,” Leehan says in lieu of a greeting.
Taesan, back on his own two feet, can’t help but laugh. “I did!”
Leehan’s expression softens. “Congratulations.”
Taesan has no qualms to take his hands into his own, swinging them between their bodies. “Did you watch? Did you see me score?”
Leehan nods. “I saw both. You played very well.”
“You weren’t bored?”
“I’m never bored when I’m looking at you.”
Taesan hides his face in embarrassment. It’s something only Leehan can and would say to him because he’s always earnest, direct in a way that Taesan finds immense comfort in. Leehan tells him when he likes something or when he doesn’t like something. He never lies and so Taesan knows that he’s telling the truth right now too.
He coughs, embarrassed by how much he likes it. “I’m glad.”
Leehan smiles again, briefly squeezing his hand. “Do you…” A tiny furrow appears between his brows. “...have to go back?”
Taesan turns to where his team is busy taking selfies with each other and the trophy and anyone else who asks. He turns back to Leehan with a smile. “No, we’re all going out for dinner in a couple of hours. For now, I’m all yours.”
A glint that appears in Leehan’s eyes, the corners of his mouth curling upwards. “Good,” he says and tugs on Taesan’s hand so he’ll follow him. “Let’s go somewhere.”
Taesan follows him, of course. He would have followed Leehan anywhere.
*
‘Somewhere’ turns out to be much closer than Taesan would have assumed. After making sure that no one else was looking their way, Leehan pulled him under the bleachers, the smell of dusty earth and metal heavy in Taesan’s nose as he follows.
A manic little giggle escapes him when Leehan, deep in the dark, pushes him against one of the support pillars and kisses him. Taesan can hear the noise from the parking lot, different pairs of headlights casting spreckled dots of light over Leehan’s face whenever another car leaves. They’re well protected from sight by metre-high shrubbery and an even higher chicken wire fence, but still Taesan finds this thrilling.
Romantic.
In a couple of weeks, they’ll leave Hanmun High School behind and kissing his boyfriend under the bleachers feels like the type of thing that he’ll look back at fondly in a couple of years, a perfect memory to close out on a perfect year. His teenage dream, come true.
He’ll have Leehan longer than that, though.
“I missed you.”
Leehan raises an amused eyebrow. “While you were playing football?”
Taesan nods. “I couldn’t find you at first, on the bleachers.”
“We were a little late. Sungho wanted to stop for gas on the way, but we made it five minutes in. I saw you play. I saw you score.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“It was important to you.” Leehan shrugs as if that’s all the explanation that is needed, and maybe it is.
Taesan smiles and kisses Leehan’s cheeks, right above the paint so he doesn’t track the sticky feeling any further across Leehan’s skin. Leehan’s perfectly-shaped lips are next and Taesan enjoys the way Leehan presses against him, a furnace in his own right. His hands dig into Taesan’s hips, his lips pressing against Taesan’s over and over until Taesan feels dizzy with it.
He’s so happy he thinks he could die. “I think this is the second best day of my life.”
“Only the second best?”
Taesan nods, a grin splitting his face. It’s bright even in the dark. “The best was when you agreed to being my boyfriend.
Leehan snorts. “That is cheesy. I know it is.”
“And yet, is the truth. I worked hard to win your heart, okay? Let me bask in my own success.”
Leehan snorts and kisses him again. Taesan buries his hands in the long strands of his hair and smiles. Leehan’s hair is longer than it was when they first met.
Taesan remembers it well, the day he first noticed Leehan walking around in the weight section of their school gym. Out of everyone at his school, Leehan was the last person Taesan expected to meet there. He didn’t know that the scrawny nerd from his biology class, who either said nothing or held impromptu soliloquies about the fishes in the school aquarium, was not only open to taking turns on the machines, he could also bench press Taesan’s weight. Taesan nearly fainted when he first saw that. Leehan merely asked him whether he wanted to skip the last rep because he looked a little red in the face. Taesan hadn’t skipped the last rep. He did it, asking Leehan to spot him and then whether they could train again together sometime.
Leehan agreed and so Taesan’s great big masterplan to win Leehan’s heart began. It wasn’t easy at times, but Taesan has never regretted putting in the work. Not many people at their school understand Leehan, but Taesan does. Every part of Leehan he’s ever uncovered, he’s loved. Still does.
Just like he knows Leehan loves him. He’s known it throughout many moments during the past two years, but this night is definitely one of them. This night, where Leehan came to Taesan’s game and painted his cheeks and dragged him under the bleachers to create a moment just for the both of them.
Taesan presses another kiss to his mouth before he asks, “Do you want to come to the team dinner?”
Leehan pulls away from him, furrowing his brows. “I’m not on the team.”
“That doesn’t matter. You’re my plus one. Everybody’s bringing their loved ones and I love you, so it checks out. It will be fun, I promise,” he adds when he sees the lingering hesitancy in Leehan’s face.
Leehan’s expression softens. “Okay.” He squeezes Taesan’s hands. “Okay.”
Taesan grins, bright and brilliant, sliding his arms around Leehan’s neck. “Brilliant.” Pressing closer, he adds, “We don’t have to leave for another half an hour or so, though, so if you want to make out a little more…”
Leehan laughs and Taesan does too and then Leehan is kissing him again. Taesan grins as he licks along the seam of Leehan’s mouth. Tonight, he’s a winner.