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Saint is the golden boy of the university’s track team. All charm, long legs and that trademark gummy smile that has half the student body swooning. He’s fast, friendly and undefeated.
Until he shows up.
Shin.
Transfer student. Cold eyes, tight jaw and a body built like he was sculpted to run. No one knows where he came from, just that he joined the team, ran the 400m… and broke Saint’s record on day one.
Saint is pissed. Not because of the record. Okay, maybe a little. But mostly because Shin didn’t even seem to care. Just nodded, thanked the coach, and walked off like he didn’t just upend Saint’s kingdom.
From then on, it’s war.
They race every chance they get on the track, in the gym, during team meetings, even fighting over who gets the last bottle of electrolyte water. The tension? Thick enough to cut with a knife. Or kiss through.
“You’re obsessed with me.” Saint says one day, breathless after yet another sprint challenge. “It’s okay to admit it.”
Shin looks him up and down, eyes dark.
“If I was, you’d already be mine.”
Saint stumbles on his next step. He doesn’t look back. He can’t.
Later that night, he’s got a text from the translator student:
💬
Rematch tomorrow. You in?
And Saint just replies:
Only if the winner gets a kiss.
~~
6:45 PM
Empty Track
The sun is dipping low, casting golden light over the track. The team’s gone. The field is quiet, except for the sound of shoes hitting asphalt and two hearts beating way too loud.
Saint stretches, trying to ignore the way Shin is watching him arms crossed, jaw sharp in the glow of the sunset.
“You sure you’re ready to lose again?” Saint teases, flicking a glance over.
Shin steps forward, slow and steady. “You sure you’re ready to kiss me?”
Saint chokes on air, eyes widening. “You! That was a joke.”
Shin raises a brow. “Didn’t sound like a joke when you sent the text.”
Saint glares, cheeks pink. “Shut up and run.”
They line up. No coach, no stopwatch. Just the two of them.
“On three.” Saint says. “One… two…”
Shin doesn’t wait for three. He takes off.
“HEY!” Saint yells, laughing as he sprints after him. “You cheater!”
Their feet pound the track, muscles burning, breath ragged. It’s neck and neck all the way to the end.
Saint barely edges ahead at the last second, stumbling across the finish line, gasping for air. He drops to his knees, laughing and panting.
“I won.” he wheezes, looking up at Shin.
“So what now, loser?”
Shin walks over, calm as ever. He crouches beside Saint, face unreadable.
“Guess you get your prize.”
Saint blinks. “Wh-”
Shin leans in. Close enough to smell the sweat and citrus on Saint’s skin. His hand comes up, thumb brushing Saint’s flushed cheek.
“Or..” Shin whispers, voice low
“maybe I do.”
And then he kisses him.
It’s not gentle. It’s not careful. It’s heat and adrenaline and two weeks of unresolved tension crashing all at once. Saint gasps against his mouth, grabbing fistfuls of Shin’s shirt, pulling him closer.
When they finally break apart, both of them are breathing hard for entirely new reasons.
Saint stares at him, lips swollen, eyes dazed. “That… wasn’t part of the deal.”
Shin smirks. “Make a new one.”
~~
Saint is spiraling.
Not obviously he’s still putting on his uniform, still tying his shoelaces like a normal, functioning human but inside? Complete chaos.
He kissed Shin. Or Shin kissed him. And Saint kissed back. With tongue. He has no idea what to do with himself now.
He didn’t sleep last night. Just lay awake, remembering how Shin’s hand curled around his jaw, how his lips lingered, like he didn’t want to pull away. Like he meant it.
He glances over his shoulder.
Shin’s at his locker. Calm. Composed. Shirtless. Like a Greek statue dipped in sweat. Unbothered. How is he unbothered? Did that kiss not rock his entire reality?
Saint mutters under his breath
“Unholy man…”
Shin looks up. “Did you say something?”
“Nope.” Saint says way too fast.
“Not a thing. Nothing. All good. Great, actually.”
Shin doesn’t say anything just quirks an eyebrow and goes back to pulling his jacket on like he didn’t just ruin Saint’s peace.
The rest of the team files in for warmups, and Saint is not okay. He keeps catching himself staring at Shin’s mouth, his neck, the way he tilts his water bottle like he didn’t just ruin Saint’s entire understanding of casual rivalry.
“Dude..” their teammate First nudges him. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
Saint flinches. “I-I’m just tired.”
“Didn’t seem tired yesterday when you were chasing Shin like your life depended on it.”
Saint flushes instantly. He knows Shin hears it because the corner of his mouth twitches, just a little.
After practice, everyone heads to shower. Saint lingers behind. He needs space. He needs time. He needs-
“You avoiding me?” comes a voice from behind.
Saint jumps. Shin’s standing there, towel over his shoulder, gaze unreadable.
“I- No-” Saint stammers.
“Why would I be avoiding you? That’s dumb. You’re dumb.”
Shin steps closer. Saint backs into the lockers.
Shin leans in, one hand braced beside Saint’s head. His voice is low.
“You kissed me back.”
Saint crosses his arms. “So? It was the heat of the moment.”
“Felt real to me.”
Saint’s breath catches.
Then Shin steps back, completely calm. “Text me if you want a rematch.”
He walks away.
And Saint, heart hammering against his ribs, yells after him. “You’re such a menace!”
Shin just lifts a hand in a lazy wave. Doesn’t look back.
Saint wants to scream.
~~
Saint slams his locker shut harder than necessary. His heart is still racing from practice and from him.
It’s been three days since the kiss. Three days of Shin pretending nothing happened. Three days of Saint trying to act like he’s unaffected, while also suffering minor heart attacks every time Shin speaks, breathes or exists.
Saint can’t take it anymore.
So when he walks into the locker room and sees Shin alone still shirtless, toweling his hair, something in him snaps.
He walks straight over. Calmly. Too calmly.
Shin glances up, eyes flicking lazily toward him. “Hey.”
Saint doesn’t say anything.
He grabs Shin by the front of his hoodie and slams him back into the locker with a solid thud.
Shin blinks. “…Saint?”
“You don’t get to kiss me like that.” Saint says, voice shaking not with fear but fire.
“And act like it never happened.”
Shin doesn’t move. Doesn’t fight. Just looks at him gaze locked in place.
“You’ve been quiet..” he says slowly.
“You’re always quiet.” Saint snaps. “But this? This is messed up. You kissed me. You looked at me like you meant it. And then nothing. No texts. No jokes. No teasing. What the hell was that?”
Shin’s jaw clenches. “I didn’t want to push you.”
Saint stares at him. “You didn’t want to push me, so you kissed me like you owned me?”
Shin’s hand moves fast gripping Saint’s wrist, pulling him close until their chests are almost touching.
“I didn’t push.” he murmurs. “You pulled.”
Saint’s breath hitches. His anger simmers. But under it is something worse. Hotter. More dangerous.
“I hate you.” he whispers.
“Liar.”
Saint leans in, mouth brushing Shin’s ear.
“Then prove me wrong.”
That’s all it takes.
Shin slams him back against the locker, lips crashing into his like fire and fury. It’s all heat, biting, needy, wild. Saint moans into his mouth, gripping the front of Shin’s shirt like it’s the only thing keeping him upright.
And Shin? He kisses like he’s starved. Like he’s been waiting to lose control.
When they finally pull apart, gasping for air, Saint’s eyes are wild. His voice? Barely a whisper.
“So… I guess we’re not racing today?”
Shin smirks, thumb swiping Saint’s kiss-swollen lower lip. “Only to see who falls harder.”
After that they haven’t talked about the kiss.
Not the first one. Not the second one in the locker room. Not the third one that happened two nights later, in the back stairwell when Saint called Shin a “cocky bastard” and Shin responded by backing him against the wall and kissing him breathless.
It’s a mess.
But tonight? Tonight is quiet.
The campus is asleep. The track glows under the cheap yellow floodlights. Saint sits on the edge of the field, hoodie pulled over his head, knees hugged to his chest. He’s staring up at the sky when Shin finds him.
Wordlessly, Shin sits beside him. Not close enough to touch. But close enough to feel.
Saint speaks first, voice soft.
“Do you like me, Shin?”
The question cuts the air in half.
Shin doesn’t answer right away. Just breathes.
“I do..” he says finally. Quiet. Honest.
“I’ve liked you since the first time I saw you run.”
Saint looks at him, startled.
“You were so fast.” Shin continues. “So bright. Everyone loved you. And all I could think was… ‘I want him to look at me like that.’ ”
Saint stares. His heart is too loud. “So why act like such an ass?”
Shin laughs under his breath. “Because I didn’t know how to get your attention without trying to beat you.”
“You could’ve just said hi.”
“I don’t do hi.”
Saint leans into him, shoulder brushing Shin’s. “You kiss better than you speak anyway.”
They sit in silence for a while. The night is warm. Safe.
Then Saint says, “I like you too.”
Shin turns to him.
Saint’s smiling, all soft eyes and that trademark gummy grin. “Even when you’re a jerk. Even when you steal my water. Even when you run faster than me.”
Shin smirks. “So… still racing?”
Saint grins wider. “Always.”
Shin leans in. This kiss is different, gentle, slow like a promise.
When they pull apart, Saint whispers against his lips. “You better keep up.”
Shin’s voice is barely a murmur. “I’ll chase you forever.”
- End -