Chapter Text
Being the captain of a collegiate tennis team wasn’t supposed to be this hard.
At least, that’s what Chan told himself at the start of the season, back when he still had functional brain cells and a foolish sense of optimism. These days, he was mostly powered by caffeine, emotional exhaustion, and the distant hope that none of his teammates would set the courts on fire.
Again.
He stood courtside now, arms crossed, watching as chaos bloomed in real time.
On one end of the court, Minho and Seungmin were casually volleying to each other during their break. At least, that’s what it looked like until Minho leaned over the net to tap Seungmin’s nose with his racket in the most disgustingly flirty way possible. Seungmin retaliated by smacking a tennis ball into his chest, but the fond smile that followed gave the game away.
Chan sighed.
On the opposite side, Jisung had Felix in a backhug so tight it was unclear whether he was helping stretch or trying to absorb his boyfriend by osmosis. Felix, to his credit, looked perfectly content to melt into him like a very sweaty koala. They were supposed to be hydrating.
Chan glanced at the water table. Two untouched bottles.
Great.
He opened his clipboard. Closed it again. There was no use pretending today was a productive practice.
In the span of two weeks, both of his star doubles pairs had gone from “totally not dating, shut up” to full-blown PDA gremlins who couldn’t go a single break without sneaking kisses. Chan had whiplash. One moment, he was patting them on the back for a solid return, the next he was awkwardly sidestepping a love confession next to the bleachers.
He should’ve seen it coming.
The signs had been there for ages... shared protein bars, matching wristbands, the mysteriously duplicated water bottles. And now that the truth was out, they were shameless. Like the gates of hell had opened and released two matching pairs of domestic chaos.
But Chan was trying to be supportive.
Really.
He just hadn’t expected to also become the team’s unofficial therapist.
He pulled out his phone to check the group chat. That was his first mistake.
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Team Family Chat 🐸💕
Felix: update!! jisung just called me his husband while doing lunges
Jeongin: is it too late to transfer to fencing
Seungmin: @jeongin come back here and finish stretching
Jisung: we’re spiritually married actually
Changbin: y’all are lucky you’re good at tennis
Hyunjin: i think it’s sweet 😌💕
Chan: focus please
Minho: he says, while pretending he's not jealous
Seungmin: i hate that he’s right
Chan: i have no idea what you’re talking about
Jeongin: lies
⊹₊⟡⋆
Chan sighed and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He looked up just in time to see Jisung kiss Felix on the cheek and then loudly announce, “That one’s for good luck!”
Felix giggled.
Minho fake-gagged. Seungmin smacked him with a towel.
Chan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why do I even try.”
“Because you love us!” Jeongin chirped, suddenly appearing at his elbow like a gremlin summoned by pure mischief.
Chan flinched. “Where did you come from?”
Jeongin grinned. “The shadows. The snack bar. Your conscience. Hard to say.”
Chan stared at him. “...What do you want.”
“Just checking in on our fearless captain,” Jeongin said sweetly. “Making sure you haven’t had an aneurysm yet.”
Chan stared at the court, where Felix and Jisung had now graduated to feeding each other orange slices. “I’m dangerously close.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Jeongin said, pulling out his phone. “Also, how's our present to Minho and Seungmin hyungs for finally getting together?”
He pulled up a blurry selfie of himself and Changbin at the mall, holding up a pink-frosted donut that had the words “CONGRATS ON THE SEX” messily piped in shaky icing.
Chan blinked. “I don’t know what to say.”
“So you like it?!” Jeongin chirped.
Chan was still squinting at the picture when Jeongin tucked the phone away and leaned against the fence like they were two war generals surveying a battlefield.
“So,” Jeongin said casually, “when are you and Hyunjin making it official?”
Chan turned so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. “What?”
Jeongin shrugged. “I mean, you coordinate practice schedules, always side with each other in drills—”
Chan gave him a flat look. “Because he’s loud and refuses to be ignored.”
“Exactly!” Jeongin said, delighted. “And you let him. That’s love, my dude.”
"Sure it is" Chan snorts, shaking his head.
“Uh huh. And yet I’ve never seen you in your dorm after 9 p.m. Suspicious.”
Chan blinked. “Yeah, because I'm busy.”
“Exactly. Every night Seungmin ‘sleeps over,’ you’re mysteriously gone.”
“I—ask Changbin, we literally draft songs together every night Minho needs the dorm to himself! What does that have to do with Hyunjin?!”
Jeongin just smiled. “Well, Changbin said something about how your songs always sound like you're pining for someone. I’m just connecting dots, man. I’m a detective. The team’s Watson.”
“You are so far off base—”
“Really? Because it would explain a lot. Like how you didn’t notice our line 2 doubles team sneaking around for months. You were busy with your own love story.”
“There is no love story! Only Soundcloud!”
“Mhm. And the love songs you've started writing on there...”
Chan made a frustrated noise and started walking down the length of the court. Jeongin followed, naturally.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Jeongin added, entirely too chipper. “Hyunjin’s great. Super dramatic. Definitely your type.”
“I don’t have a type!”
“Tall, extra, impossible to ignore?”
Chan turned. “Jeongin.”
“Yeah?”
“Water break. Now.”
“Wow. Deflection.” Jeongin tutted.
Chan dragged a hand down his face. “You are so lucky I can’t bench you for being annoying.”
“You’d miss me,” Jeongin said brightly. “Besides, I’m the only sane one on this team.”
They both turned in unison to see Minho attempting to juggle tennis balls while Seungmin yelled “YOU’RE GONNA BREAK YOUR WRIST AGAIN” across the court.
Then Felix tripped trying to tie his shoelace and Jisung caught him bridal-style.
Changbin was eating up the content like it was reality TV and Hyunjin was furiously typing away at his phone like it was the keyboard's fault he was dramatic.
Chan turned back. “Okay. You might have a point.”
“I always do,” Jeongin said smugly.
Just then, Hyunjin huffed and stormed over, pure unadulterated fury flickering in his eyes. “Hey, Chan! Care to explain why there's some random twink in Instagram claiming to be the tennis captain's boyfriend?”
Chan blinked, confused. “Wait, what? Who?”
Hyunjin shoved his phone in his face. “This! He tagged you. Captioned it 'my favorite coach 💘'—like, who even is he? Why does he have a picture of you at regionals?!”
Chan glanced at the screen with a shrug. “Oh… I think that’s the guy who asked for directions to the locker rooms? I didn’t even know he followed me.” He frowned. “Weird. He seemed nice, though.”
Hyunjin’s eye twitched. “Nice?! He used three heart emojis and a suggestive winky face.”
Chan tilted his head, completely unbothered. “Oh. I thought that was just like… friendly? Gen Zs use emojis for everything, right?”
Hyunjin looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. “Chan. He called you 'my pookie' in the comments.”
Chan’s brows furrowed. “Wait, is that bad? Should I be worried?”
Jeongin, watching from the sidelines, looked between the two of them - Chan’s honest confusion and Hyunjin’s increasingly unhinged expressions - and slowly pulled out his phone.
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New Note Entry:
- Jisung = confirmed whipped | Felix = his favorite pillow
- Seungmin = will commit murder | Minho = will help hide the body
- Chan = absolutely oblivious | Hyunjin = one step from committing arson
- They’re totally in love I swear
⊹₊⟡⋆
He slipped the phone back in his pocket, grinning like a madman as Chan turned back to Hyunjin with a bright, “Should I DM him and clarify I’m not interested?”
Hyunjin pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, Chan. Just—block him and let me handle it.”
Chan nodded agreeably. “You’re always good with this kind of stuff.”
Jeongin watched the two of them walk off together, Hyunjin continuing to yap in frustration while Chan still looked faintly confused but smiling supportively nonetheless.
This season was going to be incredible.
˚ ༘🎾 ೀ⋆🎾｡˚
GLOSSARY for bolded words:
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Lines refer to a position on the lineup. Line 1 means the best doubles duo or singles player. Line 2 is the second best, and so on.
Here’s the lineup for Seacoast University's team:
SINGLES:
Chan (line 1, Junior)
Hyunjin (line 2, Sophomore)
Changbin (line 3, Junior)
Jeongin (line 4, Freshman)
DOUBLES:
Jisung/Felix (line 1, Sophomores)
Minho/Seungmin (line 2, Junior/Sophomore)
P.S. for my non-American friends - Senior is 4th year, Junior is 3rd year, Sophomore is 2nd year, and Freshman is 1st year!
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Volleys are shots played just behind the net. They're usually quick and aggressive.
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Returns are the shots hit in response to a serve. A solid return can immediately put the server on the defensive.