For london9calling: Game Play
Originally posted by mods_sncj at For london9calling: Game Play
For: london9calling
Title: Game Play
Pairing: Luhan/Xiumin
Rating: PG
Word Count: 5,598
A/N: Don’t play volleyball… all I know is based on watching Haikyuu and that unit in high school gym class when they made us learn the rules for some sports. Even though this is volleyball!au, it’s mostly about the /feelings/ yanno? lol well I hope you like it! x)
Minseok's leg bobs up and down; his plane is about to land.
It's been almost a year.
And now he's finally back in Korea. His mom puts hand on his leg, telling him to, "Calm down, son. We’ll be there soon enough." She smiles, and her skin crinkles at the corner of her eyes. Minseok knows that she is just as excited as he is to be back too. She's returning home now with a few more grey hairs, having been taking care of herself and Minseok while he was recovering. It's been so long for them to have been separated from his dad and older brother, and all their friends.
But now Minseok is back, and he's ready to start playing again. He looks out the window and bites on his lower lip as he feels the plane's wheels hit the ground. He watches the pavement speed past them, and as the plane slows down he's able to make out the details in the asphalt. Just a bit more and he can get off the plane. He knows his dad and brother are waiting to pick them up outside.
And tomorrow, he'll get to play.
--
It's early in the morning when Minseok gets to school. Even from outside he can hear the squeaking of sneakers on the hardwood floor of the gym. It seems like the schedule has kept from last year: on Mondays and Wednesday mornings, the volleyball club gets the gym for practice. Minseok pushes open the double doors to the gym, a wide smile on his face.
"I'm back!" His gums show, his cheeks pushing upwards emphasizing his eye smile.
There's a collective holler and whoop as members recognize Minseok who is walking into the room. A whistle blows to signal a break, upon which the members on the court break formation and rush towards him.
"Minseok!" "How are you?" "So you're back now?" "How was America?" Minseok is bombarded by questions, and is surrounded by mostly familiar faces.
"Whoa, whoa guys," Minseok holds his arms out, one finger up. "One question at a time. There's one of me, a bunch of you."
A figure steps through the crowd, hair shorter than Minseok remembered. It's Junmyeon, one of his old classmates and fellow senior. "How are you?" He asks.
"I'm good! And I'm ready for practice! The doctor gave me the all clear." Minseok puts his right hand on his left shoulder and rotates it. "See! It's moving just fine. Let me jump into practice and I can show you real quick," he adds with a wink.
Minseok puts a foot forward, expecting the crowd to move with him and get to practice. Instead, he's met with an awkward silence, the members all glancing at each other and avoiding eye contact with Minseok. Junmyeon puts a hand on Minseok's shoulder, eyebrows turned upward in concern.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Well, Minseok, you were gone for almost a year... of course we had to get more members, yanno? And there's... a formality. It's hard to just let you jump in."
Minseok nods his head twice, "Yeah, of course! That's to be expected. Who're the new members?" Of course Minseok, you can't just jump in there, he thinks.
Three tall freshmen raise their hands; they're on the outskirts of the crowd that's formed around Minseok.
"And your names are?" Minseok gestures towards the three.
"Sehun." Minseok thinks this one must have recently gone through a growth spurt, since he looks new to his height, and his shoulders hunch in awkwardly.
"Jongin." This one has thick arms; he must be good at defending. He must pack a pretty powerful spike looking at those biceps.
"Zitao." Minseok's eyes trace up and down the third freshman's body. He looks lean and tall, defined muscles visible where his uniform allows.
"Nice to meet you all." Minseok turns his attention back to Junmyeon, "But looking at these kids, they're probably playing as blockers and spikers, right? Who've you put as the librero?" My position.
The crowd parts, letting Minseok see through to the court where there's a member still standing, rotating a ball in his hand. Minseok hadn't been able to see him since the taller members were blocking his vision. The blond had not joined the crowd when Minseok walked in, but had been looking from afar.
Minseok waves his hand in greeting, "Hello there... what's your name?"
The blond looks at Minseok from the corner of his eye, not turning his head towards him, and lightly clears his throat before responding, "Luhan."
There's still a smile on Minseok's face, but he squints his eyes and one of his eyebrows twitches inward. Why does that name sound familiar?
The smile on Minseok's face is completely gone as he remembers where he knows the name. "Luhan?!" He repeats back incredulously.
With wide eyes, and a slightly rabid look, Minseok turns back to face Junmyeon again, who has a weak smile on his face. Minseok raises a finger of accusation and points at Luhan, who is now dribbling the volleyball like it was a basketball. "Wasn't that the punk that ruined the sports equipment last year? He and his goonies took a knife to all our balls!"
Minseok remembers getting the team ready for practice one morning, opening the supply closet to find all the balls mutilated. It took them a month to get enough money from fundraising to replace all the balls again. The whole process delayed their practices and put everything in disarray.
"What is he doing here?" Minseok asks Junmyeon, a frown on his face.
Junmyeon scratches nape of his neck, "Well you see... it's a long story, but the principal basically made him have to volunteer to help make up for the costs of the destroyed equipment, and then we realized he could play, and well now he's the librero?" Junmyeon's voice cracks in nervousness.
Minseok purses his lips, "Well now that I’m back, you don't need him anymore, right?" He waves a hand in the direction of Luhan.
At this, Luhan stops spinning ball, though he hasn't said anything yet.
"Yeah, I'm talking about you." Minseok points a finger at Luhan, his other hand on his hip. "Do you know how much trouble you caused us last year?"
Luhan sucks on his teeth and rolls his eyes. He shifts his weight to his back foot. "Does it matter? It all worked out in the end, right?"
"Doesn't matter? Doesn’t matter?!" Minseok throws his hands up in the air, incredulous. "We couldn't have practice for weeks because of that!"
Luhan shrugs his shoulders lightly, his face showing that he clearly didn't care.
"This little," Minseok moves quickly towards him, fist raised and ready to attack. Two close by members grab his arms before he can get to Luhan's face. "Let me go, let me teach this punk a lesson," Minseok says while struggling against their grips.
"Minseok calm down, you gotta calm down he's really not all that bad when you get to know him." Minseok hears from his left. It's Chanyeol, one of the blockers, and it's also him that's holding Minseok's left arm.
Minseok cranes his neck around and glares at Junmyeon, who has a sheepish smile on his face. Minseok exhales loudly and takes a step back, adjusting his stance and shrugging out of the grips on his arms. "Alright fine. He wouldn't be here anyway if coach did approve, I guess."
Junmyeon comes forward, smile bigger now, and claps hand on his shoulder "It'll be fine, you'll see."
Except it's not that fine.
Not for Minseok, at least. Things seem to be going great for Luhan, however. Minseok watches him scornfully out of the corner of his eye as Luhan gives Jongin a high five after a successful play. Luhan pretty much gets along with all the members of the team, except for Minseok that is.
Minseok stares out at the court, his lip tugged upward in disgust. He's so into his thoughts that he doesn't realize Sehun scooting closer to him on the bench, and jumps when he starts talking. "You know, you can practically feel the hate radiating out of you."
Minseok purses his lips, his cheeks puffing out. "Why'd coach put him in first?"
"This game is all strategy, you know?" Sehun shrugs then leans closer to Minseok, putting his chin on his shoulder, "I'm certain he'll put you in for the next set."
Minseok's eyebrows are still furrowed, the corners of his lips lowering into a frown. Sehun reaches around and pokes Minseok's cheek from the other side. "Don't stress, you're cuter when you smile anyway," Sehun adds with a teasing smile.
Minseok rolls his eyes, but at least he's smiling now. "Get off," he playfully pushes Sehun off of him, his smile now wide enough to show teeth.
Suddenly, there's a loud squeak of sneakers skidding, and a loud gasp of the audience from behind them, followed by a whistle blowing loudly. The members on their side of the team are huddling around someone who's been hit on the head by the ball.
Minseok and Sehun stand up in worry. Who's been hit?
Through the huddle of players on the court, Minseok can see Minho reaching down to help the person up. "Are you ok? Just where were you looking?"
Luhan stands up with the helping hand, "I just... I don't know. I'm fine."
Minseok looks over with hope in his eyes to the coach to see if he's going to pull Luhan out. That was a shot to the head; he should be taken out, right?
But Luhan looks over the coach and waves a dismissive hand to him, saying he's ok. Which means that Minseok doesn't get to play. Minseok sits down in a huff, cheeks puffed out.
It's been a week since their last scrimmage. While they won, and that's great for the team, Minseok actually was only on the court for one set. Just one set. Before he got injured, he would have been on the court for most, if not all of the sets. While everyone else was cheering around him on the bus ride back home, Minseok sat in the front, embarrassed at his performance. He needs to get better. Faster. Stronger. And so now Minseok is in the gym, doing drills before practice has even started.
It's about ten minutes before practice starts that Luhan walks in. Minseok can see him start stretching out of his periphery. If anything, it makes him push harder. He needs to be better than Luhan. Minseok imagines the ball he's about to hit is Luhan's face and smacks it with all his might. It bounces of the wall loudly and rolls towards Luhan's feet. Minseok doesn't mind it, picks up another ball from the bin and hits that against the wall instead.
"Do you have a problem?"
Minseok is about to hit another ball, but instead catches it and turns around when he hears the question. He simply looks at Luhan, squints his eyes, and then throws the ball in the air to hit it against the wall again.
Minseok lets out a small squeal when a ball goes zooming past his head and hits the wall in front of him. He turns around to see Luhan straightening up from a striking position.
"I said, do you have a problem."
Minseok pulls his lips in, his nostrils flared. He pivots on his heel and turns toward Luhan. "Actually, I do. You.
"What did I ever do to you?"
Minseok scoffs and rolls his eyes, eyelids slightly flickering. Luhan just stands there, waiting for an answer, hand on hip and eyebrow cocked. "Well?"
Minseok gives Luhan a glint stare, and bites back on his jaw before throwing the ball he's holding in the air and spiking it with all his might at Luhan. Luhan is caught off guard, and catches the ball instead of hitting it back; the momentum of hit makes him fall to the floor.
Minseok runs over to the benches, picks up his bag and storms out of the room, shouting "You fool!" over his shoulder before shoving the heavy gym doors open and exiting. As he was leaving, Junmyeon walks in from the other side of the room, where the locker rooms are. He jogs over to Luhan. "What's the deal? What's up with Minseok?"
Luhan leans his weight onto one hand and picks himself off the ground. "I don't know? He just got all mad and threw a ball at me." Luhan brushes the dust off his shorts.
Junmyeon claps a hand on his Luhan's shoulder, and rubs it reassuringly. "Don't stress too much about it, Minseok has some issues to work through is all."
"And I thought I was the messed up one..." Luhan's gaze shifts from Junmyeon to the door Minseok had stormed out through.
Minseok's stride turns into a run and as he goes down the hallway out of the school. His head is buzzing with thoughts. He doesn't feel adequate. No matter how much he's practiced, no matter how much he tries, it's never enough. He thought he'd be welcomed home with open arms, a spot waiting for him on the team. If he hadn't gotten injured, he'd have been captain (a spot now held by Junmyeon) and he'd still be the librero. He was welcomed back with gusto, certainly. Junmyeon offered for him to become co-captain, maybe into their second semester. But the coach for now had put Minseok in as a setter.
But the spot that he had, and the spot that he wants has been taken by this new boy. Someone he thought the team would have written off as a villain. How can someone like Luhan have been able to make it on the team.
Minseok skips practice that day.
Later on, after school, he meets up with Junmyeon. With slumped shoulders, his duffle bag heavy with the equipment he'd emptied out from his locker, he tells Junmyeon that he's going to quit the team.
Junmyeon is confused, and a little irritated. The Minseok that he knows wouldn't just give up halfway. Why? is the only question he can get out.
"Junmyeon are you really that surprised?"
"Yes, I am! No one wants you to leave."
Minseok shakes his head; he avoids eye contact with Junmyeon. "I-- I just. There's no spot for me here, Junmyeon." He looks up at Junmyeon, who has a look of concern on his face.
Minseok smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I can keep playing into college or anything. It's just smarter for me to quit and focus on my studies."
"Are you really sure?" Junmyeon's eyebrows are low. He's not sure what's really causing Minseok to act like this. Did something happen between him and Luhan that morning?
"Sure I'm sure," Minseok has a soft smile on. "Tell the rest of the team, would you?"
Junmyeon's lips flap like he means to say more, but all he can say is, "Okay." He watches Minseok walking away, and Junmyeon can't help but think that he should do more, since he's the captain and all.
When he turns away from Junmyeon and out the school, Minseok's face drops, his true feelings showing now. Minseok doesn't have a spot on the team anymore. He lost the opportunity to be captain; he's lost his spot as the librero. And though being a setter is important, he's not as good as the new freshman Jongin at it. It makes Minseok feel empty.
Unwanted.
Two days later after practice while the team is changing is when Junmyeon announces that Minseok has decided to leave the team.
"What, why?" Minho asks. Everyone in the room is generally confused. The only one to not speak up is Luhan, who quietly puts his clothes in his gym bag and leaves the locker room while everyone else gets caught up in discussion about Minseok.
However, instead of walking towards his locker to put his bag away, he keeps walking down the hallway until he gets to a classroom. It's Minseok's homeroom, and to Luhan's luck, Minseok is hunched over a book reading at his desk. Luhan strides up to Minseok's desk and slams a hand down, startling him.
"Why are you quitting?" Luhan has a scowl on his lips, the fringe of his hair slightly damp from sweating during practice.
Minseok glances up quickly, then looks back down at his book, "Why does it matter to you?"
Luhan pulls out the chair from the desk in front of Minseok, sitting on it so that he can face Minseok. He pulls the book out of Minseok's hands so he can see his face. "Play against me."
Minseok gives Luhan an annoyed look and reaches for his book that Luhan is now holding above their heads. "What?"
"Play against me," Luhan repeats. He holds the book up higher. "If I win you have to stay."
"Does that even make any sense?" Minseok stands up in order to grab the book, but Luhan just takes a step back and raises it higher, his other hand on Minseok's chest to hold him back.
"Well if you win, I'll quit."
Minseok studies Luhan's face. He seems to be serious. But... why would Luhan offer to do this? Minseok is weary and turns him down. "I... I don't think so."
"Come on, we'll play two on two, and you can pick the teams."
Minseok almost laughs. "You're making this too easy. Why are you doing this?"
"Don't you know the saying 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'? Just do this."
Minseok smirks and cocks his eyebrow, "Alright, call."
The next day after school is when the match takes place. It's Minseok and Sehun against Luhan and Kris. Kris is tall, and is a good blocker, but tends to be clumsy. Knowing this, Minseok picked Sehun, who was the best freshman on the team.
The first set goes by quickly, Minseok's team taking it and winning by a landslide. Then they play the second set, winning again by a margin of 10 points. Minseok likes that he's winning, but something... something just feels off.
After the second set, there's a small break, and Minseok grabs a drink. Sehun sits next to him, wiping off some sweat with a towel. In the distance farther down Minseok can see Luhan and Kris talking.
Junmyeon comes up to Minseok, the referee whistle bouncing off his chest with each step. "Good game so far guys! I knew you couldn't say off the court for long, Minseok."
Minseok takes one last swig of water and closes his bottle before answering, "Anything to get that guy off the team."
Junmyeon squints his eyes and Sehun looks up at Minseok in confusion. "...Get rid of? What do you mean?"
Minseok nonchalantly shrugs and sets his bottle down. "Me and yellow head have a deal. If I win, he leaves the team."
Junmyeon and Sehun exchange a look, both of their eyes wide. Minseok looks between them. "What is there a problem with that?"
Junmyeon scratches the nape of his neck, "Well… There's this thing. Has anyone told you exactly why Luhan is on the team?"
Minseok looks at the ceiling in thought and then shakes his head, "No, I don't think so..."
Sehun scoffs and lobs his head backwards. "No wonder you've been like this towards him."
"Been like what towards who?" Minseok crosses his arms.
Sehun waves a hand up and down, "Like this... all stubborn and stuff."
Minseok's eyebrow twitches. Stubborn? The nerve. "I'm not stubborn. Yeah, I don't like him but I'm not stubborn!"
"Stubborn or not," Junmyeon starts (Sehun mouths "very stubborn"). "I thought someone had told you, Luhan was put on the team on purpose. He was supposed to just help around the gym as part of his punishment, but then we had him fill in during practice one time, and we saw that he actually had some talent, so the coach decided to let him on the team. But he's still, quote-unquote on probation, so if he leaves the team he'll get expelled from school."
Minseok drops his head down, looking first at his sneakers then out of the corner of his eye towards Luhan who was still talking with Kris. He... didn't know things were like this. And now, he actually felt a little bad towards the blond? Minseok knew that he was playing completely ruthlessly during the first two matches. That this was all Luhan's fault. But it feels weird, knowing that Luhan could get expelled because of this silly match between them.
During the third set, Minseok just can't get his head in the game. He keeps thinking about Luhan, and how he might get kicked out of school. And how, well something like this may not be too important. But knowing this could happen, that he could get kicked out of school if he lost, why did Luhan agree to such a bet?
Minseok snaps out of his trance when a ball comes and lands right in front of him -- a ball that he could have hit.
Luhan shouts out at him from across the court cupping his hands around his mouth, "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you playing as hard? I thought you wanted to get rid of me?"
Why... why is he being like this? This whole thing, this game, these antics. "You know what? Forget this." Minseok turns on his heel and walks off the court.
"Where are you going? Quitting again?" Minseok can hear Luhan calling out from behind him.
"I was done playing in the first place. I let you provoke me into doing this, but no more." Minseok picks up his things from bench and heads towards locker room.
Luhan ducks under the net and runs after Minseok into the locker room, "No, you just can't leave like this!'
Minseok turns around suddenly to tell Luhan to go away, but Luhan is still half running and doesn't expect Minseok to stop so suddenly. He can't stop his momentum and runs into Minseok, sending both of them flying to the ground.
Luhan opens his eyes, one eyelid at a time. He's fallen on top of Minseok and now their faces are just inches from each other. Luhan swallows audibly.
Minseok bites back on his jaw and shoves Luhan off of him. "Get off! I'm leaving." Minseok grabs his bag from the floor and leaves, Luhan still on the floor in a daze.
A few weeks pass.
Minseok hasn't been to practice; he's given up volleyball for real this time. Him forfeiting that game meant that Luhan could stay, and that was for the better. Besides, he needs to study and get ready for college entrance exams.
One day, Minseok is on his way home that when he runs into Junmyeon at the bus stop. "Fancy seeing you here. How's practice going?"
Junmyeon mashes the tip of his shoe into the concrete and pulls on his backpack straps with his thumbs. "Not so well... we've actually had to do some reshuffling on the team." Junmyeon's voice rises at the end, almost like he's asking a question. He clears his throat.
Minseok looks down the street to see if the bus has come. He's antsy. He wants to hear about the volleyball team, but at the same time, it hurts. But he was the one who decided to leave. But... he's curious. "Why?"
"Well after you left, Luhan also stopped showing up to practices and actually school in general." Minseok whips his head around to look at Junmyeon, who had a stoic look on his face. "I heard he got suspended for getting in a fight or something. When he showed up two weeks later, coach told him he wasn't allowed on the team anymore. He went ballistic and flipped the cart with balls in it over and then stormed out. I haven't seen him since."
Minseok's eyes go wide. He thought that by giving up that game, and therefore their bet, that Luhan could stay on the team. Things were supposed to be better without him.
"Wait, so who's been your librero?" Minseok asks while pulling his wallet out to get his bus pass.
"I have... and Jongin's taken over as setter." Junmyeon purses his lips
"Oh..." Minseok rubs a finger under his nose, "And, um, how's that been working out?"
Junmyeon swings his backpack over his shoulder and begins fishing for his wallet. "Well we lost the scrimmage against YG high last week... but the tournament starts officially next week. We'll see how it goes." Junmyeon zips up his backpack and swings it back over his shoulder.
The bus pulls up and Junmyeon boards, but Minseok is stuck in his spot.
"Aren't you getting on?" Junmyeon swipes his card and walks on.
Minseok points back towards the school, "You know, I, uh, I forgot something. I'll catch you in next time, ok?" Minseok waves and walks back towards the school. Junmyeon shrugs and sits down on the bus. He never quite got Minseok anyway.
Minseok walks past the school and heads to the park next to it. It's supposed to be for the children in the neighborhood, but normally right after the high school lets out, it's full of some ne'er-do-wells from the area. He can see a group of teenagers huddled around the jungle gym, and it's there that he sees a tuft of familiar looking blond hair, back facing him.
Minseok comes up from behind him, coughing loudly in show. "You know they say smoking is bad for you."
Luhan turns around, voice hard and a scowl on his face, "And what's it to you?" He inhales on his cigarette and blows the smoke in Minseok's face.
Minseok grabs Luhan's arm, pulling him away from group. "You know you're better than this." He snatches the cigarette out of Luhan's hand and smothers it with the tip of his shoe.
"Better than what?" Luhan rips his hand out of Minseok's grasp.
"Come on Luhan don't be like this, I know you like playing volleyball, now let's go talk to the coach and get your spot back on the team." Minseok takes Luhan's wrist and leads him across the playground and back towards the school.
"Why are you being like this?"
"Being like what?"
"Acting like you care." Minseok drops Luhan's hand, and his head hangs low. "What did I strike a nerve or something?"
"I do care." Minseok mumbles.
Luhan grabs Minseok by the shoulder, making him turn around. "Sorry what?"
Minseok looks up at Luhan, "I said, I do care." His mouth is in a small pout. "I just, I was just jealous because I had to work so hard to get that spot on the team. It was difficult for me in America with all the physical therapy, and then I came back and there was just, there was just no room for me. How did you think I felt?" Minseok's eyes are wet, and he blinks rapidly to dissipate the moisture.
Luhan crosses his arms, "Well, I finally found a place where I felt like I was worth something, but... as it turns out the person I wanted to impress the most wanted nothing to do with me."
Minseok's eyebrows furrow in confusion and he points a finger towards himself. "You're not talking about me, are you?" He chuckles lightly out of nervousness.
"Yes! I'm talking about you, Minseok." Luhan swallows and looks to his left. "I've always wanted to be like you. To be near you. And so, last year when they told me I couldn't join the team I got mad..."
"And ruined our balls?" Minseok runs a hand over his face. "You're kidding, right?"
Luhan shifts his gaze to the ground and digs his heel in the asphalt. "Yeah, maybe not the smartest thing. But then they told me I had to help the team after I got off suspension.... and then when I got back to school, you were gone, injured and off to America for recovery.
Oh.
Luhan coughs into his hand and continues looking to the left, "I always thought you were cool."
Minseok can feel a tingling in his cheeks. Cool?
Luhan jerks forward when two of his friends that were sitting at the jungle gym come from behind and put their arms around his shoulders suddenly.
"Lu, what's going on here? Is this little guy bothering you or something?"
Luhan looks between the two guys, "Naw, man, we're cool here."
Minseok bites his bottom lip in worry.
"Well we're going to get headed out. Come with us, unless you wanna keep talking with this loser." The guy on Luhan's left juts his chin out towards Minseok.
"Hey guys, it's not like that." Luhan steps out from their arms and in front of Luhan. "He's not a loser."
"Ohh, I see how it is," The guy from the right says. "This must be one of those volleyball geeks you've been hanging out with over the past year."
"They aren't geeks!" Luhan puffs out his chest and tries to tuck Minseok behind him.
Tension rises and Minseok looks around, trying to see if there's anyone that can help them. Minseok and Luhan are fit from playing volleyball, sure, but there's no way that either of them could afford to get in a fight. Luckily, just turning the corner from the school come Kris, Minho, Sehun and Jongin. Minseok hollers and they look over, running once they sense the situation.
"Is there a problem here?" Kris asks, his deep voice booming.
"Ah, no, I don't think so." The guy on the left says.
"We're just on our way." They turn back and head towards the other two boys who are still sitting by the jungle gym and make their way off the playground. Minseok let out a breath of relief; luck would have it that some of their biggest members just happened to be walking out of the school at the right time.
Sehun puts an arm around Minseok's shoulders. "Is everything ok here?"
Minseok smiles, "Yeah, I think everything is going to be fine. Come on, Luhan, let's go talk to coach."
Luhan returns the smile, and they head back to the school together.
It's a few weeks later, and Luhan is over at Minseok's house. It's taken some time, but the two have finally become close, and after a long discussion with their coach, the two of them are back on the team. Since then, Luhan has basically been glued to Minseok's side, using all sorts of excuses to stay with him. Tonight, they're doing homework together, and are upstairs in Minseok's room. Minseok is sitting on the floor, back against his bed, and Luhan is lying on his stomach, head resting on one of his hands.
"I... I just don't get this problem." Luhan puts his pencil down and drops his head down on his book.
"Let me see," Minseok leans over to get a closer look, but Luhan doesn't hear him and raised out of his position quickly, making their faces only inches apart. Minseok blinks a few times, but they hold the eye contact. He can feel Luhan's shaky breath on his face, and then Luhan's eyes flutter shut, and Luhan closes the gap between them.
A moment later, Luhan pulls away from the kiss, and it takes a second for Minseok to open his as well. Luhan rearranges himself so that he's sitting in front of Minseok.
"I'll take this as you like me too?" Luhan's voice is soft, but hopeful.
Minseok looks down at the ground, avoiding Luhan's gaze. His voice is low, "maybe..."
"Did you hate the kiss?" Luhan sits on his hands and peers up at Minseok from between his lashes.
Minseok taps his chin with his finger, his face thoughtful. "Well I didn't not like it," he adds his smile breaking through on his face.
Luhan chuckles, cheerfulness in his voice. His eyes shift down to Minseok's lips as he goes in for another kiss.
And another.
And another.
Luhan pulls away from Minseok's lips, and begins trailing his kisses down Minseok's neck, nuzzling his face there.
Minseok giggles in between each kiss. He never expected to have these kinds of feelings towards Luhan, for them to be in this situation after all they'd been through. But this, this was nice. Minseok giggles turn into laughter, his body shaking and Luhan lifts his head up.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, I'm just happy." Minseok puts a hand on Luhan's face, his thumb caressing his cheek.
Luhan chuckles and goes in for another kiss. He leans closer to Minseok and lifts a leg to straddle Minseok. His fingers trace Minseok's skin right above his pants, slowly working their way up Minseok's shirt.
"Hey! Not so fast!" Minseok turns his head away and pushes Luhan's face away playfully, but with enough force so that Luhan would actually know he was being serious.
Luhan pouts and rubs his cheek that is a little red from Minseok's hit.
"One step at time," Minseok bops Luhan on the nose and sticks his tongue out.
They'd have a lot more time in the future indeed.
For: london9calling
Title: Game Play
Pairing: Luhan/Xiumin
Rating: PG
Word Count: 5,598
A/N: Don’t play volleyball… all I know is based on watching Haikyuu and that unit in high school gym class when they made us learn the rules for some sports. Even though this is volleyball!au, it’s mostly about the /feelings/ yanno? lol well I hope you like it! x)
Minseok's leg bobs up and down; his plane is about to land.
It's been almost a year.
And now he's finally back in Korea. His mom puts hand on his leg, telling him to, "Calm down, son. We’ll be there soon enough." She smiles, and her skin crinkles at the corner of her eyes. Minseok knows that she is just as excited as he is to be back too. She's returning home now with a few more grey hairs, having been taking care of herself and Minseok while he was recovering. It's been so long for them to have been separated from his dad and older brother, and all their friends.
But now Minseok is back, and he's ready to start playing again. He looks out the window and bites on his lower lip as he feels the plane's wheels hit the ground. He watches the pavement speed past them, and as the plane slows down he's able to make out the details in the asphalt. Just a bit more and he can get off the plane. He knows his dad and brother are waiting to pick them up outside.
And tomorrow, he'll get to play.
--
It's early in the morning when Minseok gets to school. Even from outside he can hear the squeaking of sneakers on the hardwood floor of the gym. It seems like the schedule has kept from last year: on Mondays and Wednesday mornings, the volleyball club gets the gym for practice. Minseok pushes open the double doors to the gym, a wide smile on his face.
"I'm back!" His gums show, his cheeks pushing upwards emphasizing his eye smile.
There's a collective holler and whoop as members recognize Minseok who is walking into the room. A whistle blows to signal a break, upon which the members on the court break formation and rush towards him.
"Minseok!" "How are you?" "So you're back now?" "How was America?" Minseok is bombarded by questions, and is surrounded by mostly familiar faces.
"Whoa, whoa guys," Minseok holds his arms out, one finger up. "One question at a time. There's one of me, a bunch of you."
A figure steps through the crowd, hair shorter than Minseok remembered. It's Junmyeon, one of his old classmates and fellow senior. "How are you?" He asks.
"I'm good! And I'm ready for practice! The doctor gave me the all clear." Minseok puts his right hand on his left shoulder and rotates it. "See! It's moving just fine. Let me jump into practice and I can show you real quick," he adds with a wink.
Minseok puts a foot forward, expecting the crowd to move with him and get to practice. Instead, he's met with an awkward silence, the members all glancing at each other and avoiding eye contact with Minseok. Junmyeon puts a hand on Minseok's shoulder, eyebrows turned upward in concern.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Well, Minseok, you were gone for almost a year... of course we had to get more members, yanno? And there's... a formality. It's hard to just let you jump in."
Minseok nods his head twice, "Yeah, of course! That's to be expected. Who're the new members?" Of course Minseok, you can't just jump in there, he thinks.
Three tall freshmen raise their hands; they're on the outskirts of the crowd that's formed around Minseok.
"And your names are?" Minseok gestures towards the three.
"Sehun." Minseok thinks this one must have recently gone through a growth spurt, since he looks new to his height, and his shoulders hunch in awkwardly.
"Jongin." This one has thick arms; he must be good at defending. He must pack a pretty powerful spike looking at those biceps.
"Zitao." Minseok's eyes trace up and down the third freshman's body. He looks lean and tall, defined muscles visible where his uniform allows.
"Nice to meet you all." Minseok turns his attention back to Junmyeon, "But looking at these kids, they're probably playing as blockers and spikers, right? Who've you put as the librero?" My position.
The crowd parts, letting Minseok see through to the court where there's a member still standing, rotating a ball in his hand. Minseok hadn't been able to see him since the taller members were blocking his vision. The blond had not joined the crowd when Minseok walked in, but had been looking from afar.
Minseok waves his hand in greeting, "Hello there... what's your name?"
The blond looks at Minseok from the corner of his eye, not turning his head towards him, and lightly clears his throat before responding, "Luhan."
There's still a smile on Minseok's face, but he squints his eyes and one of his eyebrows twitches inward. Why does that name sound familiar?
The smile on Minseok's face is completely gone as he remembers where he knows the name. "Luhan?!" He repeats back incredulously.
With wide eyes, and a slightly rabid look, Minseok turns back to face Junmyeon again, who has a weak smile on his face. Minseok raises a finger of accusation and points at Luhan, who is now dribbling the volleyball like it was a basketball. "Wasn't that the punk that ruined the sports equipment last year? He and his goonies took a knife to all our balls!"
Minseok remembers getting the team ready for practice one morning, opening the supply closet to find all the balls mutilated. It took them a month to get enough money from fundraising to replace all the balls again. The whole process delayed their practices and put everything in disarray.
"What is he doing here?" Minseok asks Junmyeon, a frown on his face.
Junmyeon scratches nape of his neck, "Well you see... it's a long story, but the principal basically made him have to volunteer to help make up for the costs of the destroyed equipment, and then we realized he could play, and well now he's the librero?" Junmyeon's voice cracks in nervousness.
Minseok purses his lips, "Well now that I’m back, you don't need him anymore, right?" He waves a hand in the direction of Luhan.
At this, Luhan stops spinning ball, though he hasn't said anything yet.
"Yeah, I'm talking about you." Minseok points a finger at Luhan, his other hand on his hip. "Do you know how much trouble you caused us last year?"
Luhan sucks on his teeth and rolls his eyes. He shifts his weight to his back foot. "Does it matter? It all worked out in the end, right?"
"Doesn't matter? Doesn’t matter?!" Minseok throws his hands up in the air, incredulous. "We couldn't have practice for weeks because of that!"
Luhan shrugs his shoulders lightly, his face showing that he clearly didn't care.
"This little," Minseok moves quickly towards him, fist raised and ready to attack. Two close by members grab his arms before he can get to Luhan's face. "Let me go, let me teach this punk a lesson," Minseok says while struggling against their grips.
"Minseok calm down, you gotta calm down he's really not all that bad when you get to know him." Minseok hears from his left. It's Chanyeol, one of the blockers, and it's also him that's holding Minseok's left arm.
Minseok cranes his neck around and glares at Junmyeon, who has a sheepish smile on his face. Minseok exhales loudly and takes a step back, adjusting his stance and shrugging out of the grips on his arms. "Alright fine. He wouldn't be here anyway if coach did approve, I guess."
Junmyeon comes forward, smile bigger now, and claps hand on his shoulder "It'll be fine, you'll see."
Except it's not that fine.
Not for Minseok, at least. Things seem to be going great for Luhan, however. Minseok watches him scornfully out of the corner of his eye as Luhan gives Jongin a high five after a successful play. Luhan pretty much gets along with all the members of the team, except for Minseok that is.
Minseok stares out at the court, his lip tugged upward in disgust. He's so into his thoughts that he doesn't realize Sehun scooting closer to him on the bench, and jumps when he starts talking. "You know, you can practically feel the hate radiating out of you."
Minseok purses his lips, his cheeks puffing out. "Why'd coach put him in first?"
"This game is all strategy, you know?" Sehun shrugs then leans closer to Minseok, putting his chin on his shoulder, "I'm certain he'll put you in for the next set."
Minseok's eyebrows are still furrowed, the corners of his lips lowering into a frown. Sehun reaches around and pokes Minseok's cheek from the other side. "Don't stress, you're cuter when you smile anyway," Sehun adds with a teasing smile.
Minseok rolls his eyes, but at least he's smiling now. "Get off," he playfully pushes Sehun off of him, his smile now wide enough to show teeth.
Suddenly, there's a loud squeak of sneakers skidding, and a loud gasp of the audience from behind them, followed by a whistle blowing loudly. The members on their side of the team are huddling around someone who's been hit on the head by the ball.
Minseok and Sehun stand up in worry. Who's been hit?
Through the huddle of players on the court, Minseok can see Minho reaching down to help the person up. "Are you ok? Just where were you looking?"
Luhan stands up with the helping hand, "I just... I don't know. I'm fine."
Minseok looks over with hope in his eyes to the coach to see if he's going to pull Luhan out. That was a shot to the head; he should be taken out, right?
But Luhan looks over the coach and waves a dismissive hand to him, saying he's ok. Which means that Minseok doesn't get to play. Minseok sits down in a huff, cheeks puffed out.
It's been a week since their last scrimmage. While they won, and that's great for the team, Minseok actually was only on the court for one set. Just one set. Before he got injured, he would have been on the court for most, if not all of the sets. While everyone else was cheering around him on the bus ride back home, Minseok sat in the front, embarrassed at his performance. He needs to get better. Faster. Stronger. And so now Minseok is in the gym, doing drills before practice has even started.
It's about ten minutes before practice starts that Luhan walks in. Minseok can see him start stretching out of his periphery. If anything, it makes him push harder. He needs to be better than Luhan. Minseok imagines the ball he's about to hit is Luhan's face and smacks it with all his might. It bounces of the wall loudly and rolls towards Luhan's feet. Minseok doesn't mind it, picks up another ball from the bin and hits that against the wall instead.
"Do you have a problem?"
Minseok is about to hit another ball, but instead catches it and turns around when he hears the question. He simply looks at Luhan, squints his eyes, and then throws the ball in the air to hit it against the wall again.
Minseok lets out a small squeal when a ball goes zooming past his head and hits the wall in front of him. He turns around to see Luhan straightening up from a striking position.
"I said, do you have a problem."
Minseok pulls his lips in, his nostrils flared. He pivots on his heel and turns toward Luhan. "Actually, I do. You.
"What did I ever do to you?"
Minseok scoffs and rolls his eyes, eyelids slightly flickering. Luhan just stands there, waiting for an answer, hand on hip and eyebrow cocked. "Well?"
Minseok gives Luhan a glint stare, and bites back on his jaw before throwing the ball he's holding in the air and spiking it with all his might at Luhan. Luhan is caught off guard, and catches the ball instead of hitting it back; the momentum of hit makes him fall to the floor.
Minseok runs over to the benches, picks up his bag and storms out of the room, shouting "You fool!" over his shoulder before shoving the heavy gym doors open and exiting. As he was leaving, Junmyeon walks in from the other side of the room, where the locker rooms are. He jogs over to Luhan. "What's the deal? What's up with Minseok?"
Luhan leans his weight onto one hand and picks himself off the ground. "I don't know? He just got all mad and threw a ball at me." Luhan brushes the dust off his shorts.
Junmyeon claps a hand on his Luhan's shoulder, and rubs it reassuringly. "Don't stress too much about it, Minseok has some issues to work through is all."
"And I thought I was the messed up one..." Luhan's gaze shifts from Junmyeon to the door Minseok had stormed out through.
Minseok's stride turns into a run and as he goes down the hallway out of the school. His head is buzzing with thoughts. He doesn't feel adequate. No matter how much he's practiced, no matter how much he tries, it's never enough. He thought he'd be welcomed home with open arms, a spot waiting for him on the team. If he hadn't gotten injured, he'd have been captain (a spot now held by Junmyeon) and he'd still be the librero. He was welcomed back with gusto, certainly. Junmyeon offered for him to become co-captain, maybe into their second semester. But the coach for now had put Minseok in as a setter.
But the spot that he had, and the spot that he wants has been taken by this new boy. Someone he thought the team would have written off as a villain. How can someone like Luhan have been able to make it on the team.
Minseok skips practice that day.
Later on, after school, he meets up with Junmyeon. With slumped shoulders, his duffle bag heavy with the equipment he'd emptied out from his locker, he tells Junmyeon that he's going to quit the team.
Junmyeon is confused, and a little irritated. The Minseok that he knows wouldn't just give up halfway. Why? is the only question he can get out.
"Junmyeon are you really that surprised?"
"Yes, I am! No one wants you to leave."
Minseok shakes his head; he avoids eye contact with Junmyeon. "I-- I just. There's no spot for me here, Junmyeon." He looks up at Junmyeon, who has a look of concern on his face.
Minseok smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I can keep playing into college or anything. It's just smarter for me to quit and focus on my studies."
"Are you really sure?" Junmyeon's eyebrows are low. He's not sure what's really causing Minseok to act like this. Did something happen between him and Luhan that morning?
"Sure I'm sure," Minseok has a soft smile on. "Tell the rest of the team, would you?"
Junmyeon's lips flap like he means to say more, but all he can say is, "Okay." He watches Minseok walking away, and Junmyeon can't help but think that he should do more, since he's the captain and all.
When he turns away from Junmyeon and out the school, Minseok's face drops, his true feelings showing now. Minseok doesn't have a spot on the team anymore. He lost the opportunity to be captain; he's lost his spot as the librero. And though being a setter is important, he's not as good as the new freshman Jongin at it. It makes Minseok feel empty.
Unwanted.
Two days later after practice while the team is changing is when Junmyeon announces that Minseok has decided to leave the team.
"What, why?" Minho asks. Everyone in the room is generally confused. The only one to not speak up is Luhan, who quietly puts his clothes in his gym bag and leaves the locker room while everyone else gets caught up in discussion about Minseok.
However, instead of walking towards his locker to put his bag away, he keeps walking down the hallway until he gets to a classroom. It's Minseok's homeroom, and to Luhan's luck, Minseok is hunched over a book reading at his desk. Luhan strides up to Minseok's desk and slams a hand down, startling him.
"Why are you quitting?" Luhan has a scowl on his lips, the fringe of his hair slightly damp from sweating during practice.
Minseok glances up quickly, then looks back down at his book, "Why does it matter to you?"
Luhan pulls out the chair from the desk in front of Minseok, sitting on it so that he can face Minseok. He pulls the book out of Minseok's hands so he can see his face. "Play against me."
Minseok gives Luhan an annoyed look and reaches for his book that Luhan is now holding above their heads. "What?"
"Play against me," Luhan repeats. He holds the book up higher. "If I win you have to stay."
"Does that even make any sense?" Minseok stands up in order to grab the book, but Luhan just takes a step back and raises it higher, his other hand on Minseok's chest to hold him back.
"Well if you win, I'll quit."
Minseok studies Luhan's face. He seems to be serious. But... why would Luhan offer to do this? Minseok is weary and turns him down. "I... I don't think so."
"Come on, we'll play two on two, and you can pick the teams."
Minseok almost laughs. "You're making this too easy. Why are you doing this?"
"Don't you know the saying 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'? Just do this."
Minseok smirks and cocks his eyebrow, "Alright, call."
The next day after school is when the match takes place. It's Minseok and Sehun against Luhan and Kris. Kris is tall, and is a good blocker, but tends to be clumsy. Knowing this, Minseok picked Sehun, who was the best freshman on the team.
The first set goes by quickly, Minseok's team taking it and winning by a landslide. Then they play the second set, winning again by a margin of 10 points. Minseok likes that he's winning, but something... something just feels off.
After the second set, there's a small break, and Minseok grabs a drink. Sehun sits next to him, wiping off some sweat with a towel. In the distance farther down Minseok can see Luhan and Kris talking.
Junmyeon comes up to Minseok, the referee whistle bouncing off his chest with each step. "Good game so far guys! I knew you couldn't say off the court for long, Minseok."
Minseok takes one last swig of water and closes his bottle before answering, "Anything to get that guy off the team."
Junmyeon squints his eyes and Sehun looks up at Minseok in confusion. "...Get rid of? What do you mean?"
Minseok nonchalantly shrugs and sets his bottle down. "Me and yellow head have a deal. If I win, he leaves the team."
Junmyeon and Sehun exchange a look, both of their eyes wide. Minseok looks between them. "What is there a problem with that?"
Junmyeon scratches the nape of his neck, "Well… There's this thing. Has anyone told you exactly why Luhan is on the team?"
Minseok looks at the ceiling in thought and then shakes his head, "No, I don't think so..."
Sehun scoffs and lobs his head backwards. "No wonder you've been like this towards him."
"Been like what towards who?" Minseok crosses his arms.
Sehun waves a hand up and down, "Like this... all stubborn and stuff."
Minseok's eyebrow twitches. Stubborn? The nerve. "I'm not stubborn. Yeah, I don't like him but I'm not stubborn!"
"Stubborn or not," Junmyeon starts (Sehun mouths "very stubborn"). "I thought someone had told you, Luhan was put on the team on purpose. He was supposed to just help around the gym as part of his punishment, but then we had him fill in during practice one time, and we saw that he actually had some talent, so the coach decided to let him on the team. But he's still, quote-unquote on probation, so if he leaves the team he'll get expelled from school."
Minseok drops his head down, looking first at his sneakers then out of the corner of his eye towards Luhan who was still talking with Kris. He... didn't know things were like this. And now, he actually felt a little bad towards the blond? Minseok knew that he was playing completely ruthlessly during the first two matches. That this was all Luhan's fault. But it feels weird, knowing that Luhan could get expelled because of this silly match between them.
During the third set, Minseok just can't get his head in the game. He keeps thinking about Luhan, and how he might get kicked out of school. And how, well something like this may not be too important. But knowing this could happen, that he could get kicked out of school if he lost, why did Luhan agree to such a bet?
Minseok snaps out of his trance when a ball comes and lands right in front of him -- a ball that he could have hit.
Luhan shouts out at him from across the court cupping his hands around his mouth, "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you playing as hard? I thought you wanted to get rid of me?"
Why... why is he being like this? This whole thing, this game, these antics. "You know what? Forget this." Minseok turns on his heel and walks off the court.
"Where are you going? Quitting again?" Minseok can hear Luhan calling out from behind him.
"I was done playing in the first place. I let you provoke me into doing this, but no more." Minseok picks up his things from bench and heads towards locker room.
Luhan ducks under the net and runs after Minseok into the locker room, "No, you just can't leave like this!'
Minseok turns around suddenly to tell Luhan to go away, but Luhan is still half running and doesn't expect Minseok to stop so suddenly. He can't stop his momentum and runs into Minseok, sending both of them flying to the ground.
Luhan opens his eyes, one eyelid at a time. He's fallen on top of Minseok and now their faces are just inches from each other. Luhan swallows audibly.
Minseok bites back on his jaw and shoves Luhan off of him. "Get off! I'm leaving." Minseok grabs his bag from the floor and leaves, Luhan still on the floor in a daze.
A few weeks pass.
Minseok hasn't been to practice; he's given up volleyball for real this time. Him forfeiting that game meant that Luhan could stay, and that was for the better. Besides, he needs to study and get ready for college entrance exams.
One day, Minseok is on his way home that when he runs into Junmyeon at the bus stop. "Fancy seeing you here. How's practice going?"
Junmyeon mashes the tip of his shoe into the concrete and pulls on his backpack straps with his thumbs. "Not so well... we've actually had to do some reshuffling on the team." Junmyeon's voice rises at the end, almost like he's asking a question. He clears his throat.
Minseok looks down the street to see if the bus has come. He's antsy. He wants to hear about the volleyball team, but at the same time, it hurts. But he was the one who decided to leave. But... he's curious. "Why?"
"Well after you left, Luhan also stopped showing up to practices and actually school in general." Minseok whips his head around to look at Junmyeon, who had a stoic look on his face. "I heard he got suspended for getting in a fight or something. When he showed up two weeks later, coach told him he wasn't allowed on the team anymore. He went ballistic and flipped the cart with balls in it over and then stormed out. I haven't seen him since."
Minseok's eyes go wide. He thought that by giving up that game, and therefore their bet, that Luhan could stay on the team. Things were supposed to be better without him.
"Wait, so who's been your librero?" Minseok asks while pulling his wallet out to get his bus pass.
"I have... and Jongin's taken over as setter." Junmyeon purses his lips
"Oh..." Minseok rubs a finger under his nose, "And, um, how's that been working out?"
Junmyeon swings his backpack over his shoulder and begins fishing for his wallet. "Well we lost the scrimmage against YG high last week... but the tournament starts officially next week. We'll see how it goes." Junmyeon zips up his backpack and swings it back over his shoulder.
The bus pulls up and Junmyeon boards, but Minseok is stuck in his spot.
"Aren't you getting on?" Junmyeon swipes his card and walks on.
Minseok points back towards the school, "You know, I, uh, I forgot something. I'll catch you in next time, ok?" Minseok waves and walks back towards the school. Junmyeon shrugs and sits down on the bus. He never quite got Minseok anyway.
Minseok walks past the school and heads to the park next to it. It's supposed to be for the children in the neighborhood, but normally right after the high school lets out, it's full of some ne'er-do-wells from the area. He can see a group of teenagers huddled around the jungle gym, and it's there that he sees a tuft of familiar looking blond hair, back facing him.
Minseok comes up from behind him, coughing loudly in show. "You know they say smoking is bad for you."
Luhan turns around, voice hard and a scowl on his face, "And what's it to you?" He inhales on his cigarette and blows the smoke in Minseok's face.
Minseok grabs Luhan's arm, pulling him away from group. "You know you're better than this." He snatches the cigarette out of Luhan's hand and smothers it with the tip of his shoe.
"Better than what?" Luhan rips his hand out of Minseok's grasp.
"Come on Luhan don't be like this, I know you like playing volleyball, now let's go talk to the coach and get your spot back on the team." Minseok takes Luhan's wrist and leads him across the playground and back towards the school.
"Why are you being like this?"
"Being like what?"
"Acting like you care." Minseok drops Luhan's hand, and his head hangs low. "What did I strike a nerve or something?"
"I do care." Minseok mumbles.
Luhan grabs Minseok by the shoulder, making him turn around. "Sorry what?"
Minseok looks up at Luhan, "I said, I do care." His mouth is in a small pout. "I just, I was just jealous because I had to work so hard to get that spot on the team. It was difficult for me in America with all the physical therapy, and then I came back and there was just, there was just no room for me. How did you think I felt?" Minseok's eyes are wet, and he blinks rapidly to dissipate the moisture.
Luhan crosses his arms, "Well, I finally found a place where I felt like I was worth something, but... as it turns out the person I wanted to impress the most wanted nothing to do with me."
Minseok's eyebrows furrow in confusion and he points a finger towards himself. "You're not talking about me, are you?" He chuckles lightly out of nervousness.
"Yes! I'm talking about you, Minseok." Luhan swallows and looks to his left. "I've always wanted to be like you. To be near you. And so, last year when they told me I couldn't join the team I got mad..."
"And ruined our balls?" Minseok runs a hand over his face. "You're kidding, right?"
Luhan shifts his gaze to the ground and digs his heel in the asphalt. "Yeah, maybe not the smartest thing. But then they told me I had to help the team after I got off suspension.... and then when I got back to school, you were gone, injured and off to America for recovery.
Oh.
Luhan coughs into his hand and continues looking to the left, "I always thought you were cool."
Minseok can feel a tingling in his cheeks. Cool?
Luhan jerks forward when two of his friends that were sitting at the jungle gym come from behind and put their arms around his shoulders suddenly.
"Lu, what's going on here? Is this little guy bothering you or something?"
Luhan looks between the two guys, "Naw, man, we're cool here."
Minseok bites his bottom lip in worry.
"Well we're going to get headed out. Come with us, unless you wanna keep talking with this loser." The guy on Luhan's left juts his chin out towards Minseok.
"Hey guys, it's not like that." Luhan steps out from their arms and in front of Luhan. "He's not a loser."
"Ohh, I see how it is," The guy from the right says. "This must be one of those volleyball geeks you've been hanging out with over the past year."
"They aren't geeks!" Luhan puffs out his chest and tries to tuck Minseok behind him.
Tension rises and Minseok looks around, trying to see if there's anyone that can help them. Minseok and Luhan are fit from playing volleyball, sure, but there's no way that either of them could afford to get in a fight. Luckily, just turning the corner from the school come Kris, Minho, Sehun and Jongin. Minseok hollers and they look over, running once they sense the situation.
"Is there a problem here?" Kris asks, his deep voice booming.
"Ah, no, I don't think so." The guy on the left says.
"We're just on our way." They turn back and head towards the other two boys who are still sitting by the jungle gym and make their way off the playground. Minseok let out a breath of relief; luck would have it that some of their biggest members just happened to be walking out of the school at the right time.
Sehun puts an arm around Minseok's shoulders. "Is everything ok here?"
Minseok smiles, "Yeah, I think everything is going to be fine. Come on, Luhan, let's go talk to coach."
Luhan returns the smile, and they head back to the school together.
It's a few weeks later, and Luhan is over at Minseok's house. It's taken some time, but the two have finally become close, and after a long discussion with their coach, the two of them are back on the team. Since then, Luhan has basically been glued to Minseok's side, using all sorts of excuses to stay with him. Tonight, they're doing homework together, and are upstairs in Minseok's room. Minseok is sitting on the floor, back against his bed, and Luhan is lying on his stomach, head resting on one of his hands.
"I... I just don't get this problem." Luhan puts his pencil down and drops his head down on his book.
"Let me see," Minseok leans over to get a closer look, but Luhan doesn't hear him and raised out of his position quickly, making their faces only inches apart. Minseok blinks a few times, but they hold the eye contact. He can feel Luhan's shaky breath on his face, and then Luhan's eyes flutter shut, and Luhan closes the gap between them.
A moment later, Luhan pulls away from the kiss, and it takes a second for Minseok to open his as well. Luhan rearranges himself so that he's sitting in front of Minseok.
"I'll take this as you like me too?" Luhan's voice is soft, but hopeful.
Minseok looks down at the ground, avoiding Luhan's gaze. His voice is low, "maybe..."
"Did you hate the kiss?" Luhan sits on his hands and peers up at Minseok from between his lashes.
Minseok taps his chin with his finger, his face thoughtful. "Well I didn't not like it," he adds his smile breaking through on his face.
Luhan chuckles, cheerfulness in his voice. His eyes shift down to Minseok's lips as he goes in for another kiss.
And another.
And another.
Luhan pulls away from Minseok's lips, and begins trailing his kisses down Minseok's neck, nuzzling his face there.
Minseok giggles in between each kiss. He never expected to have these kinds of feelings towards Luhan, for them to be in this situation after all they'd been through. But this, this was nice. Minseok giggles turn into laughter, his body shaking and Luhan lifts his head up.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, I'm just happy." Minseok puts a hand on Luhan's face, his thumb caressing his cheek.
Luhan chuckles and goes in for another kiss. He leans closer to Minseok and lifts a leg to straddle Minseok. His fingers trace Minseok's skin right above his pants, slowly working their way up Minseok's shirt.
"Hey! Not so fast!" Minseok turns his head away and pushes Luhan's face away playfully, but with enough force so that Luhan would actually know he was being serious.
Luhan pouts and rubs his cheek that is a little red from Minseok's hit.
"One step at time," Minseok bops Luhan on the nose and sticks his tongue out.
They'd have a lot more time in the future indeed.