he shoots, he scores (injoon/gwangchul)
title: he shoots, he scores
pairing: injoon/gwangchul, jihwan/hyunchul
etc.: g; 3576 words; soccer au
summary: Hyunchul is the captain of what, in his mind, seems to be the best soccer team in all of Seoul.
Hyunchul is the captain of what, in his mind, seems to be the best soccer team in all of Seoul. Sure, most of the players only show up for half the practices, and Jihwan spends more time yelling everyone who isn't good rather than actually playing. Hyunchul isn't really sure how he got on the team because he hasn't done much playing since the day he started. Hyunmin is really just an awful goal keeper, but it's not often they need him anyway, because they have Gwangchul. Hyunchul is pretty sure Gwangchul is the best soccer player he's ever met, aside from himself, and the two of them are probably the only reasons they win all of their matches.
Despite their abilities being fairly even, Hyunchul was voted captain instead of Gwangchul, mostly because of Gwangchul's incessant need to show off. This day is no different.
Hyunchul and Jihwan drag their feet over to the water table, where the new water boy pours each of them a cup. Jihwan takes a swig and side-eyes Hyunchul. "I'm going to beat you one of these days."
Hyunchul laughs softly and leans against the table. "Highly unlikely."
Hyunmin laughs at them as he jogs over, Gwangchul lagging behind him still kicking the soccer ball between his feet. Jihwan wrinkles his eyebrows at Gwangchul as he reaches across the table for the cup the water boy had poured for Hyunmin. Hyunmin briefly scowls at him and gestures for the water boy to pour him another. "How long have you been here?" Jihwan questioningly sighs at Gwangchul.
Gwangchul wipes the sweat from his forehead and laughs. "About ten hours."
Hyunchul scoffs and swats at the mosquitoes gathering around them. "Jeez Gwangchul, go home."
Hyunmin lets out a condescending laugh and leans back against the wall. "You all take this game way too seriously." He tosses his empty cup to the side and unknowingly hits the water boy in the head. "When's the last time any of you had a date?"
All three of them glance at their hands, and Gwangchul quickly takes the soccer ball and kicks it as hard as he can. He holds his hand over his forehead to block out the sun and watches it soar and land somewhere on the other side of the field. He proudly sighs and turns back to the table. "Hey water boy! You mind running to get that?"
"Injoon." The boy groans, jaw clenched. "My name is Injoon."
Gwangchul raises an eyebrow. "Okay, Injoon, can you please go get my ball?" He pauses and smiles - half sheepishly, half annoyed - then stares, and Injoon takes a heavy sigh and begins storming across the field.
Hyunmin shakes his head. "Anyway, all of you need to get out more. Especially you." He nods towards Gwangchul, who immediately takes offense.
"What! I get out every day."
Jihwan blinks. "Somewhere other than here, Gwangchul." And Gwangchul has no retort.
A glint appears in Hyunmin's eye and he steps towards him. "Alright, I've got an idea. I dare you to ask out the next person who comes up to you."
Gwangchul clicks his teeth and exaggerates an eye-roll, but Hyunmin just crosses his arms. As much as he wants to deny, it's not like Gwangchul to turn down a challenge. "Deal." They shake hands and a confident smirk finds its way onto Hyunmin's face.
They hear the yell, but aren't quick enough to react and Gwangchul turns around only to be smacked in the face by a soccer ball. He immediately clutches his nose, unable to hold back a few profanities, and Hyunchul quickly hands him a tissue to help with the bleeding that's already started.
Injoon runs up to them, panting so hard you'd think he'd just finished a marathon. He stops in front of Gwangchul, rapidly apologizing despite his inability to fully catch his breath. "Ah! Sorry. I thought it'd be faster if I kicked it over."
Gwangchul tosses the tissue in the trash and grabs another. "Whatever, just don't worry about it." Hyunmin stifles a laugh and roughly nudges Gwangchul in the side. Gwangchul turns his head and glares. "What was that for?" Hyunmin nods towards Injoon and Gwangchul quickly looks, slowly understanding. And possibly regretting. He shoots a look back to Hyunmin and mouths No, no no. several times. But Hyunmin stands strong and grins. Gwangchul hangs his head and groans, turning back towards Injoon and extending his hand. "I'm Gwangchul."
They leave it at that, and don't speak until the end of practice. Hyunmin is sure Gwangchul will chicken out, until Gwangchul corners Injoon at the front gates and asks if he wants to walk home together. Injoon is nothing short of elated.
He has to resist grabbing Gwangchul's hand the second they leave, because yes that seems just a little bit too desperate, he thinks.
After walking a few blocks in anxious silence, he realizes he has no idea where they're going. Gwangchul walks in anxiousness too, though Injoon doesn't know it's because Gwangchul also has no idea what he's doing.
And just as Injoon is ready to start wondering if he's being kidnapped - though considering, he's not sure he would mind - the shuffling sound of Gwangchul's feet that he was listening to, stops. Injoon looks up and Gwangchul pulls on his arm. He barely has time to turn before small helping of patbingsoo appears in front of him.
Injoon no more than blinks and Gwangchul is no longer next to him. A quick spin around and he sees Gwangchul sitting up on a ledge, diving into his patbingsoo. Injoon nearly trips as he follows over, but Gwangchul notices and offers a hand to help Injoon up.
After settling in, Injoon finds himself starting small talk, out of nervousness and purely out of habit. Luckily, but also unfortunately, Gwangchul seems equally prone to small talk. The longer it goes on, the easier it becomes, but it isn't until Injoon's hand slips and he drops his patbingsoo on the ground that the tension drops. Gwangchul stops mid-bite, looking at Injoon and smiling before tossing his own patbingsoo onto the concrete.
The two of them catch eyes and burst out laughing. Injoon clears his throat and nods to himself. "This is okay."
Injoon's breath hitches in his throat when Gwangchul laughs again, but he finds himself unable to look away like he normally does when he's nervous. "You were actually worried, weren't you?" Gwangchul grins.
"Yeah, dumb. I know."
"No, it's..." Gwangchul's voice wavers, if only for a second. Injoon waits for the rest of his sentence. But Gwangchul shifts a little closer, and their knees knock together ever-so-briefly, and Injoon forgets. "It's not."
Injoon kicks his legs, a dreamy look working its way onto his face even though he tries to hide it. "I'll have to thank Hyunmin for being more helpful than I expected."
Nonchalantly, and with a little relief, Gwangchul sighs. "Oh, so you knew it was a dare?"
Injoon freezes, and slowly turns his head. "What?" There's a slight waver and a light lift in his voice. "Dare?"
When Gwangchul realizes his mouth's just gotten him in trouble, he remembers why he often refrains from opening it. "You didn't know." Injoon stares, wide eyes and a confused look on his face. "Shit."
"You were dared to go out with me?"
Gwangchul cringes and leans back. "Not you in particular...Hyunmin dared me to ask out the first person who came up to me. It ended up being you."
Injoon scoffs and throws his legs over the ledge, dropping down onto his feet. "Real nice, Gwangchul. You can stop taking pity on me now." He takes a step, intending to storm off but immediately spins around on his heels. "And you can tell Hyunmin I said thanks for nothing."
"Hyunmin?" Gwangchul jumps down in front of Injoon, blocking his path. "What are you talking about?"
Injoon sighs and shoves his hands in his back pockets, awkwardly glaring at the ground. "I asked Hyunmin to do that. Well, not that, but I asked him to help me...find an excuse to talk to you. Okay?"
Because Injoon refuses to look him in the eye, Gwangchul is forced to look at the top of his head. He tries not to laugh, but it comes out sounding more like a snort, making him seem more rude than he had intended. "Why would you need an excuse? Couldn't you just talk to me yourself?"
Injoon looks up at the snort, but he doesn't have a smile on his face. "You're not exactly an easy person to just walk up to."
"What do you mean?" Gwangchul is surprised he's been able to keep the conversation going this long, since Injoon seemed so eager to leave only moments earlier. "You talk to everyone."
Injoon grows more timid, but doesn't break the eye contact he'd managed to establish. He could tell Gwangchul about all the times he'd shown up early to set up, risking the chance to be able to be the one Gwangchul nabs his soccer ball from. He could tell him about how often he stays late because he knows Gwangchul does, lurking outside the locker room simply because he's curious about what it would be like if Gwangchul was like Hyunmin, who has a habit of removing his shirt in the middle of games when it gets too hot. Injoon could tell Gwangchul that he's counted how many times their fingers had brushed as Injoon passed out waters to the team, long before Gwangchul even knew his name. Eight, Injoon thinks, not that Gwangchul noticed any of them.
He could tell Gwangchul all of these things. But he doesn't.
Instead he retreats and finds himself feeling insignificant once again. "You're intimidating."
Again, Gwangchul finds humor in this and lightly laughs, as if the idea has never crossed his mind. "Me? Intimidating?"
"That's exactly it." Injoon says, and frowns. "You're always so sure of yourself."
With a wrinkled brow, Gwangchul bites his lip. "I'm not so sure right now."
Injoon swallows hard and continues, unable to hear Gwangchul over his own thoughts. "You have reason to be though. You seem cool, to me anyway. You're really great at soccer, though I'm sure you've been told that a million times." He coughs when his throat starts to dry up on him. "And you're really...nice-looking." He drops his eyes, glancing up only once to find it more difficult now that he's surely embarrassed himself.
Gwangchul seems to catch some of Injoon's nerves, though it's mostly because it's not often he receives such incessant flattery. When he doesn't say anything, Injoon starts to anxiously tap his foot. "I'll just stop bothering you now."
He pushes past and wipes his forehead, sweating from embarrassment. Gwangchul instantly grabs Injoon by the wrist, and Injoon quickly turns with shining eyes. "Do you want to have dinner?" Injoon stares, and it makes Gwangchul more nervous than he expected. "I don't know, tomorrow maybe?" Injoon doesn't so much as stutter and Gwangchul swiftly pulls his hand away. "If you don't want to, that's okay too..."
Gwangchul turns around with a sly, knowing grin and Injoon nearly breaks his neck darting in his path. "No!" He unintentionally throws out his hands, though it's useless because Gwangchul hasn't even moved. "I mean yes, yes, very much yes."
No one questions when Gwangchul heads for the locker room in the middle of practice the next day. It's become a habit since he proved to be the smelliest member of the team, and after complaints their coach had demanded he take at least one shower break a day.
Hyunchul likes to use this time to his advantage. Jihwan often gives Hyunchul challenges, testing how well his ability actually measures up to his confidence level. And today is no different. Hyunmin usually gets sucked into their games, but he tries not to complain since he has nothing better to do.
This time Jihwan has Hyunmin in the goal while Hyunchul makes penalty kicks, and he's not allowed to stop until he makes five in a row. Unsurprisingly, he succeeds on the first try. Hyunmin then takes the soccer ball and kicks it to the other side of the field, and tells Hyunchul to get it himself while he trudges over to where Jihwan is watching with and unamused smirk.
Hyunmin reaches for a water only to realize there isn't one. "Wasn't Injoon here a minute ago?" He sighs, but Jihwan just shrugs without even looking in his direction. "You know," Hyunmin chirps, changing the subject. "You and Hyunchul need as much help as Gwangchul, but I'd have no choice but to set you up with each other."
"What?" Jihwan lifts his head in surprise, but Hyunmin is already gone.
Hyunchul is sneering when he comes back off the field, wiping the sweat from his forehead dramatically to show off his pride. Jihwan scoffs and grins. "Well aren't you proud?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" Hyunchul chuckles. "I'm team captain for a reason."
Jihwan clicks his teeth and picks up a ball, not caring who it belongs to, and marches onto the field with determination. "You and me. One-on-one. Right now."
Hyunchul beams. "You sure you want to do that?"
Gritting his teeth, Jihwan sets the ball down center field and crouches with his hands on his knees. "I'm not worried."
"Don't we need a ref?" Hyunchul hesitantly matches Jihwan's stance.
With a scoff, Jihwan flicks the hair out of his face. "No way. Raw game, no rules, no fouls."
"I like the sound of that," Hyunchul drawls. "But how about we make this a little more interesting?" Jihwan raises a curious eyebrow. "Whoever loses has to do whatever the other wants."
"That's pretty vague, hyung."
A devious smirk finds its way onto Hyunchul's lips. "I need time to get creative with your punishment."
Jihwan narrows his eyes and stares Hyunchul down. "You mean your punishment?"
"We'll see." He takes the whistle out of his pocket and throws the string around his neck, slipping the whistle in his mouth.
"First to five wins?" A nod. He blows the whistle and Jihwan immediately makes a swift kick between Hyunchul's feet. The ball goes flying and Jihwan runs after it, but Hyunchul is quicker and cuts in front of him, kicking the ball back over their heads. The both of them dash trying t0 get to it first. Jihwan skids in front of Hyunchul and kicks a hard as he can, and the ball soars into the goal.
Hyunchul immediately drops his head and groans. "Lucky shot."
Jihwan blows the hair out of his eyes and sticks out his bottom lip. "One-nothing, hyung?" Hyunchul clenches his fits and struggles not to punch him. They set back up in the middle, eyes staring twice as hard a before. "So, you come up with that creative punishment yet?"
Hyunchul flashes Jihwan a toothy smirk. "It's coming to me." He blows the whistle again, and this time he lightly slams into Jihwan, who falls back, not from the force but because he's taken by surprise. He barely has time to stand up before he sees Hyunchul ending the ball into the net. He turns around and puts a hand on his hip. "Hope you like lederhosen."
Fifteen minutes later they're dripping with sweat, hair sticking to their foreheads, tied 4-4. Jihwan shakes his head and lowers his gaze, grinning at Hyunchul from under his bangs. Despite his competitive nature, Hyunchul grins when Jihwan playfully sticks out his tongue at him.
The whistle sounds, and the two of them take off with more casualty. They dodge and spin past each other, maneuvering easily though they move at different speeds. Hyunchul elbows Jihwan in the side and laughs. Jihwan only smirks back, but slows down, letting Hyunchul think he's ahead. In milliseconds he snakes the ball from under Hyunchul when he goes to swing his leg, and nudges Hyunchul just enough to make him trip.
"No fouls, right hyung?" He smugly smirks and swiftly kicks, the ball halfway across the field into the opposite goal. He giggles and spins around on one foot, smiling at Hyunchul who's on the ground with a clump of grass in his fist, pulled out in frustration. Jihwan waltzes over and mimics his action, laying back with his hands behind his head. "Told you I'd beat you one day, Hyunchul-hyung."
Hyunchul laughs, sincerely, and smiles as he heaves a sigh. "Yeah, you did. You're good, okay?" They lay there, staring at the sky and calmly catching their breath.
With a yawn, Hyunchul closes his eyes and lays his hands on his stomach. "So what's my punishment, Jihwannie?"
Jihwan blinks and bites his tongue, sitting up onto his knees. Briefly cringing, he leans over onto his hands and hovers over Hyunchul, swallowing hard before leaning down and pressing his lips to Hyunchul's. The contact is brief but time speeds up in Jihwan's mind. When he pulls back he stares awkwardly as Hyunchul opens his eyes. Hyunchul sits up onto his knees, slowly, and sets his eyes on Jihwan's mouth. He leans forward, stops, and re-focuses on Jihwan's eyes. He closes the space between them, putting his hand on the back of Jihwan's neck and pulling him in, kissing him again. Jihwan gets bold and tries doing the same, but ends up knocking their noses together. He quickly grabs at his nose and laughs, and Hyunchul can't help but laugh too.
"Hey you two!" Hyunchul and Jihwan look over and Gwangchul is jogging towards them. "What are you doing?"
Jihwan sneaks a glance back at Hyunchul, but quickly snaps his head forward and forces a smile. "Playing soccer."
Gwangchul chuckles, crossing his arms with a smug grin. "Should have expected that. You guys are so boring."
Hyunchul rises with an amused glint in his eye. "Us, boring? Look who's talking."
"There's more to life than soccer, hyung."
Jihwan knits his eyebrows together and slowly stands. "Who are you and what have you done with Gwangchul?"
Gwangchul makes an exaggeratedly disgusted face at him and Jihwan just frowns and sticks out his tongue in response.
Hyunchul chimes in. "Wait, Gwangchul you're dressed. Leaving already? Normally you'd be here another five hours."
Gwangchul sharply inhales and digs his fingers in his sweatshirt pocket. "Yeah, I'm...cutting out early today."
With suspicious eyes, Jihwan closes in on Gwangchul. "Why?" Gwangchul opens hi mouth to speak, holding still for a moment, when his phone chirps in his pocket. "You gonna get that?" Jihwan sneers.
Gwangchul rocks back on his heels, a failed attempt at being inconspicuous, and lightly shakes his head. "Nah."
Hyunchul mimics Jihwan's questioning look and steps beside him. "Who's the message from, Gwangchul?"
Gwangchul discreetly slips the phone out of his pocket, and Hyunchul snatches it out of his hand, flipping it open despite Gwangchul's squeal of protest.
to: gwangchul
from: injoon
forgot my sweatshirt >~< coming in to get it~~~~ ^^
Hyunchul smiles and passes the phone to Jihwan, who fails at suppressing a snort of amusement.
"Can I have my phone back, please?" Gwangchul groans and Jihwan eyes him suspiciously.
"Sure." He tosses the phone over Gwangchul's head, and Gwangchul spins around to find Injoon holding the phone out to him, sweatshirt draped over his shoulder.
"Hey." Gwangchul chokes, feeling Jihwan and Hyunchul's stares burning into the back of his head.
"Hey." Injoon echoes, keeping his eyes on Gwangchul and ignoring the glances from Jihwan and Hyunchul. Gwangchul grabs Injoon by the arm, leading him along across the field and out the gates. Injoon doesn't protest because, well, Gwangchul is touching his arm and that's just fine with him. He receives a text as he's being dragged away, and manages to read despite Gwangchul's grip on his arm.
to: injoon
from: jihwan
thanks for taking gwangchul off our hands ^^ we're lucky you came along or else we'd still be stuck with him ;)
He shoves his phone back in his back pocket as Gwangchul guides him towards the wall near his car, breathily letting out what sounds like a forced chuckle. "Sorry about them," he sighs. "They're...nosy?"
Injoon smiles to himself and looks up. "Still a little embarrassed to be seen with me, huh?"
"No!" Injoon is half joking, but Gwangchul steps close and quickly exclaims, and Injoon is taken off-guard by the slightly higher pitch in Gwangchul's voice. "I mean, uh..." Gwangchul clears his throat. "I'm just not used to this, is all." Injoon lightly shrugs and Gwangchul coughs. "You know, this dating thing."
Dating. Injoon almost chokes. "Is that what we're doing?" He leans back against the wall and laughs, while Gwangchul watches awkwardly from a couple of feet away. "We haven't even-" kissed he tries to say, but Gwangchul's lips are on top of his before he can even get a letter out. He's practically numb, but he can feel Gwangchul's hands on his neck.
Injoon's eyes are wide when Gwangchul pulls away, and Gwangchul's smile is so wide his eyes almost disappear behind his eyelids. "You coming?" Injoon snaps at attention when Gwangchul is several feet away, hand on the car door. He slides into the passenger seat and pulls out his phone, unable to hold back a wry smile even as he bites his lip.
to: jihwan
from: injoon
keke i think i'm the lucky one. ^___^
happy late birthday to my mezzik bb love ♥ i'm sorry this is like the worst thing i've ever written but i couldn't not write something for you ;~;
pairing: injoon/gwangchul, jihwan/hyunchul
etc.: g; 3576 words; soccer au
summary: Hyunchul is the captain of what, in his mind, seems to be the best soccer team in all of Seoul.
Hyunchul is the captain of what, in his mind, seems to be the best soccer team in all of Seoul. Sure, most of the players only show up for half the practices, and Jihwan spends more time yelling everyone who isn't good rather than actually playing. Hyunchul isn't really sure how he got on the team because he hasn't done much playing since the day he started. Hyunmin is really just an awful goal keeper, but it's not often they need him anyway, because they have Gwangchul. Hyunchul is pretty sure Gwangchul is the best soccer player he's ever met, aside from himself, and the two of them are probably the only reasons they win all of their matches.
Despite their abilities being fairly even, Hyunchul was voted captain instead of Gwangchul, mostly because of Gwangchul's incessant need to show off. This day is no different.
Hyunchul and Jihwan drag their feet over to the water table, where the new water boy pours each of them a cup. Jihwan takes a swig and side-eyes Hyunchul. "I'm going to beat you one of these days."
Hyunchul laughs softly and leans against the table. "Highly unlikely."
Hyunmin laughs at them as he jogs over, Gwangchul lagging behind him still kicking the soccer ball between his feet. Jihwan wrinkles his eyebrows at Gwangchul as he reaches across the table for the cup the water boy had poured for Hyunmin. Hyunmin briefly scowls at him and gestures for the water boy to pour him another. "How long have you been here?" Jihwan questioningly sighs at Gwangchul.
Gwangchul wipes the sweat from his forehead and laughs. "About ten hours."
Hyunchul scoffs and swats at the mosquitoes gathering around them. "Jeez Gwangchul, go home."
Hyunmin lets out a condescending laugh and leans back against the wall. "You all take this game way too seriously." He tosses his empty cup to the side and unknowingly hits the water boy in the head. "When's the last time any of you had a date?"
All three of them glance at their hands, and Gwangchul quickly takes the soccer ball and kicks it as hard as he can. He holds his hand over his forehead to block out the sun and watches it soar and land somewhere on the other side of the field. He proudly sighs and turns back to the table. "Hey water boy! You mind running to get that?"
"Injoon." The boy groans, jaw clenched. "My name is Injoon."
Gwangchul raises an eyebrow. "Okay, Injoon, can you please go get my ball?" He pauses and smiles - half sheepishly, half annoyed - then stares, and Injoon takes a heavy sigh and begins storming across the field.
Hyunmin shakes his head. "Anyway, all of you need to get out more. Especially you." He nods towards Gwangchul, who immediately takes offense.
"What! I get out every day."
Jihwan blinks. "Somewhere other than here, Gwangchul." And Gwangchul has no retort.
A glint appears in Hyunmin's eye and he steps towards him. "Alright, I've got an idea. I dare you to ask out the next person who comes up to you."
Gwangchul clicks his teeth and exaggerates an eye-roll, but Hyunmin just crosses his arms. As much as he wants to deny, it's not like Gwangchul to turn down a challenge. "Deal." They shake hands and a confident smirk finds its way onto Hyunmin's face.
They hear the yell, but aren't quick enough to react and Gwangchul turns around only to be smacked in the face by a soccer ball. He immediately clutches his nose, unable to hold back a few profanities, and Hyunchul quickly hands him a tissue to help with the bleeding that's already started.
Injoon runs up to them, panting so hard you'd think he'd just finished a marathon. He stops in front of Gwangchul, rapidly apologizing despite his inability to fully catch his breath. "Ah! Sorry. I thought it'd be faster if I kicked it over."
Gwangchul tosses the tissue in the trash and grabs another. "Whatever, just don't worry about it." Hyunmin stifles a laugh and roughly nudges Gwangchul in the side. Gwangchul turns his head and glares. "What was that for?" Hyunmin nods towards Injoon and Gwangchul quickly looks, slowly understanding. And possibly regretting. He shoots a look back to Hyunmin and mouths No, no no. several times. But Hyunmin stands strong and grins. Gwangchul hangs his head and groans, turning back towards Injoon and extending his hand. "I'm Gwangchul."
They leave it at that, and don't speak until the end of practice. Hyunmin is sure Gwangchul will chicken out, until Gwangchul corners Injoon at the front gates and asks if he wants to walk home together. Injoon is nothing short of elated.
He has to resist grabbing Gwangchul's hand the second they leave, because yes that seems just a little bit too desperate, he thinks.
After walking a few blocks in anxious silence, he realizes he has no idea where they're going. Gwangchul walks in anxiousness too, though Injoon doesn't know it's because Gwangchul also has no idea what he's doing.
And just as Injoon is ready to start wondering if he's being kidnapped - though considering, he's not sure he would mind - the shuffling sound of Gwangchul's feet that he was listening to, stops. Injoon looks up and Gwangchul pulls on his arm. He barely has time to turn before small helping of patbingsoo appears in front of him.
Injoon no more than blinks and Gwangchul is no longer next to him. A quick spin around and he sees Gwangchul sitting up on a ledge, diving into his patbingsoo. Injoon nearly trips as he follows over, but Gwangchul notices and offers a hand to help Injoon up.
After settling in, Injoon finds himself starting small talk, out of nervousness and purely out of habit. Luckily, but also unfortunately, Gwangchul seems equally prone to small talk. The longer it goes on, the easier it becomes, but it isn't until Injoon's hand slips and he drops his patbingsoo on the ground that the tension drops. Gwangchul stops mid-bite, looking at Injoon and smiling before tossing his own patbingsoo onto the concrete.
The two of them catch eyes and burst out laughing. Injoon clears his throat and nods to himself. "This is okay."
Injoon's breath hitches in his throat when Gwangchul laughs again, but he finds himself unable to look away like he normally does when he's nervous. "You were actually worried, weren't you?" Gwangchul grins.
"Yeah, dumb. I know."
"No, it's..." Gwangchul's voice wavers, if only for a second. Injoon waits for the rest of his sentence. But Gwangchul shifts a little closer, and their knees knock together ever-so-briefly, and Injoon forgets. "It's not."
Injoon kicks his legs, a dreamy look working its way onto his face even though he tries to hide it. "I'll have to thank Hyunmin for being more helpful than I expected."
Nonchalantly, and with a little relief, Gwangchul sighs. "Oh, so you knew it was a dare?"
Injoon freezes, and slowly turns his head. "What?" There's a slight waver and a light lift in his voice. "Dare?"
When Gwangchul realizes his mouth's just gotten him in trouble, he remembers why he often refrains from opening it. "You didn't know." Injoon stares, wide eyes and a confused look on his face. "Shit."
"You were dared to go out with me?"
Gwangchul cringes and leans back. "Not you in particular...Hyunmin dared me to ask out the first person who came up to me. It ended up being you."
Injoon scoffs and throws his legs over the ledge, dropping down onto his feet. "Real nice, Gwangchul. You can stop taking pity on me now." He takes a step, intending to storm off but immediately spins around on his heels. "And you can tell Hyunmin I said thanks for nothing."
"Hyunmin?" Gwangchul jumps down in front of Injoon, blocking his path. "What are you talking about?"
Injoon sighs and shoves his hands in his back pockets, awkwardly glaring at the ground. "I asked Hyunmin to do that. Well, not that, but I asked him to help me...find an excuse to talk to you. Okay?"
Because Injoon refuses to look him in the eye, Gwangchul is forced to look at the top of his head. He tries not to laugh, but it comes out sounding more like a snort, making him seem more rude than he had intended. "Why would you need an excuse? Couldn't you just talk to me yourself?"
Injoon looks up at the snort, but he doesn't have a smile on his face. "You're not exactly an easy person to just walk up to."
"What do you mean?" Gwangchul is surprised he's been able to keep the conversation going this long, since Injoon seemed so eager to leave only moments earlier. "You talk to everyone."
Injoon grows more timid, but doesn't break the eye contact he'd managed to establish. He could tell Gwangchul about all the times he'd shown up early to set up, risking the chance to be able to be the one Gwangchul nabs his soccer ball from. He could tell him about how often he stays late because he knows Gwangchul does, lurking outside the locker room simply because he's curious about what it would be like if Gwangchul was like Hyunmin, who has a habit of removing his shirt in the middle of games when it gets too hot. Injoon could tell Gwangchul that he's counted how many times their fingers had brushed as Injoon passed out waters to the team, long before Gwangchul even knew his name. Eight, Injoon thinks, not that Gwangchul noticed any of them.
He could tell Gwangchul all of these things. But he doesn't.
Instead he retreats and finds himself feeling insignificant once again. "You're intimidating."
Again, Gwangchul finds humor in this and lightly laughs, as if the idea has never crossed his mind. "Me? Intimidating?"
"That's exactly it." Injoon says, and frowns. "You're always so sure of yourself."
With a wrinkled brow, Gwangchul bites his lip. "I'm not so sure right now."
Injoon swallows hard and continues, unable to hear Gwangchul over his own thoughts. "You have reason to be though. You seem cool, to me anyway. You're really great at soccer, though I'm sure you've been told that a million times." He coughs when his throat starts to dry up on him. "And you're really...nice-looking." He drops his eyes, glancing up only once to find it more difficult now that he's surely embarrassed himself.
Gwangchul seems to catch some of Injoon's nerves, though it's mostly because it's not often he receives such incessant flattery. When he doesn't say anything, Injoon starts to anxiously tap his foot. "I'll just stop bothering you now."
He pushes past and wipes his forehead, sweating from embarrassment. Gwangchul instantly grabs Injoon by the wrist, and Injoon quickly turns with shining eyes. "Do you want to have dinner?" Injoon stares, and it makes Gwangchul more nervous than he expected. "I don't know, tomorrow maybe?" Injoon doesn't so much as stutter and Gwangchul swiftly pulls his hand away. "If you don't want to, that's okay too..."
Gwangchul turns around with a sly, knowing grin and Injoon nearly breaks his neck darting in his path. "No!" He unintentionally throws out his hands, though it's useless because Gwangchul hasn't even moved. "I mean yes, yes, very much yes."
No one questions when Gwangchul heads for the locker room in the middle of practice the next day. It's become a habit since he proved to be the smelliest member of the team, and after complaints their coach had demanded he take at least one shower break a day.
Hyunchul likes to use this time to his advantage. Jihwan often gives Hyunchul challenges, testing how well his ability actually measures up to his confidence level. And today is no different. Hyunmin usually gets sucked into their games, but he tries not to complain since he has nothing better to do.
This time Jihwan has Hyunmin in the goal while Hyunchul makes penalty kicks, and he's not allowed to stop until he makes five in a row. Unsurprisingly, he succeeds on the first try. Hyunmin then takes the soccer ball and kicks it to the other side of the field, and tells Hyunchul to get it himself while he trudges over to where Jihwan is watching with and unamused smirk.
Hyunmin reaches for a water only to realize there isn't one. "Wasn't Injoon here a minute ago?" He sighs, but Jihwan just shrugs without even looking in his direction. "You know," Hyunmin chirps, changing the subject. "You and Hyunchul need as much help as Gwangchul, but I'd have no choice but to set you up with each other."
"What?" Jihwan lifts his head in surprise, but Hyunmin is already gone.
Hyunchul is sneering when he comes back off the field, wiping the sweat from his forehead dramatically to show off his pride. Jihwan scoffs and grins. "Well aren't you proud?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" Hyunchul chuckles. "I'm team captain for a reason."
Jihwan clicks his teeth and picks up a ball, not caring who it belongs to, and marches onto the field with determination. "You and me. One-on-one. Right now."
Hyunchul beams. "You sure you want to do that?"
Gritting his teeth, Jihwan sets the ball down center field and crouches with his hands on his knees. "I'm not worried."
"Don't we need a ref?" Hyunchul hesitantly matches Jihwan's stance.
With a scoff, Jihwan flicks the hair out of his face. "No way. Raw game, no rules, no fouls."
"I like the sound of that," Hyunchul drawls. "But how about we make this a little more interesting?" Jihwan raises a curious eyebrow. "Whoever loses has to do whatever the other wants."
"That's pretty vague, hyung."
A devious smirk finds its way onto Hyunchul's lips. "I need time to get creative with your punishment."
Jihwan narrows his eyes and stares Hyunchul down. "You mean your punishment?"
"We'll see." He takes the whistle out of his pocket and throws the string around his neck, slipping the whistle in his mouth.
"First to five wins?" A nod. He blows the whistle and Jihwan immediately makes a swift kick between Hyunchul's feet. The ball goes flying and Jihwan runs after it, but Hyunchul is quicker and cuts in front of him, kicking the ball back over their heads. The both of them dash trying t0 get to it first. Jihwan skids in front of Hyunchul and kicks a hard as he can, and the ball soars into the goal.
Hyunchul immediately drops his head and groans. "Lucky shot."
Jihwan blows the hair out of his eyes and sticks out his bottom lip. "One-nothing, hyung?" Hyunchul clenches his fits and struggles not to punch him. They set back up in the middle, eyes staring twice as hard a before. "So, you come up with that creative punishment yet?"
Hyunchul flashes Jihwan a toothy smirk. "It's coming to me." He blows the whistle again, and this time he lightly slams into Jihwan, who falls back, not from the force but because he's taken by surprise. He barely has time to stand up before he sees Hyunchul ending the ball into the net. He turns around and puts a hand on his hip. "Hope you like lederhosen."
Fifteen minutes later they're dripping with sweat, hair sticking to their foreheads, tied 4-4. Jihwan shakes his head and lowers his gaze, grinning at Hyunchul from under his bangs. Despite his competitive nature, Hyunchul grins when Jihwan playfully sticks out his tongue at him.
The whistle sounds, and the two of them take off with more casualty. They dodge and spin past each other, maneuvering easily though they move at different speeds. Hyunchul elbows Jihwan in the side and laughs. Jihwan only smirks back, but slows down, letting Hyunchul think he's ahead. In milliseconds he snakes the ball from under Hyunchul when he goes to swing his leg, and nudges Hyunchul just enough to make him trip.
"No fouls, right hyung?" He smugly smirks and swiftly kicks, the ball halfway across the field into the opposite goal. He giggles and spins around on one foot, smiling at Hyunchul who's on the ground with a clump of grass in his fist, pulled out in frustration. Jihwan waltzes over and mimics his action, laying back with his hands behind his head. "Told you I'd beat you one day, Hyunchul-hyung."
Hyunchul laughs, sincerely, and smiles as he heaves a sigh. "Yeah, you did. You're good, okay?" They lay there, staring at the sky and calmly catching their breath.
With a yawn, Hyunchul closes his eyes and lays his hands on his stomach. "So what's my punishment, Jihwannie?"
Jihwan blinks and bites his tongue, sitting up onto his knees. Briefly cringing, he leans over onto his hands and hovers over Hyunchul, swallowing hard before leaning down and pressing his lips to Hyunchul's. The contact is brief but time speeds up in Jihwan's mind. When he pulls back he stares awkwardly as Hyunchul opens his eyes. Hyunchul sits up onto his knees, slowly, and sets his eyes on Jihwan's mouth. He leans forward, stops, and re-focuses on Jihwan's eyes. He closes the space between them, putting his hand on the back of Jihwan's neck and pulling him in, kissing him again. Jihwan gets bold and tries doing the same, but ends up knocking their noses together. He quickly grabs at his nose and laughs, and Hyunchul can't help but laugh too.
"Hey you two!" Hyunchul and Jihwan look over and Gwangchul is jogging towards them. "What are you doing?"
Jihwan sneaks a glance back at Hyunchul, but quickly snaps his head forward and forces a smile. "Playing soccer."
Gwangchul chuckles, crossing his arms with a smug grin. "Should have expected that. You guys are so boring."
Hyunchul rises with an amused glint in his eye. "Us, boring? Look who's talking."
"There's more to life than soccer, hyung."
Jihwan knits his eyebrows together and slowly stands. "Who are you and what have you done with Gwangchul?"
Gwangchul makes an exaggeratedly disgusted face at him and Jihwan just frowns and sticks out his tongue in response.
Hyunchul chimes in. "Wait, Gwangchul you're dressed. Leaving already? Normally you'd be here another five hours."
Gwangchul sharply inhales and digs his fingers in his sweatshirt pocket. "Yeah, I'm...cutting out early today."
With suspicious eyes, Jihwan closes in on Gwangchul. "Why?" Gwangchul opens hi mouth to speak, holding still for a moment, when his phone chirps in his pocket. "You gonna get that?" Jihwan sneers.
Gwangchul rocks back on his heels, a failed attempt at being inconspicuous, and lightly shakes his head. "Nah."
Hyunchul mimics Jihwan's questioning look and steps beside him. "Who's the message from, Gwangchul?"
Gwangchul discreetly slips the phone out of his pocket, and Hyunchul snatches it out of his hand, flipping it open despite Gwangchul's squeal of protest.
to: gwangchul
from: injoon
forgot my sweatshirt >~< coming in to get it~~~~ ^^
Hyunchul smiles and passes the phone to Jihwan, who fails at suppressing a snort of amusement.
"Can I have my phone back, please?" Gwangchul groans and Jihwan eyes him suspiciously.
"Sure." He tosses the phone over Gwangchul's head, and Gwangchul spins around to find Injoon holding the phone out to him, sweatshirt draped over his shoulder.
"Hey." Gwangchul chokes, feeling Jihwan and Hyunchul's stares burning into the back of his head.
"Hey." Injoon echoes, keeping his eyes on Gwangchul and ignoring the glances from Jihwan and Hyunchul. Gwangchul grabs Injoon by the arm, leading him along across the field and out the gates. Injoon doesn't protest because, well, Gwangchul is touching his arm and that's just fine with him. He receives a text as he's being dragged away, and manages to read despite Gwangchul's grip on his arm.
to: injoon
from: jihwan
thanks for taking gwangchul off our hands ^^ we're lucky you came along or else we'd still be stuck with him ;)
He shoves his phone back in his back pocket as Gwangchul guides him towards the wall near his car, breathily letting out what sounds like a forced chuckle. "Sorry about them," he sighs. "They're...nosy?"
Injoon smiles to himself and looks up. "Still a little embarrassed to be seen with me, huh?"
"No!" Injoon is half joking, but Gwangchul steps close and quickly exclaims, and Injoon is taken off-guard by the slightly higher pitch in Gwangchul's voice. "I mean, uh..." Gwangchul clears his throat. "I'm just not used to this, is all." Injoon lightly shrugs and Gwangchul coughs. "You know, this dating thing."
Dating. Injoon almost chokes. "Is that what we're doing?" He leans back against the wall and laughs, while Gwangchul watches awkwardly from a couple of feet away. "We haven't even-" kissed he tries to say, but Gwangchul's lips are on top of his before he can even get a letter out. He's practically numb, but he can feel Gwangchul's hands on his neck.
Injoon's eyes are wide when Gwangchul pulls away, and Gwangchul's smile is so wide his eyes almost disappear behind his eyelids. "You coming?" Injoon snaps at attention when Gwangchul is several feet away, hand on the car door. He slides into the passenger seat and pulls out his phone, unable to hold back a wry smile even as he bites his lip.
to: jihwan
from: injoon
keke i think i'm the lucky one. ^___^
happy late birthday to my mezzik bb love ♥ i'm sorry this is like the worst thing i've ever written but i couldn't not write something for you ;~;