so the game can't stop (2/3)
"I can't believe I did this for her," Yoongi hissed under his breath, stabbing his chopsticks into today's lunch. He was pretty sure it was curry rice. At least he thought so. He was pretty sure curry wasn't supposed to have a slime-like consistency. But you know. School lunch sucked. As usual. "I don't do things like matchmaking."
Namjoon was the smug one now, sliding a CrossFire premium points card as a way of thanks. Hyelim had long ditched their lunch table in favor of walking with Joohee, animatedly talking about who-knows-what in the midst of her glee that she was actually talking to Song Joohee. Yoongi wasn't bitter of course. That meant more room for them.
“I think it’s nice,” Namjoon remarked, making Yoongi lift his head in the middle of scratching at the card to reveal the code.
“What’s nice?” Yoongi replied.
“I don’t know-” Namjoon lifted one shoulder half-heartedly, staring back at Yoongi. “Just that people here don’t just care about games- even though most of their lives depend on this school. They can still do stuff like this, you know? Like a person and get that jittery feeling about whether or not they like you too- they can still experience stuff like that.”
Yoongi’s eyes slipped back down to the back of the plastic card, his thumb rubbing over the surface. “You’re not making any sense, second year.”
“I understand that though.” They locked eyes at that moment. “I want to experience that too.”
Yoongi tried to read the emotion in his eyes, finding himself at a loss for words.
"They're a match made in heaven, honestly," Daehyun exasperated, taking a bite of curry rice before continuing with his mouth full. Yoongi took this chance to turn to his teammate, avoiding Namjoon’s gaze. "Good job on your part, captain." Sunyoung shoved a napkin against his face, cringing at his lack of table manners.
"Okay, but who the hell arranges a date only after being beaten at a round on Guitar Hero?" Yoongi muttered. "This was the most ridiculous thing I've ever done for a teammate. She better get her ass to practice more often and kill it in the next game."
"Trust me," Mark said, watching the two girls laugh together, "I'm pretty sure she will."
Hyelim did kill it in the next game, a Search and Destroy mode this time, wiping more than half of the Global Risk team with her machine gun to let the rest of her team surge forward with the C4 charge in their hands. They won with a clean 3-0, watching the bomb detonate in the correct area in bursts of fiery red and orange.
And they could hear Joohee's excited cheering in the background among the audience as she waved a banner proudly displaying Hyelim's gamertag surrounded with hastily-drawn hearts.
"Join the rhythm team! Come on, I know you got the feet to show off the moves!" Hoseok exclaimed, waving around fliers, bright and sunny despite the fact that it's seven in the morning. He grinned from ear to ear at the sight of indecisive first years all sprawled about with their student IDs in their hands, reminiscing on how he, too, was stuck in their place once.
A student lingered before the rhythm gamers' stall, and Hoseok was just about to leap to his feet. "You!" His shout startled the poor first year, who watched him with wide eyes, her stance faltering. "You want to join the team, don't you? No- Hey!" He watched her retreat, mouth agape. "Come back here!"
“You know, that sunny demeanor is just going to scare the poor kids away,” Namjoon piped up, jabbing his finger into Hoseok’s shoulder.
Hoseok made a protesting noise against that statement. “I’m just friendly! Friendliness attracts people! Hey!” The last word came out as a shout towards the next first year passing by. The boy stopped in his tracks, freezing up. "Whoa, you have great instincts! You should join the rhythm team!" And inevitably, he watched the poor frightened kid run off for his life.
“You’re too loud, that’s what you are.”
Meanwhile, Yoongi folded his arms against his chest, beanie tugged over his eyes in his attempt to nap.
"You know, you could help with letting all these kids sign up for CrossFire," Namjoon remarked in the midst of observing a student swipe their ID down the scanner to register for FPS tryouts, craning his head to look behind him.
"I could," Yoongi replied, tugging his hat out of his eyes just enough to be able to look back at his underclassman. "But I don't really want to. It's all automatic anyway."
"I can see why BangPD wanted me to be captain instead," Namjoon said wryly.
"You fucking brat-"
"Oh, Jeonggukkie!" Namjoon interrupted, donning a wide smile no brighter than Hoseok's Monday usual, greeting the curious first year with all enthusiasm. Yoongi just scoffed over his shoulder and pulled his beanie back down, leaning back against his chair. "Were you interested in the CrossFire team?"
"No," Jeongguk said, quiet, eyes skirting over the sight of a snoozing Yoongi. "I was looking for the MOBA League signups."
"Oh?" Namjoon searched over the rows of stalls and clicked his tongue, pointing in a certain direction. "Right between the MMO Guild and the Fighting Clan. You shouldn't miss it." His eyes dart back to the younger teenager. "You seem pretty neutral. Aren't other teams just beckoning for you to join them?"
"Kind of." Jeongguk glanced down at the small stack of fliers in his hand. "I think they all gave up after the twentieth time I walked away from them."
"Man," Namjoon breathed out, leaning back against his chair and hitting Yoongi's knee in the process, "I don't know how you can handle it."
“Yeah?” Jeongguk just shrugged. "You get used to it."
Jeongguk froze in the midst of spotting Jimin by the Fighting Clan stall with Taehyung bouncing behind him, his grip on his ID tightening. Looking longingly at the MOBA League stall just sitting next to it, he pursed his lips together and took a complete 180 to go in the opposite direction before-
“Oi, Jeongguk!”
Shit.
He turned around, weary, facing Taehyung waving with a bright grin, oblivious to his best friend’s obvious scowl at the sight of Jeongguk. Jeongguk swallowed the small lump in his throat and braced himself, his steps heavy as he made his way over to the two boys. “Hi, hyung,” he greeted, almost in a whisper.
“Are you looking for a team to sign up too?” Taehyung asked, still smiling, eyes crinkling. “Jimin here-” He nudged at the shorter male mentioned. “-just signed up for tryouts for the Fighting Clan. Of course.”
"I know what I'm signing up for..." Jeongguk's eyes trailed back to Jimin. He felt smaller despite the height difference, especially with the way Jimin was looking at him, unforgiving and merciless. "But..."
"Are you still scared of Jimin?" Taehyung laughed, reaching out to pat Jeongguk's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. He's just bitter someone younger than him is still taller than him."
"I am not," Jimin hissed and stabbed his finger against Taehyung's side, unconvincing.
"Sure, you aren't. 175cm," Taehyung cooed, turning to pinch Jimin's cheeks. Jimin made a garbled sound in response.
"Right," Jeongguk said intelligently, taking a step to the side to try and avoid the deadly duo. "I'm just going to-"
"Are you signing up for the MOBA League?" Taehyung brought up in an attempt for small talk. It worked, and Jeongguk had already relaxed towards Taehyung's presence from the beginning, a comforting thing compared to Jimin's stiff state whenever he even spotted his fellow classmate. "It's right there. We can grab some lunch when you're done. I know this awesome pizza place."
Jeongguk swore his stomach growled at the promise of free food. But- Jimin. But- free food.
"Is he coming along?"
Both Taehyung and Jimin paused when they realized Jeongguk was gesturing to the latter. But Taehyung took the initiative, stepping over to Jeongguk with a small smile. "Why? Do you want it to be a date?"
Jeongguk's eyes widen. He might have heard Jimin release a snort at the question, but he could have been imagining things. "A date," he repeated.
"Why not?"
Yeah, why not.
"I don't know if you want to leave Jimin hyung alone..." Jeongguk trailed off, but Taehyung was already prepared.
"No problem," Taehyung shrugged the possibility off. "If anything, he'll head over to the rhythm team's stall and flirt with Jung Hoseok."
Jimin punched Taehyung in the shoulder in retaliation, his cheeks already heating up at even the thought. "No, I won’t! I-" He frowned, trying to desperately mask it with a false sense of neutrality, keeping his face straight-laced. "God, you don't know anything, Taehyung." And the two left behind watched him stormed off, silent.
Taehyung was quiet for a moment, uncharacteristic of him, and Jeongguk was about to ask in concern when the older boy turned back to him, returning to his usual goofy grin. "So. Date?"
Jeongguk opened his mouth to reply, his eyes returning to Jimin's retreating form, then back to Taehyung.
"Okay." He whipped out his student ID, thumbing at the smooth surface. "I just have some business to do first."
"You motherfucker," Jimin hissed out, lunging right for Jeongguk despite the younger of the two hiding behind Yoongi and Namjoon.
"Save me," Jeongguk pleaded at his guardians- well, upperclassmen, but what was the difference to a first year anyway- giving pathetic puppy eyes up at them. Down at Yoongi in particular.
"Should I ask?" Yoongi replied dully.
"Dare I ask?" Namjoon followed suit.
"This fucker-" Jimin held up a shaking finger towards Jeongguk. "-signed up for tryouts for the Fighting Clan instead of the MOBA League."
"He signed up for what?" Namjoon and Yoongi said in unison, eyeing each other then at Jeongguk. Jeongguk just gave a sheepish smile and waved, the last ounce of confidence dissipating.
"Jeongguk, you do know you can't switch to another team once you get in, right?" Yoongi told him, slow in his speech, dumbfounded by the kid's decision.
"Yeah, I know," Jeongguk answered, still quiet. "I just thought- if I joined the Fighting Clan with Jimin, we could have become better frie-"
"How can we be friends if you don't even call me hyung?" Jimin's words were harsh, but where were the lies? "Don't friends respect each other? Don't friends avoid from trying to beat each other?"
Yoongi winced at the familiarity.
"I didn't sign up to try and beat you-"
Namjoon and Yoongi exchanged glances, awkward at best, and went on their merry way. Silence and similar looks were enough for them to agree on leaving - and they'll go on their separate ways once they were far away enough. This wasn't their fight to participate in.
"Yeah, well- Taehyung already replaced me with you. Who knows? Now that you're trying out, there won't be any space for me to be in!" Jimin exclaimed.
"Wait," Jeongguk interrupted, "you think Taehyung hyung replaced you?"
"Well, what else?" Jeongguk could have sworn there were tears in Jimin's eyes, his own widening in surprise. Jimin still held onto him with a firm grip and ow- ow- he was digging his nails into Jeongguk's shoulders now. "Because of you, Taehyung is so smitten he won't even talk to me!"
"But-" Jeongguk tried not to react to the sharp pain digging into his skin, blinking. "- I see you guys together all the time. I thought- all of us could be frien-"
"Let me get this through to you." Jimin dug deeper into his shoulders as Jeongguk winced. "I. Don't. Want. To. Be. Friends. With. You. And I don't want you to be my teammate either."
Jeongguk fell into an unusual bout of silence. "... Okay." Jimin failed to notice the disappointment in the fellow first year's eyes, only watching him brush his hands away and making his way back into the school building alone.
Yoongi eventually returned to Jimin's side, clasping a firm hand on his shoulder. "That was really harsh of you."
"Yeah? So?"
"He didn't do anything to you. He just wanted to be friends with you. Christ, Jimin. He's only fifteen."
"How does one year make any difference?"
"... Look him up. Use Naver at least once in your goddamn life, Park Jimin," Yoongi replied, lifting his hand and turning away, a grave look on his face. "And maybe you'll understand why he's so desperate to make friends around here."
When Park Jimin did look up on Naver for once in his life, he typed the name 'Jeon Jeongguk' with swift fingers across the keyboard and pressed the Enter key.
Headlines of his parents swept across the results page. 'Game-addicted Parents Accused of Neglecting Prodigy Child'. 'CEOs of Game Rating Board Detained for Child Neglect'. Article after article detailed Jeongguk's struggle to live on his own after his parents abandoned him in favor of the games they trapped their own minds in, barely surviving after a panicky phone call to the Seoul Police Department.
After a thorough investigation, the CEOs of the Game Rating Board not only stepped down from their positions, but were jailed for who-knew-how-long.
Some game forums suggested that Jeongguk received SIPG's Golden Gaming Scholarship as an incoming student due to the pity more so than his own talents. Some suggested that the only reason he was so good was because he took after his parents' footsteps and delved fully into the video game world, hardly a human being now, bound to become an addict like them. Some retaliated that he didn't need pity to be good at gaming.
Jimin fucked up.
"Did you know?" Jimin whispered one night, lying below the bunk Taehyung snoozed on.
"Hmm?" Taehyung paused in the middle of a round of Cookie Run, sitting up. "About what?"
"Jeongguk."
"Whoa." Taehyung set his phone down and shifted himself to hang his head over the edge of his bed, staring at Jimin, amused by how silly his best friend looked upside down. "Did you actually look him up on Naver?"
Jimin nodded. draping his arm over his face. He didn't know- he didn't recognize the look on Jeongguk's face- and yet every time he looked at Taehyung, he was reminded of the middle-school boy who stayed at his house all the time, rarely wanting to come home to an empty house and waiting for a father who couldn't return yet. He- He-
God, how could he be so dense?
"Is that why you like him?"
Taehyung was unusually silent until he broke out into a wide grin. "No. I just like him because he's cute."
"Sure, you do," was all Jimin could say, quiet and mumbled under his breath. Taehyung's expression noticeably softened, and he slid further down from his bed, his upper body now hanging from the top bunk.
"Hey," Taehyung began. "I asked Jeongguk out on a date."
"I know. I was there."
"I want you to come along too."
Jimin sputtered and slid his arm away from his face, eyes wide and disbelieving, thankful it was dark enough so Taehyung wouldn't notice that his face was red. "Taehyung, I don't think you know anything about dates-"
"Sure, I do," Taehyung threw back with a wider grin. "That's why I want you to come along."
Jimin groaned and threw himself back down onto his mattress, throwing his arm back over his eyes. "God, why?"
Taehyung laughed before replying, "Because you're cute too, silly Jiminnie."
GoldenBoy: uh o o
Jeongguk blinked in surprise at all the rare equips Jimin was trading him while expecting nothing in return, mouth agape. He probably looked like a fool on the Skype group call.
jimchar: pce offering
GoldenBoy: ???
jimchar: u kno. bc i was mean
Jeongguk stared at the monitor for a good moment before laughing, his fingers trying not to shake as he typed.
GoldenBoy: does that mean we're friends now!! * o *
jimchar: yea sure
"Aw, friendship," Yoongi remarked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Can we quest now? Or are you two going to continue staring at each other until I start retching all over my laptop?"
Jeongguk laughed again, shaking his head. "Let's just play, hyung."
The varsity CrossFire team won the next game, just like the previous ones, with barely an inch of their lives left. Yoongi leaned back in his chair, breathless, his eyes burning from looking at the screen for so long. Free for All was always an energy-consuming mode, with all the players running amok regardless of either of the captains' plans. He indulged in a sip of Bacchus with the cheers of his fellow student body as his background noise. A nudge in the side was enough to indicate that Namjoon was just as pleased with their victory.
Before he was bombarded by the rest of his team, he could catch his other friends at the corner of his eye. Jimin and Taehyung with Jeongguk sandwiched between them, all grinning for their upperclassmen. Hoseok was waving a placard around wildly, Namjoon's and Yoongi's gamertags etched onto it with foam hearts surrounding the letters.
Christ.
"That means we get to go into the championships," Hyeri said, bursting with just as much excitement as the others. The entire team pressed up against each other in a group hug, and Yoongi's eyes widened at his heart skipping a beat once feeling Namjoon's shoulder pressed against his.
"We'll have to work twice as hard then," Namjoon chuckled out. "Right, Yoongi?"
Yoongi almost got distracted by how small the distance was between them. "Yeah," he replied meekly, "twice as hard."
"Oh yeah, we both made it into the fighting clan," Jeongguk later announced when they all went out for a total pig-out at all the street stalls in Seoul, biting down on a piece of ddokbokki- as if everything was at peace now that both Jeongguk and Jimin had their own spots in the team. Everything might as well be, because Jimin didn’t look like he wanted to rip the kid’s head right off of his body.
"You don’t want to know what they did after tryouts. You’d get bored, probably. Or grossed out. Depends on how you want to interpret things."
The rest of the group stared at the three first years oddly. Jimin nodded in agreement to Taehyung's scrambled words. Jeongguk didn't seem to pay any mind, content with letting either Jimin or Taehyung feed him rice cakes, his own hands occupied with lacing their fingers with the other two's.
"I think it'll be fun. Even if it’s not League," was all Jeongguk said about it before smiling.
Yoongi looked to Hoseok, who looked to Namjoon, who looked to both of them. They all just shrugged and smiled while nudging the youngest ones forward to the next stall.
Yoongi fiddled with his outfit, frowning at the way the shirt collar was suffocating him, tugging at it as if it would make it any better. He was never one for interviews, never one to be social and dress like this. He was so used to beanies, hoodies, anything that didn't feel like it was wrapping around his body to the point of asphyxiation. But BangPD insisted either Yoongi or Namjoon had to go to the interview on IRL, and Yoongi just had to burst out announcing that he'd take it before Namjoon could even fit in a word.
At least there was free food, and Yoongi was pretty sure no one was looking while he snagged the entire supply of orange Chupa Chups and stuffed them into his bag, unwrapping one for himself.
"Aren't you looking spiffy?"
Someone breathed against the back of his neck and Yoongi jumped, swinging around to launch a fist against the failed assailant. But Namjoon dodged just in time, leaning back with pleased laughter.
"What are you doing here?" Yoongi whispered with haste, shoving Namjoon half-heartedly. The nerves were getting to him, and it didn't make things any better with Namjoon around to potentially laugh at his inevitable failures at winning the audience's favor.
"BangPD said something about you possibly choking," Namjoon said, raising the pitch of his last word as if questioning him.
Of course the coach would say that, that bastard.
"Plus, well, I figured you'd want some support especially when Lee Sooman's in the audience."
A half-eaten Chupa Chup fell out of Yoongi's mouth at the sudden news. He gaped at him, disbelieving. "No."
The coach of the Seoul Martyrs- here?
"Yeah," Namjoon said, "I said hi on the way to backstage. He said hi back, oh- and he wished both of us good luck." He sounded so calm, unlike Yoongi, who was practically screaming at the top of his lungs. Except he was internally doing it, because screaming in public was not Yoongi's thing. That was Hoseok's. "... Hey. Yoongi hyung. You okay?"
Okay, maybe Yoongi might have been screaming in public. People were beginning to stare. It was probably really embarrassing. Namjoon, in a frantic bout of panic, gripped onto his shoulders and tried to shake him back to reality.
"Hey. It'll be okay," Namjoon assured him. "You should see what Busan brought in. I swear to God, I feel like being tiny and scary are the only requirements to being an FPS varsity captain."
"You're not helping."
"But I'm being serious. Stay alive out there."
Yoongi just groaned in surrender, resting his forehead against his shoulder. Namjoon patted his shoulder sympathetically.
It turned out that Do Kyungsoo was indeed very tiny and very frightening- and very talented at every kind of karaoke game on the market. He was also a piece of shit, throwing sugar at Yoongi's face by 'accident' in a real-life rendition of Cooking Mama with a barely there grin to prove he planned it.
"Seems like KyungDO beats you in almost every department, SyubD," the MC joked.
Kyungsoo shot Yoongi a pleased smirk. Yoongi resisted the urge to snap at both of them, instead fantasizing how wonderful it'd be to shoot KyungDO in the fucking head the moment they're thrown into CrossFire during the championships.
"Not every department," Yoongi dryly replied, teeth gritted together.
"Oh?" the MC's pitch lifted, and both he and Kyungsoo look to Yoongi in piqued interest. "Do you think you can beat him at something, SyubD?"
"I'm pretty sure I was invited to this interview because I'm good at CrossFire," Yoongi said, brows raised. "Wouldn't it make sense that I'll beat him in the championships?"
Kyungsoo's mouth dropped, and he narrowed his eyes at him, prepared to lift himself from his seat. "What are you talking about-"
"Busan doesn't have half the skills Seoul has on them." Yoongi sniggered at how infuriated Kyungsoo looked, prepared to murder. "We'll take the trophy without a problem."
They would- they worked too hard to let themselves be beaten and left without nothing to reward them for all the effort and sleepless nights they put into preparing for this game. He imagined the inevitable faces of disappointment his teammates would wear, then he thought of Namjoon - just as disappointed, if not more.
... Huh. Why was he thinking about Namjoon?
"Well, I guess we'll have to find out during the game, don't we?" the MC asked, his voice escalating to a volume high enough for everyone to get pumped up. The audience cheered in agreement. "Seoul vs. Busan. Who will go out triumphant? Livestreams of the games will begin at 6PM EST on our show’s website so don't miss out on the bloodshed!"
The audience cheered again, filled with excitement, mixed chants of 'KyungDO' and 'SyubD', the crowd already divided into two sides. Yoongi kept his fists against his lap, ignoring the way Kyungsoo's murderous eyes almost bore into his skull.
Yoongi exited the interview, dusting the leftover sugar off of his face, unbuttoning the top button his shirt to relieve himself of some of the pressure the clothes had on him. His shoulders slumped, his confidence decreased to the negatives- at least, until he caught the eye of Lee Sooman.
He froze before Namjoon took a step towards him, only for both of them to look at the middle-aged man now. All Sooman did was nod in approval to Yoongi and smile before shoving all the free backstage snacks into his jacket pockets, making his leave.
Yoongi might have fainted.
"Where did BangPD go?" Yoongi asked, looking around for their coach, his headphones already curled around his neck.
Namjoon just tugged at the hem of his shirt as a half-hearted attempt to get him to just sit down and practice. But Yoongi wouldn't waver, eyes scrambling for their coach. "Where is he? I had a load of strategies to show him for approval."
"Honestly. What kind of logic did the school have to hire him for varsity?" Mark remarked, brows furrowed at the screen.
Yoongi turned right towards Mark. "What the fuck happened?"
"Did you see Inven's front page?" Eunji said, hesitant, her eyes trailing up to Yoongi.
Oh no.
Yoongi rushed into his seat, opening a browser window and typing the URL to Inven's website. He braced himself for the worst, and he was faced with it. A bright large headline stating "SIPG's FPS Scandal?! Coach Reported to Cause Past Team's Disbandment" was enough to send his heart racing in fear, and he had no idea why he dared click on the article - but what's done is done.
BangPD used to work at an all girl's gaming high school, so it was practical that he'd coach for the FPS team there. But as the article reported - he had neglected all duties in assisting the girls to get to where they wanted to be. The team failed in every attempt at winning their games, always overpowered by teams of higher motivation. After some period of time, the school no longer funded the FPS team and eliminated it from their line of competitive gaming teams.
One former member reported:
[Zinni] He had no disregard for us. And now he's putting effort into SIPG? Give me a break.
Yoongi had to close out of the window as fast as possible, not wanting to scroll down to the comments where he'll know he'll be met with slander against the school.
Then he remembered that look on Kyungsoo's face. He found this out and leaked it.
"BangPD ran off the day that article was posted," Hyeri said with full concern. "That's enough proof to know it's true."
"What do we do?" Sunyoung asked, worried.
"What else? Give up on this game," Hyelim replied back. "It's game over for all of us."
"God, we're screwed-" Daehyun groaned into his hands.
"No," Namjoon and Yoongi said in unison, looking at each other.
"We can still beat Busan, coach or without," Namjoon said, trying to be the only one who was calm. "All we need to do is keep practicing. Ask for permission from our teachers to excuse us from our classes. Work bigger hours. Have all-nighters-"
"No all-nighters," Yoongi stated.
Namjoon turned right to Yoongi, frowning. "Yoongi-"
"I want us to win, but I don't want any of you fainting over your gear," Yoongi said. "We can still win. But we need to take care of ourselves while you're at it, alright? We're not going to be like those hermits who die at PC bangs, got it?"
The whole team nodded, still wavering, still worried for their own future.
"I know I won't be here when the next season starts, so I want to make the best out of this one, yeah?" Yoongi stood up from his chair. "We can do this. I know all of you guys worked hard. So we shouldn't doubt ourselves, and instead put all that into larger efforts to win." He extended his hand to the center of the station. "We can win. Trust me."
Namjoon didn't even have to think twice, getting out of his seat and placing a hand over Yoongi's. Yoongi ignored the explosive burst in his chest that came with the faintest squeeze the younger gave, staring at the rest of the team.
Hyelim was still hesitant, but she launched out of her chair, her now-blue hair bouncing, placing a hand in.
The rest looked at each other but they all followed suit.
"For SIPG," Yoongi said.
"For SIPG!" The rest all exclaimed, throwing their hands up.
Yoongi observed all the faculty racing to get all the gear set up at the Final Destination, headphones emblazoned by both schools' logos accordingly, the best gear to offer arranged in perfect placement. He took in the silence, just a few hours before the game, sitting in the bleachers all by himself.
He wondered what it was like to be a mere contender for FPS games. He had only been one whenever Hoseok had rhythm competitions, or when Jimin and Jeongguk both worked together in 2v2 brawls. He recalled the simpler days when he was just a first year, banging his fists against his knees while watching Seokjin practically slaughter his opponent in 1v1 MapleStory battles, watching without the constant worry over the chain around his ankle that kept him thinking about CrossFire almost all the time.
Watching FPS games must have been enough action to witness, but it was never the same as being behind the screen - each second a thrill to the heart because you don't know where your opponent could be. Not like the sniper however. The life of a sniper was a lonely one, a distant observer instead of diving full-on into the action.
Yoongi wondered if the features of video games ever applied to real life, finding himself sitting here alone, observing frantic staff instead of the enemy soldiers.
Someone had blown onto the back of his neck and he flinched, feeling shivers being sent down his spine. He swirled around, ready to scold whoever had snuck up on him - but he wasn't exactly surprised to find Namjoon plopping into the space right next to him, his face softening back into a neutral expression.
"You need to stop doing that," Yoongi grumbled out, tucking his hands into his hoodie's pockets, leaning back on the bleachers. He didn't dare scoot over to give themselves more space between them. He was more used to it than anything, the other boy's warmth a comforting feeling instead of something unfamiliar.
"You're not much of a party person, are you?" Namjoon remarked, grinning out into the stadium wide enough to reveal his dimples.
"There's nothing wrong with preferring solitude." Yoongi looked to the seats that were designated for him and Namjoon, right next to each other, ever since they started the season. "I'd rather not witness Hyeri scarfing down two pizzas in under half an hour."
"Correction. She scarfed down three," Namjoon retorted, holding up the right amount of fingers.
Yoongi actually laughed out loud, back hunching over his seat. "I'm going to miss the team. Hunchul hyung was right. You get attached too easily as team captain." He smiled, reminiscing on the days when MightyIrony was the gamertag to know, when the ex-captain would make Yoongi get on his knees and hold his arms up for as long as Hunchul wanted just because the once-first year was being a brat.
It was strange, the day he was told that he'd take Hunchul's place by the end of his first year. It was unthinkable, a first year student being good enough to go straight into varsity after tryouts without playing JV, to eventually be given the status as varsity captain. But everyone knew about his mother. Everyone knew just how good the Min family was at FPS. It was as if the fun and games were over, and all that he had worked for was finally coming into play.
He had worked so hard for this.
"Are you going to miss me?"
The question was unexpected. Yoongi's eyes flickered back to Namjoon, suspicious for a brief moment. He rolled his eyes and nudged Namjoon with his elbow. "Definitely not."
Namjoon chuckled. "Come on, don't be like that."
Yoongi shouldn't have looked at him in that moment, because Namjoon had the softest look on his face that the older student couldn't decipher - or maybe he could, and he was just afraid. Namjoon had turned around to face him completely now, silence falling between them. Yoongi didn't know when he had tilted his head up, or when Namjoon had begun to lean in and oh- their lips were a centimeter apart, and if they just moved in a little more-
"We're here!" Taehyung screamed at the top of his lungs, making both the staff and the two boys flinch. Yoongi and Namjoon scrambled apart, the distance forming between them now. An uncomfortable distance that neither of them probably wanted.
Jeongguk pried away from Taehyung's hand to wave the large overcrowded bag in his hand, grinning so that his eyes crinkled. "We brought snacks for you two!"
Hoseok was the first one to notice how stiffening the atmosphere seemed, tilting his head. "Hey, you two okay? Are you feeling sick?"
"Yoongi hyung's looking kind of pale," Jimin said, eyebrows furrowing out of concern.
"I'm fine," Yoongi insisted, regardless of the knot tightening in his stomach. He didn't want to think about why he felt like this, why it felt lonelier now that he and Namjoon had a fair amount of centimeters between them, the space between their hands far enough to keep their fingers from touching. "Championships, you know. It's nerve-wrecking," he lied.
"What a shame," the voice was familiar as he said those words, that Yoongi looked up, surprised to find Seokjin popping his head in with a handmade placard in both hands, "I even promised to myself I'd make dinner for all of us once your team won."
"Hyung," Yoongi said, quiet, his voice dwindling almost into nothing.
Seokjin grinned with another bag of food in tow. "Jesus, Yoongi. I feel like you get skinnier every time I see you IRL."
Yoongi stepped in just in time to spot Lee Sooman and Namjoon talking to each other just half an hour before the game started, the latter not as starstruck as Yoongi had been the first time he faced Sooman in person. But they seemed to have a lively conversation, especially with the way Sooman was laughing and nodding at everything Namjoon said. It was enough to remind him that he hadn't worked so hard for nothing, that he couldn't let anything- anything like Namjoon- get in the way of that.
He couldn't believe he had been such a fool to let himself go like that.
And Kyungsoo had thought the same, standing right next to him. "It seems like he wants to scout Namjoon-ssi, huh."
Yoongi said nothing to add to that.
"That sucks. I was hoping he'd have a spot open for a sniper. I guess I'll have to take that company's offer and become a singer instead." It was so nonchalant, defined by the way Kyungsoo gave a small shrug and made his way to his seat.
Yoongi didn't even think twice to consider that Kyungsoo might have just been manipulating him to think the things he hoped. All he felt was that impeding realization that really- all this time- Namjoon was just pushing his way to the top so that he'd stand superior with a spot in the Seoul Martyrs.
Yoongi believed he had been played for a fool.
Yoongi spotted his mother in the audience, her eyes directly on him, with Lee Sooman seated right next to her. They were both staring at him in particular, and he could feel another lump begin to form in his throat until Eunji was able to shake him back to reality.
"Hey captain. Hey," Eunji began, snapping her fingers to get his attention on her again, "Don't worry about it, alright? We're going to win. We're not going to graduate high school without a fight, alright? We're going to win."
"Hell yeah, we're going to win. Sunyoung promised she'd go on a date with me if we won," Daehyun said, smug.
"I was kidding, idiot," Sunyoung threw back in an instant, sliding the headphones over her ears so she wouldn't hear any protests from Daehyun.
Yoongi felt a hand clasp over his shoulder and he glanced over, seeing Namjoon give him a soft smile. Neither of them said anything, about the game starting in a few minutes, or the ordeal that had happened just an hour ago - and maybe it was necessary, at least before the game could end. They could confront everything once they won the game, once they left the Final Destination with a gold trophy.
Yeah.
That sounded good.
He put on his headset with ease, his eyes solely on the screen. The hologram shone between the two teams, counting down the minute until the game would commence. Yoongi took deep breaths, bracing himself for the onslaught to come. No distractions. All the work he had put in throughout his life all led up to this. No distractions. Just video games.
Just CrossFire.
Ghost Mode was one of the hardest modes in the game, a fitting mode for high school varsity championships. Yoongi and Kyungsoo both stood side to side to see which side their appropriate teams were assigned, watching the coin flip over the MC’s hand until it finally stopped and fell back into his palm.
Yoongi looked down at the heads side staring back at him.
SIPG - Global Risk.
SOGA - Black List.
Yoongi held his breath. Kyungsoo just nodded, likely calculating the strategies his team had conducted, agreeing to shake Yoongi's hand as a courteous act between captains.
He saw the way Kyungsoo smirked at him, the other captain confident as if Busan would win definitely.
Seoul's captain disagreed.
Five minutes. Only five minutes to devise a plan. So Seoul's team gathered in one circle in their temporary safe spot, waiting for the co-captains' orders.
"We already got up to this point," Yoongi began, "so don't get distracted or panic."
"And Daehyun hyung-" Namjoon butted in, "-please don't crash head-on immediately after you hear a sound."
Daehyun cursed under his breath. "That's the fun part."
"Mark and Hyelim, you're going to be my support," Yoongi continued, motioning to the sniper rifles in their hands while the two team members nodded in agreement. "Remember to stay low, all of you. We can't throw everything we worked for away just because one of you decided to go against our orders."
"Busan looks like they're already prepared. Just because they're only restricted to melee weapons doesn't mean they're not going to be good at using them," Namjoon pointed out, bracing the machine fun in his hands. "Remember that knife throwing is a skill in this games so-"
"You'll be able to hear the knife being thrown while it's in projectile motion, but you need to be quick the moment you hear it," Yoongi interrupted. They exchanged looks, a final reminder that they were competing with each other for this.
Lee Sooman could offer only one spot in the Seoul Martyrs.
Yoongi glanced back up at the timer ticking down. One minute until their safe spot was lost.
"We can do this," Yoongi tried to finish with. "Remember everything we practiced."
He could have sworn Namjoon's hand reached out for him, spotted before the younger hesitated and let it fall back to his side, resting it on the mouse. Yoongi let out a soft breath, his eyes focusing back on the screen, bracing for the moment he'd let himself get lost in CrossFire.
Thirty seconds.
"Wish us luck, Yoongi."
Fifteen seconds.
Yoongi paused at the private whisper from Namjoon, only heard through his headphones, fingers faltering over his mouse. No distractions. He bit down on his lip, opening his mouth to reply.
Five seconds.
"We don't need luck."
Zero.
It was logical for the snipers to place themselves within the bushes, never moving even a millimeter. Yoongi was stationed in Area A along with Mark and Hyelim, careful of every footstep he could hear and every time a boot splashed against the puddles of water splayed all around the arena. Namjoon, Daehyun, and Eunji were guarding Area B, as per Yoongi's orders. Hyeri and Sunyoung were patrolling the rest of the grounds, smoke grenades at ready.
Ghost Mode was a difficult mode, but only novice players were unaware of the certain strategies that every competitive team used. Drilling his teammates about the fact that ghosts were always visible while moving was enough for every member to be aware of any faint silhouette coming their way. Center the noise of their breathing. Be aware of the Backward-Hop method that Black List players were likely to use.
Yoongi had CrossFire strategies permanently etched into his brain the day he was old enough to play.
It was all he knew.
"Are they going easy on us?" Hyelim whispered to the two, already having shot down a second player within the first ten minutes. "I can hear their breathing literally twenty meters away."
"Or they might be planning something," Mark replied, standing up, bracing his own sniper rifle.
Yoongi squinted through the bushes, exhaling. "Didn't I tell you guys not to panic? Just shut up and listen to their breathing. Sit down before yo-"
Mark and Hyelim didn't question anything after that- because in an instant, their characters fell over with knives stuck into their heads before fading into pixelated nothingness.
"Shit-" He rolled over to dodge the next knife and shot at the direction the knives were flung, letting out a breath of relief once barely making out two figures falling down on their knees, his bullets striking their hearts with perfect precision, before they fade away.
Yoongi sat back, already trying to devise a plan now that he was the only one guarding Area A. He began a private whisper to Hyeri and Sunyoung, his message hissed out. "You two, report to Area A. I need more support."
Silence.
He didn't even have to look to their seats to know that their players had just been killed.
The holographic screen between the two teams counted down the time, flashing the number of remaining players.
Seoul had four people. Busan had five.
No distractions. Disregard his mother. Disregard Lee Sooman. Disregard Namjoon.
Distractions only got in the way of success.
"Hey, Yoongi hyung," Namjoon spoke up through a private whisper. "Everything okay on your part? Should I send someone over?"
Yoongi gritted through his teeth. "No. I'll be okay on my own. Just keep guarding Area B before the other team detonates the C4 bomb."
Namjoon was quiet before, "I'll come over. You need some support."
Yoongi couldn't be spared enough time to protest.
He could hear the breathing of Namjoon's character now, synonymous with the actual player exhaling in relief. "Thank God," he exhaled, "Daehyun and Eunji can fight them off without a proble-"
They spoke too soon, hearing two of their teammates swear out loud right behind them.
Both their eyes widen at Eunji's gamertag disappearing from the screen, and before they knew it, Daehyun's gamertag faded away too - leaving Black List to detonate their C4 bomb on Area B.
Shit.
Yoongi scowled at Namjoon, who just let his shoulders fall in surrender.
They were the only ones left.
Two people remaining on Seoul's side. Four on Busan's.
"They're going to gang up on us now," Yoongi hissed out. "Just lay low and shoot whoever you can get."
And it worked - having gunned down two people so that they were two for two in players now. Namjoon sat there, shrouded by the bushes, back to back against Yoongi. Maybe they could win like this - if they could kill the remaining two, they'd snatch the trophy just like that.
Yoongi could taste victory on the tip of his tongue, sweet and explosive.
Until he heard the whistle of a knife coming to a complete haunting stop.
He turned just in time to see Namjoon begin to fade away, a bullet hole able to be spotted in his chest, right in the center of where his heart should be. He swallowed hard, bracing himself with a quiet curse under his breath. He rolled over to his right side to dodge the next incoming knife and killed off the person who'd thrown them in an instant, linking the noise of the knives to their location, giving himself a moment to breathe.
"You can do this, Yoongi," Namjoon whispered to him, leaning back in his chair, defeated.
Yoongi swallowed again, feeling sweat begin to bead on his forehead, staring through his telescopic sight again for any sight of the remaining player. He didn't want to look up to see who it was, knowing that they were likely to impede on him at any moment.
The rustle of grass was enough to indicate where the enemy was - and Yoongi searched around where he was, catching a thin silhouette moving in sight. He aimed carefully, waiting for the silhouette to stop and shooting him right then and there. He waited for the blares, the cheers that would come with Seoul's victory.
He was met with silence instead, watching his character come to a sudden halt and crash against the floor, limp-
Dying.
The knife wedged at the very center of his forehead gleamed against the virtual sunlight, reflected against the small puddle just a few centimeters away, as if mocking him for his false sense of a victory.
As his character started to fade away, he could see the bomb planted by Kyungsoo, watching him run off before everything exploded into bits.
The pounding of his heart was louder than the disappointed protests of his own classmates - the thrilled cheers of the students who came from Busan. The opposing team high-fived each other and bumped fists, and Yoongi was too lost in himself to take note of the victorious smirk on Kyungsoo's face, gone and drowning in failure until he couldn’t breathe. Instead, he slowly slipped his headphones off and pushed back his gear, never acknowedging his teammates who were covering their faces in shame.
They lost.
Yoongi closed his eyes, trembling.
He lost.
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