Playing for the win, for everyone (2/3)
Seungyoon doesn’t think it’s funny. Those fucking bastards.
But the players have been sniggering since warm up started and Seungyoon doesn’t know if he’s beet red from anger, shame, or both. The ‘WE LOVE THE MANAGER’ banner is bigger than any of the other fangirl banners in the stands and that alone makes Seungyoon want to be swallowed by the ground.
From behind the team bench where he grips a towel furiously, he could make out the giant grin on Jinwoo’s face as he flaps the edges of the tarpaulin, and the self-satisfied smug one Taehyun wears that’s masquerading as detachment. Seungyoon knows they’re doing this to spite him for dumping them with Hayi, and he really shouldn’t be bothered so much by the cheap trick but fuck it’s just so embarrassing.
Especially when he’s been trying his best to keep a low profile in the team. He wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms during the first game. He saw the contempt on the team captain’s face - his bruised face - because apparently, Taehyun a.k.a. unlucky, insufferable idiot picked a fight with Lee Seunghoon. The Lee Seunghoon who’s the captain of Yonsei’s basketball team and last year’s league MVP. And by association, that earned Seungyoon a target on his back from all the players - and the only one who’s semi-decent to him (if he isn’t ordering him around) is Mino.
So Seungyoon made a vow not to get in their way, just do his duties quietly. As if he isn’t there. He’s been successful enough all week that the guys haven’t made snide remarks as much as they did during the first day - but that stupid banner just might trigger something Seungyoon isn’t ready to deal with.
“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to do your job?” Seunghoon’s voice pulls Seungyoon out of his rage trance, and he whips his head to see the captain with a deadly expression on his face.
Lee Seunghoon is a hard ass in court, works twice as hard as everybody else despite being the best player in the team. Seungyoon hates basketball - even more so now - but he’s come to respect the man. Maybe he’d even admire him if he didn’t give Seungyoon so many mean glares.
“Sorry,” Seungyoon mutters, shifting in place, trying to remember what he was supposed to do before he saw that hideous banner.
“The cooler, Kang,” Seunghoon rolls his eyes as he dabs his forehead with a towel. “It’s in the van outside. Bring it in here.”
“Ahh yes,” Seungyoon nods, recalling Mino telling him earlier about the water bottles for the players. He hurries to the side entrance of the gym and jogs towards the team’s white van in its usual parking space.
Seungyoon manages to get the cooler out of the vehicle, but bringing it inside by himself wouldn’t be humanly possible. He’s studying the crowd of people streaming in to catch the game, looking for somebody who might be willing to help when he Mino suddenly comes into view.
He’s already in his blue and white jersey - a large number 33 sprawled across his chest. He’s covered in light sweat from the warm-ups, and Seungyoon doesn’t look at his biceps and how they flex as Mino walks towards him.
Seungyoon has been trying very hard to rein in his schoolboy crush for the guy ever since he discovered Mino’s “in charge” of him. It’ll definitely make Mino easier to hate for his bossiness when he isn’t drooling over him every other minute. Seungyoon would like to think he’s been doing a sufficient job of it, particularly when he focuses on how Mino likes to criticize everything he does - from the most mundane things like how Seungyoon folds the towels to Seungyoon’s limited knowledge of basketball. He can still remember how Mino looked at him in disgust when Seungyoon told him that he has no idea that ‘travelling’ meant anything else other than… well, travelling.
Although there are times when Seungyoon finds himself staring at Mino’s face on the court instead of actually following the game. Mino is definitely more interesting, by Seungyoon’s standards. Mino can be quite animated - he likes to make funny faces when he plays, and Seungyoon especially likes the one he does whenever he gets a foul and pretends it’s an unfair call. It’s kind of hot in a cute way, him all worked up and frustrated (and sweaty and sexy) - up until Seungyoon reminds himself that Mino is the enemy.
“Need help with that?”
Seungyoon blinks a few times before registering what Mino just said. He clears his throat. “Don’t you have a game to play?”
“Yes and I’d like to stay hydrated when I do,” Mino moves to grip the cooler’s handle. His eyes sweep over Seungyoon’s arms and scoffs. “Your skinny ass can never bring this inside by yourself.”
“Excuse me but my skinny ass can do lots of things.”
Mino stills, looks up at him with a raised brow and oh shit Seungyoon just realized how that sounded. He opens his mouth to try to salvage it but draws a blank, only worsened by Mino furrowing his brows and standing to his full height.
“I’m sorry?” Mino tilts his head in a clearly teasing manner, coupled by the flash of amusement in his dark eyes. It makes Seungyoon wonder if Mino knows he’s gay, or at least has his suspicions. Dear god what if Mino is aware of just how much Seungyoon stares at him during games? Fuck.
“Let’s just bring this inside, boss. This isn’t the time to be chatting, hurry up!” Seungyoon says in one breath, already pulling the cooler as he takes harried steps away from Mino. Maybe it’s his adrenaline doing the work because Seungyoon has never wanted to escape an awkward situation so badly he gained super strength out of the blue.
He hears Mino stifle a chuckle before Seungyoon feels the weight of the cooler reduce and Mino falls in step with him. Mino doesn’t say anything else, but Seungyoon fights the urge to glance his way because he’s almost sure Mino is smirking.
The game was exciting, to say the least, but it didn’t end in the way they wanted. For the second time this series, their team lost - which means if they don’t win the next game, they don’t proceed to the finals.
Seungyoon didn’t really give a shit about the games, more so whether the team wins or not. As a matter of fact, if Yonsei lost the semifinals, it would cut Seungyoon’s managerial schedule short and he’s free to go. He should be celebrating the loss, really. However looking at the players’ disappointed faces, Seungyoon has to admit a part of him is inexplicably sad.
He stays a few steps away from the player benches where the guys are all hunched down, panting as they listen to Coach Han list down every single thing they did wrong in the game. Seungyoon doesn’t really know if it’s best to kick a man when he’s down like this - and he’s pretty sure one of the maknaes is actually crying right now - but hey he never really understood basketball so who is he to judge. It does make him hate Coach Han just a tad bit more.
The crowd thins gradually, but the team remains unmoving on their spot and it’s one of those times where Seungyoon has no idea what to do. Should he just stand there and sulk like all of them? Or should he go about doing his job as if the team didn’t just lose so terribly by - Seungyoon looks at the scoreboard - 17 points? Yikes. Even he knows that’s embarrassing.
He makes the mistake of turning towards the stands and sees Jinwoo and Taehyun still holding on to the banner. Jinwoo whispers to Taehyun as soon as he sees Seungyoon look, and Seungyoon swallows down his suspicion that they’re about to cause mischief. He knows the look Jinwoo makes when he’s up to something.
“It’s okay! It’s alright!” Seungyoon hears Jinwoo shout - and it echoes in the nearly empty gym. All of the people left, the players included, look up at Jinwoo who’s fist pumping the air. “It’s okay! It’s alright! Go Yonsei, fight, fight, fight!” Taehyun has the decency to be embarrassed and hides his face behind the tarpaulin.
“Fuck,” Seungyoon’s eyes close and he takes a step back, mentally calculating how long it would take for him to run all the way to the exit. But to his horror, the players all look over their shoulder at him - their faces grim and clearly not amused. Lee Seunghoon is the first to stand up, giving Seungyoon a death glare before pushing a towel in his hands. Seungyoon nearly ducks when he does so, fearing Seunghoon might throw a punch. He doesn’t - thankfully - but the other players follow his lead, most of them handing their sweaty, icky towels to him and moving to the locker rooms.
Mino is the only one who doesn’t give him a completely vicious look, but he still looks a little peeved. “Ever considered making better friends?” Mino asks him - rhetorically, he supposes - because he doesn’t wait for a reply and walks past him.
“Every fucking day,” Seungyoon sighs as he drops the towels on the box next to the bench and glowers at Jinwoo in the stands. He takes his phone out and types a scathing message about burning all of the clothes they left at his apartment. Seungyoon flips them off and they leave laughing. Jinwoo sends a text back that Seungyoon better find them a new vocalist before they start showing up at all the games.
For his own well-being, Seungyoon decides to stay away from the lockers until the players are gone since they’re not exactly in the best of moods at the moment. It takes about half an hour, which Seungyoon uses to clean up the team area. He’s almost become used to this after two weeks, but sometimes he pauses and wonders how much his old self would have laughed at the person he became.
He picks up the box of empty bottles and towels and moves to the locker room. He’s exhausted but he’ll have to send the towels to the cleaners before he’s free to go home. The room is quiet, but the pungent smell of sweat and dirty clothes permeate the air. Seungyoon is already covered in sweat, but somehow he feels even dirtier inside.
He eyes the shower room with curiosity. He’s never taken a shower there before, not that he ever felt the need to more than at this very moment. Anyway, he has a change of clothes and he’s been wanting to get out of his clammy manager uniform.
He grabs one of the unused towels by the rack, looks around once for good measure before stripping down to his underwear. He casually places his clothes on the bench and heads for the shower room. He chooses the shower head at the very end, farthest from the door.
He shivers when the cold water splashes on his face, quickly adjusts the heater so the water turns lukewarm until it’s just the right kind of hot. Seungyoon stands still with his eyes closed, letting the water cascade down his body. He does his best thinking in the shower and right now, his mind is filled with ways to get back at Jinwoo and Taehyun for the stunt they pulled earlier without having to deal with them loitering in any of the games.
And then his thoughts wander to a certain someone he really shouldn’t be thinking about, but Mino was looking incredibly hot today and Seungyoon wonders if it’s just him or Mino’s getting even more attractive every time he sees him. Seungyoon knows little about basketball, but it doesn’t really take a genius to see that Mino’s a great player. Besides, Seungyoon has seen how the fangirls look at him - with desire and admiration in their eyes and well, Seungyoon gets it.
It’s hard not to swoon when Mino does that thing with his tongue where he presses it against his upper lip for an unhealthy period of time Seungyoon could almost hear the collective gasps in the gym.
Not to mention, Mino’s got a great physique and a devilishly handsome face. And something about his tanned skin just seems dangerous and delicious at the same time.
Seungyoon feels blood rush to the lower region of his body and he quickly snaps out of it, turns the heater off and makes sure he’s doused in cold water before stepping out of the shower. Things can get way out of hand if he continues to entertain these thoughts. Inasmuch as people would find this a hot porn-worthy moment, Seungyoon would like to think there are boundaries he wouldn’t cross - one of which is jacking off in a locker room that isn’t even his.
He grabs the towel and wraps it around his waist, pads back towards the lockers, ignoring the wet trail he leaves on the floor in his wake.
He nearly shrieks in surprise when someone blocks the doorway just before he could step out of the shower room. He’s unable to stop himself from colliding into said person and fuck, when he realizes what’s happening, it’s too late because he’s touching Mino’s chest to hold himself up so he doesn’t slip, while Mino’s hands land on Seungyoon’s waist. His wet and naked waist. They make eye contact, Seungyoon gasps, and Mino’s eyes look like they’re about to bulge out of their sockets.
The area where Mino’s fingers dig into his skin feels like it’s burning for every second his hands stay there, and despite having just stepped out of the shower, Seungyoon feels heat spread throughout all of his body parts. Mino’s lips are parted by a fraction, his expression still contorted into that of surprise, but Seungyoon doesn’t miss the way his eyes rake over Seungyoon’s face and wet hair before they drop to his mouth.
It feels like a long time before Seungyoon backs off, mind reeling and heart pounding at alarming levels at having Mino’s face inches away from his. Seungyoon swallows down the urge to press himself against Mino again and clears his throat.
“Shit-”
“Sorry-“
They both start speaking and stop at the same time, eyes fixed on each other.
Seungyoon gives him an embarrassed smile and gestures for him to go on, all while trying to cover his upper body with his arms. A quick glance down confirms that he’s having a good abs day (they come and go depending on how much he had to eat) so he thanks the universe for that because he’d really hate for Mino to think he has the body of a fifteen year old.
“I’m sorry,” Mino repeats. “I heard the shower and I thought someone must have left it on again.”
“No, it was me. I just… I was feeling kind of dirty-” Seungyoon stops himself, eyes wide.
“I mean I was feeling hot-“ FUCK.
“I just wanted a shower,” he finishes with barely any dignity left.
Mino looks like he’s going to break into a grin but is trying to keep on a straight face, which Seungyoon isn’t sure he appreciates or just makes him all the more embarrassed. His cheeks burn, regardless, especially when he catches Mino’s eyes travel down all the way to his feet in an appraising manner.
“Can I please put on some clothes now?” Seungyoon hears himself say out of annoyance. He may not be as buff as Mino, but he’d like to keep his pride about his body.
“Is anyone stopping you?”
“You’re still blocking the door.”
Mino steps aside and waves for Seungyoon to go ahead. Seungyoon reluctantly drops his arms and steps out, but he passes by Mino who’s standing too close to the doorway. Seungyoon thinks he might have seen him lick his lips, but Seungyoon dismisses the thought before he gets any strange ideas.
Putting on clothes doesn’t take long, what with him doing it in lightning speed while Mino’s still standing in the corner. Seungyoon still feels jittery but he squares his shoulders once he’s done, tries his best not to look too affected by Mino’s presence.
“I didn’t know you were still here,” Seungyoon’s voice fills in the edgy silence between them. “I thought you left with the others.”
“I left something. I just came back to get it.”
Seungyoon looks around the locker room, then studies Mino who’s empty-handed. Odd. “Well, did you?”
“Oh yeah.”
Seungyoon ignores the smirk on Mino’s face or the suggestive lilt in his tone, turns to the large plastic bag full of soiled towels and exhales aloud. “Two more weeks, Kang Seungyoon,” he mumbles to himself like a mantra.
“Come on, I’ll drop you off at the cleaners.”
“Huh?” Seungyoon quirks a brow. Mino is being awfully friendly today and it’s a tad suspicious. Wasn’t it only last week Mino was ordering him around the city when he was the one with a car? “Why would you?”
Mino shrugs, twirling his keys on his finger absently. “It’s on the way to my apartment. Besides, it would save you the taxi fare.” When Seungyoon still doesn’t move, Mino rolls his eyes. “Are you always this difficult?”
“Are you always this two-faced?”
“I’m trying to be nice, Seungyoon.”
Seungyoon’s heart skips a tiny beat at that. It’s the first time Mino has ever said his first name out loud. It was always Kang this, Kang that. He’s gotta admit, it’s… pleasant to the ears.
“What? We’re the same age, aren’t we?” Mino turns. “Come on before I change my mind.”
The drive to the cleaners is, to say the least, awkward.
Seungyoon couldn’t say no, not when he’s carrying with him a horde of stinky, sweaty towels and he’s not really in a position to decline when his money has been depleting from missing last weekend’s gigs and the prospect of earning nothing in the next few weeks. But it keeps making him on edge, why Mino is all of a sudden… friendly? Maybe the basketball team is going to play a prank on him and this is really the ride to his humiliation? Are they still thinking of getting revenge for the fight at Byblos? Seungyoon can’t rule that possibility out. Don’t jocks do stuff like that?
But Mino doesn’t seem like the asshole type, even though he can be such a pain in the ass sometimes.
“So…” Mino starts to say, and Seungyoon is surprised he broke the silence. He half-expected them not to speak at all until they arrive at the cleaners. “We love the manager-“
“Please don’t,” Seungyoon’s hands fly to cover his face at the reminder, the taste of humiliation still fresh on his tongue.
Mino lets out a laugh and Seungyoon peeks through his fingers to see Mino grinning, eyes still on the road. Seungyoon tries not to smile, but his lips twitch up anyway.
“Fine. I’m sure Seunghoon wouldn’t want to hear about it again anyway. But if you ask me, it was a funny distraction.”
“Yeah, at my expense.”
Mino turns to him for a second, smirking. “That’s why it was funny.”
Seungyoon scowls, but he couldn’t help the way his cheeks burn at the fact that they’re exchanging teasing banter - something they seem to be doing more of lately, unconsciously.
Mino doesn’t say anything after that, and Seungyoon continues to sneak glances at him while he drives. Despite Mino’s attempts at joking, Seungyoon could see the gloom and exhaustion in his features. Seungyoon feels a pinch in his chest; he’s been in enough band competitions to know what loss feels like, especially when you’ve given it your all and it still doesn’t work out the way you want it to.
“You guys played a great game,” Seungyoon says before he can stop himself. Even as he says it, his voice is unsteady. It’s strange broaching this topic with Mino.
Mino’s thick brows furrow, but his expression is more amused than anything else. “And here I thought you don’t know a thing about basketball.”
“Oh no, you’re right. I still don’t. But I saw how much you hustled out there. That’s common sense.”
The car slows to a stop and Seungyoon doesn’t realize until he glances out the window that they’ve arrived at the cleaners. A mixture of relief and disappointment fills him - relief that this isn’t a prank, but disappointment that the drive couldn’t last a little while longer. Mino’s car smells just like him, and if Seungyoon’s going to be honest, he was liking where their little conversation was going.
“Thanks,” Mino turns to him with a lopsided smile. “For the attempt at comfort.”
Something swells in Seungyoon’s chest and he hopes to the heavens it doesn’t show in his face. “Glad I could help.”
“If you really want to help, how about actually learning the game and being a real manager? Maybe act like you’re part of the team and not just someone who’s forced to be at the games?”
“Now there’s the Song Mino I know,” Seungyoon rolls his eyes. “I only have two weeks left of this. I’m not going to study an entire sport just to pass bottles and towels around. No, thanks.”
“Suit yourself,” Mino shrugs. “I’m just saying this shouldn’t have to be completely awful for you. That there’s a way you can enjoy this, uhh, this… situation.”
There’s a way, alright. I can just focus on you play, Seungyoon thinks, but he presses his lips shut and quickly alights the car before he can say anything incriminating. After grabbing the towels from the backseat and muttering a thanks, he watches Mino drive off, feeling a sense of foreboding at the well of his stomach. If Seungyoon doesn’t keep himself in check, this little crush on Mino might grow to not be so little anymore.
They win the semifinals.
Seungyoon doesn’t know whether to be happy for the team or annoyed that he has more time to serve as manager - and that constant inner conflict is beginning to worry him. Because if Seungyoon is going to be completely honest with himself, maybe he doesn’t mind so much anymore. He’s grown to like the excitement of the games, and the energy of the entire stadium feels a lot like the energy of an audience at a rock concert - something he can appreciate. Plus, it really isn’t so hard to get to know the rules once you keep watching.
And perhaps it’s because the chores don’t feel so much like chores any longer and the players have sort of warmed up to him (if the fact that they don’t look at him like he’s some deformed alien anymore can qualify as that). Mino has become less annoying as the days went by, or Seungyoon has grown more tolerance for Mino bossing him around - who knows, really.
They did keep up their bantering, and if Seungyoon didn’t know any better, it almost feels like they’re friends. Work friends - but still. That counts for something, right?
Which is why when Mino told him at the locker room after the game not to miss the victory party at his apartment, Seungyoon felt a rush in his system. And Seunghoon, who was within earshot of the invitation, gave him a nod. A nod, acknowledging the invitation. Seunghoon could have been high from the win, but still. Such an improvement from his death glares and Seungyoon has to admit, it was strangely satisfying.
He told Mino that he has to play a gig that night which he couldn’t miss, and that he’d try to be there afterwards. ‘Try’ being a lie because Seungyoon knows he’ll probably do everything to make sure he makes an appearance.
“I can’t believe you’re going to a party without us,” Jinwoo sulks, watching him rummage through his closet. Seungyoon barely hears him as he pauses on a Nirvana tee, shakes his head, and flips through some more hangers.
“I can’t believe he’s friends with jocks,” Taehyun sticks his tongue out in disgust. “Eww.”
Seungyoon throws clothes on the bed where Taehyun is sprawled, intentionally smacking his face. Taehyun grunts a curse, and Seungyoon has to admit he misses pissing Taehyun off. They haven’t really hung out in weeks.
“They’re not my friends. But even then, they’re still better than you, dipshit. Besides, I’m just going there as a courtesy.” He grabs the denim polo shirt that landed near Taehyun’s feet and regards it with interest. Maybe paired with darker jeans? He can totally rock denim on denim.
“Then why are you going through the trouble of dressing up?” Jinwoo asks. “You don’t care about the clothes you wear on stage anymore. Unless-“ There’s a silence before Jinwoo’s eyes widen, sparkling and mischievous. And before Seungyoon could quell whatever theory the older boy has, Jinwoo has already hit Taehyun’s thigh, a clownish smile painted on his face.
“Holy shit, Seungyoon’s interested in one of them!”
“There’s a plot twist no one expected,” Taehyun drawls sarcastically as he turns to Jinwoo. “Didn’t I tell you his tingly gay senses are bound to pick something up?”
Seungyoon throws another one of his shirts at Taehyun but he catches it and sticks his tongue out. Seungyoon still has no idea what kind of rotten man he was in his past life to end up with two idiots as his closest friends, nor does he know why he bothers sticking around.
“Why are you two here again? I don’t remember telling you guys to come over. We were supposed to meet at the venue.”
“Changing the subject,” Jinwoo snaps his fingers before walking to Seungyoon’s closet. “I’m right. You are interested in someone.” When he turns around after sifting through his clothes, he’s holding up a pair of jeans. “Wear these. Your ass looks great in these. He won’t be able to resist, whoever he is.” He tosses it to Seungyoon who catches it, bewildered.
Jinwoo shrugs. “No homo bro. I just have experience filling in jeans better,” he turns to his side and smacks his own butt cheek and Seungyoon ponders how he can erase that image from his brain forever. Jinwoo eyes his backside with distaste. “And you could use some help in that department.”
“What he needs are butt paddings,” Taehyun adds, sounding serious as he rolls on his stomach and makes squeezing gestures with his hands. “Dude. Did you know girls wear that shit? There was this chick, right? We were making out but then when I cupped her-“
“Get out! Get the fuck out of my room,” Seungyoon pulls Taehyun to his feet, grabs Jinwoo and pushes them out the door.
“Don’t forget to pack some rubber. I know it’s been a while for you but you gotta be safe-” Jinwoo wiggles his brows maliciously before the door slams on his face.
PART THREE
But the players have been sniggering since warm up started and Seungyoon doesn’t know if he’s beet red from anger, shame, or both. The ‘WE LOVE THE MANAGER’ banner is bigger than any of the other fangirl banners in the stands and that alone makes Seungyoon want to be swallowed by the ground.
From behind the team bench where he grips a towel furiously, he could make out the giant grin on Jinwoo’s face as he flaps the edges of the tarpaulin, and the self-satisfied smug one Taehyun wears that’s masquerading as detachment. Seungyoon knows they’re doing this to spite him for dumping them with Hayi, and he really shouldn’t be bothered so much by the cheap trick but fuck it’s just so embarrassing.
Especially when he’s been trying his best to keep a low profile in the team. He wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms during the first game. He saw the contempt on the team captain’s face - his bruised face - because apparently, Taehyun a.k.a. unlucky, insufferable idiot picked a fight with Lee Seunghoon. The Lee Seunghoon who’s the captain of Yonsei’s basketball team and last year’s league MVP. And by association, that earned Seungyoon a target on his back from all the players - and the only one who’s semi-decent to him (if he isn’t ordering him around) is Mino.
So Seungyoon made a vow not to get in their way, just do his duties quietly. As if he isn’t there. He’s been successful enough all week that the guys haven’t made snide remarks as much as they did during the first day - but that stupid banner just might trigger something Seungyoon isn’t ready to deal with.
“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to do your job?” Seunghoon’s voice pulls Seungyoon out of his rage trance, and he whips his head to see the captain with a deadly expression on his face.
Lee Seunghoon is a hard ass in court, works twice as hard as everybody else despite being the best player in the team. Seungyoon hates basketball - even more so now - but he’s come to respect the man. Maybe he’d even admire him if he didn’t give Seungyoon so many mean glares.
“Sorry,” Seungyoon mutters, shifting in place, trying to remember what he was supposed to do before he saw that hideous banner.
“The cooler, Kang,” Seunghoon rolls his eyes as he dabs his forehead with a towel. “It’s in the van outside. Bring it in here.”
“Ahh yes,” Seungyoon nods, recalling Mino telling him earlier about the water bottles for the players. He hurries to the side entrance of the gym and jogs towards the team’s white van in its usual parking space.
Seungyoon manages to get the cooler out of the vehicle, but bringing it inside by himself wouldn’t be humanly possible. He’s studying the crowd of people streaming in to catch the game, looking for somebody who might be willing to help when he Mino suddenly comes into view.
He’s already in his blue and white jersey - a large number 33 sprawled across his chest. He’s covered in light sweat from the warm-ups, and Seungyoon doesn’t look at his biceps and how they flex as Mino walks towards him.
Seungyoon has been trying very hard to rein in his schoolboy crush for the guy ever since he discovered Mino’s “in charge” of him. It’ll definitely make Mino easier to hate for his bossiness when he isn’t drooling over him every other minute. Seungyoon would like to think he’s been doing a sufficient job of it, particularly when he focuses on how Mino likes to criticize everything he does - from the most mundane things like how Seungyoon folds the towels to Seungyoon’s limited knowledge of basketball. He can still remember how Mino looked at him in disgust when Seungyoon told him that he has no idea that ‘travelling’ meant anything else other than… well, travelling.
Although there are times when Seungyoon finds himself staring at Mino’s face on the court instead of actually following the game. Mino is definitely more interesting, by Seungyoon’s standards. Mino can be quite animated - he likes to make funny faces when he plays, and Seungyoon especially likes the one he does whenever he gets a foul and pretends it’s an unfair call. It’s kind of hot in a cute way, him all worked up and frustrated (and sweaty and sexy) - up until Seungyoon reminds himself that Mino is the enemy.
“Need help with that?”
Seungyoon blinks a few times before registering what Mino just said. He clears his throat. “Don’t you have a game to play?”
“Yes and I’d like to stay hydrated when I do,” Mino moves to grip the cooler’s handle. His eyes sweep over Seungyoon’s arms and scoffs. “Your skinny ass can never bring this inside by yourself.”
“Excuse me but my skinny ass can do lots of things.”
Mino stills, looks up at him with a raised brow and oh shit Seungyoon just realized how that sounded. He opens his mouth to try to salvage it but draws a blank, only worsened by Mino furrowing his brows and standing to his full height.
“I’m sorry?” Mino tilts his head in a clearly teasing manner, coupled by the flash of amusement in his dark eyes. It makes Seungyoon wonder if Mino knows he’s gay, or at least has his suspicions. Dear god what if Mino is aware of just how much Seungyoon stares at him during games? Fuck.
“Let’s just bring this inside, boss. This isn’t the time to be chatting, hurry up!” Seungyoon says in one breath, already pulling the cooler as he takes harried steps away from Mino. Maybe it’s his adrenaline doing the work because Seungyoon has never wanted to escape an awkward situation so badly he gained super strength out of the blue.
He hears Mino stifle a chuckle before Seungyoon feels the weight of the cooler reduce and Mino falls in step with him. Mino doesn’t say anything else, but Seungyoon fights the urge to glance his way because he’s almost sure Mino is smirking.
The game was exciting, to say the least, but it didn’t end in the way they wanted. For the second time this series, their team lost - which means if they don’t win the next game, they don’t proceed to the finals.
Seungyoon didn’t really give a shit about the games, more so whether the team wins or not. As a matter of fact, if Yonsei lost the semifinals, it would cut Seungyoon’s managerial schedule short and he’s free to go. He should be celebrating the loss, really. However looking at the players’ disappointed faces, Seungyoon has to admit a part of him is inexplicably sad.
He stays a few steps away from the player benches where the guys are all hunched down, panting as they listen to Coach Han list down every single thing they did wrong in the game. Seungyoon doesn’t really know if it’s best to kick a man when he’s down like this - and he’s pretty sure one of the maknaes is actually crying right now - but hey he never really understood basketball so who is he to judge. It does make him hate Coach Han just a tad bit more.
The crowd thins gradually, but the team remains unmoving on their spot and it’s one of those times where Seungyoon has no idea what to do. Should he just stand there and sulk like all of them? Or should he go about doing his job as if the team didn’t just lose so terribly by - Seungyoon looks at the scoreboard - 17 points? Yikes. Even he knows that’s embarrassing.
He makes the mistake of turning towards the stands and sees Jinwoo and Taehyun still holding on to the banner. Jinwoo whispers to Taehyun as soon as he sees Seungyoon look, and Seungyoon swallows down his suspicion that they’re about to cause mischief. He knows the look Jinwoo makes when he’s up to something.
“It’s okay! It’s alright!” Seungyoon hears Jinwoo shout - and it echoes in the nearly empty gym. All of the people left, the players included, look up at Jinwoo who’s fist pumping the air. “It’s okay! It’s alright! Go Yonsei, fight, fight, fight!” Taehyun has the decency to be embarrassed and hides his face behind the tarpaulin.
“Fuck,” Seungyoon’s eyes close and he takes a step back, mentally calculating how long it would take for him to run all the way to the exit. But to his horror, the players all look over their shoulder at him - their faces grim and clearly not amused. Lee Seunghoon is the first to stand up, giving Seungyoon a death glare before pushing a towel in his hands. Seungyoon nearly ducks when he does so, fearing Seunghoon might throw a punch. He doesn’t - thankfully - but the other players follow his lead, most of them handing their sweaty, icky towels to him and moving to the locker rooms.
Mino is the only one who doesn’t give him a completely vicious look, but he still looks a little peeved. “Ever considered making better friends?” Mino asks him - rhetorically, he supposes - because he doesn’t wait for a reply and walks past him.
“Every fucking day,” Seungyoon sighs as he drops the towels on the box next to the bench and glowers at Jinwoo in the stands. He takes his phone out and types a scathing message about burning all of the clothes they left at his apartment. Seungyoon flips them off and they leave laughing. Jinwoo sends a text back that Seungyoon better find them a new vocalist before they start showing up at all the games.
For his own well-being, Seungyoon decides to stay away from the lockers until the players are gone since they’re not exactly in the best of moods at the moment. It takes about half an hour, which Seungyoon uses to clean up the team area. He’s almost become used to this after two weeks, but sometimes he pauses and wonders how much his old self would have laughed at the person he became.
He picks up the box of empty bottles and towels and moves to the locker room. He’s exhausted but he’ll have to send the towels to the cleaners before he’s free to go home. The room is quiet, but the pungent smell of sweat and dirty clothes permeate the air. Seungyoon is already covered in sweat, but somehow he feels even dirtier inside.
He eyes the shower room with curiosity. He’s never taken a shower there before, not that he ever felt the need to more than at this very moment. Anyway, he has a change of clothes and he’s been wanting to get out of his clammy manager uniform.
He grabs one of the unused towels by the rack, looks around once for good measure before stripping down to his underwear. He casually places his clothes on the bench and heads for the shower room. He chooses the shower head at the very end, farthest from the door.
He shivers when the cold water splashes on his face, quickly adjusts the heater so the water turns lukewarm until it’s just the right kind of hot. Seungyoon stands still with his eyes closed, letting the water cascade down his body. He does his best thinking in the shower and right now, his mind is filled with ways to get back at Jinwoo and Taehyun for the stunt they pulled earlier without having to deal with them loitering in any of the games.
And then his thoughts wander to a certain someone he really shouldn’t be thinking about, but Mino was looking incredibly hot today and Seungyoon wonders if it’s just him or Mino’s getting even more attractive every time he sees him. Seungyoon knows little about basketball, but it doesn’t really take a genius to see that Mino’s a great player. Besides, Seungyoon has seen how the fangirls look at him - with desire and admiration in their eyes and well, Seungyoon gets it.
It’s hard not to swoon when Mino does that thing with his tongue where he presses it against his upper lip for an unhealthy period of time Seungyoon could almost hear the collective gasps in the gym.
Not to mention, Mino’s got a great physique and a devilishly handsome face. And something about his tanned skin just seems dangerous and delicious at the same time.
Seungyoon feels blood rush to the lower region of his body and he quickly snaps out of it, turns the heater off and makes sure he’s doused in cold water before stepping out of the shower. Things can get way out of hand if he continues to entertain these thoughts. Inasmuch as people would find this a hot porn-worthy moment, Seungyoon would like to think there are boundaries he wouldn’t cross - one of which is jacking off in a locker room that isn’t even his.
He grabs the towel and wraps it around his waist, pads back towards the lockers, ignoring the wet trail he leaves on the floor in his wake.
He nearly shrieks in surprise when someone blocks the doorway just before he could step out of the shower room. He’s unable to stop himself from colliding into said person and fuck, when he realizes what’s happening, it’s too late because he’s touching Mino’s chest to hold himself up so he doesn’t slip, while Mino’s hands land on Seungyoon’s waist. His wet and naked waist. They make eye contact, Seungyoon gasps, and Mino’s eyes look like they’re about to bulge out of their sockets.
The area where Mino’s fingers dig into his skin feels like it’s burning for every second his hands stay there, and despite having just stepped out of the shower, Seungyoon feels heat spread throughout all of his body parts. Mino’s lips are parted by a fraction, his expression still contorted into that of surprise, but Seungyoon doesn’t miss the way his eyes rake over Seungyoon’s face and wet hair before they drop to his mouth.
It feels like a long time before Seungyoon backs off, mind reeling and heart pounding at alarming levels at having Mino’s face inches away from his. Seungyoon swallows down the urge to press himself against Mino again and clears his throat.
“Shit-”
“Sorry-“
They both start speaking and stop at the same time, eyes fixed on each other.
Seungyoon gives him an embarrassed smile and gestures for him to go on, all while trying to cover his upper body with his arms. A quick glance down confirms that he’s having a good abs day (they come and go depending on how much he had to eat) so he thanks the universe for that because he’d really hate for Mino to think he has the body of a fifteen year old.
“I’m sorry,” Mino repeats. “I heard the shower and I thought someone must have left it on again.”
“No, it was me. I just… I was feeling kind of dirty-” Seungyoon stops himself, eyes wide.
“I mean I was feeling hot-“ FUCK.
“I just wanted a shower,” he finishes with barely any dignity left.
Mino looks like he’s going to break into a grin but is trying to keep on a straight face, which Seungyoon isn’t sure he appreciates or just makes him all the more embarrassed. His cheeks burn, regardless, especially when he catches Mino’s eyes travel down all the way to his feet in an appraising manner.
“Can I please put on some clothes now?” Seungyoon hears himself say out of annoyance. He may not be as buff as Mino, but he’d like to keep his pride about his body.
“Is anyone stopping you?”
“You’re still blocking the door.”
Mino steps aside and waves for Seungyoon to go ahead. Seungyoon reluctantly drops his arms and steps out, but he passes by Mino who’s standing too close to the doorway. Seungyoon thinks he might have seen him lick his lips, but Seungyoon dismisses the thought before he gets any strange ideas.
Putting on clothes doesn’t take long, what with him doing it in lightning speed while Mino’s still standing in the corner. Seungyoon still feels jittery but he squares his shoulders once he’s done, tries his best not to look too affected by Mino’s presence.
“I didn’t know you were still here,” Seungyoon’s voice fills in the edgy silence between them. “I thought you left with the others.”
“I left something. I just came back to get it.”
Seungyoon looks around the locker room, then studies Mino who’s empty-handed. Odd. “Well, did you?”
“Oh yeah.”
Seungyoon ignores the smirk on Mino’s face or the suggestive lilt in his tone, turns to the large plastic bag full of soiled towels and exhales aloud. “Two more weeks, Kang Seungyoon,” he mumbles to himself like a mantra.
“Come on, I’ll drop you off at the cleaners.”
“Huh?” Seungyoon quirks a brow. Mino is being awfully friendly today and it’s a tad suspicious. Wasn’t it only last week Mino was ordering him around the city when he was the one with a car? “Why would you?”
Mino shrugs, twirling his keys on his finger absently. “It’s on the way to my apartment. Besides, it would save you the taxi fare.” When Seungyoon still doesn’t move, Mino rolls his eyes. “Are you always this difficult?”
“Are you always this two-faced?”
“I’m trying to be nice, Seungyoon.”
Seungyoon’s heart skips a tiny beat at that. It’s the first time Mino has ever said his first name out loud. It was always Kang this, Kang that. He’s gotta admit, it’s… pleasant to the ears.
“What? We’re the same age, aren’t we?” Mino turns. “Come on before I change my mind.”
The drive to the cleaners is, to say the least, awkward.
Seungyoon couldn’t say no, not when he’s carrying with him a horde of stinky, sweaty towels and he’s not really in a position to decline when his money has been depleting from missing last weekend’s gigs and the prospect of earning nothing in the next few weeks. But it keeps making him on edge, why Mino is all of a sudden… friendly? Maybe the basketball team is going to play a prank on him and this is really the ride to his humiliation? Are they still thinking of getting revenge for the fight at Byblos? Seungyoon can’t rule that possibility out. Don’t jocks do stuff like that?
But Mino doesn’t seem like the asshole type, even though he can be such a pain in the ass sometimes.
“So…” Mino starts to say, and Seungyoon is surprised he broke the silence. He half-expected them not to speak at all until they arrive at the cleaners. “We love the manager-“
“Please don’t,” Seungyoon’s hands fly to cover his face at the reminder, the taste of humiliation still fresh on his tongue.
Mino lets out a laugh and Seungyoon peeks through his fingers to see Mino grinning, eyes still on the road. Seungyoon tries not to smile, but his lips twitch up anyway.
“Fine. I’m sure Seunghoon wouldn’t want to hear about it again anyway. But if you ask me, it was a funny distraction.”
“Yeah, at my expense.”
Mino turns to him for a second, smirking. “That’s why it was funny.”
Seungyoon scowls, but he couldn’t help the way his cheeks burn at the fact that they’re exchanging teasing banter - something they seem to be doing more of lately, unconsciously.
Mino doesn’t say anything after that, and Seungyoon continues to sneak glances at him while he drives. Despite Mino’s attempts at joking, Seungyoon could see the gloom and exhaustion in his features. Seungyoon feels a pinch in his chest; he’s been in enough band competitions to know what loss feels like, especially when you’ve given it your all and it still doesn’t work out the way you want it to.
“You guys played a great game,” Seungyoon says before he can stop himself. Even as he says it, his voice is unsteady. It’s strange broaching this topic with Mino.
Mino’s thick brows furrow, but his expression is more amused than anything else. “And here I thought you don’t know a thing about basketball.”
“Oh no, you’re right. I still don’t. But I saw how much you hustled out there. That’s common sense.”
The car slows to a stop and Seungyoon doesn’t realize until he glances out the window that they’ve arrived at the cleaners. A mixture of relief and disappointment fills him - relief that this isn’t a prank, but disappointment that the drive couldn’t last a little while longer. Mino’s car smells just like him, and if Seungyoon’s going to be honest, he was liking where their little conversation was going.
“Thanks,” Mino turns to him with a lopsided smile. “For the attempt at comfort.”
Something swells in Seungyoon’s chest and he hopes to the heavens it doesn’t show in his face. “Glad I could help.”
“If you really want to help, how about actually learning the game and being a real manager? Maybe act like you’re part of the team and not just someone who’s forced to be at the games?”
“Now there’s the Song Mino I know,” Seungyoon rolls his eyes. “I only have two weeks left of this. I’m not going to study an entire sport just to pass bottles and towels around. No, thanks.”
“Suit yourself,” Mino shrugs. “I’m just saying this shouldn’t have to be completely awful for you. That there’s a way you can enjoy this, uhh, this… situation.”
There’s a way, alright. I can just focus on you play, Seungyoon thinks, but he presses his lips shut and quickly alights the car before he can say anything incriminating. After grabbing the towels from the backseat and muttering a thanks, he watches Mino drive off, feeling a sense of foreboding at the well of his stomach. If Seungyoon doesn’t keep himself in check, this little crush on Mino might grow to not be so little anymore.
They win the semifinals.
Seungyoon doesn’t know whether to be happy for the team or annoyed that he has more time to serve as manager - and that constant inner conflict is beginning to worry him. Because if Seungyoon is going to be completely honest with himself, maybe he doesn’t mind so much anymore. He’s grown to like the excitement of the games, and the energy of the entire stadium feels a lot like the energy of an audience at a rock concert - something he can appreciate. Plus, it really isn’t so hard to get to know the rules once you keep watching.
And perhaps it’s because the chores don’t feel so much like chores any longer and the players have sort of warmed up to him (if the fact that they don’t look at him like he’s some deformed alien anymore can qualify as that). Mino has become less annoying as the days went by, or Seungyoon has grown more tolerance for Mino bossing him around - who knows, really.
They did keep up their bantering, and if Seungyoon didn’t know any better, it almost feels like they’re friends. Work friends - but still. That counts for something, right?
Which is why when Mino told him at the locker room after the game not to miss the victory party at his apartment, Seungyoon felt a rush in his system. And Seunghoon, who was within earshot of the invitation, gave him a nod. A nod, acknowledging the invitation. Seunghoon could have been high from the win, but still. Such an improvement from his death glares and Seungyoon has to admit, it was strangely satisfying.
He told Mino that he has to play a gig that night which he couldn’t miss, and that he’d try to be there afterwards. ‘Try’ being a lie because Seungyoon knows he’ll probably do everything to make sure he makes an appearance.
“I can’t believe you’re going to a party without us,” Jinwoo sulks, watching him rummage through his closet. Seungyoon barely hears him as he pauses on a Nirvana tee, shakes his head, and flips through some more hangers.
“I can’t believe he’s friends with jocks,” Taehyun sticks his tongue out in disgust. “Eww.”
Seungyoon throws clothes on the bed where Taehyun is sprawled, intentionally smacking his face. Taehyun grunts a curse, and Seungyoon has to admit he misses pissing Taehyun off. They haven’t really hung out in weeks.
“They’re not my friends. But even then, they’re still better than you, dipshit. Besides, I’m just going there as a courtesy.” He grabs the denim polo shirt that landed near Taehyun’s feet and regards it with interest. Maybe paired with darker jeans? He can totally rock denim on denim.
“Then why are you going through the trouble of dressing up?” Jinwoo asks. “You don’t care about the clothes you wear on stage anymore. Unless-“ There’s a silence before Jinwoo’s eyes widen, sparkling and mischievous. And before Seungyoon could quell whatever theory the older boy has, Jinwoo has already hit Taehyun’s thigh, a clownish smile painted on his face.
“Holy shit, Seungyoon’s interested in one of them!”
“There’s a plot twist no one expected,” Taehyun drawls sarcastically as he turns to Jinwoo. “Didn’t I tell you his tingly gay senses are bound to pick something up?”
Seungyoon throws another one of his shirts at Taehyun but he catches it and sticks his tongue out. Seungyoon still has no idea what kind of rotten man he was in his past life to end up with two idiots as his closest friends, nor does he know why he bothers sticking around.
“Why are you two here again? I don’t remember telling you guys to come over. We were supposed to meet at the venue.”
“Changing the subject,” Jinwoo snaps his fingers before walking to Seungyoon’s closet. “I’m right. You are interested in someone.” When he turns around after sifting through his clothes, he’s holding up a pair of jeans. “Wear these. Your ass looks great in these. He won’t be able to resist, whoever he is.” He tosses it to Seungyoon who catches it, bewildered.
Jinwoo shrugs. “No homo bro. I just have experience filling in jeans better,” he turns to his side and smacks his own butt cheek and Seungyoon ponders how he can erase that image from his brain forever. Jinwoo eyes his backside with distaste. “And you could use some help in that department.”
“What he needs are butt paddings,” Taehyun adds, sounding serious as he rolls on his stomach and makes squeezing gestures with his hands. “Dude. Did you know girls wear that shit? There was this chick, right? We were making out but then when I cupped her-“
“Get out! Get the fuck out of my room,” Seungyoon pulls Taehyun to his feet, grabs Jinwoo and pushes them out the door.
“Don’t forget to pack some rubber. I know it’s been a while for you but you gotta be safe-” Jinwoo wiggles his brows maliciously before the door slams on his face.
PART THREE