Jeongguk yawns as he enters the locker room, kind of tired from the unorthodox day he’d had yesterday. There are a few scrapes on his hands and knees from the skatepark and they sting as he stretches his muscles, but all in all, he could be in a worse position. His shoulder aches from the vice-like grip Taehyung had had on him all night, but ultimately, he’d slept well too. Usually he hates cuddling, so he dutifully decides not to think too hard about how he didn’t mind being cuddled by Taehyung.

He smiles softly to himself, thinking about the comfortable way Taehyung had held them together, chest to chest with his head resting gently on top of Jeongguk’s as he mindlessly traced patterns along Jeongguk’s back to lull them both to sleep. Or the way Taehyung had woken up in the middle of the night and pulled him closer again when Jeongguk had rolled away. Sure, it was stuffy and far too hot, incredibly uncomfortable and Jeongguk couldn’t feel his hand 30% of the time, but it was kind of...nice.

Yeah.

It was nice cuddling Taehyung.

Jeongguk's chest tightens with discomfort for a brief second, but the feeling is gone before he can identify what it is.

I’m probably just nervous for work. Jeongguk tries to conclude, completely thrown off by this indescribable emotion. Searching for a distraction, He shoves his backpack in his locker and turns around, only to be met face to face with a middle-aged man staring right back at him expectantly.

Jeongguk yelps and jumps backwards in surprise, slamming into the lockers behind him.

“U-Um.”

“Mr Jeon. Good morning.” The man greets. His head of full grey hair is gelled to the side, styled in a large, businessman-like swoop. He’s barely taller than Jeongguk, maybe by a couple of inches, but the aloof way in which he carries himself makes him seem unnecessarily intimidating. Though dressed in a white polo shirt and shorts, he still manages to look professional and sagacious, and his overall demeanour makes Jeongguk nervous a little.

“Good morning, Mr Kim.” Jeongguk greets back with a bow. “C-Can I help you?”

“I just wanted to say that you are free to go home.” Mr Kim informs.

“E-Excuse me?” Jeongguk asks in disbelief. “Am I being fired?”

“No, not at all,” Mr Kim clarifies, “It just, seeing as you’re Taehyung’s ball boy and he’s not allowed to play until next week, thanks to his irresponsibility, there’s no point in you being here. Therefore, you’re free to go home until Taehyung comes back next week. Paid, of course.”

“O-Oh.”

“Do you have a stutter, boy?” Mr Kim asks, and Jeongguk cringes in embarrassment.

“No, I just-”

“Regardless. I have a lot of work to do, so I’m afraid I'll have to end things here. Good day.” Mr Kim interrupts, before he’s turning around and briskly exiting the locker room.

“What the fuck.” Jeongguk mutters under his breath as he picks up his bag and shuts his locker and exits the locker room. He turns around to lock the door and turns back around, only to be met with Taehyung, staring right back at him expectantly.

Jeongguk yelps and jumps backwards in shock dropping his bag on the floor, before sighing and running a hand through his hair.

“Jesus fucking Christ, you both need to stop doing that.” He says to Taehyung who looks at him in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Never mind.” Jeongguk dismisses. “Good morning Gucci boy.”

“No. Not good morning. It’s the complete opposite of good morning. It’s...it’s... bad morning!”  Taehyung complains petulantly. “I’m on crutches!” He frowns, waving one of the crutches in the air slightly and scrunching his face up. “I got chewed out by my dad for a fucking hour. He says I shouldn’t be so reckless and irresponsible and that I shouldn’t ruin my career when its only just starting. He said I shouldn’t do anything that’s not tennis or tennis related.” Taehyung mumbles, staring at the ground.

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit indeed. It's only a bad bruise, thankfully, so I only have to ice it for a couple of days and I’ll be back to normal, but still. What about my training!? A couple days is crucial to me right now.” Taehyung groans. “I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

“But a couple days rest might not be so bad, Tae. Learn how to slow your roll sometimes instead of living in the fast lane all the time – it’d probably do you some good.” Jeongguk points out.

Taehyung stares at him like he’s got four fucking eyes.

“That's the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Taehyung wails sadly. “I’m going to fucking die of boredom all day!”

“Well then why don’t you go home? What’s the point in even being here if you’ve got nothing to do?” Jeongguk asks.

Taehyung’s brows furrow as he stares at the ground.

“My dad claims my practice attendance is too low, so it’s mandatory that I’m here every day.” He explains. “He says it’ll help me become the best player in my division.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, even I’m not here every day and I’m actually getting paid." Jeongguk gawks. “I even get to be off the whole week!”

“What?”

“Yeah that’s what I said. But your dad came and told me I was free to skip this week while you’re recovering and th-”

“My dad?”

“Yeah?”

“You spoke to my dad?”

“Yeah, what about it? I’ve spoken to him before.” Jeongguk shrugs, confused at the scowl that overtakes Taehyung’s face. “He only came to the locker rooms to tell me I could go home and that was it. 20 second ordeal at most. And I was only insulted once!” Jeongguk says optimistically, but Taehyung’s frown deepens.

“He’s not some kind of deranged pervert murderer, is he?” Jeongguk asks in horror.

“No no.” Taehyung reassures quickly.

“Oh.” Guk sighs in relief, “Good.”

“He’s just a joy-sucking demon, that’s all.” Taehyung mumbles, and Jeongguk’s eyes go comically wide. “Metaphorically, of course.” He explains, and Jeongguk sighs with relief. “Idiot.” Taehyung mutters fondly under his breath.

"Hey, I heard that!” Jeongguk says in offence.

Taehyung grins.

“It's not exactly a secret though, is it.”

“Now I don’t feel bad about ditching you for the week.” Guk retorts childishly.

“I’m gonna be so bored.” Taehyung groans.

“What about Jimin and Yoongi? Hang out with them.” Jeongguk suggests.

“They’re not here this week; they went to go visit Jimin’s grandma.”

“What about that Ben guy? Can't you get him to come here?”

“It’s not the same.” Taehyung sighs. “This week is gonna be super boring without you.”

“Aww, don’t tell me Gucci boy is going to miss me?” Jeongguk gasps dramatically. He juts his lip out into a fake pout and clutches his hand against his heart.

“Fuck off.” Taehyung scowls, “I am not going to miss you.”

“You are, Taehyungie, and that’s okay – that's what friends do; they miss each other.”

“We are not friends-”

“Try not to cry when I'm gone, okay? Be big and strong and brave for me, okay?”

“I want you dead.”

“It’s okay. I understand that you’re only lashing out because you’re upset.” Jeongguk says condescendingly, patting Taehyung’s shoulder as though he were a child.

Taehyung whacks Jeongguk’s shin with one of his crutches.

“Oww! Dickhead.” Jeongguk scowls.

“Whatever, bastard.” Taehyung retorts as he sticks his tongue out. “Go home, I don’t care.”

“Ya know, if you ask nicely, I'll stay and keep you company.” Jeongguk offers.

“I’d rather die, thanks.”

“Okay then, suit yourself.” Jeongguk shrugs, picking his bag up from the floor. “Have a nice week!” He says as he turns around and begins to walk away. Taehyung scowls and tries to remain resolute in his decision.

Jeongguk is absolutely no fun at all and every moment with him is completely painful and awful, so there would be no reason to hang out with him at all. Right?

Taehyung repeats this mantra in his head over and over again as he watches Jeongguk walk away.

Jeongguk is absolutely no fun at all and every moment with him is completely disastrous and horrifying, so there’s no reason at all to voluntarily hang out with him at all.

His jokes aren’t funny.

His personality isn’t charming.

His face is not cute.

And his eyes don’t sparkle when he smiles.

1 second.

2 seconds.

3 seconds.

4 seconds.

5 seconds.

“Okay wait!” Taehyung calls out, resolve finally breaking. Jeongguk turns around, with a giant shit-eating grin on his face.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you!” He yells in response. In the 5 seconds it had taken Taehyung cave, he’d only managed to walk 1 metre or so, so really, there was no reason why he wouldn’t be able to hear Taehyung. At this point, he was doing it just to tease.

“I-I said wait!” Taehyung repeats a little louder, and it feels like he’s swallowing 1000 jagged rocks as he opens his mouth to say the next part -

“I want you to stay.”

Jeongguk’s eyes go impossibly wide with the elated smile that graces his face, and the morning sun makes a million little stars twinkle in his eyes as he laughs in amusement as he skips over, far too gracefully for a man of his size.

Taehyung’s heart seizes in his chest.

“See, TaeTae? You only have to ask, and I'll stay.” He grins triumphantly. He holds out his hand -

“Now let’s go find a court to lounge around in.” Jeongguk offers.

“Idiot,” Taehyung jibes, “I need both hands to use my crutches.”

But he stares at Jeongguk’s outstretched palm and takes his hand anyway.

"Let's go, you son of a bitch."

●●●