The Buddy Program

10 | learn some things

Taehyung also didn't seem to be in the mood to play an actual game, so the two of them went ahead and just passed a puck back and forth. It was probably Jeongguk's fault for crashing into him so hard, seeing that the dude was struggling a bit every now and then.

"So," Jeongguk said as he tried his best to hit the puck to Taehyung without sending it far away. He might be a shit hockey player, but at least he could attempt to save a conversation from dying. "How do you find this comforting?"

"It's an adrenaline rush, and I've played for years," Taehyung answered smoothly, hitting it back with ease. "My dad was a big hockey fan. All of my brothers play it, too."

"You have more brothers?" Jeongguk's eyebrows raised. So there were more Kims out there?

"Yep," He nodded. "There's me, Namjoon, two older ones, and I have a few step-brothers."

"Step-brothers?" Jeongguk nearly missed the puck, Taehyung's words catching him off guard. "You have step-brothers?"

"Yeah," Taehyung said, face void of any emotion other than the focus nestled between his brows. "Not officially, though. My mom's dating this guy with triplet boys. He also got another son but he lives in the U.S with his birth mom."

"Jeez," Jeongguk whistled. "Your family's huge."

"Eh. Not really," He shrugged. "It's not official, and I don't see any of them. But anyway, my two older ones used to play all throughout their school years. Namjoon played for a little while in high school."

"Don't you play?" Jeongguk asked, almost missing the puck again, "'cuz you're pretty good."

"Sort of," Taehyung murmured, scratching the side of his neck. "I don't play for a league or a team. I just come here and scrimmage with close friends like Jin— the dude you met at the pancake place."

"Why don't you play for a team?" At that, Taehyung swallowed thickly and gave Jeongguk a tight smirk. He already recognized that expression from before.

"That's a story for another day," He settled with, sinking the puck right back at him, nearly making Jeongguk trip over his feet as he tried to save it in time.

"Now, how about you Jeon? Did you play sports before your diagnosis?" His tone became lighter, perkier. Jeongguk decided to drop it; it wasn't worth pushing for.

"I played for my high school's basketball team," He said, guessing he wouldn't mind sharing it. It wasn't like it was a top-secret, private thing anyway.

Taehyung snorted, "You? What position?"

"I... Well, I don't know. I never really played that much," He shrugged. For a second, Taehyung's expression fell, but before Jeongguk could feel a pang in his chest, he was smiling again. Of course he was.

"You know what, Jeon? I've been meaning to ask this." Jeongguk lifted an eyebrow at him.

"What kind of person were you before, you know. Your diagnosis?" He asked, waving his hand between them.

Jeongguk suddenly froze, barely managing to stop the hockey puck before it could slip away. Luckily, he was able to steady it, but he couldn't ignore how his heart began to pick up speed inside of his chest, thrashing about as the walls of his throat began to swell shut. As if on cue, all the noise around him faded into nothingness, the only thing he could hear being the incessant throb of his heartbeat.