by the time jaebum and jinyoung were inside the gym, most of the other students had lined up in attendance order already. the two of them sat in their assigned spots, waiting for further instruction from the coaches.
the cough drop he was given by jinyoung certainly did help with the itchy feeling at his throat that made him want to cough, but he couldn't ignore the slight fuzziness in his vision. was he sick? he probably was; at least it was just a common cold or something like that.
while the coach took attendance for his class, jaebum found himself glancing around the students to see where youngjae was. he found it odd because youngjae's usual spot was empty and he remembered how he didn't see the younger in the locker room, either.
he felt genuinely disappointed. was youngjae absent? he was really looking forward to seeing him.
"we'll be playing basketball games today. let's head off to the courts!" the coach yelled, grabbing his cart filled with red and blue jerseys.
while jaebum followed the crowd, jinyoung caught up to him and was rubbing his hands together.
"the fuck are you doing?" jaebum asked in a rather disgusted tone, ignoring a girl in his class who tried to cling onto his arm.
"basketball!" jinyoung exclaimed, giggling. "didn't you know? they call me 'basketball mom' as in, 'i am the mother of basketball.' i'm that good at it."
"whatever, mom," jaebum replied while rolling his eyes, stepping out of the gym and reaching the concrete of the basketball courts.
the coach then proceeded to split the class into two teams, handing them jerseys of the accompanying team color. he must've known that jaebum and jinyoung were some of the top players in class since he was sure to place them in separate teams.
for the first round, jj project were called up to play against each other. just like how jinyoung promised, he was doing really good—in fact, you could say that he was the best on their team. for once, jaebum was actually enjoying pe class.
suddenly, jaebum collapsed to the ground, sweating and panting.
he could hear the coach's whistle in the distance and him yelling, "take a knee!" as he rolled onto his back. he wasn't unconsciousness or anything, no; his vision went blank for a few seconds and his legs felt like noddles, the main reason why he collapsed.
"jaebum!" he heard jinyoung exclaiming from above him. jaebum's eyes were squinting (mostly because he was staring at the sun) as he shook his head. jinyoung grabbed both of his arms and pulled him up, eventually all the way onto his feet. "what happened, bum? did you faint?"
"i just—i need some time to cool down," jaebum breathed out, looking to the coach.
"i can take him to the nurse's office, sir," jinyoung offered.
"that's nice of you but i think you should keep playing. i'll have youngjae take him to the office since he's sitting out anyway." the coach then turned his head to where the benches where and gestured with his hand to come. the singular person sitting at the bench approached the panting jaebum, whose eyes were widened.
"are you okay, jaebum-hyung?" youngjae asked with concern glimmering in his eyes that looked up to the elder. the basketball game resumed once the two of them headed towards the infirmary, jaebum's arm secured around youngjae's shoulders.
