Slam Dunk | Chanbaek

The Water Boy

 🎵Snoop Doggy, Dogg (the bomb)
Snoop Doggy, Dogg (Dogg)🎵

The music blared loudly through the soft padding of my headphones secured tightly over my ears. My head hung low, bobbing along to the beat— in complete synchronization with the bouncing of my leg. I paid close attention to the tiny details of the song. The synthetic, high-pitched beats paired with the low bass; mixed together to create the perfect hip-hop song. It was art. Or at least, to me it was. 
“Chanyeol!”
I flinched at the sound of my name. Looking up, I spotted Coach PD staring at me with his hands on his hips. And staring me down with a stern look. I fumbled with my headphones in a rush to take them off, instead finding myself in an entangled mess of wire.
“You’re supposed to be warming up!” He continued. 
I quickly stood up only to find my iPod dangling from somewhere on my body; where, I couldn’t tell. I silently cursed at myself for being a mess, especially in front of my teammates. I could see them sparing quick glances at me as they jogged around the court, some of them chuckling to themselves. I should’ve been used to it by now; I often found myself in these types of situations, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t preserve what little dignity I had left.
“Geez, Park. How do you get by day to day?” the coach commented more to himself than anyone else, “Someone help him before he hurts himself.” 
In the midst of my frenzy, I saw Sehun jogging up to me from across the court. Of course it was Sehun. Amongst the teammates, he was the only person I considered a friend, probably because we had known each other way before I joined the team. Fifth grade to be exact. Still, that didn’t mean I wanted him coming over here to assist me and make an even bigger scene.   
“I’m fine, I don’t need your help.” I insisted as he approached me. 
“Just let me…”
“No, it’s fine. I’ve got it ” I tried pushing him away to give me space but he wouldn’t budge. 
“At least let me…”
“No, I said I’ve got it.” The embarrassment was becoming unbearable and I blamed it for my lack of common sense at the moment. It should’ve been simple, untangling myself, but my mind was too caught up on how I looked in front of everyone else rather than the actual task at hand. 
“Just let me unplug it!” Sehun shouted before grabbing hold of my iPod and unplugging the headphones. The wire swung loosely around my neck while Sehun firmly gripped my iPod. I stood there awkwardly for a moment before removing the headphones and placing them on the bench. Sehun set my iPod beside it.
    “You’re killing me Park,” PD said as he hit his head repeatedly on his clipboard. “You’re embarrassing me in front of the new waterboy.” He gestured towards the boy standing on the other side of the gym, hovering over the water cooler. 
I felt my face grow red with heat. Not only did my teammates know I was an embarrassment but now some new guy did as well. What a first impression. 
“Both of you get back out there.” PD instructed.    
    Without hesitation, I followed Sehun onto the court and began running my lap. Up ahead of us, I saw two of my teammates snickering to themselves, undoubtedly about me. It was Kris and Tao, which made sense. They weren’t particularly fond of me and, honestly, I couldn’t blame them. My basketball skills were, for a lack of a better term, horrendous. Despite my long legs and muscular build, I lacked coordination. Dribbling a ball while running around the court and trying to look for teammates to pass the ball to was enough to leave my brain scattered. That didn’t mean I was okay with them laughing at me and it certainly didn’t make me feel any less embarrassed. 
    “Why does this stuff happen to me?” I asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.
“Maybe because you have the self awareness of a two-year-old.” Sehun provided.
“Especially today when there’s a new water boy.” I continued, disregarding his comment. As I said it, we jogged past the boy and I swiftly averted my eyes. He was planted on the bench; his arm stretched out and resting on the cooler beside him. Although the glimpse I caught of him was short, it was enough to realize that I knew him. It was Byun Baekhyun from my home ec class. He sat at the table in front of me with his friend Luhan; neither of whom I ever spoke to. I guess staring at Baekhyun's back most of the time made it difficult to recognize him from a distance but I was certain it was him seeing him up close. I didn't know whether to feel better or worse with that information. 
“I don’t even think he saw it.” Sehun commented.
“Everyone saw it.” I snapped back. 
We came to a stop as we reached the end of our lap and Sehun patted me on my shoulder. “You’ll be fine.” He said and started walking to the bleachers. With a huff, I followed him. 
For the next thirty minutes, we executed some drills. My performance wasn’t the best but Coach PD told me he saw improvement which, at that point, I’d take. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough for Kris, who always had something to complain about when we played. We also just so happened to be put on the same team. Yay.
Kris dribbled the ball down the court, occasionally switching it between his hands. I ran a few steps behind him keeping an eye on the other team. Kai was the closest, his eyes fixed on Kris and the ball. He kept inching forward, Kris highly aware. The moment Kai lurched for the ball, Kris maneuvered around him with a spin, successfully avoiding him. He didn’t, however, avoid me. 
As soon as he turned around he rammed right into my side causing him to stumble back. Before I could even do anything, he tripped over his foot and landed on the ground with a thud. I tried helping him up but he smacked my hand away and got up on his own, leaving the ball to roll at my feet. 
“Why the hell are you standing there?” He growled at me. 
“I’m sorry.” I said with a frustrated sigh directed more at myself than him. 
“You’re supposed to be in front of me so I can pass you the ball, not standing around like an idiot.” 
“Boys,” PD interjected, “knock it off.” 
I took a steady breath in an attempt to control the anger I could feel boiling inside me. Whether he was right or wrong it didn’t give him the right to be an asshole. 
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” I said, trying to stay calm. 
“Like I’m supposed to believe that. You haven't been able to get your act together for this entire season and you expect me to think you will now?” 
Kai grabbed on his arm and tried to pull him back, “Kris don’t, let’s just keep practicing.” He said, a hint of annoyance in his tone. 
“No. We can’t win one fricken’ game with him on the team,” he pulled away from Kai’s grip, “I’m sick of it.”
“Alright already.” PD stepped in between us and started to shove Kris forward, leading him away from me. I was far from finished with him though. I gave up on trying to be calm; I was riled now. Everyday he had something to say about me and took any opportunity he got to talk shit. I was over it. 
“How can I be the reason we lose every game when I sit on the sidelines half of the time?” I shouted as he walked away with PD. He turned around to glare me down as PD rubbed the sides of his temples, clearly upset. 
“You’ve had years of basketball training while I only started to play last year. I have an excuse for being bad. What’s yours?” 
Kris tried to lunge towards me but PD wouldn’t let him so he settled for spewing a barrage of insults at me. “You aren’t half the player I am. I could beat everyone on this team. I—“
“Would you calm down.” PD grunted as he struggled to keep him still.
“Oh yeah, you think you're good,” I said, picking up the ball that rested at my feet, “Catch this.”
 I wasn’t really thinking when I did it. One moment, I was chucking the ball straight at Kris’ face, filled to the brim with pure rage, and the next, Baekhyun was on the floor trying his best to stop his nose from bleeding. The adrenaline pumping through my veins slowed and instant regret came to settle in its place. Of course Kris’ instincts kicked in just before the ball could hit him; that was just my luck. 
As soon as I gathered my senses, I ran over to kneel beside Baekhyun. I didn’t know what to do; my brain seemed to malfunction as I hovered over him. He barely acknowledged me as he cupped his face in pain but I tried my best to comfort him. 
“I’m so sorry,” I started to apologize profusely. That’s all I could think to do at the moment. Luckily, Sehun was much more equipped to help apparently and started to lift Baekhyun onto his feet. Wanting to help, I quickly joined in the effort. 
“Take him to the nurse.” PD instructed Sehun. He nodded and started heading towards the doors with one arm around Baekhyun. Hastily, I followed behind them.