Coach Jimin || Jikook

31 - The Game

Jaehyun's team had only one game that afternoon and if they wanted to advance into the next stage and play another two games tomorrow then they were going to need to win both matches today. All the young boys were nervous of course, their team was in a higher league than most children there age and that meant that they were competing against other tough opponents who were just as egar to win as they were.  

"Oh wow, those guys are huge, how is he 10, he's so tall?" Jaehyun questioned one of his teammates. They were all scoping out the other players with worry in their eyes as the field started to become crowded with families and different teams checking in for the tournament. "That guy has facial hair! That should be against the rules!" Another kid whispered yelled to Jaehyun who was agreeing.

"You could stand here and complain about the unfairness in size difference or you could start thinking of ways to use that as an advantage." Jimin expressed to Jaehyun and the other boys. All of their faces glanced over to see their coach approaching them, he hand a clipboard in his hand a bright smile on his face as he started reviewing some skills to use when faced against bigger opponents. 

Jaehyun admired Jimin, the other boys did also because he always knew how to make them feel less nervous before a game, his words of wisdom touched them all and riled them up ready to vanquish any team trying to stand in their way of their well deserved win. Jimin ruffled the children's hair one by one, telling them all how proud he was of them and how much faith he had in every single one of their skills.

While the children reported to the field so that the Referee could check their their shin guards and tell them about the rules Jimin moved to stand where most of the parents were seated. He was making small talk with a few of them that were thanking him for his dedication and expressing to him how thrilling it was to see their boys progress over the past three months. 

But Jimin didn't coach to receive praises, he didn't do it to feel a sense of validation from others, he honestly enjoyed the sport, it was the one sport that kept him active and able to cope with stressful things at the time. Jimin always felt alone growing up, he only had his father who worked all the time, and being part of team made him feel like he had a complete family.

Jimin's eyes flickered over to his left to see Jungkook staring off at the field, he was watching the children shake hands and depart to their side to place themselves in their proper positions. Jungkook never sat with the other parents, he talked to a few of them occasionally but since Jimin was always surrounded by some of the single mothers he never approached the group, or joined in on the conversations.  

Jungkook could feel eyes on him, and he knew that they belonged to Jimin so when he turned his head to the right it was confirmed that lovely brown orbs were glancing in his direction. Jungkook and Jimin locked eyes, both of their hearts beating rapidly because neither of them could look away, they could feel their feet trying to move, urging them to get closer but the sound of the whistle blowing startled them. 

Jimin sighed and faced forward just like Jungkook did to focus on the game because that's what they were here for, to watch the children compete in a soccer match not fall even harder for each other. Jimin placed on a happy smile and moved closer to the field to direct his team, occasionally shouting at them, in a friendly manner of course, to attack the players more, to shot the ball harder and to just play tougher. 

After the second half Jungkook was out of his seat, the game was nerve wrecking, both teams were tied at this point with a score of 3-3 and there was less than five minutes left if they wanted to successfully call this a win. Jungkook was at the edge of the field with some other fathers, they were all riled up and shouting at the ref because he refused to call a foul when it was obvious that Jaehyun was tackled a couple seconds ago.