Jeon Jungkook sat quietly on the bench and watched while his school soccer team, The Loyola High School Cubs, stretched for the upcoming game.
He had always had a passion for soccer.
He worshipped the sport.
After tremendous efforts, intense work outs, some blood and a lot of tears, he had finally made it into the school team.
But he was benched.
He was new and hadn't played in a proper match yet. He had just moved from Busan, South Korea to L. A. California, less than a year ago.
He was just 14, a freshman and small for his age. He was still growing, his mother would console him whenever he got upset. Having been raised in Busan, he lacked the kind of confidence that his teammates had. English was hard and so was the culture.
But Jungkook was nothing if not a fast learner.
Though he did play at his school in Busan, he had never had the kind of exposure like the schools in US could provide. The rest of the kids on the team had been training almost all of their lives. He'd had to learn most of it on his own. The matches back home were mostly on a very small scale in between teams of the same school. Unless you joined a club, which was expensive and not something his parents could easily afford.
Here in the US, sports was a huge part of the high school curriculum. They actually took it seriously. The matches were inter-school and very exciting. He had been benched all season but that had given him the chance to observe his teammates as well as the rival teams.
This was a crucial game for The Cubs. A home game against the best high school soccer team in California.
Jungkook had been dying to see their rivals, the Falcons, in action. It was currently the best team on the charts.
A horn sounded in the distance and Jungkook watched as people started filtering into the stadium and shuffled into their seats on the bleachers.
It was a packed, full house tonight, he observed. The cheerleaders had already started their performances.
Jungkook wrung his hands nervously. They needed this win to enter the finals.
Another loud horn echoed through the stadium.
The commentators knocked on their mics.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the most awaited game of the season. Without further delay, We are proud to announce our Loyola High School... CUBS!!"
The crowd cheered.
The cheerleaders in blue took the centre of the field performing perfectly. They welcomed The Cubs on to the field with huge grins.
The captain of the cheerleading team led the soccer team captain to the centre of the field, where the referee stood waiting for them.
"Please welcome our captain, Henry Brighton" the announcer shouted amidst the applause and cheers.
Jungkook cheered loudly from his perch on the bench.
Another loud horn echoed through the stadium.
"And now, let me present to you, all the way from San Diego, being led by their youngest captain yet, The Torrey Pines' FALCONS!!" The commentator announced in a booming voice.
The Falcons jogged into the stadium in their black and gold jerseys. The cheerleaders danced around them.
The crowd went berserk.
The team had a lot of fans across the country. They had remained undefeated for the last two seasons. This season, they were on the top of the charts. Their captain was somewhat legendary, he'd heard.
He had heard of their undefeated streak, of course but he hadn't seen them in action before now.
Once the whole team had filtered through, they stood in two parallel rows, facing each other and leaving space in between for their captain to come through. A few seconds later, a boy walked in with such poise, it made Jungkook stand up to stare at him.
He seemed younger than the rest of his teammates. But had all of them under his command.
The tall boy walked onto the centre of the field, one hand in the pocket of his jersey shorts, the other lightly swaying at his side.
Jungkook heard the girls in their cheerleading squad, behind him, giggling and whispering to each other.
He looked back at the boy who now stood facing Henry. His dark hair gleamed under the flood lights. He looked around the stadium like he owned the place.
He was Asian, Jungkook noticed and his heart picked up pace.
The boy was breathtakingly beautiful.
Jungkook was practically drooling by now. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his shorts.
"Please welcome, the prodigy, KIM TAEHYUNG" the announcer yelled and the crowd cheered.
Korean, he realised. Just like him. His heart soared.
Kim Taehyung, the man of the hour, raised his hand and waved at the crowd, his boxy grin lighting up his already gorgeous face.
And just like that, for the first time in his life, Jungkook fell in love.
At first sight.
With a boy!
"Let the best team win!" The whistle blew signalling the start of the most exciting game of the season.
~~~~~~~
Jungkook had watched the entire game with complete focus. His eyes not leaving the beautiful falcon even once.
He didn't even care that his team had lost.
All he wanted, was a chance to speak to the legend who had scored so spectacularly during the game.
When their team left their lockers and slugged out laughing and cheering, Jungkook knew it would be his only chance of meeting the boy who had stolen his heart.
He ran up to them.
"Hyung!" He called, his korean culture slipping out involuntarily.
All of them turned to look at him at the same time. They were all so intimidating, seniors mostly. Surrounding the two younger boys in the centre.
It was uncanny how in sync they were with their captain, who stood lean and tall in the centre.
"Are you talking to me, kid?" He asked in perfectly accented American English.
"I - I....." Jungkook stammered. Why he had expected the boy to respond in korean, he didn't know.
"Do you want to take a picture with our captain?" A soft, kind voice asked.
Jungkook turned to look at the boy standing beside the captain. He was small and looked very handsome in his colourful jacket. He was also Asian, Jungkook noticed.
"Yes p-please" Jungkook stammered again, holding up a polaroid camera.
The little boy extended his arm out. "I'm Park Jimin"
Jungkook grinned and quickly grabbed his hand and bowed. "Anneyeonghaseyo"
The boy giggled.
"Do you play?" He asked Jungkook, taking the camera from his hand and gesturing towards Taehyung.
Jungkook timidly walked ahead stood next to Taehyung "Y-yes."
"I didn't see you on the field" Taehyung said in a deep, bored voice that sent shivers up and down Jungkook's spine.
"I-I just made it to the team. I'm a freshman" Jungkook said in a small voice aware of all the other falcons staring at him in silence.
"I was a freshman when I made captain." Taehyung remarked, sounding like he was extremely bored of this conversation.
"I-I worked really hard." Jungkook said, offended. He had. He knew it. No matter what anyone else thought. He didn't grow up with the kind of privilege that these kids had. He'd had to pave his own way. Most of these kids had been training with the team since middle school. Jungkook had only had his backyard and Youtube.
"Work harder" Taehyung snapped.
Jimin made an annoyed sound, giving Taehyung a glare.
"We are juniors now. Don't worry, I'm sure you will be on the field next season." Jimin smiled at him kindly and raised the camera.
Taehyung put up two fingers in a victory sign close to his face. Jungkook turned to look up at him. The older smiled his infamous boxy smile and all the butterflies in Jungkook's stomach took off in a flurry. How was it that he was so beautiful and perfect?
It wasn't fair.
"Look here buddy" Jimin called.
Jungkook tore his eyes away from Taehyung smiling shyly at Jimin and the camera snapped.
Jimin walked over and handed him the camera. The picture was still coming out.
"Hope to see you next season, kid" Jimin ruffled his hair lovingly.
Jungkook liked him.
"Yeah! I will beat you" Jungkook said, making the whole team burst into laughter.
"You can try kid. It's good to dream" Taehyung drawled, turning away.
Jimin raised a closed fist at Jungkook "Don't mind him. He's just bigheaded."
Jungkook bumped his fist to the older's "No. He's awesome is what he is. And he knows it."
Jimin laughed heartily at that. His eyes disappearing into small crescents. Jungkook stared at how beautiful his smile was.
"Fighting" he said, patted Jungkook on the back and turned away, leaving the younger fawning after him.
Jungkook stared at their silhouettes until all of them had climbed into their bus.
He looked down at the picture in his hand.
It was fully developed now. Jungkook looked at his small lanky self and then at the god-like creature next to him. Taehyung looked so handsome, his heart twitched.
He held the picture close to his chest.
"I will beat you Kim Taehyung. Even if its the last thing I do. I will make you stand up and notice me"
Jungkook vowed to himself, staring at the bus lights disappearing in the distance.
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