⋆
"Okay, Seoul Varsity huddle!"
Tomorrow's the big day. The day Gyuvin will either show his true potential or embarrass himself in front of approximately 2,000 students. The day Ricky may or may not end up hating Gyuvin even more than he already did–or maybe he would start liking him more.
Whatever, tomorrow is the big day, and Seoul Varsity cannot lose to the Incheon All-Stars.
"I know you guys are probably just as nervous as I am, and that's really bad because I'm on double duty as both team representative and the point guard, but that doesn't mean we should flunk an opportunity to stand strong against Incheon!" Hanbin spoke diligently and with great determination, confident in his and his team's abilities.
"Yeah!" The team shouted in harmony, sharing the same determination in their heads and their hearts. Gyuvin was the only one who sounded significantly less prideful.
"Are we gonna win this?" Hanbin asked, hoping for a positive response.
"Yeah!" The team responded once more. Gyuvin could get used to this...
"Is Incheon better than us?" Hanbin turned the tables, catching Gyuvin completely off-guard...
Amid a shared "No!", a loud "Yeah!" was heard.
Everyone stopped in their tracks and tried to locate the betrayer of the group. Who dare say that the Incheon All-Stars are better than Seoul Varsity? Much less someone who's on Seoul Varsity?
"Now, who the hell said that?" Ricky sneered, crossing his arms angrily. Gyuvin was scared because he couldn't tell if the blondie was genuinely mad or if he was just playing.
Choosing to not risk the somewhat normal bond he'd built with Ricky over the past few days since his apology, Gyuvin bowed down, 90 degrees, and apologized quickly.
"I-I'm sorry! I wasn't listening to what he said and responded without thinking! I'm new to this, sorry Ricky!" he spoke in a fast manner, completely disregarding the rest of the team which, thankfully, found his behavior funny. "I-I mean, sorry Seoul Varsity!" he added almost as an afterthought a few seconds later.
Ricky laughed at the response, cracking his mean-boy front instantly. Gyuvin stayed in his 90-degree bow position, looking quite silly as he did.
"I was only joking," Ricky smiled, going over to Gyuvin to pat his back and stop him from appearing as though he'd dropped the soap. "Don't worry," he added, sensing the other's genuine fear.
"Wow, Ricky. For once, you aren't acting like someone shoved a stick up your ass!" Jiwoong exclaimed happily, high-fiving Gunwook who wholeheartedly agreed with the statement.
"I'll shove one up yours if you don't shut it," Ricky spoke through gritted teeth, smile not leaving his face in an attempt to appear as supportive as possible for his overly clumsy roommate.
Wait, "roommate" isn't right.
His overly clumsy friend.
🏀
"Gyuvin, I fear you'll have to get the ball in the hoop at least once if we're planning on winning." Gunwook hesitantly yelled out to Gyuvin from where he stood on the opposite side of the court. He'd been watching Gyuvin for the past hour, and the latter couldn't even pick up the ball for five seconds before dropping it.
"I know, Wookie!" Gyuvin yelled back, staring at the ball that he'd dropped when Gunwook randomly shouted at him. He was determined. He could do it! Today would be the day that he picked up the ball for longer than 10 seconds!
"Go on then, try!" Gunwook jogged up to Gyuvin's side of the court, ignoring Hanbin who started yelling at him for abandoning his own ball. Interested, the older naturally gravitated over to watch the scene unfold. Gyuvin scoring his first goal? Certainly, a sight one would not want to miss.
"Have you, like, never scored into the hoop before, Gyuvin?" Jiwoong came out of nowhere, jumpscaring Gunwook. The bastard spoke right into his cochlea!
"God damn!" Gunwook flew away from the noise, staring at Jiwoong like he'd just killed his family of four and stole all the potatoes from the fridge. "Why did you have to stand right next to my–"
"Shut up, dumbasses." Ricky hissed, giving them attention only to shut them up before turning his head to watch Gyuvin try and position himself for the shot. "Gyuvin, you have to be a bit more to the left." he assisted, ignoring the squealing from behind him as Jiwoong harassed Gunwook's ticklish stomach.
"O-oh..." Gyuvin stuttered, dropping the ball momentarily so he could check where his left was with his fingers. He could hear Ricky clicking his tongue from where he stood many feet away, but strategically took no notice of him. Haters stay hating!
After recognizing that his left was not on the side that he thought was his left, Gyuvin picked up the ball and shifted a few steps over. He was sure that he could make it now!
Turning around to face his supportive crowd consisting of a homosexual, a self-tamed narcissist, a grandpa, and an angry bird, Gyuvin felt a sense of confidence. Now, all he had to do was lock in his victory...
"Ricky, this one's for you!" he yelled out, pointing at Ricky who stared back at him with a flabbergasted expression on his countenance. There is absolutely no way...
Jiwoong snorted at the cheesy line, waiting for Gunwook to commentate on Gyuvin's silliness. This meant no good for the up-and-coming basketball player. If you could even call him that, of course...
"Well, at least we know he's not going to make it in now?" Gunwook tilted his head, sighing as he watched Gyuvin do a whole squat in pursuit of the "perfect shooting form." What a man.
"Yah!" Hanbin slapped Gunwook on the back in the least harsh way possible, not wanting to injure the angry bird a good 24 hours before game day. "Don't say that too loud..." he whispered, making Gunwook grimace.
As they all braced for impact, Gyuvin shot his ball into the air and...
Needless to say, Gunwook wasn't wrong...
The ball went projectile, seeming as though it had grown wings of its own, and began flying throughout the gymnasium. It soared beyond the hoop, not even giving it a chance before bouncing off to the floor. Who would have thought that a ball would be playing hard to get...?
"Okay, so we all agree that Ricky is the reason why that ball went everywhere but in the hoop?" Gunwook clapped his hands together and spoke, trying his hardest to hold back a laugh at the face Ricky was making.
Gyuvin on the other hand...
Erm. he was on the floor. Doing something. He looked like he was being possessed. Hanbin prayed that he was being possessed by LeBron James or something. He needed the skills.
"I think Jiwoong will have to pray extra hard tonight," Hanbin spoke with a straight face, watching Gyuvin writhe on the ground out of embarrassment. Or maybe he really was being possessed by the little sunshine, LeBron.
"You're acting like his prayers will be answ— Damn bitch!" Gunwook screamed midway through his sentence at the big SLAP that went through his entire soul, to Mars, and back. He felt like he just got a massage to the 17th power.
"You dare speak of me like that." Spoke the grandpa, crossing his arms in disbelief. Gunwook rolled his eyes at his super-senior behavior and turned to face the scene of the crime.
He was all but shocked to find Ricky hesitantly approaching Gyuvin, who seemed to have calmed down from his quirk-activation scene. He gasped quietly and slapped a hand over Jiwoong—who was still yapping about him having to respect his elders—and pointed to the scene. There it was! Romeo! He was going to save Juliet!
"Oh, my dearest Juliet... Art thou alright?" He heard Ricky speak with a heavy Italian accent. His gowns dragged across the rugged, soil-filled floor of the castle grounds as Juliet's— Er, Gyuvin's body lay flat across the threshold of the kingdom.
"My lovely prince... I shall not fight for a day more..." spoke Gyuvin, voice higher than if he were to have inhaled a whole balloon's worth of helium. His princess dress sit on his frame, torn apart and dirty with the grime of his past, the grime of his forbidden love...
"My beautiful queen... I see thee lying hither... For what reason hath this happened? Who hath struck thy heart? Am I in a position to mend it?" Ricky ran his hand over Gyuvin's tear-stained cheek, jagged nails scratching the latter's porcelain skin gently.
"It was Sir Gunwook... The betrayer... He didst this to me. He is the oneth who sought after thy crown. He wished to foil me..." Gyuvin voiced through tears, voice breaking in pursuit of a genuine confession. Wait—
Wait, Sir Gunwook?
"Hey! That's not how the story's supposed to go!" Gunwook interrupted the homosexual rendition of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet that had been running in his head. "Why am I the betrayer? It should be someone else! I'm literally so–"
"Is he off his meds?" Jiwoong whispered to Hanbin, side-eyeing Gunwook as he rambled on about how Rickeo & Gyuvinet was supposed to go. Hanbin sighed in response, shaking his head.
"When was he ever on them?"
🏀
Thirty minutes later, after Gunwook had been given a random energy drink and Gyuvinet had been resurrected by Rickeo, the team was back at it. Shooting shots left and right as though it were their trademark, Seoul Varsity was ready to defeat the Incheon All-Stars.
Uhm, that is, everyone except for Gyuvin...
He'd only been able to make almost-in-the-hoop shots. Either the ball spins around the hoop for 10 seconds before inevitably falling to the ground or he throws it into oblivion, calling for a controlled search of the lost ball.
"Gyuvin, come on! You can do this! We believe in you!" Hanbin cheered, his whisker smile piercing through everyone's hearts. Except for Gunwook, though. He was still playing Angry Birds.
"Gunwook I will do bad, bad things to your phone if you don't put it down." Ricky sneered through gritted teeth, striding up to Gunwook in the most intimidating way possible. Gunwook wasn't able to hear him over the multiple explosion sounds emitting from his phone.
Right in the nick of time, Gunwook beat the level and put his phone back in his pocket, standing like a gentleman as he awaited further instruction, Ricky stood awkwardly with his offending hand in the air, unsure if he should follow through with his plan of smacking Gunwook's phone.
"Ricky, I think your Bambi is about to try something..." Gunwook whispered, prompting Ricky to put his arm down. Ricky didn't pay attention to the fact that Gyuvin had been referred to as his Bambi and instead turned around to see what trouble the younger had gotten himself into.
"Hao told me that I should try and emphasize my weaknesses to make them better..." Began the Bambi, spinning the ball that was in his hold as he stepped extremely far away from the hoop he was supposed to be aiming for. "Honestly, I have no idea what he was talking about when he said that but it sounds fun..." he continued, stopping when he was almost 25 feet away from their practice hoop.
Everyone in the room had their own reactions to whatever Gyuvin was attempting; Hanbin was shaking his head, eyes open wide as he backed away cautiously; Jiwoong was preparing himself for admission into the senior center because he was sure that no amount of yelling could get Gyuvin to bounce back after this one. Gunwook smirked and rubbed his hands together mischievously, awaiting disaster, and Ricky's eyes widened as he stared at the scene of impending doom.
"I think I should stand next to him. Standby medic, you know..." Ricky unconsciously murmured amid his state of apprehension. He gravitated to Gyuvin's side slowly, initiating a whole new reaction amongst the other three in the gym.
"Gyuvin, be careful." He said to the other lowly. Gyuvin flinched at his appearance but smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Ricky! I won't make it in any way." Gyuvin's reassuring smile faltered slightly at the realization that he probably wouldn't make the ball into the hoop no matter how close or far he was. Ricky's worry only grew at that.
"Still," he mumbled, eyes now on the hoop. He quickly calculated every person on the court's distance from the hoop just to make sure nobody else would be walking out with a bloody nose or pounding headache.
"Okay, let's go!" Gyuvin cheered for himself, getting into position. Ricky's eyes flickered at Gyuvin's formation for a few seconds, assessing him to see if there were any possible errors. He was surprised to see that he, for once, had pretty good form.
Gyuvin threw the ball into the air, and suddenly, it was as though time had stopped. The ball slowly inched closer to the hoop, and everyone was thinking the same thing; Which gust of wind would offroad it this time?
The issue is, no gust of wind came...
The ball went into the hoop.
Wait, the ball went into the hoop!
"Oh my God!" Hanbin screamed and cheered in one, his face resembling that of an impressed hamster with its mouth open from shock. He was clapping his hands, and Gunwook was too. Jiwoong was probably tearing up his admission sheet... Gyuvin did it!
He made the ball in—and from 25 feet away!
"Ricky! Ricky!" Gyuvin turned around, jumping with every word he spoke. "Did you see that?! Did you see it? I made the ball into the hoop!" he squealed, hands balled into fists as he shook them from excitement.
Ricky's entire face had shock written over it. His jaw-dropped expression morphed into a smile after a few seconds as he moved his gaze from the hoop and the ball that had just passed through it to the shooter. The Bambi did it!
"You did it!" With adrenaline pumping through both their veins, they embraced one another in an expected yet unexpected hug. "Oh my gosh..." Ricky spoke like a breath, laughing through his words with disbelief. Maybe it was pure luck, but how often does one get that lucky on their first try?
"I did it! I shot my first ball!" Gyuvin beamed brighter than the sun, hugging Ricky so tight that he may have lost both blood circulation and his respiratory functions all at once. Ricky was too busy reflecting on the moment to worry about that, though.
"You did! How the hell did you do that?" Ricky pulled away momentarily, eyes furrowed as he took in Gyuvin's sunshine-esque grin. "Not even I could do that!" he then returned to the hug, disregarding the sound of Gunwook snapping 50 pictures per second.
"I don't know!" Even after coming down from his high, Gyuvin was ecstatic. It was only then that he'd rendered whose embrace he was in—Ricky. Shen Ricky. The person who he was so sure hated him. Gyuvin's heart was pounding in his chest.
He feared that it wasn't just from the adrenaline.