Really long chapter... Yay? I could have actually split this chapter in two but uhhh whatever.
Enjoy~
----------
"But really, why do you love me?" Chanyeol inquired as he leaned back in his chair, his guitar resting safely in his lap.
Currently, they were sitting in each other's presences, lights off while doing you-know-what.
They were making songs together, because they both had a free period and had nothing really better to do, but to be honest, what they were doing now would've had to be the best out of any other choices.
"Do I even have to answer?" Baekhyun asked as he gestured to Chanyeol's body. "I mean, you look pretty damn fine if I do say so myself," he replied, but for some reason, Chanyeol wasn't exactly satisfied with the answer.
"Hmm is that all?" Chanyeol questioned and Baekhyun shrugged.
Chanyeol masked his disappointment and instead strummed his guitar, humming along.
It's been a week and a half since their confessions, and each day was a cool breeze in the spring.
They were overdosing on each other's company and love, and they were both fine because they were immune to the results— while others would begin getting bored and tired of their 'clingy' or 'too attached lover', Baekhyun and Chanyeol simply couldn't get enough.
"You know, we should make more songs together. I love hearing your voice," Chanyeol mentioned and Baekhyun smiled.
"One," he said and Chanyeol turned to look at him questioningly. After a little silence, Baekhyun spoke up again. "Yeah, we should make more songs. What should we name our new one?"
Chanyeol was still thinking about the number Baekhyun had said earlier but just put it into a corner of his mind, answering his question.
"Heaven," he answered and Baekhyun grinned.
"That's a good name. Two."
Chanyeol questioned it again, but he brushed it off as some game Baekhyun was playing, like a game called 'Everytime Chanyeol does something dumb.'
"I can't believe the finals are tomorrow..." Baekhyun trailed off as he looked at the ground, slightly nervous.
Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun with an unreadable expression until he reached his hand out and took Baekhyun's, holding it gently.
"If you're nervous, you have no reason to be... You've improved a lot— even if you were really good at the beginning," he stated and Baekhyun felt the nervousness being replaced by raging butterflies.
"Three," he said almost sheepishly as he looked up at Chanyeol, somehow looking shy.
"Why are you counting?" Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun didn't answer, instead, he simply leaned over and rested on Chanyeol's shoulder.
"Your ankle is healed right?"
"Yup," Chanyeol confirmed. "After around three weeks of resting it, it's pretty much fully healed."
They stayed like that for a while before they had to get back to class, letting go of each other's hands hesitatingly, going their separate ways.
~
"We are ONE!" They exclaimed as they all pushed their hands down.
It had been done a dozen of times, but every time felt amazing to Baekhyun.
He knew he would never forget the feeling of piling their hands together, saying encouraging words and preparing for the long battle ahead.
It was a weird feeling: knowing that this game would be the last one of the year, and the last time with this specific group of people.
Next year, he heard the Mingyu was going to transfer over to the Lions (what a traitor, leaving them for SVT ugh.) He had to admit that it'd be different without Mingyu there, maybe it might be harder or possibly easier...
Baekhyun looked at everyone's faces, completely forgetting about his high-strung emotions and instead thinking back to the times he had with them.
He was feeling sentimental, even if that wasn't the last time he'd see them.
The gym they were currently in was bigger than the one at Pyojun high school. There was the 'out' line for basketball and after that, a ton more space before the walls of the gym. To be honest, it was probably double the size of their own gym.
It amazed Baekhyun to be playing in such a big gym for the finals, and it just added to the excitement he was feeling.
An addition to their team was Jongdae, who Baekhyun asked to join again because he was much help in the last game. Of course, Xiumin wanted to cut off all of his hair but Baekhyun just brushed him off and told him to stop being so mean to Jongdae.
Baekhyun looked over at Chanyeol and saw him watching people intently, wondering what he was thinking about.
Chanyeol, on the other hand, didn't focus on anything else as he looked forward.
He could only see three of the people's backs at the moment, and the numbers were:
00, 07 and 68.
He recognized the backs of their head and he looked at them, completely dazed out and not hearing anything Baekhyun had been saying.
Chanyeol guessed that Baekhyun was just saying numbers like he had been recently, and the last time the smaller said something it was the number 9. He was still trying to figure out what Baekhyun was meaning to tell him with those numbers.
The opposite team finished their cheer and they made their lineups, allowing Chanyeol a better look at their faces.
What he saw made him freeze and stiffen, his eyes trained on each of their faces.
Yifan, Luhan, and Zitao.
Chanyeol felt a wave of emotions crash over him and he clenched his fist.
Those three had previously been at their school in the basketball team with Chanyeol. But last year, they had left him to supposedly go to a 'better school'. The three had been some of his best friends, and they had left without saying so much as a goodbye.
He still had no idea why they left, and now that he saw them he was angry.
He was about to walk up to them before he felt a gentle touch on his arm and he turned to look at Baekhyun.
"Let's go," Baekhyun urged and with one look in Baekhyun's eyes, Chanyeol calmed down slightly.
He could tell that Baekhyun was slightly worried about him and so he gave Baekhyun a small smile before going to sit on the bench for the first 10-ish minutes.
The tip off was between Sehun and Kris, and the other team got the ball first.
He watched Baekhyun play, and he also watched his old friends play. He could see the difference in their playing and he decided that they did get better, but there was something in their eyes that didn't settle right with Chanyeol.
Although Luhan was still short and quick as ever, Chanyeol noticed that he analyzed things a lot more than he used to. Kris, in addition to being tall like him, was now moving lighter on his feet and not as clumsy with his moves as before. Also, he was now sporting blond hair. Tao still had that edge splitting aim that made him score twice perfectly, and Chanyeol only noticed a small difference in his dribbling.
As he watched them play, he concluded that this game would be super difficult to win. Those three, including the rest of their team, was dangerous.
Chanyeol worried his bottom lip as Tao gave his team another 2 points, a victorious look on his face.
The score was currently 2-6 in Baesinja's favour.
Things weren't looking great and Chanyeol knew they had to do something, but as usual, he didn't really know what.
He ruffled his hair in frustration when Sehun tripped up and gave the ball to them, but luckily Xiumin stole it away.
After more back and forth passes between the teams and Kris' team always somehow getting the point, it was finally time to sub out.
His teammates passed him as he walked onto the court and he told them encouraging words. After all, that was all he could really do.
The game began again with Yixing starting with the ball.
He bounced it up to the half line and Chanyeol quickly tried to get free.
The moment he crossed the line, though, Kris caught onto him like some disease. He scowled at his old friend and Kris just smirked.
"I haven't seen you in a while," he stated and Chanyeol just ignored his words, focusing on the ball. "How have you been doing?"
"Fine," Chanyeol replied and attempted to get free again but instead almost tripped over Kris' leg.
"You look like you've been doing well..." He trailed off and an almost sinister smile slipped onto Kris' face. "How's your relationship with Baekhyun?"
Chanyeol completely stopped whatever he was doing and felt his nerves freeze up. "How do you know about him?"
Chanyeol knew he had to be focusing on the game in front of him, but instead he was getting caught up into the web Kris probably planned.
"Oh, I have my sources..."
Kris wasn't with there when he met Baekhyun and they didn't keep in contact because the damn bastard had up and left him... So how does he know?
Chanyeol was just about to get his head back into the game when once again Kris spoke.
"I heard you've been having some fun and also troubles," he added. "You know, with Baekhyun and stuff."
He wanted to turn to Kris and punch him straight in the face, but a little part in his mind knew that he shouldn't because after all, Baekhyun was watching him.
Right, Baekhyun. Baekhyun wouldn't want Kris to mess with his feelings.
So Chanyeol snorted and turned back around, looking at the ball that had somehow traveled even further up the court.
He couldn't just let his ex-friend prevent him from winning the game he wanted to win. He couldn't just let them win when Baekhyun was on his team. Sure, there was still next year and the next, but there was something important with this year.
He wasn't just going to be some puppet that Kris threw around, and so instead he ignored the guy's dumb jeers...
Chanyeol wouldn't exactly admit it, but he was feeling extremely uneasy and restless. It was bothering him how his three friends had gotten a lot better at basketball in a short time, but were acting like completely different people.
It was also extremely bothering him that no one from Baesinja was cheering for their team, and instead the crowd was only silent.
The school gave him the creeps, and he didn't know how to get them to go away...
Chanyeol watched as the ball went out and as Xiumin was going to get it, Kris said a specific sentence that riled him up.
"So, I guess you've been missing your sister, huh?"
Chanyeol turned around in the next millisecond and looked at Kris with a death glare.
How did he know these things?
"I feel bad for you."
Chanyeol felt anger boiling inside of him as he looked at the person he used to consider his best friend.
"I mean, it's such a shame... How she died."
Chanyeol tried to hold back his urges of just beating Kris up but the blond just had to push even further.
"She was pretty pathetic, wasn't she?"
Something bad happened to Kris and everything about him changed, but Chanyeol didn't care what it was now that Kris crossed the line and talked about Yoora.
Kris didn't even get to take one more breath before Chanyeol grabbed his jersey and lifted up his fist. Just as he brought down his arm, he heard a voice.
"Time-out!"
He stopped mere inches away from Kris' smirking face as he turned to Baekhyun who had just called those words.
Baekhyun ran up to Chanyeol and grabbed the arm holding Kris' jersey, lightly prying it off. He looked at Chanyeol with eyes full of concern, and once again it slightly pulled Chanyeol out of his state.
"Chanyeol, you're coming with me," he ordered and Chanyeol gave Kris another look before slowly dropping his other arm, letting Baekhyun take him somewhere.
Baekhyun pulled him into the empty hallway and turned to look at Chanyeol.
"What were you doing?" Baekhyun reprimanded and Chanyeol kept his mouth shut.
Baekhyun sighed and his eyes softened. "Whatever Kris did, I'm sure you had a reason to punch him but... Can you save that for when we're not playing a game?" Baekhyun squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"How am I supposed to win this game for our team when he's doing this?" Chanyeol asked in a small voice and Baekhyun smiled.
"Ten."
Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows and when Baekhyun didn't elaborate, he sighed in frustration. "Baek, why do you keep counting up?"
Baekhyun grinned at Chanyeol and wrapped his arms around Chanyeol's neck, bringing them closer and igniting warmth in Chanyeol's heart. Chanyeol snuck his arms around Baekhyun's waist like it was something they did everyday (it almost was) as he listened closely to Baekhyun. "After a little more than 24 hours, I've already found ten reasons I love you."
Chanyeol's mouth slightly hung open at Baekhyun's words and Baekhyun laughed.
"Yesterday, you asked me: 'Why do you love me?' and well, here's my answer..." Baekhyun took in a breath as if to prepare himself.
"One: You appreciate things others don't.
Two: The names you give your songs are cute and witty.
Three: You always help me whenever I'm nervous.
Four: Your laugh is stupid.
Five: You always make me jealous because you help everyone else too, but it makes me happy that you're helping everyone else." The way Baekhyun was looking at Chanyeol made the taller almost melt into a pile on the ground, his heart beating harder than usual.
"Six: The way you say my name.
Seven: The way you look at me.
Eight: How whenever something bad happens, you act rationally unless it's something concerning me because you love me that much.
Nine: It doesn't matter what you do, but whenever you're there I feel safe and completely happy.
Ten: I love how whenever you talk about winning games, you say that you have to win it for your team," Baekhyun finished and Chanyeol smiled at him, feeling completely relaxed and at ease in Baekhyun's hold. "Eleven: Your smile," he added and as Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, all the reasons he loved him flashed in his mind and Chanyeol leaned forward, placing his forehead onto Baekhyun's and closing his eyes.
"I love yo—"
"I know, but we really have to go because our time-out is over," Baekhyun mentioned and grabbed one of Chanyeol's hands again, running inside the gym.
Chanyeol smiled to himself as he watched the back of Baekhyun's head, saying the unfinished words inside of his head.
You.
I think I've somehow fallen even more for you, Byun Baekhyun.
Once they entered the gym again, Chanyeol got onto the court full of resolve and energy.
He turned slightly and looked back at Baekhyun who was grinning at him from the bench.
He just then realized that it was one of those rare times where Baekhyun gave him an inspirational speech instead of the other way around.
He checked the score as the referee blew the whistle and the ball began where Xiumin was standing last time.
It was 6-12, which meant that they had half the amount of points Kris' team had. Although it made Chanyeol unsure of himself, he knew he couldn't give up.
He pushed himself hard in the next six minutes until the point he couldn't get air into his system. Even if his lungs burned, he kept going; running back and forth on the court and not stopping once.
He got the ball more times than he could count because he was currently one of the only people who could escape from their check.
He wiped his sweat off of his forehead and bent down, gasping desperately for some air.
"Having troubles there, Chanyeol?" Kris asked even if he was out of breath himself.
Chanyeol ignored Kris and closed his eyes, looking at the score not too long after.
15-18, still in Baesinja's favour.
Chanyeol had scored a three-pointer earlier accompanied by 2 normal baskets. Yixing had gotten the other point that brought them to a three point gap, and if Chanyeol could get the gap to close before they had a break, he knew they could still make it.
He had a few minutes left before halftime and with that thought in mind, he took in one more breath, dashing down the court once more.
He ran around for a good amount of time before Jongin finally got the ball to him, allowing him to shoot from where he was.
He stood outside of the two-point line and bent down with the ball in his hands, jumping and throwing it with as much accuracy as he could muster, Kris just barely catching up to him.
But of course, with Chanyeol's ragged breathing and unsteady heart, he was bound to miss.
The ball hit the rim and fell out, causing Chanyeol to internally slap himself.
Just as the ball landed in someone else's arms, the timer rang, signaling that it was halftime.
Chanyeol walked to his teammates with a guilty look, his eyes filled with despair.
"I'm sorry that I missed," he mentioned quietly and he was taken by surprise when he felt an extreme pain on his back and heard a sound resembling a slap.
He glared at Sehun who had 'patted' his back ever so nicely. "It's okay, we're all friends here so mistakes can be forgiven, right?" Sehun asked and eyed everyone else for a response.
They nodded as they caught their breaths and drank water from their bottles greedily, using their break time wisely.
Chanyeol fell down onto the bench and sighed, happy that he could rest his legs.
Baekhyun scooted over to him and handed him a water bottle which he just held in his hands.
"You know, you don't have to put everything on yourself," Baekhyun stated as he wiped some of Chanyeol's sweat off of the side of his face with a cold towel. "I mean, if you stopped and took some time to look around, you would have seen that Junmyeon was free in those last seconds. You could have passed it to him and let him score two points."
Chanyeol hummed and just looked at the ground, not really focusing on anything Baekhyun was saying.
Baekhyun rolled his eyes and hit Chanyeol in the face with the towel, snapping him out of his daze. "I get it, you don't like listening to things that are too long."
"Oh, no that's not—"
"Chanyeol, just let me summarize it," Baekhyun cut him off, throwing the towel onto Chanyeol's head and allowing it to slightly cover his face. "You have a team."
Baekhyun slid over on the bench to the opposite side, joining everyone else and talking about things.
Chanyeol couldn't really tell if Baekhyun was annoyed or angry... And usually that type of situation would make him feel worse but he could somehow sense that Baekhyun was just acting like that to help him.
Chanyeol pulled the cloth off of his head and shook out his hair, looking over to where his team was.
Baekhyun was completely right, he did have a team and he shouldn't be taking up everything by himself, it was only making things worse, even if he did score a few more points.
After he drank his water and strategized with his teammates, the game was finally beginning the second quarter.
Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Jongin and Yixing stayed on the bench as Sehun, Junmyeon, Xiumin, Jongdae and Mingyu went up to play.
Chanyeol was a little skeptical with the lineup because with all the secret smirks Jongdae was sending Xiumin, he never knew what was going on.
The game began with a whistle and Jongdae began with the ball.
Again, he sent one of his mysterious looks to Xiumin and Chanyeol watched the game closer.
Something completely surprised him when Jongdae and Xiumin began doing these passes that they had never practiced after school and they did them perfectly, their teamwork exemplary.
He watched in awe as the two made them catch up to 19-18, his team finally one point ahead.
He turned over to Baekhyun and saw him staring at him with a smug look on his face.
"Okay," Chanyeol began. "Yes, my team is great," he admitted and Baekhyun laughed.
"That's why you should count on us more," he nudged Chanyeol and the taller rolled his eyes.
After that, it was a steady game, both of them scoring points one after another. Sehun even managed to get another three-pointer for them which made the score now 26-28, sadly they were behind though because someone else by the name of 'Minho' had gotten two baskets in a row and got them ahead once again.
Junmyeon ran into the other side with his small legs and in the next second, the ball was stolen from him and Chanyeol hollered at him to get his mind out of the clouds.
Junmyeon glared at Chanyeol but tried even harder next time, almost scoring a point but failing.
The older finally scored a point when it was now 30-32, just before the fourth quarter started and they switched out.
Chanyeol gave Junmyeon a high five and Junmyeon smirked at him.
"Don't fail us now," Junmyeon said and Chanyeol grinned.
"When have I ever?"
Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Yixing, Jongin, and Sehun was standing on the court, their hearts beating wildly in their chests.
It hadn't caught up to them until now, the realization that it was their last chance. Last chance to get it back and win once and for all.
There were only ten mere minutes of championships left, and everything was in their hands.
The lights above suddenly seemed way too hot and their palms were sweating, nerves running wild in their bodies.
Chanyeol took the first step forward and everyone followed, getting into positions.
They waited in the deafening silence, staring at the opponents in front of them who currently had the ball. All of them took in deep breaths, waiting for the noise that was sure to happen. Chanyeol stared at the ground, his mind calculating possibilities and how to get past losing.
He shook it all off, though, because as Baekhyun said, he was supposed to trust his teammates.
Just as Chanyeol looked up and locked eyes with Kris, the whistle sounded and everything began, Luhan trying to pass by Baekhyun who was keeping guard carefully.
Of course, like everyone else, Luhan underestimated Baekhyun and tried getting past him with a simple crossover that Baekhyun intercepted like it was nothing, slapping the ball away and chasing after it, getting it in his hold before dribbling away.
Baekhyun tried doing a layup but ended up getting blocked by Luhan who had caught up quickly, his hands reaching high into the air to hit the ball out of his hand.
Once Baekhyun landed on the ground again, he chased after Luhan, letting his legs go even faster.
Luhan was about to shoot a three-pointer until Sehun jumped in the way and grabbed the ball in his hands, hurling it over to Chanyeol who had somehow made it even further back than Baekhyun.
He shot and it entered easily, letting everyone breathe out in relief that they had caught up.
The relief didn't last long, though, because Kris grabbed the ball and passed it back into the game to Tao who dodged past each and every one of them, ducking under arms and spinning away from others.
Tao ended his fancy layup with a perfect shot and Chanyeol scowled.
"Let's take it back!" Chanyeol yelled and all of them cheered.
Soon, the sound of their cheers died out and again, the gym was silent except for the sound of squeaking shoes, the bouncing of the ball and occasional name calling.
Everyone on the bench was on the edge of their seat, watching the game go slowly but quickly at the same time.
At this point, they all wanted the madness to be over.
The five on the court were once again at that point of aching limbs and irregular breathing, their minds in a haze.
All of them only understood one thing at that moment, and it was to win.
Run, shoot, block, pass, screen.
Each of these words repeated in their minds like a mantra and everything else in the world drowned out; as if their sole purpose on the earth was to beat the other team.
The time was ticking... They only had a few minutes left.
Chanyeol looked at the score and his heart lurched when he saw 36-38, still in the opposing team's favour.
He couldn't let it end like this, and he knew because his heart was telling him to do it, get the victory and obtain the cries of joy his team would make when they received the trophy.
He tried— they all did.
But maybe their hardest just wasn't enough.
Every step they took resonated in their hearts as they realized it was another wasted step... They began regretting the moves they made as it only helped the other team.
Although no one was scoring points, the Ravens felt as if they were miles and miles away from scoring another one.
The pressure was on, and each team member was beginning to feel like they were trapped in a cage onto two inches wide and long.
There were only seconds left, and as Baekhyun gave the clock a fleeting look, every alarm in his body was blaring.
It can't end.
Everyone knew it.
This was supposed to be their victory, no one else's. All of the promises they made to themselves at the beginning of the journey would have been made for nothing if they didn't win this game. No one could let this go, and so they pushed even harder, feeling as if they were trying to push down a wall that wasn't even there.
We can do this.
And as the ball bounced off of Jongin's foot high into the air and was going out, Baekhyun almost screamed.
15 seconds left.
Fifteen seconds was enough to score one more point. They could get an overtime, they could still win. They could dodge the bullet sadness and instead land into the sunlight where Baekhyun truly believed they belonged.
But if the ball went out... It was all over.
The importance of those last few seconds were shaking Baekhyun's heart, screaming at him to take those seconds and use them.
Suddenly, a scene flashed inside of Baekhyun's mind, the words ringing out.
"It doesn't matter if you fly, or fall...
Just take a chance... For me."
It didn't matter what Baekhyun had to do...
I won't let this end...
He ran, he ran as fast as his legs could ever take him; ran as if his life depended on it.
As long as I get the ball back inside of the game, as long as it doesn't touch the ground.
We can still win.
Everyone needed this, and Baekhyun was willing to do whatever to get it...
So he jumped. He jumped just before the out-line, his hands reaching out to get the ball...
Baekhyun jumped, and he fell.