The middle of the year is an odd moment to decide that maybe joining a school club isn't all that bad and Kim Jongdae is very well aware of that fact. But how could he have known at the beginning of the year already just how hard and how fast he would fall for the captain of the football team? If Jongdae had known from the beginning on he would not have hesitated for a second to join the football club, even though he just sucks at that sport. Well any sport to be honest. But there is nothing he can't at least try. But back when Jongdae first got into this high school he did not know and therefore didn't bother signing up for any club at all. Then, two weeks into the school year, he got to know Kim Minseok.
Minseok is the captain of the football team, two years older than Jongdae and frankly one of the most attractive people Jongdae has ever seen in his entire life. It's almost ridiculous how good-looking Minseok is. His body is toned from doing a lot of sport but his face still seems somewhat round and chubby. He has cheeks that look so soft Jongdae can't help but dream of pinching them. And his eyes are just to die for. Perfect brown orbs, that have this kind of curious glimmer in them. Not to mention how damn cute he is. He is almost shorter than Jongdae despite being older and something about that just makes Jongdae's heart race like crazy. But then again Minseok is also hot. Really damn hot. The duality of Kim Minseok is a thing that makes Jongdae question his sanity. He is a lovestruck fool and he wishes he had known about Kim Minseok earlier. Because there is no waiting to just join the football club next year. Because next year Kim Minseok won't be there anymore. And without Minseok, there is no point in Jongdae trying to join.
So no matter how stupid it may seem to join a club in the middle of the school year, Jongdae has no other option if he wants to get closer to Minseok before this year ends.
Yesterday he asked one of his classmates, a boy named Baekhyun who had joined the football club at the beginning of this year if there might still be a chance to join even though applications are long closed. He pretty much begged the boy to help him get into the team and Baekhyun promised him to talk about it with Minseok at the next training and then send him a text. From what Jongdae knows the football club meets every Tuesday and Thursday and the occasional Saturday when they have a match coming up and need some extra practice. Today is Tuesday and Jongdae is checking his phone every few minutes, even though he has the sound turned on and can't miss the message when it eventually comes in. Also, school only ended like an hour ago and the training is probably still in session. It might take another hour before Baekhyun even has his phone in his hand the next time.
An hour that crawls by way too slowly as Jongdae checks his phone every few minutes and tries to distract himself with math homework. Math is one of his better subjects and usually, he can finish his homework rather quickly and move on to something more pleasant but today every little exercise takes him forever. He keeps making small mistakes, comes up with wrong solutions again and again and has to do it all over and eventually that frustration gets his mind occupied enough to forget about his phone for the moment.
When it finally signals a new message Jongdae almost falls off his chair and he messes up his unlock pattern two times because his fingers are way too fast and hasty before the screen finally lights up with words.
The captain says he's okay with letting you try out for the team, might consider letting you join if you do good, we're short on offensive players anyways. Just come to practice with me on Thursday after lessons are over, bring sports clothes and some decent shoes for playing, don't have to be real football shoes as long as you can run and kick a ball in them properly that's good for now. See you tomorrow and you owe me one for this. Better let me copy your math homework for the rest of the year :D
Jongdae stares at his phone for a second. If he could, he would hug Baekhyun right now but instead, he just types back a short reply including at least ten thank yous. Then Jongdae puts his phone aside and tries to focus on math again. Even though his head is occupied with thoughts about the coming day he has suddenly found his motivation to finish the exercise again. After all, Baekhyun will want the results from him tomorrow and for the rest of the year. Usually, Jongdae doesn't like letting others copy from him but for once it might actually be okay to help out a friend. One hand washes the other.
"So, you are Jongdae?", Minseok asks him as soon as Jongdae approaches him. He came to practice together with Baekhyun. They had quickly changed into their sports clothes as the training was already about to begin when they arrived since Baekhyun had spent most of the way talking to Jongdae about football related topics that he didn't quite grasp. Once they had changed Baekhyun went to warm himself up and just quickly told Jongdae to talk to Minseok. So he did. Not that he wouldn't have done that anyways.
"Yeah, I'm Jongdae", he confirms.
"Hi, I'm Kim Minseok, third year and captain of this team, it's nice to have you here", Minseok introduces himself as he offers Jongdae his hand. Jongdae immediately accepts the handshake with a smile.
"Thanks for letting me try out", Jongdae replies politely and Minseok waves it off.
"Are you and Baekhyun good friends? He was quite persistent about letting you join", he questions and Jongdae makes another mental note that he should tell Baekhyun how damn thankful he is. Then again just letting him copy his homework might do the trick.
"Not really, we're just classmates", Jongdae replies with a shrug. Minseok looks at him for a moment, then he nods.
"I see", he mumbles, more to himself than to Jongdae but his eyes quickly light up again as he raises his head. "Well Jongdae, I hope you're ready to prove yourself worthy of joining."
Jongdae has never been particularly good at football and of course, he is way below the level of the other boys on the team but he actually feels like he's doing a decent job keeping up with them. He stumbles over his feet a lot more than all of them together and he is also the first one to be out of breath but he's trying hard with more motivation than he has ever had for anything sports related. And every now and again when through some kind of miracle Jongdae actually manages to make a somewhat decent play he catches Minseok looking at him with an approving smile. Despite Jongdae's body aching and being drenched in sweat those smiles are what keep him struggling through one and a half hour of training.
Once a whistle finally announces the end of practice Jongdae hunches over, hands on his knees and panting for air. This has probably been more working out than he usually does in a month crammed into 90 minutes of running and moving around and his body is totally not used to that.
Suddenly he feels a hand on his shoulder and he raises his head to look up at Minseok smiling at him.
"Have you played before?", Minseok asks and Jongdae slowly shakes his head.
"Not really, just a couple times in PE."
Minseok nods. "You're good for a beginner then", he says as he pats Jongdae's shoulder. "Welcome to the team Jongdae."
"Really?", Jongdae asks. Suddenly he is standing up straight again. Minseok chuckles.
"Yeah really. You're going to need some better shoes though. But don't worry, they don't have to be expensive. If you want you can tell me your size and I'll ask around if anyone has an old pair they don't need anymore. And if we don't find any like that I can go shopping for a new pair with you. I think I know enough to help you find a good one at a decent price."
Jongdae can't believe that this is really happening. It all feels too good to be true. Like a dream that he will wake up from any second now. But this is no dream. This is actually the reality for him now. Joining the football time was the best damn idea he ever had.
"Thank you very much!", he exclaims, suddenly he isn't even out of breath anymore. Minseok chuckles again.
"No reason to thank me, actually I should be the one thanking you, we really need some more players. Now come on, we should take a shower before we leave."
Suddenly something dawns on Jongdae. Something that he has not thought about so far because he was too busy being happy about getting closer to Minseok. He had never considered that joining the football club also meant potentially showering with Minseok. And watching him change. Two or three times a week. Every damn week for the rest of the school year. Jongdae is not sure if he will be able to survive that.
Not really knowing what else to do Jongdae has followed Minseok into the locker room without saying another word, the other boys must have left already while Jongdae and Minseok were talking and the fact that he is alone with Minseok makes the whole thing even more awkward. His brain is still trying to look for a way out of this when Minseok takes off his shirt and Jongdae's brain shuts down completely. Jongdae already knew that Minseok was quite muscular but the fact that the muscles on his stomach are actually that toned despite him being rather on the skinny side makes Jongdae gulp nervously. Probably noticing him stare Minseok stops in his tracks to look at the younger.
"What? Are you going to take off your clothes or do you want to shower with them?", Minseok asks with an amused grin.
"I think I'll pass on the shower", Jongdae says, trying his best to look anywhere but Minseok's exposed chest. Minseok huffs like a mother about to scold her child.
"You're drenched in sweat, if you go home like this you'll catch a cold. Don't worry, the showers here are actually quite decent. They might not be the cleanest but it's all right and the warm water works just fine."
"I don't have a towel, or body wash or anything", Jongdae mumbles as an excuse but Minseok won't let anything pass.
"Well if that's your problem then don't worry. I don't mind sharing some of my body wash with you. As for towels, I'm pretty sure we have a few spare ones lying around here somewhere. You better start bringing your own stuff from next week on though."
Minseok rummages through a few of the empty lockers until he finds what he has been looking for and tosses a towel at Jongdae.
"Here you go, now come on, I can't leave and lock up here until you took a shower with me."
They're just two bros, chilling in a shower, five feet apart because one of them is hella gay and also pining for the other but he would rather walk through hell barefooted than letting him know.
Jongdae does his best to avoid any eye contact at all but also tries to not make it look like he is avoiding eye contact on purpose. Because maybe looking away like a shy school girl that has never seen another man naked before is an even more obvious give away than staring at him. So Jongdae slowly raises his chin and glances over in Minseok's direction. He regrets it immediately.
Minseok is completely naked for obvious reasons and currently busy rubbing body wash all over himself. Jongdae's eyes are fixated on the hands traveling Minseok's chest and stomach in circular motions and he wishes those hands could be his own. But despite being so close to him the chance of touching Minseok seems further away than ever before. Because right now Jongdae is painfully aware of how little interest Minseok must have in him. He seems completely unfazed by the situation, mindlessly showering like no one else was watching him. It's almost painfully obvious how little it bothers Minseok to be naked around Jongdae and how little interest he has in Jongdae's naked body. To Minseok, Jongdae is probably just one of the guys. Minseok is used to showering with them and it doesn't affect him a little bit. Because Minseok probably does not look at the other guys the way Jongdae looks at them. To him, there is nothing interesting, nothing exciting, about seeing another guy naked.
Jongdae turns the shower a little colder even though the water is already way below the temperature he usually prefers. But he just needs something to keep his head cool as he watches Minseok from across the room.
Well, at least there is one good thing about Minseok not paying any attention to Jongdae. Jongdae can stare at him as much as he wants and he sure makes full use of that. His eyes are always glued to Minseok's body, taking in any details that he can so that he can replay the scene of Minseok rubbing soapy water over his chest again and again as often as he wants to later. He has not yet dared to allow himself to let his eyes wander any further down even though there is a burning desire welling up in Jongdae's stomach that wants to urge him to take a look. But he knows that he shouldn't. He really shouldn't. Then again, what harm is there in risking a short glance...
No! Don't look at his dick, don't look at his dick, don't – fuck! You had one fucking job, Kim Jongdae. One fucking job and you still messed up somehow.
Jongdae must have made some kind of sound because the second he raises his head again he meets Minseok's confused eyes. Jongdae's heart stops and he already sees himself being beaten black and blue by the other because no heterosexual guy enjoys it when another guy stares at his dick like that. Heck, probably not even a gay guy would like that.
"You alright there?", Minseok asks. Either he hasn't noticed or he is going to save beating up Jongdae for later. Jongdae desperately hopes that it's the first one.
"Yeah, I was just wondering if you could pass me your body wash now", Jongdae quickly stammers and hopes that his voice doesn't sound too unnatural. Minseok looks down at the bottle he has placed at his feet and then back to Jongdae.
"Ah sure, just give me a moment, I'll come over once this stuff is rinsed off."
"No!", Jongdae blurts out a bit too fast and when he bites down his tongue Minseok is already giving him a confused look. "I mean, you don't have to come over, you can just throw it", Jongdae tries to save himself. Minseok gives him another puzzled look than he just shrugs.
"You sure about this? Can you catch?"
"Sure thing."
Minseok throws, Jongdae catches. But the small bottle of body wash is wet and so are Jongdae's hands and before he can get a good grip on it, it slips through his fingers and lands on the floor. For a second Jongdae sees his life pass before his eyes. So this is how it ends. Because after this Jongdae's life is clearly over. If he doesn't die of shame right here he will just jump off a bridge or something on his way home. Here he is, showering with his crush, his insanely hot naked crush, and he literally just dropped the soap. Great fucking job.
But the second passes, Jongdae doesn't die of shame, the cold water is still running over his body and the bottle is still on the floor. He kneels down to pick it up, aware that Minseok might be watching him and wondering just what the hell he is doing. But there is no way Jongdae is going to bend over to pick up the bottle. Even if kneeling down makes him look like a weirdo. At this point, Jongdae has already lost the last remaining bit of pride. But maybe he can at least keep a bit of his dignity.
He quickly pours some of the gel into his hands and starts spreading it all over his body before he kneels down again and slides the bottle over the floor back to Minseok. He is not going to make the mistake of throwing it again. The bottle slides a bit too far and stops at the wall behind Minseok. He turns around and bends over to pick it up. Jongdae closes his eyes and sends a prayer to heaven.
Jesus take the wheel!