Tae: H- He- his g- girlfriend-
JK: You don't have to say anything, I know it all. Don't cry, please, I'm begging you. Calm down, Tae! I took you away, right? You don't have to face them now. Don't shed your tears for a worthless piece of shit, OK?
Tae: C- Can you please s- stay here with me?
JK: I'm not going anywhere, Tae!
JK's POV: I thought I would easily ignore his presence. But look at him. How am I supposed to ignore when he looks like a stray kitten, drowning in a large pool, trying to hold onto the log floating weakly? I kept picking on you for my whole life, Tae! Then, why does it feel so different now? Seeing you broken like a glass stone, why am I feeling so weak like this? Tell me?
Jungkook looked down, only to find Taehyung sobbing hard, grabbing onto his shoulder.
JK: Don't cry. Didn't you say you're a tiger?
Tae raised his head and looked at Jungkook. Now he's totally sure that he told him everything last night. But surprisingly, he's not laughing at him.
JK: Tigers don't cry, Tae! They fight!
Tae: You don't know anything, Jungkookah! How am I supposed to fight when I don't even have the right?
JK: There is a saying, you know? You don't need to be a soldier to join the fight. As long as you're right, you're already in the war.
Tae: (chuckled) What are you even talking about?
Tae left Jungkook's embrace slowly and got up on his feet. Coming out of the washroom, he leaned against the wall beside the balcony. Following him, Jungkook came out, too.
JK: Why are you laughing, Tae! I'm serious. I heard you gave up your position, it's because of him, isn't it? So....
Tae: So what?
JK: You gotta win it back. What else? You can't lose this easily, Tae! You're the best rival I ever had. In every aspect, after me, the second position was always yours, no one else's.
Tae: (stern look) You never changed, did you? You know it well, too, that it's me who had always been the first.
Jungkook started to come closer to Taehyung, who didn't bother to back off as he was leaning against the wall anyway.
JK's POV: What the heck am I playing right now? Why am I even getting this closer? Ya! Jeon Jungkook! Come to your sense! Don't go near. My heart is gonna blast. No, no, no! You can't lose your cool now! Just tell him something. What was he talking about? Oh, right! He's the first. OK, now say something cool, Jungkook!
JK: Since when did you become the first?
Tae: (smirked) I always was.
JK: (leaned to his ear to whisper) Then prove it!
JK's POV: What was that? He didn't even move an inch. How can he keep so calm at a moment like this? I'm literally screaming inside. Maybe I'm the only one thinking ridiculous staff right now. Aish! That dream ate up my brain completely. Stop it, Kookie! Control your f***ing hormone already.
As Jungkook backed off, Tae singed looking down.
Tae: Jungkook I....
JK: I know you can't face him because he got a girlfriend who's acting all lovey-dovey for 24/7. Actually I can help you with that.
Tae: (raising one eyebrow) What do you want, Jungkookah!
JK: Nothing special. Look, it's true we had been fighting almost since we were born. So as my lifetime rival, you know me more than anyone else, and I know you too. As your rival, I'm saying. I need to take him down, and I'm hella serious about it. I just hate him, you know?
Tae: For what?
JK: A newcomer, who's not even Korean, suddenly flew straight from Japan, totally snatching the spotlight, moreover, got a hot girlfriend while I've been living like a single dog for 22 years. Isn't it more than enough to hate someone?
Tae: (chuckled) Now it makes a lot more sense.
JK: Hey, don't laugh! I'm not joking around.
Tae: I know that very well. No wonder you were dying to suppress him. You can do it all by yourself. Why bother dragging me in?
JK: Suppressing him by skills.... it's no fun. I know I'm better than him. If I take him down, he will not be that much affected. But if you suppress him, that's gonna be interesting, kinda revenge vibe, you know? I just wanna give him the taste of his own medicine. Moreover, don't you want him to make the dept for bringing you to your knees? Just let him go like that?
Tae tightened his grip but didn't say anything.
JK: Waiting for a MF like him would just make you feel like a loser. Trust me, just like last night! It's gonna break you even more. Oh, come on, Tae! What are you hesitating for? It's not the Kim Taehyung I know. Don't you wanna show him your worth?
JK was about to say another thing, but Tae's phone rang. It was an alert massage from their couch, Jung Hoseok.
Tae: We gotta go, Jungkookah! The friendly match is about to start.
They started running to the gymnasium immediately.
JK: Oh, right! Mr Hoseok, I totally forgot how strict he is!
Tae: We're doomed today.
Entering the gymnasium, they had to face the death glare of their couch. As the others already chose their team, Goff's team was full, and the other team lacked two members. The couch told them to play in the same team.
As he knew about Tae's health condition that he disclosed to the principal, Hoseok made JK the captain.
Getting inside the court, they took their positions. JK was called out for the first throw. As per the rule, the couch made two captains stand facing each other and threw the basketball on the air.
Jungkook jumped higher than Goff and snatched the ball swiftly. Dribbling it around, he threw it to Tae, who was utterly taken aback.
And, as expected, Goff took the ball within barely a few seconds. Jungkook cursed underneath his breath when the opposite team got the basket.
He looked at Taehyung, who was looking around with a blank expression. Then he again looked at Goff, who was looking at Tae with a smirk. This time, JK knew he gotta win no matter what. And if he wanna win, he can't rely on Taehyung, who's still not over with his so called ex boyfriend.
He snatched the ball easily from the opponent and started dribbling on the way towards the basket. Other opponent players were no match for him. Only Goff was the one trying to snatch the ball back. As he approached Jungkook and tried to make his way around the ball, he was tricked.
Jungkook tricked him and dribbed the ball down through his leg. He smirked as he saw Goff's frowning eyebrows. Then he made a quick round drib and hopped on the air with triple jump and threw the ball in the basket. The loud cheer was audible after his clever performance.
But what satisfied him more was that small smile on Tae's face looking at pissed off Goff though that smile immediately disappeared when Tae's eyes met Jungkook's. Jungkook made his way closer to Tae.
JK: Tae! Have you considered my proposal? Let's drag him down together.
Tae: Shut up and focus on the match, idiot!
If it were past days, they would have already been fighting over the word idiot. But this time, neither Tae was telling him seriously, nor Jungkook was taking it as an issue. Taehyung found it pretty weird.
"Did he crack his head somewhere in abroad?", Tae thought.
Even Jungkook himself was a little surprised to observe this sudden change in him.
For the rest of the game, Jungkook and Goff both scored. They were both fierce and competitive, most importantly skilled. So the audience felt like watching a 1-1 match instead of 6-6 team match. And of course, Jungkook was the one nailing the game till the end. His team won by 5 points.
When the game was over, it was already lunchtime. The audience moved to the cafeteria one by one. The players also started following them. Jungkook saw Goff waving towards his girlfriend, who didn't seem much pleased. Jungkook smirked and followed Tae, who was already on the way to the cafeteria, after washing away his sweat with a bottle of water.
JK: Wait for me, Tae!
Tae: Why should I?
JK: Don't act so cold, teammate! We just nailed the match. Man, I was beyond satisfied after witnessing that sulky face that MF and his girlfriend. But....
Jungkook had to stop as he saw Goff walking towards them smilingly. He came and looked straight towards Jungkook, totally ignoring the existence of Tae.
Goff: Hi, Jungkook! I'm Goff.
JK: I know.
Goff: You know me? Wow, that's great. I know you, too. You're a legend in our university basketball team.
JK gave him a tight smile. Tae was about to leave, but Jungkook grabbed him quickly.
JK: Why are you leaving alone? Don't you think I'm hungry too? We promised to have meals together, you forgot?
Tae turned around with wide eyes, just to find Jungkook looking at him fondly. His nerves went numb when he realized Jungkook squished his cheek gently just now.
Goff: Are you heading towards the cafeteria? Let's have lunch together.
JK: (smiled) I would love to have lunch with you. But you know what? My baby doesn't like the way others stare at us when I feed him. So..... please excuse us. Let's go, baby!
Then he put his arms around Tae's shoulder and walked out quickly without giving anyone any chance to speak farther.