one last time — park hu-min
pairing: park humin (baku) x fem!reader
genre: angsty but with a happy ending. enemies to lovers.
note: not my fifth baku fic in a row 😆 also pretend eunjang is a co-ed school for this lol. and sorry if i got any of the basketball related stuff wrong 😣
as you packed your bag, all you could think about was how tired you were and what a long day it'd been. you were pulled out of your thoughts when the door to class 2-4 was slammed open.
you recognised that voice. go hyuntak. vice-captain of eunjang's basketball team. also your childhood bff, actually more like your bff since you both had popped out of the womb. your mothers were best friends, so naturally it made sense that the two of you were as well.
"tak, to what do i owe this pleasure?" you sighed. you were wrecked from all the new responsibilities you had after being elected class president. you knew hyun-tak had come found you because he needed something from you and you didn't want to add another responsibility to the list.
"i need your help" — called it.
"what? can it wait til tomorrow, i'm exhausted" you'd known hyuntak was impatient since you were in diapers, it was pointless asking him to wait.
"nope" hyuntak said, popping the 'p'.
"of course, what can i help you with?" you scoffed, rolling your eyes.
"promise you won't get mad?" hyuntak lifted his pinky up towards you. the two of you had a rule since you were younger, if you pinky-promised on anything, it could never been broken. however, there was no way you were gonna pinky-promise in this situation. smacking his pinky out of the way, you told him just to say it.
"i need you to become the manager of our basketball team."
you need a second to reboot because you knew damn well he did not just ask you to manage a team that is captained by someone you have held a strong dislike for since middle school.
"i'm gonna pretend you didn't ask that, tak" placing the last textbook in your bag, you zipped it up and headed towards the door.
as you slid the door open, hyuntak ducked under your arm and stood in front of you, blocking the exit. this was about to be your last straw. shaking your head in annoyance, you told him to get out of your way.
"please! i'll do anything, just please be our manager. if you are our manager, then we'll be able to compete in the tournament." hyuntak pleaded.
"anything?" you raised an eyebrow, smirking. "okay. i'll do it" you agreed. fear flashed across hyuntak's face.
"also what makes you think you'll be able to compete if i become your manager?" the only reason they couldn't compete was because their dumbass captain got suspended after getting into a fight. how were you supposed to fix that?
"well firstly you're class president. secondly you're good with teachers, and thirdly you're kinda strict so you'll help with keeping baku out of trouble." were you supposed to be the team's manager or baku's babysitter?
"i'm gonna take you calling me strict as a compliment." ducking under hyuntak's arm, you walked out smiling.
"wait, what's the condition?" he yelled out, the worry in his voice evident.
without looking back you replied, "you'll find out soon. let me know when the first meeting is, vice-captain".
as you wrapped your hair in the towel, your phone buzzed. once. twice. then thrice. and then a few more times.
7 new messages from tak tak 🏀
god, he really didn't get the concept of just typing everything out in one message.
tak tak 🏀 [7:42pm]: hey my fav person in the entire world
tak tak 🏀 [7:42pm]: first meeting is at 8
tak tak 🏀 [7:42pm]: sorry for the late notice
tak tak 🏀 [7:43pm]: meet me at baku's chicken
tak tak 🏀 [7:43pm]: also sorry for the location
tak tak 🏀 [7:45pm]: also it's just gonna be me, you, and baku
tak tak 🏀 [7:45pm]: sorry don't kill me
delivered — read at 7:46pm
baku's chicken. he's gotta be joking. you hadn't stepped foot in that place for years, granted you didn't have a reason to after ninth grade, but still.
you stood outside the shop, feeling hesitant to go in. but the frosty wind blowing every few seconds reminded you why you should.
as you entered, the bell rang, letting everyone know of your presence. you see hyuntak — his face lighting up because he didn't think you'd actually show up, one because of your lack of response to his message and two because of who it involves.
hyuntak waved you over and while walking over you noticed a red-head sitting opposite him. who the hell was that?
as you slid into the spot next to hyuntak, a voice spoke up.
"what is she doing here?" you'd know that voice anywhere. looking up, you saw park humin. with hot sauce red hair?
unable to hold back, you snorted with laughter. pointing, you asked "did you pour malatang on your hair?"
beside you, hyun-tak shook with silent laughter. "that's what i said" he said, holding his hand out for a hi-five. humin glared at you and hyuntak.
you sarcastically complimented him, saying he looked soooo good.
"really? don't you think i look like kang baekho" humin's face lit up for a second. you couldn't take him seriously, you began to laugh for a second time, pointing and shaking your head 'no'.
"remind me why you're here again" humin sneered. that shut you up real quick, was he seriously incapable of taking a joke.
"i'm here because my best friend has asked me to be here. why are you here?" you rebutted. hyuntak shot you a confused look. right, you were in baku's chicken, a shop owned by humin's father. not your best comeback.
"alright guys, calm down. baku, ___ is the new manager of our basketball team. you know since the last one quit because you kept getting in trouble." hyuntak always acted as a mediator when you and humin were close in proximity.
"please tell me you're joking gotak. her? seriously? you couldn't find anyone else." humin huffed.
"bro you know she's the only one who can keep you out of trouble" — "yeah only because she'll nag me to death"
the dislike, borderline hatred, you held for hu-min was completely mutual. you had a valid reason for your hostility but you had no idea what his problem was with you.
"stop talking about me like i'm not here and you —" you said, pointing at humin, "you underestimate both, my managing skills and my enjoyment in making your life hell".
when you both had been friends, there was never a time where you had done or said anything to make him feel shitty which was something you couldn't say about him. but now that had changed, you hated him. he never listened, didn't take anything seriously, and was just a huge jerk.
"honestly, i think i might just have to stay your manager until we graduate. hyuntak, what do you think?" you said, smirking at humin.
hyuntak agreed about how great it'd be if you were the team's manager until graduation, all the while humin was busy grumbling away.
you stood in front of humin with your arms crossed. you'd been arguing for the past twenty minutes about his hair. all you had said was that it was time to wash the malatang out of his hair, you didn't understand what he was getting so worked up about.
"can you stop being insufferable for two minutes and just agree with me!" you yelled, frustrated. it would be easier to manage twenty five-year-olds than him.
"me? i'm being insufferable? you're the one who trying to dictate my life" he scoffed.
"dictate your life? do you even know what the word dictate means? all i said was to dye your hair back. that's one of the top reasons you can't compete in the tournament right now!" you exclaimed, rubbing your temples.
dying humin's hair back to black was the first and the easiest step to take so that the team can be on track to completing in the tournament. once he actually looked presentable, you'd be able to go to his homeroom teacher with him and get him to apologise.
"do you care about your team?" you questioned him, with the way he'd been acting so far it didn't seem like it.
"what is that supposed to mean? of course i do." humin didn't like that you had questioned his loyalty to his team. basketball, his team, his friends and hyuntak were few of the most important things in his life and you doubting that felt like a blow to the stomach.
"well then act like it, and dye your hair back" you remarked. you hoped that this would be the end of the conversation, you had to get back to class before lunch ended and help your homeroom teacher.
as you walked towards the door, humin muttered something under his breath. all you could hear was something about walking away.
you turned around, "excuse me?"
"i said, walk away. you're good at that" he declared.
"are you seriously picking a fight because i said something you didn't want to hear? real mature humin" you sighed. shit, you were supposed to meet with your homeroom teacher 5 minutes ago.
slamming the door shut behind you, you stood on the other side for a few seconds. letting out a shaky breath, you wiped your eyes and made your way to classroom 2-4. humin's suspension wasn't even over and he was already being difficult.
pulling out your phone, you texted hyuntak.
you [12:54pm]: i'm out. i'm not managing your team.
tak tak 🏀 [12:55pm]: what. why???? pls don't do this 🙏
you [12:55pm]: tell your best friend to dye their hair back to black
tak tak 🏀 [12:56pm]: dye your hair back to black
you [12:57pm]: ?????
tak tak 🏀 [12:56pm]: you are my best friend
you [12:57pm]: flattery will get you nowhere
tak tak 🏀 reacted '😔' to your message
you [12:57pm]: tell humin to dye his hair otherwise i'm out. fr.
tak tak 🏀 [12:57pm]: yes ma'am 🫡
tak tak 🏀 [12:58pm]: you will see him tomorrow with black hair
tak tak 🏀 [12:58pm]: i swear
delivered — read at 12:58pm
at least someone was willing to listen to you.
the next day you decided to get to school early and set up. there was something so peaceful about being alone this early in the morning. no pattering footsteps, no doors being slammed open and shut, no yelling in the hallways. you felt calm.
7:20am, you had fifteen minutes before students began showing up and fourty minutes until school started. you decided to head over and stick up the plan you'd made for the team in the basketball room. it mainly consisted of them practising, but you added in team dinners and outings to boost morale.
as you entered the room, you remembered the argument you had with humin yesterday. you still couldn't understand what his problem was. it was obvious that he would have to dye his hair back, and you knew he wasn't stupid enough to think he'd be allowed to compete with red hair.
still what he'd said stuck with you — "walk away. you're good at that" — you tried to convince yourself he said it because of stress about the tournament but you couldn't. you couldn't shake the way he'd said it as if it was something that wasn't up for discussion.
"baku!" you heard humin's name being yelled out several times.
"go back to your classroom guys, get ready for class!" wow, and he had the audacity to say you were dictating his life.
it was now 7:50am, you had ten minutes to go talk to hyuntak and make it back to your classroom.
as you inched towards class 2-7, you could hear hyuntak and humin's voices drifting out into the hallway.
"why do we have to play a practice game with ganghak high?" — "your precious manager isn't doing anything, so i took the first step. plus a true master doesn't care about who he plays." he hadn't even seen you and he was already sizing you up.
you stood outside waiting for them to finish. "well then we can play another team. we don't want anyone to get hurt" — "you chicken."
looking into the classroom, you could see that hyuntak was visibly agitated, and humin, as always, was making a joke out of it.
shifting back, so you couldn't be seen, you realised humin had dyed his hair back to black. thank god hyuntak got through to him. that was one less thing you had to worry about.
checking the time, you noticed you only had four minutes left. as you walked in, humin was putting hyuntak in a headlock while hyuntak was frantically trying to tap out.
"what's this, are we under attack?" humin taunted, holding his hands up.
"ha. ha. very funny. i've put a plan up in the basketball room so make sure you guys follow it. —" sighing, you continued "nice to see you dyed your hair, clearly you didn't want to listen because it was me who said it."
"you're right" he agreed. that shameless jerk.
clenching your fists, you added "by the way, you don't have to play against ganghak high. their manager called and cancelled. i got you a practice game with yuseong high."
you turned around, walking away quickly. but you were just slow enough to see humin shit-eating smile drop and hyuntak poking his tongue out at humin.
while speed-walking back to your classroom, you noticed sieun and juntae heading towards where you had just left. you didn't know about sieun — he wasn't really a people person and had kept to himself since he transferred — but juntae wasn't one to be late.
unfortunately, you didn't have time to wonder about what they were doing, you had a minute to make it to class before you'd get chewed out by your homeroom teacher.
"lee ___, please report to the teacher's office." your name could be heard over the loudspeaker. excusing yourself from class, you rushed over.
upon entering, you saw humin and hyuntak along with sieun and juntae lined up.
"yes ___, these four were caught fighting at the underpass yesterday. i need you to go volunteering with them and supervise." what? you looked over at hyuntak who was hell-bent on avoiding eye contact with you. he hadn't mentioned anything this morning.
why you? you weren't even there yesterday, plus you barely had any connection to the guys who stood before you — except for hyuntak, but he wouldn't have mentioned your name.
"you don't want to? humin said you won't mind" — of course he fucking did.
in the end you agreed, given the situation you were put in, it was difficult to say no. the teacher requested for you to stay back and you watched as the four of them exited in silence.
you knew what this was about. you had spoken to their homeroom teacher when you'd arrived early. you had pleaded with him to allow the basketball team to compete and he'd reluctantly agreed.
the original plan was to get humin to apologise but you were aware that trying to convince humin to apologise would be like trying to put out a fire by adding oil. it just wouldn't work.
"i'm afraid they won't be able to compete ___. they need to learn that their actions have consequences." no no no. this could not be happening. but right now you had to swallow your pride and fix this.
you clasped your hands together. "one more chance. just give them one more chance. i'll manage the team and i promise to keep them out of trouble. if anything like this happens again, you can stop them from competing and i won't interfere. please sir." this was so embarrassing.
you were furious. how were you supposed to manage a team and get them to play in the tournament when the captain and vice-captain won't stay out of trouble.
"fine but mark my words, this is their final chance."
the four boys stood outside, talking and messing around, blissfully unaware. as you slammed the door shut behind you, each of their eyes, one by one, flicked towards you.
hyuntak was the first to approach you, slinging his arm around your shoulder. "what did teach wanna talk to you about?" he questioned. god, he was really clueless. you shrugged hyuntak's arm off, telling him to see you at lunchtime while walking away.
you wanted to scream. but you rather not do that in the hallway.
as you turned the corner, you faintly heard si-eun's voice.
"are you dense? she's pissed."
by lunchtime, you were no longer angry. now, you were trying to understand what compelled you to do what you did back in the teachers office.
it was obvious you'd done it for hyuntak but there was a little part of you that had done it for humin. you just weren't sure whether it was to show him that you were a good manager or because somewhere you cared about him more than you'd like to admit.
hyuntak had messaged you to come by the basketball court since they were practising. at least the plan you made was being followed.
as the court came into view, you yelled out to hyuntak.
"GO HYUNTAK, you are dead meat!" clearly, you were still angry.
"___, my favourite person in the entire world." hyuntak was nervous. you rarely got angry, especially with him.
"flattery isn't gonna work. are you fucking joking me? you got into a fight and now i have to clean up your mess." your chest puffed up and down, frustration building with every inhale and exhale.
"don't you think you're being dramatic?" humin interrupted.
"mind your business." you had no energy to deal with him, not right now.
"it was a misunderstanding, i swear. we resolved it." hyuntak explained.
"gotak, you don't have to explain yourself to her. she's not your mother."
"baku, shut up." hyuntak hissed. humin's constant interference was only going to make things worse.
"you're right i'm not his mother. if you knew how to look after your team properly and actually cared enough to not get in trouble, this wouldn't be happening right now." the rest of the team had stopped playing.
"what did you just say? what the fuck is your problem" humin was seething. you didn't know even half of it, didn't know the reasons behind his fights or the fact that if he had a choice he wouldn't fight at all.
"you are! for once, look beyond yourself."
"god, no wonder you don't have any friends. look at how suffocating you are." the words spilled out before hu-min had time to register what he had said.
those six words transported you back to ninth grade.
i don't like her. she's so clingy and annoying.
tears brimmed your eyes. blinking them back, you looked at humin with a hurt expression. he'd gone too far. humin knew that he'd gone too far.
while walking away, you heard hyuntak yell at humin and that'd been the first time you'd ever heard him call humin by his first name.
the next couple of weeks went by in a blur. you went volunteering with the boys, but mostly kept to yourself.
you did make a new friend though, or friends. you weren't really sure if sieun considered you his friend but after volunteering you had spent quite a bit of time with him and juntae, causing the three of you become closer.
unfortunately, whenever they spent time with hyuntak and humin you never went.
you had barely spoken to either of them since quarrel at the court. you had nothing to say to humin anyways. but you couldn't talk to hyuntak because you were embarrassed. not only because of what humin had said, but because of what you had said to humin.
whenever you had come to the basketball meetings, you hardly interacted with them, mainly talking to jiwon. all the team dinners and outings you had planned, you sent through to jiwon, letting him take the lead.
on the other hand, hyuntak felt terrible. it was as if he had lost his other half. you were his twin, always in sync, understanding each other without words. the bond between you and him was natural, something that didn't require effort, something that never felt forced. and he'd felt insanely guilty that he had waited until after you left to reprimand humin for speaking to you like that.
the tournament was tonight, both of the boys had stayed out of trouble and thanks to that they were able to compete. you'd decided to go and support hyuntak, feeling horrible that you had essentially blew him off for almost 3 weeks.
as you reached the basketball court, you saw sieun and juntae sitting off to the side. juntae waved you over, you quickly put up your pointer finger, mouthing 'give me a minute'.
you walked up to hyuntak, tapping him on the shoulder. hyuntak's eyes widened when he saw you and before you could react he wrapped his arms around you.
"hi, sorry for blowing you off." you whispered, reciprocating his movement.
"it's okay. just don't do that ever again."
"i won't, i promise. good luck tonight." you laughed, it was nice to hear that he'd missed you as much as you'd missed him.
the tournament went by in a blink of an eye. the sound of sneakers screeched against the ground, the audience cheering for their respective schools, coaches on the sidelines roaring instructions at players.
by 7pm, the final two high schools were left — eunjang and yeo-il.
with thirty seconds left and the scoreboard being 37-39, eunjang needed to score a three pointer to win.
humin grabbed the ball, dribbling past the yeo-il players and jumping up from just outside the semi-circle, he shot the ball towards the hoop.
BUZZ — the final buzzer went off, indicating the end of the game.
the number on the score board flicked from 37-39 to 40-39. the crowd erupted in screams. they did it, eunjang basketball team had won.
hyuntak ran towards you, engulfing you in a hug.
"thank you ___, for managing and keeping us out of trouble, we wouldn't have been able to compete or win without you."
"shut up, it was all you guys! well done, i'm proud of you tak." you were so happy for hyuntak. it had been a while since you had seen him this happy.
"no seriously. and thank you for what you did that day in the teachers office." you smiled in response. wait, how did he know what you did. that didn't matter right now. "shush, go celebrate with your team." you ushered him away.
class 2-7's teacher had pulled humin aside while the rest of the team was celebrating. humin had tuned out what his teacher was saying. he was busy looking at the trophy, beaming with pride that they'd won. until he had heard something interesting.
"congratulations humin! make sure you thank ___, she had begged me to allow the team to participate in the tournament. rambling on about the fact that she'd keep you out of trouble and what not. and i guess she did." humin's eyes flicked up, you had done what?
shit, that had been the same day him and hyuntak had gotten in trouble and he had been a jerk to you, calling you friendless and suffocating.
quickly thanking his coach, he scanned the crowd for you. unable to find you, he asked hyuntak who subtly mentioned you had gone home.
fuck. he had to see you. he needed to apologise for being such a jerk.
as you massaged in your face cream, your phone buzzed.
kang baekho wannabe 🌶️ [9:02pm]: we need to talk
delivered — read at 9:03pm
why was he messaging you? wasn't he supposed to out celebrating his win? more importantly, why the hell did he want to talk to you?
kang baekho wannabe 🌶️ [9:03pm]: i can see that you're reading my texts
kang baekho wannabe 🌶️ [9:03pm]: are you gonna reply?
kang baekho wannabe 🌶️ [9:03pm]: it's rude to leave people on read
you [9:04pm]: what do you want?
kang baekho wannabe 🌶️ [9:04pm]: to talk
you [9:04pm]: no thanks
kang baekho wannabe 🌶️ [9:05pm]: please ___
delivered — read at 9:06pm
wow, he had manners. sighing, you grabbed a hoodie from behind your door and pulled it on. sliding on your slippers, you went downstairs.
you saw humin sitting on the steps of your apartment complex's entrance. sitting down beside him, you spoke "what was so urgent that you said please to me?"
"i'm sorry and thank you."
you were stunned. you hadn't heard either of those phrases together since hu-min had accidentally pushed you over on the playground and was grateful you didn't tell the teacher.
"coach told me what you did. why did you?" humin knew you'd done it for hyuntak but part of him wished that you'd done it for him too.
"i don't know. i guess i wanted to prove i was a good manager. don't get the wrong idea, i didn't do it for you" you lied. you were lying through your teeth. you had done it for hyuntak but you had equally done it for humin. you knew how he'd loved basketball since elementary school.
"yeah, of course —" humin cleared his throat before continuing, "anyways i'm sorry for being a jerk to you."
you accepted his apology, apologising back, mentioning how you had been out of line for what you said.
both of you sat in silence, before humin spoke up again.
"i'm sorry for what i did in middle school as well." you blanked for the second time.
"wait, you knew i heard what you said about me?" — i don't like her. she's so clingy and annoying. i wish she would leave me alone.
"yeah. i'm sorry i never meant any of it. i thought you had spread the rumour about my parents divorcing so i said all those mean things. but i found out a few months later that it wasn't you who spread the rumour, it was baekjin."
you were confused, if he found out that you hadn't spread the rumour. then why didn't he come and talk to you?
"why didn't you come and ask me first?" you softly questioned humin, worried if you raised your voice, even slightly, it would shatter the moment the two of you were having.
"i don't know, i was stupid. baekjin kept pestering me, saying i liked you and i got fed up." hu-min hung his head low, defeated.
"why didn't you come and apologise sooner? we've spent almost two years hating each other." you knew the reason, it was because you had already started to hate him.
"i tried, but every time you'd snap at me and then i'd snap at you. so i figured it was better this way. at least you were still in my life, even if you hated me."
"did you like me?" you asked, barely audible, like you had been afraid his response wouldn't be the one you wanted to hear.
you felt like the air had been knocked out of your lungs. you didn't know how to reply. were you ready for a relationship? you knew you liked humin, you had ever since the day he'd accidentally pushed you over in the playground.
"i don't expect anything from you. but i'd like to be friends again." humin's eyes bored into you, patiently waiting for a response.
"i'd like that too. how about we start over? —" you hummed. "hi, i'm lee ___, what's your name?" you extended your arm out.
"hi i'm park hu-min, you can call me baku. do you want to be friends?" hu-min replied, playing along and shaking your hand.
"sure! can i call you min instead?" you smiled.
"i'd like that a lot." min was a nickname you had called him growing up, and nobody had been allowed to call him that except for you. it was reserved only for you.
standing up, you dusted yourself off. "i heard you won a tournament tonight. you should go celebrate with your team, captain."
"okay, i'll see you tomorrow at school?" — "i'll see you tomorrow at school, min" you said, waving humin off with a smile.
"ohhh takkk, remember when you said you'd do anything if i managed the team? its time to uphold your end of the deal."
"you need to perform BTS's Just One Day for me" you said, giggling.
hyuntak groaned in response, he disliked dancing. you ushered him towards the court which would be his stage for the next four minutes.
clicking play on your phone, you, humin, sieun, and juntae intently watched hyuntak perform. all four of you had been laughing your heads off and you had secretly recorded hyuntak. it would make great blackmail material for the future.
looking around at your friends, you felt content. your childhood best friend had returned, you had helped both of your best friends win their basketball tournament, and life felt good. it felt normal again.
hope you enjoyed!! lmk your thoughts!
