ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ₊˚⊹♡ You had a dream, you wanted better𓂃𓈒𓏸
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ╭╮╰╯「 ᴇᴏᴍ ꜱᴇᴏɴɢʜʏᴇᴏɴ 」╭╮╰╯
synopsis: Eom Seonghyeon, a basketball player that his own world revolves around himself and basketball, an stupid accident and stupid song that got him involved with a girl that helped him realize he was someone more than only his talent with basketball.
contains: Seonghyeon x reader, friends to lovers, cringe dancing, cursing, time skips, social pressure, crying, kissing, relationship, hurt, conform, pushing reader away, injury, happy ending, mention of marriage
Eom Seonghyeon was the kind of person who hated losing, A high school student. A basketball player, People called him the future of Korean basketball. Coaches expected everything from him. Sponsors kept an eye on every game. Universities wanted him on their team before he had even graduated, that meant carrying expectations that were far too heavy for someone his age, one injury or one bad game or even one mistake, that was all that it could ruin everything. He liked being the center of attention, hearing people talk about his future as if it had already been decided, As captain of the team and the best player in the school.
His ego was almost impossible to ignore. But he had earned it, he trained until everyone else went home, stayed long after practice ended, because he always thought that practice makes perfect.
Basketball wasn’t just something he loved. It was his entire life. And for girls?…He had had girlfriends but he always ended breaking up with them, they wanted time, and he wanted to practice, it was a lot of commitment for him and he didn’t have time for them. Besides, it was a waste of time for him, the girls. He never blamed them. He simply… didn’t think relationships were worth sacrificing his future for.
They were training on the basketball court inside the establishments inside the school, which connected with some corridors for different classrooms. It was raining outside. The rain had been pouring since early afternoon, however, it felt like an oven. The AC had broken two days earlier. The coach didn’t care.
“Again!” he shouted, clapping his hands together. “I want intensity!”
The whistle echoed through the court.
And the heat was unbearable. The coach applauded them, he wanted intensity? The heat was very intense because the AC was broken, non-stop cardio workout. Simple but non-stop.
Sweat dripped from every player’s face as the practice stretched on. Finally…
“Water break.”
A chorus of relieved groans filled the gym.
they took some time to go and drink water, they went to the corner of the court where all the hydration was. Seonghyeon sat on the floor while drinking water and drying his forehead with a towel. He frowned
“Shit,” he said.
His teammate, Keonho turned to see him.
“What’s up? Did you get tired? Finally, it was time,” he said, laughing a little and tapping his back gently.
Seonghyeon denied without turning to see him.
“In your dreams idiot” he said.
he continued to wipe all the sweat from his body with the towel. He was soaked, the towel with smell of sweat
“How disgusting,” Seonghyeon said and threw the towel, tossed it over his shoulder. He continued on the floor, not realizing what he had just done. Every head slowly turned toward the hallway.
Seonghyeon frowned.
“…What?” He said confused and turned his head around.
A girl stood completely frozen. His towel covered her entire face. The boys of the
team chuckled. Keonho flattened his lips…
Nobody moved.
She reached up, pinched the corner of the towel between two fingers and peeled it off her face. She grimaced, with an expression twisted into pure disgust.
“…EWWWW!.” She frowned disgusted.
She stared at the damp towel for a long second.
“…Who threw this disgusting towel!?” She asked furious. Silence.
Every single player immediately looked anywhere but at her. Or at Seonghyeon.
Anywhere. Keonho looked at Seonghyeon
and pointed him without a second of hesitation.
“…it was this idiot.” Keonho said laughing. Seonghyeon’s eyes widened.
“WHAT TF IS WRONG WITH U?!” Seonghyeon said embarrassed. He immediately pointed back at Keonho.
“Why are you snitching butt face?!” He said annoyed.
“Because you did it.” He laughed
“I didn’t do it…on purpose!”
She looked at him. Furious.
“…Be more careful next time idiot, like honestly this is so disgusting.”
She held the towel away from herself like it was contaminated. Keonho was laughing really hard.
“How can one person smell this bad?! Like seriously! You nasty— ugh..disgusting…”
Seonghyeon blinked. “…Excuse me?”
“You’re disgusting!”
Without hesitation she threw the towel back onto his face. He caught it instinctively.
“…Ew!.” Even he made a face. “…Okay… that’s actually kind of gross.”
She rolled her eyes one last time before turning around and walking away, Seonghyeon watched her disappear around the corner. He scratched the back of his neck.
“I was gonna apologize…but she overreacted! It’s just sweat cmon” he said frowning. Keonho looked at him. Seonghyeon looked down at the towel in his hands before trying to defend himself.
Keonho stared at him for two seconds.
“…Yeah…Your sweat. Not hers.” He chuckled, Seonghyeon sighed.
The rest of the team burst out laughing. Seonghyeon closed his eyes for a second and sighed He threw the towel over his shoulder again before immediately throwing it away.
“…Okay, maybe it is kinda disgusting.” He said scoffing, more laughter echoed through the gym, he clicked his tongue, grabbed his water bottle and took another sip, pretending he wasn’t embarrassed anymore but he absolutely was.
The practice eventually came to an end. The rain still hadn’t stopped by the time everyone left the gym, the players headed home, joking about what had happened, Unfortunately for Seonghyeon, Keonho made sure to remind everyone about the “towel incident” at least five times before they even reached the parking lot.
“…Imagine getting called disgusting by a girl.” He mocked him while the walked beneath the umbrellas.
“Dude no way she didn’t even hesitate. She looked genuinely traumatized.” Keonho said laughing loudly.
“…I’m gonna throw you into traffic.” He said while groaning tired of his best friend.
“…See? That’s probably why she called you disgusting.” Keonho said shoving his shoulder softly.
Seonghyeon clicked his tongue and shoved him lightly before walking toward his car where his mother was waiting to pick him up, he rolled his eyes the entire drive home, but somehow… every time he thought about that girl making that disgusted face, he couldn’t help laughing to himself.
“…It was just a towel…” he muttered, shaking his head.
That night went by like every other night. Dinner with his parents, he finished his homework and took a quick shower, Everything felt normal. Before going to sleep, he plugged in his headphones, opened Spotify, and played the same playlist he always listened to after practice or before..Somewhere between all the songs… Da Sola In the Night started playing, he smiled a bit and hummed along while staring at the ceiling, eventually falling asleep before the song even ended…
Meanwhile… y/n she couldn’t stop thinking about how disgusting that towel had been, while showering she remember and gulped in disgust, while brushing her teeth she also remembered and grimaced with just the memory.
Lying on her bed with her headphones on, she mindlessly scrolled through Instagram until a post from the school’s official account appeared; ‘Congratulations to our basketball captain, Eom Seonghyeon, for another outstanding performance’
She rolled her eyes, “towel-boy.”
Curiosity got the better of her, she tapped on his profile where the post tagged him,
boring basketball, basketball, pics holding trophies, vids training, pics with teammates, a cute golden retriever that somehow appeared in almost every other post
“At least the dog’s cute.” she mumbled. She kept scrolling and noticed his highlights were full of random things, food, practices, his dog that his name was Ciro from what she saw, basketball, dumb videos with his friends, she frowned annoyed, he used the damn same song hundreds of times, it kept appearing over and over again
“…Does this guy only listen to one song?” she frowned, she replayed one of the stories, a photo of him hugging his dog while that song that sounded Italian played quietly in the background, again. And again.
“…Huh…” She copied the title into Spotify out of pure curiosity. She didn’t understand a single word, Italian wasn’t exactly on her list of languages, still the melody was strangely catchy.
The next day, Seonghyeon arrived before anyone else, like he always did. The gym was still empty, he stretched, picked up a basketball and started shooting. One after another. The same routine he’d repeated for years. Without realizing it, he found himself quietly humming the same Italian melody he’d fallen asleep listening to the night before, words barely left his mouth, only the tune, he finished practicing, Classes followed. Everything went on as usual.
Around lunchtime, he spotted her standing in the cafeteria line. He hesitated for a second before walking over, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Hey.” He said lowly. y/n turned around.
“About yesterday.” He said with another
pause.
“Sorry. I really didn’t mean to throw my towel at your face.” He said, holding himself from laughing at the dumb mistake of the last time.
She looked at him for a second before shrugging.
“Whatever. Just don’t do it again.” She said
That was it. She grabbed her tray and walked away, Seonghyeon blinked once before letting out a quiet sigh. “…Guess I deserved that.”
The rest of the day passed without anything interesting happening. When classes ended, she took the bus home like always. Headphones in. She stared out the window while scrolling through her phone…or through Seonghyeon’s profile? She heard that Italian song again and signed, she searched for it on Spotify almost without thinking.
“Let’s see why he likes this so much.”
She listened once. Then again. Then another time. By the time the bus reached her stop, she’d replayed it seven times. She still had no idea what the lyrics meant… but the melody refused to leave her head.
Next day, Saturday, it was painfully ordinary. She woke up late, finished the homework she’d been putting off all week, cleaned her room because she had nothing better to do, and spent most of the afternoon lying on the couch trying to decide what movie marathon to start. By evening she had finally settled on staying home, eating junk food and doing absolutely nothing productive halfway through, she realized she’d forgotten dessert.
“…Seriously?” she sighed.
Throwing on an oversized hoodie over her pajamas, she slipped into a pair of sneakers and walked to the convenience store a few blocks away. She bought two ice cream bars without really thinking about it; she couldn’t decide which flavor she wanted. On the way back, she took the quieter street that passed by the neighborhood basketball courts.
The neighborhood court was almost empty, The sun had already started painting the sky orange, She walked past it without paying much attention until the sound of a basketball bouncing against the concrete caught her attention.
Eom Seonghyeon, playing basketball alone,
y/n frowned, she had only seen him surrounded by teammates before and now it was just him, noticed how what he did; shoot, rebound, shoot. Rebound. Again. Again. Again.
Every shot went in, then one didn’t and she noticed him getting frustrated, tired... The ball bounced off the rim.
“SHIT.” He cursed loudly and picked it up immediately. Another shot. And more like that..missing.
His breathing became heavier. He ran a hand through his hair before throwing the ball against the fence with more force than necessary.
“FUCK OFF!” He said annoyed. The empty court swallowed his voice and she stopped walking, she turned around hiding behind the fence, she watched him from a distance, wondering if she should leave. He sank onto the ground, elbows resting on his knees, head lowered. For a long moment… he didnt move, and she noticed that he wasn’t angry...
He was crying, quietly like if he wanted no one to hear him.
“What am I supposed to do…?” She thought to herself, Talking didn’t seem right. Walking away somehow felt worse. The weird Italian song. Before she could overthink it… she quietly began humming.
She took another step. He didn’t move.
She felt ridiculous. She hummed the song, she wasn’t even properly pronouncing well the start.. “Certo che lo sai, prendi tutto e te ne vai, Per vedere se è vero”…she wasn’t even pronouncing it correctly, but you could tell which song was
“Alla tua festa non c'ero, Ma ti hanno vista ballare…in the night..”
She pointed dramatically to one side before throwing her arm up in the air, doing the most awkward dance she’d just made up on the spot, he frowned, she immediately regretted every life decision she’d ever made.
“Okay, that was so fucking embarrassing.” She said stopping and laughing nervously on how he would react,
He looked at her frowning confused, his eyes were still wet, Seonghyeon stared at her for three long seconds.
“What…was that?” He said, she scratched the back of her neck, already wanting the ground to swallow her whole.
“I didn’t know how to cheer you up.”
He blinked, despite himself, A laugh escaped, he grinned and shook his head.
Small but real.
She smiled immediately. “well at least it worked.” y/n said.
He looked at her for a long second before shaking his head, still smiling a little.
“How do you even know that song?” He asked confused and y/n shrugged, trying to look casual.
“Lucky guess.” She said, Seonghyeon narrowed his eyes.
“That’s my favorite song, Did you stalk me or something?” He asked jokingly
She immediately looked away and scoffed.
“No, of course not, you wish, did you wrote that song or what?” She said feigning annoyance, he kept staring at her.
“Yep, you definitely did.” He said chuckling. She let out an awkward sigh.
“Okay maybe I did, a bit” she said looking away, his eyebrows shot up.
“Wait, Seriously?” He said
“Don’t act too cocky, your profile popped up.” She rolled her eyes.
“And then? You stalked all my highlights with that song?” He said raising an eyebrow and grinned.
“And then I got curious okay!” She said
“So you stalked me.” Seonghyeon said
She sighed dramatically.
“Fine. Okay I did it, happy? I stalked you.”
He laughed, this time louder than before.
“A little.” He said
She pointed the ice cream at him.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I was trying to see if anyone else thought you were really irritated just as I think”
He placed a hand over his chest, pretending to be offended.
“Wow, still mad from that towel incident?
Well sorry to break it to you but. You’re the only one.” He said chuckling
She nodded towards the other side of the park
“Well I have ice cream..and I don’t think I’ll be able to eat all by myself so..” she said
He got up and they ended up sitting in the tiny playground beside the court, there weren’t any benches, just a pair of baby swings, a faded dinosaur spring rider and a tiny plastic slide that clearly wasn’t made for teenagers, but yeah.
“…Seriously?” He said and she laughed.
“We’re too old for this.” y/n said shaking her head.
“So?” Seonghyeon shrugged before sitting on the dinosaur anyway. It creaked loudly beneath his weight. She started laughing.
“Fuck, I think I just broke it.” He chuckled
She couldn’t help laughing.
And minutes later they were both sitting, slowly rocking back and forth while eating their ice cream, the place was quiet, you could hear just the sound of crickets and the rain from earlier had left everything smelling fresh and for once… the silence didn’t feel awkward.
Seonghyeon kept staring at the melted ice cream in his hand…
“you know..you’re the first person who’s seen me like that” he said. She looked at him. She frowned.
“How?” She asked
“Like losing it over messing up” he said while eating, he let out a quiet laugh. A sarcastic one.
“Usually people only see..” He gestured vaguely toward himself.
“this version. The captain, someone that’s supposed to never fail, and I feel so so proud of myself..and i like attention..”
He kicked lightly against the ground, making the swing move again. “Truth is…”
He smiled to himself. “I’m kind of full of myself, you must know it right? People always say that..”
She raised an eyebrow. “Kind of? Yeah kind of..” he said raising her eyebrows with sarcasm. He laughed and shook his head
“…Okay, I’m very much… know people say I’m arrogant but I just pretend I don’t care..but they’re right anyway…” he said and looked down.
“I spend so much time thinking about becoming better than everyone else, that sometimes I forget there are actually people around me.” He shook his head and his mind immediately went back to the towel.
“…Like throwing a sweaty towel at someone’s face. Well at your face” he said and laughed loudly remembering.
“Your face was so fucking funny” he said and she smacked his shoulder. She scoffed.
“shut up, That wasn’t exactly your best moment.” She said rolling her eyes
She took another spoonful of ice cream before shrugging.
“I don’t really know much about ego.” She said and he glanced at her.
“But i think you’re trying too hard to be someone people expect, like to be perfect and never mess up, yeah.”
“And maybe that’s why you got so frustrated today.” She said
“Because you just made a damn mistake and felt like you weren’t perfect.” She said
He looked at her, surprised, no one had ever said it like that, y/n smiled awkwardly.
“Idk, Maybe I’m wrong. But u dont really seem like a bad” she said and looked down at her ice cream
“Thanks, even if you probably think I’m annoying.” Seonghyeon smiled without realizing it.
“I don’t, I think behind all that ego you’re just a weird teenager”
He gasped dramatically. “Uhm— that’s somehow worse…but..” He chuckled and shook his head.
“I’m glad you stopped, otherwise I would’ve stayed there feeling miserable for my mistakes.
“It’s getting late..” he said looking around, she nodded.
“Yeah I should probably get going..” she said getting up, she frowned, she sat down in that dinosaur swing in a really weird position that she got stuck in.
“Never mind I think I’ll just…stay here for just one more minute..” she said smiling like nothing was going on. Seonghyeon frowned.
“You okay?” He asked confused
She nodded.
“You’re stuck” he said
“No I’m not” she said
He pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh, he immediately failed, a loud laugh escaped him.
“SEONGHYEON!.” She shouted
“Okay im sorry…I’m kidding I’m not” he laughed
“Can you at least pretend to help?” She said trying to get up. He walked over, still chuckling under his breath.
“How did you even manage this?” He asked confused.
“Well I sat…” she said and looked away
“very informative.” He said still laughing.
She rolled her eyes.
“If you’re going to make fun of me, just leave.” She said annoyed.
“I would but…I need to..nvm. watching you struggle is kind of entertaining.” He chuckled
“You’re unbelievable, fuck you.” She said annoyed.
“That’s what people usually tell me.” He said
He grabbed both of her hands, and started counting, y/n pushed herself up before he finished counting, it bounced violently and she stumbled forward.
Straight into him, that made both froze,
y/n took a step back almost immediately, clearing her throat.
“Thanks..”
“You’re welcome.”
A beat passed. “Don’t tell anyone about this.” She said embarrassed.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
“You wish, I’m telling everyone.” He said laughing. She shoved his shoulder.
“Eom Seonghyeon.” She said
“Im kidding. Maybe.”
That somehow wasn’t the last time they saw each other, it just kept happening
Some mornings she’d find him already shooting baskets before classes started, pretending not to notice him, but she ended staying at watched him play. But just because he always waved first, some times, in the afternoons he’d “accidentally” take the same route home as her, with the excuse they lived near, but even though it added almost twenty minutes to his walk he did it
He started sitting beside her during lunch without asking, she started stealing ice cream from his tray without asking either, but they ended sharing it, it became normal.
Weeks passed quietly, The towel incident slowly became an inside joke, they went to the beach, for walks, even once a picnic, with that damn song Seonghyeon loved, italian song, every time he walked past her after practice, she’d wrinkle her nose dramatically and rolled her eyes pretending she was annoyed from seeing him
“Ugh, this idiot again” she said
“Oh please. You love me princess” he said with a wink as he shoot the ball.
“Yeah not in 100 years” she said
He laughed. She rolled her eyes.
Little by little, people began noticing. Teammates, his best friend.
“…Since when are you two friends?” Keonho asked one afternoon while they walked to a game. Seonghyeon looked up from tying his shoes.
“We’re not.” He said and Keonho rolled his eyes. Because earlier that morning y/n walked into the gym carrying two drinks, excusing that “I bought the wrong flavor.”
While tossing one at him…and Seonghyeon? caught it without thinking.
“…Right. Not friends.” He chuckled.
The teasing only got worse after that, because his teammates noticed he wasn’t staying three extra hours after every practice anymore when he always did. Excusing himself that if he didn’t fainted or threw up he still could work out.
They teased him because sm he’d check his phone halfway through stretching, or sometimes he’d leave as soon as practice ended…He even skipped extra shooting drills to leave early just to hang out in the park with y/n
“Who are you?” Keonho frowned. Seonghyeon frowned confused.
“The guy that used to sleep in this gym?”
“I’ll practice tomorrow.” Seonghyeon shrugged walking away.
“Tomorrow? You literally said that yesterday…that girl is ruining you..” Keonho said… Seonghyeon didn’t answer.
Because the truth was he’d rather spend an hour walking around the beach with her than making another hundred free throws…and that was starting to worry him.
Basketball wasn’t the only thing he looked forward to anymore.
Some mornings she’d arrive at school only to find a basketball already rolling toward her feet.
“Morning.” He’d wave from the court before going right back to practice. And she just smiled. Other afternoons, she’d pretend she wasn’t waiting outside the gym for practice to end, and he pretended not to notice either.
The weeks slipped by quietly, sometimes they would still argued almost every day; about his ego, her sarcasm, how she’d never answer his texts in less than 10 minutes.
But somewhere between those arguments, they had become each other’s favorite part of the day. And they liked each other. She’d never ask him to skip practice, even
never even suggest it, and yet for the first time in years… basketball wasn’t the only thing he looked forward to anymore.
Even his parents started noticing, his father raised an eyebrow one evening while looking over his practice schedule.
“You’ve been coming home earlier.” He said while seeing his phone.
“I know.” He said without glazing at him while eating dinner.
“You’ve skipped extra sessions.” He said frowning
“…Only a few.” He shrugged.
His father nodded slowly. “Just don’t lose focus.”
“I won’t.” He shook his head and kept eating.
And he meant it, his goals never changed, Basketball was still his dream, the difference was that it wasn’t his entire world anymore…
A month later, the regional championship finally arrived, gym was packed, his name echoed through the speakers.
Pressure, The kind he had spent years learning to love, he played one of the best games of his life, when the final buzzer sounded, his teammates tackled him to the floor while the crowd erupted into applause. His parents couldn’t stop smiling.
His coach shook his hand harder than ever before.
That night, both families went out for dinner to celebrate the victory. Keonho’s and Seonghyeon’s. Laughter filled the luxurious restaurant, all of them talked about the game…except Seonghyeon.
His mind wasn’t there, somewhere else,
Someone else.
After dinner, he and Keonho stepped outside while their parents kept talking inside, the walked around the area of the restaurant, for a while, neither of them spoke.
“…I’m scared.” Seonghyeon said without looking at him. Keonho frowned.
“…Scared? Eom Seonghyeon is scared? Yeah no shit” Keonho said and Seonghyeon chuckled under his breath.
“I’ve never liked someone this much before.” He said, Keonho frowned, he thought he was talking about something else, he shoved both hands into his pockets.
“You know that i always end things first, It was easier.” He said while they kept walking.
“Basketball was always enough.” He said and looked down at the sidewalk.
“But with honestly with y/n..I really don’t want to ruin it.”Seonghyeon said chuckling to himself. Keonho stayed quiet for a second before bumping his shoulder.
“Then stop trying to be impressive and just tell her the truth..” Keonho said and Sean looked at him.
“Dude and you know that aren’t basketball…You don’t have to win it you just have to be honest with her!” Keonho said with all the confidence in the world and Seonghyeon realized he had absolutely no idea how to do that.
Yeah, for him basketball had always been easier; practice, and if you failed; you practiced until you didn’t. And feelings didn’t work like that… there wasnt someone telling him what to do, or his mistakes. Nor strategy. Nor scoreboard and in this situation it was just…her.
And somehow… that terrified him more than any game he ever had.
The following week he couldn’t stop thinking about what his best friend had told him, anytime he saw her laughing over something stupid he’d said, every time she stole his headphones, every time she waved at him from the hallway as if it had become the most normal thing in the world…anything she snaked the back of his knee from behind to make him fall…he caught himself wondering how someone had managed to become part of his routine so quietly. And she felt like part of it; an essential one…she had become home.
A week later, after classes ended, neither of them really wanted to go home, so as always; She suggested walking on the beach for a while. He agreed immediately, pretending he hadn’t been hoping she’d ask. Because yeah, they loved walking together in the beach. The weather was warm, the sand still carried the heat from the afternoon sun, they spent almost an hour doing absolutely nothing, just chatting about movies, school, bout how terrible his taste in music supposedly was, About how she still couldn’t pronounce half the words in Italian, and he laughed every single time she tried.
The only sound left was the ocean, nice wind, Seonghyeon shoved both hands into the pockets of his hoodie, staring at the sunset, perfect timing. He’d rehearsed this conversation so many times in his head that now… He laughed quietly to himself.
“What now? maniac, share the joke” she said laughing. He shook his head.
“…Nothing.” He shrugged.
Another few steps. He stopped walking.
She turned around, confused.
“…I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous before. Shit” he scratched his head. She smiled a little.
“…You’re nervous? You!?” She said laughing. He loved that raspy laugh she had for the fact that she was always sick, He laughed and nodded.
“I play in front of thousands of people and somehow…” He laughed under his breath. “…Talking to you is harder.” The heat waves started feeling. She stayed quiet.
He looked at the ocean again before finally saying the only thing he knew was true.
“Because, fuck I like you.” He said passing a hand through his dark hair.
“And not because you’re pretty. Don’t get me wrong you’re absolutely beautiful..”
He smiled faintly.
“But that’s not why…i mean I like that you don’t care who I am, like that I’m someone that everyone knows because of my talent, and my position…look..”
“And— you’re shameless…and you’re super fun and I wish I had your courage to tell people what I think like—You called me disgusting five minutes after meeting me.”
He chuckled faintly and y/n laughed shaking her head.
“You make fun of me every chance you get, make me want to become a better person without even asking me to.” He looked down at the sand shyly.
“And the truth is that I’ve never wanted to do things right with anyone before. But with you…I do.”
She stared at him for a long moment before looking away.
“Good.” She said and that made him frown.
“Good?” He said. She nodded.
“Because now I know that it’s mutual.”
She said and he blinked multiple times
“Wait—“
“but you’re still incredibly full of yourself and ur ego is exhausting.” She said chuckling. He laughed.
Before either of them could overthink it anymore… he gently cupped her cheek. Neither of them knew who kissed who first…but it was a kiss full of love. And fuck, seonghyeon enjoyed it more than any other kiss he had ever had.
they became a couple without either of them realizing when it happened, Nothing around them changed overnight, y/n didn’t changed his routine; He still trained every single day and she still complained every time he left his jacket lying over her desk; and being a couple didn’t changed that they still argued over the dumbest things imaginable…but the only difference was that he reached for her hand so she wouldn’t be so mad at him.
His teammates noticed the change almost immediately; he still stayed after the practice ended, he still trained harder than anyone else, but now every once in a while he’d check the time or his phone, he leave exactly when practice ended instead of shooting another five hundred basket..
“…You’ve gotten soft.” Keonho said, he always teased teased him. Seonghyeon simply smiled while throwing his backpack over his shoulder.
“Maybe, you should get yourself a girl so you stop bothering me” he said and Keonho rolled his eyes raising his middle finger to his teammate.
Seonghyeon hadn’t realized it until thenc the fact that he wasn’t trying to win games by himself anymore, now for him… basketball didn’t feel like proving he was better than everyone else, like if he stopped being selfish and rude.
And of course y/n noticed it too; Seonghyeon celebrated other people’s points, laughed more, apologized when he messed up, admitted his mistakes and even admitted when she was right.
And his father? Wasn’t nearly as convinced.
One evening, after another practice he had left exactly on time, he stopped him before he could head upstairs.
“Seonghyeon…You’re distracted lately.”
His father said moving his glasses. Seonghyeon frowned
“No, im not..” he shrugged and his father shook his head.
“You used to practice until I had to drag you home.” He finally looked at him
“Don’t let yourself lose focus.” His father said
“I won’t.” Seonghyeon nodded
“If there’s bullshit keeping you from being the best version of yourself, throw them away” he said and walked away.
“Yes, dad..”
But the truth was that was probably the happiest he’d ever been. Which made what happened next feel almost cruel…
That tragedy happened on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, just another practice; another normal day, a drill he’d done thousands of times before, coach blew the whistle.
“One more!” He shouted. Sweat dripped from every player’s face as they ran the play again. Pass. Cut. Catch. Drive. Seonghyeon planted his left foot to change direction, he even knew that was a mistake that wasn’t supposed to happen, and then… a crack. It wasn’t loud, but his scream in pain was, because he felt it… A sharp pain shot through his knee to his foot, so suddenly that his entire body gave out beneath him…collapsed before he even realized what had happened on the ground, he just groaned in pain, more from seeing his knee that way, it was over. Everything was over.
The ball rolled away across the court.
“Seonghyeon!? Fuck—” Keonho was the first one to reach him, He tried to stand but he couldn’t move, his other leg folded underneath him immediately.
“No…” he whispered, and shook his head like that would make that disappear, erase the moment like a bad dream.
“No, no, no…” His breathing became uneven, For the first time in years… he wasn’t even thinking about the pain, already knew. Somehow… he just knew. The voices around him became muffled, the coach, Keonho and other two guys carried him to a corner of the field. The coach was saying something, Someone called an ambulance but none of it reached him. He kept staring at his knee as if refusing to believe it belonged to him...that this had happened to him especially.
The hospital was worse, Physical pain couldn’t be ignored, and waiting couldn’t less, He sat beside his parents on that hospital bed with his head down, without saying a single word while the doctor examined the scans, his mother kept squeezing his hand like wanting to let him that everything would be fine. But it wouldn’t. His father hadn’t spoken once since they arrived, the doctor walked back into the room carrying the MRI results,
“Seonghyeon, the good news is…” the doctor said, Seonghyeon hated those words immediately.
“This isn’t the end of your basketball future.” He said and took a deep breath. Another pause.
“But your ACL is completely torn.” He said.
“And?” Seonghyeon asked.
“You’ll need surgery.” “And rehabilitation.” “A long one.” He said, Seonghyeon shook his head and asked
“How long I won’t be able to play?” He asked, the doctor hesitated for a moment.
“If everything goes perfectly… nine months. Maybe a year.” He said and more silence settled.
“And if it doesn’t?” He asked, like a pessimist person, the doctor lowered his eyes.
“Well Seonghyeon, We don’t know.”
We don’t know. Everyone kept telling him he’d recover. His coach. His teammates. His parents. The doctor. Yet none of them could promise he’d ever become the same player again. That terrified him. Because for the first time in his life… the future everyone had planned for him suddenly had a question mark.
Surgery was scheduled later, like two weeks, and for seonghyeon, two weeks felt longer than every year Seonghyeon had lived before, and of course, he had to, stopped going to practice, and this was his own choice, but he stopped going to school, and when he finally came back… he wasn’t really there, Sean limped through the hallways with crutches, headphones on, avoiding every conversation possible, ignoring the pity looks, teammates didn’t knew what to say anymore. Neither did the coaches, Basketball was happening every afternoon…basketball kept going but…Without him…y/n tried calling, his girlfriend, but he never answered, she texted and he would just left her in delivered. seen.
She waited outside his classroom, He left through another hallway.
Little by little…He wasn’t only avoiding basketball. He was avoiding her.
She tried to understand him at first, actually she really did, she knew he was hurting, because seonghyeon always felt that his talent was the only reason he was worthy, and that was a lie. She knew losing basketball felt like losing a part of himself.
So she gave him space, Day after day, another one and then another, and then realized that he wasn’t asking for space anymore. He was pushing everyone away.
She finally had enough, y/n waited outside the rehabilitation center.
He came out balancing himself on his crutches. The moment he saw her…He sighed.
“Baby…Not today.” He shook his head, She walked straight toward him.
“Not today? Then when!? You’re coming with me.” She said and he stepped back.
“Y/n, I’m going home.” He shrugged
“No. Ur not” she said
“No What?”
He stared at her.
“You jerk, You don’t get to disappear for three weeks and pretend that’s normal because that’s not normal okay? I should dump your ass but— just stop being stubborn!” She said, he frowned and shook his head.
“I’m fine.” He said and that made her laugh sarcastically. Not because it was funny but because it was the dumbest lie she had ever heard.
“Fine? Look at you, you gotta be kidding me, I know you okay” She pointed at the crutches.
“Sean, I’ve already seen this version of you once, the one version that thinks that pushing everyone away protects them, somehow”
“And you know it doesn’t, It only hurts the people who actually stayed, who actually care”
He tried to leave. She stops him.
“You know what your problem is?”
He stayed quiet.
“You think your value starts and ends with basketball, You think if you can’t play, Then nobody could possibly love you anymore, or even like you, but let me tell you something that you’ll hate hearing…” she said and that made him clench his jaw.
“that ur wrong, because personally, I never fell in love with the captain, with the best basketball player…I fell in love with the idiot who threw a sweaty towel at my face.”
He laughed, genuinely, finally a relaxed laugh, she smiled and helped him walk together to his house, finally accepting things, a bit, cause he didn’t changed the next day, or the day after. She let him know that Healing wasn’t that simple, it was a whole process; some mornings he still woke up angry at the world cursing at everyone, some days rehabilitation hurt so much he wanted to quit halfway through, cry all the time like if that would fix his injuries, nights that he’d stare at the basketball sitting in the corner of his bedroom and wonder if it’d ever feel like his again…
But now…Every time he thought about giving up he just remembered her words, He remembered her voice; That was enough to get him through another day.
he stopped measuring his life by how many points he could score like every single time, Rehabilitation replaced practice, Slow walks replaced sprints, Ice packs replaced medals; It wasn’t the life he had imagined, but he had to be thankful for being alive, being able to even walk, that was what his girl said. y/n refused to let him spend every afternoon locked inside his room, she would just show up and drag him out to walk, other days she’d show up outside his house with absolutely no explanation.
And somehow those hang out moments ended up becoming his favorite afternoons, wasted hours at old arcades competing over games neither of them knew how to play, y/n always cheated shamelessly, Sean complained every single time, but she always won anyway.
Other days they walked through vintage clothing stores without buying anything.
Sat by the river eating convenience store snacks.
Went to karaokes just the two of them.
One rainy afternoon she invited him over.
“My parents won’t be home.” He said through the phone call
“Uhm That sounds incredibly suspicious...are we going to destroy your house while baking?”
“Affirmative”
“Im down”
Neither of them knew how to cook, which became obvious almost immediately,
They argued over the recipe of cinnamon rolls, yeah, they were just making any cookies, they went for a hard dessert. Burned the first batch, Added way too much flour to the second. She accidentally dropped an egg on his hoodie.
“Seriously? Y/n you gotta be kidding me- ugh”
“ups it was an accident.”
He grabbed the bag sitting on the counter.
“No, seonghyeon, Don’t. Seonghyeon. Don’t you dare.”
A second later… White flour exploded everywhere, She slowly looked down at herself. Then back at him.
“You’re dead.”
Ten minutes later the entire kitchen looked like a snowstorm had passed through it, they threw themselves eggs, vanilla scent, milk, even a glass of coke seonghyeon was drinking.
It was a mess, and the kitchen smelled like shit. The counters. Their hair.
They couldn’t stop laughing. Seonghyeon leaned against the counter trying to catch his breath.
“We should clean..” he said and she nodded.
“Definitely”
“You look like a granny” he laughed, so hard. Months since he’d laughed that hard. He looked at her. Still holding the spoon she’d threatened him with five minutes earlier.
weeks passed before either of them noticed, Rehabilitation had become easier. But it did not hurt less, but he had stopped fighting against it.
That afternoon they ended up sitting outside his jeep that now she had to drive, after sunset.
“I was thinking, do you wanna break into school? Like the swimming pool?
She looked at him like he’d completely lost his mind.
“Are u out of your mind? Absolutely not.” She shook her head and he laughed.
“…Why not?”
“Because it’s illegal? If we got caught we could get suspended!” She said
“So? Life is only one you always say that.
He said and she laughed.
“You’re unbelievable. Seriously I hate you”
“No you love me and you know it”
Twenty minutes later…They were climbing over the fence. Escaping from the guards that patrolled around.
“Seonghyeon, This is entirely your fault.” she whispered.
The pool lights reflected across the water. A blue light around the place, at night,
The entire campus was silent. It felt like the school belonged only to them.
He managed to open the maintenance gate after way too much effort.
“Easy.”
“You literally spent ten minutes fighting a padlock.”
He pushed her and he jumped after that, both jumped in wearing their clothes.
The water was freezing. He couldn’t stop laughing.
They spent almost an hour splashing each other like little kids. He kissed her and then ended splashing water to her making her almost drown and throw up water, and viceversa, she was aggressive, wanted revenge.
For a while…Neither of them thought about basketball. Expectations. Injuries.
The future. Just… Them.
they climbed out and lay on the edge of the pool both fully soaked.
Then…
“Promise me something.” He said and she rolled her eyes, He turned his head.
“…What?”
“Promise me that… no matter what happens—” he said and she interrupted him
“…You’ll still be this stupid when we’re old.” He laughed and shook his head
“Let me talk…anyway thats oddly specific…but I promise..” He smiled.
“Y/n, promise me we’ll still know each other.” He said and that made her frown.
“Yeah, Of course.” She chuckled.
“Even when we’re like… eighty.”
“Whatever. Even then.”
He smiled, and he stayed quiet for a second.
“And yk. Promise me…”
He laughed awkwardly.
“That we’ll get married”
She immediately turned to look at him.
“What?”
“I mean… if we’re both still single.”
“That’s your backup plan? Seriously ur that dumb?”
“Hey, leave me alone, It’s a very solid plan.”
She couldn’t help laughing. And shaking her head she nodded.
“You’re such an idiot.”
He shrugged. And scoffed sitting down.
“Is that a no? Did you just rejected my proposal?”
She looked back at the stars. A tiny smile appeared on her face.
“Ask me again in fifty years.” She chuckled
“Deal.” He smiled.