What Yunho didn't notice was how jealous the other members of the National Team were starting to feel towards Changmin.

Perhaps it was because Yunho got to spend a lot of time with Changmin outside the pool, and not only did he know just how much harder Changmin had worked to get here than the rest of them, but also because he got to know how down to earth Changmin was. He had forgotten, though, of course, that the rest of their teammates didn't always see that side of him, and probably saw someone who was born good, got a lot of attention that he didn't deserve yet, and seemed to care half as much as the rest of them.

Changmin obviously tried to ignore a lot of it, but being the newest to the team and also one of the youngest, he closed himself in and instead, spent a lot of time alone. Between Classics and Nationals, he didn't come out of his room except to train. He even began to his lunches and suppers into his room to eat there, away from the rest of the team.

Just two days before Nationals was when Changmin finally snapped – and rightly so; Yunho would never have expected something so immature from his elite-athlete teammates, no matter how young they were.

They were in their locker room before their last evening swim before they left the Village for Nationals. Like any other day, Changmin had opened his cubby and had just started to take off his jacket when he frowned and reached into his locker. When he drew his hand out again, there was a small piece of paper in his hand with black, ugly letters scrawled messily on it.

Go back to the filthy group home where you belong

Changmin's face stiffened – and to Yunho's shock, there were amused titters around the locker room from the rest of their teammates.

"Great," said Changmin quietly, clearly upset. He slammed his locker shut, then glared around the locker room. "Thanks for this."

He crumpled up the note in his hand, dropped the note into the trash can and stormed out of the locker room.

Yunho hesitated for a second, caught between rushing after Changmin and setting off at his ridiculous, bullying, teammates.

He chose Changmin.

"Hey – hey! Hey."

Changmin took a glance back, and seeing Yunho running towards him, slowed down a bit.

Changmin was such a good kid, honestly.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Of course he wasn't, though. Yunho was angry, there was no way that Changmin wasn't. And as nice as Changmin was, he couldn't quite manage not to frown.

"Whatever. I'm fine," snapped Changmin. "I don't care. As if this is anything new."

"They're just jealous," said Yunho with a sigh. "Not that that excuses anything."

Changmin grunted. "Whatever. I don't care what they think. And their lives must be really, really pathetic if they're jealous of me."

Yunho wrapped his arm around Changmin's shoulders. "I… know you probably need to cool off, but we have to go to the swim, or we'll have a very angry coach on our hands."

"You can go," said Changmin. "I don't even want to look at them right now."

"You're really going to get it from the coach if you don't go, and I can't let that happen. They're the ones that need to be punished for this, not you."

Changmin made a sound of annoyance.

"I'll make sure they all apologize to you," promised Yunho, hoping to soothe Changmin, but when he said the words, Changmin startled.

"No, don't do that, it's okay," said Changmin quickly. "I've been through much worse. Don't worry about it."

Yunho stared.

"What do you mean? They have to know that what they did is pathetic and wrong."

"Yeah, but… but it doesn't involves you."

Yunho stared. "Why won't you let me do this?"

Changmin hesitated. "Because… you're obviously going to be the captain of this team after Nationals. I want them to like you. I mean… it's not going to work if they don't want you to lead them."

Yunho let out a breath of disbelief. "Changmin –"

"I don't care, they can say swimming's an individual sport all they want, but… but it's not, it's a team sport, not just in relays, but also especially when… we dorm together and…"

"Then even more so, they need to realize how unacceptable this is!" said Yunho, aghast. "Changmin, I swear to God, you have to stop this! You have to stop letting people walk all over you!"

"I just have to prove myself at Nationals," muttered Changmin. Yunho rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, it's fine to prove yourself but you have to stand up and speak up for yourself sometimes too!"

"And I will," said Changmin through gritted teeth. "When I'm their National Champion."

Yunho let out a sigh of defeat.