Taemin squirmed as Key finished fixing his hair.

"I still can't believe you fell for that stupid frog-face," Key growled, jabbing a Bobby pin into the soft locks to keep them in place as he sprayed something on them that smelled slightly like apples. Taemin blushed.

"You won't tell anyone, right?" he asked before he was being held still so that Key could smear lipgloss on his lips. The older boy sighed as he applied the right mix of coral and shimmering white.

"No," Key said with a huff as Taemin rubbed his lips together. Carefully, Key slid a brush across Taemin's eyelid, highlighting it with a slight ridge of blue. He pulled out the Bobby pin and smiled.

"How do I look?" Taemin asked as he smoothed out the wrinkles in his skinny-jeans and tugging at his loose white sleeveless. Key tugged at the hems of Taemin's brown outer coat and sighed.

"Beautiful," he said, patting Taemin's shoulder before they both got out of the car. They separated at the gate, Key going to steal a kiss from Jonghyun before the defense tackler had to go change. Taemin clambered into the rapidly-filling stands.

Minho couldn't believe how much he was grinning as he got changed. His teammates were looking at him kind of weird, but he didn't really care. He'd seen Taemin climb into the bleachers before he got into the locker room. His new friend (it was still so strange to think of Taemin as that, but a good kind of strange) was here to watch him kick .

So kick he shall.

"Alright, let's get the season start off right!" he cheered to his team, tucking his helmet under his arm. The boys roared with aggression and testosterone. "Alright, let's show these guys why we're called the Lions! Let's show them who's king of this football field!"

"Yeah! Lions! L-I-O-N-S!" the team cheered. They smashed their helmets together before donning the headgear. They marched out into the sunlight, their uniforms a bright golden color as they sped into a jog, raising their fists as the crowd cheered. Minho smiled as he saw Taemin standing up, clapping enthusiastically. For a brief moment, the boys were grinning at each other before the rest of the crowd followed, whooping for the home team. Minho led his boys over to the sidelines to meet their coach, who had been working on their play. The older man grinned and patted Minho's shoulder.

"Ready to win?" he asked as the opposing team, the Condors, filed into the stadium. There was a sweeping applause for last year's champions as the home team bristled. Last year's game had ended controversially, and this game would set the record straight that the Lions should have won.

"Go! Go Lions! L, L-I-O-N-S!

Show! Show, show them!

Go on show them who's the best!

Roar and shout! Nice and loud!

Come on, people, hear us out!

Mighty Lions, let's go Lions!

L-I-O-N-S! GO!" the cheerleaders chanted, their pom-poms sparkling as the did their routine, leaping from each other's arms with impressive fluidity. Minho used the crowd's captivation to locate Taemin. The boy was looking right back at him, and they grinned at each other before Minho turned his head to listen to his coach.

"We're gonna jump out this field,

Make it wild, make it real!

Take a step back and

Show you what's the deal!

Sad you lost? Should have known you would!

We're flying high like you never could!

Go Condors!" the opposing team's girls cheered as two scantly-clothed figures were launched into the air. Applause erupted from the stands as the two sets of girls sneered at each other. The Condors, in their scarlet uniforms, huddled together as the Lions pressed their helmets together.

There were a lot of guys on the team. Most of them were just guard or tackle, and mediocre at best, but Minho was part of the elite section of the team. He huddled with them, giving them the run-down.

"Alright, Yunho, you've gotta have my back, bro. If you see anyone come up behind me, you knock his lights out," Minho said, bumping fists with his friend before his eyes flickered to Jonghyun. "Dude, I know you can do this. Anyone comes near our field goal, you take him out."

"He'll never see it coming," Jonghyun said with a smirk. Minho smirked back. Jonghyun, with his short stature and sturdy build, was made for grounding tackles. Truly, he was a speeding little bullet. The boys touched knuckles.

"Alright, Kris and Shindong, you've gotta be the muscles. If I get taken out, you've got to plow through their defenses and win us some points, got it?" he asked. One of the boys, with narrow eyes and youthful lips, smirked and nodded. The other one grinned happily, his chubby face hiding his beastly tackles. They bumped fists as well, sealing the deal.

"We'll get them for you, captain," Kris said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. His deep voice was dangerously reassuring, promising that any revenge would be bone-crushing. Minho smirked back before searching out his next man.

"Jay, my man, you've got to be quick with the defense, okay? You've gotta stay by that post. You're the last one we got, man. Don't let us down," Minho said. Jay grinned and nodded. Finally, Minho looked at his best wide-receiver. The wired boy grinned back, already jittering.

"Eunhyuk, this is your big day. Anything you get, you throw it to me, okay? You show those ers who really won that game last year," Minho said with a smirk. Eunhyuk's whoop rang through the charged air. It was time to bring it on.

~

Taemin was on the edge if his seat in the third row, biting his lip as he watched the teams line up for the coin toss. He'd done extensive research on this sport the night before, and the information was running of in his head as if on a reel of film.

...begins with a coin toss to determine which team will kick off to begin the game and which goal each team will defend....

Taemin squinted as he leaned closer, hearing the hush fall over the crowd as his eyes swept over the two sides. The Lions, with their golden helmets and ivory-white outfits. The Conders, with their red-and-gray attire. The coin went up, and Taemin found himself hoping that Minho's team would prevail.

"Condors!" the referee said. Minho's eyes narrowed as the other team's quarterback smirked. He rolled the ball in his hands before turning to get his team set up. The Lions did the same, their eyes on their enemy. Their tempers were already flared, and the game hadn't even started yet. They got into the starting position, low growls in their throats.

In the bleachers, Taemin was running statistics in his head, the probabilities of Minho coming out on top. Already, they'd fallen below 30%. The first choice was the most important, according to the strategy book that he'd skimmed. Biting his lip, he clenched his fists before standing up.

"You can do it, Lions!" he shouted, cupping his mouth so that the sound could reach Minho. He was feeling so out of breath as all heads turned to his. Even Minho's head turned and he could see the soft smile on Minho's face. Neither cared that Taemin was sticking out in the crowd. Neither cared about anything else in the world. They just smiled at each other, nodding slightly.

Taemin was there, shining and radiant, and Minho felt a belief that he was going to be eating shawarma for lunch.

"Yeah! Show them who's boss!" someone else shouted, and then a huge roar of encouragement swelled from the audience. The sound combatted the "boos" from the Condor fans, and the snap back to the Condor quarterback was met with a loud eruption of cheers and hisses alike.

The quarterback zipped between Shindong and Kris, who were trying to break through the offensive line, but Yuhno was quick with the tackle. The boy stood up with the ball, scanning th field for Minho. The tall boy was ten yards deep in enemy territory.

"There! He's right there!" Taemin screamed through the loud grating sounds from the crowd. The ball soared through the air, and Taemin could feel his heart flying with it. Minho caught the leather object with both hands, and suddenly he was running, slicing through air. He could hear thundering footsteps all around him, the threat of being tackled keeping him on his toes.

"Oof!" he heard behind him, followed by a shout of victory from Shindong. Minho could hear three more sets of feet, but he could also hear his heart pounding with Taemin's cheer riding on its rhythm.

He had to do this, make the first touchdown, make sure that Taemin saw him. He had to make sure that Taemin could see Minho being the Steve Rogers of the football team. After all, they were friends, right? And this was what friends did, right? They tried to catch each other's eye, tried to impress the other, tried to keep the other's attention. This was normal for friends, right?

"Touchdown for the Lions!" Minho heard through the pulse in head. He rolled onto the ground, the ball pressed to his chest. He stood up and grinned as Yuhno patted his shoulder.

Taemin grinned in the stands.

No one saw the red-clothed girl slip past the bench, her eyes on the Lion's playbook.

~

By the second quarter, the Condors had picked up speed. They were starting to anticipate plays, and were now leading by eight. Taemin had chewed his lip until it was red and throbbing, not knowing what had happened. Minho groaned as someone tackled him in the side. This was going to hurt later...

He replayed the reels of the game in his head as halftime was called. Minho had rushed down the center line... Maybe that was the problem? No, that Yuhno guy had taken out any threats. The Condor's movements had been irregular, though. They'd been moving towards the center line before the snap back had even hit Minho's hands.

Taemin's eyes widened. Wait, the movements! The rhythms! They were cheating! Taemin started to get up to report the incident to the referees, but he suddenly thought back to a few days ago.

"You made me look like a ing idiot back there!"

To report this would be to trod on Minho's pride. Still, to just let it go would be to doom the game. Taemin knew that this game was a trivial thing in the whole order of the universe, but this was Minho's game. Taemin took a deep breath and stood up, slipping down the steps. Most of the crowd was headed towards the food court or restrooms anyway.

"Hey, Minho, it's our personal cheerleader," someone shouted. Minho looked up as Taemin approached. He put his helmet on the bench and shook the sweaty hair out of his eyes. He rushed to meet his friend, the shoulder pads making movement awkward.

"Taemin, what are you doing?" he asked. The younger's eyes were urgent, telling Minho enough. "Something's wrong, right?" Minho muttered. Taemin nodded, the older boy cursed.

"I have to talk o your coach. I can fix this without having to bring the referees into this," Taemin said, his mind spinning already. Minho searched Taemin's eyes, sighing as he took Taemin's arm and led Taemin to the coach.

"Hey, Coach, this is my friend Taemin. He's got an IQ of 186, so I think you'd better listen to him," Minho said loudly, trying to make himself heard over the roar of he crowd. Taemin slipped from Minho's grasp, pulling the aging man to the side.

"Hey, isn't that the from English class?" Yunho asked as he came up to Minho. The taller boy flinched at the harsh word, and he shot Yunho a slight glare.

"He's pretty cool, you know," Minho said with a low snarl. "He's a lot more fun that I gave him credit for." He looked back at Taemin, who was now murmuring urgently with the coach, pointing at the playbook.

"Well, if he wins us this game, I will personally never beat up another again," Yuhno swore. The rest of the team muttered in agreement, and Minho couldn't miss Jonghyun's smirk of approval.

Their discussion was cut short by a referee, pot-bellied and panting for breath, storming over and grabbing Taemin's arm. Minho felt like punching the fat er in the jaw. He felt like shouting for the man not to touch Taemin, but he held himself back.

"This boy can't be here unless he's authorized," the red-faced man said authoritatively. Taemin's eyes widened in slight fear, and the coach's reaction wasn't too far off. Minho immediately pushed his way between the referee and Taemin, shoving the man's hand off and throwing an arm around Taemin's shoulders.

"What are you talking about, man? This is our student manager right here," Minho said with an angry undertone to his voice. He disguised it as an offended indignation. "Come on, you don't have him down? I think I have to report you for not doing your job right. This guy's with us."

"Yeah, he's been on the team for ages!" Yuhno piped up. As homophobic as he was, he knew that Taemin was their best chance for victory. The rest of the team nodded and muttered in agreement. The referee gasped a little and quickly scribbled something down before jobbing away, humiliated in his mind as a referee. Taemin smiled gratefully at Minho, and the older boy smiled back softly.

"You're stuck here, I guess," he murmured, and Taemin laughed gently with a gently shove to Minho's sweaty cheek before going back to his discussion with the coach. Minho went back to his teammates with a broad grin, noticing their stares only after the whole team had leaned towards him. "What?"

"You and him seem awfully close," Kris observed, lips pursed in surprise. Minho shrugged as he tipped a long gulp of water down his parched throat. He swallowed before saying anything.

"We're friends," he said, not finding anything wrong with it until a few moments later, and even then there wasn't much wrong. He shrugged again as the coach came over with the playbook. Minho raised an eyebrow at the plays.

They were ludicrously risky and unusual. They might actually work.

"Alright! Lions go!" he shouted, turning to his team with a proud grin. The players let out a mighty roar and charged forward. Minho lingered for just the briefest of seconds, wrapping his arms around Taemin for a surprise hug. The younger boy's hands slipped over his elbows as Minho turned quickly to get to the game. With a sigh, Taemin flopped onto the bench next to Minho's things.

Possession went to the Lions, which made Taemin so excited already. From this angle, he could clearly see the center's smirk. He snapped the ball back, and the Condor's guards charged forward. However, instead of meeting the opposition, Kris and Yuhno slipped through as Shidong guarded Minho. Taemin sat up straight as the ball sailed from Minho's hands into the air.

"What are they doing?" he heard the Condor's coach demand. Taemin couldn't help but smirk. His head was full of not only ancient war strategies but also every possible move in chess, among other things. Incorporating war strategies into football was just the next natural progression.

Eunhyuk's palms slapped around the football, and he took off in a sprint, about to meet a charging red tackler head-on. At the very last second, he lobbed the ball to Kris, who slid into the end zone with a cheer.

Condor lead dropped to 2.

The Lions kicked off to the Condors, not moving as the opposing team grabbed the ball and charged. Kris and Shindong both broke from the tightly knit pack of yellow and white, charging down the center. Naturally, the crowd split and all the two could tackle were two wide-receivers. The rest of the Lions slipped into the gap, tackling left and right.

"Whoo!" the Lions coach shouted, jabbing the air with his fist. Taemin stood to try and see what was becoming of the struggle. Suddenly, like a yellow streak of light, Minho charged through the skirmish and across the end zone. It took a few moments for anyone to even react, but soon the crows roared with shocked admiration.

"Yes! Yes!" Taemin screamed, jumping up and hitting the air with his fist. Minho grinned over, his eyes barely visible from under his helmet. If Taemin had any less self-restraint, he would have leapt into Minho's arms.

However, something went awry again. The Condors seemed to have picked up a change in the rhythm, because their rhythm changed too. They started to play erratically. When Kris slammed into the right and Shindong slammed into the right, trying to funnel the team in, the ball switched hands and suddenly one stray was bursting though the crowd, barely stopped by Jonghyun.

When Minho broke through the center line, no one had gone for him until he'd gotten about fifteen yards in. Then, suddenly, the whole team was on him. The coach had to hold Taemin back from launching an attack. The Condor running-back who had gotten the ball was mercilessly tackled by Jay.

"They've ing figured us out again," Taemin hissed, his eyes hard with anger as the third quarter ended. Alright, no more chess plays. It was time for real .

Alexander the Great it was.

"Bring it in!" the coach shouted. The team came in, worn out and panting. Taemin was furiously scribbling into the playbook. He knew that Greek tactics wouldn't work the best, but the Spartan addition of a strong phalanx might just...

"Hey, !" a voice shouted, and Taemin looked up only to be grabbed by the hair by Jay. "What the are you playing at? What happened to those plays of yours, huh?" The rest of the team seemed to agree, closing in menacingly. Taemin whimpered, already able to sense all of the blows he'd have to endure. Yunho and Jonghyun's efforts to keep back the crowd were failing.

"Hey!" Minho shouted, shoving Jay to the side. The whole team froze, eyes on the two like wolves waiting to see who'd go down first.

"Your little nearly got us all killed!" Jay snapped, pointing at a terrified Taemin. Minho snarled, standing in front of Taemin defensively. The younger felt both safe and scared, scared for Minho.

But feeling safe with Minho... That was new.

"Let him work! He'll get us out of this! You guys have to trust him!" Minho shouted, glaring at the rest of the team with his arms spread in front of Taemin. "Come on, guys. You know that he's all we've got. Give him a real chance this once."

"I got it!" Taemin shouted, jumping up and displaying his play. All eyes turned to the paper, and in hushed tones, Taemin explained his plan. As he spoke, doubt dissipated like steam. The whole team could practically feel themselves going through the motions already.

"Listen, save this for last," Taemin murmured. "Just defend your lead for now. If we bring this out too soon, we'll have nothing." Everyone nodded, not wanting to argue, because even though he was a , Taemin was a brilliant .

"Alright, manager," Yunho said finally, and there was nothing contemptuous in his voice. The rest of the team echoed him, and Jay gave Taemin a sheepish smile. The younger grinned broadly.

"ALRIGHT! LIONS, GO!" Taemin shouted, punching the air. The team roared with him, their fists brushing against each other's as they easier their arms into the air. The crowd, hearing the confident roar, went nuts with applause.

"L-I-O-N-S! LIONS!" the team shouted as they barged onto the field, a new confidence surrounding them. They were once again the fierce team that had started this game. Only Minho hung back, smiling proudly at Taemin. The boy tried to hide his blush.

"What?" he mumbled as Minho ruffled his hair. The older leaned forward, the ridge of his helmet gently touching Taemin's forehead and his eyes locked on Taemin's. His hand curled around the back of Taemin's head gently.

"I'm so glad you're my friend," he whispered before he jogged onto the field to join the team. Taemin could feel his heart crashing and then starting and the crashing again. He fell backwards, saved only by the coach's quick reflexes. The aging man chuckled as he sat Taemin onto the bench.

"H-he's glad that he's my friend," Taemin whispered, a hand over his heart as the whistle sounded and the clash of helmets aded the air. There was a roar of applause as Minho took the ball and ran.

"Throw it, Minho!" the coach shouted as the boy headed for a pair of tacklers. Instead, with a broad grin on his face, Minho let himself be tackled. One of the Condors snatched up the ball, and Minho watched with amusement as Shindong pounced on him. He could have sworn that he heard bones crack.

The Lions knew their duty. They were to defend their lead by dragging on this one round as long as they could. They couldn't afford to let the Condors gain possession, which would happen if they scored. They began making stupid mistakes. Instead of stopping one of the runningbacks, Kris let him slip by. A good thirty seconds of chasing ensued, with the poor Condor running from a roaring Yunho.

Eunhyuk didn't run with the ball so much as he skipped with it, frolicking slowly towards the end zone and "dropping" the ball time after time. The Condors circles around him, watching his antics with a slight tinge of fear. Anyone who skipped with a football, humming "The Sound of Music," had to be either ill or trying to throw the game.

Jay and Jonghyun teased their opponents ruthlessly. One might slip past Jonghyun only to be grounded my Jay. One might be tackled by Jonghyun only to get the ball back seconds later, and then be tackled again. It was almost cruel, but it made Taemin laugh.

Finally, the Condors called a time out, and the Lions grew somber. They all crowded around their coach, only to be deflected to Taemin. The grown man handed over the command willingly. Taemin's decision would now decide the game.

Taemin looked at the determined faces and swallowed. They all knew what was at stake here. It was time to use their final play. If it failed, they could lose the game. Even if they won by their two point lead, it would be because this play would go to the end. They had to pull this off flawlessly.

"Guys... I hope you win today, I really do..." Taemin mumbled. He looked at them all and sighed. "Listen... If all else fails, at least... At least you guys can still slash the tires on their bus."

"Hey, lighten up," a voice called out from the back. Jay pushed his way to the front and put an arm around Taemin's shoulders. "Let's hear it for Taemin for getting us this far!"

The team cheered, with only Minho's cheer slightly less enthusiastic. He kept focussing on Jay's hand cupping Taemin's shoulder, so intimately as if he hadn't been close to beating Taemin up before. Minho stepped forward and slid his arm around Taemin shoulder the other way.

"We've gotten this far. We might as well go all the way," he said strongly. "We don't need to second guess ourselves. We've got a brilliant play, a brilliant manager"—and here he squeezed Taemin's shoulder—"and the best damned team. Let's finish off our first game by kicking some !" The team roared in approval, and Minho looked to Taemin with a small smile. Taemin smiled back before turning to the team.

"LIONS! L-I-O-N-S!" the slim boy shouted, echoed by not only the team but also the whole audience, who'd been waiting for that chant. Again, the team all headed out, but again Minho stayed with Taemin for just a little longer.

"Hey," he murmured at the scared look in Taemin's eyes. The boy looked up, his body trembling. Minho smiled gently and who knows what he might've done if the helmet hadn't been blocking his lips. Still, it was, so Minho just wrapped his arms around Taemin tightly. "All you should worry about is what kind of shawarma you want," he murmured before he was off.

"Good luck," Taemin whispered, chewing his lip with worry as the two teams lined up. They glared at each other as the Lions center held the ball firmly. The Condor quarterback dropped low behind his center, and Minho scowled.

"TWENTY-FOUR. FORTY-THREE. HIKE!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the field as he called out the number of their final, killer play. The whole audience held its breath, watching the ball as it shot into his arms. This time, his running-backs didn't even bother running anywhere. They slipped to the front to join the guards in the tackle.

"CHARGE!" Yuhno roared, and the whole team put in a huge heave. Like an ancient Spartan phalanx, they moved as one, the wall of meat and muscle advancing a few yards. The Condors were so baffled by this that they couldn't been fight back. Minho took the opportunity to run, and he ran like he'd never run before, straight at the wall of battling players.

"SPLIT!" he heard Shindong command, and the center of the phalanx split, scattering Condors and Lions everywhere except for in Minho's path. Minho let out a whoop of excitement as he ran, the air trying to hold him back but his legs carrying him through it.

Suddenly, huge weight hit him from behind. He heard Taemin scream as he hit the ground, the ball snatched away from him. He saw the Condor quarterback's smirk before the red streak was off. Minho got to his feet, watching the bastard run through the chaotic crowd.

"GET HIM!" he shouted, sprinting forward. Immediately, the team cleared a circle around him, and he peered through the clearing just in time to see Jonghyun crash head-first into the opposing quarterback. The shorter boy caught the ball just as Minho saw the clock.

"Thirty seconds! I know!" Jonghyun shouted as he there the ball straight for Minho. Now the team was clearing a path again, with Eunhyuk taking the perimeter and the other wide receiver circling around Minho.

"RUN!" Minho heard Taemin scream, and just as the buzzer sounded, he tumbled into the end zone, the ball crushed to his chest.

The crowd erupted.

Minho stood shakily, raising his leather-bound trophy above his head, a broad grin on his face as he ripped off the helmet and threw it on the ground. He was surrounded by white and yellow, his friends all freeing themselves of their helmets and whooping loudly.

"YEAH! WE DID IT!" he heard a familiar voice call out, and Minho pushed throughout the crowd to wrapped his arms around Taemin, his hand fumbling to close Taemin's fingers around the football and alongside his own. He raised the ball together, eliciting another wave of applause from the crowd.

"Hey, tonight, we're going to Rosario's Pizza Place!" the coach shouted, causing the team to cheer. Minho smiled down at Taemin, his arm around Taemin's slender neck as they grinned at each other. He pressed he ball to Taemin's chest and let his eyes roam Taemin's red face before finally settling on that dark, emotional set of eyes.

"Tonight, pizza, but right now, we're going out for shawarma," he murmured, watching that blush spread over Taemin's cheeks. With another cheer, he headed to the locker room with Taemin in his arms, his team following, the cheers of the audience trailing them inside.

A/N - Having written this chapter, I think I've just broken every rule in football.

More to come! Comments are love~! <3