He recalled the first time he saw him...

Sounds of the constant bouncing of the ball and the loud roaring cheers from the hysterical spectators can be heard in the court as two teams were battling fiercely for a grand prize of one thousand dollars.

Suddenly, the whole court was silent, a tense aura surrounding them as the supporters were dripping with anticipation and curiosity. All of the players were surrounding number 33 as he slouched, both hands dribbling the ball eyeing and thinking of how he can shoot the ball.

Drops of perspiration dripped down the side of his face as two minutes has passed and he was still trying to think of a way while carefully dribbling the ball to prevent his opponent from snatching it. The crowd was so nervous, growing with so much anticipation that the silence was too much for them to bear and someone finally broke the silence by shouting and his voice echoing into the large court.

That was it!

He finally figured out a way and he used the cheering as an advantage for him as he saw that all of them were distracted. He signalled to one of his team mates and swiftly threw the ball to him. The opponents finally snapped back and ran as fast as they could to prevent them from scoring a goal and because of their great desire to win, one of them actually pushed number 33’s team mate down.

He fell down with a loud sound as he rolled around on the floor, frowning and holding his arm tightly as he groaned in pain. The referee blew the whistle loudly as everyone gasped and his team mates rushed to help him. He can’t play anymore and was out of the match with people tending to his injuries.

Because of this, the team gets one free shoot. There number 33 stood, panting lightly eyeing and aiming on the basketball net. Crowds supporting his team cheered loudly for a while and then fell silent. He focused on aiming inside the basketball net, both hands holding the ball up and he shoots. No one dared to blink as the ball flew across the court and it seemed like the scene was on slow motion as they captured every tiny bit of it and, the ball went inside the net.

Everyone stopped for a while to digest that news and crowds burst into loud cheers and the team came running to him with big smiles plastered onto their faces. Their team hugged him so tightly he thought he was going to die of suffocation but let go soon, still ecstatic over their win. They discussed gleefully about where to celebrate their win as number 33 scanned the court to look for his family members when he saw a man staring at him.

Since he was sitting very far away from him, he couldn’t see his features very clearly but it appeared as if he was analysing at every move he made. The man suddenly stood up with a poker face and slowly walked down the stairs and then towards Yunho. As he walked closer, number 33 took a good look at him and realised that he was very feminine looking with hair that almost reached his shoulders wearing a casual tee with jeans. He walked closer and closer until they’re facing each other and number 33 thought for a while why he was approaching him for.

“Hi, my name is Jaejoong and I would very much like to learn basketball from you” he smiled as he looked at yunho in the eye.

Yunho was awed by his confidence. Even though he was asking a favour which most people wouldn’t accept, he was so confident, as if he knew Yunho would certainly agree to his favour.

Looking back, Yunho didn’t even know why he accepted teaching Jaejoong basketball. Perhaps it was because of his confidence that impressed him or perhaps he found him good looking but he knew he didn’t make the wrong choice. They were dating now; from strangers to a teacher-student relationship and then to friends and now, lovers.

Yunho smiled fondly at the memories they’ve created together, he felt so blessed now and wondered what he did to deserve such a life. But these thoughts were cut off when his lover spoke to him, “Yunhoyah, what are you thinking about? Why are you smiling to yourself?”

“About you” Yunho grinned and then took Jaejoong’s hand and whispered an ‘I love you’ so softly yet Jaejoong managed to hear it and they stared into each other’s eyes, eyes that were filled with so much love.