Chapter 6 Coach Yunho 

Still on the fourth week of january, on the same day...

Coach Yunho was a man destined to be loved or hated. There were no gray areas in his vocabulary, because if he chose to be nice on first impression, then you would continue to love him till the end of days, even when his temper began to flare at every little mistakes and stupidity you'd imposed on him. 

If he chose to be cruel and that was the first time you'd actually seen him in person, then you would continue to hate him till the day you place one foot inside your coffin. For Kyungsoo, he absoluted ADORED the man.

"Yah Do Kyungsoo, do you know how long I've been waiting here for you?" Yunho remarked, tapping his fingers against his lap to express his impatience.

"Sorry coach. I just came from the principal's."

"Well, you know the rules. If you're late then---"

"I know. Push-ups right?" He gently tossed his bag aside and began to do ten push-ups in front of the coach.

Despite his impatient nature of waiting for students, Yunho couldn't help but smile at the doe-eyed boy. He'd always been in Yunho's good book, never really skipping classes unless the games became too rough for him and never making any noise, while the other boys caused a ruckus during PE.

"Just do eight push-ups, then we'll begin your cheerleader's training."

"C-cheerleader?!" Kyungsoo gasped, getting up immediately.

"Yah, you barely did five."

"B-but...I thought mascots only walk around and greet people?"

"Well, not our mascot. Eunkwang took ballet training for a year before he became our mascot."

"H-how am I supposed to learn ballet in three days?!"

"I've got just the right person to teach you that. We'll have to wait for him, that little . You know how I hate waiting for people. Everyone knows that."

Kyungsoo suppressed his urge to laugh at the coach. There was no use trying to test his patience. "We could always play a game while we wait."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I should start calling you Squishy from now on, Kyungsoo. How is it possible for a man to be so bad in every game and sport made for men."

Kyungsoo took a moment to catch his breath. "Maybe my parents could answer that for you."

"Your dad's cool. Your mum's hot. You're just...squishy. All over."

Coach Yunho mentioned that he used to be friends with Kyungsoo's parents. They were still friends, of course, but Mr.Do didn't really have time to hang out with anyone nowadays. He was always going on trips around the world, overseeing the other branches of hotels he owned. Kyungsoo felt bad for his mother though, because she was usually alone at home these days, after Seungsoo (his older brother) left to work in one of their father's hotels in Sweden.

"Thanks for pointing that out, coach." Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

"Come on, one last game before we call it quits. Loser has to buy the winner lunch."

"That's not fair! I never win in basketball."

"Score one free goal and I'll let you win, depending on whether you could snatch the ball away from me." Coach Yunho remarked.

They began to run around the court again, poor Kyungsoo chasing after his boulder-sized coach as he tried to snatch the ball away. He may not be built to enjoy sports as well as Kai, but he had enough brain power to strategize his attacks at least, and he could tell where the coach was planning to run next. He ran towards his targeted spot and struggled a little before he finally managed to slap the ball away.

"You got it. You actually got it." Yunho exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise. "I must have slacked too much."

"It's because I'm squishy, so I always get what I want." Kyungsoo said, sticking out a tongue. He held on to the ball tightly, a little proud of himself to finally have it within his grasp. "Anyway, do I get to make that free shot now?"

"Let it rip." Yunho smiled, feeling quite certain that the boy would not succeed in it.

Despite his lack of confidence (and his oh-so-horrible talent in any sports imaginable to men), Kyungsoo still took his position, and aimed for the basket. His mind started calculating the distance and the power he would need to apply in order to make the shot.

Then it was a matter of throwing the ball ten feet into the air and watching in anticipated silence as it flew across the court before it eventually....entered the basket.

"SCORE! You owe me lunch, coach." Kyungsoo cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

Yunho was too shocked to move. He stood where he was, rooted in his spot as Kyungsoo did one of those cute little dances he used to do when he was young---whenever he won a game everyone thought he would lose. Yunho could only smile at the boy after that, like a father watching his kid scoring his first goal. "I'm proud of you, Squishy."

"Thanks coach."

Yunho gave his head a quick pat before someone (intentionally) interrupted their moment with a cough. The both of them turned to face the newcomer and Kyungsoo released a not-so-discreet squeal when he realized it was Kai. Yunho spared his student an odd glance before turning back to Kai.

Kai! Holy , it's Kai. Of all the people in school, it just HAD TO BE Kim ing Jongin---ing KAI and his asdfghjkl! Appearing out of nowhere so suddenly in all his glory and splendour and standing there in his uniform like asdfghjkl, killing my insides slowly with unnecessary mush and loops. And cheese! I like cheese. Cheese is good.

But Kai is better. Ugh.

"Ah, Kai. You're late. Drop down now and give me ten. No, make it twenty. You know how I hate waiting for people, especially my own students." Yunho remarked bitterly.

"Sorry coach. I came from the field."

"Practicing hard for Thursday match, eh? Just make sure you're in good shape when the time comes."

They waited for Kai to finish his push-ups first before Coach Yunho began their little meeting. Kyungsoo was on autopilot from that moment onwards, unable to do anything else but only to sit and listen in silence as Yunho explained about the finer points of being a mascot. He was overly aware that Kai was constantly staring at him the whole time, making him feel all hot and flustered and shy. Yeah, he felt shy dammit.

And Coach Yunho wouldn't stop, even after an hour of constant babbling and yapping. He'll be owing Kyungsoo two sets of lunch soon if he kept on talking about Thursday's match.

"...and so, it is VERY important for you to learn some acrobatic skills before Thursday's game, which is why I'm entrusting Squishy into your care, Kai, to teach him some moves. Just make sure he doesn't hurt himself. I don't want to answer to his parents and also the principal, for that matter."

"Why do you call him squishy?" Kai asked, feeling a little uneasy about the whole name-calling thing the coach shared with this boy.

His boy, by the way. The one he'd been yearning to meet for a long time, but he still didn't know the name of.

"He's related to me." Yunho lied and the soccer player didn't reply. No point in explaining his friendship with Kyungsoo's father to Kai. The teenager was just there to teach Kyungsoo some acrobatic moves anyway. Nothing more. Or is it?

The way Kai had been looking at Kyungsoo the whole time made Yunho question his opinion. Was Kai pinning to go after his favourite student? It wasn't as if Kai was a bad choice, but it just didn't seem to be the kind of pairing expected between SM High's best soccer player and SM High's top student. He'd ponder about it later, but for now, "Alright. Both of you may go now. Good luck, squishy. See you on Thursday."

"See ya, coach." They bid him farewell, and both boys left the gym after that. It was awkward for a while, but Kai eventually broke it when he asked for Kyungsoo's name. And this time, there was no escape.

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