Gym Genius
The Outcast Club
MANSAE - SEVENTEEN
A/N: Who wants a seventeen fic? (I do!)
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Days passed, and the gossip around the Eleven Party was long forgotten.
Suga, of course, had raved to the entire Help-a-Friend Club about what had happened, and everyone who didn’t know about the incident at the party had attacked Haera with 20 questions – especially the hyper J-Hope. It was Yura’s job to calm them down and give the girl some space.
Thanks to having Yura by her side, Haera seemed livelier than ever, and the rest of the HFC members respected Yura even more and had begun to really open up and treat her like a friend.
Yura surprisingly did the same.
In P.E, the dark-haired female leaned her head against her palm as she sat on the bleachers, zoned out. P.E was a breeze to Yura thanks to her athletic abilities, but she disliked moving around too much.
Lately, Jungkook in particular had been missing from the HFC meetings, and nobody really knew where he went. On days where she did see him, he looked pretty worn out. Of course, that meant that they didn’t get chances to pick up their sisters from the kindergarten much, either.
Jeez, he was the one who kept bugging us to go pick them up together, and all of a sudden he’s bailing, she silently fumed, getting slightly annoyed. Suddenly, she found herself frowning at nothing, and quickly composed herself. Wait – why do I care? At least he’s not bugging me 24/7—
TWEET! A sharp whistle snapped through her thoughts, making her jolt up.
“YOU THERE! You waitin’ for me to pick a team for you? Hurry it up!” Her Phys. Ed coach, Coach Kim, frowned with his burly arms folded across his chest.
Yura blinked in confusion and glanced around slowly, pointing to herself. Me?
As if he read her thoughts, the Coach rolled his eyes. “Yes, you! We’re starting volleyball, so unless you want to fail P.E, pick a team and grab a sash.”
Trying very hard not to glare at him and keep away from her classmate’s stares, Yura hastily snatched and took a blue sash from the basket.
Team Blue it was, then.
“Right, so I decided to be nice today and let you pick your teams for volleyball, which is obviously the easiest sport known to man.”
A few girls shared unamused looks – he always said that about every sport.
“But mind you,” he continued on obliviously, “We have a special rival for today’s match, so you’d better choose your teams wisely…” Coach Kim grinned, eyes curving into innocent crescents. He might’ve looked harmless enough, but Coach Kim’s body was built like a machine.
As the girls began to chatter, excitedly naming everyone from the principal to any of the cutest boys in school as their special “rival.”
It wasn’t until Coach Kim cleared his throat loudly that the chattering halted. “I hate to burst your bubble, girls, but the special rival is me. ME!”
It was dead silent as smiles slipped off each student’s faces, one-by-one. Coach Kim was known for being as vicious as a tiger when it came to sports. He didn’t joke around, and nobody wanted to be on the opposite team as him. Things weren’t exactly better for people who were on the same team, since he was a ball-hogger, hated to lose, and became furious if someone on his team made the slightest mistake.
Still, a few girls forced some smiles on the blue team while one person from the Red Team whooped and clapped, instantly stopping her cheers when she noticed everyone staring at her.
Coach Kim grimaced. “I see none of you girls are too happy about this. No matter! Thank you, Ha Juri, for being the only one to cheer,” he stressed his point by glaring at all the other girls. “For that, I will gladly lead the Red Team to victory!” He snatched a red jersey from the bucket.
As if on cue, the whole Red Team groaned and shot flaming daggers at Juri in their intimidating stares. Juri winced and instantly looked away, obviously rethinking her life choices.
“Okay, this half,” he motioned to the half of the blue team that Yura was in, “Sits out for now. One by one, you all enter in – you know how it works. The other half stays on with me. Same for the Red Team.”
Fine with me, Yura shrugged it off and went to sit on the bleachers to wait for her turn. As she walked by some devastated girls on her team that were chosen to play first, she couldn’t help but overhear their resigned sighs.
“Well, let’s just get this over with,” one mumbled.
“I’m serving first! I can’t serve the ball – it won’t reach the net!” another whimpered, “I’ll get laughed at by Coach Kim!”
“Do your best, Rahee, and if you fail… well, good luck.” A girl with short hair said to her with a look of pity.
This is so stupid. Yura shook her head at the absurdity of it all as she sat down on an empty bench. It took her a second to notice a hand waving at her from a nearby bench, not too far away. From the other half of the gymnasium, where the boy classes and girl classes usually shared the gym at once, Yura spotted V flashing his pearly whites at her. He also seemed to be sitting out temporarily at the bleachers, all by himself.
Pleasantly surprised, Yura glanced around to see if anyone noticed him, but thankfully, all the girls were either focused on the game, being yelled at by Coach Kim, or too engrossed in their friends and phones. Secretly, Yura motioned him over.
V’s eyes rounded as he looked around him. Thankfully, his teacher, Coach Ha, whom everyone endearingly nicknamed Haha, was too busy crying in frustration at his students, too. Apparently, Hanyang High wasn’t known for athletics.
Quickly, he snuck over to where Yura was sitting. Yura glanced up to smile at the brown-haired boy with the bright, square-shaped grin. V quickly pulled out his phone and typed on it, showing her the screen.
‘It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.’
“Same here,” Yura amiably replied. “Why were you sitting by yourself? You’re in Haha’s class alone?”
‘No, Hobi hyung’s right over there.’ V pointed in the distance to someone Yura could vaguely make out as J-Hope. Coach Ha’s class was playing badminton, and J-Hope was too busy swinging his racket around and missing the birdie, making everyone on his team face-palm.
He almost whacked a teammate in the face, and Coach Ha barked at him.
“HEY! Jung Hoseok! Aim for the birdie—no—the BIRDIE! Goddammit!”
“I’m sorry! I’m trying—Hah! Hai-ya!” J-Hope squawked as he swung the racket back and forth like an animal. From the bleachers, V laughed while Yura shook her head with a helpless look. “He’s so embarrassing. How do you cope with him?”
‘He is, but that’s okay, because even if he might be a little crazy, it doesn’t change that he’s still one of my best friends,’ V beamed in adoration. Yura studied V’s messy dark brown hair and his child-like smile, and she couldn’t help but pat his head affectionately.
V froze and blinked at her, and was caught off guard when she blushed red, “A-Ah, sorry—You reminded me of my little sister for some reason, so I automatically…”
But the look in V’s eyes softened, and before she could pull her wrist back in mortification, he gently recaptured her hand and put it back on the top of his head. Yura was at a loss for words and turned darker than ever as she slowly patted his head again, and like a cat waiting to be petted, V grinned widely.
‘It’s okay,’ V seemed to say in his actions. ‘You don’t have to feel ashamed. I would like to become closer to you.’ Yura softly smiled, and the two were so lost in the moment that she completely forgot about the volleyball game.
“Hey, Han Yura, you’re up,” a girl called as she came back to the bleachers, drenched in sweat. Yura instantly retracted her hand from the top of V’s head and fumbled over her words, “Oh, u-um…”
V patted her arm reassuringly, pointed at himself, then at his half of the gym, and pumped his fists encouragingly. He didn’t have to type it out in order for her to get what he meant. I have to go back to my class anyways. Good luck on your game! You can do it!
“Good luck to you too,” she smiled before watching V wink and sneak back to Coach Ha’s class. Yura slipped on her blue jersey and hurried onto the gym floor.
She found her place and exhaled. Here we go.
Coach Kim blew on his whistle again and called, “Blue Team, serve!”
A determined female swiftly served the ball with full force, launching it towards a member of the Red Team. She was ready to bump it back across the net when Coach Kim – unsurprisingly – flung his body in front of her to return it. “All right! Wasn’t that a nice receive, team?!” He roared, and everyone on the same team glared at him – they all thought one thing: ball-hogger.
But Yura’s keen eye noticed the ball coming her way, and she steadied herself, bumping it over the net, just in time before it could hit the floor. It bounced back and the play continued as both teams continued to hit the ball back and forth.
Her team cheered, “Go, Han Yura!”
Stunned by the sudden cheers, Yura flushed with newfound pleasure when all of a sudden, she heard J-Hope’s distinct voice howling in the distance.
“Did someone say Han Yura? YURA! IT’S YURA! YURA, YOU CAN DO IT! OH YES, MY FRIEND!” he shouted the latter part in thick, accented English, making Coach Ha reply, “Instead of cheering for your friend, focus on the birdie, Jung Hoseok, the BIRDIE!”
“Ohmygod, what a funny guy,” the girl playing beside her giggled as Yura ducked her head in embarrassment. For Pete’s sake, shut up, Jung Hoseok!
Meanwhile, a student from the Red Team was getting ready to give the ball a final smash and claim victory when suddenly, Coach Kim intercepted his own teammate again, eyes burning with determination. Fueled with the desire to win, he almost knocked the poor girl over to get the ball.
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Yura glanced over her shoulder and saw V putting two thumbs up at her and jumping excitedly, cheering her on.
She shyly smiled back and waved.
“I got it, I got it!” He hollered as he jumped up and smashed the ball with full force. The volleyball zoomed at inhumane speeds, and Yura turned her head back around just in time for the ball to collide into her abdomen, knocking her back onto the ground.
SLAM! “AH!” her shocked cry echoed through the gymnasium as she felt a crippling sensation on her lower back. She fell right on it. , it hurts, she hissed in pain.
Her teammates were equally as stunned as Coach Kim, who turned pale in the face. Her teammates were the ones to rush to her aid first. Delinquent or not, the students in the female gym class at least understood that Coach Kim had been way too harsh on her.
“Coach! What is wrong with you?!” One female student cried. “You take your games way too seriously!”
“This is why we don’t want to play sports with you, Coach!”
“That was really unfair to Han Yura! We’re only students!” Everyone began to protest in anger.
Coach Kim gulped and knelt down in front of Yura, “Oh God, Han Yura, are you okay? T-They’re right, it was my bad, I hit the ball too hard,” he admitted, eyes darting left and right in anxiousness. Yura could tell that he didn’t apologize very often.
“I’m okay…” she tried to say when she caught a glimpse of J-Hope and V pushing through the crowd and hovering above her – worry evident in their faces. The other girls were surprised at their entrance, but stepped aside for them to move in.
“Yura, are you okay? That was a hard fall,” J-Hope asked. V tapped J-Hope’s shoulder and signed something as he nodded and translated, “Can you stand up? We’ll take you to the infirmary to see ssem.”
Coach Kim nodded frantically, “I think that’s a good idea.”
“Seriously, I’m really okay,” Yura got up and brushed herself off, trying not to wince. She realized something when she stared at Coach Kim’s face, and a lightbulb went off. “But… uh, maybe I should go to the infirmary.”
Coach Kim swallowed anxiously and replied, “Good idea, good idea,” repeatedly, as if he was a broken record.
Yura leaned on J-Hope and V’s shoulders, and they helped her stand up, “Don’t worry, Coach. I won’t tell the principal on you.”
The other girls in the class glared daggers at him again, as if saying, ‘What?! You were only worried about that all this time?!’ and Coach Kim glowed red. He seemed a bit more relaxed though, and gratefully replied, “Feel free to go to the infirmary. Take the rest of the period off – in fact, take the next three gym classes off!”
“Yeah – I think I will… It kind of hurts now,” Yura feigned dramatically.
“I’ll be wishing for a speedy recovery,” the Coach replied, “Take care!”
J-Hope and V eyed each other suspiciously as they helped Yura outside the gym. When they exited, J-Hope warily asked, “Are you really okay? I don’t think you were just faking it in there to get out of class.”
“It does sting quite a bit, but I’ll be alright. Plus, Coach Kim deserves a little punishment after the way he was playing out there. I can’t stand when he’s going nuts on everyone.” Yura eyed the gym with a look of distaste.
“We’ll take you to the infirmary—” They began, but Yura stepped back, “No, no. I’ll be fine. You guys go back to your badminton game. You’re an all-star player after all, aren’t you, Hoseok?”
J-Hope blinked rapidly before turning beet red, “S-Shut up, Yura.”
Yura looked amused while V chuckled. Yura patted his head again, more comfortably this time, which made even J-Hope gawk at their close interaction, before she waved. “Have fun rotting in hell for thirty more minutes while I take a nice nap!”
“Don’t pass out on your way there!” J-Hope called as V sadly waved and followed his hyung back inside the gym.
When the coast was clear, Yura silently swore in pain. She slowly lifted up her gym shirt and caught a quick look of her back, which was already bruised from the night she went to go save Haera at the Eleven Party.
In reality, the male who attacked Haera that night had slammed Yura’s back against the counter when she was caught off guard. It was an easily forgettable event, but the bruise had only become darker and more painful ever since that day.
It was hard to move, and especially hard to put up a front, but she didn’t want Yoomi, or Ms. Jung, to see her hurt again. She’d get an earful, all right. Thinking that it was nothing a bag of ice couldn’t handle, Yura made her way to the HFC Room.
Before she went in, she checked the time. It’s still the middle of class, so hopefully nobody’s there, she thought. Quietly, Yura pushed the abandoned parenting classroom open, and was relieved to see that all the lights were shut off, and there was nobody in sight.
The silence made her feel calm, and she was already starting to get sleepy. In her gym uniform, Yura headed over to the sofa and sat down when she felt something warm and fleshy underneath her bum.
“What the—” Yura jumped off with wide eyes as she spun around. Someone was underneath a blanket, and Yura yelped. “WHO’S THERE?!”
With a bit of rustling, Jungkook’s head poked out sleepily. His hair grazed against the blanket and stuck out messily as he rubbed his eyes, “Yura…?”
Yura suddenly stepped back in mortification and almost tripped on a book on the floor. Yelping again, she braced herself for the fall and closed her eyes, but felt Jungkook’s lean arms encircling her waist, and his deep, dark eyes staring worriedly into hers. His warm, familiar, homey scent filled the air.
How long had she last seen him? She wasn’t so sure. He looked more alert now, but still seemed a bit sleepy.
“Yura?”
Her dark eyes flickered up at him.
“…Why don’t you have anything to say?” Jungkook breathed, head tilted. His lips curved up into his trademark smirk, “Did you miss me that much?”
All of a sudden, Yura winced, and her face started to drain completely of colour. “Jungkook… you…”
Now he was baffled. “…What?”
“You’re pressing into my… my—OUCH!” Yura shrieked in pain and jerked away from his arms, landing back on the floor with a loud groan. Jungkook instantly panicked, “Y-Yura?!”
You’re pressing into my bruise, for goodness sake, was all she could think, but was only able to muster up a low, defeated, “Ow…”
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Love you all and hoping you all had a very happy and safe Halloween (if you celebrate it)! ^^
-muzikmaster.
[The Outcast Club] Well damn guys, I just updated. I kept you all waiting, didn't I? Hope you guys enjoy, and I'll be working on some more updates soon!
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