Chapter 10.

Ephemeral

The name of the song though x'D
Another trap/future bass for you folks! It might not necessarily be your cup of tea... but that bass is sick, guys, I really think you should give it a listen. It's got good beats :) The name though XD Suga Suga how you get so fly X"D


“Hello?”

Junghwa called out nervously as she peered into the large, indoor stadium.

“Yes?”

A brown haired boy hopped in front of them, grinning broadly.

“Ah, the basketball try-outs are taking place right now, am I right?” Junghwa smiled.
“Ah, another person from Busan! Nice to meet you, I’m Jung Daehyun!” He winked.
“Hello, Daehyun, I’m Junghwa.” She grinned.
“Well, Junghwa, the try-outs for basketball are taking place here.” Daehyun nodded. “However, this is stadium 1, meaning this is where the try-outs for the boys are. The girls try-outs are in stadium 4.”
“Ah, I’m not trying out, though.” She grinned, pulling Yoongi from behind the door.
“Let me go, Junghwa-!” Yoongi growled, turning red with embarrassment.
“Yoongi would love to try out for the team, wouldn’t you?!” She growled at him.
“Uh…” Yoongi began hesitantly. “Yeah, why not?”
“Thank the lord. We need one more team member! So far, no one bothered to try-out today!” Daehyun pouted. “Okay, Yoongi, let’s see how good you are. Go get changed, the changing rooms are over there!”

Yoongi glumly nodded and handed his book bag to Junghwa, before jogging over to the locker rooms.

“I don’t get how you managed to get him to try out.” Daehyun murmured. “Namjoon and Taehyung have been making him come here from grade 10, but he’s always backed out.”
“Well, let’s just say I’m good at persuading people.” Junghwa winked. “How long have you been on the team, Daehyun?”
“Third year for the SAHS team. I’m the captain this year.” Daehyun smirked. “You play anything?”
“Nah. I’m on the track team, though.”
“Ah, you’ve probably met Yongguk and Himchan, then.” Daehyun nodded. Junghwa grinned.
“Daehyun!” Another voice called out, and Junghwa turned around to see a tall, blonde-haired boy walk alongside Yoongi.
“He’s finally trying out for the team!” He grinned. Yoongi clicked his tongue with embarrassment.
“Shut it, Junhong!” He snapped. The boy called Junhong pouted slightly.
“Oh, Junhong, I didn’t know you were on the team!” Junghwa gasped, smiling broadly at her classmate.
“Well, I thought you’d be smart enough to figure it out, given my impressive height.” Junhong boasted. At 187 cm, Junhong was easily the tallest boy in school.
“Yongguk’s tall and he’s not on the team.” Junghwa shot him a look. 
“Touché.” Junhong winced.
“At least we know she’s smarter than you, Junhong!” Daehyun snickered. “Okay, Yoongi, let’s do some warm-up exercises. Junghwa, if you wanna watch, you can sit over at the bleachers there.”

Junghwa nodded, and sat down on the bleachers.

“How come you’re wearing that black training shirt under your jersey? It’s so hot!” Junhong wailed.
“I’m a sick child.” Yoongi shrugged. Junghwa knew that it was a lie, but decided to keep quiet. Looking at him, she realised that Yoongi never wore shirts with short sleeves. How odd…

“Okay, let’s start with free throws.” Daehyun commanded. Yoongi nodded, aiming at the basket. By the end of the free throw session, Daehyun was impressed.
“All ten shots, damn!” Junhong grinned. “No one’s done that in their first trial.”
“Okay… what position do you usually take?” Daehyun asked.
“Done a bit of all.” Yoongi shrugged. “Mostly shooting guard, though.”

Out of nowhere, Junhong lunged at him in an attempt to steal the ball. Yoongi easily dodged Junhong, dribbling the ball safely out of his reach.

“Sharp.” Junhong smirked, looking down at the shorter man with a mocking expression on his face. Junhong made to reach for the ball again, but Yoongi walked backwards, dribbling the ball as he walked. As soon as he saw an opening, he ran, dribbling the ball continuously as he glided towards the net.

Grabbing the ball in his hands, he strode twice as he jumped and shot the ball in the basket. Daehyun clapped slowly, obviously impressed by the way Yoongi played. 

“Junhong, call the others and tell them I’m extending practice by an hour.” Daehyun smirked as he took the ball in his hands. Junhong grinned, rushing back to the changing rooms.

“Let’s see how good you are, Min Yoongi.” Daehyun snickered as he began to dribble the ball in front of him, before walking backwards with the ball in his hands.
“Travelling.” Yoongi called out, arching his eyebrows. Daehyun gave him an impressed look.
“You are very sharp.” Daehyun chuckled. Yoongi shrugged, smirking back.
“I try.”
“…Jiho!” Daehyun called out, as another blonde-haired boy walked up to them, with an intimidating swagger. Jiho looked at Yoongi, giving him a judgemental look.
“Jiho’s the most aggressive player on the team.” Junhong nodded at Junghwa, as the other players filed into the court. “That makes him one of the better players.”
“Jiho, this is Yoongi.” Daehyun nodded. “Yoongi, meet Woo Jiho, the strongest power forward on the team.”

Yoongi nodded slowly. Jiho arched his eyebrows at Yoongi, before letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Oh, Min Yoongi, we have an extra hour of practice because of you. Let’s see how good you are.” Jiho sneered. Yoongi glared at him. He didn’t exactly like his attitude.

Daehyun passed the ball to Jiho, who began to dribble furiously. Junghwa bit her lip nervously. Jiho seemed like someone you didn’t mess with. 

And clearly, she wasn’t the only one worried. Everyone else looked at the two nervously.

“What’s Daehyun thinking, putting Yoongi against Jiho?” A boy from the other class, who Junghwa remember as Jackson Wang, muttered loudly. “Jiho’s going to make him look bad in front of the team.”
“Let’s hope Yoongi’s a good player.” Another boy called Hanbyul muttered. Junghwa silently pleaded for Yoongi to be as good as Jiho.
“Go easy on him, Jiho.” Daehyun smirked.
“Screw easy.” Yoongi muttered aggressively. “Give me all you’ve got.”
“As you wish.” Jiho smirked, and suddenly moved to the right. Yoongi moved with him, dashing towards him, and in a quick motion, grabbed the ball from his hands. He began bouncing the ball towards the net.
“Yoongi, Jiho on you!” Junhong shouted. Yoongi immediately shot from where he was, and the ball fell into the net. Jiho looked at him, stunned. 

After a moment’s silence, everyone began to cheer.

“Is that really all you’ve got, Woo Jiho?” Yoongi smirked, doing tricks with the basketball.
“I’m only just getting started.” Jiho snickered, taking off his jersey fiercely, before chucking it aside.
“That’s an interesting amount of tattoos.” Junghwa gaped at the number of tattoos on his back. Junhong smirked.
“Alright, girl, don’t lose your cool because Jiho’s got a better body than most of us.”
“Shut up.”
“For the record, Yoongi.” Daehyun spoke up. “Jiho’s serious when his jersey goes off.”
“Scared, Yoongi?” Jiho asked, his voice giving off a mocking tone.
“You wish.” Yoongi muttered. Jiho began to dribble the ball. Yoongi really wanted to punch his face. Even the way he jogged was pissing him off!
“Man, I haven’t felt this riled up in a long time.” Yoongi smirked, as he advanced towards Jiho. Jiho immediately jogged backwards.

“Aish.” Yoongi snapped as he lunged towards the ball, but just missed. He looked at Jiho fiercely. Jiho did a double take, seeing such an intimidating expression from Yoongi, but he hid his surprise, glaring at him just as viciously.

“Yoongi’s kinda scary when he’s serious…” Junhong mumbled. Junghwa nodded slowly. It wasn’t every day you saw the slightly-introverted Min Yoongi make an aggressive expression like that.

Yoongi attempted to steal the ball from Jiho as they moved towards the net, but Jiho was defending just as much. Once they got to the net, however, Jiho had to admit, Yoongi could even be a better player than he was.

Yoongi defended fiercely, not giving Jiho a single chance to shoot. In the end, Jiho weakly threw the ball at the post, but the ball didn’t fall in, only nearly missing the basket.

Yoongi quickly grabbed the ball with the tips of his fingers, and dashed towards the other side quickly. Jiho rushed after him, but he wasn’t fast enough. Yoongi did another layup and tossed the ball into the basket. The team broke out into a thunderous applause. Yoongi panted heavily, smiling a little.

“You’re in, dude.” Daehyun patted his back. “I’ve never seen anyone play like that in ages!”
“Congrats.” Jiho smiled, this time more warmly as opposed to his domineering streak. Yoongi slowly grinned at him, before jogging towards Junghwa.

“You did well, Yoongi.” She smiled.
“Thanks for pushing me.” Yoongi laughed.

“Oh, about time you joined!”

“Namjoon?” Junghwa looked at him in surprise. He had walked into the court, wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey and shorts.

“I’m on the team too.” Namjoon smirked at her. “But goddamn, I nearly forgot how well Yoongi used to play. He was like the best national player in middle school.”
“What?!” Daehyun looked at him in shock.
“Excuse me?!” Jiho looked at Namjoon, dumbfounded.
“Namjoon…” Yoongi muttered, turning pink with the sudden attention.
“Yoongi was a part of the under-14 national team.” Namjoon blabbered, ignoring Yoongi's protests. “He was the only person from the Seoul district to be chosen. And he played really well.”
“Oh, now I remember the name Min Yoongi!” Jackson exclaimed. “He was also the one who survived the freak accident-

“If anyone else has got to say anything about that, remember you’ll be answering my ing fists.” Yoongi glared at everyone viciously as he slammed the ball to the ground. The whole stadium went silent, except for the ball that bounced towards the corner.

“Sorry.“ Jackson apologised, looking slightly embarrassed. Yoongi glared at him, before storming off towards the changing rooms. At once, whispering ensued.

“If anyone else has anything to say about Yoongi…“ Junghwa stood up, glaring at them angrily. “I suggest you do it only if you want to die.”

Everyone looked at Junghwa, slightly ashamed of themselves. She grabbed her bags, as well as Yoongi’s school bag, and jumped off the bleachers.

“Wait for him outside.” Namjoon nodded at her. Junghwa nodded slowly, walking out of stadium 1.


“Ay, Yoongi, you okay?”

Namjoon looked down at the orange-haired boy, who was looking at his sneakers with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Yeah.” Yoongi murmured, looking down at his sneakers. “I’m fine, Namjoon, really.”
“I know you’re not, Yoongi.” Namjoon sighed. “Talking about the accident always gets you on edge.”
“Yeah, well, .” Yoongi sighed. “It’s just, I don’t want people- to-”
“Sh, it’s okay.” Namjoon patted his head. “You still on the team, right?”

Yoongi wanted to say no, but something stopped him. Really, one simple thing shouldn’t make him change his mind, right?

“Yeah.” Yoongi nodded. “Not letting that precious half-hour go to waste.”

He stood up, spraying on some deodorant before he picked up his bag.

“Not changing?”
“Meh. I’ll change at home.” 


“You okay?”

Yoongi looked at Junghwa in surprise. He slowly nodded.

“I let it get to me. I shouldn’t have.” Yoongi mumbled. Junghwa sighed.
“It’s okay. Jackson shouldn’t have brought it up anyway.”
“Yeah, but I just, get so, so emotional when people bring it up.”

Yoongi immediately took her hand in his, much to her surprise. He looked at the floor, avoiding her gaze.

“Whenever people bring it up… it reminds me of the horror I felt – and I feel responsible all the time, because it was my fault, and-

Junghwa squeezed his hand tightly. She smiled at him sadly.

“Yoongi, don’t blame yourself.” She said quietly. “It’s not your fault.”
“But it is-

Yoongi stammered, when Junghwa brought her hand up to his mouth, shushing him.

“No it is not. Just, stop blaming yourself, please.” Junghwa pleaded. Yoongi slowly nodded, sighing heavily. He immediately let go of her hand, looking away.

“Sorry.” He mumbled.
“Don’t be. And congrats on making the team!” She grinned. “I’ll treat you!”
“Ah, you really don’t have to.” He laughed.

“Aw, come on. Please~?”

She grabbed on to his arm, pouting.

“Fine.” He gave in, laughing. “But only because your aegyo has improved.”
“Alright! What do you want?”
“Samgyeopsal~” He grinned. Junghwa laughed, giving him the thumbs up.

“What the ?” Jungkook arched his eyebrows as he watched his sister walk away with Yoongi. “Since when was Yoongi this stress-free around people, least of all a girl?”
“More like since when was he this close with your sister?!” Namjoon smacked his head.
“I don’t care, though.” Jungkook grinned.
“How come?
” Namjoon arched his eyebrows, to which Jungkook shrugged, giving him a wide smile.

“Because I’m beginning to like this Yoongi a lot more than the one I got to know two years ago.”


This was a hard chapter to write, honestly, because there's only so much you can do when you want to convey the exhilaration you feel while playing basketball. Since I play ball (and I at it too xD), I had some idea on how to write it but it still wasn't easy. Anyway, Yoongi slayed and made the ing team aren't you just proud of him? :')

Happy Valentines Day <3

- Haru (P.S. Yoongi. Just ing stop, you're killing me ;A;)

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yongharu21
#ephemeral chapter 32 is out IT GOT REAL

Comments

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4dcutie20
#1
Chapter 38: thank u for the story....take care!! luv ya! hugs* when bad times end,thr will be guud days soon... hwaiting!!
Yonghyunism #2
Chapter 38: Thanks for taking it as far as you could :)
exolovesme_xoxo #3
Chapter 38: Aweee thank u for this wonderful story thoughTT and goodluck in your uni life n future! I am struggling with self confidence too rn and it's really funny how i use to be extremely extroverted back when i was 10-12 and since i started high school i started to become afraid of ppl and lose confidence and could not do what i want to do and here i am struggling in my last year of high school SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN RANT btw i love how the story has plenty of medical terms which i learn a lot from tq again!
hoinseok
#4
Chapter 37: I HATE YOU OH MY GOD <3
ljexolove
#5
Oh my god oh my god. I have so much to read! asdfghjkl. I think I did start reading this but don't know where I left. Guess I'll start over. >~<
chuppoppo #6
Chapter 37: i just gonna agree with you, and your readers
ING FINALLYYYYYYYY *fireworks*
omg i need a blanket too ughhhh
hamsterboo
#7
Chapter 37: FINA-ING-LY
THERE YA GO
GOSH THAT ONLY TOOK 40 CHAPTERS
4evrINSPIRIT #8
Chapter 36: KKKKKK NOOOOOO DUDE THAT'S YOUR SISTER'S BOY LIKE YOU DON'T GO LIKING SOMEONE YOUR SISTER ALREADY JAS FEELINGS FORRRR GHAWD
chuppoppo #9
Chapter 36: owwwww
i'm glad now hoseok has got one more shoulder to cry on but jungah coing out to hwa about yoongi? mannnn hwa didn't need any more of this , she is depressed enough with her own turmoils with yoongs
hwa don't relapse! hang in there!!!
chuppoppo #10
Chapter 35: authornim! i just found out this fic!
and i made a huuuuuge mistake reading it in one go (it is 3am here lol), because of the emotional roller coaster throughout the chap! i even cried (no ) twice! wait, maybe even more than that. i lost count ughh
but ity this fic is so ing good authornim!
but what's with jungah omg don't be an jungah ughhh
yoongi, you deserve something good as anyone else! min yoongi you get back in that elevator right now!
you've made me soooooooooooooo emo with this story! and you a/n's too! authornim fighting!!