Game of Desire (& Soccer)

Chapter 1: Game of Desire (& Soccer)

~10th Grade, Fall, First Semester~

Lu Han stared with large eyes as the brown haired boy wiped beads of sweat off of his forehead. Sehun took a long sip of water from his blue Camelbak, his head tilted back and his adam’s apple showing it’s full glory. Screams of girls in the stands could be heard for miles. He couldn’t help but think that their school’s soccer star looked extremely hot, even when he was slightly drenched in sweat. The way he panted, the rise and fall of his chest sent Lu Han’s heart into a frenzy. Even his breathing was driving the latter crazy because the boy was that perfect to him.

The referee blew the whistle and the players from each team went to their spots on the green field to start the second half of the game. Lu Han watched his favorite person in the world dribble the ball across the field, swiftly kicking it to his teammate and best friend, Jongin. The pair ran parallel to each other until they had reached the other team’s goal, the Black Panthers from YG High School. Jongin used precise footwork to dodge other players’ feet and delivered a strong kick to Sehun. He ran towards the soccer ball and raised his leg in position to kick.

“AND THE DREAM TEAM HAS DONE IT AGAIN! Strikers Sehun and Jongin have already made a goal only 3 minutes after the second half started. There’s no wonder as to why they are the Dream Team.” The announcer kept droning on and on about people Lu Han didn’t care about. He continued to watch his beloved run across the field, interacting with his teammates as they passed the soccer ball to each other. If their defense was nice, their offense had to be amazing. Repeatedly, the Dream Team scored goal after goal. Of course, the Black Panthers were good players too, they just were no match for SM High.

“GO WOLVES!” Lu Han stood up and cheered, alongside the millions of girls, who were also screaming for Sehun after he scored another goal. The latter turned his head to stare at his crazy fans and gave them his signature wink. Lu Han’s heart beat wildly inside his ribcage as he clutched onto his best friend’s arm for support.

“I swear to God, if you don’t let go of my arm, I will kill you.” Minseok threatened Lu Han and stared at the latter who looked as if he was about to faint. “He kicked a ball into a metal thing with a net. Big whoop. It’s not like he saved the world or anything.” Lu Han glared at his best friend, clearly offended and frustrated.

“But Minnie, you don’t understand! He’s so perfect! Honestly, he’s gonna be the death of me. I mean, look at that perfection! Just so… perfect.” Lu sighed as he couldn’t think of any better terms to describe his love. Lu Han’s attention quickly transferred to Sehun, who sprinted towards the ball to steal it from the other team. “Look at me. I’ve never talked to him yet I know that he’s destined to be with me. I can feel it.”

“You can feel what? The draw? It sounds pretty lame to me, the whole idea of fate and destiny. I think that you just meet someone who you happen to fall in love with, and then you commit to them. I’m pretty sure that God and life has nothing to do with it.”

“God and life are probably 1% of it. The other 99% is clearly just plain witchcraft.” The two laughed at their references until Lu Han stood up again to cheer for a member of the team who had scored a goal. “I mean, you could be right, but I know that I was fated to meet him. It’s like he’s pulling me in. And don’t you dare start singing The Draw or I promise that I will personally slit your throat and let your precious Jongdae watch you slowly die a painful death.

“Don’t hurt me!” Minseok threw his hands up into the air as he backed away. Lu Han playfully hit his arm and immediately turned back to Sehun who was currently passing the ball to Joonmyeon, another player on the team. Minseok rubbed his arm and muttered incoherent words that sounded a lot like the planning of Lu Han’s murder.

- - - -

After the game, the best friends decided to get a late dinner together before walking home. The convenient thing was that they lived right next to each other. Lu Han and Minseok peacefully strolled through a busy street, looking through windows, searching for a good cafe. Finally, they spotted a bubble tea cafe, much to Lu Han’s pleasure.

The bell above the door jingled a hushed and sweet tune, announcing the pair’s arrival. They bowed to the ahjumma in front of the counter before they joined the quiet line. After contemplating for a long time, they decided to order black bean noodles for each of them. Lu Han got a taro bubble tea while Minseok settled for a mango one. They seated themselves at a window seat so that while they ate, they could criticize the innocent pedestrian's outfits. Enjoying the soft music playing in the background, Lu Han and Minseok peacefully talked about anything that came to mind. The bell rang again and both boys turned to see who had come into the cafe. Much to Lu Han’s dismay, Sehun, Kai, and Joonmyeon casually entered the cafe, laughing about something that only they knew. Lu and Sehun locked eyes for a brief moment before the former looked away, an obvious tint of red spreading across his cheeks. He glanced at Minseok, only to see him trying to stifle his laughter. He suddenly burst into a fit of giggles that only caused the three soccer players to stare at him strangely before looking away.

“Oh. My. God.” Lu Han’s poor cheeks turned a shade darker as he slowly lowered his head onto the table. His forehead touched the end of it and he dejectedly looked at his lap before raising his head again. “I hate you,” Lu Han stated as he glared at the elder. “A lot.”

“You’re welcome. I saw you two. You guys made eye contact for the first time in forever.”

“I don’t think right now is a good time to be quoting Frozen, Minnie.” Lu Han saw Sehun in his peripheral vision. He was pulling out his chair and chuckling about something Kai said. He sighed as thoughts pushed their way into his mind. “4 years. For nearly 4 years, I have only thought about him. This year should be the fifth. Even if we’re destined to be, even if we’re soulmates, he’s never going to notice me. I mean, this isn’t one of those cliched dramas or fan fictions where the most popular kid in school suddenly falls head over heels for one of the unnoticed nerds of the school. The thought itself is crazy. Unless fate has planned a miracle, I don’t think that I’m going to be meeting my soulmate any time soon.” Lu Han dramatically ended his rant, and bitterly took a sip of his bubble tea, on the tapioca pearls. Minseok suddenly felt guilty. For whatever reason, no one but God knows, but he knew he had to cheer up his usually smiling best friend.

“Lu, I’m sure he’s already fallen for you. How could he not? You’ve gone to every single game of his, except for that one time you went to Luna’s dance recital. If there’s any good candidate for being his soulmate, it’s you.” Minseok comforted Lu Han. He surprised himself when he found that he actually believed his words. More than once, he had caught Sehun looking directly at Lu Han during a game or in class. That had to mean something.

“But what if he’s straight? What if he’s homophobic? He’ll be disgusted by me.” Lu Han sadly turned his head to look outside of the window.

“Xiao Lu Han, look at me.” Minseok waited for the doe-eyed boy to look him in the eyes before continuing. “Stop being insecure. If he doesn’t like you, it’s his loss, not yours. You’re perfect just the way you are and if Sehun can’t see that, he’s blind.” Lu Han pretended to wipe away a fake tear of gratitude.

“Thanks Min. That means a lot. I knew you always loved me.” Lu Han beamed at his best friend.

“Weren’t you about to cry 5 seconds ago?” The brown haired boy innocently sipped at his bubble tea and smiled sweetly at Minseok.

“Yup.” He popped the “p” sound.

“Bipolar as fudge.”

“I hate you.”

“I love you too, Lu.”

“I KNEW IT! I knew you always loved me!” Lu Han reached across the table and pulled Minseok into a hug while giggling.

“Ew! Get away from me!” The two friends played around, laughing loudly. They were ignored by every customer except one, whom was currently burning holes of pure jealousy into Minseok’s head.

(a/n) I know this seems a little slow but there will be gradual progress of the story. This is just some background stuff on how Lu Han is obsessed with Sehun. It's a sort of y chapter, I know. But anyways, me and cupcakesparklez18 like to reference things, which is shown here. If you like Bastille and British things, this is totally for you. We apologize for such a short chapter but I really don't understand how author's can write those extremly long chapters. I don't really think there will be a pattern for updates. We'll probably just update whenever we can. Do you guys like the poster? I made it on my phone so it sort of . cupcaksparklez18 is going to photoshop something soon but I don't really trust her (PLZ DUN HURT ME!). Can you guys maybe try making some posters? I'd love to be able to use a new one for each chapter. Also, as you can see, Lu Han and Minseok's personalities are a lot like ours. We're both crazy so Lu Han and Minseok will be quite DeLulu... Thanks for reading!