Thump….thump...

Blue team’s Mingyu grinned, fangs poking out as he towered over red team’s Seungkwan, who was currently in possession of the ball. The shorter boy scowled as he immediately scanned for a way to pass the basketball to a teammate so they could score. A moment of relief washed over him as he saw Jeonghan break free from blue team’s Chan and Junhui’s defense and Seungkwan immediately passed the ball to the longhaired third year.

“Hyung!” Seungkwan yelled, passing the ball to Jeonghan. However to his surprise, a blur appeared out of nowhere and stole the ball in the middle of the pass.

Blue team’s Soonyoung cheekily stuck his tongue out at the corner of his mouth as he speedily dribbled and passed the ball to Chan, who was the closest member. Chan made a face as Wonwoo appeared in front of him, ready to block any passes. The first year immediately passed the ball to Junhui, who elegantly sidestepped Seungkwan and received the ball.

Junhui smirked as he dribbled the ball across the court and smoothly passed the ball to their team’s captain, Seungcheol. A determined look was on the boy’s face as he took the ball in his hands and in a blink, Seungcheol jumped in the air and launched the ball into the basket.

The ball went in with a swoosh just as the buzzer rang to signal the end of the game. Seungcheol let a victorious yell, high-fiving Soonyoung and Junhui as Coach Kim blew the whistle.

“So close.” sighed Seungkwan as he shook hands with Seungcheol, who was grinning from ear to ear.

After congratulating one another, the boys headed to the benches where their belongings were and took a seat, each uncapping their bottles of water and taking big gulps. Seungcheol fished out his phone from the depths of his black sports duffel bag and sighed in relief when he unlocked the screen to check the time – it was 5:35 in the afternoon and that meant that the two hour long practice had finally concluded. The boy ran a hand through his sweaty, messy hair, eager to hop into the shower before heading home. Despite the exhaustion, there was a bright grin on Seungcheol’s face.

Seokmin, who was part of Seungkwan’s team, stared at Seungcheol from his side of the bench beside Wonwoo. “Someone’s really happy.”

Seungcheol smiled. “I just felt good today, that’s all.”

“Was it because you were talking to your tutor before practice?” Minghao spoke up from beside Mingyu and the other boys let “ooh”-ed in unison upon the comment.

“Whoa, what’s this?” Coach Kim asked as he stood up from the bench to stand in front of the seated boys, his brow raised upon the sudden commotion amongst them.

“It was nothing.” Seungcheol shook his head nonchalantly. “Minyoung just handed me extra questions for tomorrow’s biology test.”

“Riiiiight.” the team said in unison, some of them wriggling their brows teasingly. It wasn’t a lie of course – Minyoung did give Seungcheol extra review questions to help him practice for the next day’s biology test. While Seungcheol was sure that he could do well on the test, he had asked her if she had additional questions to help him practice. His tutor had found her siblings’ old biology notes and copied some old practice questions for him.

Minyoung had popped up at the gym with the papers and handed them to him before heading home, which the team happened to witness with glee. And now they were teasing him, clearly still not over the interaction.

Coach Kim whistled to gather the team’s attention once again. “Okay, everyone. I know we all want to tease Seungcheol but we have something a bit more important to talk about.”

“But romance is important too!” Seokmin piped up.

Coach Kim coughed. “As I was saying. We found out our first opponent for the start of the tournament next week.”

With that, the boys of the team straightened in their seats, mirth immediately replaced with seriousness.

Seungcheol’s brows furrowed. “Who is it?”

The coach ruffled through the papers in his clipboard, pulling out a chart that showed all of the high schools participating in the basketball tournament. He handed the chart to Seungcheol and the members immediately crowded around their captain to read the chart. In the leftmost corner of the paper was SVT High, matched with Seoul West High. “

Seoul…West…?” Chan asked, looking around at the older team members.

“Wasn’t last year’s team up against them?” Mingyu furrowed his brows in thought. “I watched the championships last year.”

“Seoul West is one of the teams with great defenses and yeah, we were up against them last year.” Seungcheol explained to the first years, who nodded in understanding.

“Ah, but to think they’re our first opponent this year.” Jeonghan forced a grim laugh, ruffling his long hair.

Seungcheol clenched his teeth, eyes focused on the chart. Last year’s team was mostly made up of skilled seniors and was led by Hwang Woobin, a talented shooting guard who was now playing for one of the big name universities. He could recall last year’s match and how close it was – Seoul West’s defense made scoring difficult and SVT High barely won by two points thanks to Woobin’s buzzer beater.

While Seungcheol had no doubt that this year’s team was just as skilled (no – maybe even better), he couldn’t help but feel nervous to face last year’s second runner up right off the bat.

“It’s going to be tough since we’re up against a team specializing in defense,” Coach Kim admitted. “So we’re going to need to work hard from now on. But I believe in you guys and I know we can do it.”

Seungcheol’s shoulders dropped a bit and a grim look flickered across his features, which went unnoticed as Coach Kim dismissed the team.  

“Ah, if it was going to rain anyways then that shower was pointless.” complained Chan as the boys gathered at the front entrance of the school.

“I thought it was supposed to be only cloudy today?” Junhui mussed his half dried hair while looking up at the sky.

Rain had started while the boys were at practice and showed no sign of letting up. The forecast initially didn’t foretell rain, but that it was going to be cloudy for the day; thus many students didn’t bring their umbrellas with them for the second day in the row. Seungcheol’s mother however, firmly believed that it was going to rain again that day and gave Seungcheol an umbrella as the boy left for school early that morning. However, he was the only one with an umbrella amongst their group of thirteen friends. Even Jisoo had forgotten one and he was the most careful one out of their circle.

“Let’s just run for it,” Hansol suggested and started to take off his navy blue school blazer to drape over his head.

Seungkwan wrinkled his nose. “Your house is literally right beside the school though.”

“It’s not beside the school, it’s ten minutes away on foot.”

“You’re killing my joke here.”

While Seungkwan and Hansol continued to argue whether Hansol’s house was really beside the school or just hypothetically speaking, Seungcheol rummaged through his bag with a frown.

“Uh oh.” he muttered.

“Is everything alright?” Jisoo asked.

Seungcheol gave a sheepish grin. “You guys go on ahead, I just need to run back upstairs.”

“What happened?” The boys turned to him with concern.

“I left my bio textbook in my desk. Go on and I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Seungcheol gave them a wave as he turned around, heading to the direction of the stairs and started the long jog up to the third floor.

–

“Hello, you’ve reached the Jung family. We are unavailable to answer your call right now but please leave a message after the beep!”

Minyoung sighed as she heard the beep of their answering machine for the third time in a row and hung up. It was raining heavily again, no one was home, and she had no umbrella.

Great.

She was positive that the forecast said that it wasn’t going to rain (even the weather forecaster during the morning news said so. Not to mention that she was sure that her brothers would be home by four in the afternoon and that they would be able to pick her up if it did rain but –

Well, no can do in this situation. Minyoung pursed her lips into a thin line, racking her brains as she quickly packed up her backpack. It takes twenty minutes to walk home but if I run, it should cut down to maybe fifteen minutes –

Minyoung opened the library door, making her way to the front doors of the school while deep in thought. However she had failed to pay attention to her surroundings, running face first into the back of a person standing in front of her.

“Oh crap, sorry!” she squeaked, hand on her nose.

The person whirled around in surprise and chuckled. “Are you okay, Minyoung?”

She stood back and looked up, eyes meeting with Seungcheol’s. The boy had an amused expression on his face, his damp hair falling over his eyes instead of the usual messy side parting. She couldn’t help but stare; the first thing in her mind was that Seungcheol looked kind of cute with bangs.

However, Minyoung immediately snapped out of her thoughts. “I'm so sorry about that.”

Seungcheol gave her a curious look. “It’s alright. What are you still doing here? It’s late.”

“Yeah…I had to study for tomorrow’s bio test. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to study at home because of how loud my brothers are. What about you?”

“Oh, practice just ended and I was going to go home but I had to go back upstairs since I left my bio book.”

“Seriously?” Minyoung sighed and scrunched her nose, making Seungcheol laugh at her expression. “I hope you didn’t forget the questions I gave you. It took me a long time putting that together.”

“Of course not! I can’t forget something you gave me.” Seungcheol grinned teasingly. However, his grin dropped and was replaced with a look of concern when he looked down at her hands. “Minyoung…”

“What?” She blinked at the foreign tone of his voice and lifted her gaze. His brows were furrowed and there was concern in his eyes.

“You don’t have an umbrella on you?”

Minyoung avoided his gaze, looking up at the sky instead. “No…I thought it wasn’t going to rain today so I didn’t bring one. I’m trying to call my brothers for a ride though but they’re not answering.”

There was a fleeting pause, which vanished as Seungcheol spoke up. “If no one’s answering…then…do you want walk home together?”

The girl looked up in surprise at the offer. A smile was on Seungcheol’s face but it was different from his usually teasing ones. This one was warm and gentle, catching her off-guard and left her with her voice caught in .

“W-what?” Minyoung managed, waving her hands in front of her. “Um…i-it’s alright! My house is probably out of the way and –“

“No, it’s fine!” Seungcheol insisted. “I can’t leave you waiting here when it’s almost six in the evening and no one’s answering your phone call.”

“A…are you sure?“ While Minyoung wanted to take up Seungcheol on his offer, she was reluctant to do so. She felt bad since her house was a twenty-minute walk from school and it was probably a detour from Seungcheol’s route. Not to mention the boy just finished basketball practice and probably wanted to go home and rest. She didn’t want to feel like a bother after a long day at school.

However, the gentle smile was back on Seungcheol’s lips. “Of course. It’s the least I can do since you’ve helped me out with studying.”

One look into Seungcheol’s eyes could tell that he was sincere about his offer. A shy smile appeared on Minyoung’s face as she nodded and murmured her thanks to him and Seungcheol opened his umbrella for the both of them.  

Seungcheol’s umbrella was big enough for one person but not quite for two people. Hence the pair had to walk close together so they would stay dry under its shelter. Their close proximity made Minyoung nervous for some reason; they usually sat side by side whenever tutoring occurred so she was used to being near him. But somehow this felt…different.

Minyoung looked up at him as they started their walk to Minyoung’s neighbourhood. “So…how did practice go?”

Seungcheol hummed. “Hm…it was okay. Lots of work as usual since we did a practice game.”

“Isn’t the tournament starting soon? I can imagine how tiring practice is.”

She didn’t know if it was just her imagination but she swore that something flickered across Seungcheol’s features at the mention of the tournament, however there was a smile on his face.

“Yeah it is,” he admitted, looking ahead into the distance. “But all that hard work is going to pay off when we win the championship.”  

Huh….was it just my imagination? Minyoung thought, but she shrugged it off immediately. My eyes are just probably tired. “Have you guys had your first game already?”

“Not yet. It’s next Tuesday right after school. It doesn’t seem like it but it’s already in less than a week.” Seungcheol gave a lopsided smile. “Why?”

“Well….I’ll go watch if I’m not too busy.”

“What?” Seungcheol stopped in his tracks, making Minyoung stop as well.

“I’ll watch if I’m not too busy after school.” Minyoung shrugged. “I promised last time that I’ll go watch a real game, remember?”

A grin appeared on Seungcheol’s face as the pair resumed walking. “Okay! I’ll hold you to that promise.”

Minyoung felt herself smile at his happy expression. “That’s if only I don’t have too much to homework and studying to do though.”

“I know but the school’s hosting the game so it’s not anywhere far.” Seungcheol beamed. “I hope you get to go! Everyone’s really hyped, there’s a lot of energy, and you get to watch the team play. It’s going to be at 4:30 so you can watch right after doing your homework.”

“Alright, I’ll try to finish my homework early so I can go.” Minyoung decided, noting how excited Seungcheol was.

It was great, really, about how enthusiastic he was about basketball and the tournament. It was hard to miss how thrilled he sounded whenever the topic of the sport came up and she could tell how much Seungcheol really loved the sport and cared about the team.

He’s like an eager puppy, she mused to herself, sneakily glancing at Seungcheol and noting his enthusiastic expression. Cute.  

Minyoung’s neighborhood was a twenty-minute walk from school and mostly consisted of one-story houses with gates. Many families residing in the area had kids her age and many of them applied and went to SVT High when they got accepted, which was fortunate not only because of the school’s well-known reputation but also for the close proximity.

What was a usually lengthy walk felt shorter than usual, as the two of them were fully absorbed in their conversation. During their walk, the two engaged in a discussion of random things such as talking about Jisoo’s family’s restaurant and what items from the menu Seungcheol recommended. Halfway through the route, Minyoung had started to quiz him about the next day’s biology test and made Seungcheol recite the metabolic processes to see if the boy was keeping up with his studying. As the two of them neared their destination, Minyoung finally noticed that the heavy rain had lightened up to a drizzle.

“It’s this one right here,” Minyoung gestured to a cream-colored house with an ornate gate and a gold painted mailbox, which was the third house on the street. She reached her arm over the gate to unlock it from the back and pushed the door open. Seungcheol walked Minyoung to the front door, shielding her from the drizzle until she was safely under the protection of the canopy over the porch.

“Thanks again, Seungcheol.” Minyoung said gratefully. “I owe you.”

“No worries,” the boy cracked a grin. “I live a few streets away so it’s not a problem.”

“Study hard for tomorrow, okay?” The girl reminded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Seungcheol’s eyes crinkled as he waved.  “I will. Bye!”

After watching Seungcheol leave, Minyoung unlocked the front door, humming a pleasant tune to herself. As the front door swung open, her eyes widened in shock, though it immediately transformed into a look of annoyance.

Her brothers were home and they were standing by the doorway with mischievous grins on their faces.

Oh no.

“Soooo, who was that?” Minseok asked, feigning innocence.

“Was that your boyfriend?” Minhyuk chimed in, grinning devilishly.

Minyoung rolled her eyes as she took off her shoes and stuffed them into the shoe closet. She pushed past her older brothers, who were still snickering, and headed to westernmost area of the house where her room was located.

“Tell your boyfriend to come over for dinner next time!” Minhyuk called out at her retreating figure and he and Minseok chortled amongst themselves.

Minyoung turned around before opening the door to her room. “Nosiness isn’t really charming, you know!”

She closed the door, blocking out the guffaws of her older brothers from the living room. Unbelievable.

After placing her bag on her chair, Minyoung fished out her phone from her skirt pocket and unlocked the screen. The girl opened up her messaging app and quickly found the conversation she last had with Seungcheol, which was about the extra biology questions. Her fingers quickly composed a message and pressed the send button. Minyoung tossed her phone on to her bed when she was done and started to unpack her bag, taking out her books and planner and placing them on her study table.

The phone buzzed, signalling the arrival of a new message and Minyoung immediately reached for the device and unlocked the screen, stifling a giggle after reading Seungcheol’s reply.  

From: Jung Minyoung
Thanks again ^^  

From: Choi Seungcheol
It was my pleasure, princess ^3^  

Hi there! I hope everyone's doing well. I wanted to post this on time with the release of the Pretty U MV but I wasn't entirely too satisfied with how the chapter was going T_T I'm no pro in basketball (I only have my Kuroko no Basket knowledge and wiki) so I might have made some mistakes. Also I made an AO3 account (the link is on my profile!) so maybe I'll see you there too! Thanks for reading and see you next time!