It started in a scorching afternoon in April. Park Chanyeol and his best friend- his partner in crime of 17 years, his main man, his brother from another mother…you get the gist- were lying under the shade of a tree, basking in the warmth like the lazy cats they truly were supposed to be born as. Chanyeol was watching the soft patches of sunlight dancing on the ground each time a breeze tousled the leaves.

What happened next was what probably would have happened in one of those cliché dramas his sister loved watching. But instead of the ball flying across the grounds and hitting the heroine hero (Chanyeol), it flew across the field and hit his best friends face. Chanyeol could only wince as he witnessed the ball bouncing off of Baekhyuns button nose; moving away to trip some poor girl who was walking hand in hand with her boyfriend.

Suddenly there was too much going on, a flurry of noises and motion- the soccer team running after their ball, Baekhyun wailing about his ‘perfect’ nose- and just as sudden as the noise came, it went away. Probably because Chanyeol had tuned out from the rest of the noises as soon as he heard a soft voice enquiring about Baekhyuns well being.

“Huh?” The face breaching his personal space is all sorts of pretty and Chanyeol is a little bit breathless.

“Is- Will your friend be okay?” The pretty eyes are now directed towards Baekhyun and Chanyeol envies him.

“No!” He wailed “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay unless you give me your number.” Baekhyun has the audacity to wink at the other boy, while still clutching his nose. It’s a miracle there’s no blood involved.

What. The. .

Chanyeol didn’t even manage to say a single word to Lu Han! Chanyeol saw him first, not Baekhyun! Finders keepers, losers weepers! It was a well established universal law!

ing Byun Baekhyun.
-

Okay, perhaps it didn’t start that scorching afternoon in April, it started months before that.

Chanyeol was minding his own business; he had managed to escape English Lit. once again-Thank God his teacher was laid back- and was currently enjoying his nap in the shade offered by the twin King Cherry trees standing beside the soccer field. Lying on his side, he watched the students kick the ball around lazily. It must be fun, Chanyeol thinks offhandedly; sleep threatening to shut his eyes. But suddenly his eyes caught sight of something very flashy. It was the light reflected from a watch.

Idiot. Playing soccer with a watch on. He’s probably going to destroy it.

And at that same moment, the expensive looking watch falls onto the ground and gets trampled by the feet following the ball. Chanyeol sits up with a gasp; he has never had any powers to predict the future, unless he somehow acquired it within the past few minutes.

Chanyeol had spent the rest of his time observing the sad boy guiltily. It’s not his fault, he knows that but he also knows that a smile would be so much prettier on the other boys face. He would have even bought him a brand new watch if here weren’t low on money. He decided right there and then that he would do everything in his power to make the guy wearing jersey #77 smile again.

Jersey #77 as Chanyeol started referring to him as, was the school soccer teams pride and glory, their star striker: Lu Han. Chanyeol could write a 10 page essay on why he was so fixated on Lu Han. The other boy was amicable, humble and charming. Lu Han was also intelligent and extremely hard working. This was always reflected in the number of hours he dedicated in practicing.

Chanyeol aspired to have at least a quarter of the gracefulness and half of the dedication Lu Han possessed. If Chanyeol were to play, it would probably look like a scene out of a circus, where the elephant trips over the ball. Chanyeol’s never liked the circus.

Also Lu Han was a sight for sore eyes. He would even say Lu Han was pretty, not that he’ll tell anyone about that particular thought. Lu Han was all sorts of perfect. He thought with a dreamy sigh.

-

This brings us back to Baekhyun gloating about getting Lu Han’s number. Chanyeol admires his self control. He had managed to restrict himself into only tripping Baekhyun into their English professor, Mr. Wu. His original intention was to pull down his pants in lunch hall but Chanyeol’s more mature than that. Really.

“I don’t know whether I should hit you or thank you. Did you know Mr. Wu has abs?” Baekhyun gushes.

“Did you feel up Kris hyung??!” Chanyeol doesn’t know why he’s surprised.

Mr. Wu, Kris Wu, was his noona’s junior in college, and almost like a big brother to him. He was quite young, only 23 years of age and a total heartthrob. It didn’t take long for Baekhyun to declare Kris as his one true love.

“Hey! At least I don’t go around stalking the entire football team. Is it because of the shorts? The way it clings to them? Have you seen Yixing’s thighs?” Chanyeol can only sigh in exasperation and stuff his sandwich into Baekhyun’s mouth.

“Oh! Lu Han hyung!!” Baekhyun speaks over a mouth full of sandwich and aims an enthusiastic wave across the hall. Chanyeol looks around in time to see Lu Han’s eye scrunch up in a smile. Chanyeol’s eye twitches. It was him who was supposed to make Lu Han smile.

He pours ketchup into Baekhyun’s milk and watches the latter scrunch his face in disgust after unknowingly taking a sip.

Revenge has never tasted this sweet.

-

School had dismissed ten minutes ago and Chanyeol was waiting for his sister to come pick him up. It was a routine between the two of them. Chanyeol barely gets to spend any time with his sister, so the car rides were the only time he could get all of Yoora’s attention all to himself. His sister was his favorite person in the whole world.

After sending Baekhyun off with a loud good bye, he sauntered over to the soccer field.

To his luck (or misfortune) it was empty, save the lone soccer ball lying near to where he was standing.

There didn’t seem to be anyone around, maybe someone had forgotten to keep it back in the gym. Chanyeol shrugged.

Perhaps…it wouldn’t hurt to try his hand at soccer. There was no one watching him and now is as good as anytime. Chanyeol shrugged out of his blazer and left it folded on top of his backpack.

The first kick was soft, tentative; he was experimenting with the feel of the ball against his shoe. It sent the ball rolling a few inches away. Deeming it safe it enough he started for a powerful kick. Unfortunately he was startled at the last moment by a voice; suddenly distracted, his foot slipped over the ball and he ended up as a pile of limbs on the floor.

At least Lu Han looked apologetic enough, peering at him from above.

And that is when it clicked in his mind. Lu Han, star player Lu Han just saw that.

Abort mission! Abort mission! Pull yourself up and run, Chanyeol! Don’t make eye contact; just run as far as you can go!

“Chanyeol-sshi! Are you okay? I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

Chanyeol gulped noisily. Of all the times he imagined talking to Lu Han, he expected it to go smoother than this. He would walk up to Lu Han, say something witty, give a handsome half smile and then Lu Han will fall for him; they lean in closer…and closer…until the meet for a soft kiss.

What comes out of Chanyeol’s mouth is neither witty nor can it be classified as a word, unless “mnmbpgh!” has been included in the dictionary.

“I could teach you if you want… you always looked interested in watching us play.”

Ah, if only he knew the truth.

Chanyeol found himself nodding before he could think about it properly. Yoora noona always used to tell him his brain needed a re-wiring. Chanyeol agrees.

Well, at least he made Lu Han smile all by himself. And that’s what truly matters.

“I think your ride is here.” Lu Han points at the parking lot. “Meet me here tomorrow after the last bell okay!”

“Of course Sunbae! Thank you! Uh, bye!” Chanyeol prides himself on not stuttering through his goodbyes.

He spoke seven words with Lu Han. If this isn’t progress he doesn’t know what is.

-

Chanyeol was buzzing with energy the entire day. The final bell has never sounded more musical in his ears and he’s practically floating all the way to the soccer ground. And there Lu Han was; tying the laces on his cleats. He stands up and brushes the dirt off of his shorts.

Chanyeol is suddenly aware of how near he has to be next to Lu Han for the next two hours. He is extremely under prepared.

“Good to see you had the sense to change clothes; I was worried since I forgot to mention it yesterday.”

Lu Han now thinks he’s dumb. Delightful. Chanyeol wants to weep.

“Sunbae should give me more credit than that.” Lu Han just hums and smiles.

-

Where did the sweet Lu Han go? Chanyeol wonders as the former is making him run across the field. The Lu Han standing there watching him is ruthless. This is his fifth lap and he feels his lungs are going to give out. It’s only been ten minutes into their lesson and Chanyeol regrets all of his decisions leading up to this.

“Okay, enough of that. We need to work more on your stamina.” Lu Han remarks as Chanyeol is spread out on the ground like a gasping for air. So much for making good impressions.

“Maybe this was a bad idea. I’ll go back to observing the game.” Chanyeol manages to say in between taking large gulps of water from the bottled Lu Han passed him.

“Aww, Chanyeol don’t give up yet” Lu Han ruffled his hair. “I promise it will get better.”

Lu Han ruffled his hair. Lu Han ruffled his hair. Lu Han touched him. The universe must love him! Chanyeol chokes on his water and almost sprays it on Lu Han. No, the universe certainly hates him.

“We just might need to fix your clumsiness as well.” Lu Han laughs as Chanyeol groans into the soft grass he was lying on. He will never be able to impress Lu Han.

“Come on, up you go; show me how well you can kick a ball.” Lu Han heaves him up and Chanyeol is flustered because wow hes so strong!!! The images flashing around in his mind at the moment are anything but innocent and he should stop before the world gets a visual of it.

To Chanyeol’s relief he manages to connect his foot to the ball and send it flying a good distance, Lu Han twisted his lips in amusement, maybe he’s not a lost cause after all.

Lu Han then spends a good deal of time explaining to him the rules of the game, and how to correct his posture so as to make better kicks. Chanyeol nods whenever he deems appropriate, but the words are all flying past his head. He probably should stop staring at Lu Han’s lips but does Lu Han even know how pretty his lips are? If Chanyeol were an artist he would draw it and explain to Lu Han just why his lips are so pretty.

“You were not listening, were you?” Lu Han asks and Chanyeol begins to nod in agreement before the words registered in his brain and he smiled sheepishly instead.

“Do as I do, okay?”

“Yes, Sunbae!”

“You can call me hyung Chanyeol-ah. Baekhyun leaves out the hyung most often.” Lu Han grumbles the last part under his breath and Chanyeol, for once, can understand Lu Han’s frustration.

“Now, remember. If you lean your body forward your shoot will stay low to the ground. But, if you lean your body back the ball will fly higher.” That much Chanyeol can understand. Lu Han started talking about how to angle his kicks and Chanyeol started staring at his lips again. It was difficult to focus on anything but the excited lilt in his voice and the way his eyes sparkled while talking about soccer.

Lu Han walks him through on how to correct his posture before he falls to his knees suddenly and Chanyeol’s eyes go wide; he feels a slow flush working up his face.

Innocent thoughts, Chanyeol, Innocent!!

“Chanyeol-ah,try to keep your ankle locked. Like this.” Lu Han is gently Chanyeol blames it on Lu Han making him lose his balance and fall. And oh, how he has fallen for him.

Lu Han gets up and demonstrates how to kick properly- not that Chanyeol hasn’t seen it before…from under the trees-, but seeing it right in front of you, Chanyeol is awed. There was so much energy packed into that kick, along with a delicate gracefulness only Lu Han can manage to have; and sent the ball flying all the way across to the other end of the field.

Chanyeol is certain he can see flowers blooming around Lu Han’s face. Wow. He didn’t realize he was in this deep.

-
Their second and third lesson progressed in a similar fashion. Lu Han would start off by making him do a different drill each day and then they work on getting Chanyeol to move with the ball. Chanyeol had to admit, the drills, although pure torture, did improve his stamina. He no longer huffed and puffed while running up the stairs or while running behind his neighbors’ cat D.O- it was unrequited love at its finest between the two of them, but Chanyeol believes that persistence is the key.

Today’s lesson was cut short by half an hour, since Chanyeol was reduced to being as useless as a limp noodle faster that usual and was lying down on the grass watching Lu Han dribble.

“You know” Lu Han started, Chanyeol hummed to let him know he was listening.

“You get to learn how to play soccer, but what do I get in return?” Lu Han was carefully avoiding his gaze.

Chanyeol has a slight suspicion that Lu Han knows about his feelings; he wasn’t being very discreet about his feelings in the first place. His body refused to comply with his brain and he often caught himself staring at Lu Han. He’s certain the other boy has caught him staring plenty of times too. There’s also this one huge problem. He starts blushing and stuttering. The tip of his ears and then his cheeks become dusted with pink each time Lu Han steps closer to him; his words clump together when he asks him something.

There was also this one other huge problem that comes up each time Lu Han bends down or really just stretches. Chanyeol nearly got a heart attack the other day when the other suggested they take a shower before leaving campus. The shower stalls are hardly covered, which means he would see Lu Han , and as much as that is appreciated, he isn’t sure how the other will react if he’s sporting a .

Now would be a good time to find out.

“What do you want?” Chanyeol makes sure to keep any hope out of his voice.

Lu Han thinks for a moment, bringing up a finger to poke at his lips, but Chanyeol knows him well enough by now to understand that it’s just pretend.

“There’s this new café which is pretty famous for bubble tea. You can take me there…on a date.” Lu Han is blushing and still looking away resolutely.

Chanyeol enjoys having the upper hand even if it’s just for a second.

“Only if you let me take you out for a movie after that.” Chanyeol flashes a handsome half-smile, and Lu Hans blush turns a few shades darker.

-

Baekhyun stuffs the obnoxiously large foam finger under his nose, and Chanyeol gently plucks it away from his hand and gives it to the sophomore sitting beside him, he seems to be Lu Han’s fan too. He misses final goal while preventing Baekhyun from falling over to the seat in front, but that’s okay because his boyfriends eyes are shining at him from on the field and Chanyeol would much rather see this.

He runs down towards the field and tackles Lu Han down to the ground in a hug, peppering kisses all over his face.

“Congrats on the win” he whispered against soft lips, the slow kiss pressed against his lip will be the only answer he will ever need.

I know very little about soccer ..or sports in general OTL
but, I really like watching it whenever I come across a game .-.

Come find me on twitter at callmemyuu ^^