“come on, on your toes, back corner, now the front, come on,” hyukjae says, tossing the ball into the back corner of the taped off square. donghae leaps back, but not far enough, and he reaches out awkwardly, sending the ball flying across the gym.

donghae straightens, scratching the back of his head.

“sorry,” he says. hyukjae sighs and drops his head.

“go get the ball,” he says. donghae nods and jogs across the gym, picks up the ball, and jogs back. hyukjae accepts the ball and donghae takes his place in the center of the square. hyukjae slaps the ball to signal the start of the drill and immediately begins throwing.

back right corner.

front left corner.

center.

front right corner.

… and the ball goes flying off into the distance again. hyukjae sighs again and straightens, massaging his leg.

donghae lets out a groan and slouches in defeat.

“hyung,” he whines. hyukjae whips the ball at donghae, which bounces off of donghae’s head. donghae winces and rubs the impact site with a wrinkled nose.

“footwork, donghae,” hyukjae says. “always be aware, always have your eyes on the ball, alway return to the center.”

“yes, hyung,” donghae says.

“take a break,” hyukjae says. “gather your bearings. i need your head in the game when you return.” donghae nods and jogs off to the bench. hyukjae watches the boy go, only to be startled by a hand on his shoulder. heechul and siwon are standing behind him, looking at him with identically raised eyebrows.

“well, how’s it going?” siwon says. hyukjae shrugs.

“okay,” he says.

“i’ve gotta admit, i can’t quite see what you see in the kid,” heechul says, his arms crossed, his brow furrowed. hyukjae runs a hand through his hair and looks over at donghae, who is vigorously rubbing his sweaty hair with a towel.

hyukjae knows what heechul means. donghae’s not very tall, nor is he particularly intimidating looking.

“hm,” hyukjae hums. “let me show you.”

heechul glances over at him, looking unamused.

“sure,” he says, but he doesn’t sound like he’s holding his breath for much. siwon slaps hyukjae on the back.

“fine, let’s see what you little prodigy can do,” he says. hyukjae rolls his eyes.

“donghae!” he calls. donghae looks over immediately.

“yes, hyung?”

“hitting drill, let’s go,” he says. donghae’s eyes light up and he drops his water bottle in favour of jogging to the crate of volleyballs. donghae drags the crate to the middle of the front court before turning back to hyukjae.

hyukjae makes his way over to the balls, pulling open the top of the crate.

“how many?” donghae asks from his position just behind the attack line. hyukjae marvels at how much more excited donghae looks to participate — a stark contrast to the half-hearted approach he had been taking with the footwork drill.

“five,” hyukjae says. donghae nods. hyukjae picks up the first ball and smacks it to signal the beginning of the drill.

he tosses the ball up into the air — once again higher than he normally would for anyone else. he keeps his eye on donghae, who approaches and jumps. it never fails to awe hyukjae just how high donghae can jump, how perfect his timing always is, how well donghae manages to gauge the situation in a blink of an eye.

it’s all instinctual to donghae.

as donghae meets the ball at the top of the arc, hyukjae shouts out his orders.

“position four!” he calls. donghae’s arm and wrist comes snapping down and the ball is redirected to position four. as soon as donghae hits the ground, he’s shuffling back to position and hyukjae already has a ball in hand. he slaps the ball again and donghae springs to action.

“position two!” hyukjae calls. donghae spikes the ball to the designated spot and lands again, the drill repeating. “position six. one. position four!”

when the final ball is hit to its target, donghae lands, panting with his hair slightly askew and flopping into his eyes, but hyukjae can still that his eyes are wide and he’s smiling. hyukjae nods at him, smiling at donghae to signal to him that’s he’s done well.

“good job, donghae,” he sa