april is the month of rain.

hyukjae had always heard that rain makes old injuries hurt, and combined with the unexpected cold, hyukjae’s leg is giving him a lot of grief. he’s only twenty-four years old and yet he feels a lot like an eighty-year-old man — really feeling the way the cold makes his leg ache.

“donghae, twenty-five laps around the court. and then take a break.” he says when donghae finishes his final rep of the passing drill he had been doing with the wall. donghae nods and tosses the ball into the basket, immediately begins his laps around the court.

when donghae is occupied with his laps, hyukjae limps heavily to the bleachers and lowers himself onto the lowest of the benches. he carefully massages his leg, making sure that his leg moves as little as possible. when he feels that he’s relaxed his muscles enough, he slowly extends his leg forward, gritting his teeth against the stiffness as he does so.

he thought he had left this pain behind weeks ago.

yet know, it’s as if he can feel every pin and nail in his bone intimately, and it aches. he lowers his leg just as slowly, attempting to minimize the shaking.

“are you okay, hyung?” donghae asks. hyukjae looks up to see donghae standing in front of him, short hair spiking up with the man’s sweat. he’s out of breath and the front of his jersey is completely soaked. hyukjae smiles.

“i’m fine,” he says. “you done your laps?”

“five more,” donghae admits and breaks out in a run again. hyukjae watches the man go, admiring how light he is on his feet.

donghae finishes the five laps in less than three minutes and comes to a stop in front of hyukjae. he rests his hands on his knees, panting slightly.

“done,” he declares before straightening, giving hyukjae a wide smile, showing off his slightly crooked teeth. he then goes and grabs his water bottle and a snack bar from his bag before returning to hyukjae. he takes a seat next to hyukjae, taking a large gulp of water. “you need to take a break, hyung.”

hyukjae shakes his head.

“i’m fine, donghae,” he says. donghae gives him a sideway glance and even without turning, hyukjae can feel the judgement from the gaze.

“yeah, hyung,” he says, and hyukjae immediately wonders which one of his bastard teammates taught his donghae such sarcasm.

“don’t give me that tone,” hyukjae scolds, but his voice is still soft with fondness.

“but hyung, you can barely stand,” donghae presses. “i don’t like seeing you in pain. you need to take a break.” hyukjae shakes his head.

they don’t have time for a break.

they can’t afford to take a break, not when the olympics is less than four months away.

“we can’t do that,” he says.

“yes you can,” donghae says. “even a few days. i can practice with the team. i’m ready.” hyukjae pinches the bridge of his nose.

is he being controlling?

he doesn’t want to let donghae go yet. he wants to make sure he’s ready, makes sure he’s at his absolute best before he allows donghae to train with the team.

“i…”

“do you not think i’m ready?” donghae asks as if he’s reading hyukjae’s mind. hyukjae startles.

“no!” he says. “not at all. you’re doing amazing.” he looks over donghae, whose legs are spread out in front of him, his arms resting on the bench of the step above them. hyukjae marvels at how much donghae has grown in three months (he supposes it’s not false that men don’t stop growing until they’re about twenty-one). besides losing any semblance of fat, leaving an extremely compact figure, donghae has also gotten taller, bringing him from being on the shorter side to tall. his face had lengthened over the months as well, most likely a side effect of the strengthening of his figure.

he no longer looks like a boy. he looks like a man.

and if he tried, donghae could cut an intimidating figure.

donghae glances at him and smiles, wide and beautiful. hyukjae freezes.

oh no.

“thank you, hyung,” donghae says. hyukjae looks away quickly, horrified by the heat that spreads over his cheeks.

“you deserve it, donghae,” he says. and then he clears his throat and straightens. “enough of a break, go practice your serve.”

“yes, hyung.”

—

“i