freethrows and falls

Courts and Bands

Jae knew when they were entering high school that Brian and him would drift apart - just slightly, though, and not all by choice. Jae was part of the music program offered at the school, while Brian was involved in all the athletics.

Plus, it was just the difference in their personalities. Or at least, their presence. Brian seemed to always radiate confidence which drew people in, either out of curiosity, attraction, or just the want to be around his energy. Jae's seen it throughout the years, the way Brian prompts stares and whispers, the people that would confess to him through letters or in person behind the school.  He's always been attractive, Jae recalls, and he never let it show - the unwarranted sadness whenever someone would confess to Brian. It was partly because there was a 50% chance of them dating after, which never happened, and the other part was Jae not having the courage to do it himself. Confess to his best friend, because that would ruin everything.

Jae wasn't necessarily dark or gloomy, he just preferred to stick to people he knew. Never went out of his way to make new friends, or attend any extra school activities like fairs, or clubs. He just stuck to band, and he was satisfied because by their second year, he was lead trumpet and got the solos. 

"You guys are playing this Wednesday, right?" Brian asks one afternoon as their walking home. 

Jae's band rehearsal ended when Brian's basketball practice did, so they always walked together. 

"Yeah, and Friday," Jae answers and asks,

"You guys gonna win this one?"

"We'll see, Kyungnam's line-up is pretty strong. They got this giant power forward that we're kind of worried about,"

"By we you mean Sungjin?" Jae asks, knowing Brian's teammates at this point.

"Yeah. He's a good Captain, so I hope he's not too stressed," Brian says as he stretches toward the sky that's painted the colours of the sunset.

"How's band?"

"Fine, the usual."

"Are you okay?" 

"Hm?" Jae starts, slightly surprised,

"Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" he replies with a smile. Over the years he's gotten better at lying to Brian.

"Just checking in," Brian says,

"Are you okay?" Jae teases, and Brian shoves him barely with his arm,

"Yeah,"

"How were classes?"

"Fine,"

"Didn't see you at lunch," 

"Oh yeah, we had a team meeting, Sungjin wanted to go over formations and plays before the practice today."

Liar, Jae thinks as he nods.

"Did you eat, then?"

"Yeah, after. We all just ate in the changeroom though,"

"Gross," Jae says, laughing as he recalls catching a girl confess to Brian during lunch. He listened just for a couple of seconds to hear her admit her feelings, but didn't stay long enough to hear Brian's response. He doesn't know when it started, but Brian stopped telling Jae about people confessing to him, Jae doesn't know why. He concludes it's because Brian is kind, and he doesn't want to make Jae feel bad due to his lack of a love life. 

"Oh, are we still good for tonight?"

"Yeah, yeah. I told Dowoon we'd be online later though,"

"Okay... I'm hungry."

"You said you ate lunch,"

"That was before Sungjin made us do suicides and run scrimmages," Brian defends and Jae just nods,

"Hey," Brian says, stopping and Jae stops too, turning to his side to look at Brian who just stares at him.

"What?" Jae prompts, glad his cheeks aren't flushing a pink, 

"I just said I was hungry and you didn't invite me over for dinner,"

"Oh, sorry, do you wanna-"

"Forget it, it's not the same anymore!" Brian says, dramatically storming off and Jae laughs. Brian looks behind at Jae and laughs, 

"I'll just walk home with you. As soon as your mom sees me at the door, she'll definitely offer to feed me." he says with a mischievous snicker and Jae rolls his eyes.

They continue walking home, talking about random things until they get to Jae's house, and sure enough.

"Oh, Brian, sweetie! Come inside, join us for dinner," 

"Mom, he-"

"I'd love to Mrs. Park! Thank you," Brian says, entering the familiar house before Jae.

"Of course!" she says with a smile and Jae scoffs before following Brian into his house.

Dinner is comfortable, just like they have been for past 6 years of them being best friends, Brian making casual conversation with Jae's parents. After dinner, Jae's not surprised that instead of leaving, Brian follows Jae upstairs to his room. 

Laying on his bed,

"Gross, get off, you're sweaty from ball practice,"

"Oh, ball practice? Look at you, picking up on my lingo," Brian comments with an amused smile, not getting up from the bed but Jae doesn't tell him a second time. Jae goes to his desk and turns on his laptop,

"You always say ball practice, and give me a weird look when I say basketball,"

"Because saying ball is so much easier,"

"But a lot of sports involve a ball,"

"But if you say ball, everyone understands it as basketball."

"Ugh, whatever muscle head,"

"Fine, band geek," he fires back and Jae whips a pillow at him, which Brian successfully catches.

"Futile against my athletic reflexes that have been honed-" Jae lands that pillow square in Brian's face, shutting him up and he's laughing when Brian attempts to throw one back.

"Is Dowoon online yet?" Brian says, getting up from the bed and bringing a beanbag to sit on the floor beside Jae.

"Yeah, he is. Go home so we can play,"

"Let's just take turns, we can still play,"

"At least tell Pil to get on,"

"Okay, but he might still be on his date with Sungjin," 

Jae's eyes go wide,

"Wonpil's dating the Captain?!" and Brian lets out a bark of a laugh,

"Why're you using his title like that? He's only Captain on court... And no, they refuse to admit they like each other," 

"So, why'd you call it a date?"

"Because I've seen the way they looked at each other, it's obvious."

I wonder if you see the way I look at you then...

They take turns with their collaborative game, Jae and Brian yelling into the headset during their turn, while the other was on the sidelines making suggestions and laughing when the other would die. Wonpil ends up joining in around their 4th game, asking Jae if he finished the theory package over the headset. 

They play for a while, and soon enough it's night time and Dowoon says he'll log off.

"Can I sleep over?" Brian asks,

"No, you live the next street over, go home,"

"Walk me home, then,"

"No!"

"Then let me stay~" Brian whines, jumping on to Jae's bed and grabbing a pillow - his designated sleepover pillow that he claimed a few years ago. 

"We have school tomorrow, Bri,"

"And I could just use your uniform," Jae looks at him with a look of disapproval,

"What? I know you have extras that are clean!"

"Clothes for practice?"

"I'll borrow a shirt and shorts from one of the guys, not a big deal,"

"Fine!" he gives in, just because he knows Brian's won't go.

"I'm gonna shower first," Jae says, grabbing his pyjamas to bring into the bathroom. When he returns, he tells Brian it's his turn,

"Is my-"

"Yes, your toothbrush is still there. Here's a towel," 

"Thanks," Brian says with a smile.

He's not particularly fond of the fact that he's fallen for his best friend. He always tries to reason with himself, Brian's kind to everyone, you're not special. But it's because he's kind that Jae likes him. And when they're so comfortable with each other, he just knows any feelings that are more that platonic will ruin things. He's sure, he's seen it happen to friends in his music class. Jae finishes what was left of his music theory within the time Brian showers.

"JJ," Brian says, he's always really liked that nickname. 

"Hm?" Jae says, as he turns around to see a shirtless Brian, the towel snuggly wrapped around his waist,

"Extra clothes?" he asks, and Jae just gestures towards his closet,

"Surprised you asked this time," and Brian laughs,

"I ask everytime," and Jae's about to refute,

"Everytime that I remember to... It's just formality at this point," Brian says as he picks out clothes to sleep in.

Jae's seen Brian shirtless multiple times, and vice versa. They've been friends for so long, and Jae enjoys swimming, so he's learned to deal with his racing heart whenever Brian's in front of him with wet hair, bare broad shoulders and toned stomach.

"Don't you have homework?" Jae says as they're getting ready for bed, thankful his bed is big.

"I'll do it during lunch or something," Brian brushes off, and they resort to talking in low voices. 

They talk about trivial things, mainly Brian complaining how it's been so long since he's slept over and Jae telling him to stop his whining because he's sleeping over now. He's not wrong though, ever since Jae confirmed his own feelings, he slowly stopped inviting Brian to sleep over. It was never healthy for his mind when he slept so close to his crush - especially because Brian liked to hug things when he slept. 

Jae falls asleep first, just like always, so he doesn't hear the,

"Good night," Brian whispers with a small smile before closing his eyes. 

The next morning, Jae's mom makes them breakfast, not surprised or at all fazed at the fact that Brian slept over. They walk to school before Brian sees his teammates at the front and Jae leaves his side to get in some morning practice. Their friendship is comfortable, and Jae loves it, so why would he want to ruin it? 

 

Jae didn't like having to stay after school, especially because he had to for 4 out of 5 days of the week for band practice. His only free day was Wednesday, but they had to play for the home game against Kyungnam High. He'd usually complain, but he didn't mind gigs for the basketball games.

Because he got to see Brian who looked the coolest on court. 

The band is setting up as the teams are doing warm ups on their respective sides of the court. Brian jogs up to Jae,

"Hey," Jae says, and Brian smiles wide

"Hi," he responds,

"Good luck,"

"Thank you, you too."

"Don't roll your ankle,"

"Don't mess up your solos," he says and extends his right hand and Jae sees the wrist band he got him when Brian joined the basketball team.

"This will be my good luck charm," Brian said when he opened the gift, revealing 2 wrist bands coloured this pretty aqua. 

"It's like a portable you! I'll always wear them during games. Always." he promised and Jae's heart swelled. 

They do the handshake they made when they were kids. 

"Kang Bra!" Sungjin calls from the court, and Brian gives Jae a quick,

"Bye! I'll be listening for you!" accompanied by a smile,

"I'll be watching you," Jae replies and thinks, See? It's because we're like this that I can't help but like you. 

Jae watches as Brian jogs back to the team, looking at his jersey number, 12, for his birthday month like Jae suggested. Jae notices Wonpil give Sungjin a small wave as he's setting up his sheet music and Sungjin's response of a cute smile, but doesn't comment on it.

There was something about watching Brian play basketball - Jae couldn't narrow it down, if it was his determined gaze, his toned arms, his form when he shot the ball and the wristband Jae got him was clear in the air.  Or maybe it was the way he dribbled the ball calmly to the key before setting up a play by just holding up a number of fingers. It could also be the way he would intercept passes or jump to block shots- Actually... it was just Brian, Jae admits, eventually. All his teammates did what Brian did, but because it was Brian, it looked so much cooler. 

It's during halftime when they teams are switching sides that the accident happens. 

The band's in the middle of playing music for the cheerleading team when a girl falls from a pyramid, she lands with a dull but loud thud. Jae watches as she yelps in pain, and notices her uniform is ripped. 

And of course, Brian being the closest to her as he was walking to the bench, and just Brian being Brian, he quickly reacts. 

"Pass me my sweater!" he tells one of his teammates and they toss it. He ties it around her waist,

"Can you walk?" and she shakes her head. Brian takes a look at her ankle and assumes it's sprained. The gym is quiet, even the band trailed off as the cheer routine stopped, as they watch.

"Okay, lift your arms," and Jae recognizes her as the girl that confessed to Brian the other day. A confession to which Jae doesn't know Brian's answer.

Brian gently scoops her up, as Jae lowers his trumpet to watch. 

"Ooo~" the gym collectively praises as they watch the pointguard,

"I'll take her to the infirmary and be right back," he tells Sungjin and gets a nod. 

"Ow!" she says and Brian notices the lack of pressure on her ankle, so he asks for a cold water bottle from the bench, and to keep it near the sprain, he removes the wristband, slipping it around her slim ankle.

"You take the other one!" Brian told Jae when he opened the gift,

"What, why? I don't play sports-"

"Just keep it. It'll work as a good luck charm if you're wearing it too." 

And Jae wore it, regardless if Brian had a game or not, just in case he was playing a street game or scrimmage, he wanted to provide that luck. He remembers the day he washed it and it shrunk,

"What the Hell?" Brian said when Jae showed him how small it got, 

"I can wear it as a ring?" Jae suggested with a guilty smile and Brian laughed.

"That might disturb your fingers while you play," he pointed out.  

"Oh! Here," Brian said, and gave Jae one of the small chains around his neck, slipped the tiny wristband around.

"You can just wear it like this," and put it around Jae's neck with his classic, dashing smile. 

Brian carries the girl out of the gym while the teams regroup and discuss strategies for the next half of the game. The score is 49-42 with them in the lead, but it's still close and Jae can hear Sungjin saying something about "Let's not just keep this lead, let's widen the gap."

Jae thought he had gotten used to seeing other people crush on Brian - it's not like he owned him or anything, people could have feelings. But it still nagged at Jae when the possibility of someone else being able to hold Brian's hand, kiss his lips and call him theirs, became a little more prevalent. 

"Sir, can I go to the bathroom?" Jae asks the band conductor,

"Yeah, just be back for the second half," and with a nod he's out of the gym. 

He's walking slowly the bathroom when he realizes he'll have to pass by the infirmary, unless he wants to take the long way or go to another floor.

Just don't look, don't look, he reminds himself, and yet does exactly that when he passes by. He sees the two that just left the gym, the girl with Brian's team sweater around her waist as he's wrapping up her ankle. He can't read lips but can tell Brian's talking to her, probably telling her how to take care of her sprained ankle. He has a small smile when he looks down to continuing bandaging. Jae continues walking and really does go to the bathroom, and takes his time as he washes his hands and looks in the mirror. He fixes his collar and grabs the chain with his wristband, 

"It'll be like a best bros bracelet," Brian said when he placed it around his neck and Jae accepted it.

He wonders why this time hurts and bothers him more than all the others. Maybe it's because the cheerleader is extremely pretty and kind, and her and Brian would make a good couple. The classic head cheerleader and jock pairing, Jae thought. Brian's always been kind, but something about picking the girl up and even leaving his team sweater with her made Jae more sentimental than he'd care to admit. So, he doesn't, and concludes he'll try to avoid Brian for a bit - just until he can be around him without sulking. 

When Brian returns to the gym, he notices the band missing their lead trumpet but before he can ask Wonpil about it, Sungjin calls him so he can let him know the strategy moving forward. 

The second half is about to start and Jae still isn't back, and the conductor is rather stressed, about to start the countdown as both teams are returning to the court. Jae returns and quickly runs to his spot, picking up his trumpet and being ready to play in a matter of seconds, and smiles apologetically to his conductor. Brian's on the bench for the first few minutes because he played nonstop the first half, but Jae refuses to look in his direction. Not when he knows he won't see the wristband. Even when Brian's back on court, crosses an opponent, successfully sets a pick and sinks a fadeaway, he tries not to look. 

Their school wins, the buzzer ringing right when Sungjin's 3-pointer went in with a satsifying swish. Jae leaves as soon as the band gets permission from the conductor, not watching the celebration the team does, and not noticing Brian looking for him after.

On the way to the band room, he bumps into the girl, mentally scolding himself for staring at the ground when he walked,

"Oh, I'm sorry," he says and she gives him a sweet smile,

"It's okay! Are you going to the music room?" 

"Yeah," he answers and she hops with a limp to hold the door, considering Jae had his trumpet in one hand, a stand in the other and his music folder. 

"Thanks," he says with a small smile,

"No problem." and as he walks in to put his stuff away, he curses himself again for staring at the ground, because around her ankle is that familiar aqua band. He gives her one last smile and sees Brian's sweater that's till wrapped around her, before finding his case on the band chairs.

He successfully ignores Brian that Wednesday night, and thinks he can keep it up until they see each other on Friday for another basketball game.

That is until Thursday's band practice. Jae's been practicing nonstop, trying to get the timing of this fall at the end of a measure right. 

"Pil, can you pass the valve oil?" 

"Yeah,"

"Just toss it," Jae said, immediately regretting it when Wonpil whips the bottle of valve oil, hitting Jae in the neck.

"Ow!" and Wonpil doubles over in laughter,

"Wonpil-ah!" he scolds,

"I'm so sorry," he says between laughter, 

"Why did you throw it so strongly?!"

"You're across the class!"

"But who tosses things overhand?! It's always underhand!" and their bandmates are laughing, even the conductor, to which Jae looks at.

"Sorry, Jaehyung, it was really funny." he tries to defend, and Jae rolls his eyes.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Yeah, go ahead," he says with a short snicker and Jae sets his trumpet down. 

He's looking at himself in the mirror, mainly at the skin on his neck that's already bruising,

"Jesus, how hard did Wonpil throw that thing..." he whispers, cursing his sensitive skin and is still inspecting his neck when the bathroom door opens and he makes eye contact with Brian through the mirror. Brian initially looks excited and almost surprised to see Jae and opens his mouth to greet him, but his expression changes when he notices what Jae was inspecting. 

"The Hell, Jae?"

"What?" he asks

"What?" Brian repeats, 

"How'd you get that?"

"Wonpil," Jae answers in ignorance, 

"Wonpil?!" and Brian scoffs, 

"You ignore me for like 2 days and when I see you, your lips are swollen and you got a hickey on your neck?"

"What the-"

"At school? Classy." Jae's getting angry. Brian has no reason to be speaking like this, and Jae narrows his eyes in irritation as he corrects,

"My lips are swollen 'cause I play the freakin' trumpet... and it's not a hickey, Wonpil just can't throw," 

Brian's expression softens,

"Sor-"

"And even if what you assumed was true, you have no reason to get mad at me for it."

"I'm sorry, practice is just tense because I'm distracted,"

"Cause of that cheerleader?" Jae asks, 

"What? No,"

"Really? You seemed pretty concerned for her at the game, even provided immediate first aid."

"Now, why are you upset?"

"Because Wonpil whipped valve oil at my neck." he says, but he doesn't sound amused like he usually would. 

"Why're you bringing up Ayeon?"

"Just wonder if her ankle is okay,"

"It is,"

"Good. Glad that wristband provided support," Jae finds himself saying, and scolds himself for even letting that slip out. It goes quiet as Brian stares at Jae, as if processing something, and starts,

"Jae, are you-"

"I'll see you tomorrow at the game. Gotta practice," and Jae leaves before Brian can continue what he was going to say.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now he knows you're acting like a jealous boyfriend, who isn't even his boyfriend! Great! He swings the band room door open and quickly returns to his seat. Wonpil was going to tease about the bruise that already formed, but wisely decides against it when Jae sits down with a thud and immediately resumes practicing until the conductor suggests a runthrough with the band.

When Jae gets home, he kind of wishes Brian would text him relentlessly like he did the other night. Annoy him until he gives in and has to respond. But he doesn't get a single text, and that's when he knows Brian's upset. Either Brian's upset about Jae's attitude, or he's been figured out and Brian doesn't want to be his friend anymore, because his feelings aren't platonic. 

 

Jae usually looks forward to basketball games they have to play at. He's setting up his scores when the teams enter the gym, Sungjin already starting the warm-ups, even the cheer team is stretching. Jae sees Ayeon, and notices her ankle is wristband free, and wonders just what happened to it, just what he should do with the one that's hanging around his neck. He makes eye contact with Brian who just stares at him with an expression that Jae can't decipher. 

It seems like the lack of the wristband doesn't do anything because they still win. Jae makes a resolve that if Brian didn't need the wristband anymore, there was no point in wearing the necklace. Brian didn't need a good luck charm, he had the skill. Jae's known that, but still liked the idea of providing Brian with some sort of support during a game, while all he could really do was watch on the sidelines with the band. As they're celebrating and the band is cleaning up, Brian runs over to catch Jae before he escapes again. Brian stops in front of him and looks him straight in the eye,

"Bri? You okay?" he asks,

"You like me, don't you?" and Jae nearly drops his trumpet,

"What the Hell? What-"

"Quickly," he says as a smile starts forming,

"W-Why?" Jae asks, clearly flustered as his red cheeks give away his answer to Brian's initial question.

"Because if your answer is no, you're gonna be super mad at me after I do this," Brian warns before grabbing Jae's face gently and placing a kiss on his lips.

It takes Jae a couple of seconds to register what's really happening, but when he does, he kisses back and smiles into the kiss.

The gym goes quiet as they watch. When they pull away Brian's eyes still linger on Jae's lips, while Jae suppresses a smile,

"You're lucky my answer is yes then." and Brian laughs - Jae's always loved that sound.

"Yeah, I knew." and there are cheers from the crowd and even his teammates.

"You knew?"

"Well, I knew when you pointed out the Ayeon thing... Here I was, thinking for the longest time my crush was unrequited,"

"Your crush?! You liked me?!"

"Like! It's present tense!" Brian corrects, making Jae's bandmates laugh,

"I like you, Jae... A lot."

"I like you too." Jae admits, and realizes that it didn't completely ruin everything. What he doesn't like is the amount of attention on them, so he flushes a deep red and attempts to hide in Brian's arms,

"Ew, you're sweaty,"

"We just won the game,"

"Doesn't change the fact you're sweaty." and Brian laughs before hugging him regardless. 

 

The walk home is nice, Jae shyly holding Brian's hand as they talk things out.

"No fair," Jae says, looking at the pebble he's been kicking for a couple of steps,

"What?"

"You got to proclaim your feelings all cool and in front of the gym,"

"Hey, I don't think you realize I risked getting slapped in the face if my assumptions were wrong."

"I wouldn't slap-" Jae looks at Brian, and thinks about it,

"Yeah, you're right..." and Brian laughs.

"I'm not dreaming am I?" Jae asks, and Brian looks at his lips,

"Want proof?" and Jae looks away, flustered,

"No... Stop that,"

"Stop what?"

"You're so flirty, it's-"

"Annoying?" Brian prompts,

"Hard to control my reactions." Jae corrects, and Brian replies,

"Well, when you put it like that, I don't wanna stop being flirty." and Jae laughs with a roll of his eyes.

"How did you conclude I like you?"

"When you brought up the wristband."

"Hey, I was angry as a best friend because of that."

"Oh yeah? Platonic anger?" Brian asks, amused,

"Yes! I gave that to you, and you just wrap it around some girl's ankle, just because she hurt herself! What, was your team sweater not enough?" Jae catches himself and Brian laughs,

"Platonic anger or romantic jealousy?" and Jae shoves him with a cute pout,

"Still... That wristband was special for us,"

"Yeah, but I didn't really need it," Brian says, and Jae's about to get upset,

"You said it was your good luck charm for games!"

"What else did I say?" he replies and Jae gets confused, his puzzled expression causing Brian to remind,

"I said it was a portable you. Sorry about not thinking twice about using the wristband, but my good luck charm is usually always there for me in person anyway."

Jae stares at him and purses his lips,

"I said stop that."

"I wasn't flirting, I was explaining myself!"

"Well, it's embarrassing," 

"Only because you like me so much," Brian says with a cheeky smile,

"Yeah, apparently the feeling is mutual. You looked pissed as Hell when you thought I had a hickey on my neck," and Brian scoffs,

"That was as a best friend."

"Oh, yeah?" it's Jae's turn to tease,

"Mhm," the other replies with a confident nod and smug expression that makes Jae laugh,

"I was just a bit mad,"

"Mad about what? That your best friend didn't tell you about his supposed love life?"

"Yeah that, and I thought I could've done better than what they did."

"W-What?"

"I mean, they only left one hickey... I'm saying I would've-"

"I don't like you anymore, I take this afternoon back," Jae says, letting go of Brian's hand, and quickening his pace to escape,

"Do you though?" he teases and Jae doesn't slow down,

"I don't think you have a very good chance running away from our school's pointguard," Brian warns,

"You don't even do that much running, just back and forth on the court!" Jae dares, and Brian's jaw drops as if offended.

"You take that back, Park," he says with a mischievous smile,

"Honestly, as a trumpet player I probably have a greater lung capacity, and stamina,"

"I know another way we can test our stamina," Brian teases with a suggestive sticking out of his tongue and Jae scoffs,

"Suicides? Lay-ups? Oh! I know! Running to save the fallen cheerleader?"

"You're so petty,"

"And you're still pretty far from me!" 

Brian sets down his gym bag and points a finger at Jae,

"I was giving you a headstart. Sungjin had us practicing man-to-man defense, so you've been warned,"

"Yeah? Well, I'm unstoppable in tag, so take that #12!" 

"You are such a loser," Brian says with a laugh before running after Jae who takes a few minutes to catch. He does eventually, Jae's not surprised, even though he protests that his zig-zag running strategy is usually fool-proof.

"I'm not a fool," Brian argued,

"A fool for me?" Jae tries with a cute, wide smile and Brian gives in with a smile,

"You didn't deny it!" Jae says, triumphant for some reason, and Brian places a quick kiss on his lips,

"Yeah, I'll admit that one. Took me too long to confess," and Jae smiles sweetly. 

"Yeah, I should've showed up in front of you with hickeys sooner."

"I still can't believe you answered Wonpil so casually,"

"You asked me how I got the bruise!"

"Okay, okay!" Brian says,

"I like you, a lot, and I only like you. Sorry about the wristband, Ayeon gave it back though," 

"How come you didn't wear it today then?"

"To get you to notice me more." and Jae clicks his tongue in annoyance because it worked. He watched each shot Brian took carefully, and each one that went in made him feel worse, because Brian didn't really need to wear the wristband.

"But, where I was going with that," he continues, extending his hand,

"Truce?" 

"Truce," and he shakes Brian's hand before the other intertwines their fingers.

They go to continue walking, not before grabbing Brian's bag which he abandoned to catch Jae, and along the walk home they talk about their feelings. Seriously, without jokes and cheeky flirting, they confess their feelings that have been surppressed on both sides in the worry that it may ruin things. On the way home, they pass by the usual park, where they see Sungjin and Wonpil on the swing set. They share an amused knowing look before sneaking by without getting noticed. 

"Hey JJ?"

"Hm?" 

"Will you be my boyfriend?" Brian asks as they're slowly strolling to Jae's house,

"Me? Are you sure?" Jae jokes and Brian just nods,

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Yes, of course... Why'd you even ask,  you know I like you,"

"Liking me and dating me are 2 different things... I don't know why I'm talking like I have experience you're the first and only person I've liked,"

"Then, let's gain experience together." Jae says with a smile and comments,

"Huh, the pointguard and a band geek, huh?"

"Lead trumpet," Brian corrects and Jae smiles,

"Do you even know how many buttons there are?"

"3!" he answers with a proud smirk,

"Do you know how many of our players are on the court at one time?"

"1!" 

"What-"

"You." Jae says, sincerely,

"Whenever I go to a game, all I see is you." and they stare at each other for a bit.

"Who's the flirt now?" Brian says,

"I'm a romantic and sincere flirt, you're just... I don't even know what you are," 

"Your boyfriend!" he proclaims, proudly.

"Yeah... Yeah, you are," Jae says with a soft smile and Brian smiles back as he leans in for another kiss. 


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi Hello MyDays, my name is Zen! :D It's Chris' birthday, so this is her lil' birthday gift. She likes JaeBri and fluff so I tried to make this an easy read oneshot! Hope you guys enjoyed, please comment any thoughts, I'd love to know! ^_^

If you guys wanna be friends, I'd love to make MyDay pals, you can contact me on either

twitter & instagram: @zenkrcovers | kakao: zenaya

Will probably post a SungPil oneshot soon, but until then, peace! - Zen

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melly-pop #1
Chapter 1: Loved this. So so cute and the perfect word length.
uut_janghorvejkul
#2
Chapter 1: THIS IS DEFINITELY cute ans flufy...as always they're fall for each other bcs theyre JAEHYUNGPARKIAN <3
Really brian turn to be a ert a minute he becomes jae's boyfriend xD,,im so glad when I found there's a new author story in my notif,, will be anticipating another works of yours zen,and thank u for always write beautiful story of jaebri <3