Chapter 7 Not Anymore

The appalling shrill of referee’s whistle cut through amidst the boisterous cheering of the opposing crowd.

Chanwoo saw Yunhyeong raised his hand with a disappointed expression on his face even before his name was called out. He was already on his fourth foul. Even with his limited knowledge of the sport, he knew that it was not a good sign. There were only a few seconds past a minute before the end of the first half and things were starting to go downhill for their team, especially for Yunhyeong.

The team sturdily held their ground, maintaining a hefty amount of the lead from the start up to this point. Although from the beginning, it was obvious that Yunhyeong was not faring well. After the first few slip-ups, it did not take long for their opponent to exploit the apparent chink to their foe’s armor. The other team members, mainly Bobby and Donhyuk, has been doubling their effort to put many points on their name while Hanbin and Junhoe solidly uphold their defense. However, with one member not playing at full efficiency, it was not a fair game. After the ten-minute mark, the once steadfast team began to crumble down.

In the moments that Chanwoo had been lost to his musings, a lot had happened on the court. The lead was now down to one-point gap after all the free throws from the foul went in. As the game resume, the palpable pressure between the two teams took a couple of notches up. No one wants to give up. It was the last game for the regional qualifiers. Then on the crucial last moment, the tide had finally turned violently against them.

The ball was in Yunhyeong’s possession and just as he was passing it to Bobby, who was bull-charging towards the basket, it was intercepted. Even from his position, he could hear Hanbin barking off commands. Everyone took a reverse to the opposite side of the court, but it was too late as the ball flew across, fast. Beyond the three-point line, a shot had been fired and with a graceful arc, it plunged into the basket.

The buzzer rang wild, drowning the rambunctious crowd, ending the first half.

They have not lost yet but it already looked that they had, with the evident forlorn expression on the five of them. From his vantage point, Chanwoo saw their coach beckoned the team to a huddle. It lasted briefly with the whole team nodding gravely at the end before piling out to their locker room. The last thing he saw was a downtrodden Yunhyeong trudging wearily behind.

The past week was now taking its toll on Yunhyeong. Chanwoo has witnessed how hard Yunhyeong tried. He smiled and acted like nothing happened the day after he bared his heart to Hanbin. He laughed and joked with them as any normal day that Chanwoo almost believed it if he did not know any better. The reason was glaringly apparent on why he was doing it that Chanwoo’s heart ache. Yunhyeong was doing everything to salvage anything of what was left between him and Hanbin.

But it was never an easy task.

Slowly and agonizingly, the mask that Yunhyeong wore started to chip off as the days passed. Chanwoo has caught enough pieces of it for every time Hanbin glanced at him with a soft and reaching gaze. Yunhyeong began to falter. The funny jokes and the laughter turned to awkward excuses and forced smiles. It came to the point that their lunch became so suffocating because of the heavy tension between the two. Chanwoo could barely imagine how much more difficult it would be on their basketball practice. He was sure that every one of them was aware of it now.

It was the electric ringing of the bell that brought Chanwoo back to his sit with his knuckles unconsciously gripping the fabric of his pants tightly. The half time break was over.

He saw the team beelined to the court. There was an angry Bobby, a concerned Donghyuk, then solemn-faced Junhoe and very fierce and predatory looking Hanbin but there was no Yunhyeong. They have another player joining on the court.

Chanwoo edged and craned from his sit. His anxious eyes frantically searched for a sign of Yunhyeong on the team’s bench but found nothing.

Where is he?

His mind raced, as he thinks of a logical reason for this. They could be preserving him since he already on his fourth foul. He might be resting for a while and we’ll be pulled out later again in the game. It was a reasonable and sensible thought. But it did not put Chanwoo’s heart at ease. His mind was busy rationalizing, but his instinct was telling him otherwise.

Something happened.

As the referee’s whistle signaled the start of the second half, Chanwoo stood up and went out.

I’m coming for you, hyung.

***

Yunhyeong was ashamed. He was so ashamed he could not even look at his teammates. Seeing them disappointed and frustrated will only triple the amount of guilt that was already eating him up inside. He could not even count how many times he blamed himself for messing up on their game. Everyone had worked hard for this and yet he was dragging the whole team down.

“Song.”

It’s my fault.

“Song.”

The firm voice of their coach brought Y