“And that is all for team All-Net. Moving on to team Ace Dragons…!”

The sportscaster’s voice made Taemin snap his head up and stare at the big monitor, indirectly telling his babbling best friend to dry up and focus on the game for once, though it hadn’t officially begun yet. They were going to introduce the starting line-up for each team, which was simply Taemin’s second favourite part of the match.

“Lead up by Choi Minseok, then Shim Changmin—the big middle blocker. Next is Jung Yunho, followed by Lee Jinki, the setter, then Choi Minho, the outside hitter, and lastly, Kim Jonghyun, the libero of the dragons!”

With each name came a player in red, joyous and enthusiastic from the tremendous support from the bleachers around the arena. It was a big thing now in Seoul, where they sent amazing volleyball teams to fight for one championship title, but indeed, the title was not the only reward that kept these men flying. 

The real deal about this was that the team who won the league would be sent off for professional training and that only meant one thing: a much brighter future with more pay and better benefits of travelling. It couldn’t be helped that the Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Champion was coming too. These achievement-thirsted men desired exclusive tickets to those limited spots.

“Your hyung plays as what, again?” Kibum asked, his eyes squinted to find the familiar face on the court as the players readied themselves into position. “And who is that hottie?”

“First of all, Kibum, we are here to watch the game—not the boys,” Taemin admonished with a cheeky wave of his hand and grinned when his hand landed on Kibum’s cheek by accident. “Secondly, he plays as the setter. Just right there.”

Yeah, that was primarily the reason why Taemin was there. Jinki, the setter, was his brother.

Taemin had always been a volleyball fan, considering the number of matches he watched for fun with Jinki when they were still kids. Even so, his interest only stayed as a favourite pastime and nothing more. 

Unlike him, though, Jinki pursued that hobby. As a result, he attended the volleyball academy (while Taemin struggled with the science stream in high school), graduated at 23, and joined Ace Dragons at 25. Being 31 now, nothing ever worked to snatch away his passion for being on the court, and that brought Taemin there—his first ever live game after all these years of supporting behind the screen.

All for his brother.

“You’ve got to ask him the name of that lad. The one’s wearing a different coloured jersey,” Kibum peeped before Taemin silenced him once more, just in time for the referee to blow the whistle and call the game to start. 

Let the fun begin.

—

“In position, in position!” The captain yelled while bending his knees slightly. 

Only 7 minutes in, and The All-Net already had three service errors, giving Ace Dragons three free points in addition to their existing five ones. But Minho knew it had fewer things to do with skills and more about their half-cooked strategy. It was corny.

One serve from the opponent and the ball dashed towards him. Then right on cue, Minho dug for it with his forearms before closing in towards the front row again, making space for Jinki to set and Minseok to attack. He did it with vigour, driven by a single purpose of claiming another point, but his movement was rushed, just way too predictable.

“Oh, what a brilliant save by Jung Jaeyoung of All-Net! He wouldn't let that one go.”

So no, of course, that was not enough. 

The ball returned to their side of the court in a blistering spike, the one that sent Jonghyun sliding down the floor to punch it up and caught by Jinki again before the rhythm count returned to the back of their minds like a religious mantra.

Pass, set, tip.

Pass, set, attack.

Pass, set, spike.

One, two, three. One, two—

Minho gave Yunho a knowing sidelong glance before the taller man launched forward forcefully, prompting action from the All-Net blockers with their arms flailed high in a far-fetched attempt to shut off the hit.

However, what awaited them was not a charge from the opposite hitter but the captain himself as he jumped higher from the back row, slamming the ball right above the net and sending it straight to the ground in a booming thump while the crowd cheered aloud.

“And there he goes again, Choi Minho!” The announcer laughed heartily, taken aback but unarguably used to powerful spikes from the said man. “Beautifully done with the fake hit from Jung Yunho before the crosscourt monster piped and had it all the way in. 120 km/h from the back, that was sick, mate.”

And someone—a random someone—amid the rowdy audience on the bleachers seemed to agree with the comment because he couldn’t peel his hand off his mouth, still confounded by the whole scene that just unfolded before his eyes even after people had moved on and the game resumed as usual.

—

“Holy moly! He smacked the hell out of the floor, and the ball bounced to hit that poor bloke’s face!” Kibum screeched at the replay, even looked away at the slow-mo, but Taemin was quiet. 

No, he fell silent. 

No, he might as well fall in love with this man called the crosscourt monster. A crosscourt monster, huh? A captain, too. Who was he, again? Which one was he? The one with the blinding smile, right? That one? Choi what?

“—min. Taemin!”

He blinked in surprise and turned to face Kibum, whose facial expression was somewhat unreadable. Taemin scratched his nape while grinning apologetically, awkward and visibly flustered under his friend's scrutiny. “Y-yes?”

“I’ve been calling your name five times. What’s up with you? Focus!” Kibum chided while jerking his chin at the libero. “The second set is about to start.”

Oh. Right. 

Taemin slid his gaze back to the main arena and continued observing until it was pinned to the man standing way outside the court box, skilful fingers rolling the ball back and forth in preparation for the