“So let me get this straight. You two want to join the soccer team?”

Coach Choi, Minho’s dad, stared with a little incredulity at the two boys who presented themselves before him. He narrowed his eyes at them suspiciously, “Did my son put you up to this?”

“Come now, Uncle. You know we aren’t that bad,” Changmin said with his most winning smile and the coach had to acknowledge that there was some truth to it since he had often watched them playing in his own backyard. “Well okay, I can’t vouch for Kyuhyun’s skills here,” he added with a sideways mocking glance at his friend.

“I used to be on the soccer team, !”

Changmin snorted, “That was in middle school, idiot!”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Coach Choi put up a hand to stop the two friends from further insulting each other. He didn’t exactly know what game they were playing and truthfully, he didn’t really care. They were his son’s friends and he knew them well enough to know that they were quite alright, if a little prone to sarcasm sometimes. Of course, he was just really a little bit surprised that they were actually here on the soccer field asking to play when they never showed an interest in competitive sports before.

“Coach! Do you want me to start letting the guys run their laps?” one of the guys from the soccer team approached them.

It was Donghae, the varsity’s team captain. He saw Kyuhyun and Changmin and nodded and smiled at them in recognition. There was a questioning light in his eyes though as he saw that the two boys were in sports attire.

“Thank you Donghae, yeah you do that,” Coach Choi replied, “I just need to talk to these boys for a sec.”

Donghae playfully saluted and nodded again to Kyuhyun and Changmin before he turned and trotted back to the practice field. The other players have already started to arrive and Kyuhyun and Changmin could see Minho among them, a knowing smirk on his face as he looked at them from the other side of the field. The team’s striker, Yunho, was also there waiting for Donghae’s instructions while the goalkeeper, Siwon, was taking a drink from his sports bottle.

The reason for Kyuhyun and Changmin’s unexpected passion for soccer was now explained but of course Coach Choi wouldn’t know that.

“Boys,” the coach began as he scratched his head, “You do know that tryouts always start even before the beginning of the semester right? We don’t let anyone in when the season is already under way.”

Kyuhyun smiled and said in his most wheedling tone, “We know that ahjussi. We’re not planning to join the varsity right now. As Changmin said, the last time I was on a soccer field competing was in middle school. I played forward and we won the championships,” Kyuhyun tried to say it modestly… but failed. Changmin winced but Coach Choi didn’t notice anything wrong. 

“Anyway,” he continued hurriedly, “Changmin and I decided that we needed some practice. A refresher if you will before tryouts next semester. So we were wondering if you could help us join the soccer club. I know we’re a month late for enlistment but at least, that will be easier to manage than joining the varsity, right?”

“And you could test us right now,” Changmin added, “That’s why we came dressed and prepared.” 

“Please let us join, Uncle,” Kyuhyun pleaded and resorted to using his puppy, brown eyes although he knew he would never hear the end of Changmin’s teasing after, “We already told Minho about this weeks ago but he wouldn’t help us that’s why we decided to come directly to you,” Kyuhyun easily consigned his friend to the devil.

Changmin was now subtly covering a smirk with his hand. Sometimes, he really admired how easily his best friend could lie through his teeth.

“Oh, Minho didn’t tell me anything,” the older man frowned, “He should have told me, aish that boy! I could have let you sign up for the club then.” Kyuhyun and Changmin both hid a grin. “Oh alright, I’m the club’s faculty adviser anyway so it’s my prerogative if I’ll permit you to join even this late.”

The two friends were now smiling openly. 

“Mind you, I’m not going to go easy on you. It’s your job to catch up on practice and fit in with the formation and your teammates.”

“We know, Coach,” Changmin assured him as the three of them started walking towards the others, “That’s why we came here so we can catch practice with the varsity.” 

“Donghae, come here!” 

Donghae broke off from running along with his teammates and approached them at his coach’s summons. “These two here,” Coach Choi pointed to them, “are joining the soccer club. It’s late in the semester and they want to catch up. They’ve played soccer before so there’s no problem there. Club practice is on Wednesday but I want them in shape by then so they’re all yours.” Then he grinned as he added thoughtfully, “Treat them like your delinquent players. Enjoy!” He winked before walking away to survey the others.

Well now I know where Minho inherits his sadistic streak, Kyuhyun thought wryly, Enjoy indeed! Then he transferred his gaze to Donghae who was looking at them, head cocked to one side.

“I distinctly remember you saying you’re not interested to do sports,” the team captain told him while to Changmin, “And didn’t you quit varsity baseball because you didn’t like fan girls following you around?”

Kyuhyun grinned as Changmin cleared his throat, knowing he was thinking of a fast explanation, “Actually not so much the girls but I was a freshman and the practice hours was taking a lot of my free time,” then he hastily added as Donghae stared in confusion since soccer team practice was also going to eat up a lot of free time, “I mean free time to study! Dude, like I said, I was in first year and I wanted to do well to show my parents. But it’s no problem for me now since I’ve adjusted to college life.”

“Same,” Kyuhyun simply answered and subtly elbowed his friend who had let out a snicker.

Donghae was looking at them suspiciously but what was he to do? He got his coach’s orders and he definitely didn’t like to argue with these two. They knew big words that he didn’t as he reluctantly admitted to himself. So he just motioned for them to follow him.

“It was the girls,” Kyuhyun taunted Changmin in whispering tones.

“And you used to have a crush on him,” Changmin shot back at him, smirking wickedly.

Kyuhyun glared at Changmin mouthing “it wasn’t…!” then fixed a smile to his face as Donghae looked back at them to explain that the team was running laps to warm-up and they should do the same. The others were already on the other side of the field so Donghae left them telling them to start where they are and catch up to the rest before cutting across the field to join his teammates.

“Don’t talk to me,” Kyuhyun snarled as he and Changmin jogged side by side. Changmin just chuckled but stayed silent.

How could he forget that Changmin still remembered that dumb confession he made when they had one of those heart-to-heart talks they inevitably have when it was just the two of them out drinking each other.

Donghae was a year older than them and he was part of the Freshman Welcoming Committee who was assigned to Kyuhyun’s group. Siwon was also there and Kyuhyun had drunkenly confessed to Changmin one night that Donghae and Siwon were two of the handsomest guys he had seen in his whole life and that he especially liked Donghae’s face. 

He had heard that Donghae, while not exactly a smart student, was nevertheless pretty popular and he had overheard one of the girls in his major say to a friend that practically everyone had fallen in love with Donghae at one time or another. So it was perfectly understandable that Kyuhyun also at one time had a platonic, man-crush on him, right? 

Of course Changmin didn’t agree on the understandable and platonic parts.

They jogged in silence and Kyuhyun’s eyes unconsciously followed the varsity team’s progress. Donghae was at the back, supervising the other players and Kyuhyun dwelt a moment or two on the team captain’s form.

He was so over Donghae. Like seriously.

“Your target is the one at the front,” Changmin said and Kyuhyun whipped his head to glare again at his friend. But Changmin was looking straight ahead, an innocent expression on his face, “Just reminding you.” 

“Just concentrate on how you’ll approach yours. I’m not giving you ideas next time,” Kyuhyun retorted as Changmin scowled. He had smugly reminded Changmin that joining the soccer team as a way to get close to their targets was his idea. 

Kyuhyun proceeded to ignore his friend as he thought back to the task at hand. His gaze subtly followed Siwon this time. The boy was, as Changmin said, at the head of the column, jogging alongside Minho who Kyuhyun was sure, wanted to be at the front, treating it like a marathon, even if they were just running practice laps.

Not for the first time did it cross Kyuhyun’s mind that Siwon looked like some sort of Greek god. That face, that body. And the guy was the son of one of the richest men in the country. 

Kyuhyun’s eyes narrowed, thinking deeply. Siwon must surely be used to girls (and boys) falling at his feet. How would he react to one more lovesick victim if said victim was him? He had never really given much thought to Siwon’s type before much less, investigating if he actually liked boys in that way.

I need to walk on ing eggs. One false move and splat!

They spent the next ten minutes following after the soccer team. Then Donghae signalled his players to stop and gave them their tasks of preparing the practice equipment or rather just Kyuhyun, Changmin and a couple of boys who were also from the soccer club but not part of the varsity team. Like the two friends, some soccer club members would attend the varsity practices.

As Kyuhyun positioned plastic cones on the field, he saw that there were now quite a number of people on the stands and he remembered that every varsity team had its own number of fans who watched not just their games but also their practice sessions. From the corner of his eye, he can see Siwon doing some stretches and he could not fail to hear some of the girls uttering poorly muffled squeals at the sight.

He rolled his eyes and went on his task when he suddenly heard someone shout, “Hey, Hae!”

It was Eunhyuk, the dance club president and Donghae’s best friend. Then as Kyuhyun surveyed the stands again, he saw his friend Gyuri. He smirked, let’s see how you separate the EunHae twins, he thought since everyone knew how close the two were.

Kyuhyun still had the smirk in place when he turned his gaze back to the field. And met Siwon’s eyes.

Uh, is it just me or is he suddenly nearer?

Kyuhyun was sure that Siwon had been doing his stretches a little farther away before. But he didn’t think anymore of it since Siwon was smiling at him, revealing his dimples.

He let his half-smile be frozen on his face and he gave Siwon an acknowledging nod before looking at the ground, pretending that he was inspecting if he had put the cones in their proper positions. When he had determined that an appropriate amount of time had passed, he glanced back up but looked to the stands this time. Darn it, why did I become nervous?

Kyuhyun was a little distracted and it was a few moments before it registered on his brain that Gyuri had spotted him and was looking at him half-suspiciously. He smirked and gave a slight sideways tilt to his head at Eunhyuk and Donghae chatting. Donghae had approached the bleachers to talk to Eunhyuk when he called him.

Gyuri just smiled and gave a similar meaningful tilt to her head at the girl beside her. It was Jung Jessica and Kyuhyun understood at once. She had brought her classmate and Donghae’s former girlfriend Jessica to distract him while she went for Eunhyuk. Then Gyuri narrowed her eyes at him, obviously telling him to mind his own business.

Kyuhyun just chuckled, they knew the girls’ ongoing game but they had kept their own contest a secret from them. I have my own fish to fry Gyuri, Kyuhyun thought it was a pity that he couldn’t tease his friend this time but he let it go and just winked at her to let her know that he wasn’t doing any teasing. Gyuri gave him a playful flying kiss in return.

Then he turned back to glance at his teammates and once more locked eyes with Siwon, who looked nearer again this time and from the piercing way he stared at Kyuhyun, had obviously seen his and Gyuri’s exchange. Oh ! Does he suspect something? But Siwon suddenly avoided eye contact with him and seemed to be nodding at himself before resuming his stretching position.

Before Kyuhyun could analyze what happened, Donghae came trotting back to them and called them to order. They spent the next thirty minutes doing some short drills: dribbling, passing, crossing, etc. Then Donghae suddenly announced that he’ll be dividing the team in pairs to work on specific plays. 

“Which position did you play?” he suddenly asked Kyuhyun.

“I was the left forward on my team.”

“And you?” this time to Changmin.

“I didn’t play officially since I was more into baseball as you know but I played defense in high school PE, usually centre back.”

“Alright, let’s see you practice your scoring skills. Kyuhyun, you will team up with Siwon,” Donghae pointed to the goalkeeper then frowning thoughtfully, “Well, I suppose there’s no time like the present for that baptism of fire. Changmin and Yunho, pair up.” And he continued grouping the others in twos.

It was a credit to the soccer varsity team and its team captain that they were quite an affable bunch. After all, Kyuhyun and Changmin were technically neophytes and here they were, being given to the team’s two veteran players to be babysat. It was especially true for Changmin’s case considering the varsity’s striker, Yunho, was also its star player.

Or, maybe Donghae was messing with them and taking the coach’s orders to heart by precisely pairing them up with the hardest players.

Of course, it didn’t really matter as a meaningful glance passed between the two friends. 

“Hey,” Siwon nodded vaguely to Kyuhyun as they went a little away from the others to practice. The younger boy wondered why the goalkeeper suddenly seemed distant when he had been his usual smiley self just before… uh-oh, did he really notice how he and Gyuri kept signalling about Eunhyuk?

“Hyung, haven’t talked to you in a while,” Kyuhyun decided to approach the boy with a friendly if unoriginal greeting. He and Siwon weren’t from the same major but they had a lot of mutual friends and hang out as a group once in a while. 

Siwon smiled then, revealing those dimples that Kyuhyun knew had girls sighing dreamily. “You’ve grown up.”

An eyebrow raised in surprise, Kyuhyun stared at his sunbae. But Siwon seemed to think nothing was odd with what he just said. “I was going over to welcome you to the team,” he continued as he picked up the ball and tossed it up and down, “but you were kinda busy.”

Huh? Busy with what? Kyuhyun was even now more confused, maybe he’s talking about me setting up the equipments?Then he heard a familiar voice shout, “Go Kyuhyunnie!”

Ugh, Gyuri! Kyuhyun mentally face-palmed in embarrassment but he smiled through gritted teeth as he looked back again to his friend at the stands. He was expecting to hear a snicker from his other friend in the field and heard none. Curious, he turned around and was surprised to see Changmin and Yunho seemingly glaring at each other. Nice.

He turned to look back at his partner and encountered another frown. Siwon was looking at him seriously and Kyuhyun was taken aback with what he said next, “You know Kyuhyun, soccer or whatever sports you join should be about playing because you love the game,” and as the younger boy continued to stare at him with mouth hanging slightly open in surprise, Siwon continued, “It shouldn’t be because of impressing girls or whatever reason not connected to the game.”

Uh, so does that include me joining the team so I can seduce you? Kyuhyun thought, his usual humour coming back as he found amusement at the older boy’s seriousness. 

Siwon still had that disapproving look on his face and Kyuhyun tried hard not to roll his eyes. I didn’t know he’s also this priggish. He seriously needs to take out that self-righteous poker from up his . 

The goalkeeper started bouncing the ball alternately on his knees and feet and Kyuhyun got ready to catch it. With a well-aimed kick, Siwon aimed it high up above Kyuhyun’s head but the younger boy didn’t practice the whole of Sunday yesterday with Changmin and Minho just to get embarrassed by a simple shot.

Kyuhyun bounded upward and effortlessly caught the ball with both hands. He grinned at Siwon and almost winked just to see how the goalkeeper would react. Siwon’s face remained impassive and he immediately made a half-crouching stance, signalling to the other boy that it was his turn to try and make the ball get pass him. 

Kyuhyun’s eyes narrowed as he remembered how irritatingly stuffy Siwon was and something really quite impish crossed his mind, Alright, that does it. I’ll make you so gay for me, you’ll hurt so much. As he bounced the ball with his knees, he gave in to his wayward instincts. He smirked at Siwon and winked as he kicked the ball with all his might, concentrating on making sure that even if Siwon caught the ball, he’d received the full force of it. 

He was obviously going to try to impress. 

Kyuhyun didn’t exactly know what happened next. All he saw was Siwon suddenly doubling over, other players started shouting, some of the people on the stands stood up and as Kyuhyun tried to analyze why he suddenly heard Changmin’s loud laughter, he now saw Siwon firmly clutching the front of his crotch, his face in pain and that’s when he realized what he had hit.

The Choi family jewels. Oh dear Lord.

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A/N: So typical of my life, I get time for my WonKyu fix then work is piled up on me again and I forgot putting the chapters up *thud* XD So sorry for the late update and thanks again to the new subscribers and the commenters :D