Yifan is totally cool with Tao having a boyfriend, really.
Really?
Yes, really.
No but I mean, really?
YES! Shut up heart. I'm fine. FINE I TELL YOU. Anyways...

"Zitao, please sit down. You're wasting your energy and you're among the starting squad." Yifan stands beside the bleachers, bouncing a ball casually under his hand while his roommate paces in front of him as he's been doing for the past twenty minutes.
Back and forth, back and forth, pause, look at the gates, sigh, repeat all of above.
Yifan is relieved when Tao gives a silent nod and settles in the spot beside him, but it's cut short when he sees Tao's brows knitted together tightly and his intense gaze at the gates of the court.
Not that Yifan isn't smart (he's doing a master in mathematics for crying out loud), but it doesn't take a genius to see who Tao is so anxiously waiting for.
Kim Jongin.
Or rather, Jonginie.
Yifan can see why Tao has fallen for such a man; calm, composed, sensitive and sweet, unlike his erratic (very, very erratic) cousin.
What he doesn't see, is why Tao wouldn't confess to him about dating Jongin.
He's even met the guy himself for goodness sake, but no, Tao didn't even breathe a word about it when he joined Yifan at the court in the afternoon that day for basketball practice.
Maybe he's scared of upsetting you?
In your dreams.
He wore a bright red blush all day and spoke few words; not that Yifan's complaining about the peace and quiet, but he kinda missed the kid's adorable (?) voice.
The only time he doesn't, is when Tao says 'Jonginie'; it comes out so naturally sweet and happy that it pricks at Yifan's heart, and puts Tao's 'Gege's or 'Duizhang's to shame.
How did he ever think they were affectionate at all, when they were in fact just friendly nicknames from his roommate?

"Jonginie!!"
Ouch, Yifan flinches, his eyes trailing after Zitao, who took flight from the bench immediately once he spotted that head of blonde hair at the gates.
He's not alone though; behind the teenager dressed in a dark grey hoodie and faded jeans, are two men and... is that a baby?
Yifan catches the ball in his hands, and he stands to see his roommate's visitors better.

"Oh my goodness!! Jongdae hyung, Minie hyung!!" Tao is throwing his arms around a man half a head shorter than him with prominent cheekbones and curvy lips, while Jongin gives the other man, who's even shorter and has puffy round cheeks, a wry smile.
Yifan watches on while Jongin takes the infant from the short man's arms so Tao can give him a hug, a horrible and sick feeling bubbly inside his chest.
What is this?
Jealousy, angst, loathe. Whatever you wanna call it.

"Hello Cupcake-yah~ Did you miss Uncle Jongin?"
Yifan feels like throwing himself into a pool of acid and bubbling away as Jongin coos at the infant before his eyes.
Those men, are Jongin's brother and brother-in-law, and Tao knows them; he's already met the family.
Yifan turns away, revulsion running thick in his veins.
Tao's relationship with Jongin is deeper than he initially thought, and Yifan can't make up his mind about which he's more upset about: being kept in the dark, or the realization of how serious Tao and Jongin's relationship is.
Either way, it leaves him with a very heavy chest, feeling suffocated and weighed down by the glee and fondness in Tao's distant voice.

The worst part about this whole thing, Yifan reckons, is that he can't hate Jongin even if he tried.
He looks away from the court briefly and steals a glance at the blonde teenager a couple of meters away.
Jongin is smiling and talking to his brother-in-law, Minseok (as he learns from Tao's squealing before the games started), when a couple of minutes ago he's cheering for Tao as he intercepts a pass and heads straight for the hoop, and before that he's pressing his lips against the baby boy's forehead, whispering what Yifan assumes are sweet things to him.
What is there to hate about this gentle soul?; the man is perfect inside out.
This guy's the best there is. You should be happy for Zitao.
Yeah, but I'm not.

"Yifan, we're swapping you in! Go go go!" A hard slap on Yifan's shoulder takes him back to reality, and the next second he's jogging onto the court and highfiving the tired teammate he's subbing for.
No time for feelings now, we have more serious matters at hand, such as how to bring our team to victory and keep the unbeaten record going for as long as possible.
Only three minutes left till the quarter and game ends, and they are seven points behind.
Yifan bites his lower lip as he blocks off a lob easily from the opposing team's defense, then dribbles up to the other end of the court and scores a two pointer.
The home audience cheers, anxious for the potential comeback.
Yifan may or may not have picked out Jongin's voice from the cheering; but he has no time or energy left to waste on anything other than the game.
Yifan receives the ball again from his teammate who has made a quick interception, and he slides past the opponents smoothly and dunks the ball through.
Despite being one of the laziest students in his class, he can be pretty serious when he needs to be; now is one of those times.
He tends to get the most amazing things when he gives his all, be it his end of year examination results or the title of Team Captain for the third year running, appointed by the coach himself in his second year.
He's the Ace when he chooses to be, best of the best.

"Goodness Yifan, when you go back to America I'll see to it that you're signed to Washington Wizards! I'll be watching you on tv!" The coach gives Yifan a tight squeeze on his arms and gives him an encouraging firm shake, his Wizards jersey riding a little up his beer belly.

"Uh... Thanks, but I'm from Canada."
-and I support Bulls..., Yifan gives a wry smile while the coach starts yapping about the game, and glances back at his roommate and Jongin, cooing at the infant in the latter's arms.
Best of the best, yet not as good as Kim Jongin.

"Gege?"

"I'm back here." Yifan answers, trying to hide the fatigue and bitterness from his voice; why do Tao's calls still sound so painfully sweet?
He turns the laundry basket over hastily and starts folding the clothes that he'd just been folding for the last fifteen minutes again.
Soon there's soft padding behind him, and a pair of slim hands reach out beside him, taking a white T-shirt from the pile to mimic Yifan's slow actions hesitantly.
For a while they don't speak, and Yifan tells himself that the teen is just tired like he is, but for other reasons.

"You left without me."
Or not...?

"You were with your... family. I didn't want to interrupt."
Ouch.
Yifan didn't expect it to hurt when he said 'family'; but they are kind of family already and all that's missing is a marriage certificate.

"Oh... That's what I was thinking too. I'm not their family and I didn't want to interrupt their family time and I was looking for you."
Yifan senses a small hint of hurt in Tao's voice, and he regrets leaving without a word; he regrets running away.

"I'm sorry I left... But I thought they'd have accepted you as family by now?"

"Maybe with Sehun, but not me." Tao shrugs and dumps a not so neatly folded shirt into the laundry basket.
Yifan stops his hands for a while and watches the raven haired boy with wary eyes.
The teen may seem like the fact doesn't bother him, but Yifan knows.
He knows how jealous and bitter Tao must feel, not being as close to the people he likes as he wants to be; It's a feeling he's familiar with.

"Come here..." Yifan whispers and reaches over to pull Tao into a comforting hug.
He fells the teen freeze at first, but Yifan figures it's from the awkward cross legged position they're sitting in.
Then Tao is climbing onto his lap and burying his nose into Yifan's shoulder, and Yifan has his hand rubbing circles in between the teen's shoulder blades and rocking him slowly.
Feeling Tao's fingers curling around the back of his collar and brushing against the bare skin of his neck, Yifan realizes that if he can be Tao's rock when Jongin isn't enough, then maybe he's okay with being friendzoned.

Author's Note:

When it see it you'll sh*t brix.