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Sweat dripped down his face, heat radiated off his overworked body and his heartbeat pounded loud in his ears as he drilled the same set over and over again, never letting up. He was determined to get these moves right before leaving for the day, which means staying to practice long after everyone else had gone home, again.

The only one left in the nearly abandoned gym besides him was Min Yoongi, also known as Suga -- a nickname the team had jokingly given him because of his pale skin only to have it stick -- best shooting guard and the best friend-slash-tormentor of the energetic freshman still running around on the floor of the basketball court. Yoongi was the shortest on the team and with his recently dyed hair, numerous piercings and sour attitude he was the school’s ultimate bad boy, but in reality he was a huge teddy bear with a soft spot for anything cute or sweet. He was currently lounged on the bleachers watching the boy below practice with an amused expression on his face wondering if there was ever anything else on the kid’s mind besides training.

Soon the fatigue begins to visibly set in and Yoongi is witness to more than a few fumbles and missed shots than should be normal. Becoming impatient and wanting to expedite the kid’s process of tiring out he starts to whine like a child.

“Come on, why don’t you give it a rest for today? Coach was more than impressed with your performance today. Just pack up so we can go home already," he raised his eyebrows pointedly, "Jin-hyung’s making dinner tonight and I know Taehyung's not going to save any for me...again.”

Wide-eyed and panting the young boy on the court paused long enough to shake his damp and matted hair out of his face and look up at Yoongi perched in the bleachers.

Jungkook may have been the youngest player on the team, but no one could complain about it. If Yoongi was a bad boy, then Jungkook was the perfect picture of innocence. Pale and raven-haired with the darkest and prettiest eyes of any student – girl or guy – in the school, all he had to do was throw a pout or his adorable smile at anybody and they would give him practically anything he wanted. He was by far the cutest boy in the school and girls and boys alike threw themselves at him, trying to get his attention. They even had a nickname for him that seemed to have caught on among the basketball team members. Jungkookie.

“But hyung, the championship game is in two weeks and I still haven’t perfected my jump shot,” his trademark pout taking up residence on his face and Yoongi just rolls his eyes, slumping into his seat, moping.

He really didn’t enjoy having to miss dinner because of this brat.

Yoongi eyed Jungkook who had resumed his frantic drills, secretly proud of him, though he’d never admit it. Just because Jungkook was cute didn’t mean he got his position on the team for free. Yoongi had to admit, the kid really knew how to play. First day of school and he shows up for tryouts along with every other green freshman hoping to get a spot on the best basketball team in the district. Out of all of them he did look the most promising, but the upperclassmen still scoffed and laughed presuming that once again none of the freshman would make the team this year. They never did.

He sure proved them wrong.

One quick game later and Jungkook all but flattened their captain Kris, earning the rest of the team’s respect and the position of new point guard from Coach Kim.

Being the youngest, Jungkook definitely had something to prove to everyone. He worked harder than anyone and always practiced his off when he felt he needed improving. He was hard on himself, but no one could say it didn’t pay off. Jungkook was the star of the team and was their best hope of winning the championship this year.

But they wouldn’t win anything if he burnt himself out right before the big game. So Yoongi took it upon himself to drag his sorry off the court before he could collapse.

“You’re not going to perfect anything at this rate. You’ve dropped more balls than Namjoon in the last ten minutes, and that’s saying something.” Namjoon was their dangerous half-robot klutz of a friend who always seemed to be breaking or dropping things. It was safer to keep him away from sports or anything potentially life threatening.

Yoongi carefully picked his way down the bleachers before jumping down the last few rows to meet Jungkook, jacket slung haphazardly over his shoulder and bandana-slash-cap perfectly placed on his meticulously styled red hair giving him the tough guy/rapper image he tried so hard to keep up. “Come on Kookie. Get some rest,” the corner of his mouth quirked up into that smirk he always wore when teasing Jungkook. “Besides, it’s like you said, you have two whole weeks before the tournament!”

Jungkook pierced him with a withering look clearly not amused. Nevertheless he rolled his eyes in defeat admitting that his hyung was right. He needed rest. He lobbed the ball back into the basket with the other balls and grabbed his stuff, jogging towards the locker rooms to hit the showers before going home.

“I told you not to call me that anymore!" he shot off over his shoulder as the door swung shut behind him.

Yoongi only scoffed in amusement. He was never going to stop calling him that.

As he stood out there waiting, Yoongi rocked back and forth on his feet contemplating telling Jungkook what was on his mind. He glanced up quickly to see if Jungkook had finished his shower yet. He looked back at his feet and frowned. Nah, as much as he felt bad about it he didn’t want to spoil the surprise for Jungkook.

When he heard the click of the lock on the doors Yoongi smiled up at Jungkook, glad he was finally going to get to go home and eat dinner. Jin’s stir-fried glass noodles were the best.

“Hey, tomorrow I’m gonna be busy after school and Jin has to work late, so neither of us can hang out with you. Will you be ok going home by yourself?” Yoongi internally smirked and narrowed his eyes. He wanted to see if Jungkook would actually say anything.

Jungkook’s face visibly fell but he didn’t let Yoongi see it. He was really looking forward to spending tomorrow with his hyungs, but if they had things to do then he couldn’t pressure them into spending his birthday with him. That would be selfish.

He looked up and managed a smile. “Sure, don’t worry about me hyung. I’ll be fine.” He looked back down and tried not to cry.

A/N: Sorry if there is bad grammar or what-not. I promise I will go back and edit later. I just have so much homework rn it's not even funny.

Also. Sorry that it's so short.