TARGET || HEEJAKE

10

"Sorry, I shouldn't really pry into your matters-"

"It's about basketball." Jake interrupted. "I can't really hold steady. Fuck, the ball seems to be running from me."

Heeseung laughed when he heard Jake cursing for the first time since they met. Jake wasn't lying completely. He didn't like basketball the last time he thought about it, nor does he like it now.

"Do you want to learn?" Heeseung proposed, turning his body to face Jake.

"I could use help." Shit.

"Well, I would be glad enough to help you."

Jake's face was a question mark. Yes, his roommate might be an all-rounder and that's the rarest things heirs are. There was something about this target. Jake was surprised but he let it slide. Then, he smiled so faintly, Heeseung didn't notice.

"You do basketball?" Jake asked, playfully.

"Being the captain of a basketball team comes with that, yeah." Heeseung shied away, but there was a hint of pride somewhere in that sentence and Jake admired it.

Then he remembered what he saw Heeseung wearing the first time he laid eyes on him. That was supposed to be a jersey. Then, all of a sudden, he remembered how good he looked in it.

Heeseung pulled Jake out of the dorm very effortlessly, mainly because Jake didn't have the excuses he so desperately needed. But as happy as he might have been a few days ago to be outside the campus alone with Heeseung, now he rather stayed inside the dorms to ensure being invisible to most eyes.

But here he was, sighing repeatedly, making Heeseung wonder if he was ill. Another chance, gone to waste. Again, not a lot of people die on the basketball field. Maybe he'd be able to show Jungwon how he had benefited from his target.

The field is a little long of a walk from the campus gates. 15 minutes and 34 seconds, as Jake counted, because it was the only thing he found distracting enough to keep his target off his mind. He needed fresh air, and he didn't know until now, when the cool wind kept dancing around and past his cheeks and the bare skin of his hands. It would be half past 11 any moment now, and Jake knew fram repetitively glancing at his watch.

Once he stepped past the thigh-high gate, into the field, there was nothing but a small bench and a single basketball beside it.

While his stare never left Heeseung when he walked and bent for the ball, he noticed Heeseung was wearing the same jersey. When the latter took his jacket off, Jake eyed the back of his jersey which read '1'.

The next time he thought about it, he was already on the field with Heeseung teaching him dribble methods, to which he didn't pay a tad bit of attention. Heeseung noticed and threw the ball at him, which he caught with ease. A surprised expression danced on his face.

"I think you've got it. Why don't you show me?" Heeseung pulled both his hands behind his head and walked to Jake, without a smile.

Jake didn't realize he had yet to answer Heeseung when all he really saw was how the muscles flexed around his exposed biceps. It was a sight. And he wanted to devour it.

No. He shook his head, pushing the thought out of his mind, and stepped away from Heeseung before starting to dribble. Heeseung began smiling and just then, somehow, Jake messed up and the ball fruitfully rolled to a stop some steps away. He sighed.

Heeseung repetitively fetched the ball which, no matter how much Jake tried, kept running from him. When the ball finally didn't want to run from Jake, making him able to pass and run while dribbling, Heeseung took the ball away from him and threw it at the basket. With the littlest effort, the ball went perfectly through the netted hoove. Heeseung smiled at the small achievement, and turned to Jake, who looked impressed because the flush of his cheeks gave it away.

"Let's try that?" Heeseung pointed to the basket.

It was certifically an unusual chain of events, when Jake thought about shattering the lights surrounding the field to hide his blushing face when Heeseung's hand would brush past him while dribbling and passing, and making baskets, which was credited to Heeseung alone. He was irritated at how long it was taking him to learn a damned sport. Never before, he thought.

He stood with the ball in hand when Heeseung held his shoulders, massaging them softly while Jake's grip on the ball tightened, face flushed.

"It's okay. Getting the basket on your first day of basketball might be hard, Jake." He said, as if trying to soothe the shorter. "You've already learnt how to handle the ball and pass. That's a lot."

Jake lifted his hands a little and Heeseung backed a couple of steps. He put his hands in the air, aiming for the basket while Heeseung folded his arms on his chest and waited. When he made the shot, the ball flew past the post and he squeezed shut his eyes in embarrassment.

Heeseung picked the ball up and handed it to Jake. Jake didn't look at him, but Heeseung moved behind Jake and tapped his elbows.

"Lift your hands." Jake did as Heeseung had demonstrated earlier.

He pushed one of his arms while pulling down the other. He instructed Jake to concentrate on one hand to guide the ball, and Jake nodded in spite of the heat against his cheeks. The synthetic of Heeseung's jersey rubbed against the soft of Jake's T-shirt.

Heeseung withdrew his hands and Jake's spine chilled at loss of heat.

"Go."

Jake threw the ball, hoping for a basket or it would be the last time he even tried. But then, the ball hit the post and fell to the ground. Into and through the basket. Jake smiled wide, so wide he doesn't remember smiling like that in a while.

Heeseung's hand swung over his shoulder and he felt the warmth coming back. The compliments from Heeseung didn't matter as long as he had his hands on Jake, and that wasn't acceptable. But Jake didn't care, just for a little bit more.

They returned to the dorm after half past two, sweaty and smiling.

⇿

Another little update~

I wrote this idea unintentionally but then wanted to make a chapter out of it. I hope it's not as bad as I think it is. Do correct me if anything is wrong :))

Happy reading, my heejake nation~