aversion | bbangnyu

14

"This is so upsetting..." Younghoon whispered to himself when he saw Mrs Lee write an equation on the board that he'd never seen before. Just when he was starting to understand the basics of the last topic, the woman was moving onto the next.

He quickly flipped to the next page in his notebook and took as many notes as humanly possible. Even though he listened to the lecture word for word, he was left to stare at the first problem in utter confusion.

Glancing over at Chanhee's paper, Younghoon sighed when he saw that the boy was almost half way done with worksheet. He didn't want to bother Chanhee for the third day in a row, so he grabbed his pencil and tired his favorite way to do math: trial and error.

After ten minutes he realized that there was never going to be anything besides error if he kept going. "Chanhee..." he said quietly before tapping the boy's arm.

Chanhee looked up at Younghoon and quickly smiled, already knowing exactly what the elder was going to say.

"Can you...please help me?"

Moving his folder so he could slide his paper next to Younghoon's, Chanhee nodded. "It would feel weird if I didn't have to help you," he spoke.

"I'm sorry for making you do this every day," Younghoon said as he looked down at his lap, too embarrassed to make eye contact with the younger, "I just suck at this."

"Do you know how humiliating it would be if I even tried to play basketball?"

"What does that have to do with anything, Chanhee?"

"We all suck at something. I think it's safe to say I'm worse at sports than you are at math," the younger explained.

A smile spread across Younghoon's face as he suddenly got what felt like the best idea of his life. "Do you want to learn?" He asked excitedly.

"Learn what...?"

"Learn to play basketball—I could teach you then we'd be even."

Chanhee pressed his lips together tightly and took a few moments to ponder the idea. "I don't...I'd just embarrass myself."

Quickly shaking his head, Younghoon dismissed the thought. "The gym is empty after school today. It'd just be us...and I won't care how bad you are."

"You really want to? I'm perfectly fine helping you without anything in return," Chanhee rambled.

"I do. I think it'll be fun—I never get to teach anybody anything."

"Fine. You can teach me how to play basketball." 

✨✨✨

Younghoon stifled a laugh as he watched Chanhee attempt to dribble a basketball. The boy seemed to flinch every single time it bounced back up at him.

Chanhee quickly caugh the ball and held it firmly against his chest. "This is why I didn't want to do this—you're laughing at me," he spoke, a small pout resting on his lips.

Forcing the smile on his face to go away, Younghoon shook his head. "I'm not laughing...I was just watching you," he clarified as he reached out to grab the ball, "you're using your palm to hit the ball, you want to use more of your fingers. Plus you could hurt your hand if you keep hit it too hard that way, I don't want you to get bruises."

Chanhee let out a small hum and watched as the elder showed him how to actually do it. When Younghoon tossed him the ball, he managed to catch it unlike when they first started. "Okay..." he whispered before doing exactly what Younghoon had done seconds prior, "like this?"

"Mmm...almost, but you're letting the ball go a little too high." Younghoon reached out and gently grabbed one of Chanhee's hands, causing the boy to stiffen up even more. He pulled the boy's hand up so it was just above his hips, "Don't go any higher than this, okay?"

Chanhee quickly nodded, hoping that his cheeks weren't exposing how embarrassed he felt. "Okay..."

After teaching Chanhee the basics of how to maneuver with the basketball, Younghoon decided he was ready to shoot the ball.

"I feel like I'm being trained for the NBA..." Chanhee muttered to himself as he walked around in a circle while simultaneously dribbling.

"You're almost ready to be scouted."

"Oh shut up."

Younghoon laughed at the boy before walking up and easily stealing the ball from his hands. "Are you ready to try to make in there?" He asked as he pointed to the hoop.

A frown formed on Chanhee's face before he mumbled, "I know what the hoop is called."

Tossing the ball back to the younger, Younghoon sent him an encouraging smile. "Throw it," he spoke.

Chanhee took a while trying to line the ball up with the hoop. When he thought it was perfectly lined up, he threw the basketball and watched it completely miss the hoop and hit the empty bleachers. 

"That wasn't...so bad," Younghoon stated gently, trying to pretend like that wasn't the worst shot he'd ever seen.

Spinning around, Chanhee covered his face with his hands and let out a loud groan. "I want to cry," he said flatly, his words muffled by his hands, "so badly."

"Let me help you," Younghoon said before jogging across the gymnasium to retrieve the basketball. When he made it back to the younger, he stuck the ball under his arm and tried to pull Chanhee's hands away from his face. "Just let me help you with one more then we'll call it a day."

Although he never wanted to touch another basketball in his life after that, Chanhee reluctantly nodded. He followed Younghoon to the center of the court and took the ball.

"Okay..." Younghoon started as he placed his hands over Chanhee's, "You put one on the side...and one underneath just like this."

Trying to ignore the feeling of Younghoon basically holding his hands, the younger forced himself to nod. "Do I just throw it?" He asked quietly.

A small laugh slipped out of Younghoon when he heard his question. Instead of answering Chanhee directly, Younghoon crouched down and almost put his head on the younger's shoulder. He moved Chanhee's hands up and little to the left before whispering, "Ok...now throw it."

Chanhee almost dropped the ball when he heard how close Younghoon was, but instead threw as hard as he could. The ball rolled around on the hoop for a few seconds before falling through the net. "I...I did it!" He yelled excitedly, suddenly forgetting why he was so flustered seconds before.

Younghoon smiled at the boy's excitement and agreed, "You did it." 

———

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