oh my boy! | sunsunjake

Chapter 21

The Big Day

Wed

Week after week, training gets harder and harder. It was a struggle for Sunoo to keep up at first, with his body sore almost after every practice, but soon enough, he found his rhythm and adjusted well. Not perfectly, unlike Jake, who barely seemed like he had trouble. Two years of experience are incomparable.

Sunoo sits on the bench, chugging down his water as he spectates the captain swiftly jog and run around, scoring almost all the shots he makes. Every time Jake practices nowadays, his aura and facial expression change to a more out-of-reach feel. He seems too intimidating. Too unapproachable. Could it be because he is the captain? Perhaps it means the world to him? Sounds reasonable. Sunoo wanted to talk to him, sliding in some comradery, but he was too distant. 'I'm out of water...' The moment he stands up to have a refill, a visitor appears. "Hi!" She smiles, waving her hand as she closes the distance between them. Pretty unexpected, considering that she was never here.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to spectate. Didn't feel like going home yet."

"...Do you want me to fill that up for you?"
Su-Jin points at his blue, close-to-empty jug clasped around his hand, figuring he is on his way to the fountain.

As this moment transpired, someone watched the two from afar interact, his focus, for some reason, diverting to them. For the past few days, Jake had noticed the closeness of Su-Jin and Sunoo and how she would tuck her hair behind her ear – done subconsciously, perchance. Although it caused a bit of fluctuation in his feelings, he dusts it under a rug, still unable to comprehend anything. He chooses not to act upon it either. "They look good together." Hyunjin comments, watching the two head for the exit. "Yeah. They do." Jake's face contorts, hearing the way he replied. He sounded flat and deadpan in tone.

Taking the topic of closeness into consideration, it was not just Su-Jin who grew a buddy-buddy bond with Sunoo. It was also that Park Sunghoon guy. Jake has been feeling left out when it is just the three of them hanging out for the past week. Just when he thought that the two were two worlds apart, never had he imagined Sunoo and Sunghoon together were another kind of 'world' combined. Talking about books? The only ones he could remember reading were his textbooks and children's books he read as a child. That is about it of his journey with written works. Not the best, maybe not the worst either.

However, feeling left out was not the only thing that bothered him.

Jake

I just don't want him to replace me... Yeah. That's all. That's why.

2 weeks later - Fri

The most awaited day is in a few hours, and Sunoo can barely get food in his system. He practically skipped dinner, maybe having more or less three bites, and the rest was water. Feeling all bloated from the massive liquid intake, he sinks in his chair, waiting for everyone to finish their food so he can head upstairs right after. "Sunoo, you should eat. You have a big day tomorrow and need all the energy you can get." Worried, his mom appeals to him while his siblings stay quiet, eyeing the two. Giving a closemouthed answer, he rubs his tummy, signifying that he was too full to take just one bite – that he could explode if he proceeded. All his mother could do was look at him and sigh, knowing that she could not win against her son.

Now on his bed, Sunoo gets carried away with scrolling on his phone, oblivious of how much time has passed. A bad habit he picked up some time ago was to rely on his phone to distract anything that troubled him instead of helping himself. He promised he would fix that problem, but look at him now, lazily lying on his bed, forgetting about his upcoming match that had made him nervous since the moment Jake broke the news to him and his teammates. What filled his mind was how disgusting and sick he felt from all the water he chugged down.