"...and then Bogum sunbae lost his shit and beat him up. It was so messy, four of us had to hold him back and even then we weren't enough!!" Taehyung finally finished recounting an ugly fight that had happened between his teammates and a bystander.
The bystander was just standing by and watching their practice when their ball suddenly rolled over to him. With the entire team yelling "Ball!! Ball!!" at him, he panicked, picked up the ball, and threw it back to them. Only, the ball didn't reach them. It flew right over them and landed on a hard, thorny bush, effectively puncturing the ball.
"Oh god," Jeongguk chuckled and turned to his side, plopping his phone up against another pillow so that Taehyung could still see his face. "I still think it wasn't that guy's fault, though. Maybe Bogum sunbae was too frustrated or something," he said.
"Yeah, I think so too. Actually, the whole team thinks the same, but don't tell Bogum sunbae we said that, okay? We are all too on edge right now, so it's better not to mess with any of us," Taehyung said and turned to his side as well.
It was late at night and Jeongguk had been up and waiting for Taehyung's call, which came after Taehyung apparently returned home and took a shower. His damp hair partially covered his forehead and fell over his eyes, making Jeongguk pout a little. He loved Taehyung's hair, no doubt, especially when the said boy put a bandanna on it while playing, but he couldn't help but resent it at the moment for covering up Taehyung's pretty almond eyes.
He sighed. "I miss you," he said with a pout that automatically earned a pout back from his boyfriend. "I miss you too," Taehyung sighed. "I miss you so much that I called Junghyun hyung by your name almost twice just today," he added with a chuckle and it made Jeongguk chuckle as well.
"You know, I went up to our spot after lunch, but somehow, it didn't feel right without you there. So I barely sat and stared at the trees for like five minutes and then came back down for more laps around the ground," Taehyung continued.
Jeongguk blushed. "I returned from the park for the same reason yesterday," he chuckled. "I know it's actually a park that Yoongs, Jeongie and I have more memories with, but after that badminton evening, it kinda became full of our memories for me," he said.
Taehyung chuckled. "Okay. Enough sad talk. I'm not across the worl-"
"Certainly feels like it."
Taehyung pouted. "Come on, Gguk. I'm trying to be the cheerer here. Play along. How was your day?" he asked.
At that, Jeongguk got genuinely excited, his eyes gaining back the glint that they lacked for quite a while now. "It was great!! You wouldn't believe all the dishes that my mum came up with!! Jinnie hyung's parents came to Seoul to celebrate together, and damn, I loved it."
"Really? It was a simple celebration here at our house, apparently. I wasn't even there to witness it," Taehyung said, albeit slowly. As if he had to concentrate a little to form the sentences correctly.
That had Jeongguk pouting once again. "That's not fair," he said, "your coach could have given you guys this evening off. It's Christmas!! Everyone deserves to celebrate!!"
Taehyung chuckled, looking more relaxed. "It's okay, Gguk. We all know what we signed up for. Even the coach didn't get to celebrate with his family. After the match is done, if we get qualified for the scholarship, then we can celebrate. We won't even have the heart to do it until then, anyway," he explained. His words were slower than earlier, but he eventually got his point across.
"Hmm, you are right. I get your point. Did you open your gifts at least?"
"Yeah, my parents got me a watch that I've been wanting for quite a while now and my brother got me IU's album," Taehyung said and then chuckled. "He sucks at understanding my taste. I've played him a hundred songs, but he never even understands the difference between rock and pop. I appreciate that he gets it because he wants to impress me, though. All I have to do is act like I'm over the moon."
Jeongguk laughed at that. "If you don't like IU, though, you can give me that album. I would treat it like a diamond."
"Oh, you like pop?"
"Yeah. And IU more than any other singer!!"
"Okay, consider that my gift to you this Christmas, then. What else did you get?"
"OH, OH, OH!!" Jeongguk got excited again. "I got a PS5 from my parents, shoes from my uncle, an album from Jinnie hyung and an EARRING FROM MY AUNT!! Can you believe that?! Apparently, she and my parents planned on it together!! I got permission to get my ear pierced!! I'm so, so, so fucking excited, I can't belie-"
Jeongguk shut his mouth, noticing only then that Taehyung had fallen asleep.
He was only a little sad that Taehyung couldn't stay awake long enough to listen to all the gifts he got for Christmas, but he was glad he was getting the rest he needed.
A couple of minutes later, however, Taehyung woke up groggily, trying to pretend like he had been awake the entire time.
It made Jeongguk break into a fit of giggles.
"Just go to sleep, babe. Good night, love you," he said and Taehyung mumbled, "'Mm, nigh'" before falling back asleep again, this time with his lips pursed into a little pout.
Jeongguk felt this unexplainable urge to thrust his hand into the phone and play with those lips but pouted knowing that was not possible. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on his phone's screen instead, and hung up, letting his boyfriend sleep in peace. He knew he would have to wake early the next morning for the training and practice at school.
He then rolled over onto his back, threw an arm over his forehead and stared at his ceiling dreamily. Christmas had been great, but he had barely gotten to wish his boyfriend a Merry Christmas in the morning as the said boy was busy running ten laps around the playground.
It didn't feel right to finally be wishing him a proper Merry Christmas three minutes after the day had ended, but it wasn't like he had another option.
He sighed heavily. Dating a basketball player didn't seem to be as easy as he thought it was going to be.
He supposed he would have to work harder.
He didn't mind, though. Because he was in love.
He fell asleep soon, entering a dream world full of boxy grins and dreamy sighs.
