Seokjin and the Heirs of the Korean Miracle - BOOK 1 ✔

Chapter 7 : Tired

A towel over his head to wipe up his sweat, Seokjin took advantage of the fabric that partially hid him to greedily swallow a puff of Ventolin that his trainer had given him back.

He always hid as much as possible to take his medication because he was afraid that would be a reason for refusal for sports recruiters who were looking for young people in good physical shape, not thirteen-year-old teenagers with failing respiratory systems. And also, he didn't want to give the impression of wanting to move his opponents with his health problems.

After taking a deep breath, he exhaled long and very slowly as he used to do after inhaling the medicine that opened his bronchi and took the opportunity to consider the second part of the match more clearly.

Even though he was winning the match with those two goals ahead of Jungkook, he had never been so tired after a first half of a match. He felt like he had just played a full game.

He would have liked to rest and ask his team to play defense to maintain the score but Dae-Ho absolutely wanted to score a goal himself in this match and urged him to continue the attack. Also, Seokjin didn't want to disappoint his new competitive friend. Jungkook seemed so happy to be able to compete with him, and they were friends, Seokjin couldn't deny him that.

He suddenly felt two hands rest on his shoulders at the same time that a chin and the weight of a head rested on his own head. Taken by a sudden anguish feeling trapped under the thick fabric and at the mercy of the newcomer, he felt his breathing quicken and wanted to remove the towel from his head but a voice stopped him as a hand grabbed his, whispering to him with a familiar singing voice:

"Shhhhhtttt! don't move Seokjinniiiie!"

"J-Jimin," Seokjin stammered under the towel, refraining from ripping the towel from his head and pushing the boy away.

He didn't like knowing Jimin was behind him when he couldn't see him, or knowing that his face was under a towel that Jimin could tighten at any time because he had the feeling that he could choke at any moment and he had a panic fear of asphyxiation, the feeling of not being able to breathe. In other words, it was his phobia.

Despite the Ventolin taken just before, he was so afraid of not being able to breathe that he had difficulty breathing even though there was no lack of air at the moment. From his point of view, Jimin was a vicious boy and unlike Taehyung, even if he smiled more and had a baby face, he could hurt him a lot and Seokjin also had no doubt that he could have fun choking him if the mood took him. But Seokjin could not afford to be in pain or in respiratory distress a few minutes before the match resumed.

Jimin felt his distress even without seeing his face.

"Wow, wow!" he sang, massaging Seokjin's broad shoulders to relax him, "don't panic like that, I'm not going to hurt you, so take it easy, okay?"

"O-Okay," Seokjin said trying in vain to calm down, squeezing his precious Ventolin against him until his knuckles were whitened.

Jimin sighed. He sat up, raising his head from Seokjin's and took the towel from his head, which had the immediate effect of reassuring Seokjin who took a deep breath before sighing with relief. He blinked as the light broke and felt Jimin lean over his shoulder to ask:

"Better?"

"Y-yes... thank you..." Seokjin thanked even though Jimin was the one who had just caused him this small panic attack.

Jimin's smile widened and he patted his head affectionately the same way he would with a puppy.

"Good boy! So tell me Seokjin, does it look like it's going like clockwork for you in this match?" he questioned casually.