Belong | Min Yoongi

26: Present Day

Mr. Min turns his son towards him and fixes the younger man's coat. It's wrinkled a bit from Yoongi constantly moving and removing it, unsure if he looks better with or without it.

"Will you stop walking and fidgeting about? Your interview starts soon. I didn't get you this coat for you to not wear it."

Yoongi groans at his dad but smiles inside. Though he may not express it, he's incredibly thankful for his old man's presence the past few months, especially after you left.

He'd insisted for his son to focus on the games but would leave the shop open because he knows that Yoongi finds comfort inside. His dad would make his favorite food and watch all the games and make helpful comments and send chicken and beer to his coaching staff during late nights as they go over strategies and game play.

His dad has also only mentioned you once.

After finding out in the news that you were off to France for a 7-month project, the older man had asked if he was still with you.

"No," Yoongi had said, trying to sound confident in his words. "I had to let her go again, dad. I couldn't follow and I couldn't have her heart stuck here when she should be focusing on her career there. It wouldn't have worked out."

The elder had only sighed then, opting not to talk about you again. Yoongi was focused on winning the championship, and with him chasing history, perhaps he was also trying to make it work for him, to make letting you go bearable or worth it, at least. Basketball was still the dream and even if it's in a different form, it still meant losing you.

"Are you nervous?" The old man asks now.

"Of course I'm nervous, dad. I don't like cameras nor answering questions," Yoongi groans. "I'm just trying to get over this period of interviews and stuff."

"Well, your making history made the national news," his dad smiles proudly. "Who knows? This could open the door for more opportunities beyond this town."

"But I like it here," Yoongi hums, eyes focused on the floor. "Everything's familiar and comfortable. The team looks up to me. The shop's here, you're here. Sure, it reminds me of what I couldn't achieve but now it's a place where I achieved something else. The sorrow and the joy can coexist. It does for me. Here."

"You sound like me. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing," his dad hums.

It's what gets Yoongi to laugh, which is enough to ease his nerves as he's called on the set for an interview with the local news.

His dad stays by his side as he does another interview with the regional channel the next day, and then 2 more with Seoul-based anchors. His view and analysis of the game is what gets him online show interviews as well. They're more casual and so he's more candid, and before he knows it, it's been a month of all this with celebrations in between.

The laughter and cheers are deafening during the grand team party that includes his former teammates, with Jungkook and Namjoon insisting on giving speeches for their captain who has put their school on the map beyond just being the youngest MVP and winning championships a decade ago. He's never felt this celebrated in so long, and he's finding the buzz and energy from this is different but still inspiring, motivating, worth it.

But later in the night, he reads your letter, as he's done a few times before. It used to push him even more, to remind him of what he had to give up and so he needs to make sure he gets to where he needs to be, so that letting you go would've meant more than just losing the best thing in his life.

This time, he reads it like his own whispered, untold love letter, wanting to say that he's achieved what he thought was his dream, that he's happiest with you, that your heart is his home, too.