number 13 | yoomin

sixty-four

"please, please! i'll do anything!" yoongi begged his physical therapist to let him play basketball, "my final answer is no" she said, "you can't even lift this medicine ball above your head" the woman said, running her tongue against her teeth, "let me try again!"

"i let you try 10 times before you threatened to throw it at my head" she huffed, "it was a joke!" he whined, going on his knees, "please!"

"if i hypothetically did let you, your primary care doctor wouldn't approve your sports physical. now, do you have any questions for me?" she asked, yoongi stared at the floor.

"well, are you sure there's nothing i can do about my messed up shoulder? there has to be something!" he whined, feeling tears brim in his eyes as he looked at her, "yes, but your mother said 'no' to it"

he blinked, "what? she never told me anything about that. what would it be?" yoongi asked, "surgery would allow your to further repair your damaged bones which could allow you to play college basketball. the recovery process is quite long, so you won't be able to play in high school"

yoongi felt his face brighten. a chance college basketball? sign him up!

"how do i sign up for the sugery? please!" he smiled, grabbing a pen from the woman's pencil holder, "it's not that easy, yoongi"

"can you convince my mom? i'm sick of physical therapy! i want to be okay!" he frowned, "i'll try" she breathed out.

—

"yoongi, you're not getting the surgery! end of conversation!" the woman sighed as her son begged her all the way the ride to school, "why not?" he huffed, "yoongi-ah, please just understand"

the boy wanted to understand, but he really didn't. he had been going to physical therapy twice a week for about 2 years with little progress. he always ended up icing his shoulder and near tears because of how sore it was.

"mom, i just want to play basketball" he burst into tears. since the accident, it was all he wanted to do. he missed the feeling of being on the basketball court and hearing the cheerleaders and the crowd scream. he missed seeing the pompoms that flew up and down because of the cheerleaders. he missed hearing the drums and wind instruments march across the basketball court before every game.

he missed the feeling of having everyond scream for him when he scored. he missed the feeling of being able to celebrate with teammates.

he missed all of it.

"i know"

"then, why don't you let me?" he sobbed, "it's a long recovery time and it might not even fix your shoulder" the woman tried justifying, "i don't care, i'd rather take the risk. i want to play college basketball, mom! it would be so cool!"

the woman sadly smiled, "i know how much you want it. plus, it's a lot of money" she sighed, "i'll get a job! i'll get two! i'll do something! just, please!" he sniffled, "i'll see what i can do, yoongi-ah. no guarantees"

—

"surgery? that sounds scary" sungho mumbled as jiyoon talked about her small argument with yoongi and the talk she had with his physical therapist.

the woman sighed and nodded, "he really wants the surgery" she mumbled and bit her nails, "what are you going to do?" he asked, jiyoon shrugged, "i'm not sure. there's so many risks involved, i don't want him to get the surgery. it might not even help him. it might just paralyze his shoulder and arm or it might not even do anything. i don't want to risk that"