Hard to Love - (chanbaek)

28

November 23rd. 10:24 AM

Walking towards the swimming pool, Taehyung noticed he was already five minutes late. Technically it wasn't his fault. They had scheduled an extra practice session this Sunday, and he wasn't sure if he was meant to come but, the leader needed to be present. He sighed before beginning to speed walk towards his teammates. They were standing in a line with their trunks on and shirts off. They all listened intently to the instructions their coach was informing them about. Taehyung knew he would be in trouble, it was his first day after being on probation, and he was already late. Not the smartest way to introduce himself to the newbies on the team.

"The competition is next Saturday, so you all need to be prepared. Jimin, you are going to be in the backstroke section. Jae, you are in the breaststroke division. Yugyeom, you are going to be doing the sidestroke. Jungkook, you are participating in the butterfly stroke. And freestyle goes to- wow you finally showed up!" The team immediately turned to their smiling captain. Taehyung tried to catch his breath, he didn't really think about the outcomes of running to practice when he was nearly on the other side of campus.

"Next time, be on time. You are the leader. You're supposed to show an example, Taehyung! Five laps around the pool!" Coach took out his stopwatch almost immediately. The younger looked at the man in shock, his hands holding the tips of his hoodie in preparation. The team watched their captain receive his scolding like usual. The newbies were confused about the punishments, but the previous team members had gotten used to the troublemaker of a captain.

"Like right now?!"

"Yes, right now!" The loud voice startled Taehyung just a bit. He lifted his hoodie and shirt in one go, his noticeably good figure coming into view. The boy was left in his trunks as he walked towards his best friend, who simply shook his head in disappointment. His hand was reaching out, Taehyung always left his phone with Jimin whenever he had to do a punishment. The older had gotten used to the situation, so he was waiting for the phone to reach his palm.

"Thank you-"

"TIME'S TICKING!" Coach yelled once again, making Taehyung flinch. He quickly tossed his phone to the smaller before jumping into the pool, not noticing the section he was in. He felt his body sink farther down than usual. He looked down and saw how his feet were extremely far from the bottom of the pool, the deep section. He pushed his hands down, getting to the surface quite quickly. For most swimmers, it wasn't easy to control your stepping when swimming in the deep side. Sure, you could float in the area and swim to the other side with ease but... jumping into the pool at full force? It was hard for most of them to get back up to the surface without panicking. Every time they were in the deep section, it felt like the water force was pulling them down, almost like a whirlpool was sucking them towards the bottom. Seeing the older jump into the deep section was shocking for the newbies, but for the leader... this was no big deal.

Their captain swam back up to the surface and continued to swim towards the end of the other side. His arms moved almost perfectly, as well as his nicely toned shoulder blades that curved every time he made a turn. His swimming was quick and well done; Kim Taehyung wasn't the captain for no reason. He had the skills, leadership, friendliness, and teamwork diving through his bloodstream. The new recruits observed their captain in awe as he finished his punishment with no issue. They didn't know how embarrassed Taehyung was actually feeling.

This isn't what I planned!

I was supposed to say hi to Jungkook and give him the treats in my bag!

You're so stupid, Kim Taehyung!

Why didn't you come earlier!

He angrily tapped on the railing of the pool when he finished his final lap.