"Good job to everyone on Friday's game," Namjoon said to start off practice. The whistle around his neck looked just as natural as the glasses perched on his nose at this point; seeing him without it would be strange. "We had our first win, which is great. Congratulations on that."
"Every time you say 'first win,' you sound surprised," Hoseok pointed out sourly. "Did you really have that little faith in us?"
"It's not a matter of faith but rather of mathematical prediction," Namjoon corrected, ignoring the subsequent groans from the team. "Based on the criteria required for my prediction, namely the fact that we lost every prior game and routinely spend most of our practices arguing rather than practicing, I made the calculation that a win was unlikely. So, yes, I was surprised, but it was simply because the math instructed my surprise."
"You ever wish you could control Z a question?" Hoseok muttered under his breath.
"If, by control Z, you're indicating that you wish you could undo the asking of a particular question-"
"RHETORICAL. It was a rhetorical question, no need to answer, thank you," Hoseok cut off, and Jin smiled apologetically on behalf of the student council president.
"Namjoon? I think we all get what you were trying to say," Jin said, his first line in five chapters. It turns out that the author isn't much better than BigHit. "Should we start practice?"
"There's one other thing we need to discuss first," Namjoon said, clearing his throat. "Jungkook? You wanted to talk to the team about something?"
Of course Namjoon knew very damn well what Jungkook needed to say, and of course he wouldn't go out of his way to make it any easier. Eyes shifted to Jungkook as he got to his feet, feeling weirdly unsteady out of his wheelchair as he took several steps on the gym floor and turned so his back was to the bench and he was facing the team.
"I've had a really great time playing with all of you," Jungkook began, to which Hoseok immediately shrieked, "YOU'RE QUITTING?!"
"I'm not- no, when did I say- would you just listen," Jungkook said, glaring at Hoseok before realizing that Hoseok would be glaring at him in a few seconds. He relaxed his gaze.
"Why are you quitting?" Jimin piped up, eyebrows skewed, and Jungkook nearly glared at him too.
"I'm not quitting the team," he said in as clear a voice as he could. "Unless you guys want me to."
"Was that an option?" Yoongi asked, looking over at Namjoon.
"Hey!" Jungkook said, ignoring Yoongi's smirk as he took a deep breath and tried to meet their eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to in a few moments. "I never told you guys why I was picked for the team."
"Definitely not for talent," Yoongi muttered to Hoseok, the two of them snickering, and Jungkook just steeled himself. He'd take the jokes; they were better than the cold reception Namjoon had given him the other day.
"Over winter break, when school was still off, I was driving late at night," Jungkook said, deciding to just jump into the story. He'd rehearsed going about this a dozen different ways, but in the end, he felt that just telling it directly would be better than trying to make excuses or circumvent anything. "I was texting my friends from my old school," he said, not wanting to leave out any incriminating details. The accident was his fault, absolutely. He wasn't going to let himself or anyone else forget that.
He could tell by their silence that they were surprised and listening seriously now.
"I hit another car," Jungkook said, swallowing as headlights flashed in his memory. "And I was fine. But the boy in the other car ended up paralyzed from the waist down." He couldn't quite meet their eyes anymore, but he'd expected as much. Still, he continued on, eyes tracing the linear patterns in the gym floor. "The judge offered me a sentencing option of joining this program in exchange for waiving the fine. So that's why I'm here. And I'm sorry..." Jungkook closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath. Opened them. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys earlier. I just..." Liked the feeling of having friends again, of belonging to something, of feeling good about myself.
