Never Better || YOONSEOK

Chapter 4

 Today was a very important day for Yoongi. Or rather, for Yoongi's father. Ever since he's taken an interest in basketball, suddenly the man has a reason to talk to him. But that was years ago. Still, even now, that's all they'll ever have in common.

Yoongi has already passed tryouts with flying colors, being one of the best despite his height. He isn't much smaller than the others, but it's still seen as a disadvantage. Yoongi's feelings on basketball are a bit complicated. He loves the sport, surprisingly enough, considering his general hatred for physical activity. Yet, he doesn't appreciate the standards it has. Of course, this seems to have been his issue with all sports. The stereotypes and meanings behind it.

Being the only asian player- not just on the team, but in the entire county leagues, isn't always easy. He's expected to look and carry himself a certain way, but he just doesn't. People seem to be uncomfortable in the presence of something different.

This is the day that Yoongi starts his first day of basketball camp. He's gone every summer since he was twelve, knowing in the back of his mind that it would look immaculate on college applications.

College.

He'd done so much to get that little piece of paper up to par with the city and their high expectations. Perfect grades, extracurriculars, academic awards, volunteer work, internships, and his oldest achievement, basketball.

If you haven't already noticed, few things annoy Yoongi more than stereotypes and misogynistic mindsets. However, him being as smart as he is, also knows that because he's male it will be much easier to get into a good college as a basketball player. He appears more masculine and is up to their disturbing, sexist standards. There are few times that Yoongi would tolerate this, but he made an exception for his future. He'd play the game if he had to.

Now, here he sits in the car with Danny Reede, his options being to ride with him or drive alone. Yoongi's car didn't have a stereo, and personally, he didn't drive well in silence. Which of course would usually mean suffering through Danny's sexually frustrated rants. However, he was only met with the voice of Billy Joel and irritated grunts from the boy every so often.

It was awkward, to say the least, but Yoongi wasn't really sure how to fix that kind of thing. He cleared his throat.

"Are you... okay?" Danny didn't say anything, keeping his eyes trained in front of him. That's odd. Did he not hear me?

"Uh... Danny?" he coughed, eyes flitting in Yoongi's direction.

"What?"

"I asked if you were okay." Yoongi said slowly. Danny let out a forced chuckle.

"Peachy." they didn't say anything else. Remember that sitting in silence thing? Yeah, it must only work with some people. This was just painfully awkward.

So without much other option, Yoongi allowed himself to drown in the sounds of Billy Joel's enthusiastic vocals and mediocre songs. The scenery outside of the boy's window was somewhat unnerving. Almost as if someone had painted a picture of everything he wanted to escape from and yet- it was beautiful. The outstretched fields of warm gold and deep green covered the hill as well as a gorgeous hue of blues and yellows still finding their way to the right place as the sun had barely risen.

Soon enough those fields turned into new roads as they entered the next town over. Cattle was replaced with sparse cars and local shops. They were nearing their destination. Yoongi's heaven, but also his hell. I guess there isn't much of a difference if you really think about it.

"You good to get out here?" Danny spoke, startling Yoongi a bit. Only a bit. He looked out the windows to see the familiar parking lot surrounding them. It was another feeling of nostalgia, he supposes. It was like a wave of emotion hit Yoongi dead on. So many memories buried beneath the surface.