Chapter Text
It took a lot of effort and asking for Gyuvin to set foot on the grounds of his neighboring school. There were kids he knew, and kids he had no idea where they're from. Both parties greeted him in awe- some because of his extraordinary proportion, some because they knew him as the best player from that area. Gyuvin had no interest in any of them though, for he only had one tall, Chinese boy in mind.
He searched for Ricky almost everywhere, asked students about him, but no one could tell where he was. It's funny- Gyuvin had made the effort of visiting his school, yet he saw no sign of his soulmate. After the match, it had been two days. Gyuvin hoped he'd have connections with Ricky who had taken his contact number saying that he'd text- but somehow, he did not. And Gyuvin was an idiot not to ask for his number as well- maybe because he simply believed that his soulmate would definitely want to reach him.
Ricky might be holding a grudge- a sore feeling towards him for losing- that's how he concluded. Therefore, he came to make an amendment. Even though the students admitted not knowing Ricky's whereabouts, Gyuvin had a feeling that he knew exactly where he'd find the tall boy.
And he did. In the small corner of their school basketball court, he found a boy sitting alone, lazily dribbling a ball. He looked sad. It's been two days, but he seemed not to be able to move on.
Gyuvin's footsteps made him look up. His gaze darkended immediately. Even so, there was that blue spark that sent chills down Gyuvin's core. He loved that rush- the washover of a foreign feeling for a strange, mysterious boy.
"Hey." He called, Ricky looked away, seemingly uninterested. Gyuvin reached him, and took a spot right next to him.
"Why are you here?" Ricky asked. He tried to hide it, but sometimes, a racing heart makes your voice quiver. Gyuvin caught that, and smiled.
"To meet you of course." He answered. "Why didn't you text me?"
"Why would I?" Ricky asked. "You're probably busy preparing for the finals."
Gyuvin nodded. Yup. Definitely a sore loser. He couldn't blame his soulmate though. If he had lost after reaching that close to achieving his goal, he probably would have done the same. So he didn't settle for empty comfort words. Instead, he stood up, offering a hand to the seated guy, "Get up."
Ricky looked at him in question, "Why?"
"Come on, just join me." Gyuvin grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He might not look like it, but he was very strong- so pulling Ricky was quite easy. Gyuvin took the ball, did two slow dribbles and then ran close to the ring. He threw the ball at the confusedly standing boy and shouted, "One on one, Ricky! Come on!"
For a split second, Ricky showed a sign of hesitation. But soon, his lips curved in a smile as he started moving forward, skilfully dribbling the ball. He reached his opponent, Gyuvin was pretty good at guarding too. But the other had tricks up his sleeves. He dodged a few times and then did a distant throw. It went in, obviously, and Gyuvin groaned. "That's unfair!"
Ricky chuckled, "I didn't violate any rule, did I?"
"But it's one on one, you need to score from the D box!"
"Says who?" Ricky winked at his soulmate, who looked pretty impressed.
"My turn then." He took the ball from Ricky after exchanging positions. Ricky was now standing with his hands raised, trying to stop him from scoring. Well, he had his share of skills, with which he made Ricky chase him nonstop. And then he took position, placed the ball and made a high jump. Ricky did that too, probably higher- but that was a mistake.
Because Gyuvin faked his throw. He changed angles and threw it at the time of landing. Ricky failed to block it, and the ball went in.
"Yesss!" Gyuvin cheered. They were breathing hard, because of running for so long. Even so, the smile looked so good on him that the Chinese boy smiled as well, without even knowing it himself. He suddenly felt so comfortable- like it was meant to be that way from the very start.
"That was impressive." Said Ricky. Tricking a player like him can only mean that the opponent is just as skilled, maybe even more.
"That's my trump card." Gyuvin said, "When I'm heavily guarded, I use this."
"And you showed it to me?" Ricky raised a brow, "Aren't you worried that I'd outsmart you in our next game?"
"Come on, we're soulmates! I should tell you everything about me, right?" Gyuvin grinned. If they hadn't played before, you'd be able to tell why Ricky's cheeks had turned red all of a sudden. However, he'd definitely put the blame on running from before. To avoid being asked, therefore, he sat down, looking at the ceiling. Gyuvin sat next to him, leaving a sigh of contentment.
"I promise to win the finals for you." He said.
"For me?" Ricky chuckled, "How so?"
"So that you can brag about me."
Ricky shook his head. He felt light, all the sadness from the past two days seemed to diminish before the bright eyes of Gyuvin. It wasn't supposed to be that way. He was supposed to hate his rival. Supposed to be mad that they intentionally injured him, even though he knew Gyuvin's team would have won either way.
"The final's in a week." Ricky said, "You should be practising."
"I just did."
"That doesn't count. You need to practise with your team."
"Maybe... I just wanted to look for you first." Gyuvin said, putting his palm on the other's bare knee, "I was worried about you."
Ricky once again felt a beat skip. He was sure it was the soulmate agenda. He wasn't supposed to be affected by that, by the bare minimum.
"I'm doing alright."
"Your ankle- and besides, You were sulking."
"No, I wasn't." Ricky defended himself, "I was just thinking... About what I should do next."
"Why?" Gyuvin asked, "You can play again next year, in your college."
"Yeah, but... I prepared so much for this year."
Gyuvin felt bad. Never knew that he would after winning such a close match.
"Um..." Gyuvin moved closer to him and took him in a side hug, "I'm sorry."
"Why are you saying sorry?" Ricky chuckled, appreciating the skinship a lot, "I said I'm fine now."
Gyuvin did not look convinced. His lips were in a big pout, cheeks puffed up. He looked so much like a puppy, that the Chinese boy couldn't help pulling his reddened, round nose, "Go win the finals for me, like you said."
Gyuvin instantly grinned, pulling his soulmate even closer in the hug, "Promise I'll look so cool that you'll fall for me in no time!" Then he pulled his head up immediately, asking, "You'll be there, right? You'll come and watch my game, won't you?"
Will he? Can he?
Ricky shrugged. Unsure if he'd feel more hurt or really proud. He was still upset about the loss.
"Please, you gotta be there, please!" Gyuvin tried. Ricky didn't give him any direct answer. All he said was that he'd try. That's why, on the D-Day, when the players were standing face to face, Gyuvin kept eyeing the audience. His heart sank when he failed to spot a blonde haired, tall boy. He was really expectant. It disappointed him that Ricky wasn't as serious about it as him. He kept looking for his soulmate until they were told to take position.
Right, the game. That's the main priority. Ricky asked him to win. He needed to. He will.
Gyuvin passed the handshake, passed the call, also passed the whistle. Their team got the first score- Jiwoong skilfully passed the ball inside the net and an uproar was heard from the audience. It's always the first score- you get a moral boost up once your team does that.
Gyuvin cheered, for a split second, his eyes scanned the audience again. Nope, no sign of his soulmate. Albeit sad, he kept a keen guard against his opponent, and ran for a layup once his team got hold of the ball. The game was so fast, so competitive! Scores after scores- the continuous ringing of the ball inside two terminal rings kept the whole gallery on the edge of their seats. It's the final- there was an equal distribution of supporters unlike before, and every time, loud deafening cheers kept echoing in the stadium. Yet, the players heard nothing- for them, all the focus was on the ball.
When you play such games, time is but a mirage. Gyuvin had no idea when the first two quarters ended. He was panting, wiping his sweat with the wristband. The scoreboard wasn't in their favour. They lagged, but not too much. Strategic play would bring them the trophy, that's what he believed.
The team was standing right outside the court, drinking water, wiping their faces with towels and listening to their coach with frowns on their faces. Gyuvin didn't know what his eyes caught, but for a moment, he thought he saw a blur of white.
He squinted his eyes, lifted his head to see clearly- and the sight made his mouth break into a stupid, ear to ear grin. It was Ricky, in an all white outfit, holding a small banner that said "Champions". Ricky noticed him too, and the contagious grin reached him too. He lifted the banner up, pointed at the word and showed him an aggressive thumbs up. Gyuvin felt so happy that he could just cry then and there.
"Are you listening, Gyuvin?" The strict words of the coach grabbed the said player's attention. "Uh, sorry." He said and focused on the coach's words. Well of course stealing glances at his soulmate from time to time. Ricky was gradually making his way through the crowd- to be as close to the ground as possible.
So he did come to see his soulmate- that too with a cute banner and an incredible smile!
Gyuvin played diligently. His pride was on the line- Ricky came. He must keep the promise, must make his soulmate proud of him. But there was hardship, a cruel hurdle of a nasty plan from the other team. Of course, they'd crowd over Gyuvin- the best player of the game. And of course, they'd try to hurt him- this much Gyuvin was prepared for. But their strategy was worse. They first targeted Jiwoong, the center and another power guard. Gyuvin saw with frustration how three of his teammates were injured back to back in the third quarter. Two of them had to get substitute players, Jiwoong was the only one still playing. The frequency of scoring decreased, Gyuvin's team started to fall behind. Their coach did make Gunwook and other strong players get back at them, but strength wise, their team was weaker.
Gyuvin was tactically saving himself from foul plays. He wasn't that skilled when it comes to distant shooting, but adrenaline is a funny thing. It helped him so much, that his accuracy went almost to a 90%. All close ones and some long ones- he started nailing them one by one. Maybe it was the urge to keep his face in front of Ricky, Gyuvin started to outplay the entire opponent team.
Not for long though. After all their inhumane strategies, the last one fell upon Gyuvin. He became the sole target.
The fourth quarter was running, the scoring slowly became even, but only for a little while. With all the players hovering upon Gyuvin, their speed decreased yet again. Everyone, even Ricky became anxious. If this continues, then it would be too late to get back at them. The coach asked for a last minute time out, and with desperate urge, told them what to do, told them to hang on. Gyuvin looked at Ricky, he looked drained. Ricky suddenly felt extremely bad for him.
"Kim Gyuvin!" He called loudly. A few heads turned but he didn't care. He had to say it, it's now or never.
"Trump card, remember?" He shouted, "If you can beat me, you have to beat everybody else! Or else, it will make me look weak!"
Gyuvin blinked. True. More than saving his own face, he needed to save Ricky's! He should let Ricky brag about him. How else if he failed to grab the trophy? Just a little more- a minute or two. He needed to push past his limit.
The whistle blew, they got back to the game. Trump card- Gyuvin remembered. Fake a jump, change your angle and shoot. If there are more than one guards, does it really matter?
Gyuvin remembered how he felt when he played with Ricky. The determination was partially from wanting to make him smile, partially from showing him that he did not lose to a nobody. He tried to recollect the same emotions he felt, and it worked like magic. He outplayed all the opponents, tricked them, fooled them to score. They got frustrated, they started to make mistakes, and their team got more fouls, more player changes. Their strategies were all haphazard, they started playing with multiple different ones and it cost them a lot. Because Gyuvin's team had been steady from the very beginning. Steady and skilled. Do you expect them to lose?
They didn't. They caught up in the scoreboard and the gap only increased. In the last few seconds, victory was confirmed. They needed to play it slow, with smiles covering their faces. And then, like a dream come true, the final whistle was blown.
Gyuvin could swear all the loud cheers faded as he made a rush towards the audience, particularly to a white haired boy who was running towards him too. They met mid ground, jumped on each other to end up in a bone crushing hug. Gyuvin kept saying- 'We did it, Ricky!' And Ricky replied- 'I knew you will! I believed in you!'
They parted only to greet each other with the brightest smiles. Rick doubted that he'd be more hurt if he came to see the finals, but in truth, he felt more proud. Gyuvin's happiness got passed to him, and he felt grateful towards God for letting him change his mind and come to the stadium last minute. It was so worth every doubtful second. Gyuvin's smile was so worth cherishing.
Their lone moment was ruined when Gyuvin's teammates flocked around, grabbed him and threw him upwards. Ricky watched like a proud lover- Gosh! He was so gone! He smiled through the entire celebration, cheered the loudest through the prize giving ceremony. Gyuvin earned a gold medal, a champion's trophy and two additional crests for being the player of the match and player of the tournament. He deserved every bit of credit. Yet, after everything's done, he took off the medal and hung it around Ricky's neck.
"What-" Ricky smiled in disbelief, "Gyuvin, seriously!?"
"What?" Gyuvin shrugged, "That's what boyfriends are for!"
"Boyfriend?" Ricky raised his eyebrows, "Since when?"
"Since whenever you want!" Gyuvin grabbed him in a hug again. He was sweaty as hell, but so was Ricky who kept cheering him from the audience. And they didn't mind at all.
"Your friend?" Jiwoong asked, after seeing Gyuvin talking to Ricky for such a long time.
"Um-"
"Soulmate." Ricky answered instead, earning a squeal from Gyuvin.
"You're telling everyone!?"
"What's not to tell about?" Ricky teased, "It's destiny after all."
Jiwoong chuckled, "That explains why our Gyuvinnie's been acting like that."
"Like what?"
"A lovesick teenager." Jiwoong answered, making Ricky laugh.
"Oh, is that so, Kim Gyuvin?" He teased. The poor boy sulked, looking at Jiwoong as if he had been offended greatly.
"You always do this hyung! Have I ever told anything about how you treat Matthew hyung?"
"Ssh!" Jiwoong glared at Gyuvin, "I'll kill you if you say it to anyone."
"Why? Are you shy?" Gyuvin winked.
"What happened?" Ricky asked.
"Nothing, I just heard him call his soulmate dadd–"
Gyuvin couldn't finish as Jiwoong grabbed him in an arm lock, closing his mouth with a palm. The younger desperately asked for Ricky's hand who was dying from laughing so hard.
It was such a wonderful sight- to see the mysterious boy smile so heartily just because of his loving, talented and cheerful soulmate.
