shot clock || na jaemin (the court series #1)

quarter two: minute six

as far as sooyoung was concerned, this was the only way she was going to deal with trauma from now onwards. 'this' being the fact that she had been dragged out of her house in the middle of the night by her brother's girlfriend (who had also dragged her father out of the house as well), sat in the back of a van that looked suspiciously funeral-y alongside a bunch of members of the basketball team who looked far too peppy for three o'clock in the morning on a saturday, and had been blindfolded.

either this was a large scale kidnap or this was some sort of surprise, but either way, sooyoung was not complaining because she was going to add to her trauma (if this was a large scale kidnap) or she was going to take away from her trauma (if this was a surprise). 

not bad for a kid who'd come to korea kicking and screaming about her basketball season.

"so, soo - not you, sooyoung - jisoo. you plan on tell us why you kidnapped my family and my best friend?" jeno asks from somewhere in front of sooyoung. sooyoung vaguely hears a scoff and a deep-voiced mutter that, "he was jeno's best friend, not jaemin." probably jisung.

"hey! i was thinking this was a kidnap too!" jaemin says somewhat excitedly. day by day, sooyoung was getting more and more concerned for this man's sanity. she's about to ask what kind of drugs jaemin was on so early in the morning when one hand slaps her nose and another slaps the side of her cheek.

"what the fuck," sooyoung splutters, pushing both hands away from her face.

"ah, soo that was you? sorry! i was trying to high-five jaemin," jeno says, unable to keep the slight tremor of a giggle out of his voice. 

"we've got to get better nicknames for you and jisoo. i keep getting confused," jaemin says from the right side of sooyoung. at least now she knew who had slapped her.

"is it because you guys are kids or is it because it's three in the morning?" coach lee asks suddenly, from the front of the van. the dreamies are confused for a moment but jisoo, jeno, serena, and jaemin understand immediately, faces growing somber. why aren't you guys remembering that your mother literally died? how can you even be happy?

none of the dreamies like it.

"with all due respect, sir," haechan says, tone soft but firm. "but experiencing a loss doesn't mean that you have to live the rest of your life in sorrow. in fact, it means you should be looking for the little happinesses even more."

sooyoung can practically see the expression on her father's face, mouth flapping up and down like a fish, finding words to say.

and for some strange reason, a small smile creeps onto her face.

maybe she was allowed to be happy after all.

when the van finally stops (process of elimination meant that renjun had been the one driving, which explained the cursing in chinese that had sent chenle into a burst of giggles when he was trying to park), all nine people getting down from the car in clumsy blindfolded collisions.

sooyoung can distinctly make out the sound of whispering in the near distance, although she couldn't really tell if that was because of the dreamies or if there was a larger group of people near them.

"hey, does anyone else hear the sound of waves? i mean, it smells kinda sal - "

"no, no, ah, jaemin no! bad jaemin!" sooyoung can hear jisoo exclaim, followed by a loud thud and a smack upside the head. 

"i think i busted my ass slipping on wet asphalt; you're not allowed to hit me after i nearly broke my ass, you demoness," jaemin grumbles, accepting haechan's calloused hand to help himself get up.

"where are we anyway?" jeno asks, somewhere far away from sooyoung.

"get down from there, you idiot! there's nine of us and i'm not dealing with two busted asses today!" renjun shouts, a loud scuffle ensuing. who won? sooyoung's not sure. but she has a feeling it's renjun when jeno starts groaning in pain.

"boys," jisoo whispers under her breath, gently guiding sooyoung to stand somewhere.

"i heard that, princess," jeno says from sooyoung's left side.

"fucking hell, soo is much better than princess. forget i said anything," jaemin says from her right. sooyoung can't conceal the snort of laughter that escapes her. the dreamies are silent for another couple moments, getting coach lee in line and telling each other to shut up before they ruined the surprise.

"okay! take off your blindfolds in three, two, one!" 

the moment she takes off her blindfold, serena's already overcome by emotion, tears blinding her vision. 

in front of them is a basketball court right next to the beach. but more important than the basketball court, was the people on it.

everyone they were friends with, even sooyoung's friends (and she didn't really have too many in korea!), were lined up and down the court, wearing jerseys of different colors. the entire basketball team. some hospital staff members. dr. na. some teachers that worked with coach lee. jisoo's friends. chenle's friends from the school newspaper. 

sooyoung's stepdad. shaun.

everyone was here.

everyone except mom.

but everyone was there for them. 

they were all wearing jerseys, lined up according to their jersey color, with the first person in line holding a sign that had a terrible name written on it in glittery and neon colors (the purple panthers, the yellow turtles, the orange zebras). the teams were all mixed with different professions, people, ages, and genders, people happily chatting amongst themselves.

"welcome, to the first ever - what is this called again - uh, basketball game of upper incheon! i don't know, who cares. anyway! we have gathered here today to do what these three gentlemen and this lady do best: play ball!" jisoo shouts into a megaphone, causing everyone behind her to start cheering.

"so! because besides the purple panthers, our incheon north high school basketball team players,  none of us really have any basketball experience, we will be splitting you guys onto different teams. may the best baller or ball-ess - that's definitely not a word - win!" 

sooyoung and jaemin exchange a look and the older boy shrugs, giving her a lopsided grin and jogging into the crowd.

"what about you guys?" jeno asks, turning to the dreamies.

"we're gonna play ref! because you know, i could beat your ass any day," haechan says, letting the smirk on his face morph into a full fledged laugh when jeno uses very colorful and descriptive language to convey his disagreement.

"coach lee! come on, over here!" sooyoung hears one of the teachers (her english teacher) yell, waving her father over. coach lee pauses for a moment, before hesitantly joining the yellow turtles team, reluctantly putting on the neon yellow jersey.

in this moment, where there's screams of joy, the smell of the ocean, and the taste of happiness on her tongue, there's no place sooyoung would rather be.

+++

a/n: coming up on the ends of the angst! which also means we're almost halfway through the book! two more chapters until halftime :) 

finally - finally, i can start writing the fluff i've been wanting to write this entire time :)