One Shots; Jikook

01

It was a scorching hot afternoon with the little ball of fire hanging in the air. Beads of perspiration were trickling down Jimin's forehead as he silently complained under his breath about the unbearable heat piercing his face.

"This is so unfair..." Jimin muttered as he looked over to the teacher who thought that today was just the perfect weather to have a baton-passing competition. Cursing the horrible teacher in his head, he averted his eyes from the overly enthusiastic teacher, and onto the boy standing next to him.

Jeon Jungkook. That is his name. Smartest in school, being the only student in school who was able to ace his examinations and quizzes consistently, which resulted in him being the favourite of many teachers. Well, besides that, Jungkook too excels greatly in the sports field. This definitely earn him many admirers and friends, however, what really impressed Jimin was his ability to stay humble despite the favouritism shown towards him by his teachers and classmates.

"Beep!" The whistle sounded, initiating the start of the race. Jimin woke up from his daze and noticed that the younger boy had already made his way to the track next to his. Upon realising that he'll be competing against Jungkook, a string of colourful words slipped from his mouth. His hands were starting to feel clammy as he waited for his teammate to pass him the baton. Turning his head, he saw Hyuk running towards him as though his life depended on it. As soon as Jimin felt the burning coolness of the metal against his skin, he took off towards the finishing line.

100m left...

That thought circulated around Jimin's mind as he push himself to his limit, straining his muscles to run as fast as he could. By then, his throat was thirsting for water and his lungs were already burning. It didn't help that his leg muscles were already sore from the sprint.

Just another 5m more...

Jimin chanted in his head. Negative thoughts were starting to penetrate his mind, reminding him of his tired muscles and dry throat.

~

Loud cheers, like always, erupted from Jimin's classmates as soon as the first runner made it past the finishing line.

But no, this time, they were not cheering for Jungkook's team who usually would have won the race. They were cheering for Jimin's team.

Hyuk, Taehyung and Sungjae ran over cheering loudly at their win. Jimin sat up dazed as he tried to process the information of him beating Jungkook.

How was it possible?

An accidental win, that's what it is. Jungkook would have won if it were not for the stray pebble lying on Jimin's track, just right before the finishing line. As he was too focused on completing the race, he had failed to notice the pebble on the ground and hence made the mistake of stepping on it, only to fall forward and onto the finishing line, just a few seconds before Jungkook reached it.

Jimin slowly turned to look at Jungkook who was lying on the floor next to him with his eyes closed, trying to catch his breath next to him. He was expecting Jungkook to be upset at him due to the fact that he could have won if it wasn't for the pebble. Just as Jungkook opened his eyes to meet Jimin's stare, instead of the harsh glare Jimin was expecting to see, Jungkook flashed him a bright smile before congratulating him on his win.

Jimin felt his cheeks grow warm as he quickly muttered a 'thanks' to Jungkook before turning away from him.

~

Lately, Jimin had been gaining more attention from his classmates for beating the unbeatable golden athlete. Not gonna lie, Jimin is enjoying the attention he was getting but at the same time, it is getting really irritating. Not only that, but some of Jungkook's female 'fans' have also spread rumours regarding Jimin's win in the race, about how he had resorted to cheating just to win. Jimin found it quite stupid and amusing actually, after all, it was just a friendly race that had taken place during gym lessons. But unfortunately, these girls just have to make this issue bigger than it actually is.

Though Jimin has found this to be really childish and stupid, it still hurts that there were actually people who believed in these rumours. Being confronted by some girls who are insanely smitten with Jungkook was a horrible experience. Names were thrown his way, but he did not retaliate. However, this only serves to encourage the girls further. He understands that he could have easily put them into their places just with a few swings of his fist but he was raised by his parents to never resort to violence to solve his problems. The words stung but he was not going to show his pain.

~

"Jimin-hyung?"

Jimin quickly wiped away the tears on his face, before turning around to face Jungkook.

"Oh Jungkook, you're here! Hi!"

"What happened?"

Jungkook's face contorted with concern as he noticed the redness in Jimin's eyes.

"I'm fine."

Jimin answered with a sad smile. Despite Jimin's answer, Jungkook reached out and pulled Jimin into a tight hug. Muffled sobs were soon heard from Jimin as Jimin's arms went around Jungkook's torso to return the hug. It hurts Jungkook to see Jimin crying because of some made-up rumours spread by his 'fans'. Yes, Jungkook had known about the rumours, but he did not want to embarrass Jimin even more by acknowledging the fact that he knew.

"Why won't they leave me alone?"

Now, that's something that really got Jungkook's attention. Jungkook tightened the hug as guilt filled his heart. He should have known better. Upon receiving news about the rumours when it first got circulated, he immediately approached the perpetrators to warn them to stop. Naively, he truly believed them when they immediately apologised and promised to stop. Now, looking at Jimin, they probably took the original post and posted it somewhere else.

"Sorry about your jacket and, you know...thanks for the comfort."

Jimin mumbled awkwardly while wiping his tears after he released Jungkook from his tight hold, breaking Jungkook's train of thought.

"It's okay, everybody has their moments. Even I do."

Jungkook replied, giving Jimin the brightest smile he could master. Jimin returned the smile before turning around to leave.

"You can call me the next time you need comforting or a listening ear..."

Jungkook quickly called out but trailed off as he looked down in embarrassment for sounding so desperate. Jimin turned to face the younger boy as a smile graced his face. Never in his life, had he thought that he would see Jungkook this flustered before him.

"I would if I had your number..."

"Here!"

Jungkook shoved a piece of paper with his number written neatly on it into Jimin's hands.

"Yeah, so call me."

Jungkook mumbled and scurried off, hoping Jimin did not see his glowing face.

"Ahh, how cute."

Jimin mumbled as he looked fondly at the closed door of the classroom before adverting his gaze to the piece of paper in his hand.