Oppa : Kim Seokjin

Chapter Twenty-Three: Volleyball

The matches had been hanging over our heads for weeks, but now that August had rolled on in the tournament had begun. Today was our first match, and our team's group chat was exploding. Even Joohae was awake at 5AM, firing off messages in rapid succession.

It had annoyed Jin no end.

"Aish- can't you turn it off?" He rolled over, turning away from me and tugging a pillow down over his head. In recent weeks he'd taken to sleeping in my room rather than the guest room when he stayed over, and now on nights he wasn't here my bed felt empty. Even if he did snore sometimes.

"No, I need to talk to them." I said, sat up and already awake, nerves preventing me drifting back off. "I'm their captain."

He just groaned, and I rubbed his back. "It's so earlyyyy...."

"I know. Sorry." I heard him exhale under the pillow, and then he was shifting again, wrapping his arms around my hips and snuggling his face into my stomach. I patted his head. "Sap."

"Shhh. Sleep." His breathing deepened, and I resumed talking to the team on my phone. They were basically all freaking out now. Pulling on my metaphorical Captain Hat, i attempted to calm them. I wound up talking them into meeting at school early to practice before we had to head to the tournament location.

I was in mild disbelief when I put my phone down and realised that Oppa had really, actually fallen asleep again on my lap. It didn't look very comfortable. But, here we were, and it seemed I was stuck.

Leaning back against the headboard, I sighed, smiling a bit at how his cheek was all smooshed up from his position. Reaching around on my bedside table, I grabbed the tv remote, and switched on some random drama on a low volume while running my fingers through his hair.

A couple hours passed in peace, with nothing but his soft breathing and the low hum of the television, but eventually I had to get up to go shower. After drying off, I realised that I hadn't brought clean clothes in with me, so put my pyjamas back on. Like hell I was going in there in just a towel. Maybe we'd be there one day, but not today.

The thought sent a strange feeling through my body, and I shook my head, returning to my room and pulling my hair into a topknot as I went. Oppa was awake, then, staring into space with his hair sticking up. He looked like he hated everything. I laughed quietly. "Morning, sunshine."

He scowled, squinting at me with bleary eyes, then stood up, stretching. "Morning. What time is it?"

"Nine. I've gotta get going soon." He nodded, sleepily, crossing the room to engulf me in a bear hug.

"Good luck today. I'll be cheering you on from my meeting." He had, since finishing university a month ago, begun working as some kind of assistant at some big name company. I wasn't sure of the specifics, since he didn't talk about it a lot, but it seemed to bore him. "Sorry I can't come watch."

"It's okay." I leaned back, hands on his chest. "Jimin and the others will be there, and we have the school's official cheersquad, too. It'll be noisy enough."

He wrinkled his nose. "Jimin, huh?"

I giggled. He didn't have a problem with any of my friends, but seemed to be a little wary of Jimin. Perhaps because the boy was overtly flirtatious. "He's one of my best friends. Ah!" I slapped his chest lightly. "Jungkook-ah is coming, too! He'll finally get to meet them."

"Even Jungkookie?" He seemed mystified. "Do you just have a talent for becoming best friends with everyone?"

I grinned. "He's good company for running." I stuck my tongue out. "Unlike some people."