three is the perfect number || jaenoren (norenmin)

neuf

Jeno was on what seemed like a sugar high. He felt like running twenty laps around the court and then some, he felt vibrant, with energy rolling off him in waves, even though he should have been exhausted. He'd had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop the continuous jitters. Most of his teammates looked like they wanted to take a nap, though grins adorned their faces like Christmas decorations.

Jeno had just played his first basketball match against an actual school in years. Against a previously dreaded school. When they had arrived at Cube, they had been exposed to a stagnant atmosphere — they'd just been a joke on the strings of their previous defeat, here to lose again. Apparently, last time they'd had a match with Cube, things just hadn't gone well for them. 

"But now," barked the coach, a notepad squeezed between his clenched fingers, "Now, we have a  fast-as-hell player, Moon, and a new center they'll never see coming." He'd grinned sharply at Jeno. "They'll never see any of us coming this time."

He'd been right. They were seriously underestimated this time around. And they had won.

Of course, it was only a single victory and Jeno shouldn't have been this elated, but he was. He couldn't help but feel like it meant more — he'd been scared that maybe he'd only be good in practice, that he'd freeze up and cost them everything. But they'd won, they'd won, they'd won...

The only person as hyper as him was Kevin, who was ranting about whatever to Sunwoo and Younghoon. Juyeon and Eric had just thrown all their fucks out the window and were holding hands, swinging their arms carelessly. Jeno had been forced to dig his fingers into his palm to attempt to stifle his urge to kick something out of second-hand softness when they had begun doing that. They were both annoying as all fuck, but they were also cute. 

Jaemin jogged up next to him, and Jeno couldn't help but shoot him a happy smile, obscuring half his own vision in the process. 

"So, that went well," Jaemin grinned back. 

"We really butchered their sorry asses," replied Jeno, unable to control himself. "You should have seen  number two's face when I got the ball over his head, he was shaking in his sneakers."

Jaemin nearly snorted, but nodded impressively all the same. "Oh yeah, you mean Jung Wooseok? I remember him from the last time we played Cube. He's actually okay, but he's literally ready to sever limbs when he plays."

"Oh? The team in general seemed pretty good, but they were rusty, it was easy, to be honest," Jeno commented generously, and Jaemin agreed. 

"They were really good when we first played them, but they really slacked off this time. But," Jaemin poked Jeno's side and he laughed, "some of the credit goes to our new team members, who played extremely well."

Jeno's cheeks tinged rosy at the compliment, "Thank you, you played great as well." 

And Jeno meant it — when Renjun had dragged him to one or two basketball matches last year, he'd always made a point to not let his eyes venture near Jaemin's darting body. But he never missed the springy jumps, like he was on a trampoline, the enthusiasm, the way he played like he was the strongest link in a chain. He held the team together and held their weaknesses together at the seams. It was even clearer now — and Jeno had the feeling he would be taking over as captain when Jaehyun graduated. 

Just then, Eric came bounding over, Juyeon being dragged behind in his wake. Jaemin shot Juyeon a smirk and linked his own hands in front of him, mouthing something crude. Juyeon just shrugged, as if to say what can I do about it? Jeno snorted, then paid some attention to what Eric was saying.