Chapter 31

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"What do you mean you can't make it this weekend, Tae?" Lexy looked at her boyfriend from the sink where she was washing dishes. Her expression was one of surprise and a tiny bit of anger seeping through. "We have told you about Saturday evening for weeks now" she continued, huffing as she scrubbed the plate extra hard. "You know how important it is to M for everyone to be there. We finally get to see the surprise she has been working on"

"I know, and I really want to go, but we have a match that day, and we will finish maybe a few minutes before her surprise ends. Neither of us can make it" he replied, his smile gone, replaced with sadness. "We all want to know what that surprise is about. Film it for us?" he asked, putting on his puppy eyes on display.

"Humph" was the only response he got from the red-haired woman, who did not even look at him, knowing fully well she would fall for the puppy eyes. "You will break the news to M though!" she said, putting the plates on the dish rack to dry, before turning to make herself a cup of coffee. She did not want to think about M's disappointed face when she hears the big news. M was excited to show them the surprise ever since they found out about it.

Honestly, they barely saw M around ever since she started that project, and between classes and her going to rehearsals, they caught a glimpse of her while she was running to classes. Not even the weekends were a good time to catch her in the mood to go out. And when they actually had the time to sit and talk, she was half dozing away, mumbling about stuff. Even Tae could not talk to her much, as they had the same classes, always reporting back to the group that she barely paid any attention to him, even when the professors were a no show. The entire group was worried that this might be too much for M to do, but when they were told that the show was going to be soon, they all shut up and waited patiently. In the end, Tae, Kookie, and Yoongi would be a no-show, and Lexy wondered if that was about to sadden M. She could only hope the others would be there, to cheer for her, if not, she was ready to build the biggest banner ever made and wave it around for M to see she was not alone. Lexy knew Kiki would provide her with all the materials needed, and would even make sure she was allowed to bring it inside and set it up, and then be right there with her and cheer M along, even if it meant skipping a class or something like that, to set everything up.

"I will tell her tomorrow in class, dear" Tae's voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she remembered she was still upset they had to schedule the game right on that day and at that hour.

"They could have made the game earlier or later than the time we need to be there" Lexy pouted, not wanting to relent to the gods above who made such a schedule happen.

"I know, I know. We tried asking the coach if we can change at least the beginning hour to catch the last part of the show, but nope. Already decided and unless we have a good reason, nothing will change" Tae said, reaching for a cup to make himself some hot chocolate, wondering if he could bribe M with an entire box of hot chocolate to not make her sad.

He did notice how tired she was lately, between rehearsals of god knows what and the classes she was taking. Even after he offered to give her some of his notes, she refused to take a day off, continuing to come to class. In a way, he understood her, as she had a different way of taking notes than his, and that one time she accepted his offer, she understood almost nothing from his note-taking system.

He also remembered Yoongi's expression when they got the news, for a split second he was crestfallen, then he schooled his expression back on neutral, and no one was the wiser about what just happened. Kookie showed his emotions on his face, immediately glaring at the piece of paper that said the time of the game, crushing it in his hands like it would change anything.

In the end, he could only hope M would not take it badly or get upset about it, and if that did happen, he was ready to buy her a ton of chocolates to bring them back into her good graces. And if worse came to worse, he would lock M in the changing room with Yoongi after a game and hope that whatever happens in there would make her more forgiving.

"I don't know what you are thinking about, but I advise you to stop it. You are making that face again" Lexy poked Tae's forehead and rolled her eyes as his thoughts were written all over his face. "Either you are plotting something for M, or you got an idea on how to become rich overnight, and we both know it ain't that one" she continued, watching Tae pout once more and take a sip of his still hot hot-chocolate. "Also, M and Yoongi are slowly progressing by themselves, so don't meddle, unless they will not become a couple by Christmas, then we get out the big guns, ok?"

Tae could only nod at her question, wondering if he should at least tell her about the idea he had, to implement it in a plan, maybe before even Christmas came. He did notice some of the freshmen girls circling the stadium when they had practice matches, especially targeting Yoongi. Of course, the senior ignored their advances, trying to be polite and cold at the same time, but that only seemed to backfire as the girls seemed to like that kind of attitude. Not even Kookie could drive their attention away from Yoongi for that long, and he was a well-sculpted athlete. In the end, Tae was tempted to trip over Kookie and rip his jersey off to make the girls go goo-goo ga-ga over the younger player, so Yoongi could run away. Now that he thought about it, Tae wondered why those girls went for Yoongi, he was a good basketball player indeed, but otherwise, his muscles were almost on the non-existent side, or he hid them really well; he was shorter than most of the guys on the team, and his skin tone was on the pale side. And then he always glared or looked like he was glaring at people, especially when they went against what he was just telling them not to do. Yet, all those girls were enamored with the idea of getting his attention, always shouting his name and bringing him water bottles or towels. So far, Yoongi ignored them all, going to his own stuff and then walking away from all the new fans he gathered, while the rest of the team teased him about it.

When Tae told the girls about what happened at the practice matches, both Lexy and Kiki wanted to go to a match and tell the girls to back off, and bring M with them to show everyone Yoongi was taken, sort of. When they told M about their idea, she snorted into her tea, laughing afterward as she told everyone they need to loosen up and let the girls admire who they want. Tae wondered if something did happen the one time M appeared after their practice match, as one of their teammates came back with a freshman, introducing her to everyone on the team. And then that guy told them Yoongi rejected the girl right in front of him, preferring to go talk to M, looking pointedly at Tae and Kookie, waiting for an explanation. Neither said anything, not knowing how to explain what was going on themselves, in the end just shrugging. If Yoongi chose M over the freshman girl, it was not that teammates' problem. Deep down, they were happy the ship was finally moving along, even if in slow motion. Of course, when they asked Yoongi about it, he just gave them a look of 'mind your own business' and went back to do his own thing and practice his shots.

Tae had a feeling unless something happened, both M and Yoongi could drag this back and forth until the end of the year, and he did not think he could handle watching that for so long.

"For god's sake, now even NamJoon can't come with us" Lexy groaned, throwing herself on the couch as she was glaring at the text message the group got. In the span of half an hour, half of the group could not make it to the show, and Lexy felt like throwing stuff around until she felt better. Tae leaned over her, massaging her shoulders to try and calm her down, reading the messages that popped up in the group chat. He saw Kookie and Yoongi tell everyone about their match and then everything went silent as they were waiting for M to reply, as she was online and read everything.

-No problem, guys. I understand. Sorry I can not go cheer you on. Go win that game for me then-

That was her reply, and Tae felt bad as he imagined M's face when she read that they could not come. He really had to buy those hot chocolate boxes now, and give them as an apology, and maybe somehow make Yoongi do something nice for her too. Until then, he could only go tomorrow for hot chocolate shopping, to see which brand was the best, and try them all for himself at the same time. And then decide which ones M would like. But only after he taste-tested them all, of course.

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