Two days later, Taehyung met up with his former group members and came to an agreement. His eyes were set straight into Jungkook's as he calmly held his hand towards him.
"Friends?" He asked, raising his eyebrow fairly.
"Friends," Jungkook responded calmly with a firm nod as the two of them had subsided the awkward tension.
"Okay. Shall we take our seats?" Namjoon clasped his hands together gladly.
"We should sit in the second row of the bleachers. Hoseok is expecting us to be there," Yoongi reminded.
"I have Sindangdong Tteokbokki snacks if any of you guys want," Jin noted.
"Just hang onto it," Yoongi said as he followed Namjoon all the way to their seating area, whereas the two guys were awkwardly looking around and upon on their shoes.
"Should we...?" Taehyung muttered slowly.
"Yeah. Of course," Jungkook nodded when they both walked along with their friends.
They all made shuffling movements as they sat down comfortably and started talking amongst themselves.
Bryan and Valerie, on the other hand, entered the gateway and glanced around the field to see several people and fans have settled. The commentator's voice was slurring with an excited tone, startling them to pay attention.
"Welcome, everyone to the Annual Seoul Open's Men Tennis Tournament. My name is Maechi and today is going to be the most phenomenal moment that you are all going to experience. Let's give a round of applause for Lee Chang-sub, who won the two-year championship!"
The others cheered loudly and clapped after seeing him run to the field, giving peace signs and reflexing his biceps at them.
"And another one for the three-year championship in a row, Jung Hoseok!" Maechi exclaimed, which caused almost the whole crowd to go beyond when he entered the court with a big, hopeful smile that every girl adores.
Hoseok was waving at the audience and didn't notice Lee Chang-sub was glaring towards his direction.
"He's getting a bit irritated by him," Bryan snickered.
"Precisely," Valerie giggled in agreement.
"Alright. Let's begin on the first match," Maechi said, where two players had gotten in their positions, holding their rackets tightly in a firm grip.
"Five, four, three, two, one..." The referee counted and blew the whistle.
Lee Chang-sub threw the ball up in the air before he hit it forward over the net. Hoseok quickly ran to the right side to swing it back, then Chang-sub jumped to strike down. However, Hoseok extended his arm out and scored 15-love, much to everyone's amazement.
"And that's his first time to make a marking point. He is best-skilled and has a sharp angle of focus," Maechi stated.
"See? I've told you," Valerie murmured with a smirk.
"Whatever," Bryan shook his head, chuckling.
"Damn. I never knew that Hoseok can be very calm about this," Jin widened his eyes in astonishment.
"Because he knows everything and it's not by the rules," Yoongi pointed out while crossing his arms.
Taehyung and Jungkook remained silent, whereas Namjoon hovered his gaze at them, slightly amused.
"The next round starts now and Chang-sub will be serving..." Maechi said.
Hoseok was jolly as he swayed back and forth, waving friendly towards his friends on the side, much to his opponent's low-key annoyance.
"Hmph. He thinks he can beat me, huh? Well, he doesn't know what will shock him once I wipe his stupid little grin off his face," he thought menacingly in mind, then he bounced the ball onto the ground and tossed it up to strike it hastily.
Hoseok still managed to deflect the ball above the pet, attempting to swing across the edge of the fence.
The others shouted astoundedly in exclamation, clapping their hands, and chanted his name.
"Woohoo! That is 30-love and if he scores another one, Hoseok wins the first match," Maechi stated.
"Come on, Hobi!! You can do it!" Jin exclaimed with his hands curved near his mouth.
Hoseok made a peace sign while squinting his eyes into a thin line, smiling at them. Then, he faced Chang-sub, who was shooting daggers at him tensely.
Chang-sub decided to keep his composure low and steady. He picked up the ball and prepared himself in the same position, breathing through his nostrils. Chang-sub smacked the ball hard from below and Hoseok ran to the right side to strike it over to the front.
Both of them were padding it nonstop until one of them pivoted, making others scream gaily when the score turned into 40-love.
"Wow! Straight to the point where he is," Maechi said excitedly and continued on. "One more and the first match will go to Hoseok!"
Hoseok was bouncing the ball and lifted it up before he struck it directly. Chang-sub couldn't catch up with the ball that flew across his face, dodging himself away from it.
The whole crowd suddenly boomed with a loud cheer and chanted Hoseok's name.
"Hoseok wins the first match! Amazing strikes. Chang-sub must've been a little startled and couldn't hit the ball. Though, he still did a great job in keeping up the game," Maechi commented.
Valerie was clapping and grinning from ear to ear merrily. She was very impressed by Hoseok's techniques that he used recently and she couldn't wait to see more. Although there was a part of her that feels bad for Chang-sub since he wasn't able to score at least one point. She noticed that there are some fans who are very displeased.
"Shit. He's really into this, eh? I can barely run up quickly to swipe the ball over. Hoseok is such an expert," Bryan said earnestly, whistling a tune.
"What about Chang-sub?" Valerie mentioned.
"Him? Oh. Eh, he's alright," Bryan said, shrugging off carelessly.
Valerie raised her eyebrow quizzically and repeated. "Alright?"
"Yeah," Bryan answered.
Valerie nodded slowly until they both saw Jimin arriving late and sat down in the corner alone by himself. She promptly texted Namjoon, informing him about their friend.
He looked down onto his phone as he reminded the others to look where Jimin was sitting. They all waved at him as he did the same.
Jimin smiled a little and crossed his arms formally, not even wanting to chat with the elderly people beside him.
Bryan tried to stifle laughter, which Valerie noticed strangely.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
"Just the fact that Mr. Park is always stiff," Bryan pointed out humorously.
"He always has been," Valerie said, then they focused on the second match that was about to start. From every round, Hoseok scored two points, whereas Chang-sub scored as well. Though, he still wins the second match that causes half the crowd to uproar happily. The others groaned in dissatisfaction, facepalming and shaking their heads.
"Hoseok wins again! Now, we are off to a 10-minute break," Maechi said as he left his seat.
Some people headed to the washrooms while the others went to get some refreshments on the table.
Contrarily, Valerie's eyes were hovering towards Chang-sub, who was secretly glancing at them and he sprinkled some powder onto one of the pop tarts in the table. She became a little skeptical as to why he had a tiny bottle in his hand and threw it in the trash can. "What is he doing?"
"Hey, Val. I'll be right back, okay?" Bryan said reassuringly.
"Hmm," she hummed in response with a nod, then she looked at Chang-sub approaching Hoseok.
He took his towel and wiped off the sweat from his forehead, then heard a voice calling him out.
"Hey, Hoseok!" Chang-sub said, smiling innocently.
"Hi, Chang-sub. What's up?" Hoseok grinned.
"Nothing much. That was a good game. You're very competent in swinging the ball just for split seconds," Chang-sub said, motioning the invisible swinging motions.
"Yeah. It was something that I've learned myself and sorry if I kind of went overboard. No hard feelings, right?" Hoseok said gently.
"Of course. No hard feelings at all," Chang-sub repeated, but his eyes shimmered otherwise and handed him the appetizer. "Here. This is for you."
"Thanks," Hoseok nodded as he took a bite and chew quietly. His eyes widened in shock as he held the pop tart. "Hmm. This tastes good."
"I know. They're sweet," Chang-sub agreed lightly as he kept smiling at him perniciously. "Sweet enough to crush you."
"I got to go and wash my hands now. See you soon!" Hoseok said brightly and walked away.
"See you!" Chang-sub waved at him and sniggered viciously to himself.
Ten minutes later had passed, the rest of the people went back to their seats as they waited for the third match to resume.
"Alright. How is everyone doing?!" Maechi asked in a thrilling tone.
"Woohoo! Great!" They replied in unison.
"Shit!" One of the guys in the audience catcalled out loud, whereas the others guffawed in amusement.
"Okay. Now, we have Chang-sub and Hoseok getting ready for their spot. Chang-sub is now going to serve the ball and oh. He seems very happy about this," Maechi said, raising his eyebrow curiously.
Once Chang-sub was bouncing the ball on the ground, he smirked halfway and tossed it in the air before he spiked it very hard over the net.
Hoseok started to run forward to smack with his racket, but his stomach began to growl loudly, much to his puzzlement. He placed his hand over his abdomen and stopped for a moment.
"And there Chang-sub scored 15-love!" Maechi exclaimed and added in. "It looks like Hoseok froze up there. I wonder what is going on."
Namjoon and the others were startled as to why their friend hesitated to swing the ball, especially Bryan was even more peculiar.
Hoseok's face started to scrunch up in discomfort as his stomach continued to grumble noisily, which they all have witnessed.
Valerie narrowed her eyes and shook her head in alarm, recalling the moment where Chang-sub surreptitiously added the powder on the pop tart in which she figured that it was dairy. Nevertheless, Hoseok was lactose intolerant and he is currently experiencing a bit of cramp in his lower body. Even though he was trying to steady himself, he was still able to swing the ball over the net from below the angle slowly.
Chang-sub flickered his eyes with a spark of glint and took this chance to hit it across the edge of the field as far as possible twice. Hoseok tried to run towards the ball, but his stomach was constantly aching and made a huge fart noise, much to everyone's silence.
Maechi gasped and commented shockingly. "Uh oh. It looks like Hoseok just ran out of gas..."
Hoseok's cheeks were turning bright red as he closed his eyes in embarrassment, knowing that he lost and heard distant laughs from the audience.
"For the first time, Chang-sub has won the third match. Just what in the world happened to Hoseok? Perhaps, he ate something that has gone wrong. Let's find out more on the next one," Maechi chirped.
Namjoon and the others sighed disappointingly, whereas Yoongi and Jin raked their fingers through their hair in frustration.
On the other side of the tennis area, Bryan was confused as to what was going on with Hoseok.
"How did that happen? An hour ago, he was totally fine," he said blankly.
"You're right. He was indeed..." Valerie muttered firmly.
"Huh? You know something?" Bryan glanced at her surprisingly.
"Obviously. I saw Chang-sub putting something in the appetizer to make sure that Hoseok's stomach gets upset. In addition to that, he is clearly trying to sabotage him and prevent him from winning this game," Valerie explained and stood up from her seat, jumping onto the ground and making her way to the trash can to pick up the empty tiny bottle. She came back and showed Bryan the last bit of contents, realizing that Chang-sub planned it on purpose.
"Holy shit. Those are milk powder..." he murmured.
"Duh. To think Chang-sub is not going to get caught. But he will be..." Valerie clenched her teeth in annoyance.
"What do we do? If he wins double the times, Hoseok may lose his title," Bryan said panicking.
Valerie glanced at Hoseok, who was literally struggling to swing the ball and lost again. Fifteen minutes later, Chang-sub earned three points for the fourth match. She exhaled out through her nose and hurriedly left the seat in a swift motion as her eyes became indignant.
"Val... Val?! Where are you going?" Bryan called out, causing the others to turn and look at her.
"That's a tie for both players! Now, who will win the last match? It seems that Chang-sub is pretty confident in winning this year's tournament, whereas Hoseok looks like he is about to upchuck," Maechi stated when the others started laughing at him in disgust, especially the farting incident that occurred.
Coach Mr. Gee-sun crossed his hands, signaling a time out for the judges. He gestured to Hoseok to come over and asked deeply in concern. "Young man. What the hell was that? What is wrong with you? You're about to lose. Why did you hesitate?"
"Mr. Gee-sun. I ate something bad. At first, I was feeling well, but then afterward... I felt irritable with my stomach..." Hoseok murmured softly as his face scrunched up in pain, lowering his head while gripping tightly onto his stomach.
His coach came over to his side to examine him and snapped his fingers at someone to give him a water bottle. He held it in front, saying. "Here, boy. Drink this."
Hoseok nodded and took it to chug it down.
"Excuse me. I think it's time you should all know," a girl's voice said from behind them.
Both of them glanced at her in astonishment where Hoseok smiled achingly. "Valerie."
"Hey. I think I know what to give you. I have this emergency pill that can help you relieve your stomach," she said, smiling at him kindly and opening the cap before giving him the medicine.
Hoseok takes it and drinks the water. As soon as he swallows it, he said. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. You see, I was the first person to notice Chang-sub who sneaked onto one of the appetizers on the table during the break and he handed Hoseok the pop-tart that was filled with milk powder..." Valerie said, showing them the empty tiny bottle.
Mr. Gee-sun narrowed his eyes at it in dismay and growled fuming, cracking his knuckles. "What?! That bastard. He cheated."
"Definitely, Chang-sub planned to ensure that Hoseok doesn't win the next set of matches, including the last one," Valerie said, frowning.
Hoseok became a little sad and stammered. "But he was so nice to me."
"If he was, then why did he try to hurt you?" Valerie questioned logically, which he was starting to realize.
Hoseok turns around to look at his friends, motioning him to go back to the field and wondering in puzzlement. He peeked over to his shoulder at Valerie and smiled knowingly without responding back. He patted his coach on the shoulder, saying. "No need to worry. I'll be alright this time."
Valerie smirked and said. "We're cheering for you."
Mr. Gee-sun raised his eyebrows in bewilderment. "What about Chang-sub? He needs to be disqualified."
"Just wait..." Hoseok said, facing his back on them. "Now, go back to your seats and enjoy the show."
Valerie nodded in agreement as she ran back to her spot where Bryan was sitting.
Hoseok was calmly gazing at Chang-sub, who raised his eyebrows weirdly at him.
"Ah! He's smiling again. It must be the girl who came to support him," Maechi teased jokingly.
Valerie rolled her eyes and giggled at his whimsicality, whereas Bryan pondered for a moment.
"What happened down there?" He asked.
"I gave him some medicine and informed them about Chang-sub's scheme," Valerie said shortly.
"I see. Is he going to get disqualified?" Bryan thought.
"For dead sure, he damn is..." Valerie muttered warily as they both watched Hoseok getting ready to serve the ball and strike it forward.
Chang-sub was shocked when the ball almost passed him and dodged away. "What the fuck was that?!"
"15-love!" Maechi said loudly.
Hoseok gave a smile and carefully observed Chang-sub taking the ball before he swung it back. The two of them were wrestling between the left and right sides without stopping until Hoseok saw an opening and scored 30-love.
Chang-sub tried to run over the ball and made a strike against it with the racket. Hoseok jumped and hit as hard as he could to get 40-love, but both of them were tied again.
"Oh, my kimchi! This is it! If one of them marks up the point, one of them will win the championship!!" Maechi said intensely.
Everyone else was leaning closer to watch the two players looking at each other dead in the eye. Everything else was slow motion when Chang-sub was going to strike the ball that was bouncing above the net.
Bryan and Valerie clench their fists while Mr. Gee-sun was biting his nails nervously.
Hoseok was reaching higher with his foot tiptoeing upward and smack it right back to the front of the field, hitting the fence.
Suddenly, the whole crowd screamed thunderously in applause as they threw the hats and other stuff above them. The rest of the BTS former members were yelling and giving high-fives to one another, including Taehyung and Jungkook.
Jimin smirked proudly and gave a standing ovation towards his friend, clapping his hands.
"Jung Hoseok wins!! That is his fourth time to win this year's tournament! Outstanding, boy! Congratulations and for Chang-sub, congratulations for working hard. That is all!" Maechi yelled gleefully.
Chang-sub became furious and broke the tennis racket with his strong hands. "How?! How did you still do it?!"
"Just what Emily Dickinson said, 'Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.' Do you know who has feathers? The one who has wings is considered to be the strongest," Hoseok stated, smiling.
Chang-sub hovered his death stare at Valerie, who looked at him emotionless. "You!! She's the one who gave him the pill."
Valerie approached him and argued. "That pill saved his life. His stomach was affecting his way of playing. If it wasn't your little scheme, he would feel slightly better."
"What? That's ridiculous. I never did any such thing," Chang-sub denied, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Oh, really?" Bryan said as he held the empty tiny bottle upfront. "How do you explain this?"
Chang-sub became appalled as his eyes looked at him, his coach, and the officers. But then, his expression turned into anger as soon as he pointed his finger at Valerie. "This is all your fault! Ugh! I quit!!"
He stomped his footsteps away from them and threw his sports hat onto the ground aggressively, much to their shock.
The others were shaking their heads at his immaturity and gave a nodding signal towards the officer, who was running after him.
"Ah. You have finally done it, Hoseok," Mr. Gee-sun said, grinning in delight.
"Nah. I think Valerie did. In fact, she is the winner," Hoseok said, gesturing her forward.
Mr. Gee-sun glanced at her and agape in contentment. "Ah!"
Valerie shook her head shyly and smiled. "Come on. I wasn't the one playing. Thanks."
"No, thank you," Hoseok said giddily and hugged her as she lifted her up, making her gasp in astoundment. She giggled and was put back down on the ground, staring at Hoseok gladly.
"Thank you, Valerie. You are truly a detective," Mr. Gee-sun beamed.
"I'm glad I could help," she said, bowing down respectfully.
"Hm. She is extremely good at this. I'm Bryan Zedler. Nice to meet you," he said, introducing himself to Mr. Gee-sun, who shook his hands casually.
"I assume you're her friend," he said.
"Yup. That's me," Bryan said, chuckling.
"Hey, guys!" Namjoon called out, making them all turn around to see the former members smiling widely.
"Hyungs!" Hoseok exclaimed and sprinted towards them to embrace.
They were congratulating him by patting his back impressively.
"You did it, dude," Yoongi said, pumping his fist as they both did their signature, much to the others' amusement.
"We thought you're going to puke or something. Looks like you just-" Jin laughed hysterically without finishing his sentence.
"Shut up," Hoseok said, laughing along with him after smacking his shoulder.
"Congratulations..." Jimin said, smirking as he kept his hands in his pockets.
Hoseok looked at him and hugged him quickly before letting go. "Aww. Thanks, Chimchim."
"Who told you to call me that?!" Jimin's eyes widened blankly in shock.
"I did," Jungkook snickered, raising his hand up.
"Oh, come on," Jimin rolled his eyes, then they landed on Taehyung, who was smiling at him.
"Hey..." he greeted.
"Hi. So, are you guys friends...?" Jimin looked back and forth at him and Jungkook.
"We are," he answered simply.
Jimin nodded silently and said. "Okay."
Later on, in Hoseok's mansion, they celebrated his victory after winning the tennis tournament. They popped the corks up from the bottle of beer, whiskey, and champagne, including the confetti. They cling onto their glasses with one another and drink at the same time. Yoongi and Jin decided to play UNO cards with Namjoon and Hoseok, whereas Jimin was sitting on the side of the couch, watching them play attentively.
Taehyung was staring at him in the corner of his eyes and looked down solely on his fingers that were fidgeting anxiously. "Jimin..."
"Hm?" He responded as he drank his glass.
"I'm sorry..." Taehyung muttered remorsefully, shutting his eyes closed.
"It's alright. I know what you're going to say. But you know what, we're way past that. You don't need to feel guilty over something that is already over," Jimin stated calmly.
"For real? You're not mad anymore?" Taehyung became surprised.
"Why would I be?" Jimin chuckled, sticking his tongue out onto the glass before drinking it twice.
"Are we good?" Taehyung asked reassuringly.
"If you say so," Jimin said.
Taehyung nodded warmly and both of them slowly shook their hands together.
Aside from that, Valerie was sitting on the balcony where she was admiring the stars in the sky. She sighed peacefully until she heard a young man's voice behind her.
"Enjoying the party?"
Valerie got startled and smiled. "Jungkook."
Jungkook replied with a hum, placing his hands onto his jean pockets. He approached beside her and gazed up at the view above them.
"Hmm. You really saved Hoseok's ass out there. Not just metaphorically. Like literally," Jungkook joked as he laughed.
Valerie nudged him on the shoulder, shaking her head dismissively but couldn't help giggling. "Be quiet. At least, he didn't end up having diarrhea."
Jungkook laughed, even more, saying. "That could be possible. Anyway, I want to know more about you."
"Why is that?" Valerie quirked an eyebrow confusedly.
"Because I've never seen someone so exceptional. I know I was being an ass to you before and I apologize for my rudeness. But after seeing you in the tennis field and handling Hoseok's situation like that really opened my eyes to see how smart you must've been," Jungkook explained sincerely.
"If I didn't solve his situation, would you still befriend me?" Valerie asked.
"Maybe not. Maybe, something else," Jungkook implied as he gazed down longingly into her pupils.
Valerie cleared her throat as her cheeks turned a little pink, so she looked away to see the sky view. "Uh... Look! There are birds!"
Jungkook noticed this and clicked his tongue out as he understood what she was doing. He watched them fly into the clouds drifting away as they quietly stood there.
They were talking for a few minutes, which Hoseok perceived them with a gleeful simper. "Awww. Looks like our Kookie is making a move on Valerie."
Namjoon, Jin, and Yoongi turned their heads on them as they smiled happily at them.
"He better not do anything stupid," Taehyung noted.
"Yeah. Let's not forget the fact that millions of girls were fawning over him," Jin pointed out.
On the other hand, Jimin saw them and couldn't help but became unusual. He doesn't know why he was feeling that way and just maybe, he hasn't figured out what it was.
Near them, Bryan observed his expression that was appearing on his face and was beginning to wonder why the business CEO seemed to be a little bothered. He drank his glass and questioned in his mind skeptically. "Mr. Park. What are you thinking about?"381Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkqvtbikvk
