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Badminton captains! Mark and Yuta
Ten POV
To be perfectly honest with himself, Ten wasn’t amazing at badminton- sure he more than deserved his place on the squad, but was more than comfortable with his place on the B team. He often found himself becoming friends with the opponents, chatting during breaks and promising to catch up at their next match. It was a Tuesday afternoon, the same day and time all their matches were on, and Ten was drowsily watching the countryside drift by on the way to their rival school, the hum of the minibus lulling him to sleep.
The nap was short, and the grogginess Ten felt after he woke up was not worth it- now he was sure running on four hours of sleep and a cheap coffee was going to result in a crash as soon as the match was over. Johnny, bless his heart, softly shook his knee and told him that they’d arrived. So they had. The manicured lawns stretched over the school grounds- a fabulous display of their relative wealth.
Their team had two captains: Yuta (who was notoriously stoic) and Mark (who’s bubbly personality made up for the pair). Everyone else looked up to Yuta, he was so confident in his abilities that everything he did looked effortless. Not to mention that he was the only one in the team with a 100% win rate- Ten had half a mind to start a fan club for him. Mark, however, was slightly less sure of himself, often nerves caused him to psych himself out- but that didn't matter when they played together. Only years of working together achieved that sort of synchronisation.
After realising that Johnny had got tired of waiting for him and grabbed their rackets and water bottles for him, Ten followed him out onto the gravelled carpark of Gyeonggi High School- only to see their beloved captains interact (that sounded sarcastic, but in his defence, they hardly talked and was honestly unsure if they were even friends).
“Hey Yuta!” Mark called, causing Yuta to stop walking so the shorter boy could catch up to him.
Yuta said nothing, and Mark took this as a sign to continue.
“So you know how I sometimes forget stuff?”
“…”
“Well um I forgot my racket, and since you always bring two rackets, I was wondering if I could borrow one of yours? You don't have to of course!! I uh,, , just really hate the weighting of the school ones,, ,” Mark rambled, and after he took a deep breath, he looked up at his fellow captain- expecting a raised eyebrow for his carelessness, but did not receive one.
Instead, Yuta simply nodded his head, then opened his bag so he could pass Mark one of his rackets.
Ten felt like he’d just figured out the meaning of life and worked out his true purpose. Frantically, he looked around, searching for Lucas, who surely had the same idea as Ten, and by the look on his face- he had.
“Lucas did you just see that??”
“Yeah,, , do you think they’re friends? I don't think Yuta welcomes that sort of informality with anyone else-“
“Or maybe they’re more..?”
“Well, Johnny is close with Mark, so you could get him to find out” Lucas excitedly whispered.
“I think we should tease Yuta about his ‘crush’ on Mark”
“…me too”
-5 minutes later-
After almost falling flat on his ass trying to take his tracksuit bottoms off, Ten took his place with his friends to bow to the other team. He was confident they’d win this time; it was his third time playing with their newest member, Yangyang, and they’d finally got the hang of things.
The singles matches always went first- which meant both Yuta and Mark would be on court along with Taeyong and Renjun (since they were the best of the A and B team respectively), so Ten had plenty of time to explain to Johnny- his ever patient boyfriend- what he and Lucas were trying to do. Thankfully, Johnny was more than on board (eager to see his best friend finally get a boyfriend), so there was no need for Ten to whine and cry at him. Not that he wouldn’t have done it.
The plan was simple: plant the idea into Mark’s head. Ten supposed he shouldn’t have doubted Johnny’s “acting”, but watching his boyfriend confidently stride over to Mark with a water bottle in hand after the match was over made him anxious.
“So,, , did you win?” Johnny asked cheerfully.
“Yeah!! But it was so much work because the guy had such evil drop shots” Mark laughed, gesturing to a stone faced boy who was ignoring his teammates and glaring at no one in particular. Clearly, his ego had taken a hit. “I actually hate playing singles, I prefer to have someone who will have my back when I screw up- you can't tell anyone though, coach says I should stop talking myself down”
“You should, you're so good at it,, , you have a 90% win rate and everything”
“I suppose I should, but I’d rather not let my ego get too big, otherwise I would feel worse when I lose” Mark said, absentmindedly turning his head back to Yuta’s game.
“Are you and Yuta dating?”
“What? No, why would you ask that?”
“You seem comfortable with him?”
“I’m comfortable with everyone”
“You make a good point, but still, you're both in your last year of school, and you’ve played as partners for years, which means you’ve spent a lot of time together,, , and you're sure there’s nothing between you guys?”
“I- I don't think so?” Mark sounded a lot less sure of himself this time. “Johnny wait- what are you trying to suggest here- come back oh my god-“
Johnny ignored him, running off to join Jaehyun on court.
-+-+-+-+-
“Yuta, do you want to come with us to fill up our water bottles? We can grab some of the snacks Gyeonggi put outside the sports hall too if you’d like!!” Ten called over once he and Lucas were both off court. The Japanese boy nodded and followed them out.
“Why do you look so down hyung? Is it because Haechan was flirting with Mark earlier?” Lucas spoke suddenly, only slightly bitter because he couldn’t watch Jungwoo play.
Ten wished Lucas would finally confess to Jungwoo, because everyone knew they were dating except them. For example, Lucas had only joined the badminton team because Jungwoo didn't want to be alone (but he stayed because he turned out to be pretty good at it), every Friday after school, they’d get ice cream and watch ducks by the river until the sun set and Jungwoo didn't even wear uniform hoodies anymore, because he preferred Lucas’.
“No, I was thinking about my match, and why would I care who Mark flirts with?” He said, tilting his head to the side.
Despite Yuta’s tone of pure curiosity, Ten jumped in to try and disguise their very thinly veiled motivations. “Oh come on how do you not like him? You let him borrow your good racket today and used your shitty spare one instead- you wouldn’t even do that for Jungwoo and he’s your best friend”
“I don't know, Mark just looked so nervous that I didn't want to raise his nerves by giving him a bad racket. He’s always been the type to let the first shot decide how he does for the rest of the match.” Yuta shrugged, waiting for the agonisingly slow water fountain to finish.
“See?? You’ve played with each other for years and you’ve go to know him really well, so how can you be sure there isn’t anything going on between you guys?”
“Yeah you're in your last year and everything, this is your chance!!”
“Wait you're gay right, and we haven’t read this completely wrong?”
“Yeah, I don't really make it a secret though”
“How would we know that, you never speak!!” Lucas exclaimed, immediately putting his hand over his mouth afterwards.
To both Lucas and Ten’s surprise, Yuta threw his head back and laughed.
“I’ll be sure to speak more often in the future, and I hope we can talk again soon, but I don't have a crush on Mark. I’ll go now, but I’m sure there will still be snacks left over.” The Japanese boy said reassuringly, whilst screwing the lid back on.
“Come on, you have to admit you’d be a cute couple!!” Ten called after him.
Yuta didn't reply, but if you looked hard enough, you could see the blush spreading across his cheeks.
-+-+-+-+-
It took precisely two weeks for anything to come of that conversation. That Tuesday it had been a home game, and even though Ten had lost two out of three matches, he’d played well, so it was hard to be disappointed. Lucas and seemed to share this sentiment, as he was humming cheerfully while they were putting the nets away. They were in no rush, and the buzz of their teammates surrounded them- which is probably why they didn't hear their (almost) silent captain approach.
“What did you mean by ‘cute couple’?” Yuta said, seemingly out of nowhere- surprising Ten.
“FUCK!” Ten screamed, drawing everyone’s attention- including the other school’s. “Uhm,, , sorry everyone” He sheepishly rubbed the nape of his neck. “It’s pretty self explanatory, I just think your personalities suit each other, you have an established relationship- even if its not romantic, and you’re both nice people, not to mention really good looking. You’d be a power couple for sure!!”
“Honestly, who wouldn’t like to date Mark?” Lucas giggled “He really is one of the best people I know”
Yuta’s head whipped to Lucas. “Are you,, , interested in him?”
For someone who claimed to have no feelings for the confidently awkward boy, Yuta sounded awfully accusatory.
“Not at all, so there’s no need to be jealous, my heart belongs to Jungwoo”
“Is he the one I play with?”
“The one and only!!” Lucas sighed dreamily.
“I wish you luck” Yuta’s monotonous tone was back.
“Before you go, and you didn't hear this from me, but I heard that Haechan is planning to confess to Mark soon, but he likes you. I don't want to be the one to say it, but if you don't make a move soon, you're going to lose Mark- and if they start dating, he won’t have time for all of your extra practices”
“How did you know about those-“
“I didn’t- I guessed”
“Did Mark put you up to this?”
“What? Of course not, though you probably wont believe us” Ten sighed.
“I- I’m gonna go, I have a lot to think about. Thank you for speaking with me”
“Anytime, see you on Thursday!!” They replied cheerfully.
-+-+-+-+-
“I know Mr Kang said no already, but I’m telling you, if Yuta’s the one to ask, then he’ll say yes for sure,, , plus we’re friends with him now, so he won’t mind” Ten reassured Lucas, leading him back towards the sports hall after a particularly gruelling practice. After all, what better time to bug your upperclassmen than when they’re tired?
Ten and Lucas had been trying to convince Mr Kang, their coach, for the past week to let them play together in matches. They were already in the B team, and there wasn’t really anything stopping them from making the switch, apart from Mr Kang thinking that they would talk too much and be a bad influence on each other. It didn't matter, because Ten had the brilliant idea to ask Yuta. As they approached the doors, still open to keep a draft- they heard voices.
“Have you heard what Ten has been going on about in the past month?” Yuta’s deep voice echoed over to where he and Lucas were standing. Quickly, Ten frantically gestured for them to both be silent, because the captains obviously hadn’t heard them approach.
“What? No?” Mark’s slightly less deep voice replied in genuine confusion. Ten glanced down to where Lucas was crouched, who looked equally as sheepish- perhaps they had overdone the teasing.
“Are you sure? Because if this is some plot to get me to confess to you after what happened last year, it’s not working.”
Yuta never mentioned anything from last year to them, which meant he lied when he said he didn't feel anything for Mark. This would offend him usually, but he found himself wishing for Yuta to confess instead.
“Excuse me? Johnny’s the one who is not so subtly trying to get me to make a move before you go off to uni and never see me again!”
Well, at least Ten could admire the work his boyfriend put into the cause.
“Wait-“
“Wait-“
“You like me?”
“Um,, , yes? Please don't make fun of me” Mark whined.
“For how long?”
“I don't know, probably after that one time you beat Mr Kang in a match in Year 10. It was only a small crush though, until Year 12, when I started to think you might like me too- you’re so much nicer to me than anyone else, so how could I not?”
“…”
“Do you like me too?” Mark asked quietly, Ten strained his ears.
“Yes, but I have to be honest, I only realised after what Ten and Lucas said to me”
“What did they say?”
“I’ll tell you later,, , do you think they set us up on purpose?” Yuta thought out loud “No, they wouldn’t waste their energy doing thi-“
Just then, the most comical cliche thing that could have happened- while trying to move backwards, Lucas accidentally tripped Ten over, causing them to both fall face first into the sports hall. It was a miracle they hadn’t been found out until then.
“Ten? Lucas? What are you doing here?” Mark questioned, reddening as he thought about what the pair had heard.
Mark never received an answer to that, because they’d already bolted, deciding that they would try asking Mr Kang directly again.