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The nerves Jaehyun feels right now are normal, or so he's been told by his teammates and trainers that have been in this situation before. But maybe it's the fact that he never thought he'd make it here, or maybe it's the fact that he knows that the whole world will be watching them, but he literally feels sick.
The whole Korean delegacy is waiting for their turn to go out to the stadium and introduce themselves.
These are his first Olympic games, and even though they're very close to home, he still feels like he's on a different planet.
"Hyung, you look really pale, are you sure you're alright?" Youngjae, the youngest of their team asks. And Jaehyun wonders how he looks so chill about it, about the whole thing. Everyone else seems to be okay but him.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Jaehyun lies. "I'm gonna go find some water before we go out" and he leaves his place to find one of the fridges by the side. This place is huge and is full of people, people from all over the world, so different but with the same goal, the same dream: to win a medal.
He bumps into someone on the way to get water and apologizes, regretting it as soon as he sees who he is.
"Oh, Lee, you look pale, too many spins in your summersaults?" the grin Lee Juyeon's got on his face only makes him feel sicker. He hears giggles from other people from the basketball team and Jaehyun doesn't want anyone to ruin this for him, especially not Lee Juyeon.
"Lee, leave your three-pointers to the court, I heard you've been missing all of those this season" he says, pouting on purpose. "Excuse me, I gotta go" he gives him a fake smile and moves past them, now even more eager to get back to his team.
He makes it back right on time to start walking and hear the name of their country be called in the stadium, the cheers of the crowd making his skin break into goosebumps.
All the nerves seem to be leaving his body, only for an overwhelming euphoria to take over after it. They look around the place, they wave, their uniforms on and smiles wide, proud to be there.
These are the Olympics, he made it. And he's going to try his best to get back home with a prize, because he sure as hell has worked hard enough to get it. But the thing about an event like this is that so has everyone else.
The ceremony ends and Jaehyun sees some of his teammates tear up when the Olympic fire starts burning. He can't bring himself to cry, because he's so happy right now, the music making it even more epic, and he knows there's a reason people always told him that it's the experience of a lifetime, because it is.
He joined the gymnastics team when he was a kid, at first it was as a way to focus all his energy, but he started to love it, and eventually, going to regional championships, and moving onto national and internationals, he got a scholarship to join the gymnastics team in college, and now... here he is.
The shelves at home are filled with trophies from him, but he still wants more, which is why, when they offered him to come, he said yes.
"And that's a wrap! Please, leave the stadium in order" they hear through the speakers once the ceremony ends. And they have to wait for a while more because they're leaving in the same order they entered.
"Hyung, some of the guys from the team are saying they want to go out when we get out, you in?" Youngjae asks him, and truthfully, Jaehyun is exhausted. And although he knows that he can enjoy his time here, he also wants to make sure he tries his best until he can't give more.
"Nah, I'll go back to the hotel, I'm beat" he tells him. "And I wanted to have an early practice tomorrow before the first competition"
"That's wise, I don't think I'll stay much either" Youngjae tells him and Jaehyun smiles.
"You enjoy the night; you had more practice than I back home because I had my finals" he tells him.
Their time to leave the stadium comes and once out, people split up, some going back to the buses to go to the Olympic village and others going to enjoy the night in Tokyo.
For a second, Jaehyun doubts. Should he join his team? Will he regret not doing it? But he shakes his head and keeps walking towards the bus, because he knows what he'd regret the most would be fucking up his performance tomorrow. They can celebrate once they've got their medals.
He gets a call when he's in the bus, his family video calling him to congratulate him.
"We saw you on TV!" His mother tells him excitedly, and he giggles. He wasn't looking at the screens or the cameras, so he didn't even wave. "You looked so handsome, so nervous, too"
"Well, of course I was" he giggles. "I'm heading back to get an early night for tomorrow."
"Very good, honey. Call tomorrow if you can! But we'll be watching and rooting for you, like always" and it warms his heart, because he didn't doubt it.
"Thanks mum, and say hi to everyone else, too!" Because he knows his whole family must be there, but his mum also knows he gets overwhelmed easily, which is why she probably was in his room when she called. He appreciates it.
"Rest well, champion" and he gives her a smile before he hangs up.
The bus leaves and he puts his headphones on, playing his relax playlist and closing his eyes, starting his wind down ritual before bed.
The sun's not even out when Jaehyun's alarm goes off, but he managed to sleep plenty and that's enough for him.
He gets out and ready for his morning practice. He's used to this: waking up early, going for a run, then going to the gym and practicing, over and over again, making sure all his routines are engraved into his brain.
He makes sure he's got his credentials and everything ready on his bag when he leaves, and he heads out.
But before he manages, he runs into people who seem to be still coming back from their night out.
And he wasn't expecting to, but he runs into Lee Juyeon again, star of the basketball team, and, according to Jaehyun, his worst enemy.
"Up so early?" he tells him, and he sounds drunk. Jaehyun can't help but laugh.
"Yeah, some of us take this seriously" he says. "But I do hope you had fun" and his tone is clearly sarcastic, but he doesn’t care.
"Seriously, huh?" he says. "I take it seriously, I just don't have one of your ballet sticks up my ass" he shrugs, and it makes Jaehyun's blood boil.
"Fuck you" he says, bluntly. "And get out of my way, I have more important things to do than deal with your inflated ego" and Jaehyun hears some of the people that came with him giggle and tell him to leave him alone, that it's not worth it, and with that, Jaehyun heads out, the sky starting to light up slightly. The good thing about going out this early is that it's less hot and humid. He doesn't plan on running that long either, just enough to get his body going before he heads to the gym to practice.
Today is his big debut. He knows that he has a lot of pressure because people expect a lot from him, since he's won so many championships, including the Worlds. And he knows he can win something here, too. Which is exactly why he's pushing himself this hard, to make sure he doesn't let anyone down.
He goes to the gym first to leave his bag there and after, he goes back out.
He starts with a bit of a warm-up, although he feels warmed up already just from his running into Lee Juyeon, because he always pushes his buttons, he always manages to get under his skin and piss him off, even if he doesn't do anything.
It's been like that ever since college.
Ever since he heard him say that gymnastics isn't a proper sport.
He might've respected him before that, because he knew he was a great athlete and was the youngest player to debut in the national team, but after that? Yeah, you wouldn't catch him dead in the same room as him ever.
And maybe it helps him feel motivated, helps him want to prove him wrong, so, he takes a deep breath, and starts running.
"What was that about? Wasn't that Lee Jaehyun? The star of the gymnastics team?" Younghoon asks Juyeon as they head to their rooms. Juyeon just laughs. Doesn't need him to specify because he knows what he means.
"Yeah" he says. "Yeah, he was. He's a dickhead, though" and that seems to surprise him. Of course, Younghoon doesn't know him like Juyeon does because he didn't meet him before, but Juyeon has had the misfortune of meeting him.
"Why is that?" he asks.
"He just is. Thinks he's better than everyone else because he can do a backflip on command" he says. "Thinks his trophies mean more than anything we've achieved" and he doesn't really want to talk about it, because the truth is, that he doesn't even know why one day they started hating each other this much.
They used to go to university together, each of them on scholarships for their own sports, there to train and get better so they could become the stars they are today. And somewhere along the line, Jaehyun started treating him like he was inferior.
And truthfully, before all that, he liked Jaehyun. Thought he was a solid guy and really talented, too. Even before he got his first international competition, he knew he had potential.
Too bad it got to his head, and he became an asshole.
"I mean, he's quite good" Younghoon tells him, which only angers more, and he seems to realize, because he apologizes. "But so are you, so don't let him get to you. Get some rest, we might not have a game today, but our first game is tomorrow, and we need you in top condition" he says when they get to his room. Juyeon nods, sighing.
"Yeah, good night, hyung" and he opens his door. He's glad that they've got individual rooms because he also needs his alone time. He walks towards the window of his room and sees the course in the middle of it, for the athletes to run and train for their speed and resistance competitions.
He spots Lee Jaehyun running as the sun starts to come up behind the Tokyo skyline, alone as if no one else in the world existed but him.
Juyeon walks away thinking that, probably, that's exactly how Jaehyun feels all the time.
"You need to be careful with that, Jaehyun-ah" he hears his coach after he lands the jump. He knows, he knows, and he's been training to get it right, and he knows that he's running out of time to get it.
"I will" he says, going to check the video of his jump, to see where it might've gone wrong. "Yeah, I opened too quick, didn't I?" he says, and the coach nods. "Shit, I can do so much better than that"
"Relax, boy, this is just practice. You're not even in the finals yet" and he knows that, he knows, but if he can't do it well here without the pressure and the spotlights away from him, how is he supposed to do it later?
They've got the individual qualifications today. And their scores for each apparatus will determine whether they go into each of the finals. And he needs to be there. He knows he won't be in all of them, because rings and horse have never been his strong suit, but they've got people in their team to cover up for that.
His strong suits are floor, vault, and he's decent in the bars, but they're not his favorites either.
He's going to try his best in all of them, for sure. But he probably won't make it.
"I know, I know" he tells his coach, sitting down and drinking some water. "What time is it? Do we have some time for more?" he asks, because he knows he also needs some rest before they have to head to the stadium for the actual competition.
"It's almost 12" he says. He's been here for almost 6 hours. He should probably go by now. The rest of his teammates are also training, as well as athletes from other countries.
"Okay, one more round" he says, and leaves the bottle of water on the floor.
"Take it easy, Jaehyun" his coach tells him, and he nods. The last thing he wants is to get hurt before the competition actually starts.
He heads to the two he's worst at first, to get them over with.
Youngjae is on the horse when he gets there, and Jaehyun smiles watching him. He's really good at it, and he knows that he'll be in the finals for sure.
He claps when he gets down and Youngjae giggles, going to hug him.
"You look well rested" Jaehyun tells him.
"I did sleep, I wasn't out until that late. How long have you been here for? You were already here when I came in"
"Few hours" Jaehyun tells him, not wanting to specify so he doesn’t get told again to leave. "Are you done with this? I wanna practice so I don't embarrass myself later" he says and Youngjae laughs.
"Yeah, sure, all yours." he says. "Good luck, hyung! I'm gonna head back to take a shower and start getting ready" he says and Jaehyun nods, spreading the chalk and talcum to protect his skin and gets on it.
His arms burn, but it's a familiar feeling, he's used to it, and he loves it.
He messes up a few times, touching the horse with his legs and having to stop, but he reminds himself that it's practice, that it's fine.
The clock on the screen of the gym tells the time, and it also has a counter for the medals, because they've already given some thus far.
Jaehyun hopes his name shows up there in a few days.
He makes his way through all the apparatus until he gets to the vault again.
He sighs and cracks his neck.
If he doesn't get this right before leaving, he's going to be even more nervous for later, because he'll know he's not sure of it, and they can't change their routines now.
"Okay, you've got this" he tells himself, staring at the apparatus before he starts sprinting towards it, closing his eyes, and doing what he's practiced.
And he lands it. Still improvable, but he lands it.
He hears his coach clap for him.
"Alright, that's enough, you need to go and eat something and rest a bit before we go" he tells him and Jaehyun nods, smiling big, gathering his stuff, and undoing all his bandages.
He's ready.
He's going to kill this.
When Juyeon wakes up, he knows it's late. He doesn't care that it's late, because their practice today was in the evening, so he had the entire day to waste. Or rest. He reaches for his phone and sees that he missed lunch. Well, he'll have an early dinner.
He also sees that there's already two medals for Korea, and he smiles, proud.
He checks what's on right now, what he can watch on TV while he starts getting ready for the day and he sees that the men gymnastics is on. He groans and changes the channel.
The last thing he wants to see right now is Jaehyun do well, because he knows that he will.
He ends up leaving a football game between England and Colombia that he has absolutely no interest in.
He gets out of bed and towards the shower, although he'll probably have to hit the shower again after practice, but he didn't feel like showering when they arrived back this morning, and he feels gross from the bar.
To be fair, it was a good night. He loves going out with the team, and other athletes from the Korean team also joined them, and it was fun, because Juyeon could see how happy they all were to be there. Of course, some of them, like himself, have played the games before, but there were many that are debuting this year, and he can remember the jitters he felt four years ago. He was also very young, the youngest of the team back then, and he was terrified he would fuck up.
Of course, basketball is a hard game to win, especially with teams like the US involved, but they'll still try their best. They always do.
He hears someone scoring on the TV but can't be bothered to care which of the teams it is as he gets ready. His phone rings and he sees it's their coach.
"You're up already?" he asks when Juyeon picks up. He almost says 'obviously', but he doesn't.
"Yes, sir. Just got ready. What's up?" he asks, switching the TV off.
"Nothing, I was just checking on you all. Heard you had quite a late night yesterday" he says. "We're meeting down at the gym, so go wait there if you're done, okay?" and after that, Juyeon hangs up and gets his stuff.
Yesterday, they gave them all a tour of the facilities, where each team could train and practice.
They have a gym not too far away from their residence at the village with everything they could possibly need, but right now, all Juyeon needs is a ball and a hoop. That will work.
It's hot outside, the heat of the entire day almost suffocating. He's glad that they compete in a closed court, otherwise they'd probably be fucked with this heat. He hopes the rest of athletes are taking care of themselves.
When he gets to their gym, to his surprise, it's empty, so he leaves his bag in one of the benches and heads to the side where there are carriers filled with balls and pushes one towards the three-point line.
He's gonna practice. The words from Lee Jaehyun yesterday irking him to do so. He knows he's good, but he also knows Jaehyun was right: he's been missing most of his three-point shots this season and it's been bothering him, so, since he has to wait anyway, he might as well practice in between. See if he can shut him up because that would taste heavenly. Like victory.
"Score: 14.802!" He hears and sees in the screen at the same time. He gasps, surprised. He's first. Of course, this still doesn't mean he wins the medal, but it's a start. Especially because he knows he still could've done better.
He hugs his coach and the rest of the team that's there, excited, relieved.
This was his final exercise for the day, and although he still finished in the top 10 in all of them, including his worst ones, he was so nervous.
He technically qualified for all of them, but the ratio of athletes per country will mean that he's out for three out of the six apparatus, but he's okay with that. He may even resign one of the bars and focus mainly on floor and vault if he must.
"You did it!" Youngjae tells him. His exercise had a high difficulty, the highest among them all, and he still has some with more difficulty saved for the final, because he doesn't want to play all his cards on a preliminary.
The crowd cheers and he can't stop smiling.
"Well done, well done" his coach tells him.
Jaehyun sits on the floor, almost collapsing out of relief and starts undoing his bandages and stretching his limbs. He's going to sleep like a log tonight after this, since they have a resting day tomorrow before the team finals.
"Congrats!" One of the athletes from the Russian team comes to tell him and he smiles and shakes his hand.
"Thank you, likewise!" he tells him, because before his grade came up, he was first. He should maybe feel a bit bad, but he doesn't.
There are still some people finishing with the other apparatus because vault usually is the fastest, so they have to wait, but Jaehyun can relax now. He's given his all and got decent marks. Decent enough to get him a spot at the finals.
"Good job to you, too" he tells Youngjae, because even though he's younger than him, he also managed to get in the top for most exercises, so they'll be competing against each other when the time comes.
"Thank you, hyung" he tells him, smiling wide. "I'm mostly relieved, because I was terrified that I would somehow hurt myself in a jump or something" and that's a very valid fear.
Jaehyun himself got hurt a few years back in college trying to do a very ambitious jump that landed outside of the safety net and got him hurt.
He almost had to drop out of gymnastics entirely, but thankfully, he managed to get back. He doesn't know what he would've done if he couldn't have.
"Yeah, safety is the most important part. No medal is worth us injuring ourselves, remember that" and Youngjae nods, because it's something Jaehyun always tells him.
They hear from the speakers that all exercises have now come to an end and that they need to exit the stadium, so they get in position to exit, each of them gathering all their belongings that they've had to drag from place to place throughout the entire afternoon.
Jaehyun still can't believe he came first in vault. He finished third in floor, which was a bit disappointing but, if he can improve and not get out of the floor in the final, he thinks his chances are also high.
Surprisingly, as they get out, he realizes that he's not as nervous as he thought he'd be, because the truth is that he feels like it's just another competition. And he hopes he keeps feeling that way on the finals, because the last thing he wants is to get too nervous and ruin his own experience.
They head back to the Olympic village and Jaehyun feels like a winner already.
And he almost considers going back to the gym to continue his practice but decides against it. He's too tired and he actually needs a massage because he might've pushed himself a bit too hard in some of the exercises. He can go back to practice tomorrow.
"Come on, Jaehyun, it'll be fun!" Sangyeon tells him while they have lunch. Truth is, Jaehyun has never disagreed more on anything ever.
"I honestly don't see it, hyung" he says as honest as he can. There's nothing that interests him about basketball, not the sport, not the games nor the players.
Especially not the players.
"Please? I really wanna go watch, and they could use some support" Youngjae says this time. Jaehyun thinks it's unfair that they're using Youngjae against him, because they know he has a soft spot for the youngest somehow.
"You know how I feel about basketball" he says, trying to get his point across.
"Yes, we all know how you feel about Lee Juyeon, but there are other players there, hyung! He might not even play!" And they all know that's unlikely because he's one of the best players on the team, and they'd be lost without him, but that's exactly why he doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to cheer for him, either. He doesn't deserve it.
"Why do you hate him so much, anyway?" Sangyeon asks, that of course wasn't caught up in the loop.
"Nothing that concerns any of you" he says, because sure, maybe if he told them, they'd hate him to and decide not to go and that would satisfy Jaehyun so much, but he doesn't want anyone else to know that he doesn't appreciate what they love the most. It was disappointing enough for Jaehyun, he doesn't want anybody else to go through that.
"Go on, it's not like we have anything else to do. And don't say practice, because I'll actually tie you to your bed, so you stop jumping around before you get yourself hurt" he tells him like he knew Jaehyun was gonna say that, and funnily enough, he was.
But they're right. There's no point in staying in the village the entire time, so they might as well go watch some games or other Korean players carry out their competitions. Just for fun, nothing else.
"Fine, whatever" he says, and Youngjae actually hugs him.
They finish having lunch and head towards the buses. The stadium where the basketball teams play is in another city, so it takes a while to get there and Jaehyun is already regretting it, but the rest of the team seems excited. Apparently, they have a big chance of winning this game, and if they do, it's quite certain that they'll qualify.
Jaehyun doesn't want to care, but at the same time he wants his country to get as many medals as they can, prove to the world that a small country like them can also be big in spirit and results.
He's beyond relieved however to see that they're not sharing the bus with the rest of the basketball team, because he would love Juyeon not to know he was there in the first place, or else he'll probably use it against him somehow at some point, and he doesn't want to give him the pleasure.
They eventually get to the Saitama Super Arena and show their credentials, which is enough of a ticket. There's a reserved spot for the athletes, and they're lead that way immediately.
And suddenly, Jaehyun remembers something.
"Wait, you're friends with people from the team, right?" He tells Youngjae, and he nods. "Fuck, please, don't tell them that I came"
"Why not?" Youngjae asks, but he gets his answer before Jaehyun can.
"Oh, look who came to watch the, what is it you called it again? The most overrated sport ever?" Lee Juyeon asks. They're still warming up, but of course they spotted them coming in, since they're early.
Jaehyun sighs and pretends he didn't hear him, but Juyeon pretends to throw one of the balls at him and he yells, moving away.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" He tells him. He's grinning and Jaehyun wants to punch him in the face. His arms are strong enough to maybe break something. He deserves it.
"Wasn't gonna throw it, don't worry. Don't wanna ruin that beautiful face of yours before your big day tomorrow. Doesn't beauty also give you points for your little dances?" and he feels like yelling. He shouldn't have come here.
"Lee! Back to the court!" He hears his coach and that satisfies him. Jaehyun wishes he got in trouble and somehow stays benched the entire game.
"Yeah, yeah, coming. Was just saying hello" he says, and with that, he heads back to the court with the rest of his team to practice some more.
"Damn, you guys surely have some weird dynamics" says Sangyeon sitting down.
"They're not weird. I just fucking hate him, and he hates me, that's all" Jaehyun sits down as well, even though he'd rather head back, but having spent that long in the bus for nothing would piss him off more. Besides, if he stays, maybe he gets the satisfaction of watching Juyeon lose.
He wouldn't want to miss that.
For some reason, knowing that Jaehyun is on the stands watching the game motivates Juyeon to play the best game of his life. He just wants to prove him wrong, wants him to see that he's actually good, and that the team is, too.
Their rival today is fairly easy for them, but that doesn't mean they should relax, and he sure as hell doesn't.
Every minute he gets to play, he gives it his all. Assisting his teammates, scoring some shots himself and defending well enough that only two of the shots that the rivals took when he was defending them got in. He's on fire, and with every point he scores and every cheer of the crowd, he feels his ego boost.
He wonders if Jaehyun is cheering, too.
The end is nearing, and although they're winning comfortably almost eleven points up, Juyeon keeps trying.
He's in a three-point position when the ball lands on him, and there are only two seconds left for the game to end, so he shoots, and the ball goes in just before the final whistle.
The whole stadium goes wild, and his teammates go find him, but for some reason, Juyeon looks to the stands, finds Jaehyun and smirks, pleased to have proved him wrong indeed. And he winks, just because. He doesn't see how he reacts because he's being pushed down to a hug. They give him the ball because he's been the MVP of the game, and, to be honest, he doesn't think he'd be able to forget it even if he wanted to.
"Did he just wink at you?" Youngjae asks, looking at Jaehyun that's still frozen in his seat. Because he saw it, too, and he knows he did it to piss him off further after he scored his three-pointer, and he succeeded.
"Doubt it" Jaehyun says, even if he knows he did. "Probably some of the girls from the swimming team that are down there" he says, pointing at the rows below them. And Youngjae either believes him or decides not to ask further. Jaehyun appreciates it.
So, they won. The game was fun. Unfortunately, Juyeon played for most of it and actually is the reason why they won. But he won't comment on it.
"Can we go back now? If we stay for longer, we'll get back super late" Jaehyun says, and they all agree.
They ate something at half-time, so they're not really hungry either, which is good.
They find the shutter back to the Olympic village and Jaehyun almost falls asleep in the bus, his playlist already relaxing him enough after the overboard of emotions that the game was.
He keeps seeing Juyeon when he closes his eyes, and he doesn't like it. Because he looked so good in his element, and he smiled so wide every time he managed to score a point or assist one of the other players.
He turns up the volume of the music in his headphones, because the last thing he needs to be thinking about right now is Lee Juyeon and his handsome face and how he called him beautiful earlier.
It's the day of the group finals, and Jaehyun is terrified. He thought he wouldn't be, because he controlled his nerves rather well the other day, but he feels sick as soon as he gets up. Maybe it's hunger, he figures, since they ended up not having dinner last night after all the snacks they ate at the basketball game, and he's starving.
He hopes that once he eats something he'll feel better, because being dizzy isn't exactly what he needs when he's supposed to be spinning to get their country a gold medal.
He heads down for breakfast. It's a bit later today, because when his alarm rang, he dumbly stopped it. He'll have less time to practice, and that's freaking him out. But still, it's early enough that not many people will be at the gym yet.
He knows it's bad to exercise when you just ate, but he doesn't have time to waste, thus he heads to the gym straight away, warming up in there and skipping his run.
In the team finals, only three people per country can participate in each round, and they already know where each of them will participate. Jaehyun will be in his best four, and since he won't be in the horse or rings finals, he doesn't even bother practicing those.
He knows something could happen that would make him have to do it, but he'd rather not waste the little time he has left in those.
He goes straight to the vault and does his jumps, the same ones he did the other day, making sure to land well this time. He does.
Moves to the bars and makes sure his hands and wrists are protected for all the flips he has to make. He only falls once. Hopes won't be the case in the finals.
He sees people running outside, like he should've done if he was up earlier as he moves to the floor. He starts slow, not doing the backflips yet and practicing the rest of the routine. And once those go well, he starts with the diagonal exercises.
He's saving his best exercise for the final, but these are still of a high enough difficulty to give him a good grade.
He just has to make sure that his feet stay inside of the floor, because even if the penalty isn't that big, it's still enough that could harm their score.
He finishes the first double summersault well, landing in one go, and breathes out, relieved. That's the one that he fucked up the other day.
He starts running, preparing to do the next one, backflip with two twists, and when he lands, the pain is immediate.
He screams.
Juyeon wakes up early today to work out a little. After the game last night, he was so tired that didn't even want to go out and celebrate with the rest of the team, even if he knew they wanted him there because he was the man of the match, literally.
Still, even if they won easy, the game yesterday was still intense, and if they want to be able to win their next matches with even bigger competitors, they have to work hard.
He decides to jog for a bit around the village before he heads towards the basketball court.
It's then, when he's on his third lap around the perimeter that he hears it. A piercing scream that makes his skin crawl. He looks towards the direction where the scream came from and runs there.
It's the gymnastics room, and someone's on the floor.
"Are you okay?!" He asks, running there, and when he sees who he is, even if Juyeon supposes his worry should've faded, it doesn't. "Shit, Jaehyun, what did you do?" he asks. He's holding his foot, and his ankle looks... bad.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Jaehyun asks, pretending that he's not crying, pretending it doesn't hurt when it's obvious that it does.
"I heard you scream. Are you alright? Do you need me to call someone? Your coa—˝ but Jaehyun interrupts him.
"No! No, I don't need you to do anything, I'm fine, you can go back to whatever the fuck it is you were doing. Probably coming back from another party, right? Celebrate your victory?" he says, and Juyeon can see what he's doing. Trying to make him angry so that he'll leave him, but the point is, he's hurt.
"Stop doing that" Juyeon says and reaches over to touch his feet, but he pulls back, and makes another paining sound.
"Don't—˝
"Let me help you, asshole. You're hurt! Or are you too prideful to admit that as well?" he says, holding his gaze. "Can you please stop with the whole sworn enemies narrative for a fucking second and let me help you?" and Jaehyun looks ashamed, and nods after a few seconds. "Good, now, what do you need?" and he looks back at his foot, that looks worse by the second.
"M-My bag" he tells him, pointing at it, sitting lonely in one of the chairs by the entrance. "There's an ice-pack there and some bandages. Bring them over, I don't need anything else" he says and Juyeon frowns.
"I'm not sure—˝ but Jaehyun cuts him off.
"Just bring me my bag, please?" he says, and Juyeon reluctantly does so, giving him what he asked for and looking at his pained expression when he presses the cold pack to his ankle.
"You should go see a doctor, Jaehyun..." Juyeon says, and Jaehyun sighs, exasperated.
"And you should shut the fuck up, you know?" and Juyeon is about to snap back, but truth is, if he was in his shoes, he'd be snappy, too. Especially in the position they're in right now. "Sorry, I... I'm fine, I promise, it was just a bad landing, is all" and it sounds more like he's convincing himself rather than anything else. "But I'll be fine for later"
"Later?" he asks with a frown. "Don't tell me you compete later" and he chuckles.
"Yeah, team finals" he tells him and starts wrapping his foot with some bandages, pressing the ice still to the same spot.
"You can't compete like that" Juyeon frowns, and Jaehyun stops to look at him.
"Says who?" Jaehyun says.
"Well, says me. And your doctor and coach probably when you tell them.” And Jaehyun laughs again.
"Good thing I won't then" he says and finishes his bandage. "And you won't either" he looks at him and it looks threatening.
"Jaehyun, that's stupid, you could make it worse" he tells him, and he hates how concerned he sounds, because he shouldn't. But toying with one's health like that... it's risky. Especially in gymnastics.
"Look, I appreciate you trying to help and all, but this is none of your business. My team needs me, and I've dealt with worse things than this before. I know what I'm doing, and you don't have a clue about this sport, even if you don't consider it as such. You didn't see me around yesterday telling you to not force your shoulder after you fell and hurt it, did you?" and Juyeon's surprised, because he didn't think anyone would notice. He tried not to show that it hurt, because the pain left after he got iced in half-time. And he can't believe that Jaehyun, out of all people, noticed.
"But—˝ he's about to say something, but they hear people coming into the gym, and they both turn around.
"But nothing. Now, I need you to help me get to my room. I don't want anyone to see me here, and after that, you can go" he says. And he doesn't say, but the reason why he needs help is because he can't walk on his own.
Juyeon nods and helps him up, and his touch is rough from all the chalk and bandages he's got on. He also picks up Jaehyun's bag and hangs it off his shoulder.
"I don't know what'll be weirder, to see me leave the gym so early or the fact that it's with you" Jaehyun says, trying to walk as normally as he can until they're out of sight from everyone else, and once they are, he starts visibly limping, leaning more against Juyeon.
"Do you want me to carry you?" Juyeon asks, and although it sounds like he's teasing him, he means it. He really doesn't want him to force his foot even more.
"I'm not five, thanks" he says, but keeps leaning against him. Eventually, Juyeon wraps his arm around Jaehyun's waist to help steady him. They make it to their building eventually and Jaehyun pretends to walk normally again. He wonders how many times he's had to fake to be okay in competitions in order to be able to participate. For some reason, it hurts him to think about.
They get to the elevators and Jaehyun presses the number of his floor. Juyeon notices he's a few floors above Jaehyun and the whole gymnastics team.
He remembers then how Jaehyun once complained to him about how overrated basketball was and how they got so much more exposure and visibility than their team even if they lost and the gymnasts won gold medals. He thinks about how Jaehyun had to patch up his own wounds when Juyeon would've needed at least two medics around because he wouldn't have been able to do it on his own.
Maybe he had a point.
The elevator's doors open, and he walks him to his room, and once there, Jaehyun takes the bag from him.
"That'll be all, then" he says, opening the door. Even his room looks smaller than Juyeon's. "Thank you for, uhm... the help" he says. Juyeon looks down at his feet and sees that he's not even touching the floor with it anymore. Jaehyun, as if he noticed as well, tries to place it, but he winces.
"Please, think about not competing today" he tells him. "I know you want to, and I get it, but you'll only hurt yourself more and, as a result, you'll miss the rest of the games"
"Juyeon... don't ruin it" he says. "I appreciate the concern, but you've done enough. I'm competing, there's nothing to think about" and with that, he heads inside the room and closes the door behind him, leaving Juyeon there looking at the number 13 on the door.
Jaehyun drops to the floor as soon as he closes the door. Tries not to make noise because he knows Juyeon is still outside. He bites his lips hard to keep himself from crying because it hurts. It hurts so much.
He was trying not to get out of the floor and ended up twisting his ankle pretty badly. He can feel how swollen it is, even with the bandages.
But he has to do this. He has to compete. This is what he's been getting ready for ever since he got into college. He must do this.
He carefully crawls to the bathroom and starts running himself a bath. He removes the bandage and sees how bad it looks.
"Fuck" he says, pressing the icepack that is now just a tiny bit cold against it. He has five hours for it to get better, and if he doesn't move at all, he knows that it will. It always works, ice and rest, keep the leg up and not force it.
Because of course jumping over the vault and doing four aerobic exercises on the floor plus the bars is not forcing it at all.
He's screwed.
It's time to go and his foot is not better. His coach called to let him know they'd be leaving in fifteen minutes, so he spends all of those making sure he's bandaged properly, that it can't be seen at all. He also takes a painkiller and an anti-inflammatory to reduce the pain, put in case he doesn’t, he mastered the art of faking not being injured years ago, so he doesn't need to worry about that. Besides, once this competition is over, he'll have a few days where he can rest before the other finals. He'll be fine.
He makes sure he's got everything and starts to head down to the lobby where the rest of the team are.
"Hyung! Where were you today? I was shocked you weren't at the gym this morning" says Youngjae when he gets there. Jaehyun fakes a smile, he's also good at that.
"Oh, I wanted to rest a bit more today. I already know the routines and everything by heart, I think I'll be fine" he lies, but it's kind of true at the same time. "Who are we waiting for?" Jaehyun asks, looking around, because he really needs to sit down.
"Coach said some other people were coming to root for us, so we're waiting for them" Sangyeon tells him.
"Should we go ahead to leave our stuff in the bus? It's kinda heavy" Jaehyun says, giggling to mask the face he makes when he leans his weight on the bad foot by mistake.
"Yeah, we can go ahead. The bus won't leave until it's time, so whoever wants to come, they better hurry" their coach says, and they start walking. "Jaehyun, wait up" he hears, and he immediately freezes. Does he know? Did Juyeon rat him out? He wouldn't be surprised; he honestly would do anything to make sure he doesn't succeed. "You alright? Nerves?" he asks, and Jaehyun relaxes visibly.
"A little" he admits. "But I know our team will do great." and he does mean that with every bit of his body. And he'll give it his all to make sure that they do.
They walk outside to the bus and Jaehyun leaves his bag on the first seat he finds and sits beside it, relieved once he can put his leg up.
From here, he can see everyone that gets in the bus after them, and he recognizes some of the gymnasts from the women's team, as well as some of the shooting and table tennis, if he's not mistaken.
"Good luck!" They all tell him when they get on the bus, and he smiles and thanks them. He's gonna need it.
It's not until the driver has gotten inside that three more people get in the bus, and Jaehyun's eyes open wide.
"What are you doing here?" he asks Juyeon, who smiles at him, smugly as usual, but he throws a glance at his ankle, and Jaehyun covers himself more.
"Had to return the favor, you guys came to cheer us on yesterday" he says. Jaehyun rolls his eyes and looks ahead again, putting his headphones on.
He's got his eyes closed when he suddenly feels someone sit beside him, and when he turns to look at him, of course it's him.
"Sorry, the rest of the seats were taken." and this time, when nobody else around, it sounds like he does mean it. "I figure you wanted more space to—" he says, pointing at his leg.
"I don't, it's fine" he tells him. "I don't care" and Juyeon nods. He almost looks hurt, definitely worried. Jaehyun wonders why if they're not even friends.
"How are you feeling?" he asks after a while, and Jaehyun takes a deep breath, having to remove his headphones again in order to hear him.
"Fine, I told you I would be" he says, but by the way he's holding his gaze, Jaehyun can tell he doesn't believe him. "I'll be fine. Now, stop acting weird, you're supposed to hate me, remember?" he says, putting his headphones again and closing his eyes, hoping that Juyeon will take the hint and leave him alone for the rest of the journey.
Thing is, he's not sure if he hates him anymore. And Juyeon isn't either.
Finding their seats is easy, but Juyeon can't sit still, bouncing his knee as he stares at all the things they have to do.
"Does anyone know how this works?" He asks out loud, because he sure as hell doesn't. Thankfully, there are some gymnasts with them, and one explains it to the rest of them.
"So, each country can only use three people in each apparatus. And they can be the same ones in all of them, but it might not be. For instance, if there's one person in a team that specializes in only one, they can do that one no problem, and it will help with the overall grade, because their points get combined to get the final score" the girl says. Juyeon bites his lip, looking at the floor, knowing it's there that Jaehyun got hurt.
"And do we know who does each one? Like, it's known beforehand or...?" he asks and the girl nods.
"Why are you suddenly so interested in this? I thought you hated gymnastics" Jacob, the other guy from the basketball team that decided to come with him and Younghoon asks. The girl looks offended at that.
"I don't! I don't hate them, I just... I was never interested in them" he says, which is true. "But I just want to know what it is that we're looking at, because otherwise I'm going to be confused the whole time" he hopes the lie is convincing, because he's just asking to know if Jaehyun's going to be okay or not.
"Well, for what we heard, Lee Jaehyun will do most of them except for two. So... that one, that one, that one, and that one over there" the girl says. And she starts naming the rest of the team participants, but he's stopped paying attention.
Four.
Four exercises with his ankle fucked up.
And what's worse, in all of them, he's going to probably have to do good landings if he wants a good grade.
"Hey, Juyeon!" he hears, his attention brought back to the conversation. "Are you sure you're okay? Did you perhaps get too hot running today? You look a bit pale" and he shakes his head.
"No, I'm good, must be the light" he says, looking ahead again, taking a deep breath.
He's never been religious, but he's about to start praying so that Jaehyun makes it out of this one unharmed, because he knows the chances of that happening are very slim. Almost non-existent.
"Do you know where our team will begin, in which one?" Younghoon asks this time, and Juyeon is glad, because he didn't want to still be the one asking the questions.
"Not yet" another one of the girls responds. "It's random, so we'll know when they go out" and Juyeon's knee is still bouncing. This is torture.
"I'm excited, I've always wanted to see this" he hears Younghoon tell Jacob, and he wonders what it looks like in person, because all he's seen has been practices or less impressive exercises, never too interested in the more artistic side of sports.
He then remembers something Jaehyun told him this morning, how Juyeon didn't consider gymnastics as a sport, and he frowns, wondering what he meant by that, because the acid with which he pronounced those words sounded as if that statement still hurt him when it's not true.
But he doesn't get enough time to think about it because the athletes start going out and they stand up to clap for them and cheer them on.
There are eight teams in total and they are spread along all the apparatus.
When the Korean team comes out, they see that they've been paired with Japan. They cheer for them, and Juyeon can't seem to mean it, too worried for some reason. Of course, the cheers for Japan are bigger, since they're home, but they'll try their best to bring the medals back to Korea.
And, to Juyeon's fear, they're headed to the vault.
"Oh! They're starting off strong, Jaehyun is the best at that one, he almost managed to get 15 points on the qualifications" one of the girls tells him, and after Jacob asks, they proceed to explain how the marks get calculated. Juyeon's eyes are fixated on Jaehyun and how he's warming up. How he's wincing every time he touches his ankle.
He should've done something, should've warned his coach or something, because now it's too late.
He sees him take off the official tracksuit and get ready.
"Looks like your nemesis will get the final started" Younghoon tells him, and he feels a sour taste in his mouth.
Not because he's his nemesis, but because he's not.
The rest of the apparatus are also getting started now, but his eyes don't leave Jaehyun.
He sees the number 5.8 appear in the screen next to him, and from what he overheard from the girls, that means the difficulty.
He's not sure if it's a lot or too little, but in his condition, it's probably too much.
"Come on, come on, come on" he whispers under his breath. He doesn't give a fuck if anyone hears him, the whole 'hating each other' façade isn't worth him getting injured.
"Lee Jaehyun" they announce through the speakers. He waves at the jury and at the crowd and smiles, taking a deep breath.
And it's like watching a train wreck. You know it's gonna happen, and you still can't look away, and that's what happens when Jaehyun jumps and lands on his left foot. He manages to stay up, so the crowd stands and claps. But as soon as he’s done, he falls on the mat.
There are gasps, people standing up. His coach and teammates run to help him up, and he's in tears.
He faintly hears his friends wonder what happened, because he seemed fine, because the jump was fine.
He sees how they lay him on the floor as he covers his face from the cameras, his leg spread and an ice pack on his foot.
He should've listened to Juyeon.
Jaehyun regrets it, of course he regrets it, because the pain is making him dizzy. At least he got to make his jump and didn't fall. At least he gave them a great score, and he trusts that they'll continue to do great for the rest of the competition, because it's now clear that he can't join them.
They took him back inside so he could get checked properly, and he's watching the rest through the TV, as if he was home instead of right there. As if he didn't blow his Olympic dream for being stupid.
He covers his face again and cries now that he's been left alone in the room, his doctor and coach gone to report that he will have to withdraw from the competition at least for today.
He hears footsteps again and when he looks up and sees Juyeon, he groans.
"Ugh, go away!!" He says, still crying, and when he doesn't hear anything else, he thinks that maybe the boy finally listened, but of course, when he looks again, he's still there. "If you're gonna say 'I told you so', please spare me, I know you did" he sniffs.
"I wasn't" he says. "I just came to see if you were okay"
"Yeah, peachy" Jaehyun tells him. "How did you even get in here? You're not allowed"
"I told them I was your brother" he says, and he opens his eyes wide. "Lee, you know. They didn't really question it much" and he tentatively walks towards the litter where he's lying.
"Well, they should've, I don't want you here" he tells him.
"Then, I'll go" Juyeon says simply, and for some reason, that's disappointing. When he turns around to actually leave, he stops him.
"Wait" Jaehyun says. "I... Stay until my coach or doctor return" he asks, voice small, like he's embarrassed to ask, because he is. Juyeon just nods.
"Do you need some more ice?" he asks, looking at the state of his ankle. He shakes his head.
"No, just... some company, really" Jaehyun tells him and looks back at the screen, biting his lip when one of his teammates appear on the screen, nervous and probably guilty, too.
"That was a really cool jump you did there" he tells him and Jaehyun scoffs. "What? Doing that even when you were hurt? Takes some guts"
"Oh, so now you're encouraging me to do it again? Should I go out and finish my exercises?" he asks, sitting up, and although Juyeon knows he's joking, just in case he's not, he walks to him and pushes back down.
"Not a chance" he says.
"I fucked up. You were right, I should've... I should've rested today and maybe that way I'd be able to compete for the individual finals, but now... now I'll be lucky if I get a pat on the back" Jaehyun says, covering his eyes again, and he bites his lip to stop himself from crying, but it doesn't work.
"I was right, but I also get where you were coming from. You're very competitive, and you wanted to help your team. You just... shouldn't have put your own health on the line because of it" and Jaehyun sobs then, and Juyeon's heart breaks a little, because he didn't mean to make it worse. "And, you know, I don't have an Olympic medal either, so that means we're even. It wouldn't be fair competing against you if you had one and I didn't" and Jaehyun chuckles this time, but it's muffled in between a sob.
"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be" he says, removing his arm from his eyes to look at him. "So, is this proof enough for you to take gymnastics seriously?" Jaehyun asks.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Juyeon questions, confused. "The fact that I never had interest in it doesn't mean that I don't think it should be taken seriously"
"Well, I do recall hearing you say that it shouldn't be considered a sport because it's too... artistic? I think that's what you said" and Juyeon freezes at that because he doesn't remember that.
"When?" and Jaehyun shrugs.
"Freshmen year. We were at a party, I think. I wanted to talk to you because I'd heard about you and thought you were really cool, but then I overheard that and knew you weren't worth it" he says, and Juyeon tries to think about it, deeply, but nothing comes out until...
"Oh" he says. "Oh, fuck, that... that was a mistake" he says. "I mean, you're right, I did say that, but I didn't mean it like that, I was... fuck, this is so dumb" he says, embarrassed. "I was trying to impress this senior guy I thought I liked back then. He was a... God, I can't even remember, it was so irrelevant, but he said something about how gymnastics were worthless or some shit like that. And that's when I said that, but I regretted it. Like I said, I've never really been into it, but that doesn't mean I don't admire all of you for what you do. Fuck, you've won so many trophies and achieved so much, Jaehyun" he says. "You are an athlete, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, not even me"
"Oh, I wasn't letting you say shit, which is why I hated your ass so much" he says, and for some reason he chuckles. "To impress a boy, really? Damn, that's low" Jaehyun seems a bit more cheered up now that he can mock him, but for some reason, this time Juyeon doesn't mind much.
"As if you haven't done anything like that before. I bet you asked someone to prom doing a backflip or something" and he laughs loudly at that. It makes Juyeon's heart do three summersaults that put the ones the boy on the TV did just now to shame.
"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you over the years, though. I do stand by my opinion that basketball is overrated. Or well, not overrated but like... eclipsing, almost" Jaehyun says, trying to sit up a bit, careful not to move his leg at all.
"I'm sorry, too. I guess we both got caught up in the whole... feud" Juyeon says. "And I get what you mean. There's always that sport. For us, it's usually football. Usually gets all the hype, but... yeah, I get that. I don't blame you"
"You're good, though. Did really well yesterday" and Juyeon smiles at that.
"Oh, wow, a compliment from the Lee Jaehyun? Did you happen to hit your head when you fell?" he asks and Jaehyun hits his arm slightly, but Juyeon forgot how strong his arms are, from all the exercising, so it hurts more than he expected. "Ouch!" He complains.
"You deserve that, asshole" he says, and it's then that his coach and doctor return, and frown when finding him there.
"He stayed to keep me company" Jaehyun says before they get to ask. "I told him to, it's fine. How bad is it?" he asks to his doctor, and he sighs.
"Lucky for you, it could've been worse. Nothing's broken, so you'll probably be able to compete in at least one of the apparatus next week. I wouldn't recommend it, but I know you probably want to, and as long as it's healed enough, you should be able to" and Jaehyun collapses again in the litter, exhaling, relieved.
"That was really dumb of you, though, Jaehyun-ah" his coach tells him, and he nods.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry" he says. "I... it won't happen again" but there's not a single person in that room that believes that. Not even Jaehyun.
Juyeon helps him climb the stairs up to the stands to finish watching the competition, since there's no way he can be down there where action happens.
When he stepped back out, the whole stadium stood up to clap for him, and he almost teared up because of it. Some of the gymnasts that were about to do the vault asked him if he was okay and wished him a speedy recovery.
He's now sitting, eyes focused on the rest of the team.
They're in third place, and they all know that it's hard to even be up there at all, so he doesn't want to get his hopes up.
"Want something to eat?" Juyeon asks him at some point, but he shakes his head, too focused to look away or eat anything.
It's almost too easy how their dynamic has changed in a matter of minutes of having an actual conversation instead of just throwing themselves at each other’s throats.
When he got up the steps, his teammates looked confused to see Juyeon helping him. But they didn't ask about that, instead asking him how he was feeling.
"He literally jumped down the steps when you left" Younghoon, he's learned, tells him.
"I did not... don't believe him" Juyeon says, but his cheeks are a bit tinted.
"Should've taken over for me for the jumps" Jaehyun joins the teasing because it's familiar, it's fun. He takes his phone out now that he's out and sees that his parents have texted and called and he figures they must be worried sick. He feels horrible. None of this would've happened if he would've been more careful.
He calls his mother, and this time, everyone else is there.
"Oh, Jaehyunie" he hears and tries his best to keep his tears at bay. The last thing he needs is to cry in front of his family and upset them.
"Hey, everyone" he says, waving. "I'm okay! I'm okay, don't worry. Mum, tell grandma not to cry, please..." he says, feeling horrible.
"What happened?" his mother asks, but he's not going to tell her the truth because she'll get mad.
"Just bad landing, mum, the doctor says I'll be okay in a few days, so nothing to worry about, but it was best not to compete today nor this week" he says.
"You should come back home right away, because if you don't, you'll end up jumping again" he hears his father, and he's right. But he's not going home. Not without trying his best.
"I'm not going back yet; I'll stay and wait to see if I'm able to at least do one of the finals. I won't push myself, before you say anything" he says, and his mother looks worried.
"Just... be safe, okay? And don't make dumb choices" he nods and gives them a smile. "Alright, love, call tonight if you want, yeah? We'll let you finish watching your friends, they're doing really well" and Jaehyun smiles, proud.
"Yeah, I knew they would" he says looking at Youngjae stepping down from the rings, clearly satisfied with what he did. "Alright, talk to you later, love you" he tells his mother before he hangs up and stands up to cheer for Youngjae, not realizing that he technically can't and falls against Juyeon that catches him.
"Careful there" he says, holding him up, and his touch feels electrifying.
"Yeah, thanks" he says, sitting back down to keep cheering them on.
For some reason, his heart keeps beating against his chest as if he just ran the 25m sprint towards the vault. As if it were about to do a triple summersault with three and a half twists.
The competition has ended, and all that's left now is to get the final scores for the final teams, for them to know if they finally get a medal or not.
They're technically second, but he doesn't know if maybe China will push them back to third, or even further down. He's got his eyes closed because he doesn't want to see, but at the same time, he does.
He reaches over and somehow finds Juyeon's hand, but as soon as he realizes what he's doing, he stops, letting go.
"Sorry, shit, I'm—˝ he says, but Juyeon holds his again.
"Nervous, it's fine" he smiles and squeezes it. "I don't mind" and he gulps, eyes darting back to the screen right in time when it shows that, they are Olympic silver.
He gasps and this time, when he stands, he makes sure not to rest his foot on the ground.
"HOLY FUCK" he says, looking at Juyeon that's also wide-eyed.
"SILVER!" Juyeon says, turning around to look at him with a huge smile.
"Congratulations!" The rest of the people there tell him, and he feels like he doesn't deserve it, because he didn't really do anything, but he sees the team running towards where he is.
"Hyung, come down!! This is for you, too!" Says Youngjae, and Jaehyun feels like crying.
He looks at Juyeon and he smiles straight away.
"Yeah, I'll help you down, let's go" and so, he leans against him as he walks down the stairs. The entire venue cheering for them as if they'd won the gold even though they didn't. But it tastes just the same to Jaehyun.
And once he's back down, he his teammates hug him tight.
"You're all fucking amazing" Jaehyun tells him.
"So are you, I don't know if we would've got silver without your jump" Sangyeon tells him, and he knows that they still would've, but it makes him happy to know that it was worth it. Even if he can't win anything on his own, this was already worth it. And he'll be back in the next ones to get more.
He turns around to look at Juyeon, and runs to him and hugs him, too, leaving both him and his friends shocked. He's shocked himself, but he wanted to.
"Thanks again for everything" he tells him, and his smile is so big that he doesn't think he'll ever lose it. "I've got a medal now, though, so you better keep up, Lee" Juyeon chuckles at that and nods.
"Will try my best" he says before Jaehyun gets carried away towards the podium and Juyeon heads back to the stands to clap for him when he gets his medal.
Who would've thought they'd end up here?
The team goes out to celebrate, and although Jaehyun does wish that he could join them today, he can't, and this time it's not because he wants to sleep early, but because he can't move.
They've put him a cast on his leg to make sure it heals properly and given him crotches, so it's not viable for him to go clubbing anywhere, so he heads towards the bus.
"Wait there" he hears a voice that used to irk him so much but that now, he doesn't mind hearing that much.
"You literally could've caught up to me without me stopping, you're aware right? I'm painfully slow" he laughs as they walk towards the bus.
"True, but I still wanted to walk with you" he says. "You're not going to the party, I assume" and Jaehyun shakes his head. "Too bad, you should still celebrate" he says.
"Well, I guess I'll have a party for one up in my room" he shrugs, and he starts stepping into the bus carefully not to trip.
"Can it be for two?" Juyeon asks and he turns around. Jaehyun's not sure how to take that, because they don't know each other that well for him to read his tone, but still, he nods.
"Yeah, why not?" he says, and this time, although the bus is pretty much empty, Juyeon still sits next to him, and he doesn't mind one bit.
"So, what you're saying is that you had a crush on me" Juyeon asks, giggling while Jaehyun groans.
They've had a bit to drink. Maybe a bit too much, but who cares? They're celebrating. Juyeon might have a game tomorrow, but he'll be fine. He'll be fine.
"I didn't have a crush on you! I just said I thought you were hot as fuck when we got into uni. But it lasted short because I found out you were a dick" Jaehyun shrugs, taking another sip of his beer.
"We covered this, I wasn't a dick, I was just... dumb as fuck" Juyeon laughs at himself, and Jaehyun gladly joins him. "I thought you were the most beautiful person that's walked the Earth though, still do" Juyeon admits before he can notice what he's saying. But when he does, he tries to fix it. "I mean, objectively speaking, you have a really pretty face, nice features, nice body too, right? I mean—"
"Juyeon" he says, cutting him off, because he's heard his voice enough. "Do you like me?" he asks, and he sees how the other boy opens his eyes wide. "Because I also still think you're hot as fuck right now."
And maybe it's been all the years of mutual bickering, of sexual tension unresolved, or maybe it's that Jaehyun really wants to thank him for having helped him today, he's not sure, but they both surge forward at the same time, lips meeting halfway in a rushed and rough kiss that leaves them both breathless. Thank God their cups were now empty because they both dropped them on the bed.
"You do?" Juyeon asks and Jaehyun laughs, looking up and down at him.
"I mean, it's hard not to" and he takes his hands down his body, feeling his abs over his shirt. "Mhm" and Juyeon surges in to kiss him again, but this time it's deeper, slower, like they've got all the time in the world, and in a way, they do.
Jaehyun tastes like the alcohol he was drinking, and his hands feel rough from how much he's used them for his exercises. He doesn't mind, he still wants him.
"Shit, wait, you should... we shouldn't do this, you're hurt" Juyeon says, stopping before it gets too heated, but Jaehyun shakes his head, taking the cups and leaving them on the floor, and then moving Juyeon until he's sitting on his crotch, and they both groan at the feeling.
"Just be careful not to fall on my leg and we'll be good” he says and pushes him down again to kiss him. And maybe if they hadn't been so focused on hating each other for the past four years, they could've done this earlier, but somehow, it feels right that it's right now.
Even if this time all they do is dry hump each other until they're both crumbling apart, but who knows what the future holds? A few hours ago, Jaehyun was just another boy and now he's a silver medalist at the Olympics. It's clear that anything can happen.
Juyeon's head is a mess, and not only because of the alcohol he took yesterday, but because of what happened with Jaehyun, too.
The entire day feels like a dream, as if now when he runs into him, none of that happened and they'll be back to hating each other and bickering every time they run into the other. But he knows it wasn't.
There are a pair of stained pants on the floor to prove it.
He can't help but blush at the memory of how Jaehyun's lips felt against his own, against his skin. His hand pressing him down towards his crotch, the friction so good, so heavenly. Almost not enough, leaving him wanting more.
But he can't be thinking about that today because they've got a game and he needs to be focused.
Focused and not thinking about some pretty brown eyes, a pretty nose with a mole in the middle and pretty lips that tasted like strawberries and gin.
Definitely not that.
He goes down for breakfast running into some of the people from the team that heard what happened yesterday and also heard that he was there to help Jaehyun after. The questions are expected, but he just ignores them. Doesn't have the energy to actually respond to them, because he's not sure if he's got the answers.
"What changed?" they ask. He doesn't know. Doesn't really care, either. He's not going to complain.
He gets his phone out and checks their chat. They exchanged numbers after they made each other come, which is funny. And he told him to text him when he got to his room as if he was going to get lost, which was cute.
JY:
Morning, you want anything for breakfast? I can bring it up so you don't have to get up
JH:
How did you know I was up?
JY:
Didn't
Glad you are though
So? Want anything?
JH:
Wouldn't mind some of you
Or some kimchi fried rice if there's any
Juyeon can't help but laugh out loud at that. Who would've thought?
JY:
Omw
He locks his phone and gets up from the table and heads to find what Jaehyun asked for. He realizes that it's a bit dumb what he's doing because Jaehyun's going to get up either way to open the door, but it's fine. It's better than having to go all the way down to the restaurant to get it.
He goes up to his floor and knocks.
"Room service" he says and hears noise from inside, probably him struggling with his crotches.
When he opens the door, his hair is a mess, much like it was yesterday after their make out session. Juyeon licks his lips without noticing.
"Your order, sir" he says and Jaehyun giggles.
"Come in, there's no way I can take that with these" he says, lifting the crotches, and Juyeon nods, coming inside and walking behind him.
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt?" he asks.
"It's more uncomfortable than anything. But I'm not gonna complain, it could've been much worse" he says, sitting on the bed as soon as he gets to it. "Thanks for the food, though. I was gonna call Youngjae or order some food myself, but you saved me the trouble."
"Anything for our dear Olympian" he says, and Jaehyun laughs.
His medal is still on the bedside table where he left it last night. It looks so pretty.
"Damn, that feels nice to hear, keep calling me that" and Juyeon rolls his eyes.
"As much as I'd like to indulge you, I gotta go. We play later this afternoon and I have to go practice" he says.
"Oh, that's right, you did say yesterday" he says. "Well, good luck, don't lose" and Juyeon laughs.
"Wow, thanks" he says. "I'll try my best not to. Hope you watch"
"I can't promise I will, but I'll try my best" Jaehyun says, smiling around the fork. "Be careful, too, don't get hurt" and that one sounds more genuine, which makes Juyeon smile. He wants to lean in and kiss him again, but he's not sure if he'd be allowed now, so he doesn't.
"Thanks. You be careful, too, don't get out of bed unless you have to" he says.
"Yes, I won't" he says. "Go now, or you'll be late" and Juyeon nods, waving goodbye one last time.
He really did want to kiss him again.
Even if he told him he most likely wouldn't, Jaehyun has been checking the time all day to make sure he didn't miss Juyeon's game. He even takes a picture of the screen and sends it to him, even if he knows that he won't check his phone after the game.
It's strange, what he's feeling inside. Mostly because he wasn't aware of it until he made something happen. But now that he thinks about it, he thinks what hurt him the most about him was that he did like him back then, and he disappointed him so much that it turned to hate. But it's very likely that the attraction never went anywhere, and it only got worse with every bickering encounter they had.
He can only admit it now because, well... because they kinda got each other off the night before, but he wishes he could've done more. He's been wanting to do more for years.
Jaehyun is not going to pretend he understands most of the rules of basketball, but he'll still enjoy the game and smile whenever Juyeon scores.
Today's game seems to be a bit harder because the score is pretty much tied the entire game until the end, where they end up winning only by 5 points.
That means they qualify for sure, which pleases Jaehyun, because if they didn't, maybe they would head back home, and... Jaehyun doesn't want that. Not now.
It's only the fourth day of the games, and so much has happened already.
His phone lights up and he sees it's Juyeon. He pretends the smile that spreads across his face isn't there at all.
Jaehyun is bored. Bored because he can't leave his room at all, even though he's better. Even though the doctor came to take off his cast and now it's just bandaged. He still needs to be careful if he wants to make it to the finals, because he knows he can, he just needs more rest. He should need more practice, but he's pretty sure he can do well even without it, because he's been practicing these things for years.
He's watched his friends on the all-round finals, even if none of them won. They ended up fourth and sixth, which isn't too bad.
He's also been catching up with other competitions, learning about other disciplines and sports, because it's fun, and because he's got nothing else to do.
He's been talking to Juyeon a lot, too, but they had two games one day after the other, so he hasn't seen much of him either.
But he told him he was going to come today since they both had a free day. Still, he's nowhere to be found. Jaehyun went out of his room a bit in the morning, accompanied by his doctor just to see the sun a bit, really, and he hasn't changed his clothes because he knew Juyeon was meant to come later, but now that he's not here, he figures he should've switched back into his pjs because he'd be more comfortable.
There's a knock on his door then, and Jaehyun stands up to open and finds him there with two bags of McDonald's.
"I come bearing gifts" he says and Jaehyun laughs.
"Aren't you supposed to eat healthy or whatever?" he says, trailing after him at a slower pace, letting the door close behind them.
"It's just one day... we'll be fine" he says, leaving the bags on top of the bed. "How are you feeling? I see the cast is off" he says. "You didn't even let me sign it, it's gonna be worth absolutely dust on eBay now" and Jaehyun laughs, sitting down.
"I mean, I'm pretty sure my sweat is more valuable than your autograph, I do have a medal" he teases him and Juyeon makes a face.
"Ew, that's gross" he says, but Jaehyun just laughs harder. "I hope you threw it away, though"
"My doctor probably did" he says and helps him get everything he bought out. "God, this smells so good. I was starting to think you weren't gonna come"
"Sorry about that, I got caught up in practice, hence why I'm still wearing this basketball shirt" he says, pointing at it.
"Oh, I thought that you just came with it, you know, like the Barbie dolls and such" Jaehyun teases him again.
"You're insufferable, I'm starting to remember why I used to dislike you so much" he says, but he smiles, so Jaehyun knows he doesn't mean it.
"Sure, you didn't seem to feel that way the other night" he says, and Juyeon almost chokes with his drink.
"F-Fuck, you can't just say that!" He tells him because they haven't really talked about it. Sure, they're both aware, but that's precisely the reason why they haven't.
"I can't? Why? Do you regret it?" He asks, and this time he's genuine, no teasing in his voice. And it takes a while for Juyeon to respond, but not because he's not sure, but because he's embarrassed.
"I don't" he says, voice small. "It's just... I don't know" and when he looks up, Jaehyun is looking at him as if he'd rather eat him than the whole McDonald's feast he's got prepared.
And, truth is, Juyeon wouldn't want anything less, especially with how he's looking at him. And when he licks his lips, Jaehyun's eyes follow the movement.
"Well, just so you know, I wouldn't mind if it happened again" Jaehyun says, and when he bites one of the crisps, Juyeon gulps. "But maybe after eating, I don't really wanna make a mess just yet" he says, and Juyeon doesn't think he's eaten something so fast in his life.
But the reward is almost as good. Actually, it’s better.
There's not a word to define what they are, or at least, not one that they've given themselves.
They do kiss now if they feel like it. And they've done some other things, too, but nothing too deep yet.
They're having fun and enjoying their time at the Olympics.
Jaehyun is feeling better, even doing a few rehabilitation exercises to make sure that his ankle is in a good enough condition to compete, and Juyeon keeps winning every game.
He says, when he comes back to Jaehyun's room after one, that it's thanks to him.
Jaehyun says it's bullshit, but he kisses him anyway.
But today is the day. Jaehyun has been walking normally for two days, and even though he missed the floor finals, there's still vault left. And he wants to compete.
He's already talked to his coach, his doctors, another doctor recommended by his family, his parents, and Juyeon, too.
Not all of them are on board, but he doesn't care. He knows that, if he gets hurt again, now he'll have the rest of the year to recover, but he doesn't want to miss his chance.
Besides, he knows he's got this now. He knows he can do it.
"Are you nervous?" Juyeon asks when they wake up in the same bed the next morning. He asked him the night before if he could stay, because he was panicking a little, and of course, he agreed.
"Yeah" he admits, no rodeos. "But whatever happens, I just don't want to leave this place regretting not having done it knowing I could, you know?" he asks, and Juyeon nods.
"I do, but be careful, alright?" he says and Jaehyun smiles and kisses him quick.
"Will be. Will you be there today as well?" he asks, and he hates when he sees in his face before he speaks that he won't.
"I have a game an hour later, and it's like two hours away from your stadium" he says, and he remembers that he read that, but still, it sucks.
"It's okay, you can come here after if you want, and we can celebrate or cry together if I lose or break another leg" he says and Juyeon pushes him away slightly, complaining while he giggles.
"Don't joke about that, and you're not gonna lose, I can feel it" he says.
"Where? Here?" he asks and presses his hand to Juyeon's chest. He feels it speed up then.
"Mhm" he says. Jaehyun's heart speeds up to match his, too.
"Well, I hope you're right. And I hope you guys win, too." and Juyeon smiles then.
They head down to have breakfast together and straight after that, Jaehyun leaves to practice. It's a light practice, not wanting to push it, but he still needs to be warmed up for the competition later.
They've already decided the jumps he's going to make, and although it's risky, he wants to give it his all, to do the ones he had prepared for all along, come what may.
"Jaehyun, time to go" his coach tells him, and he takes a deep breath and nods.
Time to go.
"LEE JAEHYUN!" he hears and waves at the crowd, that welcomes him gladly, the same way they did the other day after his accident.
He's happy to be back. Nervous, but mostly happy.
He knows that this could go wrong, but he's happy enough to be here right now, so even if he doesn't win the medal, he's satisfied.
He's jumping last, which will give him both enough time to warm up and all the intel he needs on the rest of the gymnasts, to see if he's got chances or not.
But at the same time, it's even more nerve wrecking because it seems like the moment will never come.
He looks at the stands and sees his team there, rooting for him, as well as other people from their delegacy.
He hopes he can make them proud, the people at home, too.
The competition is going well, but he's noticed that all of them are taking a few steps back after their jumps, some even leaving the mat completely, which gives him even more chances of winning, since he has the highest difficulty score among them.
He knows it's risky, but sometimes you gotta risk in order to win, so that's what he's going to try.
He's next. One more jump before his big moment.
"You've got this, alright? Trust yourself" his coach tells him, and he nods.
He shoots one last look at his friends, who are encouraging him as well and starts to get prepared, now that the Thai athlete before him finished.
He's just glad no one got injured or fell, because that's the worst thing that can happen. He also hopes he's not the first one.
He hears his name being called again. His heart starts to race, and he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He has to focus all of them out, he has to pretend he's back in college, practicing when no one is watching. This isn't a competition; these aren't the Olympic games.
He's just home, having fun, doing what he loves.
The number 6.0 lights up next to him, showing the difficulty of his exercise. He takes one last breath after he hears the honk marking the exit, and he starts running, and then he flies, and lands on his feet. Nailed it.
"And the gold medal goes to, Lee Jaehyun from South Korea!" he still can't believe it. After all his hard work, after everything, he gets to stand up in that podium and get his medal. He literally breaks down on the stage. And it's even more emotional because of his injury last week.
The cheers are loud enough that Jaehyun thinks they might deafen him, but it wouldn't matter, because he's already heard everything he wanted to hear.
Olympic champion. Gold medal.
He has half a mind to pay attention to the National Anthem because he just cannot stop crying. He's been crying ever since the 15.003 came up in the scoreboard.
- That was his personal best by far. And he did that after injuring himself.
He's unstoppable.
After the Anthem ends, it's time for pictures, but he's literally out of his body, not sure what's going on, on cloud nine.
When they lead them back inside, the entire team is waiting for him. And he cries again, hugging them tight, still not believing it.
They let him talk to his family, his parents crying as well. All his hard work has been worth it, and the best part is, it doesn't hurt to walk. He's fine. He did it.
And he won.
The game ends and it was their closest one yet, but they won one up, and that's what counts.
Juyeon rushes back to the changing room to get his phone, to check on Jaehyun, and then he sees the notification from the Olympics app.
"New Medal! South Korea. Male Gymnastics, Valut. (Gold) LEE, Jaehyun."
He almost drops his phone. He doesn’t, but he does scream.
"What, what is it?" Younghoon asks, coming in after him.
"He got it! He got the gold!" he says, still looking at his phone.
"Jaehyun?!" Younghoon asks, and all Juyeon can do is nod. "Holy fuck, are you serious?!" and he takes the phone from him to see. "Shit, I wanna see his exercise" and they both sit down and go on YouTube to find it.
It's safe to say that Juyeon gasps when he jumps, terrified of the landing, even though he knows that, if he won, it can't have been bad, but still, he worries.
"Woah" Younghoon says. "He's absolutely mad" he laughs, seeing both jumps. "And he did that while still recovering? What the fuck will he be capable of when he's at a 100%?" he says, giving Juyeon back his phone.
"Who knows" he says, but what he doesn't say is that he can't wait to find out.
The almost two hours that it takes them to get back to the Olympic village probably are the longest in Juyeon's life, because he just wants to get back and hug Jaehyun, kiss him, congratulate him... all of it.
He texted him as soon as he heard. Many exclamation points and not much more, because he wanted to do it in person.
He did it. Juyeon has watched his jumps like a million times, and he's still not sure how he does it. How he flips and turns and falls exactly into place, no side steps or backwards. It's insane.
And maybe he's biased because he hasn't seen the rest of exercises, but he deserved to win for sure.
They get to the Olympic village, and he pretty much runs to his room, and part of him is scared that maybe he's not there, that maybe they went out to celebrate, but the door opens, and there he is.
Wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt, jeans, and a white cap, and Juyeon almost laughs because he's wearing it the other way around, as if they somehow read each other's mind and now—
"We're matching" Jaehyun says.
"You won!!" Juyeon says instead, and he doesn't wait, he doesn't care, he pulls him close and kisses his lips, deep, hard. So much that it makes him walk backwards and release the door, that closes behind them. "Fuck, I'm so proud of you, I knew you could, I always knew" he says in between kisses, and Jaehyun kisses him back, arms around his neck, pulling him down.
"You always knew, huh?" he asks with a smirk. "Turns out my biggest anti was actually my biggest fan" he kisses him quick when he pouts.
"Don't call me that, I never really hated you" he says. "It was just... mutual disliking, and annoyance" and Jaehyun laughs at that, too.
"Yeah, I agree. But guess who's got two medals now... you're lacking, Juyeon-ah!" he tells him playfully. "But you did well today, congrats on your win!" and he kisses him quick.
"Thank you, but back to you and your gold medal, can I see it?" He asks and Jaehyun chuckles, nodding and pulling back.
"I should've known, you only wanted me because of my medals" he says, walking to the nightstand where his silver medal still stands and picks up the gold one.
"Shut up, that's not true" he says and takes it. "Fuck, it's so pretty" he says holding it carefully.
"Mhm, so are you" Jaehyun says, and he looks up. "What? It's true" You look good with it, I hope you win one, too" and he smiles, putting it around his neck again.
"So do I" he says. "Did you go out to celebrate or will you go after, that's why you're dressed?" he asks.
"We went already, it's been a few hours since I won" he giggles, because it's true, he finished probably as the basketball game began and with all the time that took them to get back, Jaehyun's had more than enough time for partying.
"Sorry I missed it" he says and Jaehyun smirks, putting his arms around his neck again.
"Well, you're here now" he says. "And my leg is healed, you know?" he brushes his lips together, loving the way Juyeon’s breath hitches, reaching over for more.
"Mhm, what are you trying to say?" he asks, even though it's obvious.
"We both know what I'm trying to say" and when Juyeon kisses him, it's more than obvious, too.
They walk until Jaehyun's legs hit the mattress and fall back on the bed with Juyeon on top.
Hands roam through their bodies, and lips follow suit, as well.
Their clothes get lost in the midst of it, and they get lost in each other, too.
Still, none of them are losers.
They're champions.