PRESENT TIME

TAEHYUNG & SEOKJIN-19 years old

Third Person's P.O.V.

"Just don't pay any attention to him" Hoseok spoke as they pulled up at the parking lot of the Seoul University "and why do you even let a cheap runt like him bother you...you're the Kim Seokjin...the only heir to your father's sprawling business" he grinned to see Jin roll his eyes at his over-pouring praise which he knew was just a way to ridicule him because he knew Jin didn't like being referred to as a 'chaebol'.

"The president of the student council...the best athlete of Seoul University...the heartthrob of all the girls in the campus...the perfect scholar...what's a weirdo from Daegu compared to you?"

"I don't pay attention to anyone" Jin chewed out the words, brushing his bangs to a side.

"Exactly!" Hoseok tittered "it's a millennium ago when he won a race against you...get over it man!"

Jin could feel his blood begin to boil on its own at the mention of that, and he instinctively loosened his tie a bit. The blazer suddenly felt a little warmer and he could feel his palm begin to sweat.

That fucking bastard hadn't won against him in that race three years ago...he had cheated. If Jin could, he would gun him down or put him behind bars for playing mean tricks on the tracks.

That asshole was a criminal who had tricked him!

Jin had been so disappointed in himself, but unlike what everyone else believed, it wasn't the only reason why he had left the country to go live with his parents in UK for the last three years.

And now that he had returned and joined the team again, that fucking bastard was back to rub it on his face!

"I'm not worried about losing against him...that won't happen ever again" Jin's jaw flexed as his brows knitted "this time that fuck will learn not to play tricks with me."

"Yeah...there you go...that's the spirit!" Hoseok bellowed as he patted at Jin's shoulder "I've full faith in you...you gonna get us that championship cup this time!"

"And I'm gonna teach that rat a lesson he'll remember for the rest of his life" Jin grumbled under his breath.

-

When Taehyung boarded off the bus, all his eyes could register were the striking grandeur of the preparations made for the competition. He had seen it every year and yet the flutters of thrill it caused within him still felt the same.

Well, there was one other thing that had been spinning at the back of his head as well...the manner-boy and the best athlete in Seoul he had met three years ago. The only one who had scared him so much that in his foolish zeal to win, he had done something really unlike himself to the other.

He had felt guilty when he had heard the news of Seokjin leaving the country, he hadn't thought his little 'prank' would hurt the other like that and couldn't really believe it when they had given him the news the next year he had been there to compete. He had wished to apologize to him, and come clean about why he had to do such a thing.

If he was being honest, he had kinda missed seeing that boy...he wanted to race against him but didn't have the guts to accept defeat. Kim Seokjin had been a challenge he knew he couldn't win over easily, a challenge he was so scared to face that he had resorted to such a cheap prank and this knowledge had burnt within him for the past years as a reminder.

"Gotta make coach stop with the blabbering...he's getting on my nerves again" he spoke stretching his back to get rid of the ache from the long journey.

"Yeah...let's go kick some ass" Jeonghan sneered, coming up to stand by him as he fist bumped with Hoshi.

Their attention was drawn when they caught sight of a bunch of boys chatting and laughing as they cheered. Taehyung could tell they were those particularly annoying snobs of Seoul University.

Those arrogant assholes covered in expensive stuff from head to toe.

"Look at those pricks" Hoshi clicked his tongue in annoyance "hah...they think they're idols or something? What's with the show-off?"

Taehyung decided to turn a blind eye as he headed inside, and saw athletes from other universities sprawling across the hallways. Every team busy with their own boasting, guffaws filled up the air as teams were heard jibing at the opponents or ridiculing the guy on the other side.

It was just the way it was...and Taehyung couldn't say he took no part in it.

"Heyo! Mingyu" Taehyung hollered from afar, grinning cheekily as he waved at them "why aren't you in your cheer dress eh?"

Mingyu, the sports captain of the Seoul University turned around with a sour look on his face to glare at the approaching nuisance.

"It feels better to run when you cheer for me" Taehyung winked at him as he walked up to stare the other down, while Mingyu's entire team stood guard behind him and glared. Taehyung knew they hated him, who wouldn't?

After completing his high school, Taehyung had moved from the Daegu and had joined Busan University because of their great athletic team. The scholarship he had earned made it easy for him to get through.

The prestigious Athletics Cup that had been a legacy and had been won by the Seoul University for the last 24 years. But it was this team that had won the cup for last three consecutive years, and even this year he was here to snatch away the cup. Busan University had even taken away scholarships from Seoul University and gotten the best coaches from Seoul University to shift to their university to train their team of athletes.

"You have made your last mistake by coming here this time Kim" Mingyu spoke gritting his teeth at Taehyung as the teams began huddling inside the sports complex for the inauguration of the day's events "there's a fat chance that you'll win the cup this time".

"Hah...says the one who lost three years in a row" Taehyung scoffed, his smirk dripping with arrogance as he saw the other bite on the inside of his cheek at the insult "I'm telling you" he leaned to whisper "better tell your athletes to get their pompoms and cheer for us instead."

Mingyu was fuming at the other for his prideful words, but he chuckled at his cocky words.

"Let's wait and see who cheers for whom" Mingyu tried to hold back his anger and not fall to the level of these rats from Busan University.

The first time he had met Taehyung, they were still in the under 14 team, and knew the guy was resilient, hard-working and a meritorious athlete. He had hated his guts from the very first time they had competed in the tracks, especially because of how confident this rat was. But the first time he had seen his confidence falter was three years ago when Taehyung had learnt he had to compete with Kim Seokjin.

"You're in for a surprise today Kim" Mingyu smirked "good luck."

"Tsk...yeah? Keep it...you'll need it" Taehyung clicked his tongue, he laughed at him as he walked away to the locker room to change into his track uniform "I don't believe in luck...I believe in making it happen".

There was news about people from the National Sports Authority being at the event today, and Taehyung was eager to make it a point to catch their attention. It'd be the sweetest opportunity for any athlete in the country and playing in the national team for his country was a literal dream for him.

There was no way he was gonna let such a chance go to waste!

He walked in to see a crowd of boys inside the locker-room. The place was no different than theirs...well, it might have been larger in size but it was the same clammy walls reeking of sweat and one always felt kinda suffocated. It was as if a tradition to show off in here if you had a good physique, toned muscles or abs, and you could parade half-naked while the short or skinny ones with lanky bodies took the quickest showers and dressed in secrecy so as not to get dragged into any embarrassing mess.

Taehyung strutted confidently, he could already hear words flying in the air about other contestants and that's when a peculiar reference snatched his attention.

"Yeah he sprinted 100m in 10 fucking seconds! That was the fastest recorded time for any high-schooler not only in Seoul but in the entire nation!"

"But I heard he suddenly vanished-" "No he moved to UK with his parents"

The conversation drew Taehyung's attention, and he edged closer slowly to listen.

"Hey" Taehyung tried to create some easy conversation as he got his stuff out of his bag, trying to look inconspicuous although he had an idea who they were talking about "who's this guy you're talking about?"

"Oh...you might have met him in one of the inter-school events" a boy with a jolly smile turned to reply to him "he's the best sprinter ever..."

"Yeah? I don't think I remember his name..." Taehyung was still listening, although he headed to a cubicle to change and knocked to check whether anyone was inside.

"His name's Seokjin, and he's-" before the boy could finish his sentence Taehyung blanked out as the door to the cubicle was flung open and his worst fear stared him in the face.

Like a cascade tumbling down a cliff, Taehyung's memories of that day three years ago came hurtling into his head and he seemed too overwhelmed to speak as he stood frozen before the very guy he was least expecting to meet today.

Taehyung's brain went blank, mouth falling open as he gazed at those honey-brown eyes but those plump cotton-candy cheeks and double chin was now replaced with a chiselled jawline. The sleek black bowl cut hair was now a coiffed coffee brown and brushed away from his forehead. But somewhere even in this new sharp twenty-year old Seokjin, he could trace glimpses of that cute chubby cheeked teenager.

"Oh...looks like I startled you" the voice was smooth, laced with pure scorn hid perfectly under his charming visage but one could see the anger burn behind Seokjin's eyes and in the twitch of his lips since he was trying his best to hold back the curses he wanted to throw at the other.

And Taehyung gulped before he took a step back when the other stepped closer.

"Not expecting to see me here, were you?"

Taehyung blinked again, he didn't know why he felt like he had lost his voice or the strength in his limbs or the sanity to form a proper sentence. This was probably the first time he was this startled to come across someone.

"I...you...why are you-" "Why am I back here again? Well, I'll tell you why..." Seokjin's brows were beginning to knit, his rage against the other rising as he blatantly walked to step into Taehyung's personal space and their gazes clashed "I came back to show you your place."

His words came out in a low snarl, and Taehyung felt him poke his finger at his chest.

"None of your tricks are gonna save you this time bastard!"

Taehyung realized how the entire room had gone quiet and were watching the scene which had him at its center. He felt a shoulder shove at him and watched Seokjin stride away from him angrily and in a rush blurted the next words.

"Good to know that I had left a mark on you"

What the fuck was he even saying!?

Taehyung had no idea what had gotten into him all of a sudden!

No he wasn't glad that Seokjin was back! This could mean that he might lose today's race...but then why does he feel this rush of nerves to see him again?

Seokjin jerked around with fire blazing in his eyes but stayed quiet despite his cold enrage.

"I have this weird feeling you know" Taehyung took a few calculated steps towards the other, his words laced with overconfidence as he ridiculed Seokjin "maybe you ran away because last time I scared the shit out of you"

Despite the cheeky arrogance in his words, if one was paying attention then they could see Taehyung quietly gulp to himself. He took a quick glance around trying to look unperturbed because he hated looking weak in front of a crowd of arrogant athletes from opposing teams.

Seokjin still stood glowering at him in the threatening silence.

"Yeah?" Seokjin turned around to face him as he chuckled at his haughty words, his anger evident in his fuming eyes and gritted teeth "well...I will make sure you eat dust today m*f"

Taehyung realized he was holding his breath as he watched Seokjin turn about and stomp away without sparing another second. The crowd slowly broke into a murmur, some coming up with all sorts of false stories to understand what the confrontation was about, some ridiculing Taehyung's arrogance being razed to dust by the Kim Seokjin...while some enjoyed being an audience to the whole thing.

And Taehyung quietly sighed to himself, knowing that despite his intentions to apologize to the other, he had actually created a greater mess now.

Well, there's no going back now...he might as well pull this through and at least save himself from the impending embarrassment that awaited him.

When he came out dressed in his uniform his gaze scouring the field, he realized that he was nervous about a race in a really long time.

"Heard you had a beef with some Seoul univ guy...?" Jeonghan spoke as they practiced their warm up routine.

"It's the same guy I had a beef with three years ago" Taehyung spoke, trying to play it cool despite the twisting nerves in his gut "he's back"

"Holy crap!" Jeonghan cussed loud enough to draw the eyes around them and Hoshi suddenly began paying attention to his teammates rather than eyeing the girls in campus.

"What?" Where's the fire?"

"So..." Jeonghan was waiting for Taehyung to disclose how the encounter went "what did he say?"

"Who said what?"

"The usual...he's angry...and that's understandable" Taehyung shrugged while practicing his lunges "I had expected to face something worse".

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Hoshi was now frustrated looking from Jeonghan to Taehyung to understand the context.

"Nothing...you brain fart" Jeonghan sneered at him to be quiet but just then the host made an announcement for the athletes to take their positions for the first event of the day and Seokjin walked across the field along with his team.

"Fuck! It's that 10 seconds guy you-!" Hoshi's eyes were large when Jeonghan had to cover the idiots' mouth, blinking as he realized what that meant for them.

"Why are you such a dumb fuck?!" Jeonghan hissed in Hoshi's ear, adding a few colourful curses along "so...I don't think he'll fall for the same trick twice" Jeonghan turned to Taehyung while still covering Hoshi's mouth, who however, was desperately squirming to get free "how're you planning to win this time?"

Well, Taehyung was kinda thinking of the same thing...but the issue was, unlike the too naive and too polite Seokjin he remembered from three years ago...this Seokjin looked cold and fierce.

"I'll find something" he clicked his tongue, feeling his heartbeat rise as his gaze followed the tall slender athlete on the third track and chewed on the inside of his cheek remembering that he himself was on track two. He went to take his position.

Taehyung watched Seokjin stiffly avoiding him, as he looked everywhere else but him.

"I heard you fled the country because you were scared everyone will ridicule you"

The calm words made Seokjin's anger flip on as he jerked around to glare at the prick. This was the reason Seokjin wanted to watch Taehyung's arrogance crumble to dust today, to have everyone watch how he was a loser...he wanted to fucking rub it on his face and watch that jerk cry on his lost chances of being an acclaimed athlete.

"You can relax" Taehyung smirked at him, leaning in just so he could whisper the next words "I didn't tell anyone about our little secret...and I guess neither did you, right?"

Taehyung was curious to see how the other was visibly frozen, and worry evident on his face.

"I will fucking kill you" the words were a low growl on Seokjin's lips.

Oh how he'd love to watch Taehyung regret messing with him, he will get his revenge today...he was going to have so much fun watching this loser's ambitions of being in the national team get razed to dust because only the best are chosen.

"I'm sure you will" Taehyung chuckled "I hate losing...so it's okay, I'll rather die than lose face".

Three years ago when he had run the first race against Seokjin, he had realized that it was impossible for him to win against the other. But he was desperate, he had dreams...he needed that scholarship to go to college...he believed his life would be over if he hadn't won that race and gotten the scholarship.

And in his desperation, he had resorted to something he could never think of doing...heck he was so damn embarrassed, even to this day to think that he had actually played so low to win.

Just a simple prank as others called it...but it was still very wrong.

Yeah, Jeonghan had given him the idea because beating Seokjin up could lead them to get disqualified and Hoshi had said it was just a small price compared to what he might lose...but whenever he remembered the face Seokjin had made in that steamy locker room when he had cornered him inside a shower and leaned close to stare at those honey-brown eyes, he felt something heavy fill his chest.

Taehyung shook his head a little, trying to get that image out of his head as he tried to even out his breathing and concentrate.

Today he was desperate again...he wanted to win because he wanted to make it to the national team, this would mark the beginning of his career as an internationally acclaimed athlete...oh a literal dream! He couldn't let anyone mess it up now!

"On your marks boys!"

The words made everyone take their positions, and Taehyung's gaze fixed at Seokjin's back, his mind running at lightning speed to cook up something to ensure he'd win.

"Good luck...hope I don't scare you away a second time" Taehyung wanted to sound intimidating but his fears were getting the best of him. He felt like his heart would explode when he saw Seokjin turn around to glare at him, but there was just something fiery in those eyes today and Taehyung had a weird feeling about this, especially when he saw Seokjin smirk at him and scoff at his words.

"Bring it on asshole..." Seokjin clicked his tongue at the other, not falling for the trick "it'll take you more than that to win this time."

The shot was heard, and Taehyung saw everyone dash and followed the cue. Within seconds he could see how easily Seokjin had sprinted ahead of the rest, his feet seemed to barely touch the ground and Taehyung held his breath and gave his all to dash ahead. He was no easy bait, if he had to lose then he'll at least give that punk a challenge.

He could feel his lungs straining, his entire body thrumming with adrenaline as he speared against the wind while his eyes bored into the only one running ahead of him. He realized that the rest of the participants had already fallen back and it was him against Seokjin. He could feel his body resisting to his need to run faster but he wasn't going to give up, he wasn't going to make it easy for the other to win.

And this grit came handy when Seokjin side-eyed to see Taehyung sprinting almost alongside him.

He knew he had slackened by not working on his sprints the last three years, and more importantly he could see how the other had improved himself over the years. Three years ago it would have been an easy win but right now, he felt like his lungs would give out any moment as he struggled to keep his speed.

A voice inside his head said maybe he should give up...let Taehyung win than to face whatever shit he was going to face after this but his insides screamed at him at that thought. For years he had cursed himself for not pummelling the shit out of that asshole for daring to play such a sick joke on him, and he had pledged come what may, he wasn't going to back off this time.

So, when his mind registered how hard Taehyung was trying to surpass him right now, Seokjin clamped his jaw and denied to let the other win, pushing himself further to give his best.

The crowd broke into a howl of cheers as Seokjin crossed the finish line, his feet still in motion before he could finally stop and remove the loose sash that had coiled around his chest.

He was badly gasping for air, his lungs cursing at him.

He had missed this, his gaze swept over the cheerful gallery of booming hurrahs, chanting his name and he felt an illimitable joy to be at the centre-stage at that moment.

The animated voice on the speaker bellowed his name, adorning him as the winner of the race and everything was as he remembered till the moment the anchor informed about the time they had taken.

"The best athlete and the president of the student council of Seoul University, Kim Seokjin has completed the race in 10 seconds! Setting a remarkable record as a young champion as usual!" A rush of applaud took over the stadium "and in the second position we have Kim Taehyung, best athlete and the sports captain of Daegu University with another record time of 10.7 seconds!"

Another rush of applaud broke but Seokjin was taken aback to hear the other's time taken...last time Taehyung and him had a fucking 5 seconds gap, and this time it was only 0.7 seconds?!

He whipped about in disbelief to see and found Taehyung looking utterly dejected as he morosely walked out of the tracks. They shared a short glance, and Seokjin was a little confused to see the annoying asshole give him a sad smile and a thumbs up before he headed away.

"Seokjin! Hey..?"

Jin turned about to see Mingyu smiling at him with pride written all over his face.

"You were amazing! Un-fucking-believable bro..." he hugged him, and Seokjin could almost feel his excitement "the coach's calling you, there's someone from the National Athletics here and they wanna meet you"

"Uhh yeah..." Seokjin nodded, glancing around to see where the rude jerk was but he didn't know why he was looking for him.

"He wants me to call that punk too" Mingyu spoke with disgust written all over his face and Seokjin looked at him in pure shock, anticipating the worst "apparently your timings were pretty close and they want both of-" "No" Jin spoke, fear spilling into his guts to listen to what Mingyu was about to say to him "No, don't-"

"Seokjin-ah!" The coach bellowed from the distance, making Jin visibly flinch "quick-quick...come here!" He motioned him to hurry "and Mingyu bring that sports captain from Busan!"

Seokjin's head zapped to see Taehyung jump up, his miserable slouching vanishing in a moment to hear his name being called.

"Me too?" Taehyung's eyes were wide in surprise but Seokjin could see the glee in them and direly prayed for some miracle to stop what he feared was going to happen.

Unfortunately, he had to stand there and watch his worst fear come true.

They stood before the four people from the National team in the air-conditioned room, Seokjin eyed his coach talking about something serious to them and saw Taehyung excitedly following their every gesture and movement. Despite the fact that the very presence of this guy annoyed him to the core, making him curse at the jerk inwardly...and yet his gaze stayed on the other until he got startled to hear someone call their names.

"Because your track times were almost the same, you're both chosen for the Nationals..."

"Yess! Thank you so much..." Taehyung jumped up from his seat when the coach from the national team declared it.

Any whacko could see how delighted he was at the news and couldn't control his excitement to have achieved what he had forever dreamt for. Seokjin too was excited at the opportunity but he also knew that this rejoice won't last for him.

"Also, if you keep proving your skills...then you'll be enrolling for the Summer Olympics to represent your nation...as a team."

And Seokjin paled at this. Despite his win in today's race...things hadn't really gone the way he had envisioned. He had wished to make it to the National team, but not as a team with this guy. But despite his disgust and anger, he bowed and thanked them for the opportunity.

"I will be training you for the next three months till you leave for Melbourne...pack your stuff and report at the Taereung Training Center next week."

Seokjin was still in his thoughts when the two of them had stepped out of the room.

"So..." Taehyung was dawdling beside him, hands stuffed in the pockets of his track pants "let's just forget about everything and be friends, I think-"

He stopped abruptly when Seokjin faced him squarely, eyes burning with a cold fire.

"I don't wanna be friends with a person like you" Seokjin snapped at him, and Taehyung was a little taken aback at the pure hatred in his voice "if I file a complaint regarding what you did three years ago, they'll kick you out of here in no time...and your career as an athlete will be over before it can even begin" he snarled looming closer angrily, and Taehyung took a fumbling step back "so just stay out of my way you piece of dogshit!"

Taehyung gulped quietly, and watched Seokjin turn away. He knew Jin was threatening him, but the fear was real...if he complained, he could actually ruin his career and his life.

"Why didn't you?"

The words made Jin halt midway.

"Why didn't you file a complaint to get back at me? You could have gotten me kicked out three years ago..."

Jin heard steps at his back walking nearer.

"Why did you run away?"

Jin's jaw clenched, his fists tightening as he tried to hold his tougher side up against the asshole.

"I knew you'd find ways to make fun of me" Jin's words were flat, as unemotional as he could make it sound and he hoped he hadn't spilled out his insecurities.

He could hear footsteps walking closer still.

"But I-" "Save it...I don't want any explanations" Jin was frustrated with the guy, he surely wasn't going to stand there and give him the scope to make up some shitty excuse to justify what he had done.

More so because he feared he might believe him, and think about forgiving him.

So, he just walked away from there, not waiting to hear the other out and breathed only after he reached the parking lot to see Hoseok waiting for him.

Taehyung stood at the same place for more than a few minutes, watching Jin's silhouette fade. He had really hoped he could apologize and they could start from the very starting again. Begin as teammates this time because as a team it was essential for them to trust each other and do away with their differences.

He now felt even guiltier as he realized that he had really ruined all his chances of camaraderie with Jin for that one selfish 'mistake' he had committed.

"Well, what you don't know is that" Taehyung sighed while hopping down the stairs and talking to himself "I'm more afraid that my eomma will ship me to Antarctica if she ever learns what I had done" he pulled on his hoodie and picked his bag to shrug it onto his shoulder, walking towards his ride back to Daegu "I swear that woman can do anything."

á na márië.