A towel over his head to wipe up his sweat, Seokjin took advantage of the fabric that partially hid him to greedily swallow a puff of Ventolin that his trainer had given him back.

He always hid as much as possible to take his medication because he was afraid that would be a reason for refusal for sports recruiters who were looking for young people in good physical shape, not thirteen-year-old teenagers with failing respiratory systems. And also, he didn't want to give the impression of wanting to move his opponents with his health problems.

After taking a deep breath, he exhaled long and very slowly as he used to do after inhaling the medicine that opened his bronchi and took the opportunity to consider the second part of the match more clearly.

Even though he was winning the match with those two goals ahead of Jungkook, he had never been so tired after a first half of a match. He felt like he had just played a full game.

He would have liked to rest and ask his team to play defense to maintain the score but Dae-Ho absolutely wanted to score a goal himself in this match and urged him to continue the attack. Also, Seokjin didn't want to disappoint his new competitive friend. Jungkook seemed so happy to be able to compete with him, and they were friends, Seokjin couldn't deny him that.

He suddenly felt two hands rest on his shoulders at the same time that a chin and the weight of a head rested on his own head. Taken by a sudden anguish feeling trapped under the thick fabric and at the mercy of the newcomer, he felt his breathing quicken and wanted to remove the towel from his head but a voice stopped him as a hand grabbed his, whispering to him with a familiar singing voice:

"Shhhhhtttt! don't move Seokjinniiiie!"

"J-Jimin," Seokjin stammered under the towel, refraining from ripping the towel from his head and pushing the boy away.

He didn't like knowing Jimin was behind him when he couldn't see him, or knowing that his face was under a towel that Jimin could tighten at any time because he had the feeling that he could choke at any moment and he had a panic fear of asphyxiation, the feeling of not being able to breathe. In other words, it was his phobia.

Despite the Ventolin taken just before, he was so afraid of not being able to breathe that he had difficulty breathing even though there was no lack of air at the moment. From his point of view, Jimin was a vicious boy and unlike Taehyung, even if he smiled more and had a baby face, he could hurt him a lot and Seokjin also had no doubt that he could have fun choking him if the mood took him. But Seokjin could not afford to be in pain or in respiratory distress a few minutes before the match resumed.

Jimin felt his distress even without seeing his face.

"Wow, wow!" he sang, massaging Seokjin's broad shoulders to relax him, "don't panic like that, I'm not going to hurt you, so take it easy, okay?"

"O-Okay," Seokjin said trying in vain to calm down, squeezing his precious Ventolin against him until his knuckles were whitened.

Jimin sighed. He sat up, raising his head from Seokjin's and took the towel from his head, which had the immediate effect of reassuring Seokjin who took a deep breath before sighing with relief. He blinked as the light broke and felt Jimin lean over his shoulder to ask:

"Better?"

"Y-yes... thank you..." Seokjin thanked even though Jimin was the one who had just caused him this small panic attack.

Jimin's smile widened and he patted his head affectionately the same way he would with a puppy.

"Good boy! So tell me Seokjin, does it look like it's going like clockwork for you in this match?" he questioned casually.

"Yeah, it looks great," Seokjin lied, aware that it was Taehyung who sent Jimin to him.

"Really? That's great ! However, I have the bad impression that you are not giving yourself enough to win. Usually you score more goals than that. You didn't want to show the best of yourself on this last match?"

Seokjin's eyes widened. Was that really the image he sent back to the audience? That of a Seokjin who didn't give his all? Yet he did everything he could to lead his team to victory!

"Y-you're wrong, I try my best, I really do, believe me, but Jungkook is a very talented player, I give everything I have to prevent him from scoring and he blocks my way to the goal most of the time." 

"Jungkook?" Jimin repeated, "ah yes, I saw you fraternizing with him, earlier. You seem to get along well already, are you happy to have made a friend among our enemies?"

"Yes!" Seokjin asserted with honesty before remembering that he didn't want Jimin and Taehyung to know. "I-I mean no... I mean he's not..." He paused when he realized something Jimin said. "Why do you call them our enemies? They are only our adversaries, so nothing prevents us from being friends, right? Ah, unless Taehyung issued a new edict about it today?"

Jimin smiled. 

"Woooh, Seokjin, you're so cute, never learn to lie, okay?" He smiled even more as he saw Seokjin's eyes widen and blame himself for his stupidity. "So Jungkook really is your friend!"

Seeing that there was no point in trying to trick him, Seokjin bravely asserted:

"Yes, we are friend and he is a nice guy, unlike you!"

"Woho, Seokjin!" exclaimed Jimin in a falsely indignant tone. "I've been trying to be your friend for years and you always refused and today, a complete stranger comes along and you become friends with him right away? I'm upset Seokjin, and when I'm upset I do things you don't like, you know that though."

Uncomfortable faced with these threatening but very vague words, Seokjin didn't answer right away. Jimin didn't know Jungkook, he still wasn't going to pick on him? He hoped so anyway. Better that he was still Jimin's punching bag if he wanted to keep his friend for more than a day.

"Should I do something you don't like?" Jimin asked, insistant.

"No, please, leave Jungkook alone," Seokjin said, "I... I won't upset you again."

"Seokjin, it's useless, when you lie your nose gets a little longer," Jimin pointed out. 

Instinctively, Seokjin brought his hands up to his nose and Jimin burst out laughing and Seokjin understood that he had been fooled again. 

"I got you again Pinocchio!" Jimin chuckled, tears of laughter in his eyes, "Aaaah, I love you so much Seokjin, you have no idea. How am I going to survive without you next year? Life will seem very gloomy."

Seokjin thought that Jimin had diverted his attention from Jungkook but he was wrong. He wiped away his tears and became more serious again.

"It's okay, you can keep your friend and think he's nicer than me if you want. But don't come crying like a baby when you realize that's not the case."

That was already what Taehyung had told him earlier. "Don't come crying to me when you realize that's not the case." These two were the same, did they think him so weak?

"I won't cry," Seokjin replied, "and first of all it will never happen, Jungkook is very different from you, so don't worry about me."

"Alright baby," Jimin chuckled, leaving Seokjin sulking upon hearing this nickname. "But I'm afraid to understand one thing, tell me if I'm wrong : does that mean you're gonna let Jungkok win because he's your friend?"

"Of course not!" Seokjin exclaimed, outraged, "I'm going to win, no matter who he is outside of the field and how I like him."

"You better! And stop telling me that you like him, it disgusts me" Jimin scolded him, giving him a discreet pat on the back of the head. Around them, Seokjin's teammates who were rehydrating and his coach who were talking with one of them looked away and let him be abused. "Taehyung wants you to go all out to win against Jungkook. That's what I came to tell you."

This time, Seokjin frowned upon hearing Taehyung's name. He was tired of hearing what the boy wanted from him, that was the least of his worries right now, as he only thought about finishing the match so he could rest.

"I don't care anymore what Taehyung wants," Seokjin replied, "He can rule the school as he pleases I don't care but the football field is my kingdom not Taehyung's so his wishes have no place there. It's mine that count, because there, I'm free from him. You can tell him that when you go back to see him : I'm going to win but I'm going to do that for me, not for him."

Jimin chuckled and whistled in admiration.

"Woooo, reckless, Seokjinnie, too reckless! So that's what made Taehyung mad? He is ruining the game for us up there because of your unpleasant attitude, wouldn't you want to give me words that will make him happy instead of what you just gave me and that will make him even more angry?"

"No!"

Seokjin turned around without getting up and glared at him. Because of that, Jimin had plenty of time to observe his determined but tired face.

"You have changed, it's funny!  Well, I understood why Taehyung didn't scare you anymore he obviously wasn't tough enough on you, and I'm going to recommend that he change that, but I advise you not to behave like that with me, otherwise it might hurt, do you understand?"

"Okay," Seokjin grumbled, aware that Jimin was not joking.

"Good! Now tell me, Seokjinnie..."

As Seokjin was still breathing frantically, Jimin walked around the bench to stand and leaned in front of him to watch him watching him curiously.

"... Did you see your face right now? You look really tired, are you sure you're okay?" The short boy took a worried tone and placed a hand on his forehead but then he smiled mischievously: "Maybe you better stop now, before you get any worse, don't you think?"

Seokjin couldn't see his own flushed face, his hair plastered with sweat on his forehead but he could feel his still rapid breathing despite his medicine and the intense fatigue in his body. His right leg was shaking with fatigue and he felt it heavy even as he sat down. He was sure of one thing: he was exhausted.

"No, no need to worry, I'm fine," he said nonetheless, gently removing Jimin's hand from his forehead.

"Pfff!" Jimin chuckled, "you can say that to others, not to me! I know you so well that I know you're lying again. Are you really willing to risk your health to win this game?"

"Exactly," Seokjin said defiantly, wanting nothing more than Jimin to finally leave him alone.

But the short boy didn't move and looked a bit surprised.

"And for what Seokjin? Why do you fight like that? Just because you like to play football? Looks like a childish thought to me. Or maybe it's for your reputation? You know, I'm sure people from our school won't be surprised to see you abandon your team during the last match of the league, after all, you are the least loved of Gugbo's students and the only thing that retained some semblance of respect for you was that you made your team win. If you make it lose, you'll only get people's hatred, but maybe that's better than getting sick for almost nothing."

"It's not for nothing! I already told you that it was above all for me that I fought, not for the others, but you will never be able to understand why I give myself so much," Seokjin replied bitterly, "you can call me a kid because I put my heart into it and you can hit me because you find me insolent, I don't care, but stop pretending to try to understand me when you just want to see me break down and give up to make you feel better than me."

This time, Jimin didn't feel like smiling and just stared blankly at Seokjin so as not to let the other boy know what he was thinking. Running out of time as the clock kept ticking, Seokjin decided to change his tone and resumed a pleading tone:

"Jimin, half time will resume soon, would you mind giving me just these three last minutes to think about the rest of the match? Please?"

The other seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if he wanted to say something.

"Yeah, sure!" Jimin ended up exclaiming, as if coming back to himself after being immersed in thought. His face cracking into a new smile and he delivered an encouraging pat on Seokjin's shoulder, "after all, you're the man of the match, the king of the football field! No doubt you will win the title of top scorer now, because of your passion in this kingdom of yours! Fighting!"

Seokjin nodded halfheartedly in the face of Jimin's insincerity and waited for him to walk away but this one, before walking away, added, more somberly:

"But don't forget that a king can also lose his crown when he is faced with a people who want to cut off his head."

And more particularly a little king in fragile health like you are, he thought.

"I know what you're trying to do but the only ones who want to cut my head off are the ones off the field, so you won't scare me with that and for the last time, I will continue to play this game!" 

"Really?" Jimin simply said with a sorry smile, "okay, then, but don't say afterwards that I wouldn't have tried to warn you and protect you, okay, Seokjin?"

"Okay, okay," Seokjin said impatiently, in an exasperated tone.

Jimin gave him a wink and slipped away. Seokjin watched him with relief walk happily away from him probably to regain his place in the stands. He then placed a hand on his chest, which had subsided, and took a deep breath to fill it with oxygen.

"I'll be fine," he muttered to himself. "Another forty-five minutes and we will be crowned champions of the tournament. I will hold out until then, no matter what they think, I'm strong."