according to jeno, jaemin has an issue with rules. in his defense, rules usually never held any meaning to him anyway. why restrict yourself from living your best life because of silly things like rules? all the happiest people never lived by the rules, and that was that. jeno had sighed and shook his head, turning to renjun to remind him about the game the next afternoon and jaemin and shrugged and continued to pretend to listen to haechan's endless arguing with jisung about something definitely scarring. 

(it turns out, dolphins were the spawn of underwater satan, but hey, what's new?)

besides, it wasn't as if he went out of his way to break the rules! jaemin had things he wanted to do and those pesky little rules just always happened to be in the way. like the time he had desperately craved a proper lunch after experiencing the horror that was the cafeteria's 'beef ravioli'. jaemin wasn't sure it was even actual beef and had snuck out of school to eat edible food. or the time that oh jinyoung had been wearing that skirt that she knew drove jaemin crazy in the middle of biology. definitely no regrets on that one. what was he supposed to do? not drag her into the janitor's closet and go to town? please.

but everything changed the moment his shoes hit the waxed floors of the basketball courts. jaemin was aggressive, smart, and viciously charismatic in every facet of his being and he always used the rules to his advantage. cherry picking became his favorite past-time and there was usually very little that the other team could ever do to prevent him from straight up snatching the ball from them and effortlessly sink a three-pointer. best case scenario? jaemin hit a bunch of threes. worst case scenario? jaemin hit a bunch of people. never enough to get taken out. but just enough to make sure every single person - audience, coach, and player alike - knew exactly who was on the court and what he was on the court to do: win. 

in fact, the only reason why the coach even put up with one hundredth of jaemin's bullshit was because of his sheer talent. he wasn't 'the phantom' for nothing, after all.

 jaemin was dangerous, in every single aspect of the word. he was cruel and mysterious, a complex creature who existed as the phantom and little else for those who didn't know him. for those who knew him, he was a demon but in a different sense - a succubus. insatiable thirst for girls and guys alike and he never went dehydrated. who would ever pass up a chance with na jaemin? an oh jiyoung one day and a jung hyunmin the next day. jaemin wasn't picky.

but for those who were close to him, they knew him as a kid just trying to live the best teenage life he could. and who could blame him? in this world, with everyone always running for something or another, whether it be an admission into the best college or a promotion at work, and jaemin simply didn't have that. his ambition in that aspect was restricted to the court and only the court. 

jaemin was a breath of fresh air. something genuine people knew was tangible. perhaps he slept through class sometimes. he completed the assignments and never tried to sweet talk the teacher into giving him a better grade, like they so often saw from other students. perhaps he had his arm wrapped around the waist of some boy or girl. he never lead them on and never lied to them. he treated them well and made them feel loved for the few days that he had them under his wing for. 

na jaemin was a jewel, inside and out. charming, precious, and maybe a little dangerous. addictive. not perfect. but pretty damn close. 

"you know, my dad asked me about you and jeno the other day. says that he's gonna send a couple scouts to the game," chenle says in between bites of his sandwich. renjun, jisung, jeno, jaemin, chenle, and haechan are sitting in the courtyard of their high school, some doing homework and others choosing to play games on their phones instead. renjun looks up from his calculus briefly to nod in acknowledgement. jeno, on the other hand, perks up interestedly, setting down the pencil he had been completing english homework with.

"scouts?" scouts were pretty much quasi-jesus when it came to basketball. although jaemin had never really thought of pursuing basketball in the future (he really hadn't decide to pursue anything just yet), jeno was pretty much the opposite of him. basketball was jeno's entire life and it made perfect sense: he was the coach's son. it was all he knew. 

jeno was studious, even intelligent and had the best grades out of all them (with renjun not far behind), but his heart lay with basketball. he had grown up with a ball in his hand, and knew from his childhood that basketball was what he wanted for his future. he hadn't even considered that there might be anything else that he could pursue. only basketball. 

lee jeno was practically the opposite of jaemin in every way on a superficial level. jeno strayed away from girls and anything that could distract him from basketball (or maybe academics) while jaemin actively sought out those 'distractions'. jeno was serious, future oriented, and pretty much the son that every single parent wished they had. polite, quiet, and determined. 

although jaemin swore up and down that jeno was just a hardass and that he needed to loosen up, he couldn't help but admire him. he already had a clear cut set vision of his future. jaemin's future was much less well prepared. 

"yeah, probably two or three. i heard yonsei and korea were also coming so you guys better be ready," chenle continues, dusting his hands when he finishes his sandwich. "it makes sense. i mean, isn't this one the first real game?" 

renjun rolls his eyes at that. "not our fault that wm academy's team sucks." 

jaemin fights back a grin at that, shaking his head at the snark in the smaller boy's voice. 

"to be fair, jyp prep isn't that much better either," jisung says, not looking up from the game on his phone. "not with that stupid principal."

"i'm convinced that principal genuinely thinks he's still in high school. i can't believe he cut the funds for their team for a teacher's league," haechan snorts. even jeno can't help but sigh at that. 

"it must be terrible have a megalomaniac for a principal," chenle concludes, to which the boys all nod in solemn agreement to. before jaemin can interject to add to the jyp slander, a shadow falls on the table, blocking the sun's rays from hitting jaemin's face. he looks up to see who the vitamin d thief was, only to break into a cheshire cat's smile when he sees a familiar, well built figure. 

"jung hyunmin. you look good today," jaemin drawls, earning a wolfish grin from haechan. hyunmin blushes at that, never failing to melt into a puddle the moment jaemin even opened his mouth. or, uh, used it. 

"thanks jaemin. but your coach wanted me to tell jeno that he should gather the team and get them to the gym right after school," hyunmin stammers out, eyes trained very intently on the ground. jaemin and jeno exchange a confused look. 

"thanks for letting us know, doll," jaemin says. hyunmin nods and walks away, distracting jaemin for a quick second before he focuses on the information given once more.

"i'm not missing anything right? i mean, why would coach ask hyunmin to specifically tell us come to the gym right after school? we have practice anyway," jisung asks, lips stretching into a pout as he ponders. jeno's eyebrows are furrowed, contemplating all the different possibilities, but comes up empty-handed. 

"i think i've got an idea of what my dad's talking about and i really don't like it."

jeno doesn't elaborate and all of them fall into a silence, wondering just what coach had been on about. 

the boys go through their day, some pondering what coach had been on about (jisung, jaemin, and haechan), some more concerned with the physics test at hand (chenle, who wasn't even on the team, and renjun), and still others who seemed to have the world on their shoulder. 

when eighth period ends and time for practice finally rolls around, the boys file into the gym in various levels of curiosity and nervousness, dropping their bags on the bleachers before heading to half-court, where coach lee was standing. 

coach lee was one of the few adults jaemin could really respect. he was fatherly and kind, but also strict and expected the best from every single one of his players - whether they were benchwarmers or part of the starting lineup. to be honest, coach lee was pretty much the only father figure jaemin had ever had in his life. he didn't know where he would without him and, quite literally, owed him his life. 

seeing as he was a generally jovial and laidback person, seeing coach lee like this, so worried, concerned jaemin a lot. it isn't until they draw closer that they see the girl behind him holding a clipboard. 

"boys, uh, we do have practice today. i just wanted to introduce your new team manager," coach lee begins. jaemin sneaks a look over at jeno, who's looking at the girl with very thinly veiled anger in his eyes, piquing his curiosity as he looks back at the girl. it takes a moment but when jaemin looks between coach lee, jeno, and the girl, he starts to see it. 

"your new team manager is my daughter, lee sooyoung."

the girl steps out from behind coach lee and fixes jeno with a cold stare. 

"it's park sooyoung. and call me serena."