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⚠️Trigger Warning: Homophobia⚠️

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Seven years later.

The whistle shrilled loudly, signalling half time. The Colombia Violets jogged to their locker room.

"I'm going to kill that bitch." Taehyung snapped, stomping towards the locker room "Cut him into small little pieces and feed him to cats"

"Dogs" Namjoon corrected him.

"What?"

"Feed him to the dogs, is how the saying goes"

"Why the fuck would I feed him to dogs? I love dogs" Tae said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Namjoon just quietly shook his head at the ground. They were losing and their captain was obviously not taking it well. It was the final match of the season. They were up against the NYU Lions.

They had never lost a single game under the leadership of their dynamic young captain.

Taehyung had taken over from their former captain the very first year that he had started at Columbia. He had always been an ace at soccer. He had dreamed of playing professionally and had been very close to being drafted right out of high school.

But the fates had been cruel. After winning the finals of the season in his junior year, his parents had both been killed in a car accident. Tae, who was still a minor then, had been sent to his only living relative. His grandmother, in Daegu, South Korea, crushing his dream of playing professionally.

However, he had worked as hard as he could. Not just in sports but academically too. Finally being able to apply to an Ivy League University in the U.S. for a degree in Quantitative Economics.

But his first love was always soccer. That is what he had been working towards. Being on the field, chasing the ball was when he felt most alive.

He barged into the locker room, the door banging hard against the wall. He stared angrily at his teammates.

"The Lions have never won against the Violets. Do you want to break that streak and bring shame to our name?" Tae spat at his team. He knew he was being harsh but he didn't care. Not now. Not when the stakes were so high. Winning was all that mattered in this moment.

The Lions were a good team but they had never been  in the same league as the Violets. But now, their new captain had turned things around for them and had become a thorn in Tae's side. They had won all their games this season.

For the first time in his soccer history he was actually afraid that he was going to lose.

"That fucking beef bunny is not beating me on my home ground. Am I clear? I will skin you all alive." Tae snapped again glaring at his team mates.

Jimin came up from behind him and gently massaged his shoulders. "Why don't you sit down Taehyungie"

Tae shrugged away from him.

"No! I'm not sitting down. We need this win. I'm not getting defeated on my home ground." He huffed out of the lockers with Jimin on his heels.

"Just drink this Tae you will feel better" Jimin begged.

Tae walked out to the bleachers and and saw the man in question standing outside his locker room.  He was tall almost 6ft. and bulky. His jersey fit loosely around him but still made his broad shoulders, strong back and tiny waist quite obvious. He lifted his jersey shirt to wipe the sweat on his forehead revealing a perfect set of sculpted abs. His long dark hair was wet and fell in waves across his forehead. He smiled widely at the cheerleaders approaching him, showing off his bunny front teeth, reminding Tae why he called him a beef bunny.

Tae watched as he stood talking to a cheerleader who was giggling at him. The next moment, he turned around, lifted the mask off the team mascot's head and kissed him full on the mouth.

Tae's mouth hung open.

"Th-The audacity of that..... that.... that fag" he spat.

Jimin stiffened beside him. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm still friends with you" he bit out angrily.

"Jimin!" Tae turned around to stare at his best friend in surprise. "I didn't mean it like that" he tried but Jimin had already walked away from him.

Tae turned back took look at that infuriating man again. He was still kissing the mascot. Another one of his teammates walked out of the locker room and lightly spanked his ass, saying something that made them all laugh out loudly.

Tae bristled with irritation. Was the entire team gay? He wasn't a homophobe per se but he didn't appreciate queer PDA on his field.

The whistle sounded, breaking through his thoughts. His team filtered in from around him jogging on to the field. Tae watched as Jimin ignored him completely and chose to move with the team, instead of standing beside him as usual. It confused him. Jimin was usually very tolerant of his behaviour. No matter how badly Tae screwed up, Jimin always forgave him. He knew he was being an asshole. He didn't really have any problems with the LBTQA+ community, he just didn't have anything else to go on where his new rival was concerned.

He was scary good and Tae hated to admit it. So he could only use his sexuality against him as a weapon. What else did he have?

Jimin was just overreacting, he assured himself.

Tae walked to the centre of the field and stood facing his nemesis who smirked at him, raising his already raging temper.

"You're going down bitch" Tae spat.

"Oh no, I only top sweetheart." Jungkook said sweetly, scrunching his nose and smiling at him as he looked up and down Tae's entire body appreciatively.  "But you look like the perfect little bottom for me. Maybe I'll do you after the match. You might have to get in line though." He winked.

Taehyung's nostrils flared and he took a menacing step towards Jungkook.

"What the fuck did you just say?" He snarled.

Jungkook broke out into a cackling laughter as the whistle sounded.

Taehyung was so incensed that he didn't even notice when the younger kicked ball around him and sprinted towards the goal.

Thank God for Namjoon who was at the goal post and effortlessly blocked the goal.

"Maybe you could get your head out of his ass and in the game?" Jimin grit out. The utter hatred on his best friend's face shocked Taehyung.

"Jimin!" he whispered.

But Jimin had already run off towards his position.

Tae stared after him in confusion. Jimin was never like that, what had gotten into him today? Tae shook his head and banged his knuckles against his temples to clear his head.

Jimin was right he needed to get his head in the game, he thought, signalling Hobi of the next play they would use. He gave a sharp nod and quickly passed the message around with their own sign language.

Tae headed back to his position centre field. He gave Namjoon a nod who gave him his devilish grin that all the girls at Uni fawned over. Namjoon walked ahead lifted the ball and kicked it far enough to land directly at Tae's feet.

And he was off.

When the ball was at his feet not even God could stop him. He could see Jungkook advancing on him from his peripheral vision. Tae moved fast passing the ball to Jimin who was on the other side. Jimin was short but he was fast as a bullet. Tae ran ahead to his shooting position waiting for Jimin to pass.

He watched as a member of the opposing team advanced on Jimin. He had held on to the ball for too long, Tae's anxiety was shooting through every pore of his body. "Come on Jiminie" he whispered under his breath.

Jimin passed the ball to him in one swift kick right before the other boy crashed into him.

Hard.

Tae hoped Jimin was okay but there was no time to focus on that. He caught the ball against his foot and quickly swirled on the spot shooting a perfect goal right from beside the goalkeeper's ear.

The cheer that blasted through the stadium was earth shattering.

The entire team ran towards him and he fell to the ground. They all piled on top of him squealing and laughing. Tae laughed and groaned under their weight.

"We still need our captain alive" Namjoon chuckled, pulling the boys off him one by one.

Tae stood up and looked across the field at Jimin who sat on the ground holding his knee and the boy who had crashed into him was crouched close to him. The boy's face was pulled into a frown and his jaw clenched in worry as he gingerly helped Jimin stand back up on his feet.

"Come on" Hobi patted Tae on the back.

Tae headed back to his position. Jungkook was right in front of him.

"Not so smug are we now, huh beef bunny?" Tae laughed.

"Oh! We are on nickname basis now, are we? What do I call you then? Tae-Tae, Tae-bear or oh I know Taeger. Roar!!" Jungkook laughed.

"Fuck you!" Tae spat.

"Oh you wish you could. But I would be fucking your brains out while you screamed that silly nickname you've given me." Jungkook gave him a dark look and tongued his lip piercing.

Tae glared at him.

The whistle sounded and the game restarted with a kick-off. Jungkook took possession of the ball and moved with precision towards the goal. He passed the ball to his trusty centre back. But Yoongi seemed distracted, he was looking at the Jimin limping on the other side. He missed the pass and the opposite team took advantage.

Jungkook screamed in frustration.

The ball was back at Tae's feet.

"Fuck!!!"  Jungkook swore.

His strategy had worked the complete first half of the game.

Rile Tae up and keep the ball away from him is what Jungkook had told his team mates and it had worked so well, he had thought they would win.

They had managed to keep the ball away from him for most of the game because Jungkook knew, once Tae had the ball, nothing could stop him, he would score.

And so he did.

A clean goal, the ball was so fast it was a blur. Mingyu stood wide eyed and useless at the goal post. There was no - one who could stop that goal.

He hadn't even seen the ball.

Jungkook watched as he fell to the ground in misery. His heart went out to him. It wasn't his fault.

He watched as the Violets piled over their captain. Screaming and chanting.

The crowd was screaming too. The sound was so thunderous that it made Jungkook want to cover his ears.

The chants of

KIM TAEHYUNG

KIM TAEHYUNG

KIM TAEHYUNG

Echoed through the stadium. It was his home ground after all.

Jungkook smiled. He had waited a very very long time to play against Tae as his equal. He had surely managed to rile him up and make him notice Jungkook.

Next time Kim Taehyung, he vowed as he walked to his keeper and patted his slumped shoulders.

The Violets were still cheering but they were almost at the end of time so Jungkook didn't bother to restart the game.

They had won fair and square.

Tae laughed as his teammates slowly got off him.

As they dispersed, the whistle sounded signalling the end of the game. All the boys on his team cheered again and ran back towards him.

Had they won?

Of course they had. Why had he even doubted it?

Tae groaned as his team mates fell on him again.

~~~~~~~~

Namjoon and Hobi carried Tae over their shoulders to the stage. Jimin hobbled behind them with a huge grin on his face. They put Tae down and he walked to the organisers who handed him the season's trophy.

The crowd screamed and cheered as Tae lifted the trophy up high to show it to the audience.

His gaze locked with the tall and disturbingly handsome captain of the opposing team.

Jungkook raised his hand and gave him a mock salute and then proceeded to point at his own crotch and then back at Tae, blowing him a kiss.

The bastard.

Tae looked away and focused on his team mates who were dragging him down to the field for a photoshoot.

Jungkook watched him pose, pulling his signature move of holding a victory sign close to his face. He gave a gorgeous boxy smile, making Jungkook sigh as he slumped against the bleachers clutching his heart. The man was so fucking gorgeous it wasn't even funny.

And just like that he was transported back to being a little teenage boy with his first crush.

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~

Author Note:
Wow to how much of an asshole Tae is.
But JK is putting him in his place, isn't he?

I love them both so much. I also love that they are both such strong personalities.

Can't wait to explore how the mighty will fall.

Let me know your thoughts!!

Disclaimer:

Names of teams / mascots / universities/ schools / education institutions have been used only to make the story more authentic. There is no malicious intent behind the usage of the name neither do my books depict or reflect anything that is even remotely real about these institutions except their names. I hold all educational institutions and providers in the highest regard. Hence no offence or malice is intended.

Any and all characters in this book are fictional, any resemblance to anyone dead or alive is purely coincidental.
Pictures/Audio/Video/Song/Lyrics Credit goes to the original source/artist/owner.
BTS and its members belong to themselves and Bighit/Hybe. They do not belong to me. Their names and characteristics are used only for entertainment purposes.
Kim Mingyu of Seventeen doesn't belong to me either.

Trigger warnings will be posted at the beginning of each chapter but if you're easily triggered by stuff please skip this book.

See you next chapter.

Borahae 💜
Writeria 29