Chapter 13: Shopping carts

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Taehyung leaned against his locker as he sported a smug look on his face.

He kept his eyes to his shoes as he attentively listened to the pointless argument of his immature friends. He watched how their hands moved aggressively as they tried their hardest to put up their best debate.

It wasn't anything special. They were debating on which team was going to be their college's annual basketball championship. Two teams and only one winner.

"Obviously the River Hawks are gonna win this year! They've got Jungkook on their team. There's no arguing there."

"Yeah, but the Red Storm's got Namjoon. He's the tallest out there and his height has been of pretty good use as of lately."

Taehyung then interferes.

"But the number of times that man has ambushed a ball during the game is ridiculous. Jungkook can kick him right out."

"Exactly!"

"Listen to Taehyung. He's the expert in basketball here."

Taehyung hid his smirk. He raised his volume, stood up straighter as he spoke.

"The River Hawks have got the best opponents. There's Hoseok who's got the best defense. Jungkook's got the best coordination and his angle for shooting is always on point. And Jin's fake passes are legendary. No doubt that they're going to win."

The others seemed to agree with his opinion. Even those who had voted against the team slowly started to hop onto the bandwagon. 

Whatever Taehyung said always came true anyway.

"Well, I disagree."

A voice was heard from behind as Taehyung immediately looked back. His eyes softened as they landed on a beautiful girl.

Her eyes were hazel like, her jet black hair complimented her fair skin. Her lips were curved into a smirk as she looked directly towards Taehyung. What drew him to her was the confidence that she projected. She reminded him of himself.

"And why is that?" Taehyung teased as a small smile took over his face.

The girl fixed her posture as she began to speak. Taehyung's smile became wider. 

"The River Hawks have got some good players. But tell me one thing. The Red Storm have got seemingly less skilled players, but they've still managed to reach the finals. They unexpectedly beat The Gladiators, whom everybody thought were the strongest opponent. And do you know why?"

Taehyung's eyebrows raised curiously. The rest of the guys focused their attention on the bold girl. They all seemed hypnotized by her.

"Because they've got Min Yoongi. Min Yoongi's the one player in the school whose got professional basketball training, considering his dad was a player himself. He's got the tricks up his sleeves. Even if his team has got average players, that guy has helped them reach this far. His tips are gonna lead them to victory. Plus he's the best point guard."

Upon hearing her, the group of boys comically looked towards Taehyung, waiting for his opinion. Taehyung continued to be intrigued by her. No one else had ever interested him so much in so little time.

He nodded as he shot her one of his charming smiles.

"I have to say...?"

"Sue"

"Right. I have to say, Sue, that I am impressed. You might just have convinced me."

The girl broke into a huge grin as she mentally stuck out her fist in victory. She had convinced the so called expert after all.

Soon murmurings filled the hallway as the bell rang. Taehyung's friends dispersed as they continued to argue once again about the potential winner. Sue's opinion shook their minds back to distress.

Taehyung remained still as he looked at Sue. The girl, too, couldn't look away as she began to feel enchanted by his sparkling eyes. 

"Well, Sue, clearly we've got somethings in common. We go to the same college and we both like basketball. I think that's good enough. Why don't we hang out?"

Her smile was enough of an answer to him.

Taehyung's gaze wandered around the white ceiling. His mind recalled the memory as he lay still on his bed.

It was early in the morning and he had barely slept. For some reason, he started to think about all the times he had spent with Sue. 

In the past two years, he'd gone down memory lane a hundred times. The first time he'd seen her, the first time he'd told her that he loved her, their first night together.

Taehyung should have known. Their relationship was too magical to be true.

But this time was different. Taehyung's fingers reached up to his face as he touched the tender skin near his eyes.

His eyes were dry. His heart clenched and his body felt nostalgic, but his breathing was normal. 

He didn't have a meltdown and that was a first.

Taehyung wondered why.

But he was okay with it.

****

"Why did you bring me here? You can't even go grocery shopping yourself?" Ella complained as she hugged her grey hoodie over her chilly body.

Taehyung smiled as he gazed at the way her hood ate her head up, her small bangs fell over her forehead, her eyes sparkled under the moon.

He took a minute to admire her beauty.

"I can very well shop on my own. You just needed to get out that depressing place."

"That depressing place is your home, you know."

Taehyung shrugged.

"Why do you think I took two years in the first place?"

Ella chuckled lightly as they made their way to the supermarket. She held their list in her hand as she called out the items one by one. Taehyung became occupied as he carefully searched the aisles.

Ella walked behind him as she watched their cart getting filled up. Her eyes rested on Taehyung's back. 

He had forcefully dragged her out of bed and forced her to make a list of all the things that they needed. She was certain that his ruse wouldn't help her in the slightest. But who knew?

The simplest things like looking for missing items kept her very busy and now the list she held was the about the size of her hand. The same thing went for the idea of grocery shopping.

But as Taehyung handed her the bags of vegetables to get the tag scanned and her mind only focused on the tasks that he had given, she was proved wrong again.

It seemed like he knew exactly what was right for her. He made her laugh. He made her feel human. He made her forget.

She had known right then that Taehyung had become her dearest friend.

 As they walked out of the market with a loaded cart, Ella just wanted to go home and curl into bed.

But Taehyung had other plans.

His eyes caught the sight of empty trollies near the edge of the building. He activated his mischievous self as he grabbed Ella's hand and moved towards the place.

Ella felt taken back as she almost tripped over the pavement.

"Um, where are we going?"

He didn't answer. He caught hold one of the trollies and dumped their cart on one side. With no warning, Ella felt hands on her waist pick her up from the ground.

She squealed when he did so, but recovered when she felt her butt touch the insides of the trolley. He had fit her into the compact space.

She heard another snicker as Taehyung positioned the trolley on the mouth of a steep road and pushed it with all his might.

The trolley accelerated down the inclined plane as Ella's mouth parted. The wind gushed and blew her hood back. She instantly raised her arms and let the air cut through her. It felt refreshing.

When she had reached the end, she looked back to see Taehyung smiling brightly at her. His smile was so contagious.

With hurry, Ella got out and pushed the trolley back up to its initial position.

"You try it now", Ella remarked excitedly.

They spent the night like two teenagers, riding trollies till midnight, oblivious to the stares they had received.

They were having too much of a ball to mind any of that.

They giggled like children and waved their hands enthusiastically as they rode. 

Ella laughed and laughed without noticing. Taehyung watched her have all the fun in the world. 

And that seemed enough for him.

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A/N:

To all those who actually know a thing or two about basketball, I'm sorry. I don't know squat about that sport and I really tried to write something that didn't sound stupid...but I failed anyway.

Thanks for reading❤