OP: Get Low
Title: Get Low
For: Self-Prompt
Rating: PG-13
Length: 2000w
Summary:Ever since Seyun’s growth spurt, her defense has been all over the place. Minseok, libero of the boys’ team, offers (read: is forced by little sister) to help the budding middle blocker get low.
Warnings: coed!exo (is this worth a warning?)
Author's note: This is part of a larger universe where they go to an international K12 school, so ages are +1, but grades are based on the US system. So freshmen are turning 16 >_<
“Set’s back, three hitters!”
“Short! I go, I go, I go!”
“Set’s out!”
“Five, five, five!”
Rubber soles squeaked in harmony with the loud voices echoing throughout the gymnasium. There were three courts, but only one was still being used. Despite this, the gym was filled with noise that could only be found in one place at such an early hour. Silence was more than frowned upon, it was punishable, and no one wanted to be the reason the entire team had to stay after practice that afternoon to run the bleachers or push towels across the court until their thighs cried out in protest.
“Ready, ready, ready, hold… up!”
“Touch!”
“Mine, mine, mine!”
“Six, six, six!”
A back quick was set, and the ball slammed into the deep corner. The score was flipped by a manager as the rally came to an end. A whistle was blown, “That’s the boys’ win, shake hands and stretch before you hit the showers!” The two teams went up to the net, but one player was held back briefly.
“Seyun, Kyungsoon will be serving for you in the next match.”
-
“Okay, but you’re not really being benched,” Jonghae tried to comfort the other girl as they walked to the school after morning practice. “Liberoes go in for middles all the time when they’re in the backrow. Besides,” the setter pointed out, “you don’t even like playing in the back.”
“It doesn’t matter if I don’t like it,” Seyun said purposefully, making a face. “My defense sucks too much for me to even serve.”
“I probably shouldn’t have hit at you,” Chanyeol said with a wince. “It was the easiest way to end the scrimmage, and I kind of wanted to win and get it over with.” At the sharp look Jonghae shot him, he backtracked, “It’s not like you’re an obvious target! It’s just that Yerin’s block was right on time and she would have touched it if I had gone anywhere but deep corner, and it was too damn early for me to think of something else.” He gave the freshman an earnest look, “Seriously, Seyunnie, you’re not as bad at defense as you think you are.”
“Yes, she is, don’t lie to her,” another voice snorted, joining them in the walk from the gym. “Thanks for waiting for me to take a piss,” Seyeon shot Chanyeol a look.
“You’re welcome,” Chanyeol flashed the other an impish grin. “And I’m not lying, Seyun’s not that bad at defense.”
“For a freshman? Yeah, you’re actually pretty good, Seyun,” Seyeon mused. “Thing is, you’re not playing with the freshman team, you’re playing with varsity.” He made a face not unlike the one his sister just made, “You’re letting your growth spurt screw with your playing.”
Seyun visibly drooped. “I know…” The freshman had been growing at an alarming rate this year. She’d been just under 163 centimeters during tryouts, but Seyun now stood at 168, and it was only a matter of time before she crossed into the 170s. Although the extra height had helped her vertical increase, it also caused her to move suspiciously like a baby deer.
-
“Seyunnie, Minseok-oppa’s going to help you with your defense after practice,” Jonghae chimed happily as she pulled her brother over to freshman. Seyun stopped her tension band exercises, blinking owlishly at the pair of siblings. Despite Jonghae’s words, Seyun did her best to focus on the setter, not trusting herself enough to avoid blatantly staring at the libero and captain of the boys’ team. Kim Minseok was too talented and too attractive for his own good, and Seyun didn’t know if she could handle it.
Minseok gave his sister a pointed look, “You never actually asked me to do this.”
“Yet here you are,” Jonghae grinned.
Minseok ignored her, instead looking to Seyun. “We’ll only go for half an hour if that’s okay with you.”
Seyun wanted to say yes with every fiber of her being, but she knew she couldn’t. “Um, thank you for offering, Minseok-sunbae,” she said politely, a flush creeping onto her cheeks as she looked up at the senior from her place on the gym floor, “but Kyungsoon-eonnie is already helping me.”
“Kyungsoon doesn’t hit as hard as you need her to, and she has graciously allowed me to take over,” Minseok said dryly. Before Seyun could say anything, the libero continued, a smirk ghosting on across his lips, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you can get low.”
Seyun blushed a brilliant scarlet.
-
Minseok hit hard.
Minseok hit really, really hard.
Seyun honestly hadn’t been expecting it. Minseok might have been a libero, but he hit like a seasoned outside who knew a libero’s weaknesses all too well. She hadn’t been able to get a single ball up, and she laid out on the gym floor when it was over, her body protesting any movement. Her thighs in particular were on fire because Minseok was the devil and made her do ten squats for every ball she missed to remind her to get low.
“You look pitiful,” Minseok’s voice was amused as he sat down next to her.
“I feel pitiful,” Seyun groaned, an arm draped over her eyes. “Everything hurts.”
Minseok chuckled lowly, “You’re too cute.” Seyun moved her arm and tried to hide her blush, she didn’t think she was supposed to hear that. “Roll onto your stomach.” She flopped over obediently and buried her face in her arms. When Minseok touched the cool plastic to her legs, she gave a slight start, but he paid no mind. “You’re not terrible at defense, Seyun.”
“I didn’t get a single ball up,” Seyeun said, wincing as a particularly sensitive spot was hit.
Minseok gave a quiet apology before he thumbed the spot softly, rubbing in small circles. “You read all of my hits,” he said, returning to the roller. She could hear the smirk in his voice, “You just couldn’t do anything to stop them.”
“I could if I was blocking you,” Seyun mumbled.
“If you couldn’t block a libero, I’d be concerned,” Minseok deadpanned, and Seyun flushed in embarrassment. “Anyway, you obviously know how to play defense. Your mind just hasn’t accommodated for your growth over the semester when it’s telling your body what to do. Once you get used to it, you’ll definitely get better.”
“How long until I get used to it?” Seyun pouted.
“How many times do you want to do this a week?” Minseok asked in return.
“I would say ‘everyday,’ but I want to be able to walk,” Seyun muttered.
Minseok snorted, “It’s not my fault you don’t know how to get low.” He patted her on the back, “We’ll fix that though, don’t worry.” Before she could process the blush that was threatening to creep onto her face, he told her to turn over.
Quietly going onto her back, she was surprised to see that the defensive player had already changed out of his practice uniform. She blinked owlishly, not used to seeing his hair out of the small pony tail he usually wore. It looked nice, parted down the middle in the most flattering way possible. Most middle parts were tragic, but Minseok’s only reminded Seyun how handsome he was. Her eyes traveled downwards before she could stop them, and she found herself staring at his arms.
Minseok had really nice arms.
She blushed, this was not the time for those kinds of thoughts.
“Take a picture, Seyunnie, it’ll last longer,” Minseok winked at her, and Seyun blushed even harder.
She wished she had a camera.
-
As she was taking off her ankle braces, Jonghae posed the question innocently, “When are you going to ask her out?”
Minseok did his very best not to choke on the water he was drinking. He coughed violently before giving his sister an incredulous look, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Seyun,” Jonghae said, the ‘duh’ in her voice obvious. “When are you going to ask her out?” She whined at him, “You’ve been practicing with her for almost a month now, and nothing’s happened yet.”
“Seyun is a baby,” Minseok said purposefully. “It’s probably illegal for me to even think about her that way.”
“And yet you want to rob the cradle,” Jonghae followed up swiftly.
Minseok flushed a brilliant scarlet. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to say it.” Jonghae rolled her eyes, “You’ve been eyeing her since she made the team, and you haven’t looked at anyone like that since LuHuan.”
“LuHuan is my best friend and nothing more,” Minseok gave his sister a look. He wasn’t about to go down that road, he didn’t have the time to go down that road.
“Minseok-sunbae!” The siblings turned to see Seyun rushing over to them, a bright smile on her face. “Guess what? I get to serve in the next match!”
Minseok smiled warmly at the freshman. “Congratulations, Seyunnie.” He blinked, realizing he had to look up to meet her eyes. “Did you grow again?”
Seyun grinned proudly, “Yep. I hit one seventy-three!” Her grin turned cheeky, “I’m taller than you, Minseok-sunbae~!”
“I’m one seventy-three,” Minseok said. He squinted at her, “You’re definitely taller than that.”
Jonghae snorted, “In what world are you one seventy-three?”
“My club profile says one seventy-three, and that’s the number I’m sticking with,” Minseok shot back. Seyun giggled. Minseok coughed, “Anyway, I guess we don’t need to work after practice anymore, do we?”
“What?” Jonghae shot her brother a look.
“Oh… I guess we don’t,” Seyun lost her smile when she realized.
Jonghae swatted her brother with a sock, “Are you sure about that, Oppa?”
“… Unless you need help with your serves?” he tried. Seyun looked at him hopefully, so he continued, “I could receive some, and you can see how competitive they’re going to be.” He shrugged, “I’ll be a better test dummy than Seyeon.”
Seyun smiled at him brightly, “Thank you, Minseok-sunbae!”
Minseok almost melted at her smile, she was so cute, but she was also so young. “Seyun, when’s your birthday?”
“Hmm?” She looked at him curiously, “It’s in April, why?”
“You’re sixteen in April?” Minseok clarified. That sounded much less cradle robber-y. He could wait until April.
Seyun shook her head, “I’ll be fifteen. I started school a year early.”
“Oh.” Minseok’s eyes widened, and alarms started going off in his head. That was very cradle robber-y. “Good to know.” He clapped his hands together, “Let’s get started on those serves, okay? Go warm up your arms.”
“Okay!” Seyun chimed happily before she turned to drag a ball cart over to the service line. She paused briefly, turning back to address the senior, “Minseok-sunbae?”
“Yeah?” he raised a brow.
“I don’t float serve anymore,” she said. “It’s topspin now, if that changes anything for you.”
He chuckled, “Thank you for the concern, but I’ll be fine.”
But then, Seyun served, and Minseok gaped. She tossed the ball high into the air and did a full approach before jumping high and swinging with a snap so strong that the ball landed just in front of the 10-foot line. That was not the serve of a fourteen-year-old girl. He looked to his sister, “When did she learn to do that?”
“Chanyeol and Seyeon were gonna wait until Seyun got used to her height to teach her how to jump, but I guess they couldn’t wait,” Jonghae shrugged. She put on her backpack, “Mom’s here, have fun with our little monster~!” She chimed happily before leaving the gym.
Chanyeol and Seyeon had the toughest serves on the team, and if they combined their efforts onto Seyun, Minseok was suddenly reevaluating his life choices. “I’m so screwed,” he said under his breath as he took his place on the court, middle back. He looked to the freshman, “That was a really great serve, Seyun. Can you control where it goes?”
Seyun’s face lit up at the praise, “I think so!”
He nodded, “Send it to six, but make me move for it.”
Seyun nodded, flashing Minseok a grin from the other side of the net. “Make sure to get low, Sunbae.”
For: Self-Prompt
Rating: PG-13
Length: 2000w
Summary:Ever since Seyun’s growth spurt, her defense has been all over the place. Minseok, libero of the boys’ team, offers (read: is forced by little sister) to help the budding middle blocker get low.
Warnings: coed!exo (is this worth a warning?)
Author's note: This is part of a larger universe where they go to an international K12 school, so ages are +1, but grades are based on the US system. So freshmen are turning 16 >_<
“Set’s back, three hitters!”
“Short! I go, I go, I go!”
“Set’s out!”
“Five, five, five!”
Rubber soles squeaked in harmony with the loud voices echoing throughout the gymnasium. There were three courts, but only one was still being used. Despite this, the gym was filled with noise that could only be found in one place at such an early hour. Silence was more than frowned upon, it was punishable, and no one wanted to be the reason the entire team had to stay after practice that afternoon to run the bleachers or push towels across the court until their thighs cried out in protest.
“Ready, ready, ready, hold… up!”
“Touch!”
“Mine, mine, mine!”
“Six, six, six!”
A back quick was set, and the ball slammed into the deep corner. The score was flipped by a manager as the rally came to an end. A whistle was blown, “That’s the boys’ win, shake hands and stretch before you hit the showers!” The two teams went up to the net, but one player was held back briefly.
“Seyun, Kyungsoon will be serving for you in the next match.”
-
“Okay, but you’re not really being benched,” Jonghae tried to comfort the other girl as they walked to the school after morning practice. “Liberoes go in for middles all the time when they’re in the backrow. Besides,” the setter pointed out, “you don’t even like playing in the back.”
“It doesn’t matter if I don’t like it,” Seyun said purposefully, making a face. “My defense sucks too much for me to even serve.”
“I probably shouldn’t have hit at you,” Chanyeol said with a wince. “It was the easiest way to end the scrimmage, and I kind of wanted to win and get it over with.” At the sharp look Jonghae shot him, he backtracked, “It’s not like you’re an obvious target! It’s just that Yerin’s block was right on time and she would have touched it if I had gone anywhere but deep corner, and it was too damn early for me to think of something else.” He gave the freshman an earnest look, “Seriously, Seyunnie, you’re not as bad at defense as you think you are.”
“Yes, she is, don’t lie to her,” another voice snorted, joining them in the walk from the gym. “Thanks for waiting for me to take a piss,” Seyeon shot Chanyeol a look.
“You’re welcome,” Chanyeol flashed the other an impish grin. “And I’m not lying, Seyun’s not that bad at defense.”
“For a freshman? Yeah, you’re actually pretty good, Seyun,” Seyeon mused. “Thing is, you’re not playing with the freshman team, you’re playing with varsity.” He made a face not unlike the one his sister just made, “You’re letting your growth spurt screw with your playing.”
Seyun visibly drooped. “I know…” The freshman had been growing at an alarming rate this year. She’d been just under 163 centimeters during tryouts, but Seyun now stood at 168, and it was only a matter of time before she crossed into the 170s. Although the extra height had helped her vertical increase, it also caused her to move suspiciously like a baby deer.
-
“Seyunnie, Minseok-oppa’s going to help you with your defense after practice,” Jonghae chimed happily as she pulled her brother over to freshman. Seyun stopped her tension band exercises, blinking owlishly at the pair of siblings. Despite Jonghae’s words, Seyun did her best to focus on the setter, not trusting herself enough to avoid blatantly staring at the libero and captain of the boys’ team. Kim Minseok was too talented and too attractive for his own good, and Seyun didn’t know if she could handle it.
Minseok gave his sister a pointed look, “You never actually asked me to do this.”
“Yet here you are,” Jonghae grinned.
Minseok ignored her, instead looking to Seyun. “We’ll only go for half an hour if that’s okay with you.”
Seyun wanted to say yes with every fiber of her being, but she knew she couldn’t. “Um, thank you for offering, Minseok-sunbae,” she said politely, a flush creeping onto her cheeks as she looked up at the senior from her place on the gym floor, “but Kyungsoon-eonnie is already helping me.”
“Kyungsoon doesn’t hit as hard as you need her to, and she has graciously allowed me to take over,” Minseok said dryly. Before Seyun could say anything, the libero continued, a smirk ghosting on across his lips, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you can get low.”
Seyun blushed a brilliant scarlet.
-
Minseok hit hard.
Minseok hit really, really hard.
Seyun honestly hadn’t been expecting it. Minseok might have been a libero, but he hit like a seasoned outside who knew a libero’s weaknesses all too well. She hadn’t been able to get a single ball up, and she laid out on the gym floor when it was over, her body protesting any movement. Her thighs in particular were on fire because Minseok was the devil and made her do ten squats for every ball she missed to remind her to get low.
“You look pitiful,” Minseok’s voice was amused as he sat down next to her.
“I feel pitiful,” Seyun groaned, an arm draped over her eyes. “Everything hurts.”
Minseok chuckled lowly, “You’re too cute.” Seyun moved her arm and tried to hide her blush, she didn’t think she was supposed to hear that. “Roll onto your stomach.” She flopped over obediently and buried her face in her arms. When Minseok touched the cool plastic to her legs, she gave a slight start, but he paid no mind. “You’re not terrible at defense, Seyun.”
“I didn’t get a single ball up,” Seyeun said, wincing as a particularly sensitive spot was hit.
Minseok gave a quiet apology before he thumbed the spot softly, rubbing in small circles. “You read all of my hits,” he said, returning to the roller. She could hear the smirk in his voice, “You just couldn’t do anything to stop them.”
“I could if I was blocking you,” Seyun mumbled.
“If you couldn’t block a libero, I’d be concerned,” Minseok deadpanned, and Seyun flushed in embarrassment. “Anyway, you obviously know how to play defense. Your mind just hasn’t accommodated for your growth over the semester when it’s telling your body what to do. Once you get used to it, you’ll definitely get better.”
“How long until I get used to it?” Seyun pouted.
“How many times do you want to do this a week?” Minseok asked in return.
“I would say ‘everyday,’ but I want to be able to walk,” Seyun muttered.
Minseok snorted, “It’s not my fault you don’t know how to get low.” He patted her on the back, “We’ll fix that though, don’t worry.” Before she could process the blush that was threatening to creep onto her face, he told her to turn over.
Quietly going onto her back, she was surprised to see that the defensive player had already changed out of his practice uniform. She blinked owlishly, not used to seeing his hair out of the small pony tail he usually wore. It looked nice, parted down the middle in the most flattering way possible. Most middle parts were tragic, but Minseok’s only reminded Seyun how handsome he was. Her eyes traveled downwards before she could stop them, and she found herself staring at his arms.
Minseok had really nice arms.
She blushed, this was not the time for those kinds of thoughts.
“Take a picture, Seyunnie, it’ll last longer,” Minseok winked at her, and Seyun blushed even harder.
She wished she had a camera.
-
As she was taking off her ankle braces, Jonghae posed the question innocently, “When are you going to ask her out?”
Minseok did his very best not to choke on the water he was drinking. He coughed violently before giving his sister an incredulous look, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Seyun,” Jonghae said, the ‘duh’ in her voice obvious. “When are you going to ask her out?” She whined at him, “You’ve been practicing with her for almost a month now, and nothing’s happened yet.”
“Seyun is a baby,” Minseok said purposefully. “It’s probably illegal for me to even think about her that way.”
“And yet you want to rob the cradle,” Jonghae followed up swiftly.
Minseok flushed a brilliant scarlet. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to say it.” Jonghae rolled her eyes, “You’ve been eyeing her since she made the team, and you haven’t looked at anyone like that since LuHuan.”
“LuHuan is my best friend and nothing more,” Minseok gave his sister a look. He wasn’t about to go down that road, he didn’t have the time to go down that road.
“Minseok-sunbae!” The siblings turned to see Seyun rushing over to them, a bright smile on her face. “Guess what? I get to serve in the next match!”
Minseok smiled warmly at the freshman. “Congratulations, Seyunnie.” He blinked, realizing he had to look up to meet her eyes. “Did you grow again?”
Seyun grinned proudly, “Yep. I hit one seventy-three!” Her grin turned cheeky, “I’m taller than you, Minseok-sunbae~!”
“I’m one seventy-three,” Minseok said. He squinted at her, “You’re definitely taller than that.”
Jonghae snorted, “In what world are you one seventy-three?”
“My club profile says one seventy-three, and that’s the number I’m sticking with,” Minseok shot back. Seyun giggled. Minseok coughed, “Anyway, I guess we don’t need to work after practice anymore, do we?”
“What?” Jonghae shot her brother a look.
“Oh… I guess we don’t,” Seyun lost her smile when she realized.
Jonghae swatted her brother with a sock, “Are you sure about that, Oppa?”
“… Unless you need help with your serves?” he tried. Seyun looked at him hopefully, so he continued, “I could receive some, and you can see how competitive they’re going to be.” He shrugged, “I’ll be a better test dummy than Seyeon.”
Seyun smiled at him brightly, “Thank you, Minseok-sunbae!”
Minseok almost melted at her smile, she was so cute, but she was also so young. “Seyun, when’s your birthday?”
“Hmm?” She looked at him curiously, “It’s in April, why?”
“You’re sixteen in April?” Minseok clarified. That sounded much less cradle robber-y. He could wait until April.
Seyun shook her head, “I’ll be fifteen. I started school a year early.”
“Oh.” Minseok’s eyes widened, and alarms started going off in his head. That was very cradle robber-y. “Good to know.” He clapped his hands together, “Let’s get started on those serves, okay? Go warm up your arms.”
“Okay!” Seyun chimed happily before she turned to drag a ball cart over to the service line. She paused briefly, turning back to address the senior, “Minseok-sunbae?”
“Yeah?” he raised a brow.
“I don’t float serve anymore,” she said. “It’s topspin now, if that changes anything for you.”
He chuckled, “Thank you for the concern, but I’ll be fine.”
But then, Seyun served, and Minseok gaped. She tossed the ball high into the air and did a full approach before jumping high and swinging with a snap so strong that the ball landed just in front of the 10-foot line. That was not the serve of a fourteen-year-old girl. He looked to his sister, “When did she learn to do that?”
“Chanyeol and Seyeon were gonna wait until Seyun got used to her height to teach her how to jump, but I guess they couldn’t wait,” Jonghae shrugged. She put on her backpack, “Mom’s here, have fun with our little monster~!” She chimed happily before leaving the gym.
Chanyeol and Seyeon had the toughest serves on the team, and if they combined their efforts onto Seyun, Minseok was suddenly reevaluating his life choices. “I’m so screwed,” he said under his breath as he took his place on the court, middle back. He looked to the freshman, “That was a really great serve, Seyun. Can you control where it goes?”
Seyun’s face lit up at the praise, “I think so!”
He nodded, “Send it to six, but make me move for it.”
Seyun nodded, flashing Minseok a grin from the other side of the net. “Make sure to get low, Sunbae.”