crestfallen hearts are firmly caused by losses. ones usually considered grande, but that determination wavers for everybody.

even if losing a baseball match doesn't seem like a lot, it still affected jungkook — worried that his teammates, friends, family, and boyfriend would all be disappointed in him for not catching the pitcher's ball in time.

but when kim taehyung suddenly surprises him with a hug and showers him in kisses just as the rain begins to fall, jungkook realizes that not everything in life has to be weighed on a catcher's mitt or the scoreboard of a highschool competitive sport.

especially not when he has his boyfriend to give him everything he needs, all at the right place and the right time.

[losing a match & raining square🤍]

- ⚾️ -

Jeon Jungkook had never wanted to curse out the world as badly as he did now.

Because god fucking dammit, if it weren't for his awful eye coordination or short attention span or maybe if it weren't for that one single sun ray beaming past all the Amherst grey clouds in the sky that made him lose his focus and nearly blind him, then maybe just maybe, he would've been able to catch the ball in time before it swerved past him on the last inning of their game — giving their opposing team the last point they needed before victory was declared as theirs.

Jungkook's heart rate sped up, eyes blinking rapidly and eyelashes fluttering back against the bitter breeze that blew past his cherry red cheeks and pink tinted nose; not wanting to believe, not letting himself believe, what had just happened.

Because in his nine years in which he dedicated himself to baseball, more specifically the catcher position, he hadn't made a mistake like that since grammar school — and now, being a senior in high school and just squeezing past the eighteen year mark, he assumed he had grown out of those silly, careless mistakes by now after perfecting every skill he could possibly have scrubbed and polished.

Disappointment was all he felt. Disappointment towards himself, brooding over every worry that led to him thinking about how disappointed and let down his family and friends would feel — that he, their eighteen year old son and best friend who applied to major colleges on a full time baseball scholarship, couldn't even keep an eye out for the fucking pitcher.

Unbelievable.

What were his parents going to think? What were his friends going to say?

How was his boyfriend, god his boyfriend, going to react to all of this?

Kim Taehyung had always been his number one fan since day one, regardless of how many losses or failures Jungkook underwent in his learning experience — Taehyung never lost hope, and that was enough to keep Jungkook going.

But now that Jungkook had lost a game, had been the reason they lost the game, it meant all of Taehyung's endless hollers and shouts from the bleachers were just useless, empty rasps of breaths that echoed off into the night unheard of.

And Jungkook didn't want Taehyung to think that it was his fault, that he hadn't been motivating or encouraging enough. God, he despised that thought more than anything — absolutely hated it and wished it would just burn to the ground and turn to crisp to never be seen again.

All the cheers from the bleachers morphed into faraway echoes, muffled noises meaning absolutely nothing to the crushed and sorrow spirit that fell despondently to his knees, only seconds before he tore off his baseball mitt and threw it to the sand covered ground.

Not caring if grains of sand or dust wound up in his eyes, Jungkook instantly buried his head into them; forcing back the embittered tears that threatened to spill over any second now, staining his cheeks with his loss indented into it.

All concerned shouts from his friends or family members went above his head, unheard and unnoticed, simply erased from memory the second tiny slivers of their voices managed to squeeze past.

All he could hear was the white, red-lined ball curving through the air and swooshing past him forcefully by the cut of the wind helping it flow off into victory, all due to a catcher's (one-time) poor timing.

But it was still ridiculous. Ridiculous because of how unlikely this all was — especially when the weather forecast read cloudy and rainy (though it hadn't started raining just yet) all day, but of course the minute the last second of the game ticked on the second hand clock and Jungkook was due to catch their opponent's ball to determine the game's finale winner, the sun just had to peek out from behind those dull clouds and block Jungkook's ability to see the ball coming at him.

Sure, it wasn't his last match, nor was it all that serious since high school sports never were supposed to be worth the majority of your tears or emotional distress. But it was just the fact that Jungkook lost at all was what itched under his skin the most and almost made every urge to yell obscenities at the sun come true.

Of course he didn't, since that would just make him look even stupid than he already did, but the possibility still stood.

But even as his fellow teammates helped him up and led him to the rotating lines of monotoned voices repeating "good game" over and over again, even after he changed out of his sweaty uniform that stuck to his golden tan skin from the sun mercilessly bleeding into his skin day after day, even as he headed out of the locker room as quickly as possible as to not face a single soul and force to come to terms with his humiliation in front of others, he still ran into the exact person he secretly longed for — yet at the same time, prayed he wouldn't see.

And just like that, the very second he slipped out of the locker rooms and headed outside to where his family was waiting for him in the car, a pair of arms caught him in a hug before he had the chance to run away in his own wallowing hole of self pity, AKA, his room back at home.

Though Jungkook was caught off guard at first when unexpectedly being entrapped into a hug without prior warning, he found himself melting into them when recognizing the familiar strawberry aroma coming from the culprit, one that — whether he liked it or not — brought a smile to his face.

"You were great out there," Taehyung whispered soothingly, rubbing circles into Jungkook's back where all his tense muscles from the game still remained tightly knotted together.

Jungkook, whose arms naturally found his boyfriend's neck, only shook his head stubbornly from side to side and sniffled back any tears that teased at the bottom of his eyelids, "B-but it was my fault — it was my fucking fault we lost and they were all counting on me too, Tae."

Taehyung's heart nearly broke in half at his lover's broken cries, ripped and torn and trampled like shards of shattered glass that reflected the fragmented apparitions of their sucked away souls, "Don't say things like that. It wasn't your fault, many other things had to happen before that for their team to win — so don't pin the blame on yourself when you know damn well that's not the truth," he consulted logically, gently taking both sides of Jungkook's face in his hands as he took one good look at his red, swollen eyes and the small pout curling over his quavering lips.

Small droplets of ran began to patter down onto them, mixed in with Mother Nature's tears as she watched yet another victim fall into the trap of self-sabotage.

But it didn't matter how many sweet, consoling words Taehyung comforted him with. It didn't matter how long he stayed put here in the now pouring rain, it didn't matter how warm and effective his hugs were — because Jungkook would always trace their loss back to him.

And with that, Jungkook once again shook his head from side to side (or at least tried too since Taehyung's hands kept it firmly in place) and parted his lips to speak, "Well yes, but I was the last one to determine whether or not we'd lose — and if I had seen the pitcher's ball being thrown at me I probably would've caught it since this has never happened before and —"

Taehyung didn't let him finish before slowly closing the gap between their lips; dewy raindrops slipping in between their armor-centric dance that felt as heavenly as ever — almost like a dream come true and a temporary drug to make every one of Jungkook's worries disappear.

Jungkook froze in place, body stiffening before letting himself relax into it: arms gently curling tighter around Taehyung's neck as rain continued to fall down onto them, with Taehyung's own arms falling down to delicately wrap around his waist.

Even as Jungkook felt his own salty tears bead down his cheeks and combine with Mother Nature's that followed dismally, his heart rejoiced and a sunbeam shone through it — casting a shot of ecstasy to spark brightly.

After placing one last slow, loving kiss on Jungkook's rosy lips, Taehyung separated himself from the kiss, finger gently wiping away at any visible tear streaming down Jungkook's dewy cheeks and staying to rest casually on top one of his high cheekbones.

"You're overthinking it love," Taehyung retaliated tenderly, a lighthearted smile still detectable even as the rain made it harder and harder to see past, "you played well the entire game. I know you don't think so, but I do. So believe it, okay?" He whispered lovingly, thumb padding Jungkook's soft cheek before going to wipe away more of the fallen tears that continuously gushed down his cheeks over and over and over again, like an ever flowing waterfall.

Few choked up hiccups sounded from Jungkook's lips, to which he quickly covered embarrassingly by covering his mouth with his sleeve. "I g-guess," he stammered, not truly convinced but still finding some reassurance from his boyfriend's words.

And that was enough to make Taehyung smile like some lovesick idiot; briefly placing butterfly pecks all around Jungkook's face before letting his lips meet Jungkook's in one final kiss — this one longer than the last, but one that provided Jungkook with just the right amount of solace that he truly needed.

"Good," Taehyung whispered satisfyingly as they drew apart, eyes drooping down towards Jungkook's lips and shifting back up to meet his lover's beautiful Bambi like eyes, "now lets go home, I think you could use a cuddle and some hot chocolate."

Jungkook nodded enthusiastically, not even trying to mask away his own exhilarated smile as Taehyung took his hand in his and led them both over towards the car they carpooled in together — hearts beating in synch with the rain and forecasted weather no longer matching the one's past crestfallen heart.

Because now that their hands were clasped together tightly and fingers were interlaced with love to blossom at the very tips, Jungkook no longer felt the need to tread behind his own feet when he already had his whole life ahead of him.

Or more specifically, right beside him.

—————

last oneshot of the April collection 😔💔 I loved this bingo honestly so I'll miss it :(

thank u for reading ! ༼ つ ◕◡◕ ༽つ