VARSITY 9 | BL

THIRTY-THREE | A CURE FOR HICCUPS

"Is he going to be okay?" Brix inquired of Lay as the two stood outside Wen and Toma's dorm. Brix looked at the closed door with concern as he and Lay waited for Wen to emerge from the room. Lay remained quiet in response to Brix's voiced thought, but his brows scrunched together as he thought of a way to lift their friend's spirits.

"Has he still not come out?" A third voice suddenly sounded from behind Brix and Lay and alerted the two to Stryke's arrival.

"Mm, not yet," Brix replied as he stepped aside to let Stryke come to stand before the door. Releasing a breath, Stryke took his right hand out of his pant pocket and lifted it to the door. After giving two soft taps, Stryke stepped away from the dorm room and waited for a response.

Feet shuffling to the dorm's entrance sounded quietly from behind the door, and it was only a few seconds before Wen was standing in front of the three. "How is he?" Stryke asked as Wen opened the door to his dorm. Wen replied by opening the door wide enough for Stryke to enter. Switching places with Stryke, Wen joined Brix and Lay in the hallway while Toma's long-time friend entered the dorm.

"He's taking it pretty hard, isn't he?" Brix asked Wen as he joined the two. Nodding in reply, Wen slid his hands into the pockets of his blue hoodie jacket while Lay pursed his lips before saying, "I'm sure him being the only one out of you only makes it harder."

"Yeah," Brix sounded in agreement. "Why did the last elimination have to be Toma...when we all made it..."

Of the six from the friend group to participate in the JV team tryouts, Toma was the only one to be eliminated. Of course, he was not the only one of the seven to not be on the team. He would have Lay to keep him company, but Lay had opted out of the tryouts. He had known he would not have passed the tryouts and resorted to supporting his friends from the sidelines. But that was not the same for Toma.

Toma had wanted so badly to be on the team. His dream was to be a varsity player much like the rest of his friends. And he had just failed a major step to becoming a varsity player. Of course, just because one is not a JV player would not dictate whether or not they make a varsity team. But it would provide experience and connections that would be vital to increasing one's chance of success during varsity team tryouts.

Wen turned from the door and leaned against the wall beside the entrance to his dorm as he thought back to the JV tryouts the day before. He and Kean had just gotten to a safe space where the simulation would not be able to find them for a few minutes when he saw someone hiding under the overhang of the second floor. Before Wen even had the chance to realize who the person was, the simulation had eliminated him. He remembered the sinking sensation he felt when he heard Toma's name announced as the last elimination.

Wen had not expected to be affected such as he was at his friend's elimination from the JV team. He had come to terms that several of them, including himself, were likely to be eliminated from the tryouts. But when it actually happened, Wen could not have predicted the immediate sinking sensation that engulfed him. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were so close to all making it, and perhaps it was because Toma was the very last elimination that they needed. Wen quickly came to realize that the sinking sensation was partially guilt.

He felt a shallow version of "survivor's guilt" for making it to the end of the simulation, and he was positive the others felt the same way to a certain degree. However, no matter how deep Stryke's feeling of guilt was, he was not letting it stop him from giving Toma a little taste of reality. While Brix, Lay, and Wen had decided to wait in the lounge area just outside the hallway, Stryke was doing his best to comfort his friend.

"This isn't the end...Toma." Stryke sat on the edge of Toma's bed as his friend lied facing the wall. "This doesn't mean you're not going to be a varsity player." When he was replied by silence, Stryke added, "There are lots of varsity players who never played on a JV team."

Stryke hung his head when his friend remained unresponsive. When the tryouts had finished and after the six had met up with Lay to grab something to eat, Toma went back to his dorm and had stayed there until sunset the following day. Stryke let out a breath as he looked at his friend's saddened state. Seeing a strand of Toma's hair having fallen into his face, Stryke reached over and gently brushed it to be behind Toma's ear.

Toma had always had longer hair that reached the tip of his chin, and when he did not have it up in a bun or have half of it pulled back, Stryke always enjoyed ruffling it and tucking it behind Toma's ears. Feeling Stryke's fingers in his hair, the dam Toma had built to block his waterfall of emotions threatened to come crumbling down.

"I know it's your dream to be a VP," Stryke said softly as he retracted his hand. "And you're going to achieve it. You've got what it takes-"

"It's not that..." Toma's voice was trembling as he finally spoke.

"Hm?" Stryke scrunched his brows. "What do you mean? That's been your dream for years."

Toma clutched the pillow he had been holding as he slowly responded, "My dream isn't to be a varsity player per se..." He then rolled over to face Stryke. "It's to be a player with you."

Stryke's breath nearly left him as he stared at Toma whose eyes were swollen with tears that were threatening to come pouring. Feeling himself growing emotions, Toma sat up and took a breath before explaining, "I didn't care whether it was on a JV team or varsity team. I just...I wanted to be on a team with you. And since we're being courted by different specialized academies, I thought this would be my one chance to be a player with you."

Toma looked down at his hands in his lap as he revealed his dream and hope to Stryke. Stryke was silent for a long while. He was stunned by Toma's response. His friend had just revealed something he likely never intended to tell him.

Did he just confess...? Realizing that he was taking too long to respond, Stryke cleared his throat before lightly joking, "Heyyy, why would that, why would that be your...be your dream?"

Toma furrowed his brows in reaction to Stryke's joking question before spitting back, "Why can't it be? What, am I not allowed to like you?" Toma's eyes widened when he realized what he had just said. "I-I mean, I mean...uh, am I not allowed to like doing...things...with you?"

By now, the joking expression had completely disappeared from Stryke's face, and he was gazing at Toma intently. Blush raced to Toma's cheeks as Stryke reached out and wiped a tear that had gone rogue and accidentally escaped Toma's eye. "Of course you are," Stryke said gently as he held the tip of Toma's chin. "You're allowed to like doing whatever you want with me."

Toma's breath hitched in his throat when he heard this. A volley of hiccups immediately plagued Toma in response to his shock. Stryke smirked at Toma's cuteness as the small male gazed at him with wide eyes and a very strong case of hiccups. "Uh oh. Looks like someone needs help curing their hiccups," Stryke said as he chuckled lightly when Toma's chest began to pulse rapidly.

"I don't think they've found a cure yet-" Toma was not able to finish his statement before lips were pressed against his. Stryke had leaned in and kissed Toma, much to his surprise. Toma's eyes remained open as he tried to process everything that had just happened. Up until a few moments ago, he and Stryke were just friends just as they had been since middle school. Toma always knew he had feelings for Stryke, but he suppressed them because he did not want to face the fear of being rejected and losing his friendship with Stryke.

But now, they had both crossed the line between friends and lovers. If they would ever be able to return to being just friends, Toma did not know, and frankly, he did not care. He did not want to be just friends with Stryke anymore. He wanted to take the leap and be more. So, his eyes ended up falling closed as Stryke deepened the kiss.

Toma's eyes were still closed when Stryke pulled away. Stryke's lips curled into a smile as he looked down at Toma's wistful expression. "Looks like I found the cure."

"Uh?" Toma opened his eyes to see Stryke smiling at him. Blush once again filled Toma's cheeks as Stryke leaned down until he was a breath away and said, "Your hiccups are gone."