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Iga
Hubert had a crush on Jannik, Iga was sure of it. What gave him away? Simple, how his whole body seemed to light up when Jannik walked onto the practice courts.
Hubert had been slumped on the bench next to Iga, water bottle in hand and exhaustion clear in the slope of his shoulders.
Until he spotted Jannik.
Then, his eyes crinkled as he broke into a smile and he sprung to his feet to meet Jannik at the gate, forgetting about the scorching sun he’d been so desperately trying to hide from. They clasped hands and exchanged a few words that Iga didn’t catch because they were too far away from the bench. What did reach her ears, however, was Jannik’s bright chuckle in response to Hubert’s gentle shove. Jannik barely budged and instead pulled Hubert into a brief hug, still laughing, before he was ushered by his coach to the neighboring court.
Iga hummed to herself. Apparently, Hubi’s interest was not unrequited.
Hubert shook his head, apparently unaware of the fond smile lingering on his lips, as he made his way back so he and Iga could resume their hitting session.
“What?” he asked Iga in polish as a light blush crept to his cheeks under her gaze. Iga was looking at him with both her eyebrows raised and a knowing smirk.
“You and Jannik are very good friends,” she commented, suggestively.
“Yeah…?” He cocked his head, waiting for Iga to further elaborate though she had absolutely no plans to.
Iga only shrugged, “you two make a cute pair, that’s all.”
With that she stood up, squeezed his arm and pretended not to hear the hopeful “do we?” that Hubert whispered to himself as they made their way to either side of the net.
Felix
It was kinda obvious, Felix realized now as he quietly rummaged through his locker. He’d never seen anyone as worried about a fellow player’s well-being as Hubert when he’d stormed into the locker room — disheveled, slightly panting, eyes wide open in alarm.
“Jan?!” Hubert’s voice had echoed through the hallway before he popped his head into the room. Then quickly made his way to the bench where Jannik sat, his swollen ankle propped on a couple of towels.
Jannik greeted him with a quiet “ciao” as Hubert settled next to him.
“How are you feeling?” came much softer from Hubert, but the urgent character remained.
“I’m better now,” Jannik reassured him. Then shrugged, somewhat resigned, “will probably take two weeks to heal.”
“I’m sorry,” Hubert grimaced, playing a hand on Jannik’s knee and giving it a gentle squeeze. The action made a weak smile appear on Jannik’s lips as he rested his head against Hubert’s shoulder.
They sat in comfortable silence then, making Felix feel somewhat of an intruder, the intimacy palpable in the air. He knew the two had a special bond, but this. This was different. Special.
Hopefully, it won’t take them long to see it, Felix thought, trying his best to avoid getting noticed as he made his way into the showers.
Carlos
Carlos’ favorite part of Media Days was filming those silly ATP videos. Not exactly for the challenges themselves, but rather because they allowed him to spend some time with his friends before the tournaments began.
Well, theoretically.
That was only when he wasn’t running late.
And today wasn’t one of those days.
He’d arrived at the filming location an hour past the time he’d been scheduled for. Thankfully, his team had already called the ATP staff to apologize and they’d kindly shuffled the program around to fit him in the last slot.
But, of course, this meant he had lost all hope of meeting anyone. That’s why he was quite surprised to find Jannik there, sitting comfortably on one of the sofas near the filming crew.
Jannik had greeted him in his usual broken Spanish and then stuck around to chat for a bit while Carlos got wired up for his interview. He didn’t seem to be in a rush at all and Carlos was just about to ask why he’d stayed so long after filming his part when the answer strolled into the room.
Hubert approached them, waving casually at Carlos and promptly taking the spot beside Jannik.
“You forgot this,” Hubert handed Jannik the hoodie he’d been carrying on his shoulder. Their hands brushed when Jannik took it and Carlos wouldn’t have given it a second thought if it weren’t for the nervous laugh that came out of Jannik’s throat.
“Grazie,” Jannik gave him a soft smile before asking, “ready?”
Hubert nodded, eyes fixed on Jannik’s. Then as if he’d just remembered they weren’t alone, he turned to Carlos, smiling sheepishly. “Hey, Carlitos, you want to come?”
“We are having dinner at a new restaurant,” Jannik explained and Carlos needed no further information to know this was definitely a date. Even if one of the parties involved — aka Hubert — didn’t seem aware of that fact yet.
Luckily, Carlos didn’t need to make up an excuse to avoid being the third wheel because in that very moment, one of the staff members materialized and indicated to him they were about to start.
“Thanks, but better next time,” Carlos patted them on the shoulder to bid them goodbye, pulling Jannik back for a split second to wish him “suerte”.
1 Hubert
The moon reflected on the water, making it sparkle like the string of fairy lights covering the banister Hubert was leaning against. The distant hum of the party mixed with the soft sound of the waves crashing on the shore almost like a lullaby, creating an atmosphere Hubert was much more comfortable with. Not that he wasn’t enjoying the Christmas party, but he had started to feel a little overwhelmed amidst the crowd. Out here on the balcony, it was just him, Jannik and the night.
“Look up,” Jan poked his arm to call his attention. Above their heads, hanging from the pergola was a mistletoe.
“Oh no,” Hubert cried in fake annoyance, laughter bubbling up his throat. “What is they do in movies?” He pretended to think long and hard about the answer, making Jan chuckle.
Not really thinking about his next move thanks to the champagne fogging his brain, Hubert leaned in and kissed Jan on the cheek. It almost felt easy, like an everyday gesture, but it was far more dangerous than it appeared.
Jan contemplated him for a split second after Hubert pulled away — all rosy cheeks and wide eyes, frozen in place as if he hadn’t been expecting Hubert to do more than laugh at the silliness of the situation. But there wasn’t enough time for Hubert to process what he’d done and start panicking or regretting it as Jan reached for the collar of his shirt and properly kissed him this time.
It was nothing more than a press of lips, but it was enough to make Hubert’s heart threaten to come out of his chest and all the air to leave his lungs as his mind started to race, full of hope.
“I think this is the right way to do it,” Jan pulled away only enough to look him in the eye so his breath brushed against his skin like a warm caress, making a shiver travel down his spine.
“I wasn’t sure you— if it was okay to—” Hubert couldn’t finish one coherent sentence, not with Jan so close the scent of his cologne engulfed him and his lips still tingled.
“Ma sei un tonto,” Jan spoke fondly as he shook his head, followed by a sigh of relief. Hubert didn’t need to know Italian to be sure he was being called a fool because that was exactly how he felt. Though he still needed Jan to confirm they were on the same page.
“So you… like me back?” Hubert brought a hand up and ran it through Jan’s messy hair to finally settle at the base of his neck.
Jan chuckled once again, nodding, “more than that actually.”
And the kiss that followed proved it.