THE BENCH-WARMER.

Zhang Yixing played for a local baseball team called Exo, except he never got to play. He was always, always the bench-warmer. For the two long years he had been part of the team never once did he start the game. He would occasionally be called in to play whenever the game was about to end and their players started getting tired, but only if the game was running in their favor. Their coach wouldn’t want to risk losing the game because of a silly mistake he’d make by substituting Yixing in for any one of their strong players.

Yixing didn’t mind. In fact, he was more than happy to not play and warm the bench. He’d devote himself to doing menial tasks like handing out water bottles and towels to the players during breaks. But he was still a part of the team; he was an officially registered player. He would train with the team; celebrate their wins although his only contribution would be to cheer for their team from the bench.

He didn’t show any signs of improving. He was as bad as he was when he first joined whereas other players had surpassed him. They would manage to impress the scouts who were keen on finding players for the national team. But Zhang Yixing hadn’t even managed to play an entire game. The other players had offered to help him with his training so he’d improve but the guy had politely declined their offer. He said he didn’t have any interest in being scouted for the national team, he was happy with his place as it is.

He definitely didn’t require money; his grandfather had left him a huge inheritance when he had passed away. Playing for the team was just a pastime.

Today would be an important match; they would be playing against their rival team. It was a game that had a lot at stake; it’d determine their spot in the league table. In short, they couldn’t afford to lose.

Joonmyeon, their team captain had already begun his lengthy pep talk, which none of them were listening to. He was basically  blabbering about what they already knew. Chanyeol was moving around restlessly like he always did before a game while Baekhyun tried to calm him down with his silly banters. Kyungsoo was lost in his own world; he was staring at the wall wide-eyed with plugged-in earphones.

Jongdae and Minseok, the star pitchers of their team were discussing their game tactics. Sehun and Luhan were making plans for partying after the game and Jongin, their star player was warming himself up.

While all of this was happening, Yixing was staring out of the window anxiously waiting for someone. His eyes lit up when he saw his coach walking towards the locker room. No, he wasn’t waiting for his coach; he was waiting for the girl who had been walking right behind his coach, the coach’s daughter. She was a physiotherapist in training and had agreed to help her father out until their team appointed another physiotherapist.

He sighed dreamily when he finally saw her. It was no doubt that she was exceptionally beautiful. She had captured his heart the minute he set his eyes on her. Although sometimes he wondered how she had turned out to be so pretty, she looked nothing like her father. He came to the conclusion that her mother would have been incredibly attractive. He blessed the lord for giving her the right genes.

They did have a few, little conversations every now and then. Him being on the bench all the time gave him ample amount of time to catch up with the girl. Initially the girl had just glared at him when he attempted to speak to her, but recently she had warmed up to him. And he was glad; her heart was just as pure as her looks. He was surprised to learn that they had quite a lot in common.

He intended to know her more, only if the other players and her father didn’t get in his way. Every time he’d make up his mind to ask her out for a date but he would be interrupted every time by either his coach, who’d ask him to maintain distance from his daughter, or one of his team mates who’d rush to her with an injury.

Since he didn’t play much, his chances of sustaining an injury were almost zero and that according to him was the only disadvantage of sitting on the bench. He’d always end up being jealous whenever one of the boys injured themselves and she’d rush to their aid, her hands pressing down on their skin whenever she fixed any sprains or dislocations. He had almost considered injuring himself so she’d lay her soft hands on him and treat him.

The players were now lining up to enter the field; Yixing was at the back of the line like he always was. Their team didn’t have many extra players since they were a small team and that also happened to be one of the reasons why their coach hadn’t kicked Yixing out of their team yet, he could use more players.