“Jungkook! Watch out!”

Wonwoo’s warning was a bit too late, because when Jungkook snapped out from his daze, a baseball sharply struck his forehead. Groaning in pain, Jungkook rubbed his sore forehead, giving Wonwoo a look.

Instead of asking whether his little brother was okay, Wonwoo was laughing hysterically. He leisurely picked up the baseball on the ground with his baseball glove. Realizing that Jungkook was glaring at him, Wonwoo raised both his hands up in the air and defended himself. “It’s not my fault that you spaced out while we’re playing catch.” He frowned when Jungkook didn’t respond. “You seem so out of it. What’s bothering you, anyway?”

What was bothering Jungkook? Obviously, it was his worrisome volleyball team. Today was Sunday. Tomorrow, it would be exactly two weeks away from Inter-High Preliminaries and both Kangjoon and Yoongi hadn’t come back to practice. Jungkook could tell that his teammates were also anxious about it. No one could imagine their team playing without their ace.

Namjoon – their captain – had told the first-years that they didn’t need to worry. But Jungkook wanted to help him. It sounded wrong to let Namjoon shoulder all the burden just because he was the captain. As a teammate, Jungkook believed that he should support their captain by easing his burden. If only he knew what he could do to help.

Jungkook was brought back to reality when he felt a baseball flew directly to his baseball glove. Luckily, he’d placed his left hand – the hand with the glove – out in front of his chest, so that he could react in time when the ball was thrown.

“Hey! You’re doing it again!” Wonwoo pointed out. With a cheeky grin, he teased, “Is it about a girl?”

Jungkook scoffed. It was the most ridiculous thing his brother had ever asked. How could he think about a girl when the Inter-High Preliminaries was two weeks from now?

Throwing the baseball with his right hand forcefully to Wonwoo’s glove, Jungkook retorted, “It’s not!”

As expected from the best catcher in his college, Wonwoo effortlessly caught the ball with his glove. “I was joking, Jungkook.” Wonwoo chuckled and lightly threw the ball back to Jungkook. “So what is it? Want to talk about it with me? I’ve lived in this world three years longer than you.” He shrugged. “Who knows, I might actually be able to give you some good advices.”

Looking at the baseball in his glove, Jungkook was reminded that Wonwoo was also an athlete like him. And somehow, the roles of a catcher and a setter were similar in a way – both of them led their teammates. Catchers led the other players in defensive plays by calling for pitches using hand signals and placing the catcher’s mitt where they wanted their pitchers to throw to. Setters led the other players in offensive plays by choosing the right attackers to set to and communicating with the spikers using hand signals to make sure they knew the play they would run and what set they would hit.

Jungkook took his brother’s suggestion and asked, “Wonwoo, what would you do if your pitcher doesn’t throw where you tell him to?”

Wonwoo hummed as he pondered the question. “First of all, I would surely be angry at him. Calling for pitches is my job, so if he doesn’t listen to me at all, it means he doesn’t appreciate my thinking. But what I would do is calling for a time-out. I would discuss with him about the pitches and ask why he doesn’t agree with me. After all, I’m not the only one thinking in the game.” He then asked, “Is there a problem between your teammates?”

Jungkook told his big brother everything that had happened during practice match against Sejong High – about the fight between the setter and the ace.

Nodding in understanding, Wonwoo asked, “Doesn’t that mean your ace doesn’t trust you guys because you ?”

Thinking that Wonwoo was teasing him, Jungkook said in an unamused tone, “Wonwoo. It’s not helping.”

Wonwoo widened his eyes, bewildered. “I’m serious, though? I think he has trust issues. If you can convince your ace that you’re reliable enough, I’m sure he would want to cooperate with you. Even I would be wary to trust my teammates if they’re really that awful.” It seemed like something crossed his mind when he gasped exaggeratedly. “Don’t tell me you’re actually that bad!”

Jungkook narrowed his eyes at his question. “Are you underestimating me?” He took off his baseball glove, put the baseball and the glove on the ground, and dashed to pick up a volleyball near the wall at their backyard – where they currently were. “See it for yourself, then.” Without any notices, he did an underhand pass to pass the ball to Wonwoo.

Taken aback, Wonwoo who was still wearing his baseball glove accidentally hit the ball with his shoulder and sent the ball away from both of them.

Jungkook cockily grinned. “Oh? It seems like you’re worse than me.”

“I wasn’t ready!” Wonwoo protested.

Both of them ended up laughing as they found their childish behavior funny. Wonwoo took off his baseball glove and went to pick up the volleyball. Then he passed the ball to Jungkook, helping him practice his receiving.

“When is your Inter-High Preliminaries?” Wonwoo asked as he hit the ball with his forearms. Although he only played volleyball in P.E. classes at school, he’s pretty good at it.

“Two weeks from now,” Jungkook answered, passing the ball back to Wonwoo. “How about your tournament? Your college won the Spring Tournament, right? I heard that the winners and runner-ups of the Spring Tournament from every city in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul are invited to Gyeonggi Tournament this May. And it’s already mid-May.”

Wonwoo seemed surprised. “You know about it? Yeah, our first match is on next Saturday.” He proudly grinned. “It’ll be my first time playing officially in college since the appointment of the new starting members. You’d better come and watch me.”

To Jungkook, it sounded more like a threat than an offer. But it’s not like he wanted to miss his brother’s game, anyway. “Okay, I’ll go. How many tickets you’ve got?”

“Four. For Mom and Dad, you, and…” Wonwoo paused and smirked before continuing, “your girlfriend.”

Instead of receiving, Jungkook spiked the ball and shouted, “I don’t have a girlfriend!”

Hyewon was welcomed with Nayeon’s nagging as soon as she’d arrived at her class. With so many sports tournaments coming up, sports clubs weren’t the only ones busy. Brass band club and cheerleading club whose job was to support the sports teams also had their hands full.

“Ouch.” Nayeon winced as she turned to face Hyewon. “It’s horrible, isn’t it? We even have practices in weekends. Help me, Hyewon. My body hurts all over.”

Hyewon smiled sympathetically. “What can I do to ease your pain, Nayeon?” She couldn’t help but giggle when Nayeon groaned in pain as she accidentally made a sudden move. “So which sports team? Has it been decided yet?”

Nodding, Nayeon answered, “I’m a regular for boys’ basketball club’s cheerleading squad.”

“Congratulations! You’re awesome! When is the game?”

“Thanks! This Saturday. It’s Inter-High Preliminaries. If I’m not wrong, volleyball’s Inter-High Preliminaries is near, too.”

“Yeah, it’s two weeks from now.”

Unexpectedly, Jungkook approached Hyewon’s desk right after he entered the class – Hyewon assumed he’d just got here from morning practice. Jungkook had never spoken to Hyewon at class – besides their occasional conversations after the school ended when Hyewon woke him up – so she was surprised to see him initiate the talk.

Hyewon’s heart raced as Jungkook came closer to her. But it’s sad knowing that she’s the only one feeling that way.

Jungkook asked, “Do you want to come with us during lunch break? Taehyung and I are going to go to Yoongi’s class and persuade him to come to practice.”

Hyewon had been thinking for ways to help the team, so there’s no way she would decline the offer. “Sure. But how about Jimin?”

“He refused to join us.”

The homeroom teacher, Teacher Yoo, suddenly strode into the class, so Jungkook had to go back to his seat – at the back of the class.

Nayeon managed to add with a wicked grin before the homeroom hour started. “You’ve becom