Note: For bonus chapters, don’t read the chapter title as “She Is [Chapter Title]”

“Dahyun-unnie, look at that girl.

Dahyun squinted as she followed where Chaeyoung’s eyes looked. Her eyes found a girl standing on home plate and swinging her bat back and forth. “That one?” she asked as she pointed.

“Ya! Don’t point!” Chaeyoung exclaimed as she swatted her hand down, “But yeah, that girl.”

“What about her?”

“Isn’t she the school secretary?”

“Is she?” Dahyun asked as she leaned forward on the bleachers, “I never pay attention to the student council.”

“Ah, but how could you not notice her?” Chaeyoung sighed, “She literally walks through the hallway like a queen. Holding her books to her body with both hands and walking with her chin up and chest out.”

“Are you interested, Chae?” Dahyun asked with a smirk.

“N-No! I’m just wondering why she’s a part of the baseball team if she’s supposedly got this elegant and intelligent outward image,” Chaeyoung said.

Dahyun shrugged, “I couldn’t tell you.”

Chaeyoung continued to stare quietly before directly her attention down to fastening her shoes. Dahyun sat beside her, her eyes scanning the baseball field in wonder.

“Ey, Chae. Let’s make a bet,” Dahyun said.

“What?” Chaeyoung said, her focus still on tying her shoe laces.

“If you manage to befriend that secretary, I’ll buy you ice-cream tomorrow.”

Chaeyoung scoffed, “I’ll befriend her, no problem!”

“Really?” Dahyun snorted in disbelief, “You befriending her would be like a peasant trying to befriend royalty.”

Chaeyoung stood and squinted at Dahyun, “I’ll show you!”

“Fine!” Dahyun said, standing and outstretching a hand.

Chaeyoung smirked as she forcibly grabbed Dahyun’s hand and shook it violently.

“In the meantime, I’ll wait here until you’re done with practice,” Dahyun said as she sat back down on the bleachers.

With that, Chaeyoung skipped down the bleachers and approached the field. She didn’t bother to greet the players as she made her way to the bench, carefully setting her duffle bag down as soon as she got there. She quietly ped her duffle bag in search for her glove while the players around her mingled amongst themselves. She wasn’t looking to make friends, really—except with one person, of course. Once she found it, she carefully placed it over her left hand. She then turned and was about to jog out to the field when she collided with someone.

“A-Ah, sor–“

Her sentence was cut short when she realized who it was that stood before her.

Royalty.

“S-Sunbaenim!” Chaeyoung exclaimed as she bowed.

“Ah, please! Stand up!” the secretary said in the softest voice that Chaeyoung had ever heard, “And please, just Mina is fine.”

Chaeyoung stood up straight. She couldn’t help when her eyes trailed over the girl’s facial features. Her full lips curved into a soft smile, her pointed chin, the beauty mark on the bridge of her nose and the one just over her upper lip, and those eyes. Never had Chaeyoung seen such dark eyes and been so captivated by them. There was something about the darkness of this girl’s eyes that made them bright. And Chaeyoung couldn’t place her finger on what was so amazing about those eyes.

“Uh, Mina?” Chaeyoung repeated timidly.

Mina’s smile widened, revealing her gummy teeth. “And you are?”

“Chaeyoung. Son Chaeyoung,” she responded, smiling back.

“Nice to meet you. Let’s get along nicely?” Mina asked, outstretching her hand.

Chaeyoung reluctantly took her hand. Her hand was surprisingly soft, considering how she seemed to be the hardworking type.

“Y-Yeah,” Chaeyoung stuttered as she slowly shook Mina’s hand. Why was she stuttering?

Before either of them could say any more, the coach approached the bench, clapping his hands together loudly as a way to bring everyone’s attention to him.

Chaeyoung immediately sat down. Mina, who was sill standing, quietly asked if she could sit beside her. Chaeyoung nodded and was about to scoot to give her space when Mina basically squeezed herself into the space between her and the other baseball player. Chaeyoung found herself slightly shiver at the contact of their shoulders, but she tried to mask her reaction.

“Alright ladies, allow me to start by saying something. Since there are so few students doing baseball this season, as compared to previous seasons, we won’t be splitting this team up between seventh and eighth graders. You are all one team. For practice today, we will start with simple throwing and catching,” the coach said, “Pick a partner, find a place on the field, and throw a ball back and forth. Simple as that. Now go.”

Chaeyoung subconsciously frowned, finding distaste in the tone of the coach’s voice. She didn’t appreciate a coach who seemed defiant on keeping that disconnection between himself and the players.

“Will you be my partner?”

Chaeyoung turned at the girl beside her, whose voice had pulled her out of her momentary trance. If she had forgotten where they currently were, she’d have thought Mina was asking her to dance, with how soft her voice was and how charming that look on her face was.

“You want me to be your partner?” Chaeyoung asked stupidly.

Mina lightly snickered, “Why else would I be asking?”

“Ah, sorry. Yes, let’s be partners!” Chaeyoung said as she stood, slightly surprising Mina at the sudden action. She took Mina’s hand and led her to the field—more forcibly than galiantly. Chaeyoung really didn’t know what compelled her to bravely take Mina’s hand. She walked two steps ahead of Mina, who helplessly following behind. Perhaps because she was afraid the secretary would see the blush that had crept onto her cheeks unwillingly.

Chaeyoung had always been interested in the school secretary ever since she first saw her walk down the hallway. Her presence was so graceful, her elegant aura consuming those who happened to pass by. It wasn’t like she was some popular girl—that title went to the school president—but there was something about her that forced students to take a second glance at her as they passed by. It was like her beauty radiated beyond her appearance; like you would feel her beauty whenever she was nearby. Maybe she didn’t know it, but she walked like she knew she was pretty. She walked with a small bounce, one foot directly in front of the other as she stepped, her chin up, her chest out, her shoulders back.

So Chaeyoung was more than surprised when she heard the secretary first speak to her, a peasant. Her voice was so soft. Moreover, her eyes, although captivating, displayed modesty. From what Chaeyoung now discovered about the beauty, it seems like she was unaware of how beautiful she was.

But Chaeyoung couldn’t deny that this timid and humble side of Mina made her more attractive in her eyes. So the moment the secretary revealed this unexpected side of her, Chaeyoung couldn’t help but fall.

“How far outfield are we going?” Mina asked with a chuckle.

“A-Ah,” Chaeyoung quietly let out as she abruptly stopped and released Mina’s hand. They had approached the edge of the field, isolated from the other players.

“Right here is fine,” Chaeyoung said.

They began to throw a ball back and forth, slowly at first. Chaeyoung’s eyes continuously wandered over Mina’s body when she threw. She threw with such elegance. The way her body rotated in perfect coordination with the swing of her arm. It was like she was performing a contemporary dance routine each time.

“You have a strong arm,” Mina said, as the ball flew in her direction. She nestled the ball safely in her glove. “Throw this next ball at me with as much force as you can,” she instructed, tossing the ball back to Chaeyoung.

“Why?”

“Just do it,” Mina commanded.

Chaeyoung lightly nodded before getting into a comfortable throwing position, placing one foot in front of the other. She stood perpendicular to Mina, her throwing arm facing away from her. Then she carefully lunged forward, her body comfortably rotating as her arm swung powerfully at her side. Chaeyoung herself couldn’t tell when the ball left her hand—that’s how quickly it flew out of her hand. Mina, instead of catching the ball, leaped out of the way. The ball flew just past her shoulder and into the grass behind her.

“S-Sorry!” Chaeyoung exclaimed.

“Don’t be,” Mina said with a smile, “But it’s just as I thought, you’d make a good pitcher.”

“Eh?”

Mina then sighed, “I’m not so sure he’d put you on the field as a pitcher right from the get-go, since you’re a seventh grader. But you should hurry and tell him you wanna be pitcher as soon as possible.”

Chaeyoung wasn’t sure how it had happened, but her mind soon became set on taking on the role as pitcher. Perhaps it was because the suggestion had come from the beauty before her.

“I’ll tell him right now!” Chaeyoung exclaimed as she took off towards the bench, leaving Mina chuckling to herself.

But when she found the coach, someone else stood before him. A girl, still in her school uniform, carrying a backpack that was nearly as big as her on her shoulders.

“Dah–“

“I wanna play baseball!” she exclaimed, her hands down at her sides and balled into fists.

“E-Ehhh?!?” Chaeyoung exclaimed in a voice that was much too loud.

~~~

“A–... A grand slam!!!”

Despite the announcement of a grand slam, I couldn’t move. I stayed frozen, awed by the play. “We won...” I whispered in disbelief.

“We–... We won!” I repeated, yelling it in excitement that time.

“We won!” Momo screamed from first base, pumping her fists in the air in excitement.

The next thing I knew, I was running towards her, my arms open. “Momo-unnie, we won!” I exclaimed as I threw my arms around her body.

We idiotically jumped up and down while stuck in each other’s arms, unable to stop it when tears began running down our cheeks in joy. The two of us then collapsed to the sand, our legs suddenly weak—from the game or our overflow of emotions, I couldn’t tell. We sat there, crying into each other’s arms.

We had beat one of the best teams of our league by a miracle. No, not a miracle. By hard work and determination, we did it.

Thank you, Mina. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.

The same must’ve went for Dahyun, whose reason was so obviously Sana. At the thought, I abruptly raised my head from Momo’s arm. I turned to look towards homeplate, at the ace baseball player who had the manager within her embrace. They seemed lost in their own world, neither of them worrying about the ruckus occurring around them. Despite my distance from them, I could see how they looked at each other with so much love and affection. Then I watched as Dahyun pulled off her cap and leaned forward to kiss Sana, the top of the hat beside their faces.

My lips formed a smile before I could help it.

“Ah, finally,” Momo said, exhaling in relief.

“Why does it feel like it took years for them to finally confess to one another?” I asked while snickering.

Momo shrugged, “I don’t know, but I feel that same way, too.”

Then we looked at each other, and began laughing. It wasn’t like what we said were really that funny, but we laughed quite obnoxiously. It was like the exciting moment around us was a virus which spurred us to laugh.

“Let’s congratulate Dahyun-chan,” Momo suggested, standing. I nodded as I hopped up to stand beside her. We began jogging towards the newly-established couple, who had already separated from each other’s lips once we got there.

“Good job, Dahyun-unnie!” I exclaimed as I crashed my body into hers. Dahyun, who wasn’t expecting me, fell -first, hitting the ground with a loud groan. Momo, who followed just behind me, gladly threw herself upon us, trapping Dahyun’s body against the dirt.

“You did amazing, Dahyun-chan!” Momo exclaimed happily.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the two of you!” Dahyun managed to say from beneath us. Sana only stood to the side, laughing at the predicament.

“Good job on finally getting your girl,” I decided to add.

“Eh, it was easy,” Dahyun said, which earned a scoff from Sana.

“So easy you had to wait nearly a week, huh?” Sana whined.

Momo and I laughed while Dahyun released another groan from beneath us. “Ya! Don’t be like that!” she whined back.

Sana crossed her arms and pouted. “I can’t believe you made me wait.”

Momo chuckled. “Go comfort your girl,” she joked as she hopped off of Dahyun. I followed, allowing Dahyun to quickly get up and then wrap Sana in a large embrace, whispering apologies in her ear.

It actually didn’t take long for Sana to give in, since it seemed she couldn’t handle Dahyun’s breath against her ear (her face went so red so quickly). Dahyun finally released her, allowing her to breathe comfortably.

“Ah, okay,” Sana began, “Now let’s get to the dugout. I’ve got closing remarks for you guys.”

We followed quietly as Sana led the way towards the dugout. Momo, Dahyun, and I sat down immediately, patiently waiting while our teammates filed in one by one. Soon enough, the bench was filled and we were sitting shoulder to shoulder as we were at the beginning of the game. Jeongyeon and Jihyo stood beside Sana, waiting patiently as she cleared in preparation for an end-of-the-game speech.

“Alright, ladies!” Sana