The car ride to practice was awkward, to say the least. Chaeyoung and I sat in the back, which made things even more awkward, since it felt like we were in a taxicab in which there was an imaginary wall between us and the driver. The whole car ride was silent. I refused to speak to Sana, especially after she had so successfully flirted with me. She constantly looked in her rearview mirror, stealing glances at me. I noticed, but pretended I didn’t. She didn’t try to get rid of the awkward atmosphere like she did numerous times back at the coffee shop with Mina. She just kept quiet as she drove us to practice.

Saturday, 4:45pm

I sat in the dugout, putting my baseball cleats on. My eyes should’ve been on my cleats as I tried to tie them, but they weren’t. They were on Sana. My eyes would always find Sana somehow. It frustrated me.

I couldn’t help but wonder why Sana would be so interested in me from the beginning. She said that Mina told her a lot about me; what sort of things did she tell her? Or why did she tell her things about me?

Was she truly interested in me anyway? Or was she just playing with me?

Sana stood on the field, pointing and shouting commands. The way that she took command, I had to admit that it was kind of hot. She would stand up straight, arching her back a little as she pointed in various directions. Her usually soft voice was loud, but still soothing to the ears. The sun beamed down on her, causing her to sweat a little. She would wipe the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She would stop to gasp for air each time after shouting commands. Heat came to Korea a lot sooner than usual.

Chaeyoung walked into the dugout, taking my eyes away from Sana and to her. “Hey,” she said as she approached me.

“Hey,” I quietly replied as she took a seat beside me.

“So... Do you wanna talk about what’s been bothering you ever since we left that coffee shop?” she asked.

I didn’t respond. Instead, my eyes subconsciously turned to the person who had been “bothering me”. Chaeyoung looked too, then she understood. “Now, why is the new manager on your mind?” she asked.

I sighed, “You wouldn’t know...”

“Try me.”

I looked at Chaeyoung, wondering if I should tell her. She was my best friend, I usually tell her these things. But why did it feel like all of the interactions that occurred between me and Sana should be kept in Pandora’s Box?

Chaeyoung clicked her tongue. “If you don’t wanna tell me, then I understand,” she said, “Instead, I’ll tell you what’s bothering me.”

I looked at her, waiting for more.

“I’m bothered by how bothered you are by the new manager. Yeah, I’m skeptical about her, too. But it seems like you really got something against her. Give the girl a chance.”

Give the girl a chance.

As if I haven’t been.

And I haven’t been.

I was quick to judge her in the beginning. It was normal to be skeptical about how well she would do as a manager, but to hate her so much was unusual. Even more, I had never even hated someone so quickly or so much before. I waited to understand someone before judging them. Even then, I always saw the best in people, and ignored their not-so-great qualities. Why was this different with Sana?

Was it really because she was late? Was it really because she was Jeongyeon’s replacement? No, it was more, and I knew that. Why did I hate her?

It was one thing, and one thing only.

It was in the way she looked at me.

The way her eyebrow raised. The way her lips curved into a smirk. The way her eyes pierced through me.

It made my lips dry. It made my body stiff. It made my heart race.

Oh, won’t you look at me with something other than lust?

Maybe then I could give you a chance.

Because how could I when, every time I look at you and you look back, my brain goes haywire?

“Lost in thought?” Chaeyoung asked, snapping me back into reality.

“Ah–, yeah...” I said.

“Are you gonna give her a chance?” she asked.

I nodded hesitantly.

“Okay good,” she said as she stood, “Who knows, maybe you’ll like her as much as your eyes did when you first saw her.”

I glared at Chaeyoung as she turned to leave. As she left the dugout, Sana entered.

Speak of the Devil.

She took a short glance at me as she entered before walking past me and towards her bag. After taking out a bottle of water, she turned and walked towards me, taking a seat beside me.

“What’s on your mind?” she asked.

I only shrugged as a response. There was so much on my mind. Her, her words, Chaeyoung’s words...

“Does this have to do with what I said to you?” she asked, leaning towards me.

Well, that was certainly one of the thoughts running through my mind.

“Don’t think too much about what I said,” Sana said. Then she sighed, “I just never think before I do something.”

“You mean before you start flirting?” I suddenly blurted out.

Sana nodded, “Yes, before I start flirting. Especially before I start flirting.”

There was a short silence. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I’m just so eager that I just–“ she interrupted herself by placing her hand over . It was as if she almost admitted something that I wasn’t supposed to hear.

I didn’t respond to her apology. We sat there in silence for a bit. We listened quietly to the percussive sounds of bats hitting baseballs and baseballs hitting gloves. “I know how you feel,” Sana suddenly said, disrupting the silence between us.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I know how you feel about me as a manager,” Sana looked off to the side before continuing, “Or more like, about having a new manager to replace Jeongyeon-unnie.”

“Ah, you do?” I asked.

She nodded, “You don’t think I’m good enough.”

I blinked a few times at her. Yes, that was exactly what I was thinking. That was what probably every player was thinking, maybe even Jihyo. I felt a little guilty.

“N-No, I–,” I stuttered.

“You don’t have to lie, I know that’s the truth. I mean, it makes sense. Jeongyeon was a good manager, so I’ve heard, and now you’ve lost her to a girl who doesn’t seem responsible,” Sana said. Then she smirked, which threw me off guard. “That’s okay if that’s what you think. I like a challenge.”

“What?”

She stood in front of me, and placed her hands on her hips. She stood tall, her chest out and head high. “I’m gonna prove to you that I can be just as good of a manager as Jeongyeon. No, I’ll be better. Then you’ll see that you were wrong and that you actually want me here.”

I didn’t respond. I only stared at her, awed by her enthusiasm and determination.

Then I watched as her intense gaze soft