RACE YOU TO HER HEART; 
Chapter 19: Catching Up (V)

Because Dahyun had that stupid bet with Jackson, also because she is rather competitive by nature... And is kinda excited to make fun of her best friend by drawing on his face with make-up, Dahyun decided that she wants to be better at baseball... Even though she still clearly at the moment. 

It was a late Thursday afternoon and Nayeon had student council meetings to attend to, so Dahyun who couldn't meet her yet, went to the batting cage place to practice. 

The same bright blue neon sign in the shape of a giant baseball with the words 'HitClub!' blinking in the middle of it welcomed her as she strolled in.

Dahyun booked a slot for an hour and practiced as hard as she could. However, after countless attempts at hitting the stupid flying baseball, she still doesn't seem to be making much improvement... 

She sighed to herself... She has been trying her best for the past 45 minutes but she still doesn't know what she did wrong? She definitely already knew when the ball was coming towards her and she most certainly could "catch it" with her eyes. She is an athlete and doesn't have slow reflexes at all so... why is it that when she swung the bat, she just couldn't seem to hit it properly?? 

'Crap... ' she muttered once again when she swung the bat, which started to get really heavy after awhile, and it only just barely touches the ball. 
Feeling a little bit sore in her arms and still not being able to hit the ball well, Dahyun begin to feel frustrated. "Arghhh!" She groaned, annoyed at the situation and her voice echoed in the empty cage. Oh also, her time slot was almost up too. "I don't wanna lose to Mandu..." she sighed.

With her usually determined attitude, Dahyun would've booked another hour just to try getting it right... But she isn't very rich so that did be a waste of money, not to mention a waste of time too. 

"Your posture is wrong," a voice suddenly spoke from behind her. 

Dahyun turned around, surprised to see someone watching her from outside the cage. The girl, who had just talked to her, opened the gate of the batting cage and slowly walked in. She seemed to be a staff there, wearing a silver and blue bomber jacket with the venue's logo on it (the baseball graphic with the 'HitClub!') on it, along with a similar looking cap, black tights and an identity card hung around her neck. 

"If you keep swinging it the way you do, you'll just end up hurting yourself," the girl mentioned a matter of factly. Dahyun only looked at her still stunned (and slightly embarrassed from being watched, especially when she at baseball) at a sudden encounter from a stranger. 

"Do you perhaps want me to show you the correct way to bat?" The girl asked cheerily with a oddly formal sentence structure, pausing and nodding at certain parts of her sentence. She had a higher and squeakier voice than most people Dahyun knew and seemed rather girly, with long dark brown locks going below her shoulders, ending off with pink streaks.

Dahyun continued staring at her in confusion, while the girl looked back at her quite enthusiastically with her bright doe eyes, before Dahyun finally nodded at her. 

"Please would you hand me your bat then," the girl requested politely. Dahyun immediately passed it over, to which the girl said, "Okay now please would you move to the side a little." Again, Dahyun did what she said. 

Dahyun watched the girl as she got into position holding the bat above her right shoulder at an angle, as though posing professionally. When the ball came, she took a swift step forward as she swung the heavy bat with ease (as though it's now as light as a feather), nicely whacking the baseball, making it fly further than Dahyun could ever hit it. 

Dahyun's jaw dropped– how on earth did she do that? She made it seem so easy! And she even did it prettily too. For a second there, the way this girl played reminded Dahyun of the fit and pretty blonde girl she saw the other day, who also played very very well. 

How did all of them played so well?? 

The girl glanced at an impressed Dahyun with a soft smile. "Okay, now it's your turn."

.
.
.

Dahyun was so amazed, she made sure to take mental notes at everything the girl said.
 

The girl, who later introduced herself as Sana, patiently corrected Dahyun's mistakes. 

"Your should stand in this manner," she said while demonstrating. 

"Like this?" Dahyun clarified. 

"Yes, but in a position more suitable and comfortable for you," Sana said. She reached a hand to Dahyun's shoulder and lower back. "Do you mind if I corrected your position?"

"Sure," Dahyun shrugged before she felt Sana pushing and adjusting her back, shoulder and arms to change her posture.

"Okay, now hold your bat up here, and try swinging it a couple of times first to get use to the angle and strength you're going to use," she demonstrated. 

"Oh like this?" Dahyun asked again. 

"Yeah," Sana smiled.

Dahyun didn't know Sana well, but what she does know was that the girl was definitely a good baseball player and a great baseball teacher, because at the end of their little lesson, Dahyun had improved tremendously. Of course she still needs more practice, but hey she's just glad that she can actually hit the baseball properly now. Also, her arm muscles doesn't feel as strained anymore. 

"Woohoo!" Dahyun cheered after taking another successful hit. "Did you see that Sana-sunbaenim! I manage to hit it again!"

The slightly older girl laughed, "Yes yes Dahyun-ssi, that was a nice hit. Good job!"

Dahyun went to give her a hi-5 only to suddenly have a glance at the clock hanging outside the back of the batting cage. 

"Oh crap!" The younger girl suddenly yelled. How is it already so late? 

"Eh nani?" Sana gasped in surprise, to which Dahyun looked at her in a confused manner. "Oh sorry, I tend to switch back to my mother tongue language when I'm... Um... Surprised?"

"Oh is that Japanese? Sunbaenim are you Japanese?" She asked Sana. No wonder she spoke so overly politely to Dahyun even though she was supposedly older than her. 

Sana nodded shyly with a smile, "yeah."

"Oh cool," Dahyun said. "Well, your Korean is really good for a Japanese and um sorry I surprised you but I didn't know that time flew by so quickly. Argh dang it... My booking bill must be super high now! I don't even know if I brought enough cash..." 

"Oh no worries, Momo alread-" Sana paused, covering her own mouth all of a sudden. "Uh.. What I meant was... Mo... moments already always seem to pass by when I'm playing baseball, so I get what you mean. But yeah I doubt you have to pay a lot because we have a... Um... A... A special promotion for students today!" Sana said while nodding to herself. 

Dahyun looked at her confused. "A special promotion?"

"Yeah," Sana stated cheerily, "and you're a student right? So just flash your student card and you don't have to pay!"

"Oh um... Are you sure... Because I didn't see any-"

"Of course I'm sure!" Sana reassured, "I work here Dahyun-ssi don't you remember?" She said while flashing the 'HitClub!' logo on her bomber jacket and her identity card simultaneously at Dahyun. 

Dahyun shrugged, finding it a little odd, but believing Sana anyway. Well she does happen to work here and seemed quite trustable after all? 

"Okay well uh, I have to go now. But thank you so much for teaching me how to properly play baseball Sana-sunbaenim!" Dahyun bowed. 

"Eh it was no problem! And please, just call me unnie instead... Sunbaenim sounds kinda old," Sana giggled. 

"Oh okay Sana unnie," Dahyun said with a wide grin. "You can just call me Dahyun too!"

"Haha okay Dahyun," Sana chirped.

"Uh sorry if it seems like a bother but... can I come look for you when I drop by again Sana-unnie? You see um... I have a this bet with my friend and I really want to learn more baseball techniques so I can be better," Dahyun mentioned shyly. 

"Oh uh sure," Sana immediately said. "We would love to- uh I mean... I would love to teach you!"

-

It seems that Sana was right about the special promotion, because Dahyun went to the counter only to have her payment waived. So she left the place merrily, glad that she got to play baseball and learnt something new without having to pay a cent. 

'Beating Mandu is going to be a piece of cake if I keep this up!'

She was skipping happily home from the bus stop in her neighborhood when she saw a familiar figure. "Nayeon unnie!" She called out. But it seemed that the older girl didn't hear her. So Dahyun ran after her. 

At first, when she had finally caught up to Nayeon, she had playfully wanted to sneak up on and scare the older girl. But in the end, Dahyun decided that she shouldn't be so mean, plus the sudden sprinting made her a little bit dizzy, so she just gently tapped Nayeon on the back. 

Nayeon turned around, surprised. "Hehe annyeong Nayeon unnie," Dahyun greeted.

"Omo, Dahyun-ah!" Nayeon said, a smile appearing on her face. The kind of smile that makes Dahyun's heart skip a beat and want to smile back.

"You going home too?" Nayeon asked as they started walking into one of the alleyways, which was a shortcut leading to their houses. 

"Yeah," Dahyun replied, a small smile on her face. "Well, actually I could walk you home first before going home."

Nayeon stopped walking, and Dahyun stopped too, slightly confused. Glancing around the quiet neighborhood, Nayeon suddenly gazed at the younger girl before giving Dahyun a hug. 

"N-Nayeon unnie??" Dahyun stuttered out. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong... I just missed you," Dahyun heard Nayeon say, and she felt her heart grew warm and fuzzy inside. 

"I missed you too Nayeon-unnie," Dahyun mumbled back, her voice muffled by Nayeon's shoulder. She slowly wrapped her arms around the older girl, returning the hug. Dahyun found it rather absurd how a simple hug like this still managed to make her heart beat like crazy and her mind a sudden blank. 

When Nayeon pulled away, she saw that the younger girl had her signature dazed expression on her face. Nayeon giggled, going to pinch Dahyun on the cheek before giving her a light peck on the lips. 

'Ah, how nice it was to end off her day by bumping into her favorite person,' Dahyun thought then, a wide smile creeping up her face. 

Later on when they continued walking, Dahyun smiled like a fool while Nayeon clung onto her arm. "You seem to be in a good mood today," Nayeon remarked, amused. 

"Yeah, I am," Dahyun shrugged. 

"Something good happened?" Nayeon asked. 

"Mmhmm," Dahyun nodded. 

"Oh, what is it?" Nayeon wondered. 

"You happened," Dahyun said with a cheeky grin, earning a light playful slap on the arm from Nayeon. 

"Yah, stop having such a glib tongue."

"Okay I'll try," Dahyun laughed. She realise she kinda enjoyed making Nayeon embarrassed like this. 

"No but seriously, you seem like you had a good day," Nayeon said, sticking to the subject. "Did something good happen in school?"

"Not really in school, but something great happened after school," Dahyun chirped. "So I had this bet with Jackson over playing baseball and I went to this baseball betting place called 'HitClub!' to practice because well... I at baseball." 

Nayeon nodded with a small smile as she listened to Dahyun rambling about her day. 

"And I still after practicing there by myself! But luckily one of the staff there taught me how to play, and boy was she good at baseball! You should've seen the way she hit the ball, like boom! I never really cared about baseball that much but hey I realised baseball is kinda cool Nayeon unnie! Anyway now I think I have a chance of winning! Oh also, there was a student promo at place so I played baseball for free!"

"Oh wow, how eventful," Nayeon said. 

"Yeap! Well, how was your day Nayeon unnie?"

"It was... Okay I guess?" Nayeon shrugged. "Had a lot of things to settle during the council meeting, but I guess for now things are still manageable." 

"I see... That's good then," Dahyun nodded. They reached the gates of Nayeon's house. "So uh Nayeon unnie, are you... Um are you free to... hang now?" Dahyun asked, not expecting much since she knew how busy Nayeon always is. But hey there's no harm in asking right? She doesn't know why she only waited till they reached Nayeon's house for her to ask though.

"Uh..." Nayeon pondered for a moment going to check the time on her phone. "Well, I do have a report to finish up..." She started, and Dahyun looked down, mumbling a quiet "oh..." already expecting an answer that will disappoint her.

"But..." Nayeon continued. "I guess I can hang for a bit?"

Dahyun's face immediately lit up at that. "Really?" 

And Nayeon laughed, going to pinch at Dahyun's cheek. "Yeah sure, why not? Not too till too late though."

"Yay!" The younger girl cheered. 

"Wait a minute... Don't you have to study?" Nayeon asked. "Your examinations are drawing near!"

And Dahyun wiped the grin she previously had off her face as she felt a tiny bit of that negative, angsty, feeling creep up inside her chest. 

What was that feeling? Stress? A tiny hint of anxiety?... Maybe a bit of both. 

"But Nayeon unnie..."

"You should come in then Dahyun-ah, we can study together," Nayeon said, with the bottom of her left fist meeting her right palm in a quick motion, signalling how she has subconsciously decided something. "That way we'd make the most out of our time spent together! I can do my report while we're at it too..."

Dahyun wanted to protest - like what was Nayeon thinking? Dahyun had wanted to spend some quality time with Nayeon - REAL QUALITY TIME - having some fun... Chilling... Not to have them studying together. Not that she doesn't like the "together" part but... She had already spent more than half the day in school studying! 

However, after seeing how Nayeon was so determined/semi-enthusiatic about it, Dahyun inwardly sighed in defeat. "Alright then Nayeon-unnie... Let's go."

-

Back at 'HitClub!' a dark haired girl, with pink streaks in her hair was changing in the staff locker room. She was humming a song cheerily to herself, glad that her shift was ending, until she heard a weird sound in the locker room.

Feels like... someone was... trying to sneak up on her. 

She paused from trying to remove her shirt...

Glancing around with as little movements made as possible...

And then out of nowhere... 

"MINATOZAKISANAAAAAA!" 
 

A person behind her yelled really really loudly. Her name echoed hauntingly in the locker room, scaring the girl with pink streaks in her hair. She screamed in shock, almost tripping over the wooden bench in front of her, before realizing whose voice it belonged to. 

"YAHHHH HIRAI MOMO! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!" Sana yelled at her close friend, annoyed that she always did that... Especially in the late evening when the locker room felt creepy. She doesn't know how she still got so easily shocked when she kinda already knew it was Momo doing the same nonsensical anyway. 

Her cheeky friend let out a hearty laugh as Sana continued to grumble under her breath. "Hahahahhaa, you're such a scaredy cat Sana! How many times has it been already? 110?" At that a shirt was thrown into Momo's face. But the mischievous girl continued laughing. 

"Shut up Momo! I hate you!" Sana complained, while pulling another shirt over her head. "You're the real scaredy cat here! I don't know why I bothered to help you with that Dahyun girl anyway!"

"Aw come on," Momo let out as she leaned against the one of the dark blue lockers. "We all know you love me the most, who're you kidding bestie~" Momo teased with a chuckle. 

"Well 'bestie', next time you can jolly well go teach Dahyun baseball yourself!" 

Momo stopped laughing. "No!"

Sana glared at her while trying to put on a pair of skinny jeans. "Too late, I've already decided," she huffed. 

"Okay okay I'm sorry, I won't scare you again!" Momo sincerely apologised this time with her palms together in a praying motion. 

Sana turned around, ignoring her friend as she folded her clothes, placing them into her pink duffle bag. 

"Please Sana, don't do this? Aren't we best friends?" Momo tried again, showing Sana her best sad puppy-like eyes. But Sana continued ignoring her. 

Finishing up her packing, Sana shut her locker before she slung the bag onto her shoulder, about to leave the locker room. 

Momo, in her desperation, did what she does best when she made her best friend mad... Hug the out of Sana while whining so as to annoy her into forgiving herself. 

"SANAAAA-CHAN!!! WHYYY!!! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!!!" She cried in their mother tongue, hands clinging tightly around Sana's shoulders from the back, making it difficult for her to walk. She even used the old Japanese pet-name that she seldom used now that they're in Korea. "I THOUGHT OUR FRIENDSHIP WAS STRONGER THAN THIS!!!! SANAAAA-CHAN YOU DON'T LOVE ME ANYMORE!!! HOW COULD YOU BE SO HEARTLESS!! WHO ELSE CAN I POSSIBLY COUNT ON IN KOREA?!?!?? I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO JAPAN! NOW I'M ALL ALONE WHYYYY SANAAAAA-"

"Alright alright shut up," Sana sighed, while trying to push Momo away from her. But the latter clung onto Sana, refusing to let go. Why did she choose to be friends with such an annoying person... Heck, there were even hints of tears appearing in Momo's eyes too. 

"Oh my God Momo, are you seriously crying?" Sana said, rolling her eyes at her friend's fake tears. "Stop being such a drama queen Hirai. I'll continue to help you geez..."

"Yay!" Momo cheered, finally letting go to give Sana a peck on the cheek. "You're the best Sana-chan!! I love youuuu~"

"Stop it! Get away from me you!" Sana continued trying to push Momo away. "I'm only doing this because I told Dahyun I would help her. And she seemed like she has the potential to play well."

"Yeah yeah whatever, I'm just glad that you'll even help," Momo said, finally letting go of Sana. 

"Why won't you do it yourself anyway?" Sana wondered. She couldn't understand why, her usually cool and confident friend, who had no problem making new friends (or hitting on girls/guys) if she wanted to was being such a nervous loser over this Dahyun girl. And plus, Momo was great at playing and teaching others to play baseball herself anyway... "Do you have a guilty conscience or what?"

"What?"

"Like did you do something wrong to Dahyun?" Sana asked, before gasping. "Oh my God! She seems like such a nice girl too, what did you do to her?"

"Wha- No?!" Momo stated incredulously. "No, I didn't do anything to her!"

Sana raised an eyebrow, "Then why the heck are you being such a... Such a..."

"Such a what?"

"Such a... wuss?" Sana finally said, not sure if that's exactly the right word she was looking for. But hey, that word did sum up how Momo was behaving quite well. 

"What? I'm not a wuss!" Momo grumbled, throwing Sana's shirt back at her. Sana caught it though. She took the shirt, folding it before tucking it into her bag. "Then why won't you just talk to her?" Sana asked gently, "I know how you're dying to be her friend."

"No I'm not," Momo huffed, pulling her knees close to herself as she sat on the bench. Sana rolled her eyes at her friend. She doesn't know why Momo even bothered lying when they both know what Sana said was true anyway. 

Suddenly Sana thought of something. "Hey, do you... Have a crush on her?" Sana teased. 

Momo's eyes widened, "N-no! No... No? W-why would you even think that?" She stammered out, but Sana thought she saw a slight blush creep up Momo's face. 

"Well for one, you're being unusually nervous about talking to her," Sana started pulling a finger back as she counted each reason. "And you're secretly helping her pay for her slot here, secretly watching her play when she comes over, and secretly asking ME to help YOU to help HER with batting... So... You obviously have a thing for her right?"

Momo felt her face go even redder. "N-no! Stop blabbering nonsense Sana!" She denied. "It's just... It's just that, well... She helped me with something before. Something important to me... And I just... I don't know? I kinda want to repay her..."

Sana looked at Momo curiously, "Oh?" She mouthed. "Is she... the one who gave you that box of jokbal that winter when Hito-chan passed away and your dad wanted you to leave Korea?"

Momo kept quiet for a bit, before nodding her head. That was a low point in Momo's life that she doesn't enjoy reminiscing at all. 

"Ah... I see..." Sana nodded along in understanding. "Wait! Isn't that great?! Well all the more you should help her yourself then!" Sana mused, getting excited all of a sudden. "That way you can properly thank her, no?"

Momo placed her chin on her knees, pondering. "Yeah I guess so..." She then kept quiet for a couple of second, "B-but... not yet!"

"What?" Sana raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It's not time yet! I-I need more time!"

Sana rolled her eyes with a laugh, "What do you mean you need more time? You seem to have all the time in the world seeing how you're always skipping classes and all."

"As in... I'm not ready!" Momo lets out, slightly frustrated. And Sana laughed again. "Hey stop laughing at me Minatozaki!" She said, going to poke Sana on the waist, where she knew her friend would feel ticklish. 

"Ahaha- alright alright stop poking me, I'll stop laughing at you!"

"Yeah you better!" Momo said. "J-just help me out okay?" She asked sincerely this time. 

Sana smiled. "Since when did I not help you, bestie?"

____________________________________________

A/N Hello! Happy Monday, may this update drive away your Monday blues. See I didn't take as long to update did I?:D ARE Y'ALL PROUD OF ME LOL accomplishment unlocked~ (loljkjk) And look who finally appeared in the story? Yes Momo! And she even brought a friend along too!:') What do y'all think of her appearance? kekeke. Anw I'm so excited because OCTOBER IS COMING AND OCTOBER SEEMS LIKE A MONTH FULL OF TWICE ACTIVITIES WOOHOO! I can't wait~ Have a good week ahead everyone!

~strangemagnet