“Are you out of your minds?”

Seungcheol looks at his teammates with a bewildered look on his face.

“This is a big game. Our school finally has the chance to bring the Cup home after 30 years!” Seungcheol says, disbelief in his voice.

Jeonghan says casually, “So? We never care about winning anyway. We only play because we love baseball and this team.”

Chan chimes in. “But we care about you! We want you to be happy.” Jeonghan coos and pats Chan’s head, which earns him a scowl from the junior.

“If you care about me, then play!”

Jisoo says with a smile, “Not until you ask him on a date.”

Seungcheol groans. “My love life doesn’t have anything to do with our team!”

Mingyu says while putting a bag of balls to its place in the corner, “Well, no, but it concerns your happiness, which concerns us. You’re more than just our team captain.” He ends with wide smile, baring his canines.

“Am I supposed to be touched by this?”

“I don’t care, you just have to go get him, get laid, end your miserable 18 years of single life,” Jeonghan says after a yawn. The words “get laid” makes Mingyu shakes his head and Chan winces uncomfortably, while Jisoo nods with that permanent smile of his.

“I’ve been single, but not miserable.”

Jeonghan dismisses Seungcheol’s argument with a lazy “yeah, yeah” and walks towards the door. He says, “So, since we’re not playing, no practice tomorrow. Okay? Bye.” and leaves without bothering to hear Seungcheol’s answer. The rest of the nine members follow behind him.

Seungcheol is left alone in the club room, questioning his leadership and his choice of friends.

**

Seungcheol’s life has always revolved around baseball. He played in the Little League as a child and joined the school’s baseball club in junior high. He already decided the club he wants to join in high school before he even enrolled.

His high school’s baseball club has never seen spotlight in its history of 30 years. Not many students take interest in the club so it doesn’t have many members, usually just a bit over the the minimum 9 people. By the time Seungcheol became the captain, they have 11 members including Seungcheol himself.

They practice under the guidance of a coach named Kim Jongup, who is actually a decent player. He has an impressive record from the time he was an active player. Seungcheol knows that the knowledge and skills Coach Jongup gained from the experience are indeed impressive. Seungcheol did some research and found out that during the five years Coach Jongup has been with the team, his school actually starts winning more. But sadly, they never go far. After actually joining the team and work with Coach Jongup, Seungcheol found out what was missing. Coach Jongup is an extremely awkward person. He can’t handle a dozen of hormonal teenage boys and didn’t have the luck to meet a team captain who can understand that and do something to assist him. Seungcheol is determined to be that captain.

The team doesn’t have a manager. They did have one (it was one of Jeonghan’s admirer), but she didn’t last long (apparently the benefit of watching Jeonghan getting all sweaty up close didn’t manage to keep her motivation). So Seungcheol has to use his managing skills to get his teammates to take over the the manager’s job, from keeping record of their scores until making detailed reports about their opponent teams. Seungcheol takes part in the jobs as well. The last few months have been quite tough because Coach Jongup can’t participate much in their practice. He has to juggle between jobs to feed his two sons and get them to school. Recently Coach Jongup can’t even make time to think of their training menu and strategies. Seungcheol thinks it’s his responsibility as the team captain to cover for his coach, so he ends up creating most of their training plans and strategies.

Seungcheol never think of his responsibility as a burden. That’s because he loves baseball.

There are two things Seungcheol loves as much as baseball: his family and teammates slash friends.

Well, actually there is another recipient of Seungcheol’s affection. Seungcheol refuses to admit it to anyone, though he’s having a hard time to do so. It’s not an easy feat when the target of your affection is Wen Junhui.

It takes so much effort for Seungcheol to not go to Jun and offer his heart, to ask whether he’s willing to accept it in exchange for his.

Today Seungcheol has to restrain himself again. He enters the cafeteria with his teammates and his eyes immediately fall into Jun who’s sitting with Seungkwan and Hansol. Seungcheol’s eyes never fail to catch Jun. It’s always like that.

Mingyu nudges the captain with his shoulder, but Seungcheol pretends that he doesn’t notice.

Jeonghan refuses to let him get away with this. “There he is. Ask him out!”

Seungcheol says, “I have responsibilities as the captain. I am not putting my time and energy into dating. I’m using them for the team.”

Jisoo says, “Well, that team won’t play the game so why bother?” The words make Seungcheol glare at him, but Jisoo is unfazed, smile still on his face.

“Why are you guys so stubborn? And who says I like Jun anyway? He might not be my type.”

Seungcheol’s teammates roll their eyes together, creating an eerie sight. Seungcheol looks like a sad puppy as he mopes another of his failed attempts. No matter how hard he tries, he can never deceive them.

Before Seungcheol can stop them, his teammates make their way towards Jun’s table. Now they’re so close that they can hear what Jun, Seungkwan, and Vernon is talking about. Vernon and Seungkwan are arguing about what DVD they are going to watch together this weekend, while Jun is listening to them, his sparkling eyes looking at his friends with affection. Nothing can describe how much Seungcheol wishes those eyes to look at him with the same affectionate way.

“No more zombies!” Seungkwan glares at Vernon.

“So what do you want?” Vernon asked.

“I want cute, tooth-rotting romance!” Seungkwan declares. “What do you think, Jun?”

They both turn their heads to Jun. Jun gives them a look before pursing his lips and saying in a high tone, “As cute as me?”

Glee fills Jun’s eyes as he sees his friends cringe. However, the glee is soon replaced by shock as his eyes meet Seungcheol’s.

**

Seungkwan and Vernon are not unfamiliar to Jun’s disgusting attempt on acting cute. He doesn’t do it often because Seungkwan will throw things to him, but he will when he’s sure he can dodge.

Today Seungkwan and Vernon have to endure another of Jun’s cute act. Seungkwan tries to look for something to throw, but find nothing. He left all his stuffs at the classroom. He looks around once again, but stops when he realize something is wrong.
Jun’s eyes are wide open. His lips are no longer pursed. A look of shock in his eyes and blush creeping to his cheeks.

Seungkwan and Vernon turn their heads and see the school’s baseball club right behind them. The same look of shock can be seen in their faces. Some also blushing, probably from the secondhand embarrassment. Seungcheol who stands in the middle seems so stunned that his face is all frozen.

“Oh my God. That was embarrassing.” Seungkwan says flatly. Jun lets out a squeak. Poor kid, but Seungkwan doesn’t really pity him. It must be God’s way of punishing Jun for making Seungkwan witness his cute act.

Meanwhile Vernon tries to comfort Jun by giving him a pat on the arm.

Jun says sheepishly, “Sorry you had to see that.”

At Jun’s words, Seungcheol quickly shakes his head. “No! it was cute!”. It takes a second for him to digest what he just said. When he’s finished, he smiles nervously.

Jun looks like he want nothing more than to run away and never show his face to Seungcheol ever again, but he does his best to stay calm like he always do. “Ehm, thank you,” he says with a small smile.

“Yeah, you don’t have to be shy. Seungcheol is way more embarrassing. No one makes cringeworthy cute act better than him,” says Jisoo. Seungcheol glares at him to no effect. “I’m complimenting you,” Jisoo shrugs.

Seungkwan rolls his eyes and groans internally. Great, another greasy dude.

Jeonghan and Mingyu nudge Seungcheol with their shoulders, so hard that Seungcheol almost fall forward. After giving his friends a death glare, Seungcheol turns to face Jun. His eyes looking straight to Jun’s, sweat b over his forehead.

“Would you...”

Seungkwan exchange glances with Vernon. They know what’s in the other’s head. Is this it? The moment we've all been waiting for?

“Would you watch our game? It’s in two weeks.”

Seungkwan drops his shoulders. What is this anti-climatic scene?

Vernon pinches Seungkwan’s arm to stop the boy from glaring at Seungcheol. Meanwhile, Seungcheol’s friends have the same scary look as Seungkwan.

“Uhm, I...” Jun struggles for an answer.

Seungcheol hurriedly says, “If you’re not busy, of course! I’m sorry if I’m making it hard for you. You don’t have to say yes.”
Seungkwan can see the anticipation in his eyes.

“He’ll go! He’s free during the game.” Seungkwan says. “Right, Jun?” he turns to Jun.

Jun can only manage a small “yeah”. He looks awkward, but relaxes when he sees Seungcheol beaming at his answer.

Seungcheol and his team leave their table. Jun quickly turns to Seungkwan. “What did you do?!”

“Come on. I know your schedule. You don’t have any part time jobs during the game.”

“Well, no, but I might have other plans.”

Seungkwan scoffs. “What plans? When you’re not studying or working, you just hang out with your family or us. Your mom and brother will be out of town visiting you aunt that day, am I right?”

“I might have plans to study...”

Vernon sighs while Seungkwan looks like he’s about to burst. His plump cheeks are completely red when he says in a frustrated voice, “Study? STUDY? Who would choose study over seeing his crush?? Besides, you pay attention in class and manage to keep good grades over the years. You don’t need extra time to study.”

Jun knows he’s lost the argument so he just put his head on the table, moping. Then Vernon decides it’s time to ask the question of the century. “Why don’t you ask him out?”

Jun pulls his head up, chin resting on the table. “I have responsibilities, Vernon. I have to go to school and work. I don’t have the time and energy to date.”

Before Seungkwan can throw his argument, Jun pulls his upper body and straighten his back. “Besides, Seungcheol is so busy. They practice until night almost every day. Plus, he has to take over most of the coaching duties since their coach is unavailable most of the time. It shouldn’t be easy. I don’t want to bother him.”

Seungkwan groans. “But you’re so in love with him! You even know details about his team!”

Jun blushes. “I just heard it from Chan when we were chatting!”

Seungkwan groans once again before turning to Vernon. The wavy-haired boy simply put his hands up. He’s totally given up on his friend’s stubbornness.

**

Seungcheol and his teammates are at the field for practice. The members finally agreed to showing up for their big game. They didn’t want to at first, arguing that Seungcheol didn’t really ask Jun out. He just asked him to come to a baseball game, along with the other students, not together with him (since Seungcheol will be in the field). So here they are, a few days away from the game and doing their their best to prepare.

The sun is setting and they’re taking a short break before returning to the last half of today’s practice. They sit near the wired fence that separates the field from the school building.

As Seungcheol drinks a bottle of water, his eyes scans the path over the fence. He can see students walking by, some alone, some in groups of two or three. All heading to the gate. They must be students who are either members of a club or the student council since they’re just heading home at this hour. Other students usually leave school right after the bell, going to hang out with friends or having another study session at the cram school.

For a while he idly watches the passing students, until his eyes catch a familiar figure. Jun.

Seungcheol’s heart skips a beat. He didn’t expect to see him at this hour. He usually leave school immediately after the bell rings. But there he is now. Wind playing with his black hair. He hasn’t cut his hair in four months, leaving the bangs reaching almost to his eyebrows and his hair covering his nape.

Seungcheol smiles. He loves watching Jun. He loves admiring his features, the way his eyes gleam and his lips curves into a smile. He loves how his gentle vibe changes to a childish one when he’s around his close friends. He loves the way he speaks in a gentle and calming voice, especially when he calls Seungcheol’s name on the rare occasions. They don’t have many chances to interact, not many things in common beside a few shared acquaintances.

Seungcheol could’ve just go to him and chat. Maybe then he’ll find more chances to admire Jun up close. To hear him call his name. But Seungcheol chooses to admire from afar.

Some days Seungcheol feels it’s not enough. But he’s trained to convince himself. Today is another successful day. He sees Jun and with that his heart is content, bringing smile on his face. Just then Jun turns his head and their eyes meet.

It’s not the first time their eyes met. Yesterday at the cafeteria wasn’t the first time either. In fact, their eyes meet quite a lot. Seungcheol’s eyes are trained to find Jun, so it’s no wonder that he can spot Jun even in the crowd, but he thinks it’s a miracle that their eyes meet so many times. When they do, Jun would give him that small yet warming smile. Seungcheol would reply with a smile too, although he can’t help but worry on how his smile looks to Jun, hoping that it won’t look so awkward.

Today their eyes meet again. Jun smiles and Seungcheol smiles back. Usually they would just go back to whatever they were doing, but now, instead of continuing his steps to the gate, Jun stands still. He’s still smiling, but there’s furrow in his forehead, worry in his eyes. Seungcheol starts to worry.

Before Seungcheol can do anything about it, Chan’s voice fills the air. “Jun!”

Jun’s head turns to Chan, breaking their eye contact. Seungcheol can hear Chan getting up and walking towards the fence. Jun steps closer to the fence too. After greeting Chan, he turns to the other members and greet them too.

“You guys have been working so hard. I wish you guys good luck on the game.” Jun says.

“Thanks!” Mingyu says in his loud voice.

“Oh, we’ve been working hard, all right. I can’t feel my own body every night I arrive in my bed.” Jeonghan groans.

“You guys don’t even have a manager. It must be tough.” Jun expresses his sympathy.

Just then Jeonghan’s eyes lit up. “I know! Why don’t you be our manager, Jun!”

Jun blinks a few time before smiling politely. “I’m sorry... I wish I can help, but I have a few part time jobs, so...”

Seungcheol glares at Jeonghan. “Don’t trouble him. Why would he want to deal with you guys anyway. All sweaty and stinky like this.”

Jun chuckles. It sounds like music to Seungcheol’s ears. Then suddenly Jun lets out a small “Oh”.

“I can bring you lemon honey slices. It’s supposed to be good for fatigue, right? I can leave it here just before you start practicing,” he says.

Seungcheol replies, “But, we’re so many it’ll cost much. Takes time to prepare it too.”

Jun shakes his head. “I always receive many lemons from my neighbor. Actually, too many than my family can consume. Plus, it doesn’t take much effort to make.”

Chan says,”You’re such an angel! Thank you!” The rest of the team also express their gratitude.

Seungcheol sighs. “....Okay then...” He looks at Jun and says, “Thank you.”

Jun smiles. That smile stays in Seungcheol’s head during the rest of the practice, even until he tuck himself in his bed later that night.

**

It’s two days before the game. It’s been Jun’s new habit to drop the lemon honey slices to the baseball club before going to work. Now he just got home from work and he sees two pair of extra shoes in the entrance of his home. He knows the owner of the shoes before he even steps inside the living room.

As he expected, Vernon and Seungkwan are there, sitting with his little brother Yangyang. What he didn’t expect is that Yangyang is crying.

“Are you okay Yangyang? What happened?” Jun hurries to his crying brother.

Still sobbing, Yangyang replies, “I’m sad...”

Jun pats his head and asks gently, “Why are you sad?”

Yangyang looks at him with teary eyes. “Because you are.”

Jun looks confused. “I’m not sad, Yangyang. I’m happy. I have you, Mom, Seungkwan, Vernon. School and work are fun. What makes you think I’m not happy?” Jun wipes the tears from Yangyang’s eyes.

“Seungkwan says that because you’re so busy you can’t meet your favorite person and it makes you sad.”

Jun throws a glare towards his friends before returning to Yangyang.

Yangyang continues, “You don’t have to play with me all the time. Once a week is okay. You can see your favorite person, okay? You have to stop working too. Okay? I don’t want you sad...”

Jun tries to convince Yangyang that he is not sad and that his favorite person is Yangyang himself, but Yangyang won’t stop crying. Seungkwan’s persuasive skill is so powerful that he can make Yangyang believe in Seungkwan instead of his own brother. Jun can’t help but shudder.

Hugging his brother, Jun sees Seungkwan flashing a smile at Vernon. An evil, evil smile.

**

“We’re minutes away from our big game, and this is what you guys are busy talking about? My love life?” Seungcheol groans.

They are in the changing room. The members are changing while chatting casually, not a hint of nervousness in their faces. Before entering the changing room, they spotted Jun on the bleachers and now they’re talking about him.

Jeonghan, totally ignoring Seungcheol’s protest, says, “You’ve seen his cute act. He’s almost as embarrassing as you. You two will make a great couple.”

Chan says, “And he’s nice!”

“And handsome!” Mingyu chimes in, earning a glare from Seungcheol. “What? People talk about how good he looks. If you don’t act soon, someone will go for him.”

Mingyu’s words makes Seungcheol’s stomach churns, but he’s doing his best to not show it.

“Jun has to balance school and work. I doubt he has time to date,” says Seungcheol. Mingyu shrugs.

“And you guys just had to trouble him and make him bringing those lemons,” Seungcheol continues.

Jeonghan says, “He’s the one who made the offer. He seems happy to do it anyway.”

Jisoo looks at Seungcheol. “Think about it. Why do you think he’s happy doing that?”

Seungcheol goes silent at Jisoo’s words. He does hope that he is the reason, but he stops himself from hoping.

**

Seungcheol and his team steps out to the field. A roar of cheer from their supporters greet them, along with the music from the marching band. As he walks towards the center, Seungcheol eyes the bleachers. It doesn’t take him long to spot Jun, as he always do.

Jun smiles at him and he can feel his body relaxing. He didn’t even realize that he was tense.

Seungcheol smiles back before turning his eyes to his team,

The game plays out intense. The leading team changes constantly between innings and the tight game continues until the ninth inning. At the very end, the other team makes this amazing home run hit, sweeping the win from Seungcheol’s team.

Seungcheol’s team returns to the changing room battered but happy. They’ve never had such an intense and fun game. The crowd also recognize their effort, surrounding them with cheers and claps of appreciation. It’s definitely one of the best games they’ve had.

When they step out of the stadium, Seungcheol sees Jun near the exit. Jun notices Seungcheol too and walk towards him.

“Great game,” Jun says with a smile.

“Thanks.” Seungcheol replies with a bright smile.

Jun suddenly stutters in his words, “Well, uhm, I guess I’ll let you rest. But, uhm... Tomorrow. See you tomorrow. At lunch?”

Seungcheol thinks he has never seen Jun so cute. Did Jun just ask him to eat lunch together? After waiting on him like this?

Seungcheol feels as if all of his worries just puffed into thin air. “Yeah, lunch. And how about after school? We don’t have practice tomorrow,” he says.

Jun looks at him with widened eyes. “I can’t. Part time job. But...” His eyes softened. “How about dinner? I get off at 7.”

“That’ll be great.”

For a while they stand there, smiling at each other while ignoring the cooing sound from their friends.