Prologue

In a few weeks, it will be the graduation day. Everyone's clearly bittersweet about it, of course, Jaebum is too. But before that, he has to focus first. Today's the finals for the inter school competition for baseball.

It had been his childhood dream to become a baseball player and now's the start of that journey. They have to win today, they have to take the trophy. It's not for him alone, it's for their school. It would just put Jaebum in advantage if he could make a name for himself through this game.

His teammates were equally nervous as him, but he could feel that they're towards the same goal. Yugyeom, the youngest in their team couldn't even stay on his seat. But as soon as their eyes meet, the younger smiled. "Calm down, we're a team right?"

It was silly Jaebum thought, he keeps telling his teammates to calm down, take it easy, enjoy the game, and yet he's also very nervous. One because he's so close to his childhood dream, two because after the game, he'd finally confess to the boy who stole his heart. He smiled, reaching for the ring inside his pocket. 'Please, let it be good.'

And when it's their time for the game, Jaebum looked around the bleachers, looking for the boy with the bright signage with his name boldly written on it. The boy was near the first row with his sign, looking equally stressed. 'Smile for me.' Jaebum says to himself and very much like magic words, the boy did, even giving him an enthusiastic wave.

The thing is, he has been secretly looking for him at his games for the last months.

He used to find it a little weird as he seems to be always present in every game he has with his bright sign. The boy doesn't even go near him, he's just there ever present, supporting him every game. For years, Jaebum didn't pay attention to him, until he met him once on the school grounds.

The boy was by himself with a book in his hands. At first, he didn't recognize him, but when their eyes met, something clicked and he realized it was the sign boy. But before he could even give him a full wave, the boy had closed his book and left him dumbfounded with a hand midair.

Jaebum should have been furious, but he couldn't help but find it adorable that the boy was beet red. Ever since that time, he'd look for him every game, he convinced himself that it's something for good luck.

Just by that, Jaebum could tell that it's going to be a good game. It was. They won. When they finally claimed the trophy, Jaebum searched for the face in the crowd. There's a slight panic when he didn't see the sign so he looked harder only to realize that he really can't find him.

"Yugyeom, can you hold this for me for a second?" Jaebum says, handing the younger the trophy which made his teammates scream louder in joy. He ran towards the exit with a few people bumping into him, telling him that they were proud of him. He was happy too, of course, but he really needs to find the boy.

For almost fifteen minutes, he was there, looking here and there searching for the boy's face. His teammates were still there as they will have an after-party, but the people in the stadium were slowly decreasing.

Fifteen minutes more into waiting, Jaebum decided that maybe, the boy had gone home already. So, with a broken heart, he made his way back to his teammates only to be cornered by the players from the other team. "You think you can still beat us now?" says one of the boys while pushing Jaebum's left shoulder.

"I'm not in the mood today, leave me alone." Jaebum replied, dodging the boy's hand. But that didn't seem to do anything because right after that, he was punched right at the nose. So it was only natural for Jaebum to fight back, he threw punches here and there breaking one of the boy's nose.

It was easy for Jaebum as he had his fair share of troubles, but what he didn't expect as a baseball bat hitting his back. The last thing Jaebum could remember is clutching at the ring at his pocket before fainting on the ground.

--

Jaebum couldn't sleep at all again tonight. His work has been extra difficult lately and his back has been aching too. He grimaced from the pain before applying a soothing cream. He should really visit his doctor soon.

He sighed and went back to his bed, grabbing his laptop on his way. His last night search was still on his browser and his heart somewhat throbbed along the pain on his back.

He doesn't really need to wonder about the boy now, all the years he was able to hold back. However, he didn't know why he gave in last night, after knowing the boy's name for years, last night was the first time he searched for him on the internet.

Park Jinyoung was smiling way too cheerfully on his facebook photo with a v sign beside his face. Jaebum shouldn't be doing this, not when he has been trying to forget everything, but he couldn't. There are just way too many painful memories along with Jinyoung's face and name.

"At least, you look happy." Jaebum says, caressing the boy's photo on his laptop before surrendering to his bed.

'It's good to be back finally.' is all Jinyoung could think of the moment he stepped on his homeland again after 8 years. He went to the US with his family even before he could get his high school diploma. During that time, everything happened fast; one moment he's watching his first love's baseball game, next he's flying to another country not knowing if he'll ever come back.

He sighs, just the thought of his first love gives him a flood of emotions already. All the years, he still hasn't forgotten a thing about him, but the world seemed to do otherwise. At first, he wasn't taking it seriously, but as years pass by, articles on the internet about his first love's baseball games fade one by one.

Im Jaebum. A famous baseball player when they were in high school. He was a pitcher and he was so great sports websites couldn't stop talking about him until one day they did. And Jinyoung wonders why does the world seemed to be desperately trying to forget the one person he doesn’t want to ever forget.

Jinyoung wonders if this time he'd see him again and maybe if the fate would be kind to him this time, he'd get the chance to finally talk to him. However, he knows deep down he should not dream of that so much because he really doesn't have any clue about Jaebum's life now. He has no idea where guy is now, what he’s doing, what kind of life he’s living right now, is he married already? There’s one thing Jinyoung’s certain, he doesn’t know.

"Missed Korea that much?" Jinyoung hears a familiar voice from behind and he knows exactly who that is. "Taec hyung!" he was then welcomed by a tight hug from his sunbae in college. "You were standing and staring at nothing for quite a while I was almost confused if it was really Jinyoungie." Taecyeon said which made the younger laugh.

"Sorry, hyung, I was just so happy to be finally back here." The older nodded,  ruffling his hair a little as they made their way to the car.

Taecyeon offered him a position in his family's company a few months back. It wasn't big, but it's definitely something he likes, graphic designing, so he grabbed the opportunity then flew back to Korea right after he got his papers done.

They still have to discuss more about the job soon because as Taecyeon told him, it's a pretty huge project for their company.

Jaebum is starting to feel infuriated so he took a break from typing codes, endless codes. He has been stuck with this page for so long and he still somewhat couldn't get it right. It wasn't wrong per se, but he feels like something is not right.

With an annoyed sigh, Jaebum stood up from his seat, making his office mates and co-web developers, Yongguk, Hanbin, and Mark give him a look. "Where are you going?" Mark asked from his seat across Jaebum, but he only received an annoyed "outside." To which Yongguk and Hanbin exchanged a confused look before focusing back to their own computers.

On his way outside, Jaebum stretched his arms and neck, his brows furrowed and looking like he hadn't had good sleep in a week. He's frustrated, hungry, sleepy, his back keeps aching and he just wants his cup of Americano.

After taking his order, he quickly made his way to seat at the corner of the coffee shop. People passing by the shop, cars moving, and customers coming and leaving the shop sends nostalgia to Jaebum.

Jaebum didn't realize time passing by so fast. Albeit he has his conscious efforts to bury the memories at the bottom of his closet, he can still remember everything like it happened yesterday. He should have at least forgotten a few things by now, but he just can't, even after all those years.

With the memories flooding his thoughts, he closed his eyes and hoped and prayed that he wouldn't have a headache soon. 'Not now, not anytime time soon' he pleads, but the universe seems to be enjoying his misery because as soon as he opened his eyes, he sees a familiar boy passing by the coffee shop with the same damn smile he had 8 years ago.

'Park Jinyoung.' He muttered to himself. 'This couldn't be real' And before he could even realize what he is doing, he found himself walking towards the door with a familiar feeling in his chest. However, when he reached outside, Jinyoung seemed to have faded into the sea of people walking around the busy city of Seoul.

He sighs, looking up and closing his eyes. "Of course, it couldn't be real." He says one last time as looked back at the sea of people before making way back to the office. Leaving with more painful headache than when he came earlier.

Jinyoung's afternoon was spent with Taecyeon, catching up and discussing what is expected of him when he assumes the position. From the Job title itself, he'd be conceptualizing a homepage and all its aesthetic aspects. And with it being an online application, he'd be closely working with the IT experts assigned in the project.

If it had been the high schooler Jinyoung, he would already be anxious with just the thought of working with people he doesn't know. Thankfully, he outgrew it and could finally be more a little relax. He smiles to himself, shaking his head a little, 'did I finally outgrew it?' he thinks as he makes his way towards one of the seats at the baseball stadium.

Taecyeon left him earlier, explaining that he has an emergency meeting, hence giving Jinyoung a time for himself. He snickers, finding it silly that there's a part in him expecting to see Jaebum playing. Maybe, just maybe.

"Jinyoung, are you okay?" Taecyeon asks as he leads Jinyoung to the latter's office. Jinyoung nods, but his face clearly shows he's not. "Just a little nervous, I guess." Taeceyon snickers to this while giving Jinyoung a comforting pat on the shoulder, "It's gonna be fine, don't worry". A few sickeningly moments later, they finally reached a room with a couple of chairs and long tables inside, it was spacious and has good lighting.

"Attention, guys!" Taecyeon says, successfully making the people inside the room turn to him. "Good morning everyone!" Jinyoung's more nervous now than earlier with the eyes of at least six people on him. Taecyeon briefly asked everyone what's up and made a small introduction before nudging Jinyoung.

"Hello everyone, I'm Park Jinyoung." Jinyoung says before receiving warm greetings and smiles from the people inside the room. It was the marketing team; where he'll be assigned for as long as he's here in the company.

"Hi, Jinyoung! I'm Jackson, it's nice to meet you." Says the short but muscular boy. "You can sit anywhere you like." he continues, emphasizing it with a gesture.

"So, I'll leave you here so you can get to know the team. Just don't forget that we'll have a meeting at 2:00PM, don't you forget, okay?"  Taecyeon says before bidding him goodbye. "See you later." Jinyoung replies but before he could even turn his attention back to his team, he's already being pulled towards one of the tables.

And maybe Jinyoung is a little surprised, but he's a little happy too as his teammates are nice to him. The team is composed of Jackson, Youngjae, Bambam, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Yunhyeong. They were orienting him about the office, telling him their inside jokes and making him feel comfortable.

His day almost passed by on a whim, lunch was spent with his teammates who ordered pizza and chicken. Jinyoung's just glad everything seems to be going well, but he still has a meeting to attend in a few minutes so he refuses to cap his day yet.

It's still five minutes early when Jinyoung made his way to the meeting room, luckily Taecyeon was already there. There will only be a total of four people in the meeting including the both of them and the two others from the IT Department. After hearing it from Taecyeon, Jinyoung's eyes grew big.

Earlier, while they were eating lunch, Jackson and Baekhyun were the ones who kept telling him about the gossips in the office. And one of the gossips was that the IT Department was composed of, albeit handsome, terrifying guys. Baekhyun even said, "they look like you'll get punched if you say the wrong word" jokingly.

That's why, Jinyoung is already sweating bucks when he heard the door now being opened. It revealed a very tall guy and a guy who looked so painfully familiar even the guy himself stopped his tracks when their eyes met.

"Im Jaebum..." Jinyoung says, hardly believing what he's seeing. There standing by the door is his first love. If Jinyoung hadn't known Jaebum, he wouldn't even realize it's him. Clad with a grey hoodie with glasses perched on his pointed nose. He grew bigger, thicker even, but he still has the same unreadable face.

"You know each other?" Taecyeon asked as the newcomers find their seats in front of the other two.

"No." Jaebum quickly answered avoiding to meet Jinyoung's eyes. Which would have been more awkward if Jinyoung actually spoke louder because he said yes.  But hey, of course, Jaebum wouldn't probably know him or remember him, he was just a fan among other fans. Jinyoung was definitely just a no one.

"We were from the same high school." Jinyoung says but clearly with a hint of dismissal in his tone. To this Taeceyon finally nodded, introducing the guys in front of him as Bang Yongguk and Im Jaebum web developers from the IT Department.

Fortunately, they were able to carry the meeting in a professional manner, with Jinyoung giving suggestions for the project and Jaebum briefly explaining their part. Jinyoung couldn't help it though, he hasn't seen Jaebum in years, couldn't even find his social media accounts and now he's right in front of him, but he wouldn't even meet his eyes.

When the meeting adjourned, it was obvious that Jaebum wanted to leave the room as soon as possible. Jinyoung took a notice of this but he still wanted to try and talk to him so he followed him.

"Hey, Jaebum! Don't you play baseball anymore?" Jinyoung asks when he finally reaches the same pace as Jaebum, but to this, the latter turned to him with anger seething through his eyes. Then he says, in a low and quiet voice, "I don't and don't mention it ever again." with that, he leaves Jinyoung flabbergasted, frozen on his spot.

Jinyoung didn't know that Jaebum had stopped playing baseball. Never in his dreams, he'd hear that because by now Jinyoung was actually expecting him to be a professional player.

He didn't notice, Yongguk's already beside him, "he doesn't really like it when people mention anything about his high school." He says, emotionless, but it still captured Jinyoung's attention. "Why?" the latter aks, pain clearly evident on his face.

To this, Yongguk only gave him a shrug before bidding a very low goodbye.

'Why is Jinyoung suddenly back in his life? Why is he there looking cute and all?' Jaebum asks himself as he makes his way back to his office. He didn't intend to react that way to the boy, but seeing him back just like that surely throws him off.

He waited for him for a very long time, why is he coming back just like that. Jaebum couldn't understand. Why after all these years? Why now that he’s missing him so much?

Jinyoung didn't notice it was already past 10 in the evening and he's still at the office. They started the project almost two weeks ago and they are just reaching the peak of it. He wasn't completely happy with his initial designs, so he had to redo some of them.

He hasn't seen Jaebum since their meeting either. The IT Department had been busy and so is he. Finally, he's contented with his designs, but he still has some touch ups to do, but he should probably go now. It’s already late and his apartment is still a bit far away from the office. He turns his PC off and made his way to the elevator.

Jinyoung's tired, his eyes are starting to hurt as well as his back from sitting all day. He just wants to go home until his elevator door opened revealing an equally tired, scary even, Jaebum. Jinyoung smiled at him, but the former paid him no attention, as if he hadn't seen Jinyoung at all.

"Do you usually stay up late here? I thought I was alone." Jinyoung offers, but Jaebum seemed like he had not heard anything. Jinyoung was ready to give up when his stomach growled just before the elevator doors opened. Maybe, Jaebum just really finds him annoying because he was annoying and gross, so he purposely walked slower so he could give him space.

However, Jaebum suddenly turned to him, "Was that your stomach? Are you hungry?" Jinyoung stopped his tracks, looked at his back and then to Jaebum as if he had seen a ghost. "Uhh, yes... Yes, I'm a bit hungry." He replied after a moment of confusion.

"You shouldn't do that, if you're gonna stay up late, bring some food or you can always call for delivery." That's the most words Jinyoung has heard from Jaebum. "How about you?" Jinyoung asked, still taken aback by Jaebum's words.

"Of course." Was Jaebum's reply before he proceeds to walk towards the building's exit. "There's a place that's still open around this time, do you want to eat there?" Jinyoung then tried to pinch himself but couldn't do it because Jaebum turned back to him.

"Uhh, yes." Jinyoung says, still not believing what he's hearing. He later found himself inside the night stall just around the corner near their office.

The other had ordered ddeokbokki since he had already eaten earlier so he wasn't really hungry. Jinyoung on the other hand order a ramyun.

"Thank you." Jinyoung says while they're waiting for their orders. Jaebum looks at him briefly before dismissing it with a nod. When their food came, both of them ate in silence. It's not like Jinyoung is complaining, this is more than enough for him. So he ate contentedly, not really noticing the glances Jaebum has been stealing.

The next day, Jinyoung found himself in that situation again. They've been leaving the office the same time. It wasn't really a surprise though since they're working on the same project. What surprised him more is that this time, Jaebum ordered more than a ddeokbokki.

"I forgot my food at home." Jaebum replied when Jinyoung asked him if he had already eaten at the office earlier. Jinyoung nods, taking a kimbap to his plate. Containing the smile budding on his lips. He couldn't help bu