"You have three pitches to show me what you can do. No more, no less and if you fail to impress me... Well, you don't want to know. Got it?" Sunggyu firmly said, voice cold, yet passionate in a way that told the other that Sunggyu meant business and not to mess around. Something of which Sunggyu wouldn't tolerate, especially when he could be using Dongwoo or one of the second years as their pitcher instead of the string bean in front of him. 

He didn't know what Mithra had felt or thought about when he had met the boy in front of him, but so far, he wasn't impressing Sunggyu much. Because between his stance, the stutter, the way his shoulders drooped, and how he kept his gaze towards the floor, he looked weak. He looked pathetic and if Sunggyu had to say anything about that, he looked as if he shouldn't even be near the mound. Because if Myungsoo was going to be their ace, he needed to look like one and not look like some pathetic puppy that they had picked up because they felt sorry for him.

However, Sunggyu trusted Mithra enough to know what the coach was doing, so despite feeling as if Myungsoo shouldn't even be there, he'd give the boy a chance to prove himself, to show him that he wasn't as pitiful and inadequate as he looked. And if the boy failed to meet his expectations, then Sunggyu wouldn't even try to create a battery with the boy. He would catch the other's pitches, because he was sure Mithra and Coach Tablo would put Myungsoo in despite his reservations, but everything else, Myungsoo wouldn't get until he could prove his worth. Something of which was near impossible, because Heechul outclassed everyone that Sunggyu had ever caught for and it would take something great to prove Sunggyu otherwise. Especially since Heechul had literally left a legacy when he had died. 

So Myungsoo had very big shoes to fill. 

Noticing the other nod at his words, Sunggyu could only walk to the far end of the bullpen to crouch down, pull down his face mask, and place his mitt in front of him, stance showing that he was ready to play. Pointing at Myungsoo to take his place at the other end, he called, "Three pitches. Your best pitches that you think will impress me. One needs to be a fastball, but the other two can be whatever you choose. I heard you can do some breaking balls, so show me those, but don't mess around and give me ty pitches, because if you do, it'll be over and I won't care about how many pitches you have left. You mess around, you're done." 

Not caring that his words had caused the other to look even more nervous than he had been earlier, Sunggyu just quietly waited until the other calmed down enough to do his thing. Because as much as Sunggyu was being hard on the kid, he would have to learn that being on the mound, being in front of thousands of people and going against teams that are much better than high school baseball teams, was filled with all sorts of pressure. He'd have to be strong and determined if he wanted to pitch.

Seeing the freshman calm down enough that he was getting ready to pitch, Sunggyu couldn't help but take notes on the other's form, taking in the way he placed his leg, how he distributed his weight, and how he would throw the ball. Only for a second or so to pass to see Myungsoo let go, ball coming straight towards him with minimal spin: fastball.

Letting his mitt do the work, catching the ball easily enough, but being able to feel the force behind it, the speed at which it had gotten to... It was slow. 

Too slow for what they needed, too slow compared to Heechul's fastball, that Sunggyu couldn't help but get angry. 

Even Dongwoo could do a fastball like that from time to time, but he had never wanted to be their ace like Heechul had wanted to... Just like Kim Myungsoo wanted to. 

He couldn't deal with this. 

Ripping his face mask off, a sudden rage coursing through his veins, he couldn't help but yell, "What the are you doing? This is your fastball? This is a pitch you wanted to show me? Because this is absolutely pathetic... Unworthy-"

"Sunggyu, let him pitch his last two pitches. Can't you see he's nervous?" 

Almost snarling at the person that had interrupted him, he couldn't help but turn his head to glare at the man who had said that to him. Only to notice that it was Dongwoo standing off towards the side, next to Mithra, yelling at him, obviously intrigued by what was going on but not too pleased to hear Sunggyu yelling as he was, even if Sunggyu had the right to do so. The pitch was quite pitiful after all and Dongwoo was no stranger to pitching fast balls as fast as the one Myungsoo had just pitched. 

It was barely 120 kph, so if this was what he truly wanted to show Sunggyu, it was weak. 

However, seeing how nervous Myungsoo had been, how he was absolutely cowering now, Dongwoo couldn't help but intervene: "Give him his last two pitches, he'll show you what he needs to show you, alright?" Before he was quickly bringing his attention to the pitcher, "Give him another fastball, but this time, don't hesitate. Last pitch is yours to decide, but surprise him. Because if you don't, I won't intervene next time and Coach here won't as well. So man up and give us a show, because Sunggyu will catch whatever you can dish out. They don't call him a genius catcher for nothing, so give him your all, got it?"

Seeing the other shakily nod at Dongwoo's words, Sunggyu couldn't help but mutter angrily to himself, "If he s up one more time, I'm done. I don't care if Dongwoo has my ," despite situating himself to catch Myungsoo's pitches again. While Myungsoo could only mentally berate himself for doing something as stupid as hesitating, because as scary as Sunggyu was, he did want to prove himself. He needed to prove himself and he had gotten lucky when Dongwoo interrupted the two, giving him another chance, so not wanting to waste it, he found himself setting his pitch up again. 

This time he'd show them, show them one of the reasons why he didn't get to pitch so much, despite part of it being seniority. Because as much as his high school coach advocated that, some of it was due to the fact that Myungsoo's pitches were sporadic as his fast balls weren't just fastballs, but different breaking balls more often than not. And since not many of his teammates had wanted to catch for him because of how sporadic they could be, Myungoso having very little control half the time, the coach had to keep him out, even if Myungsoo was better and easily could have been better under the right tutelage. 

But Myungsoo didn't know a lot about that, but he did know he was lucky to be here and Coach Mithra had seen something in him that other's couldn't, and he couldn't just let that man down. So taking a deep breath and centering himself, raising his right leg and balancing himself, arm situating itself in a way that was hard to see if you were looking straight on, it was barely a second later when Myungsoo pulled back to release his pitch. Ball quickly soaring into the air, only to give a resounding flack when it hit Sunggyu's mitt, telling him how hard he had just thrown it, Myungsoo couldn't help but look towards Dongwoo and Coach.

Only to see a surprised look on Dongwoo's face and a small smile on Mithra's.

While Sunggyu, he could only throw the ball back, still mentally taking notes about the pitch that he had just received (speed being close to 135kph, a cutter with a 6-12 motion, a weapon if able to reproduce - but could Myungsoo do that? Could he do any other breaking balls consistently?), as he yelled, "One last ball, don't screw up because you're already on thin ice, don't make it worse." 

And as much as Myungsoo didn't want to do such a thing, positioning himself to throw one last time, arm ready to throw -

"Aaaahhhh!!! Get away from me you !" 

His pitch going far too wide, hitting the side of the fence instead of anywhere near Sunggyu's mitt, Myungsoo had ed up. And looking at Sunggyu literally throw off his helmet once again, only to yell at the two players that had interrupted them, telling them to run laps, Dongwoo quickly upping the number for their negligence and unprofessionalism, it wasn't long until Sunggyu had turned his attention back to him, mouth set in a frown. 

"I don't care how much potential you may have or that Coach Mithra has scouted you, but if this is the way you pitch, unable to focus to the point that outside noises like that don't matter, then you don't deserve to be here, you don't deserve to be the school's ace. Because to me, you're time started now and you just failed your first test. Absolutely pathetic!" Sunggyu growled at the end with a glare, before he was stalking out of the bullpen, ready to give Coach a piece of his mind. 

Because with as much promise Myungsoo had shown with that one pitch, at how much potential he had, Myungsoo had screwed up, and until the boy could show him that he was able to carry the team, Myungsoo would be treated as a second-rate pitcher, unworthy of his respect. 

With those pitches he had just been shown, Heechul would have been crawling in his grave.