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Bae stands proudly, suited in her uniform with a bat in her hand. The crowd around the field began to roar loudly as the anticipated game was announced to start soon. The girl feels a rush of adrenaline and lets out a huff of breath.
“Nervous?”
Jinni, one of Bae’s teammates asks and rubs comforting circles behind the taller’s back.
“Not really. Just feeling a little giddy,” Bae chuckles, her eyes landing on a certain brunette from across the field.
“Giddy because of the game? Or because of someone ?”
Bae chokes on her own saliva and faces the pink-haired girl beside her. She glares at the latter, “What are you talking about?!”
Jinni smirks then rolls her eyes, glancing at the brunette standing at the stage platform where all the cheerleaders for their team have gathered.
“Oh well, I don’t really know. Try asking yourself,” she says with an evident teasing tone.
Bae grumbles under her breath, and a soft hue of red slowly creeps into her cheeks as she tries to avoid the latter’s gaze. She then decides to leave, not forgetting to smack the back of the pink-haired’s head.
“Ouch!”
– – –
The live band’s instrumentals and the chant of the crowd echoes around the field. The cheerleaders that represented Bae’s and Jinni’s team performed at the center of the grass field with their practiced stunts and dance routine.
Bae keeps her eyes locked on a certain brunette, the jersey that the latter is wearing reveals her name to be ‘Haewon’.
Bae kept on mumbling Haewon’s name and loved how it easily rolled out her mouth. (Jinni sees the girl doing so, making sure to tease her again after the game ends.)
“Bae Jinsol, get your ass out here!” Their coach calls out for her.
The girl immediately stands up from her seat in the dugout and grabs the bat that was previously stored by the fence.
“Show them what you got,” Bae nods eagerly and flashes a knowing smile to her coach.
She starts hearing the west side of the field shout her name. Glancing in that direction, she recognized familiar faces that she frequently sees in school. A warm feeling spreads inside of her and gives them a quick hand wave.
“Knock them down, Bae!”
“You can do it, Bae Jinsol!”
“Swing your bat just like how you swing into my heart!”
Bae stifles a laugh after hearing the last shout from the crowd.
Regaining her focus, she closes her eyes and heaves a sigh, “Do well, so you can show off to her…”
– – –
The sun was like pure torture as Bae stands down in the batter’s box. Sweat was already forming in her hands and forehead, prompting her to grip her bat more tightly.
She glances around the field to seek her teammates, but of course, she had to lock gaze with Haewon who’s now in the stands. Bae receives an encouraging smile from her which makes the batter fire up to win the game.
“I’m weak,” Bae mumbles breathlessly before readying herself for the pitcher.
It was now a do-or-die.
Bae’s team needed one more score to win.
The girl loosens her shoulder and stares at the opponent by the mound, who’s now wound up for a pitch. The latter checks the ball before backing up and releasing the ball from her hand, throwing it towards the catcher’s place.
Bae smirks as her bat firmly connects with the ball, sending it out high from the field.
It was her best strike.
Bae swiftly takes off for the first base and is soon showered with cheers from the crowd. She hears Jinni shouting nonsense from the dugout which made her laugh heartily.
“BAE JINSOL IS THE BEST!”
– – –
Bae, Jinni, and their teammates had separate ways as they bid each other a goodbye. Their celebration was cut short when the team’s coach had to attend some kind of meeting.
Bae was left alone in the locker room when Jinni told her that she was needed at home. The girl nods understandingly and offers to see out the pink-haired, though her offer is denied.
She was almost done fixing her things and shoving clothes into her bag when a voice disturbs her from doing so.
“You were really cool out there.”
Bae flinches and accidentally knocks off some of her things down the floor. She soon realized whose voice it was.
“H-hey! Uhm, I– uh, didn’t know you’re there,” Bae laughs nervously and picks up her things, then Haewon joins her.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I even made you drop these…”
“It’s fine,” they both fell into silence after Haewon passed the gloves and towel back to Bae.
The brunette watches the latter zip her bag before she spoke up again, “I saw you earlier and uhm, thanks for watching me so intently when I was performing with the girls?”
Bae stutters a response as she was too conflicted to say anything since what Haewon said was indeed true. She had no reason to deny it so she just dropped the bomb.
“That’s because I like you, Haewon.”
The brunette widens her eyes, “Really? You’re joking, right?”
“I’m afraid I’m not. I do like you, for a while now…”
Bae looks down as her voice wavers from the sudden confession. She takes a deep breath and gets herself ready for the awaited rejection.
Then she was engulfed in a hug.
By thee Oh Haewon.
Bae froze up and couldn’t reciprocate the affection. Though, what came up next made it impossible for her to not pass out, right then and there.
“I like you too, Bae. I really appreciate how you would show off whenever our training overlaps.”
“YOU KNEW I WAS SHOWING OFF?!”
Let’s just say…
Bae and Haewon walked home together for the first time and things just naturally progressed for the better.