Feeling nervous Eunwoo?" Mingyu asked as he slung his arm over the black haired junior's shoulders to try to comfort his friend. In response to that, Eunwoo gave his close friend a look of uncertainty that was easily translated by the third baseman. The two were close, considering they were childhood friends.

Although they didn't attend the same middle school, they were now in the same high school. Maybe they weren't as close as they had been in the past, but they still knew each other like the backs of their hands. That was how Mingyu could tell that Eunwoo had been feeling uneasy since baseball practice started. "There's nothing to fear. This is only an exhibition match, so it won't really count for anything it's just for fun and so that we can both practice-"

"I know what an exhibition match is Mingyu, I wasn't born yesterday dumbass." Eunwoo scoffed at the remark from Mingyu. The tall junior didn't mind being sassed at all by his friend, mainly because it brought a smile to the latter's face amid his nervous nature.

The baseball team had been planning an exhibition match against their sister school, Starship Academy, or more specifically the baseball team belonging to the school. The Pledis High baseball team often did practice with the Starship Academy baseball team, primarily because the captains of both teams were close (no matter how much Jihoon protested against this fact), which is why the other members of the team were relaxed compared to the recruits.

This would be the first time the team's gone against the Starship team since they've recruited their newest players. Not only would it be a fun way to get some hands-on experience for the new recruits, but it would also be enjoyable for the more experienced members on the team as they would get a chance to catch up with the other team.

"You know it's amazing how someone so timid and shy can be a real asshole at the same time." Mingyu bitterly grumbled as he furrowed his eyebrows at Eunwoo, who had started laughing at his friend's reaction. It delighted the tall junior to see his friend lose some of that nervous ambiance flying around him, although Mingyu wasn't as happy to see that Chan was also laughing at him out of the corners of his eyes.

One sharp glance towards the first baseman was enough to shut Chan up and send him on his way though. "I stand by what I said though; there really is no reason to be so anxious about this match today, so lighten up because you really look like you're about to shit your pants."

"Thanks for the encouragement. I really feel so much better about everything now." Eunwoo spoke sarcastically, hoisting a smile onto his face. It caused Mingyu to sigh before he patted the junior's back. Afterwards, Mingyu went off to find out where Chan was residing so that he could scold the younger junior for laughing at him so obnoxiously.

Eunwoo looked down in uncertainty as he bit his lip softly. He had until the opposing team arrived to get over his nerves and the bubbling pit in his stomach that urged him to just run away from the field. Even his bowels were actively trying their best to get Eunwoo off of the field. His mind was set on getting him to play in the exhibition match, but his body was reacting so fiercely against the decision.

Eunwoo threw off his baseball glove from his left hand and balled both of his hands into fists. He cringed at how sweaty they were and wondered if he'd react this same way if they were playing a real game. No, he'd react even worse.

Fumbling with his hands, Eunwoo glanced upwards to try to look at the clouds above him. His grandma had taught him a trick on how to relieve stress by watching the sky, although it didn't really seem to be working for Eunwoo now because the sinking feeling in his chest was far from gone.

The junior lowered his head down disappointedly right before meeting eyes with Seokmin who was already standing on the pitcher's mound, passing around a baseball with Baekho and Minhyun. He smiled brightly when he met Eunwoo's gaze while holding up a thumbs-up with his free right hand.

"Hey Eunwoo, Josh and I are going to practice a bit too. Want to join us?" Ren asked, appearing on the left side of Eunwoo out of thin air. He turned to see Joshua also standing, but on his right, while throwing and catching a baseball up into the air.

The brunet raised a questioning eyebrow, but was relieved to see Eunwoo agree to join them. Both he and Ren were nervous as well, but nothing topped how anxious Eunwoo was. They could practically see the sweat dripping off the junior's palms, and as senior outfielders they felt responsible for helping Eunwoo out. After all, new recruits had to stick together right?

"I remember the first time we played, we were just like him." Minhyun reminisced as he thought back to his first official game.

He joined the team around the same time as Jihoon and Baekho, and yet they both seemed calm and collected during their first game while Minhyun was a nervous mess. It turned out though that both seniors were just as anxious, which was proven when Baekho took to going to the bathroom to puke after their game was over. "Seokmin was an even bigger mess. He literally dropped the baseball out of his hand the first time he pitched, remember when Jihoon yelled at him afterwards?"

"How could I forget? Jihoon wasn't even yelling at me and I had nightmares for weeks." Baekho shivered to himself as Minhyun passed him the baseball they were playing around with. He threw it over to Seokmin as he continued to speak, or yell across the bases so that both Minhyun and the brunet could hear him. "Remind me again to never get on that kid's bad side."

"I still haven't recovered from that by the way. A piece of my sanity was lost that day. Will I ever get it back? Find out on the next episode of the Late Night with Seokmin. It airs on Thursdays at 10a.m., reruns on Sundays at 2a.m." The pitcher winced in slight pain as he caught the baseball thrown his way from Baekho.

Both of the seniors smiled and lended Seokmin laughs before they turned to find Chan and Mingyu again having a fight amongst themselves. Minhyun walked over to break it up while Baekho watched on, betting his lunch money all on Chan kicking Mingyu's ass (sadly Minhyun broke up the fight before he could win that bet).

While all the basemen bickered while trying to break the two juniors up from their fight, which ended up being more difficult than Minhyun had foresaw because Chan really was stronger than he looked, Seokmin panned over to view the bleachers where there was surprisingly an audience waiting for their exhibition match to begin.

Wonwoo was seated next to Jun, reading a large book while the purple haired male stood up and waved to Joshua, his boyfriend. Jun tugged on Wonwoo's hand, waving it around to make it seem like the black haired senior was happy to be there when really all Wonwoo cared about was finishing up the book chapter he was currently on.

The reason why it was so surprising to see the pair sitting in the bleachers was because the bleachers usually remained empty while they played. During games there was the chance that a small crowd of students would show up to watch their game, but at most the head count remained at fifteen spectators. Students never showed up to exhibition matches like they did during the glory days of the baseball team when the entire school was proud to have the baseball team in their rankings.

Seokmin was glad to see two of his friends sitting in the bleachers, ready to support them, even if both of them were only there to see their significant others. The brunet was disappointed though to see that Jeonghan hadn't joined them in the bleachers as well. He figured his small speech would have pushed Jeonghan to at least watch the team in action, but it didn't seem as if that was the case.

"Pledis High, we meet again! Get ready to face our wraths you simpletons!" A loud, hyper voice came roaring from the entrance to the field.

The voice belonged to the captain of the Starship baseball team, Kwon Soonyoung, who stood out with his brightly dyed red hair and equally as red tracksuit. Neither of the other players wearing the same tracksuits as Soonyoung, except with different numbers for each player inscribed on the back, really paid attention to the voice though with the exception of Jihoon who lowered his head down out of secondhand embarrassment.

"Hey Jihoon, are you ready to have your ass served to you? You and your team may have beat us last time, but we're going to wipe the floor with you! Enter my revenge arc. You are the antagonist of my movie and I can confidently say I will destroy the fuck out of-"

"How embarrassing, not for him though, for us. Do we really have to walk around him?" Minghao, one of the Starship players scoffed as he and his other teammates tried their best not to pay attention to their captain who was still screaming from where he sprinted behind them.

Minghao cringed as he pushed back his hazel brown bangs and moved out of the way when he caught the red flash that was their captain rushing past him to meet with Jihoon. "I have a reputation to uphold, unlike you guys. I can't afford being seen in public with him."

"If you're talking about your reputation as a bitch, don't worry that's not going away anytime soon." Seungkwan, another one of the Starship baseball players, muttered under his breath. The blond silenced himself though when he caught the harsh gaze Minghao was sending his way. "But to answer your question, he is our captain Minghao, we're kind of forced to bring him around everywhere."

"Jihoon! Did you see me? I came in running from over there and now I'm over here!" The redhead exclaimed as he hopped around the short, irritated captain. "Wow you look way paler than from when I last saw you like last week, are you sure you're sleeping and eating well- wait no we're enemies I don't care about you! Me and my team are here to crush you!"

"Bring it then." Jihoon confidently smirked at the opposing team's captain. For the first time in a whole the Pledis High team gawked at their captain who now seemed to have a fiery sense of passion in his eyes. Minhyun smiled, having seen the familiar feeling of competitiveness from Jihoon, and chuckled to himself.

There was no telling what they were all in for once Jihoon's competitive side was unlocked, especially when it came to competing against Kwon Soonyoung. "Hit us with everything you guys got."

The redhead grinned at Jihoon, nodding before gathering the rest of his team in a circle near the pit reserved for any opposing teams. By the pit was where the Starship baseball Coach stood, conversing with the Pledis High Coach. Meanwhile, Jihoon gathered his own team in a circle, giving the players a small motivational speech to warm them up for the upcoming game.

"Alright guys, this is our first game as a complete team. I don't expect things to go flawless, since we're not all in sync as a team yet. Try your best, give it your all, and remember what we went over during practice." Jihoon surveyed the faces of the players staring back at them.

A few of them looked enthusiastic about the game, excluding Eunwoo who still seemed to have an unsure expression plastered to his face. The short captain offered a sympathetic smile, before offering a word of wise advice towards the junior. "This is just practice, don't even think of it as a real game."

Jihoon went on to explain a strategy he was hoping to implement during the exhibition match so his expression hardened as he got serious about what he was saying. Seokmin nodded and occasionally added a few ad-libs here and there to show that he was listening, but it was quite obvious that he hadn't really heard a word of what Jihoon was saying.

Instead, his gaze remained fixed on the almost empty bleachers where only Wonwoo and a cheerful Jun sat; still no Jeonghan.

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