grand slam | seokhan

01 || Empty field, Empty hearts

"Heads up captain! Fastball coming at you from six o'clock!" A tall student pointed out from Jihoon's right side as a baseball came flying towards them. It hadn't been the fastest pitch the short baseball captain had ever seen, nor did it catch him off-guard, but it was still irritating to have had to deal with especially since it wasn't the first time he had been pitched towards.

Being the catcher, and now captain, on their school's baseball team led to everyone in their grade greeting Jihoon by throwing all types of things at him so that he could catch them. He could only guess that they all thought it was cute to do; greeting a catcher by making them catch something every time you saw them was so obviously clever, they most definitely deserved awards for their sophisticated senses of humor.

That was basically why Jihoon hadn't been caught off-guard by the sudden pitch; That and he spotted Seokmin inching towards him and the other seniors on the baseball team with a baseball in hand.

Just seeing Seokmin in his peripheral vision made him suspicious of the brunette and his suspicions came true the moment Seokmin took his pitching stance in the middle of the hallway.

While the other students around them awed at Seokmin's form and Jihoon's quick reflexes that allowed him to catch the baseball, an unimpressed expression formed on the short senior's face. "Stop throwing baseballs at me in the middle of the hallway. You're going to get suspended and then killed when I throttle you for getting yourself kicked from the team." Jihoon sighed before lightly tossing back the baseball he caught to Seokmin. The tall junior fumbled with the round ball before finally grasping it in his right hand.

"However aggressive he may be, Jihoon has a point Seokmin. We can't have our pitcher being suspended from the team. It's bad enough we're missing outfielders, we can't lose our star pitcher as well." The student on the left of Jihoon, Minhyun, spoke in a scolding yet soothing tone as he furrowed his eyebrows at the tall student on JIhoon's opposite side who congratulated Seokmin for his pitch.

Baekho was always enthusiastic, particularly when it came to baseball, and tended to get over excited about everything about the sport. This side of him hadn't failed to show up this time as he ran over to share his glee with Seokmin, all while earning a sharp glance from Minhyun who remained by Jihoon's side. "and Baek, please don't encourage this behavior."

"I'll stop, but only until we get to the field. I'm so excited for this season! I can tell it's going to be a good one!" Seokmin pocketed the round baseball he had thrown at Jihoon after the short baseball captain decided to return it to him. While Seokmin did tend to get really enthusiastic about the things he loved, he still was a pretty obedient member of the team and therefore he listened when Minhyun and Jihoon felt the need to boss him around.

The same couldn't be said for Baekho though, who was a stronger and more dominant figure than the whimsical brunet. Contrary to how Seokmin acted, Baekho often did mock Minhyun for his parental role on the team to the extent to which the latter couldn't help but wonder why he even was friends with such a rambunctious character.

"You and me both Seokmin! Just wait until the other teams get a load of what we're made of this season! Sure we're short a few players, but you and I are here to make up for it!" Baekho slapped Seokmin on the back with just enough strength to make the junior stumble forward. Sometimes Baekho didn't know how to hold back with his power, he usually complained that it was both a blessing and a curse to his close friends who paid no attention to him at all when he acted so shamelessly. There really was no doubt about it though: Baekho was one of the strongest members on the team.

And although that power came in handy on the baseball field, it did prove to be quite disruptive and overwhelming anywhere outside the field. Why, Seokmin even feared the powerful senior when he had first met Baekho on his first day of baseball practice back during his freshman year of high school. It only took him a week though to figure out that the cold, hardened exterior to the senior was just a cover-up. Baekho acted nothing how he looked; where he looked intimidating he was instead charming and generous.