Six pairs of eyes stayed fixated on the entrance to the large gymnasium as the sound of footsteps approaching the otherwise vacant room gradually grew closer every passing second. The footsteps paused momentarily and following that silence came the expected sound to the wide doors to the gymnasium opening.
All six pairs of those eyes perked up at the sight of those closed doors finally opening up, but all six baseball players then began to share matching frowns on their faces when they realized that it was just the school janitor coming in to clean the large gymnasium.
While four out of the six official members of the baseball team sat on the bleachers in the gym, their captain and Seokmin instead sat at a small table where an empty sign-up sheet laid flat on its surface. The group of teenagers had been there all afternoon, right from when the last school bell rang to now, when the school was getting ready to close its doors for the weekend. Jihoon had a large scowl on his face, whereas Seokmin's bright expression shined with anticipation that none of the other baseball members could share.
A majority of the teenagers felt discouraged by the lack of attendance at their tryouts, especially because they had tried so hard to get the rest of the student body interested in their team. Even Baekho who usually radiated confidence and happiness out of his pores at any given moment felt downhearted by the empty gymnasium.
"I expected Jeonghan to not show up, but I didn't expect nobody at all." Jihoon broke the silence among his teammates first.
Usually being the group moodmaker wasn't up to Jihoon, but as their captain Jihoon knew that checking in on his team was now one of the many responsibilities entitled to him. Making conversation during difficult times was what their previous captain did to lighten the mood whenever things got dreary. Jihoon wanted to use Seungcheol as an example of what a good captain would do, and so he followed in his example.
"He didn't really seem impressed by the idea of going to tryouts." Seokmin agreed without hesitation. He glanced over to see Jihoon twirling a silver pen in his right hand and observed how every time the pen slipped out of Jihoon's pale hands, the small captain picked it right back up to repeat his actions. While the tall brunet stared at the spinning silver pen, he began to think about Jeonghan.
He hadn't managed to really talk to the dark-haired student since last week because of how busy he had been with the team, but Seokmin was positive that things would work out between them. He just knew things would work out just like how he knew that the team still had hope. "By the way, you seem like you're close to him. How do you both know each other?"
"We went to the same summer camp every year as kids until about three years ago. It's hard not to remember pretty much my only friend at those dreadful camps." The short senior explained as he continued with twirling the silver pen in his right hand around.
"I have no idea why my parents thought sending me to those was a smart idea though. The whole making friends at camp concept is such a hoax. I've only made enemies there, and not the good kind."
Seokmin nodded as Jihoon spoke calmly. The pale senior seemed like someone who didn't talk much which was also the first impression Seokmin had gotten from him. What was surprising though was that Jihoon did make more of an effort to speak and respond the more he got to know you. The rest of the team had come to realize this as well.
All of them were cautious around Jihoon at first, but now they were all at the stage where they trusted Jihoon and his judgement hence why they trusted him to be their captain.
"Hey kids! Did anyone show up for tryouts?" The six pairs of eyes joined together once again to gaze at the entering figure. It was an older woman, their Coach, entering the gymnasium with a warm smile despite seeing the frowns shared amongst her students' faces. The woman was way more focused on the idea of finally getting to leave behind her duties as both a gym teacher and a coach at the school for the weekend than on how her team was doing mentally.
The blonde Coach reached her desk, which was only a few feet away from where Seokmin and Jihoon were sitting at their table, and began to pack up her personal items in her red purse while humming softly. It was only then that she noticed that the team had been in the gym for a reason; They were there for their tryouts!
It only took one glance at the empty sign-up sheet in front of Jihoon for the coach to figure that one out. "Can't say I'm surprised! I mean it's a miracle in itself that I managed to get you all together on this team. Oh well, I guess we'll have to do without the team-"
"We can wait a few more minutes. A few more minutes won't hurt Coach." Jihoon stopped spinning his silver pen to stand up and get on eye level with the Coach. The stern senior maintained eye contact with their Coach as he stayed adamant on getting his point across. Speaking up for his team was also another one of the responsibilities that Jihoon had as captain.
The blonde woman stopped and turned to glance at all of her students who shared similar looks of passion as Jihoon.
"Alright if you all insist." She sighed as she zipped up her purse. She bit the inside of her cheek out of frustration and held back from showing her emotions on her face while peeking back at Jihoon to meet his eyes. "You have until I get back from the teacher's lounge, but after that I'll have to call it quits for you kids."
The short captain nodded and thanked their Coach who proceeded to leave the six baseball players behind, not wanting to stick around with teenagers any longer. Jihoon let out an exhale of relief before he sat down right next to Seokmin who was delighted by the news.
"Do you really think people will show up? Coach will be back in a few minutes and I don't think anyone will be showing up anytime soon." Chan spoke with a hint of uncertainty in his voice as he leaned his head on Mingyu's left shoulder instinctively.
The tall junior who was more quiet than usual, being usually an outspoken person, didn't mind the sudden weight on his shoulder. It was soothing having someone by his side. Why, it was almost soothing enough to mend the crack in his heart.
"And we'll wait until then. I trust that someone will come!" Seokmin grinned enthusiastically while holding both of his thumbs for his friends to view.
"I mean if we want this season to run smoothly, we have to trust in that thought." Minhyun tried to support the brown-haired pitcher's argument, even if he did have doubts that they would find anyone to join. Minhyun didn't consider himself to be a very cynical person, but sitting in that empty gymnasium for hours with high hopes only to be let down could discourage even the happiest person (with the exception of Seokmin who somehow still had smiling eyes).
"I didn't miss tryouts right?" The sound of a calm voice yanked all the baseball players off of their feet as they stood up one by one at the sheer excitement of someone entering the gym for their tryouts. The voice belonged to Joshua who arrived in front of the table Seokmin and Jihoon were previously sitting at while carrying a large bookbag, presumably full of his studying materials.
"Joshua! See I told you guys someone would come!" Seokmin turned to point at Joshua, as if none of the other team members had seen the brunet walk into the gymnasium themselves. Wide grins began to sweep across the faces of the baseball players as they realized that maybe not all hope was lost.
Baekho stood up and immediately slung an arm over Joshua's shoulders as if they were old friends while Chan and Mingyu smiled to acknowledge their close friend joining the team.
Seokmin joined in with their excitement as he began to just ramble on to Joshua about how his timing was just impeccable. The senior only half-listened though because of all the baseball members crowding him. Not in that crowd though were Minhyun and Jihoon. Both felt like it was too early to just give into all the happiness, especially when they both were still aware of them needing to recruit more people than just Joshua.
"Okay but that's only one person, it's not like someone else will-" Minhyun started off strong, but he cut himself off while speaking when realizing that nobody was paying attention to him at all. In fact, they were pouring all their attention onto the blue haired student who bursted into the gymnasium like he owned the place.
"Oh does the universe love to prove you wrong Minhyun and oh am I here for it!" Baekho laughed heartily as he punched his best friend lightly on his right shoulder. In response, Minhyun shot Baekho an intense warning glare that shut the second baseman right up before turning to greet the newest recruit.
"Mingi, I didn't know you were planning on joining?" Minhyun let out a small gasp as he recognized the blue haired student to be one of his and Baekho's closest friends.
"Well I didn't either, but then I realized the baseball team was lacking a stylish member hence why I stand before you now." The cocky senior smirked at his two close friends. Baekho and Minhyun looked fairly used to how weird the senior was, but the rest of the team wasn't.
That was why they all observed him with confused expressions as they watched the blue haired senior strike a quick pose by putting his fist on his chest while looking arrogant (this supposedly made him appear as really stylish, but Baekho always complained that it made him look anything but that).
The blue haired senior didn't seem to be offended at all by the stares from the others though. Instead he was flattered to be paid with such ample amounts of interest from the students. The senior chuckled with an exaggerated arrogant tone before saluting the crowd of baseball players standing before him. "The name's Choi Mingi, but I also go by Ren. Feel free to choose which you prefer, I don't mind either."
So far two seniors, Joshua and Ren, had arrived. Jihoon knew exactly who they were since they were in the same grade as him, so he was also well aware of who they were personality wise as well. It was a no-brainer that Joshua's motivation to join the team was driven by his academics. The brunet did tell the baseball captain himself that he would only join for the community service hours.
However, it was quite the mystery to figure out why Ren had signed up to join. The blue haired senior was, though Jihoon hated to admit it, stylish. Jihoon always had the impression of Ren being more of an art student since Ren did take a majority of the art courses at their school and because of how radical the blue haired senior was with his appearance.
Just last month Ren had bright green hair, and now here he was rocking blue on his head. Whatever the reason though, the short captain was just glad to have someone show up. Besides, Baekho and Minhyun were close to Ren which was a benefit because it meant that Ren would work well with the team.
"Oh so someone did show up!" The blonde Coach was surprised to see a few new faces standing in the gym with the rest of the baseball team. She did notice though that there were only two faces, and the boys needed to make sure to at least recruit three people to have a proper team made up of nine players. "Although that is nice, you're all still one short from having a full team. I'm going to have to cut this season short, right before it started too, what a shame."
"Oh come on seriously? Just give us a few more minutes, we're only one person short!" Baekho let his temper get the best of him as he felt himself talking right back to their Coach. It angered him that someone who was supposed to be on their side was just dismissing the team completely. If it wasn't obvious before, the fact that their Coach cared nothing for their team was deadly obvious now.
"Baek don't yell at the Coach, are you insane?" Minhyun whispered to the brunet as he covered Baekho's mouth with his hand while sporting a small embarrassed smile directed right at their unimpressed Coach. It seemed to work for a short moment, until Baekho shoved Minhyun away from him so that he could open his big mouth again.
"She's the insane one, we literally only need one more person-" Seokmin watched nervously as Baekho continued to just list all his grievances with their Coach verbally, right in front of her.
Jihoon, as the captain, was ready to step in and apologize for his team members' and their behavior. As Baekho's friend though he wanted to just jump in and join in on the rant; A majority of the team including Jihoon had a bone to pick with the lazy Coach.
It felt like the room was going to explode because of how red hot the blonde woman's face was getting. Luckily that was all avoided when the arrival of the team's third new recruit entered the room.
"Excuse me?" A tall black-haired junior inched his way into the large gymnasium, silencing Baekho who smiled confidently upon arrival.
His height looked to be surpassed by only Mingyu and although the student was shy, he definitely stood out because of his chic appearance. It was actually Mingyu who looked most excited by the potential recruit's entrance, although Jihoon's almost warm smile came in for a close second.
The boys finally had the team they'd been searching for, now it would be time to see if their new recruits would shape up to be the fighting swords they needed to win their way to the top.
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