——————
——————
"How was the first day?" Ms. Won asked, looking up at the group through her mirror, the boys seemed content while you sat tired out and sleepy.
You had returned to your classrooms after having breakfast in the cafeteria, parting ways by the doors, you hadn't realized that speaking Korean as a non-native speaker and trying to understand everyone was a bit tiring.
You had sat next to Vance in the car, who was surprisingly quiet the whole ride. He was like a little kid, peeking from windows to see where we're headed.
"Oh, before I forget, your bus stop is right here. You'll be walking there tomorrow. The rest of today's just your guys' relaxing time." Ms. Won points out her window, showing the small ad-covered shed.
"I just realized how clean the streets here are." Bruce looks out of his window, his head following the people being sped past.
"I also suggest sticking to Y/N for a good week or so, I know you guys won't be able to communicate well enough, at least not until you've adjusted for long enough." Ms. Won looks at you, who's flabbergasted that you've been given the job to mother five boys for a good week.
"Wait but Ms. Won-" you try to reason your way out of babysitting, before the woman clicked her tongue and shook her head. "No buts, I've got other stuff to do, you're basically in charge when I'm not here." She slows the car, finally stopping at your dormitory.
You stare at her in horror, slowly turning around, looking at Robin and Vance who gave you the evil stare. You knew you'd be bound to get into some sort of trouble. "Okay, then.." you mumble, getting out of the car from Robin's side.
"Why don't you guys get used to the community? There's a convenience store near here, how about you guys get snacks?" Ms. Won hands you a Lotte card.
You thank her, looking at the guys who look at you and the card. "Why don't you guys get changed? Especially you and Finney, Bruce. Remember? The baseball tryout." You mention, Bruce snaps his fingers in agreement and Finney gasped and ran into the dorms.
Soon the boys followed after Bruce and Finney, going to change into more comfortable clothing than their uniforms.
visuals:
you:
(masc and fem)
the boys:
"Vance? You're not changing out of your uniform?" You question the blonde leaning by the door. Vance had a leather jacket on, seeming to be enough to combat the fall weather in Daejeon.
He grinned at you, obviously to tease. "Why, wanna see me in something else?" You shook your head and hands frantically, "No! That's not what I meant, I-" you ramble, Finney suddenly walks in with Robin.
"Vance, leave the poor thing alone." Robin groans, placing his hands in his pockets. You take a few seconds to go over Robin's outfit, he wore a muddy green short-sleeve that seem to pool around his waist, his belt helped tuck in the front of the shirt as he wore baggy jeans along with a few bracelets, including his bandanna.
You smile unconsciously, obviously impressed with their way to dress. Finney had worn an eggshell yellow kind of shirt, and was paired nicely with brown cargo pants, his hands and neck littered with necklaces and bracelets, as well as a few scars.
You took notice of the pink and purple bracelet on his left hand, standing out to you the most. In Finney's hands, a grey Walkman and a black hat.
"Oh, is everyone ready to go?" Bruce finally comes out with Billy, the last two to appear.
You could easily tell, Bruce was the most outgoing out of all five of them, the boy sported a leather letterman jacket, with a colourful polo shirt, and blue jeans, with a vintage belt almost cinching his waist. He flashed you a small smile as you force your eyes away from his outfits, slapping your hands on your cheek.
"You good, Y/N?" Billy asks from besides you, you being the uncontrollable teenager you are, check out his outfit as well, his was similar to Bruce, wearing a letterman jacket as well, you could see that it was wrinkly and somewhat jacked up, you assume it's a frequent go-to piece of clothing.
Your eyes notice the cute brown hoodie he had, it fit him nicely and contrasted his outfit well. You shake your head and groan. "Okay, let's go, then we can take a path to the baseball field of the academy for Bruce and Finney." You planned quickly, pulling the closest boy behind you, which was Billy.
Billy seemed to lose all feeling in his legs when you took hold of his hand, you could feel his rings and he could feel your warm palms, and Billy couldn't lie, he could feel his nape heat up from the contact.
The rest of the boys followed you as you walked down the street, looking for a convenience store. "Ah! There, right by the corner." You tug on Billy, who almost stumbled, making you look back and apologize with a laugh.
"Sorry for dragging you, Billy. I just missed Korea lots, I haven't been here since.." you trail, almost dazed, although you get your head back into the game as you slapped your cheeks one more time.
You ushered the boys into the convenience store, greeting the cashier hello as you made a bee line for the drinks.
Vance took a look around quietly, almost in awe about the food choices here. Finney and Robin scanned the aisles by themselves, surprised by the wide variation of snacks and candy.
"So, purple is regular, blue is big and green is venti." You explain to Billy and Bruce, who was the only two that was listening. Vance walked up to the both of you, curious. "What the hell is that for?" You sigh, his vulgar vocabulary is somewhat annoying to you.
"It's pouch drinks." You explain straightforwardly. He looks at you with a questioning look. "So you drink it out of the plastic?" He points to the big selection fo pouches. You pinch your nose.
"No, you buy the pouch, and you pick a cup according to the colour that's on the tag." You point to the blue circle on a specific pouch drink.
"The ice cup has a lid the same colour, you match them, so the pouch fits the exact amount." You explain a second time, seeing all of the boys gather. Finney and Robin carried snacks that they wanted to try, Vance picked up a Pepero snack, the classic cookies and cream flavour.
"They have popsicle flavoured drinks?" Bruce exclaims, using his finger to read the flavour off a pouch drink. "Yes, those are strawberry apple flavoured. It's really good with strawberry milk." You suggest. You, Billy and Bruce were busy picking a pouch drink and the matching ice cup.
Vance had grabbed chocolate milk from out the dairy section and Finney and Robin decided to match Banana Milk drinks. You decided to pick a cherry-ade drink, picking up a Yakult to go along with it.
"Do you guys want anything else?" You glance at the boys who seemed to have a fair amount of snacks and a drink in their hands. They all either voiced a no or shook their heads as you hummed and reached the counter, the cashier jumped from the sudden dumping of snacks and drinks on their counter.
"미안해요..(sorry!)" you bow to the cashier, expressing an embarrassed smile. The cashier smiles, seeming to take your apology sincerely. You glanced at the Chupa Chups tower on the counter, deciding to grab a handful of Strawberry and Cola flavoured ones and placing them along with the other snacks.
You paid, some of the guys had left the store and waited by the entrance outside. Bruce helped you carry the bag full of snacks and let you pick out your lollipops.
"Okay, watch." You ushered them over to a bench, you pulled out your pouch drink and the small yakult, grabbing the ice cup and removing the plastic cover on it, you ripped open the pouch and poured most of the drink in and drank the rest by itself, then you grabbed your yakult and opened it, pouring it's whole content into the drink before closing it up and swirling it around with your straw.
"Tadaa! One of the best things in Korea yet." You show them the drink with one hand up as Jazz hands, some of the boys laughed, amused at your childish behaviour.
Bruce and Billy followed what you did, you noticed Bruce had taken the popsicle drink he was gushing about earlier and Billy had green-apple ade, you snapped your fingers and pointed to his drink.
"Good choice!" You praised Billy who smiled happily and took a sip of his drink. You didn't seem to notice the weird looks he got from the group.
"Y/N, is my drink good? I don't know if it's a good choice for a first time." Bruce showed you his pink drink. You nod happily, "Mhm! I really like that drink as well, it's amazing in the summer." You watch as some of them start to dig into some snacks they picked out.
"These crackers are amazing." Robin complimented, popping another shrimp chip into his mouth. "Never had Shrimp chips, I assume?" You tilt your head at Robin who nodded to your question.
You and the boys take a few minutes to just eat silently. You've realized you've somewhat talked to the boys a fair amount except for..Vance.
You looked at the boy, who stared off in the distance, all quiet. He was enjoying his Pepero, taking small drinks of his milk time to time. You approach him, Vance didn't seem to notice, maybe dazed or deep in thought.
You stay silent as you rummage your pocket, pulling out a Cola flavoured lollipop. "Here." You wake Vance up from his daze, he stared at you before glancing down at your hand, the chupa chups laid nicely on your palm.
"What?" He questioned, almost rudely. You shrugged and sat next to him, grabbing hold of his hand and placing the candy on his palm. "I don't know, dude." You stared in the same direction he did, "you just seemed, kind of sad." You leaned back into the bush behind you.
Vance scoffed, suddenly pushing himself off the bricks of the tall bush. "I don't look sad, I've got shit on my mind, hasn't anyone told you to mind your own business before, dork?" He pushed your temple with the lollipop before pocketing it into his pants.
You laugh, seeming to get him all worked up. "Hey, it's not a bad thing, I'm just wondering if you need company." You tilt your head, as if to show you mean no harm. Vance swore he could feel his stomach do a flip. Yet, the boy ignored it.
"Ugh whatever, I'm done snacking or whatever the fuck you call it." Vance pushed the unfinished Pepero box into your hands before chugging his chocolate milk and clicking his tongue against his teeth before walking away.
You stood confused for a sec, staring at the few Pepero sticks in your hand, before shrugging and finishing Vance's snack for him.
You grab your drink and took hold of the plastic bag with unopened snacks. "Let's go guys, before we miss tryouts." You tapped Finney's shoulder. The other guys agreed and started to clean up, throwing away their trash.
Vance had waited at the end of the sidewalk where he could see the school field from a good distance. He stared for a while before looking at the group. His eyes seemed to scan but linger on you. You were wearing an inaudible laugh, mostly from a joke Robin and Finney were telling you.
He didn't notice his gaze soften at you. He shook himself out of his thoughts before cupping his mouth. "Hurry up, dipshits! Let's get this over with so I can go the fuck home!" The group seemed startled, you jumped and jogged up to Vance.
you smiled at him, the blonde scoffed and continued walking as you just shook your head at his antics before following after him.
"I can't, I just can't do it!" Bruce couldn't step into the tryout line, they were taking names and starting to assemble the teams that would be playing for a spot on the school baseball team.
You could feel for Bruce's nervousness, he seemed to shake like a leaf, his hands clenched and unclenched. Finney even refused to get on the field, only stepping foot when you had forcibly linked arms and pulled him to where the tryouts was happening.
"Bruce, you'll be fine, you'll be great, just like what the boys say." Bruce let your words go through one ear and out the other. "What if I don't do good, this is different, baseball in another country, I mean what if-" Bruce rambled, pacing back and forth. You sighed and grabbed hold of his cheeks.
Bruce's breath hitched as he was forced to stare into your eyes, your mesmerizing determined eyes. "Bruce, you're overthinking, Baseball in Korea is the same as America." You took your hands off his cheeks, his face was red, despite being a ladies man he still seemed to get flustered easily.
"Get yourself together dude! You're going to do amazing, I know you will." You glared at him, before pointing at Finney.
"You too, Blondie! Get in there!" You pushed the two to the sign up table, the people were somewhat confused, seeing you push these two, obviously taller, boys to their table. "They'd like to try out." You huffed and puffed.
You hadn't realized how tiring it was pushing two boys up to a small stall. They had wrote their names into the paper. The coaches smiled at the boys before pointing to the stands.
"You two are on the same team, the coach said." You translated for them, a strawberry lollipop in your mouth. "Oh, what if this goes wrong, I'll embarrass myself in front of everyone and they'll think I'm dumb and-" Bruce started up once again before you just sighed and slapped his back, a loud slap coming from it.
"You're fine princess, you won't break a nail and whatever.. just kick butt out there." You made a fist and whispered to Bruce and Finney, "fighting!" You smiled. Finney and Bruce stayed frozen for a few seconds before looking at Finney and taking a big deep breath in.
He walked to the benches where other kids were waiting for their turn. You ushered Robin and the others to the bleachers, shushing them. It was a good thirty to forty minutes before Bruce had gone up to the plate. Another player handed him the bat, his face seemed to pale as he took his position. "Go, Bruce!" you cheered, positively earning his attention.
He looked at you cheering for him, he felt giddy and his stomach erupted with butterflies, before smiling and getting ready to bat.
The pitcher stared a bit at Bruce, trying to intimidate him, before pitching a fast ball. 'Bruce was one of the best players I've seen', you remember Finney telling you.
He swung his bat, a hit, as he started running to second base. The crowd erupted in cheers of impressed and awe. It went like that for a while, Finney was up next, and the teams had changed, their team was up to pitch.
You took your eyes off the blonde to look at Bruce, who was staring at you giddily, you raised your hands up in a thumbs up, as if to tell him he did a good job. He chuckled and stared into his hands. Before a guy nudged him.
"I'm Dae-hyun, you're the transfers in our school, right?" the black-haired boy introduced himself to Bruce, the boy had an accent, which was caused by him not being a native English speaker, Bruce nodded. "Bruce, nice to meet you Dae-hyun." Bruce greeted back.
"Who's the person in the stands? Your partner?" Dae-hyun looked at you from the stands, watching Finney pitch, and cheering every time he managed to strike. "Uh, no, they're apart of the transfer program, like me." Bruce's gaze lingered on you. Every time you smiled, he couldn't stop himself as well.
"Do you like them though? My 엄마 (mom) gets the same gaze you give to your friend, from my 아빠 (dad) all the time." Dad-hyun jokingly teases Bruce who flares up like a cherry. "O-Oh.." he tried to pass off his flustered state. Playing with his fingers.
"Hey, nothing wrong with liking someone else, you like who you like." Dae-hyun nudged him again. Soon enough, the baseball game ended, and like expected. Bruce and Finney were picked to be on the team as well.
"The coach says, you guys show lots of potential, err half of his speech was something about pitching?" You translated as the coach continued talking to Finney and Bruce.
"I didn't know some of the words he used, but tomorrow morning, you guys can formally meet him." You nodded as the coach finished and thanked you for translating.
"Wait, if he needs you to translate, how would we communicate?" Finney asks, looking at you and the coach.
"Well, one, you need to do good in your Korean classes if you ever plan on talking with anyone, and I mean anyone," you walked away after bowing politely to the coach who waved you goodbye.
"second, the coach knows some English, but he switches to Korean sometimes since he's old and he struggles with English." You said matter-factly. You looked at Robin who yawned and seemed to stumble.
"You sleepy, Robin?" Robin looked at you with tired eyes and gave you a nod with a tired smile. "C'mere, I'll make sure you don't stumble on the way." You moved from between Bruce and Finney to between Billy and Robin.
You took hold of his hand, he stiffened for a second before he relaxed, letting you hold his hand before you all walked home.
END OF CHAPTER 4