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The game's scores stayed pretty even throughout, though when Changhoon came on to pitch, HYBE took the lead. Clearly, they had been saving Changhoon for last, and I could definitely see why. If he got one more batter out, they would come in to bat leaving MNH—the stronger batting side—on the field whilst losing.
Marina, Xiulan, Heiko and Chae-soo's cheering could've made up for a whole stadium's worth on their own, though Jaeyun was surprisingly vocal too. It was kind of funny to see the usually very studious, easy-going and rational student president calling plays and booing when HYBE got one up on MNH. Kyungmin just looked like he was having the time of his life being here, Haemin had just come back with food for us both and had an expression of concentration on the game that I'd never seen in class. Seungheon, Yungyu, Yoonsung and Minho could've legit become MNH's official cheerleaders, but Gyeo-Wool, Myungho's cousin I'd recently learned, was so invested in the game, she didn't even appear embarrassed by her boyfriend's antics.
One could literally hear and feel the frustration echo around the stadium when Changhoon got his second batter out, though if I thought the spectators were intense before, it reached a whole new level when the camera zoomed in on the shirt of the new batter coming in. The big screen put Myungho on display as he stepped up to the home plate, and it was then that I saw the guy by the tunnel seats a few rows down from us.
The White Dragon member with a gun.
I heard Marina whispering something about a possible national scout being here tonight, then the upset that wracked the stadium when the umpire announced "Strike one!" I was too far to see properly, and the light's glare against the night sky didn't help, but Changhoon appeared to smirk. Jerk.
Myungho, on the other hand, seemed completely focused and unperturbed by his strike, and lined up for the second attempt. He hit the ball well into the outfield and even I jumped up and cheered when he scored a home run. That was one hell of a hit. It was when Myungho went off the field, amid the thundering cheers, that I noticed gang guy was gone.
Well that wasn't concerning at all. I got up while the cheers were still going around a mostly standing audience but Haemin took my hand.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah." I smiled reassuringly. "Just going to the bathroom, I'll be right back."
"Do you want me to come, you know, to keep guard or whatever?"
I smiled even more at Haemin's awkward but sweet offer. "I think I'll be okay." I gave him a quick kiss because others were watching, and went down some stairs and then out this section's exit. I took out my phone, wondering whether I should call the police now or when I saw him again. What if it wasn't a gun? What if I called the cops and there ended up being nothing to worry about? I supposed that would be better than calling them too late if something were wrong, but that didn't stop all my second-guessing from clogging my brain.
I came to an empty foyer that led to bathrooms and locker areas but stopped as I neared an underpass leading to another section. I heard hushed conversation. Two guys; one sounding laid back, the other exasperated: Myungho.
"...the hell are you doing here Won-sik? You can't just rock up mid-game."
"Relax man. Game's nearly over. Nice hit by the way, can see why the boss calls you Golden B—"
"Shut up. I told you I'd handle it, so why are you here now?"
"The stock, man. Everyone's distracted by the game, so I thought to myself, what better opportunity, am I right?"
This Won-sik guy really needed to accept that the Woodstock hippy era was over. I hid behind a row of lockers, annoyed that I was doing this yet again. Now I knew I wasn't wrong. The first time I saw those White Dragon members and Myungho, I'd heard one of them say the name Won-sik. Did I still call the police? I thought the pretty obvious answer was yes, but now I hesitated.
What was Myungho even doing running with these guys? He was literally the son of one of Korea's wealthiest empire moguls.
"Whatever, just actually wait til the game is over, and I'll meet you..."
Another pair of footsteps echoed down.
"What's going on here?" asked an annoyed voice that sounded awfully like Changhoon.
"Hey man," said the cheery Won-sik. "Imagine passing MNH's star batsman on my way out? Just congratulating him is all, practicing my sportsmanship you know? Game's over then? How'd you do?"
Changhoon scoffed derisively. "Would've won if the whole MNH team weren't sucking the umpire's dick."
"You curious or something Changhoon?" retorted Myungho. "You keep bringing me up in your gay scenarios."
I peeked around and saw the way the two baseballers glared at each other. And I swore it looked like Won-sik and Changhoon knew one another, and that Myungho had stepped away from the gang member.
And, that Changhoon and Myungho might start another fight.
Bitch move or not, I decided to leave. I really needed to stop getting myself into these situations. I heard several others come through, most likely staff and team members from both sides, but before I had gotten out of this area, one of the HYBE team members stood in my way.
"Hey, you waiting here to get a backstage pass or something?" he said suggestively.
Ew, seriously? "No, just leaving actually. Heard you lost, that's a shame."
I intentionally said that in a bitchy way, but this creep clearly didn't take the hint. "Why don't you make me feel better? And the umpire was clearly backing MNH. Come out with us and I'll show you what actual pro athletes can do?"
And this guy was done. "How about no. Bye." I went to move past the creep as he tried to grab me, but that hand was seized and he hissed in pain.
"Get off of me you prick," creepy guy spat, and I turned to see Haemin. He let go with a shove and the HYBE player stumbled back.
"Touch my girlfriend and I'll break your nose."
It was really nice that Haemin was standing up for me and all, but I'd never seen him pissed before, and this creep wasn't worth it. "Haemin don't worry about him, let's just go."
"You think trying to play the nice guy's gonna win you points with this slut?"
Maybe me laughing at that insult didn't help matters, but HYBE creep came at me again and Haemin punched him in the face. So shocked, I didn't even notice that others had walked onto the scene.
"Damn," gasped Heiko. "So, what'd we miss?" The four of them, plus Gyeo-Wool and Minho stood there, while other HYBE team members rushed over to their friend with a bleeding nose.
Some stormed up to Haemin but Kyungmin blocked their way; a chill but tall-ass barricade. "Let's just all chill out maybe?" He turned back to me looking clueless. "What happened?" he mouthed.
I was about to explain as I saw Yoonsung, Jaeyun, Yungyu, plus several MNH team members come up behind Minho, but paused when Chae-soo looked over all of us.
"Babe, what's going on?"
I groaned internally. Could this literally get any worse?
Myungho had come around the corner, followed by Changhoon and soon more HYBE players.
"Nothing, everything's fine Chae," he dismissed, then looked to his teammates. "Let's go, we got a trophy to accept."
"And officials to go pay," remarked Changhoon. "And it doesn't look fine. Seems to me like that lanky freak over there just assaulted one of my teammates. You all right Heejun?"
"Pretty sure the police won't see it that way if I call them and say your friend Heejun tried to grab me when I told him no," I retorted. I didn't want to get into this, but I wasn't going to let Haemin get in trouble.
That even cracked a smile out of Myungho, which evidently irritated Changhoon.
"Surrounding yourself with all these bitches Myungho," said Changhoon. "Must be the mommy issues."
Jaeyun rushed over before that escalated. But even Gyeo-Wool looked angry now for some reason.
"Don't let him goad you," said Jaeyun, then resumed louder, "Some people will always be sore losers. Just ask Changhoon and he'll probably be able to concoct another story to cover up his insecurities."
Changhoon, with his little sycophantic teammates as an audience, scoffed again. "And of course Mr. MHN himself has to come to leash his dog. You really think your daddy's company building the school and a few other places makes you better than everyone, don't you Moon?"
If a glare could kill someone, Myungho's could've boiled Changhoon into a bubbling puddle, but Jaeyun still held him back. "Not everyone, just you. And that fact has nothing to do with my dad."
"Myungie!" shouted an excited Seungheon racing down from another staircase, completely oblivious to the situation. "You were awesome out there...oh, sorry. I'll pay for new ones." The fifteen-year-old had dropped some of his ice-cream onto a HYBE player's shoes, and that asshole had sworn and violently shoved the younger back.
And that's when Jaeyun launched himself at that asshole and chaos broke out.
During the fight, my first thought was to get Seungheon and get out of there, but I paused when I saw that gang member, Won-sik subtly tread around the brawl to the exit. No one except me noticed, and Seungheon on the ground, who literally paled when Won-sik waved to him with a simper before fleeing.
Myungho also saw that, and looked between the junior and me, though was caught up in the fight and couldn't make his way over.
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Hey fellow members of the species, so this chapter was literally going to go on forever if I didn't split it in two, so expect the next half soon (spoiler, Myungho & Y/N start to finally grow closer after this, and I'll also get into the "mystery" part of it too).
Also, another photo dump because I spend way too long on 8TURN's YT channel:
~ Daci