fake it till you make it

Normally, outsiders aren’t allowed on the dugout, but when you’re the star-pitcher of the team, there’s always an exception. Tzuyu couldn’t say no to her unnie when she whined about sitting among the crowd full of people she doesn’t know.

“Please? You know I never watch these types of games but I'm here for you, Tzuyu-ah,”  the player shook her head, remembering their exchange earlier. She wonders how her Mina unnie says she doesn’t know how to do aegyo when it’s all she ever does when she wants something from her. 

“So, Tzu, do you think the team can win today?” Mina asked while they’re sitting on one of the long benches. 

The brunette answered without looking, “Unnie, not to brag, but the team can win this game even if Jeongyeon unnie and I don’t play.” 

Mina didn’t know what to feel. Of course, she wants the team to win. Of course, she wants to see Tzuyu play, but Jeongyeon? Is she really that big of a factor? The Japanese rolled her eyes before letting out a scoff. She refuses to believe that that braggart is the “human form of home runs”.   

Speak of the devil.  

The Ace of the team walks in with a girl in tow, and not just any girl. Im Nayeon follows her wearing her signature bunny-toothed smile.  

Of all the times, Nayeon. Of all the times. Mina couldn’t believe her eyes. Just why did Jeongyeon bring her source of heartbreak? 

Meanwhile, Jeongyeon was oblivious to her surroundings. Knowing that she’ll never have to set foot on the field today, it’s natural for her to feel this bored. “You and Chou don’t have to play today, Yoo, but both of you should still be present for today’s game. Boost your team’s morale and support them.”  the voice of their coach still ringing on her ears.  

She sat next to someone she didn’t even bother to look at and was about to play some games on her phone when Nayeon put a hand on hers. She looked up from the device, ready to smile on whatever the girl is going to tell her, “Hey, Jeong, thanks for letting me come with you.” 

“Sure.” the captain answered rather shortly but always with a smile. Jeongyeon wasn’t really in the mood, she wants to play but their coach made clear that she and Tzuyu won’t bat nor pitch today. 

The game is underway, the second inning just about to start and it’s now the opposing team’s turn to bat first. So far, Seoul National University is leading against Korea University with 5-2 on the board. Jeongyeon watches the game tentatively, sure their team could score better but at least they’re winning.  

It wasn’t until the fifth inning when Jeongyeon and Tzuyu got worried with the score and the team’s performance. While Momo was doing what she can to help the team as their Center Fielder, she can’t very well lift the score alone. Jeongyeon noticed that her substitute, Seul, is struggling to throw the ball back at the bases. The rookie still needs to work on her throwing speed.   

Tzuyu doesn’t express her distress as much as their Ace but she wants to get on the diamond just as much. She couldn’t just sit there and wait for their team to lose. She was about to stand up but the purple-haired girl was already on her feet, ready to insist on their coach to let them play on the next round. “Coach, let Tzuy-” but she was cut off, “Yoo, tell Chou that she’s pitching next. You’re subbing for Park.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” the captain beams and calls for Tzuyu who was equally happy to be able to finally play. 

If there’s anything hotter than Yoo Jeongyeon, it has to be the burning with passion and determination version of her. Nayeon can’t help but gawk at the team’s Ace while she’s stretching and getting ready for the next set.  

While Nayeon was openly checking out Jeongyeon, Mina can’t help but throw daggers at the person who’s innocently stretching with her teammate. She doesn’t deserve Im’s attention when all she did ever since the game has started was to either watch the game or scroll through her phone. She didn’t even make an effort to keep the conversation going whenever the brunette opens up a topic. How could you ghost me for this woman, Nay?!  

Towards the end of the fifth inning, Momo managed to catch a would-be home run twice and threw the ball quickly to the third base to force out the runner and end the stretch. The set has ended but the score was 2-5. The Vice barely kept the team alive, the other eight people she’s in with on the diamond looked tired, mentally and physically. Nobody thought KU got this good over the summer. 

Jeongyeon looked at the score board, they’re down 7, and the team looked exhausted already and it’s only the fifth. We’re only halfway through. “Vice, I'll take over.” Momo looked up from the bench, drenched in sweat, while practically drowning herself with Gatorade. “I’m subbing you out. Song will take your place.” 

“I can still play. I just need a little break.” Momo insisted, almost out of breath.   

“I know, we’ll get you back at the seventh if Chou and I can’t take this around this stretch.” the Captain already made her decision and really, the Japanese wouldn’t mind some time to get rest. It wasn’t easy being the only Senior among the sea of Rookies.  

“About damn time, Yoo. You're enjoying your vacation here on the bench too much.” she jested, to which Jeongyeon just chuckled at. She and Momo share the love on two things. Food and winning.  

The Umpire signaled the start of the sixth inning. “You did good, Seul,” Jeongyeon patted the rook’s shoulder, smiling, “but I'm gonna have to sub for you this set. Rest for a bit, okay?” she then turns to Tzuyu, “Let’s win this.”  

When Jeongyeon and Tzuyu walked on the diamond, the crowd’s cheers were deafening, as if the game is just about to start or somebody just hit a home run. Nobody can blame them, though. When the Ace and the Star Pitcher comes in the field, a series of strike outs and home runs are expected to happen. 

KU’s the first to bat. Jeongyeon went to her position as the Right Fielder, at the far end of the field. When everything is set, Tzuyu looks on to Jiyeon, the team’s catcher, for the play. She waves her index finger discreetly, fast ball. The pitcher leans back, stretches her leg up and throws the ball at an impossible speed. 

“STRIKE!” the umpire shouts as Jiyeon catches the ball even before the batter swung her bat. Tzuyu smirked, she knows she’s going to strike out this hitter. 

Back at the dugout, Mina was already on her feet, leaning on the railings, “Strike her out, Tzuyu-ah!” she wasn’t sure if her roommate heard her cheer but her heart is beating so fast, she badly wants the team to win the first pre-game of the season. 

She heard a high-pitched laugh beside her which prompted her to look, “Oh, she will, trust me.” the girl leaned in on the steel barrier as well. Mina offered a small smile for the girl who has the same hair color as hers, black as a raven. 

“OUT!” the crowd cheered loudly, and so did the team behind them. 

“And she’s out. Two more and we can finally try to score.” the girl looks back at Mina, “Your girlfriend is the best pitcher I've ever seen, she’ll strike out everyone if she wants to.” 

Mina’s startled eyes met the girl in uniform’s, she shook her head continuously, “She’s my roommate!” denying the earlier assumption. 

“Oh... I thought you’re Chewypoo’s girl. Sorry!” the girl chuckled before extending an arm, “Hirai Momo. Center Fielder and Vice-Captain of this dorky team.” 

MOMO?!  

“You’re Momo-ya!” She leaned back to look at Momo’s back and sure enough, they can be mistaken as each other’s doppelgangers. They both have straight raven black hair and about the same body type, only she’s leaner than her, obviously from the sport she plays. Mina couldn’t hide her disbelief.

That arrogant Yoo Jeongyeon was really telling the truth. 

“Uhh, yes? I guess you can call me that, miss...?” if the CF is weirded out with the girl in front of her, she didn’t show it but instead offered a bright smile, her handshake still up for the girl beside her to take. 

“OUT!” one more to go.  

Mina realized how stupid she must look right now; it must’ve seemed like she was deliberately checking out the Vice’s backside. She wanted to slap herself but didn’t, it will only make her look even dumber. “Myoui Mina.” she shook Momo’s hands, blush apparent on her cheeks, either from the heat or just from plain embarrassment. 

“Myoui? You’re not Korean, are you?”  

“Japanese.” she revealed. 

“No way! I’m Japanese, too!” Momo almost squealed with the revelation, “Where in Japan are you from?” 

“Kob-” both Japanese were startled at the sound of the baseball colliding with a bat. The hitter ran towards the first base while the ball went up so high. How on earth are they  gonna see where the ball is now? The sun is literally on everybody’s eyes!  

The outfielders ran but the ball seemed to fall on the RF’s coverage. Jeongyeon is determined to get this last batter out. I'm not letting you score.  

Mina couldn’t turn her eyes away from Jeongyeon. Catch it, catch it, catch it!   

The hitter just ran past the second base and Mina’s heart is pounding along with the crowd’s.  

Jeongyeon jumped through the fence with her gloved hands in the air. She stumbled on her way down and the ball is nowhere to be seen. Everybody's holding their breaths, except Nayeon who seems like she’s about to run to the other side of the field just to check whether the Ace is alive. 

The Jumbotron focused on where Jeongyeon landed, she stood up slowly, her head hung low, her expressions were hidden by the hat on her head. The team on the dugout let out a series of groan and Mina felt a bit uneasy. Oh no, she didn’t catch the ball?  

“Watch her turn baseball into a drama class.” Momo who was just smirking, uttered. 

The Umpire yelled, “OUT! CHANGE!” 

Mina looked at the huge screen and there Jeongyeon was, wearing her trademark lopsided smile, proudly waving her gloves with the baseball on it. 

Trust Jeongyeon to be the most dramatic braggart to ever exist. 

- 

It's now SNU’s turn to bat. Jeongyeon bats last, the coach put it that way so they’re now all required to hit the ball or else they’ll train with the Captain. Everybody agreed so quickly, almost like they’re afraid to train with her. “Tzu, is it just me or nobody wants to train with Jeong-ass?” 

The brunette laughed a bit loudly at her roommate’s sudden question and nickname for the Captain, “Let’s just say she has an enthusiastic way of training.” the star pitcher’s smile has a hidden meaning, Mina thought. 

Since Tzuyu isn’t batting, she was left on the dugout with her unnie and Nayeon who never even laid an eye on them, even though she’s literally one seat away from Mina. Tzuyu noticed how the Japanese fiddled with her own fingers, so she leaned down to whisper, “Unnie, just go talk to her.”  

Mina feels like she still doesn’t have the courage to talk to Nayeon. She doesn’t even look my way. So she just pursed her lips, to which Tzuyu gets. She knows her unnie needs more time, no need to push her further. 

The game went on and it’s now Momo’s turn to bat. The three batters before her were able to hit the ball enough for them to run from base to base. If she hits the incoming pitch, they can either score one or four. The pitcher threw a curve ball and the Vice-Captain was able to hit it right for a home run. 

Mina jumps in awe of how Momo was able to hit that weirdly thrown ball. The team scored four points, thanks to the girls’ effort. They all ran through the bases, wearing big smiles as the crowd cheers them on. 

Soon enough, Jeongyeon, who was the last to bat, positioned herself on the right-handed batter’s box. The pitcher threw a fast ball, and she swung her bat, only to miss. “STRIKE!” 

The crowd was startled, even the team and their coach. The other team looked at SNU’s dugout smugly, as if they’ve already won the game. Nayeon was irritated at the way KU was looking at them but concern took over, she went to stand and lean on the railings. She has watched Jeongyeon play for almost a year, and she will never miss that lame of a throw. What are you playing at, Starbucks?  

The second pitch came and the Captain missed once again. Her teammates already on their feet, anxious to what the outcome would be.  

Nayeon looks on to Jeongyeon with eyes full of worry. This is not her.  

As the brunette look on to the hitter, another set of eyes was looking, not at Jeongyeon, but on Nayeon. Her eyes full of feelings, not with worry but with hurt. Your eyes should look at me, not at her.  

The last pitch was about to be thrown. Jeongyeon breathes deeply, bracing herself.  

Showtime.  

A fast ball was thrown, the Captain’s favorite pitch. She hit the ball as hard as she can, and looked on to where the ball has flown. The ball went up high in the air, the fielders ran to where they think it would land but Jeongyeon stood still, she knows they won’t be able to catch that. She’s sure that it was a home run.  

The ball went over the fence and the crowd jumped to their feet. It's a Yoo Jeongyeon Home Run.  

Everybody on the dugout was jumping wildly, the team’s now leading with three points and with their Ace, Vice and Star Pitcher on fire, it can only mean one thing. First W of the season. 

Jeongyeon throws her bat and shrugged before running through the bases, effectively erasing the smug expression the KU players were wearing earlier. 

Mina was ecstatic with how the team was able to turn the tide around. The hurt she was feeling just moments ago was buried on the back of her mind to make way for her celebratory mood. She can’t even see because her orbs literally hid themselves behind the crescents her eyes formed. Everybody is celebrating as if SNU has already bagged the W. 

The Captain finally joins the team on the dugout and the girls crowded her, switching between patting her back and squealing at her face but that’s normal when someone on the team hits a home run.  

“You and your dramatics will kill me one day, I swear,” Momo grumbled at Jeongyeon when the hype died down. “Come on, Mo, you know me.” she grinned at her teammate. 

“You had me worried for a sec there, Cap.” Tzuyu jested at their Ace when she sat on the bench where she, Mina and Nayeon are. “We’ll win this game, Tzu.” Jeongyeon replied, looking past at whoever was sitting between her and her teammate, too happy and focused to even bother. 

“Drink this,” Nayeon offered a bottle of Gatorade at the purple head, to which Jeongyeon accepted gratefully, “Thanks, Nayeon,” 

A Gatorade in exchange for this big goofy smile of Yoo Jeongyeon? Nayeon smiled her brightest, matching Jeongyeon’s overjoyed energy. I don’t care if they make me their watergirl if it means I'll see that smile every time I give her one.

While the players’ take a break on the seventh inning stretch, KISSCAM was on the jumbotron. The camera was panning from left to right, searching for people to play with.

Surprisingly, people from the audience, whether they’re strangers or a couple or just friends often kiss when the screen shows their faces on that jumbotron. KISSCAM will never pan away until you kiss that person beside you.

Mina thought this was stupid, who would want to kiss a total stranger on the lips just because KISSCAM focused on your faces? She furrowed her eyebrows, disdain visible on her face. At least she’s safe from it, she’s in the dugout together with Tzuyu on her right, they never pan those here.

Mina hates how Nayeon is sitting just one seat away from her. She could’ve sat beside her but no, Zero right there has to take that spot and now, Mina’s sandwiched between her and Tzuyu. Why can’t she be stuck with Nayeon instead of this airhead of a person whose name is Yoo Jeongyeon?  

The KISSCAM was searching amongst the crowd, picking which of the unlucky attendees are required to kiss on camera, just for fun, even if they don’t want to.

It seems like the cameramen got bored today and decided to focus on the Royals’ dugout, and thought, what better way to wake the audience up than to let the Ace of the Home team kiss their own teammate?  

On the jumbotron, everyone on the field could see Yoo Jeongyeon animatedly talking to a brunette on her left. Everybody cheered a little too much than the usual, so she whipped her head to look at the huge screen, only to look back at herself and a very shocked Im Nayeon beside her.

Jeongyeon plastered a smile, shook her head and waved both of her hands as if to say “I won’t do it”, but the bunny-toothed woman beside her is now grinning and tries to hype the crowd up into pressuring Jeongyeon to really kiss her. A few more chants of “kiss”, and the crowd’s winning and Jeongyeon thought, it’s just Nayeon.

So, she faced the brunette whose lips are already puckered, and readied herself with what she’s about to do.

Just when she was about to lean in, a hand suddenly found its way to Jeongyeon’s face and gently led her to face the opposite side. Her lips met the stranger’s and although she was shocked, instinct took over. She closed her eyes and the next thing she knows; they’re making out in front of hundreds of people who’s watching them through the jumbotron.  

Mina didn’t know what got into her but she wouldn’t let anyone kiss Nayeon in front of her, so she did the only thing she knows that can stop the girl beside her from doing just that.

She's making out with the person she’s been ghosted for. How ironic. But this is for a show. Jeongyeon’s a great kisser but Mina won’t let that cloud her true intent.

While their eyes are closed and their lips are busy, she removed her grasp on Jeongyeon’s face; she waved her index to the crowd, a gesture that tells everyone that no one could kiss Yoo Jeongyeon except her, and the crowd seemed to buy it. They cheered extra loud when she did that.  

Jeongyeon and Mina finally lets go of each other’s lips to breathe in the oxygen they’ve lost from that session. The camera no longer on them, and Jeongyeon looked every bit of confused, her mouth slightly open, her lips a bit swollen, but that’s not what she wants to focus on now. She wants to know who this stranger is and why on earth did she do that.

Mina was pretty much on the same state— she was dazed. She didn’t know how she’d explain what she did, it isn’t helping that everyone’s eyes here on the dugout is on them, as well. Nayeon looked extremely shocked, her mouth agape. She never expected Mina would do that to anyone, much less with the person she left her for. 

Mina couldn’t take the surrounding tension. She abruptly stood and ran to the exit. Jeongyeon whose mind was literally in a mess, stood as well, ready to run after the stranger to get answers but was stopped by Tzuyu, “Unnie, the game...”  

“But-” 

“We will be disqualified if you go after her now.” Tzuyu tried to reason with the Captain. 

She nodded, still looking at the exit where the raven-haired woman has disappeared. 

You think you can kiss me and just run away?