Fifty-Fifth
:Chapter Fifty-Five:

     Game day. Winner takes all. This was the game. This was for the championship; the title.

Everyone, the entire Panthers team, worked incredibly hard for this and here they were, on the bus to meet at the designated playing field.

     Taehyung sat in the very front, AirPods shoved deep into his ears as he watched the cars alongside their bus. He wasn't sitting by anyone but that was his choice. He opted on being alone to regather himself and his thoughts.

Nervous wasn't at all close to how he felt. He felt like the whole team was betting on him being a good pitcher, him not being a nervous wreck, and playing good. Sure they were because, to be fair, Taehyung wasn't their original, muscle-headed, addicted to steroids, speed ball starter.

He was a backup. Regardless if Jeongguk technically was cleared to play, he was a backup. Taehyung did give it his all though, he really did. Whenever they practiced, Taehyung did as best as he could.

Just, admittedly, Jeongguk was better. Hell, that's why the two hated one another to begin with. Because Jeongguk was always better. And, because of a petty comment Jeongguk made when he was super young but besides the point.

Taehyung just felt doubt and anxiety all pile on each other. He tried to use music as a way to calm his nerves but it wasn't necessarily helping him.

He just tried to keep high hopes.

     "You nervous?" Questioned Jeongguk to Hoseok who had his arms loosely crossed over his chest, leaned back in his seat.

"Extremely." The elder answered shortly.

Jeongguk hummed. "Why? You guys will kill it for sure." He assured, patting the thick of Hoseok's thigh.

"Easy for you to say. You've won plenty of these, not only that, you're not even playing." Hoseok uttered, immediately looking over. "Sorry, I wasn't saying that like a—"

"No, I know. You're right but still, I truly believe you guys are going to do great." Jeongguk offered a soft smile, nodding. "Don't doubt yourselves though, that's only speaking it into existence."

"Pfft, tell that to your boyfriend. He damn near had a panic attack earlier over it." Hoseok replied. "I helped him, he's just really in his head about it right now." He cleared, not wanting to seem like he was putting the boy down, he really wasn't.

"I'd be in my head too but you guys got to believe in him as much as he has to believe in you guys. If there's no trust or communication, kiss the championship goodbye." Jeongguk replied, saying nothing but actual facts. "He's trying his hardest. As much as I want my position back, he's . . . Earned it, I guess."

". . ." Hoseok looked back to his side at Jeongguk who was mid-eye roll. "You didn't deny when I said he was your boyfriend." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Jeongguk frowned. "That's what you got from all of that? I decide to be motivational and you're concerned whether I'm dating my enemy or not? I retract my earlier statement when I said you guys were going to kill it, you'll fuck it up worrying about nonsense."

"No, no," Hoseok chuckled. "I heard everything you said. That's great, yeah, believe in each other. Team work equals dream work! But you and Taehyung,"

"And?"

"Are you guys together?"

"No."

Hoseok's smile fell, not expecting such a bland answer. Not expecting a no to be exact. "Well, why not?"

"Hyung, there's a championship to be won. Mine and Kim's romantic status is far from a priority right now." Jeongguk informed, looking away from the elder.

Hoseok nodded, internally agreeing with Jeongguk. As curious as he was, there was a time and place and two minutes before meeting the field wasn't either.

     "Okay, boys," Coach stood tall in the front of the bus, looking amongst all the younger players who appeared equally anxious. "This is it, are you guys ready?"

There was a mixed answers of hesitant 'yes's and instant 'no's.

"Well, we're here. We've made is this far." Coach answered. "Win or lose, boys, I'm incredibly proud of each and every one of you. Not to get sappy on you guys," he sniffled, nodding slightly. "I couldn't have asked for a better team. I couldn't have imagined a better group of young men to coach for."

And with that, the team applauded their usually emotionless Coach, all smiling wide and bright towards him.

"You boys get get out there and start practicing immediately. Warm up, loosen yourselves, and get ready to play ball!" Coach grinned, grabbing some equipment and taking his leave as the rest of everyone else stood up.

The team grabbed their gear and proceeded off the bus and onto the very nice and clean field.

It was insane that there were already people cheering them on when they got off. A fan base already starting. The actual game wouldn't start for another two hours at the most.

Taehyung took a long look around, never able to experience something as grand as this. He saw the smiling faces looking brightly at him, hands all meeting each other to clap loud for the Panthers.

He was so awestruck, lips parted, heart loud in his ears. This was incredibly surreal to him.

"Kim," the nickname finally pulled his attention over, seeing Jeongguk at his side. He wasn't standing too close, knowing Taehyung's ridiculous rules about keeping things a secret — even though at the other practice, the captain completely ditched the team to talk to his arch nemesis.

"Loosen up," Jeongguk offered a kind smile, taking a glance over at the playing field. His eyes swept over everything, even the vacant pitchers mound that wasn't going to be filled by him but by Taehyung.

The elder just nodded and trudged forward, not leaving another remark. He didn't know what to say to that nor did he actually want to leave a further comment.

The Panthers immediately got started as instructed. They took their lap around the field, getting their heart rate up and body temperature to rise. It was going to be a relatively warm game today, middle of spring.

After they all finished, they immediately went to their flicks which turned into light tosses, then eventually into full stance throws.

The team was all serious, encouraging one another in hopes for better plays and less nerves.

Sooner or later, the umpires arrived. They got situated and even pulled both coaches from either teams for the lineups and to greet the other. It was the same for every game but this one was especially important.

This was the one game that mattered most. It didn't matter how many games you won up to this point, as long as you won this one.

Second place was nothing more than a first place loser.

     "We got this, I know we do." Hoseok said with forced confident, an even faker smile to accommodate such. He nudged Taehyung gently who only nodded as a response back.

The captain could feel the eyes on him. Whether it was the opposing team looking and checking them out, or Jeongguk who wanted to approach the elder and be a personal hype man. He didn't like the attention, it just felt like added pressure no matter the case.

     "Captains!" Called out one of the three umpires, Taehyung and Hoseok sharing a quick glance before they walked onto the field side-by-side.

Time was only ticking.

      "Fair game, boys." Said one umpire. "You play right for the title of the championship. No unsportsmanlike conduct for you'll automatically be disqualified. It's your responsibility to report that back to your teammates." He added. "Since we're on a fair field, you'll call heads or tails for who bats first."

All captains and coaches gave a single nod to show they understood.

A quarter was retrieved and showed to all players. The same umpire turning his attention to Taehyung. "Heads or tails?" He asked.

"Heads." Taehyung commented, trying to prevent any sign or nerves in his tone.

Then the coin was tossed up, the shiny quarter flipping and rotating up in the air until it came back down into the palm of the umpire, landing tails up.

"With tails being up, the Spartans take offense. They'll be batting first while Panthers take the field as defense." Said the umpire, signaling the players back to their dugouts.

"Gather around," Coach called out to the Panthers, pulling the team together to huddle up. Hoseok and Taehyung stood side-by-side, the remaining players, including Jeongguk, approaching.

"Win or lose, boys, I'm sincerely proud of you kids." Coach told, weakly offering his old smile. "I believe in you boys. You'll do great, just like the other games and at practice." He nodded to put greater value behind his words. He then turned his attention to the team captain and co-captain.

Everyone looked towards the two boys, awaiting the inspiring and motivating words the two were going to say. This is where the two should announce their own gratitude and pride but Taehyung's head snapped towards Hoseok when the elder spoke up.

     "Just don't screw up." Hoseok said simply, putting his hand in the middle. "Panthers on three," he followed with.

The rest of the team threw one hand on top of each other's, slight nods and hums to signify their agreement.

"One," it was all or nothing. You either won the final championship or went home crying about your loss.

"Two," this was the only real game that mattered. If you didn't win this one then no one cared how far you got. You got that far to lose.

"Three," the pressure was definitely overwhelming and suffocating. It felt almost like too much.

"Panthers!" Called out the team in union. They added weight to their voices so they didn't seem as nervous as they truly were, especially to the other team who wasn't too far away in their own dugout.

     The team separated and prepared for the game. They pulled on their face masks and mitts, getting ready to take the field as starting defense.

Taehyung ruffled his own overgrown blond locks, fluffing them off of his already sweaty forehead. It was already warm and everyone, as mentioned time and time again, were all nervous which only rose body temperatures.

"You got this, Blondie," Jeongguk uttered, nudging Taehyung's arm lightly with a soft, subtle smile laying across his face. "Don't sweat it, not more than you already are."

Taehyung scoffed, smiling himself. "I'm not even worried, Newbie. Got it all wrong." He said as he sucked in a deep breath to try to appear more at ease.

"Sure, and I'm not crushing on you." Jeongguk said, meeting the elder's eyes when he looked up. It was brief eye contact but enough to solidify whatever was intended between them.

Jeongguk soon walked away, Taehyung letting his eyes roam the younger's backside before he too walked off, heading onto the pitcher's mound.

     The first Spartan's batter walked onto the field, getting into stance and practicing a few light swings while the Panthers passed around some tosses. It was all warmup to get ready for the only game that mattered most.

Taehyung pitched to the catcher a few times,  wanting to shake a few nerves off. He knew the offense was watching his pitches, all coming up with ideas on how to get the best hit on his pitches. Some were evening watching out for weaknesses.

     "Batter up!" Called out one of the umpires, signaling for the game to now officially start.

     The Spartan player walked up and took a stand, sucking in a deep breath before he pulled his bat over his shoulder. He too appeared nervous and Taehyung was sure he was, he was also sure that he could use that to his advantage.

It reminded him of when Jeongguk admitted to always being nervous but being confident within himself to at least hide it.

Confidence would always outweigh nerves.

     Taehyung sucked in a deep breath before he got his own stance going for him, using his left hand to grab the ball out of glove.

He retracted his arm, lifting his leg simultaneously, before pitching it forward straight into the catcher's glove nearly perfectly.

The batter didn't even flinch, didn't even indicate he was going to swing. Maybe the nerves engulfed him, maybe he was daydreaming.

     "Strike one!" Yelled out the umpire, signaling with his hand so it could be taken down by watchers.

     The Panthers dugout clapped and applauded their captain, cheering him on for such a great first pitch that got the game rolling.

He even heard Jeongguk's pretty voice call out a simple compliment, one that wasn't really out of ordinary but one that made his heart flutter.

     "Good pitch, Kim." Simple yet significant.

     The baseball was tossed back to Taehyung, feeling a bit better about his own abilities now. He took his stance again, doing the same exact motion as before.

Only difference was it didn't land in the catcher's glove, it was straight down the middle and was hit off of the bat.

It flew high into the air, going over Taehyung's head deep into left field.

Hoseok took off running as the batter was making his own way to first.

The left outfielder charged forward as well, holding his glove up towards the hit baseball.

Hoseok was just short of the baseball, it going way too over his head for him to catch up to it but he was still pushing as fast as he could.

     "I got it!" Called out the left outfielder, Hoseok slowing down so the two wouldn't collide into one another.

And, as perfect as that play could be, the outfielder extended his arm and made the catch, getting the out immediately.

More cheer erupted, the Panthers onto one hell of a start.

     "Good job!" Taehyung called out, holding up his glove for the ball to be thrown back to him. They were doing so good and Taehyung couldn't be any prouder of his team thus far.

     Taehyung was actually becoming extremely hopeful, having more faith than before in his team. Maybe they truly had this win in the bag. One out already, two more before they would get to bat.

     The captain looked over at the dugout, instantly looking right at Jeongguk who was smiling like an idiot.

He nodded towards the blond, keeping the same humongous grin around his pretty face. Jeongguk even mouth the words, 'you got this' through his curled lips.

It felt like butterflies flapped around Taehyung's heart. This was the most dopamine he's felt these past few days despite everything.

They had this, truly they did.