Second
:Chapter Two:

     Soft toss came and like always, the captain went first.

Soft toss is where Coach would gently toss the ball up and the batter — in this case, Taehyung — would hit the ball into outfield who were the remaining players. They would all try to catch the baseball.

Taehyung was infamous for his batting and how far he could get the baseballs, being the only one on the team to be able to get it as far as he did in the outfield. As of now.

Hoseok nudged Jeongguk. "You might want to stand further back, he hits them pretty far." He informed the younger who nodded as a response, taking a few more steps back with Hoseok. "Just watch." He added, getting in a good stance, showing he was ready.

"Heads up!" The Coach shouted and tossed the first ball in the air. Taehyung swung just bat and hit it with all his might, shooting the ball high into the sky. He watched the ball with pride, a semi-smile lingering over his beautifully-shaped lips.

Outfield ran into a direction, trying to spot where the baseball shot up. Some called, 'got it' though they really didn't, and others just kept their eyes glued to the ball.

No one ended up catching it, it going further than anyone could realized so they stood a bit further now, watching Taehyung swing his bat more and more with every baseball that was tossed softly for him to swing at.

He was better at soft toss than at actual pitch to him. Taehyung had to work harder on his batting. He definitely wasn't bad and could hit most of them but sometimes, he would swing too late or not make the right call whatsoever on whether to swing or not. He really did work hard, though.

The captain hit all of them but two. He swung early and they fell to the ground. His Coach told him to shake it off and that he did good.

"Collect the balls, next batter get ready!" Yelled out the Coach, turning away to give Taehyung some pointers on his swings. He had informed him that he doesn't appear to be too focused and needs to really take his swing all the way through.

That's when Hoseok looked at Jeongguk. "I'm usually next but you should go next! I'll go after you."

Newbie frowned. "You sure? I totally don't mind going last." He replied, picking up a few baseballs that were around him, Hoseok doing the same.

"For sure! You can go before me, I don't mind at all and I rather you get a chance in. Are you any good at batting?" Hoseok asked the younger, walking alongside him to take the balls back into the bucket where the Coach stood, telling the players to hurry their asses up.

Jeongguk tossed the few he gathered into the said bucket, blowing air our his nose as a huff. "Any good? You have no faith in me, Hoseok hyung."

"That doesn't answer my question. It's okay if you aren't the best, no one here hits it further than Taehyung does." Hoseok shrugged. "But still, don't beat yourself down if you miss a few." He added on.

Jeongguk dully noted a few things Hoseok said, taking off his mitt and pulling on gloves that would help the grip he had on his bat.

He looked at the variety of baseball bats to choose from, not particularly liking any of them so he went over to his bag where he dug through it.

"I said, next batter!" The Coach called out again. Jeongguk picked up his bat and smiled. Man, he loved this bat a little too much sometimes, swore up and down he was going to marry it.

He pulled on a helmet, going up to the plate.

Jeongguk got into the most professional stance the team had ever saw, his left leg digging into the dirt under his cleat.

Taehyung's eyes grew twice their size when he caught a glimpse of that.

Middle school. Taehyung and his team were undefeated and going against another undefeated team. One of the teams were bound to lose and Taehyung wasn't going to take a loss.

Until he did. They lost that game. It wasn't even remotely close to being the other way around. It was fifteen to eight.

Taehyung remembered the one player in particular who was so cocky in his plays and who wore a stupid smirk every time he went to bat. He would dig his left foot into the dirt, bouncing on his leg and would skyrocket the ball. It was incredible for only being a pre-teen.

It wouldn't have hurt as much if that certain player didn't rub it in Taehyung's face.

"Best team my ass. You really thought you had it in the bag. Well, tough luck, cub." The black-haired boy teased, the ugly smirk plastered on his face. "Maybe if you and your team didn't suck ass, you would've gotten somewhat close to fifteen." He shoved Taehyung, winking at him before he moved along.

"Jeongguk! Hurry over! We have to get back to Busan before sundown." The said 'Jeongguk's' coach called out, the boy running over and helping with cleaning up the equipment.

"He was a little shit." Taehyung said subconsciously under his breath, brows pinched together.

"Taehyung, you have to get in pos-"

A loud pop rang through the air, the baseball flying higher and faster than Taehyung's balls ever did. No one dared even chase it, all eyes glued onto the ball as it soared above all of them. It went all the way into the parking lot, a car's horn going off and the sound of glass shattering right before.

It was a moment of silence, all besides the car's horn, before the team clapped their hands in amazement. All were impressed, admiring how incredibly talented Jeongguk was.

'Woah's, 'wow's, and 'damn's was the only thing that could be said beyond the team.

The Coach was starstruck, mouth left wide open.

Everyone was so baffled with admiration, everyone besides Taehyung who's eyes just stayed locked on Jeongguk. He couldn't believe that such a jerk like Jeongguk himself was playing for his team. He didn't fit in; he wasn't a good teammate at all.

"Wow! Did you see how far that ball went? That was further than yours!" Hoseok said, a wide smile smeared on his face.

"Seok, it's not the time." Taehyung rolled his eyes. "I just want to get through practice." He uttered.

"Geez, what changed in eight seconds? Really salty over the fact that Jeongguk's balls fly further?"

"I realized something and not really ready for this season anymore." Taehyung admitted, hearing another ball fly but not with as much strength probably because Jeongguk didn't want to make Coach pay for anymore broken windshields.

Hoseok's playful expression fell. "Not ready for the season? What changed suddenly, seriously? You were all for the season; never shutting up about it and now you're having second thoughts? Must be big."

Big to Taehyung. It hurt his feelings and he was indeed salty over the game, had been ever since. Not only because of the fact he had lost that game but also due to the fact that Jeongguk was so rude about it. He shattered Taehyung's ego that day.

Their team had ended up winning the championship of that season and even the next one after that.

The blond-haired teenager didn't care too much about losing, well, he liked to think he didn't care at least, but it was the way it was rubbed into his face and how he directly was targeted.

He knew part of him was overreacting, he really did understand how dramatic he was but baseball was his everything. He loved it so much, everything about it and more.

"Next batter!" Was shouted out again. Taehyung didn't even realize that he did nothing while Newbie was hitting. He huffed, rolling out his shoulders and trying to focus his attention on practice.

He helped to pick up the balls, seeing Hoseok walking over to Jeongguk and patting him on the back in congratulations and celebration for hitting further than Taehyung could — which was never up until now.

"You should put more faith in me, Hobi." Jeongguk chuckled, looking over his bat to see if it needed a cleaning after hitting the balls, which it wouldn't hurt to rub it down.

"Hobi? I get a nickname already?" Hoseok teased. "But I just thought you were nervous! Not an unbelievable batter who can hit home-runs for days!"

Jeongguk chuckled bashfully, scratching the back of his neck as he set his bat down on his belongings. "Now you're giving me too much credit . . . I didn't nothing spectacular."

"You broke someone's windshield! What do you mean?!" Hoseok playfully hit his arm, eyes wide. "You're not giving yourself enough credit! What happened to having faith?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. The guy can hit passed the field, so what?" Taehyung went over. "Hoseok, go grab a bat and get a helmet. You're up next." He added on.

"What Taehyung means do say is good job!" Hoseok muttered hurriedly and in a low tone for only the younger, patting Jeongguk's shoulder before he grabbed a bat and a helmet, Jeongguk removing his own head gear.

"Well, thanks anyways." Jeongguk smiled kindly to Taehyung who cocked a brow. "Soft toss is different from an actual game, Newbie. You played before, you should know that."

This is when Jeongguk picked up on the attitude lingering in the elder's tone, tilting his head like a lost puppy. "I'm sorry, are you upset over something?"

"What do I have to be upset about?" Questioned the captain with a quizzical look coating his features.

"Well," Jeongguk picked up his mitt and slipped it over his hand. "Hyung said that you were the best hitter on our team, mad that someone actually beat that record of yours?"

"Pfft, like I said, soft toss is much different than an actual pitch." Taehyung retorted, brows tugged together.

"Then how comes I still hit it further than you if it's so different? I'll hit it even further once a pitch is made to me." Jeongguk offered a sweet smile that was everything but the adverb 'sweet'.

It took Taehyung's bitterness to ruin whatever friendship the two had going on. A castle made of sand doesn't stand the wind.

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A/N:

Hope you guys think the story is well described so far. I'm really trying to make sure you are all able to visualize it! Everything!