Alone Together [RIIZE]

7. Good, Ol' Fashioned American Ball Game!

Sungchan stood in front of the school studium. Admittedly, it intimated him with its huge stands of metal bleachers and screams that could heard as far as the bus station three blocks away.

Someone cleared their throat in front of Sungchan and he realized now that he was holding up the line. A boy with pink hair and a wild grin looked at him in amusement, pointing at the line that'd formed behind Sungchan without him noticing.

"Five bucks to get in, new kid." The kid drawled. Sungchan reached into his pockets to pull out a crumpled five dollar bill, handing it to the boy. The boy made a huge show of inspecting the bill and holding out his hand as if to say 'more'.

Sungchan started to panic. That was five dollars, was it not? He didn't have much other money, maybe like a dollar or two in his back pocket, but now he was going to be embarrassed in front of all of these people, and-

"I was kidding." Jaemin's smile fell when he realized that Sungchan was starting to panic. He chuckled and drew his hand away, placing the five dollar bill in a locked box with the rest of the admission money. "You're good to go, get a wristband." He pointed at the purple wristbands on the table next to him and went to help the next person in line.

Sungchan just felt stupid. That kid was joking? He couldn't tell. He never really learned to pick up on jokes like that.

He wrestled the wristband onto his arm and looked around curiously, walking through the gate. Freshman students chased each other around, covered in body paint. The smell of barbecue wafted through the stadium and the sound of horns and flutes could be heard over the announcer's muffled voice, calling out each play.

On the field, boys in helmets and lots of padding were running after another singular boy dressed in purple and green, who held onto the football and tumbled out of bounds with it to avoid them. A whistle was blown and the coach yelled something at the boy, which kind of scared Sungchan and caught him off guard.

He wanted to turn around and leave. He would have lied to Sohee and told her that he was sick or that Jungwoo needed him at home or something, that seemed like the best option.

It would have been the best option if Sohee wasn't standing right next to the gate, waiting for him with Shotaro and Wonbin.

"Hi, Sungchan. Good to see you didn't get lost on the way." Wonbin snickered as the band started playing loudly, drowning out the sound of anything else.

"Why aren't you wearing our colors?" Sohee shouted over the band's blaring trumpets. She was decked out head-to-toe in purple and neon green, from her eyeshadow to her fingernails, to even her mismatched socks.

Sungchan smiled at her dedication, then looked down at himself in a gray hoodie and jeans. "I... I forgot what the colors were."

"That's okay. Here." Shotaro smiled and held out his hand. Sungchan held his own hand out shakily as Shotaro took off one of his green bead bracelets and placed it gently on Sungchan's wrist. "Now we're matching."

The band played another song, which startled Sungchan a little bit. Shotaro let go of his hand as Sohee squealed.

"Come on, Wonbin. We won't have a spot in the student section if we don't hurry up!" Sohee grabbed Wonbin's hand in hers and pulled him up to the student section excitedly.

"Okay, okay!" Wonbin nodded, letting himself get pulled away by the small girl. He waved at Shotaro and Sungchan and followed her up the bleachers, grinning as they laced their hands together.

"Are they..." Sungchan trailed off, pointing back at the pair, who were sitting next to each other on the bleachers. Wonbin kissed the back of Sohee's hand when he thought nobody was looking.