Strike | Xiuchen

03

I found a note in my locker before baseball practice.

Jongdae,
Do you have a girlfriend?
Return to locker 137.

I smiled, wrote 'no' on the piece of paper, and put it through the slits in locker 137.

"Chen, play catch with me today," Xiumin said. I was so terrified, I didn't even try to catch the ball, "Stop, being afraid of it."

I tried to catch the ball, but he hit me in the leg with it, on purpose, "What was that for?"

"Did it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts."

He nodded, "Stand up and catch it this time, that's what stops it from hurting you," I threw the ball back to him, "Also, throw the ball harder. I'm not afraid of it hitting me."

He wasn't even aiming for my glove anymore, he was just aiming for various places on my body. The only thing that would stop it from hitting me was if I could move my glove fast enough to catch it. It hit me a lot too.

"Scrimmage!" Suho called.

"Chen will be on my team," Xiumin said, "You can have Chonglin."

"Awe, come on man!" Chonglin complained.

We were batting first.

"Yeah, Chen Chen is on our team!" Baekhyun cheered.

"So am I," Chanyeol hated when Baekhyun didn't pay attention to him.

"Batting order," Xiumin said, "Me, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sehun, Chen."

"Hurry up," Lay called from the mound, "You are so slow!"

Chanyeol pretended to be an announcer, "While Xiumin is our star pitcher, Lay's also got a hell of a pitch. He's known for his insane curveballs. Woah! Xiumin doesn't get a single strike."

"You're so annoying," Sehun mumbled. Chanyeol ignored him.

"Xiumin has hit a home run! Up next is number four! Byun Baekhyun! Number sixty-one, Chanyeol, is on deck and also reporting. Ouch! Strike one! He doesn't lose hope, he hits it! Oh, it rolls to number six, Chonglin, in the outfield! Baekhyun makes it to first! Whew! What a hit! And Xiumin makes the first point!"

"Thank god he's going to bat now," Sehun said, stepping into the circle that had been traced with somebody's cleat.

"Don't hit it with your eyes closed," Xiumin said.

"I won't, of course."

On deck, I could hear Chanyeol still announcing from second base, he was talking about how number ninety-four, Sehun, had gotten the first out. I took a deep breath, stepping up to bat. Two strikes. I closed my eyes, even though Xiumin had told me not to and I hit it, pretty far. I made it to second base even, but Xiumin called a timeout.

"I told you not to do that."

"I can't help it. I hit it! Really, that's the only way I can hit the ball," I ended up getting out on third, and Chanyeol hit the ball right into Suho's glove. We won the scrimmage in the end.