Baseball (& Other Disasters)
Description. Everyone admired Mark Lee, starting pitcher of your school’s baseball team and famed ladies man. You, on the other hand, only know him as the boy who broke your dorm lobbies microwave the first time you met.
Too bad that was all it took to grow an embarrassingly huge crush on him.
So when he comes to you, in need of a new baseball manager, how could you say no to that face? (Spoiler: You couldn’t)
Pairings. Mark Lee x Female Reader
Genre. Romance, F2L, Idiots to lovers, Mutual Pining
Warnings. Cursing, An awkward scene of you walking in on the deed being done, suggestive comments, (I think that’s it?)
Word count. 10k ...
Note: I had so much fun writing this, sorry if it seems like it moved too fast, I didn’t want it to be too long since it’s been sitting in my drafts forever! Anyways, enjoy and remember feedback is always appreciated <3
Mark Lee is out fifty dollars, a phone bill, and most recently, a baseball manager. And he’s about to pull his hair out, because seriously, who quits right before the season starts? Not to help that he could’ve never seen it coming.
Kim Jungwoo, their former manager, had quite literally bailed on them. He was a player who injured his ankle, so he settled on the manager position, hoping one day to become a coach. His excuse was simple now though, he graduated university a few years ago, and was ready to move on. Mark just thinks the passion for the sport was gone, but you don’t just lose it overnight? How had no one seen it coming?
There was no point on dwelling on it, Mark shakes his head. Jungwoo was gone, and they needed a new manager stat. Unfortunately, Coach had kind of put that responsibility on Mark’s shoulders. But what did he know about this anyways? He had enough on his plate already to be scouring Indeed dot com for a baseball manager. Why couldn’t the assistant coach do it? Isn’t that was Doyoung was for, to do stuff like this?
And the worst part? He has two weeks to find someone, which is pretty much impossible. Especially considering that they would still have to train the manager to adjust to their schedules and learn their positions.
In short, Mark really hated Kim Jungwoo right now.
You on the other hand, had not a worry in the world. Well, at this moment at least. Your only problem was the fact that you had to boil your ramen in the common kitchen, instead of being able to just pop it in the microwave. Yeah, you have Mark Lee to thank that for.
You remember it like it was yesterday, (it was two months ago), when Mark Lee practically blew up your microwave. And even after an attempt to plead with the floor’s RA, they ultimately deemed it unsafe to have one on your floor. Which meant no more Hot Pockets, Cup ‘O Noodles, or soggy pizza. A tragedy for a college student.
Understandably, most people were annoyed with Mark’s accident, but it didn’t last very long anyways. It’s hard to hate the boy who led your school games to constant victories the year before. Overall, Mark was just a likable person.
Before that day, you didn’t even know Mark had played baseball. You didn’t care a lot for sports, opting to keep up only with your friend Chenle’s obsession, basketball. But even then, you didn’t know much about either sport.
To you, Mark Lee was just the guy who awkwardly spoke while putting ranch on his salad. He was introducing himself, asking why you were up cooking at three am as well, before shifting back to his food. He then started telling you how he liked his salads with boiled eggs on top, a good source of protein according to his coach. By the time you realized the microwave was on, with the egg inside, it was already too late.
It literally burst in the microwave, causing a rather unpleasant smell to spread throughout the common floor. Your face scrunched in disgust as you trashed the ravioli you were waiting to cook in there. “You put a boiled egg in the microwave?”
“To heat it up!” He had defended, staring at the messy appliance in horror.
“For 50 seconds?!”
He raised his hands, eyes wide. “I like them hot!”
Foolishly, that also happened to be the exact day you fell for Mark Lee. Something about his slight awkwardness, and the fumble of his hands when he spoke. You would’ve never guessed what kind of reputation he had held.
Your best friend, Yeri stops you there with the raise of her hand. She chews aggressively on her chicken while shaking her head and swallowing. “You’re such a loser.”
You laugh as you fake a pout, “Stop! Don’t tease me.”
“I can’t believe that’s what made you like him.” She furrows her brows. “There’s so many other reasons to like him, that’s all.”
You twirl your ramen on your plastic fork, sitting in the dining hall so you could eat with Yeri. (She had always offered to buy you a meal, but this food was a rip off! The pricing was crazy and you’d die before you let her buy two meals, call you a good friend.)
“You know I have a thing for awkward boys.” You speaks truthfully, because the point was supported by your track record of crushes on other shy boys.
“Well,” Yeri begins, knowing she’s about to get shot down. “You should try talking to him, as more than a friend.”
“Never!” You shriek, not believing she had even suggested that. “You know, I’m content with admiring from afar.”
“Which is why you’re still single!” She puts another forkful in her mouth before mumbling. “He’s nice, you should at least try.”
But you were a person of your word, you were not going to make the first move with Mark. That’s just the kind of person you were, you weren’t going to put yourself out there only to be rejected!
Or worse, have your confession accepted.
You see, due to never confessing, you had never had a boyfriend. That left you sorely inexperienced in the dating world. Meaning if you ever did ever ask someone on a date, you’d have no idea what to do on it. That would just likely lead you into a breakdown over the entire thing, which you would like to avoid.
You didn’t mind being single too much either, you had two great best friends who you could count on. The other actually just arrived right now, taking his seat as he looks at the two of you. “What? Did I interrupt something?”
“Just them avoiding talking to their crush.”
“Again?” Chenle laughs as he shakes his head. “I didn’t even know you had a crush.”
“I don’t.” You deny, glancing at Yeri. “I just think he’s cute.”
Yeri raises her fork in defense, stating matter-of-factly. “Everyone think’s Mark Lee is cute.”
“He’s not even all that.” Chenle dismisses, pulling out his phone to play some mobile game. “You could do better.”
“Better? Than Mark Lee?” Yeri’s jaw drops, and your glad she sees your side. Well, half the female population of your university did anyways.
“Who could be better?” You scoff, counting off your fingers. “Mark is talented, funny, and super cute! He’s like the entire package!”
“Yeah, you definitely have a crush on him.” Chenle says, turning his attention away from his (regrettably) best friends.
“But seriously, who wouldn’t want Mark?” Yeri nods, “You have the right idea.”
“I know, when have I ever liked someone questionable?” You ask, noting their lack of faith in your taste.
“Well..” Yeri starts and you sigh, knowing where she’s going with it. “Na Jaemin.”
“That was before I knew he was..” You trail, your nose scrunching, not wishing to reminisce on that phase of affection.
Chenle stops you, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t you dare call him a slut!”
“I wasn’t going to call him a-”
“Liar!” The boy yells, not even letting you finish. “Don’t talk bad about my friend!”
“I wasn’t going to! You’re the one who assumed I was going to call him a slut!”
“Cause you were!” Yeri instigates, laughing at you two.
“I wasn’t.” You maintain. Your crush on Jaemin was short lived anyways. You had seen him donning a basketball jersey, playing along side your friend on the first day of the semester.
Yeri would say you had heart eyes bursting out the moment you spotted him, you’d disagree, but he had definitely caught your attention. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before you found out he definitely wasn’t the type to be tied down. Not that it bothered you or anything, like you stated previously, you weren’t going to make a move.
Though, it was kind of hard to crush on a boy with a different girl around his arm everyday. Eh, not exactly your taste.
“Anyways, Mark has a ton of girl’s chasing after him. Thought you didn’t like guys like that.” Chenle states, attention not moving from whatever shooting game he’s engaged in.
“The difference is that Mark clearly hasn’t spoken to a single one of those fangirls in his life.” Yeri points out, never having seen it happen.
“You’re not that dumb are you?” Chenle finally puts his phone down. “Mark definitely messes around with all of them.”
“What does it matter?”
“Is this because your girl is one of his little fans?” You ridicule and Chenle shoots you a killer glare. The girl he liked, Nagyung, was one of the girls who’d attend baseball games just to see Mark. All of the girls in that section were recognized because they’d always start screaming from the stands when Mark would make a pitch. Squeals and cheers just for him to look their way.
You were one interaction away from joining them.
“What does he have that I don’t?!” Chenle throws his head back at the reminder.”Wish I had fans bringing me lunch every day too. I’d never have to eat with you fools again.”
You contemplate throwing your hot ramen on him as you narrow your eyes. “You’re no longer invited.”
“Hey!” Chenle whines.
Yeri pushes your shoulder lightly as she ignores your friends pleas. “I’m serious about talking to him! You’ll never know if you don’t try.”
“Yeri, just because you’ve had like 200 hundred boyfriends doesn’t mean we all want to!” Chenle digs, making a face at her.
“200?!” She yelps before her face goes straight. “I’d say 400 is more accurate.”
“Yeri!” You widen your eyes as she giggles. It was no secret your best friends was far more experienced in the dating realm than you were. Even Chenle had a girlfriend here and there.
Yeri even had a boyfriend now, an exchange student named Sicheng who she learned Mandarin for. They’d been steady together for about two years now, her ‘crazy highschool days’ were over and she was ready to settle down. All her words.
“Well it doesn’t matter now, clearly Sicheng and I are gonna get married-”
“Yes and have a million babies and live in a big house,” You interrupt her, reciting the statement you’ve heard so many times. “We know.”
“That could be you and Mark!” She nods, winking.
“Please, babies? You won’t even talk to him, and he’s like the nicest guy in the world.” Chenle scoffs, sipping from his drink, and that hits you particularly hard.
“You know what?” You say boldly, quirking a brow. “I will talk to him! I’ll show you.”
You have not shown Chenle.
It’s only been two days but you had yet to spot Mark anywhere, let alone strike up a conversation with the boy. It’s not like you two were close or anything, did he even know your name? Would he remember you? Were you just severely overthinking this? Definitely.
Even if Mark didn’t remember you, he’s not the type to act all weird about it. He’d likely try to greet you back and start a conversation, or at least that’s what you keep telling yourself.
Because here he is, in the very area where you first met him (And that exploded egg.) In the common kitchen. And you’re about to fall over.
He’s wearing glasses while dressed in sweatpants, since it is midnight after all, and staring at something on his laptop. The bright blue light illuminating his features as he sits in the dimly lit area, eating something from a takeout container. Eyes heavy from clear exhaustion as he presses on the temple of his forehead. And yet you think you’ve never seen him look cuter.
You walk in steadily, ready to boil some instant oatmeal. (It was all you had found in your dorm, you don’t even remember buying it.) Mark looks up, smiling as he makes eye contact with you.
That damn famous smile.
“Hey stranger.” He greets, looking you up and down discreetly. “Haven’t seen you here in a while.”
You laugh, “Decided maybe it’d be best to stay away from here for a minute.”
“I don’t blame you.” He nods, holding his hands up in defeat as his eyes flicker back to his laptop.
“So, big project coming up or?” You say, turning to open your oatmeal, grimacing at the powder on your hands as you wipe it off. This is your attempt at starting a conversation that would hopefully go better than it did last time.
“Not exactly.” He drags, scrolling on his mouse pad.
“Is that Zip Recruiter?” You giggle, looking over your shoulder as his laptop faces you. “Job hunting?”
He shakes his head, before realizing you couldn’t see him. “No, actually. I’m job.. hiring.”
You hum in acknowledgement, even though you didn’t know what he meant.
“I have a week and a half to find the team a new manager.” Mark elaborates, sighing as he leans back into his chair. “Nothing but dead ends so far.”
“Is it that hard to find candidates?” You ask, genuinely curious. Also, had Kim Jungwoo quit? You had seen him around campus a few times, mostly chatting up Yeri, but he seemed to be super loyal to his team. What had changed, and so suddenly?
Mark continues looking. “Only two people have responded to my posting so far. One had a criminal background and the other wanted higher pay.”
“That sucks.” You stir your food. “Have you thought about hiring a student?”
Mark turns to look back at you. “I don’t know. Coach didn’t want to do that again after Jungwoo, but maybe if they had all the qualifications then he wouldn’t mind.”
“Cool,” You speak absentmindedly. “I’m sure you’ll find someone soon.”
“What about you?”
You glad you weren’t facing him or else you would’ve surely agreed to it in an instant. You regain your senses as you notice your spoon falling into the hot mixture, almost burning yourself as you retrieve it. “Oh- Uh, Mark I don’t think I’d be a good fit.”
And you assume that’s enough to drop the subject but he actually closes his laptop as he continues. “But Chenle mentioned something about you managing your team in high school.”
First things first, you were going to kill Chenle! Leave it up to him to meddle in this, when did he even speak to Mark? And now he was going around lying to him?
Sure, you had vaguely helped your friend take baseball stats in highschool once; but it was nothing like this. How did Chenle even remember that?
You need to get it together and say no, there is no way in the world you could be a baseball manager. For several reasons, one being that you only know surface level things on the sport. Two, your schedule is hectic enough as it is without being apart of a team. And three? You’d have to deal with Mark Lee more often than you’d ever imagined.
Well, the last one didn’t sound so bad.
Mark takes in your silence. “Maybe just think over it, it pays well and we travel a lot. It could be fun.”
You want to throw something, why was this even an option for him? “It’s just, my time as a manager was very brief. Don’t you want someone more confident in what they’re doing?”
Mark’s mouth draws into a thin line. “Well, we’re really pressed for time right now, and you have experience. We’re short on options, plus I kinda know you.”
“So you’re trusting me with the fate of your entire team,” You start, closing your eyes. “Because you kinda know me.”
He foolishly nods, before getting up. “It’s not a hard job I promise! I’m sure you’d have no trouble with it!”
You open your mouth.“Mark-”
“Consider it?” He speaks as he now stands next to you. Your eyes pretending to be engrossed with the stupid oatmeal in front of you. You’re trying your hardest not to give away how nervous you are, you’d never been this close to him before. Sure, you could only see him from the corner of your eye, but you know he’s watching your face as he awaits an answer. “Please?”
He is so cute.
“I’ll do it.” You blurt, before you can stop the words from tumbling out.
His eyes light up, a smile growing. “What? Really?”
No! Not really, I’m just an idiot who’s weak to such a perfect boy in front of me. I’m taking it back before it’s too late! Sorry, maybe I can help you find someone else! That’s what you should be saying.
Yet nothing comes out, as you just nod. Idiot, you think. You know this is a terrible idea but you’re too far in now! (Not really, you’re just dramatic.) But you’d be damned if you were the one to wipe such a pretty smile off his face.
“Woah, okay. I’ll have coach do the paperwork and then I’ll email you the schedule.” He sighs in relief, before looking at you and placing his hand on your shoulder. “Thank you, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
You really wish he had said that in a different context.
..
Knocking on the apartment door harshly, your anger fizzles down a bit when Park Jisung, Chenle’s roommate, opens the door. “Oh hey, what are-”
“Is Chenle home?” You ask, not seeing him in the kitchen as you look through the door. The poor boy looks confused, you usually love small talk with him.
“Well, yeah but he’s-”
“Thanks.” You mutter before you push past the boy, ignoring any words that followed. Jisung took note of the look on your face though, and decided he did not want to stand in your way, definitely not.
You don’t even bother to knock, swinging Chenle’s door open with full force. Though you quickly regret it, as you’re met with a half naked Chenle with a girl on top of him. Well, that’s definitely not Nagyung.
You shield you eyes before yelling. “Dammit Chenle! Where are your clothes?”
“Oh my god,” The girl squeaks before pulling away, picking up her shirt as she clutches it in front of her chest. “You said I was the only one!”
“You are-” Chenle begins but is interrupted by a slap on his face. He sits there, stunned at the sudden action as she gets off of him. The girl runs out of the room, grabbing her phone off his desk and running past a startled Jisung, who gapes in the doorway.
“Was that-”
“Shut up Jisung!” And you register the sound’s of Chenle running after her, too afraid of seeing his penis again that you don’t open your eyes until he’s gone.
The front door slams and you look at Jisung, who just shrugs and smiles awkwardly. “So that was- um...”
“What the fuck.” Chenle storms back in the living room, pants halfway on, before approaching you, pointing a finger in your chest. “You just cock blocked me!”
“You fucking idiot.” You spout back. “I’m only here because of what you told Mark!”
“Are you kidding?!” He responds, scoffing as Jisung look’s around confused. Truthfully, Chenle had barely remembered what he had even said to Mark. “I was trying to help you!”
“I don’t need your help!”
Chenle rolls his eyes, you’re acting like he did the worst thing in the world. “Whatever! So sue me, I just wanted you to actually speak to him!”
“Oh I definitely will now because I’m the new fucking baseball manager.” You drop, the two males staring at you in awe. Jisung looks confused and Chenle genuinely looks like he’s seen a ghost.
Chenle himself swears his jaw dropped and rolled on the floor beneath him. “What?!” He exclaims, running his hands through his hair.
Jisung raises a brow at that, ignoring as Chenle has a meltdown in the corner of their shared living room, before turning to look at you. He had never seen you at any of the games when he went to see his friends, so he didn’t think you wanted anything to do with that. “You like baseball?”
“Hardly.” You groan, facing the youngest boy. “But Mark was being all nice, and he had that cute smile and-”
“So you said yes?!” Chenle raises his voice, throwing his hands up. “I was just trying to get you to talk to him, not to invade his team!”
“This is you’re fault! You know I can’t say no to him!” You whine, and Chenle literally is at a loss of what to say. Out of all the possible outcomes, he didn’t think you’d actually ever take up the spot.
“Okay,” He tries to calm down, nervously pacing around as he tries to think rationally. “Well, what now?”
You shrug, whining before throwing yourself on his couch. “I don’t know, I think I dug myself in this inescapable hole.”
“Deep,” Jisung agrees and earns a slap on the arm from an annoyed Chenle.
Even if he was upset about having blue balls, he did feel for his best friend. He knew you didn’t do super well in high pressure situations, and in front of a crush too? You were toast.
“Shit! You know nothing about baseball! What were you thinking?” Chenle exclaims, as he throws himself on his couch.
“You were the one who told him about me helping Gowon with paperwork back in high school! How do you even remember that?” You ask, sitting next to him on the dingy couch.
He gives you a dirty look, as if you should’ve known why. “Because I had a crush on her, duh! Could’ve remembered anything related to her.”
“Well excuse me,” You press sarcastically. “You crush on anything with legs.”
“And I still never had a crush on you, says a lot.” He responds, and you’re about to start throwing punches at the insult.
“I did.” Jisung speaks out of no where, you two looking at him wordlessly, and you forgot he was here. Wait, did he just admit to liking you before? He opens his mouth again, “If that helps?”
“No Jisung, why would that help?” Chenle exasperated as he furrows his brows, shakes his head. He couldn’t believe his closest friends were all idiots.
“What I was saying,” Jisung elaborates. “Is that you’re a catch. I’m sure Mark will come to his senses sooner rather than later. Maybe joining his team is a good thing, forced proximity and whatever.”
“You’ve been playing too many otome games.” Chenle scoffs and the younger male starts stuttering defenses. Maybe he did download too many dating simulators.
You just nod, albeit awkwardly. He did kind of have a point though. “Thanks, I guess.”
Jisung just shrugs and scurries off to his room, you and Chenle watching as he does so. Chenle clears his throat before speaking. “That was weird as hell.”
But you had other things to worry about, one being getting home to your safe warm bed. Especially after seeing your best friend naked, you felt the need to bleach your eyes, at least three times. Maybe four for good measure, hopefully it’ll erase your memory too.
Unfortunately, this didn’t happen, as you had spotted into problem number one on your way out of Chenle’s apartment complex.
He’s dressed in casual attire, adjusting his backpack it sits too loosely on his shoulders. You hope he doesn’t see you, as you’re still a little flustered from the previous events.
But you wish isn’t granted as he yells your name across the parking lot. Waving to you animatedly as he stands with another boy beside him. You offer a small wave back, hoping you can run to your car after this, but all thoughts of a quick escape are down the drain the minute he jogs up to you.
You pretend to be enamored in your phone, calmly as Mark gets closer. “Hey! What are you doing around here?” He asks, looking happy to see you.
“Oh I had to come see Chenle for something.” You nod, avoiding eye contact.
He looks down for a minute before speaking again. “Nice! Oh, this is Haechan by the way. He’s our second baseman.”
Mark nudges the aforementioned male, and you suddenly come to notice him. You had barely even taken note of the male, giving him a nod as he looks back at you with a smirk. “Nice to meet you, Mark says you’ll be at practice on Monday?”
You smile, “I will.”
“Great, then we won’t bother you-” Mark begins but Haechan isn’t done talking. Somethings brewing in that boys head, and you’re a little nervous about it.
“Actually, Mark and I were just heading up to my place to discuss the opposing teams stats for the first game. Mark likes to brainstorm possible plays, so if you’re not busy, you should join us.” He proposes, and you can see Mark’s eyes widening.
You almost short circuit at the sudden invitation, and you assume its pretty obvious. If not by your facial expression then definitely by the way your hands got a little shaky. Also, of course it was your luck that Haechan had lived here!
“You don’t have to!” Mark cuts in, waving his hands. He doesn’t want you to feel pressured into spending your Saturday afternoon with them. “You’re probably busy, it’s not a big deal.”
You shake your head. “I wouldn’t want to intrude anyways.”
“It’s not intruding.” Haechan speaks up, crossing his arms. “I invited you, plus we always had Jungwoo’s opinion on these things.”
You look between the boys, Mark smiling and Haechan awaiting an answer. You assume you look like a lost puppy, pleading eyes looking for an escape.
But this is Mark you’re talking about, and possible time with Mark is at stake here! Not forgetting the fact that you’re also his team manager. “Okay, sure.”
Haechan adjusts his glasses, perched on his face, and turns as he leads the way. You’re too busy in your phone though, texting the group chat about the sudden update.
You: You two will never guess who I’m with
Yerim <3: i have your location idiot, you’re with chenle
Lele: She left like five minutes ago..
Yerim <3: wtf
Yerim <3: then who
Lele: Bitch I know you see the texts
You: CHILL I’m listening to Haechan talk about his flat screen tv
Lele: LEE HAECHAN? THE GUY WHO LIVES DOWNSTAIRS?
Lele: Who are you
Yerim <3: LMAO what
You: Mark is here...
Yerim <3: i expect a 3 page paper about this encounter on my desk tomorrow morning, mla format 12 point arial font
You giggle at the last text and shove your phone in your pocket, attention on Haechan as he flips his laptop towards the you and Mark. You’re seated on the floor around a small table in his living room. Mark opting to sit next to you as Haechan sits across. The male has a playback of their game against this school last season playing on the tv behind him.
You have to admit, the two seem as determined as ever. The game wasn’t for another two weeks and yet they were already getting familiar with the other teams players. This was nothing like the high school level you had dealt with, and you were admittedly a little lost.
Mark often turns to you, handing you papers to which you just nod and skim over. You’re struggling to remember what they numbers mean but fake it till you make it, right?
Eventually, Haechan abandons the footage, in favor of talking your head off. But you were honestly thankful for the change of pace, one more home run review and you would’ve exploded.
“Two weeks and then I’ll be on a beach after we take home the win.” He nods, and you can tell he’s already looking forward it.
“That’s assuming we win.” Mark jabs him with his elbow, pulling him out of his day dream.
“The beach?” You ask, wondering why he would be there.
“The Cyclones school is about a five minute drive from a beach. Every time we play them, we head there after. Just have to sneak past coach and we’re home free.” Haechan says, enthusiastically referring to their upcoming opponent.
“Would you want to come?” Mark speaks, a little anxious as he lands his gaze on you.
“Oh, I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to get caught by coach at my first game with you guys.” You speak, smiling nervously.
“What, like how we caught you?” Haechan raises his brows, but you don’t get what he’s referring to.
“Caught?” You ask, looking to the other male for answers.
“Haechan.” Mark warns, sending the male a glare.
The male doesn’t heed his warning though. “We caught you slipping out of Chenle’s! So you’re the mystery hookup, huh?”
“Mystery hookup?!” You exclaim, before processing what he said.
“Yeah! Chenle told us he was going to bang some, and I quote, ‘sweet ass’ today.” Haechan nods, winking at you.
You just about throw up in your mouth. “Oh God, no! He wasn’t talking about me!”
Mark looks towards you, head whipping around almost comically. “He wasn’t?”
“No,” You admit, recalling the embarrassing situation that occurred. “Actually I kind of walked in on him and the so-called sweet ass earlier.”
That sends Haechan into a fit of laughter. “No way!”
You nod reluctantly. “I went over trying to talk to him about an issue we had, but I opened the door and - Actually, I’d rather not remember it.”
“So that’s why you were running out all flustered.” Haechan laughs even harder. “I thought you were trying to avoid being seen.”
“Oh come on,” You giggle back. “I’d never sleep with Chenle, we’re just friends.”
“Just friends,” Haechan subtly (not really) nudges Mark.
“We should really get back to the plays.”
Coach Minho was a lot nicer than he looked, or at least, that’s what you deduced. The players would say he ruled the batting cages with an iron fist, and you’d seen it in action a couple times, but he was always kind to you.
Even when you asked questions about things that any old baseball manager should clearly know, he never berated you, only explaining the concept and sending you on your way.
Assistant Coach Doyoung, on the other hand, was a little more wary of you. He didn’t speak to you beyond two or three words, and when he did? It was usually to doubt your abilities as a manager, but you just figured he was frustrated.
He did have to deal more with the manager more one-on-one, so you figured he was just having trouble adjusting. He kept you in line though, correcting any mistakes and issues you had right away, even if he made an offhanded comment. You heard the boys say he was a tough love kind of person too, so maybe he was hard on you cause he wanted you to do well.
Or at least you hoped so.
The team was a whole different story. Really, you only knew Mark and Haechan, and that was barely. Either way, they couldn’t be on your side when you were handling other problems, so you were basically all alone.
Xiaojun, one of the designated hitters, came up to you on your first day.
And then decided you were his new best friend.
It was nice too, to have someone else on the team that was on your side. Most of the boys hadn’t opened up yet, most doubted your inability to manage the team as well, for reasons you really don’t care to get into.
But thankfully, once Xiaojun had warmed up to you, some of the others followed suit. So now you could say you could count on a handful of them when Doyoung got a little too aggressive.
Currently, he was showing you pictures of his dog Bella at six in the morning as you all waited to board the bus. You’re usually not a morning person, but with Xiaojun’s infectious smile, you couldn’t help but coo at Bella as well.
Their first game is today at seven, and to say they were nervous was an understatement. Yangyang, your third basemen, was pretty much shaking as he boarded the bus ahead of you two. This was his first time starting so you’d give him credit for that.
You were outside the bus as the others loaded up, rushing in to take naps you presume, but you were waiting on two missing pieces of your team.
Namely Mark and Haechan.
Would it kill those two to be punctual? If you learned anything over the past few weeks it was yes, it would kill them.
You sigh in relief as Mark and Haechan finally arrive, and the two profusely apologize to Doyoung, who just watches with a scowl as he sips his coffee.
“Coach isn’t even here yet, just get on the bus.” The older male directs them and they nod as he walks into the bus himself.
“You guys seriously got here ten minutes before we had to leave?” You ask, still groggy from such an early hour.
“You think this just happens without beauty sleep?” Haechan lolls his head, and you almost laugh at his appearance. He clearly intends to sleep as hes dressed in pajamas and a neck pillow, with a eye mask in his hands.
“Oh lord, get in the bus Haechan.” You speak, and he obliges, too tired to fight back.
But as he steps on, he looks back. “Come sit with me Xiaojun.”
“No thanks.” He replies, narrowing his eyes. “I’m gonna sit with our dear manager.”
You smile but Haechan shakes his head, getting off the bus momentarily to grab Xiaojun. “Keep your mouth shut.”
You stare with wide eyes as you watch them, weird. You finally allow yourself to look at Mark, and he’s wearing black Nike sweatpants and a simple white t-shirt with the school’s name on it. Yet you think he looks great, and you almost voice it.
“You look very.. awake.” You smile, surprised at your save.
He chuckles. “I’m really excited. Well, nervous but also very excited.”
“Can’t wait to see you in a real game, you’re gonna kill it.”
His eyes light up, “Thank you-”
“Alright kids, lets go.” A voice speaks as he slaps his hand on Mark’s shoulder. You hadn't even seen Coach Minho arrive, but he just offers you a nod as he gets onto the vehicle itself.
You just follow behind, and coach takes his seat in the very front, across from Doyoung. You’re not sure where you’re supposed to sit, so you tap Minho’s shoulder. “Do I sit in the front?”
“You could, Doyoung has an open seat next to him.” He replies, and you look over to a undesirable sight. Doyoung’s furrowed brows as he looks over a playbook, grinding his teeth as he scribbles something down. You can see it going two ways, either he makes you study plays the entire way, or he calls you incompetent again.
Minho must notice hesitance on your face because he offers you another option. “Or you could always fit a seat among the players.”
And you nod, looking behind you and struggling to see an unclaimed seat. Oh, well there’s one next to Mark. To Mark?! Could you last a two hour ride next to Mark without fainting or embarrassing yourself? Or worse, exposing your feelings.
“Haechan! Psst,” You speak, careful not to bother the others around him, and shaking his shoulders. He pulls his eye mask down to give you a bored look.
“How can I help you?”
“Let me sit there.”
“No way! I’m not getting up.”
“Please,” You beg, coming up with an explanation. “I want to uh, look at more photos of Xiaojun’s dog!”
“Just go sit next to Mark.” He says, pulling his mask down as he ignores both you and Xiaojun’s protests.
Xiaojun just shrugs, “Sorry. I can send you more pictures though!”
You just nod and defeated, you begin your walk towards Mark. You see the light of his phone illuminating his face, and you place your bag on the side.
“Oh hey, I’m surprised you didn’t sit with Doyoung.” He whispers, pulling up his arm rest so there’s no divide between you two. You almost heat up at the move, why would he do that?!
“Hm well, I didn’t want to bother him, he seems busy.”
“Wanna watch this movie with me?” He asks, handing you a headphone before you can even accept his offer. “I moved the arm rest cause it would’ve gotten in the way.”
“What movie is it?” You inquire, but nonetheless take the headphone.
“The Truman Show.”
“Jim Carrey? I love that movie!”
“No way,” Mark perks up. “Yo, I’ve been trying to get someone to watch it with me but everyone says it looks boring.”
“Nothing is boring about accepting the reality of the world as it’s presented.” You quote, as Mark’s eyes widen.
“It’s as simple as that.” He finishes, staring at you. “You can quote it too, that’s so sick.”
“Thanks, I guess I’ve just seen it so many times.”
“You’re seriously so cool,” Mark begins, leaning over. “You know that?”
“I’ve been told.” You giggle, and he laughs as well.
He gets quiet as he looks down. “You know, I never got to thank you for like, saving my ass.”
“You don’t have to thank me, the money is thanks enough.” You state, lips stretched as he agrees.
“I told you it payed well, even if you have to read until your head spins.”
“You could say that again.”
“Will you two be quiet?!” A voice groans, and it’s Haechan from three seats away, being shushed by Lee Jeno.
“Will you mind your business? That’s what the headphones are for!” Mark retorts, and the boy sends him glare before digging through his bag for the mentioned headphones, but not before flipping you two off.
Mark turns back to you, “You know, I made an egg this morning.”
“Hopefully not in the microwave.” You comment, and his nose wrinkles at the memory.
He shakes his head, “No, definitely not.”
“Then it probably came out really well.”
“You think so?”
“As long as you didn’t blow anything up..” You say, moving to face him. “Then I’d say it was a success.”
Mark grins at that, then turns to press play on his phone. The only matter now was, why was his heart beating so hard?
...
“Bottom of the ninth.” The announcers voice echoes, as his voice fills the baseball field. You’re just about biting your nails as he comes onto the intercom again. “Bases loaded, and the Neo’s are leading, but if the Cyclones hit one out of the park, they’ll take home the win.”
The score board read ‘Cyclones 7 - Neo’s 8′ And it’s been an amazing game so far. You never thought you’d be this into baseball, but since you have a front row seat in the dugout? You finally understood the hype.
But now there was a lot on the line, if this batter made a good hit, then your team would be toast. What a great first game.
The batter is Jung Woo-Young, and you’ve seen his stats. He’s not one to be messed with, and they definitely saved such a killer batter for last.
But you had your star pitcher on the field! One that could throw an amazingly accurate, yet fast, curve ball. You’d be fine!
And you’re telling this to Lee Jeno, while he nods along to your nervous rambling, but he’s clearly not really listening as you chew the skin on your nails.
And Wooyoung hits.
“No no no!” You exclaim, standing from the bench as you feel the boys beside you do the same. Everyone’s eyes darting to the ball in the air, looking far too out of reach.
You can hear the collective sighs of the team around you, as well as Doyoung’s mutter of disappointment, already dismissing the game in his mind.
Across the field, Mark’s trying his hardest not to shit his pants. But his eyes trickle over to Haechan in the outfield, and as the boy runs, farther and farther. Everyone’s attention on him as they wait.
And Haechan catches the ball.
You swore the entire place erupted in cheers, watching as the boys around you rush out to the field. You smile at the sight until Yangyang grabs your wrist and yanks you along the way, Xiaojun pushing your back as your feet hit the grass.
Even Doyoung’s face is light up as he follows behind you all.
A few seconds later and the announcer proclaims your victory, then suddenly Haechan is tossed into the air, held up by some of the other boys.
“Haechan! Haechan! Haechan!” You join the chanting in unison, waving your hands in the air with the rest. It’s a euphoric moment, filled with only joy. You spot Mark as he cheers, looking genuinely excited from such a win, and you can’t help but smile dumbly.
When the team finally calms down, Coach Minho gives them a great speech. And yes, Doyoung chirps on about how one win doesn’t mean they can slack off now. But you swear you heard him mutter a “Good job.”
You’re ready to walk back towards the locker room, ready to shower after such a long day (Minus the fact that you hadn't even played.) and take a nap. Though when you turn, all you see are expectant faces.
“What?” You blink, wondering what the staring was for.
“C’mon, you have to give a speech!” Haechan shouts out, practically jumping up. Doyoung and Minho give you a nod, like you were expected to as well. What were you even supposed to say?
“Um, good job?” You smile, and their faces remain bored.
“A real speech!” Someone shouts from the team.
“You guys all did great.” You admit, letting your honest thoughts carry you. Every word being genuine. “Even though it was such a close game, but when we thought all hope was gone, you guys pulled through! I know I’ve only been your manager for a short time, but I see the dedication and heart you all put into the games. Thank you for giving me such a strong team to be apart of! Let’s widen that gap, yeah?”
“Yeah!” They collectively shout back, slapping each others backs in congratulations. Yangyang and Xiaojun even hold each and pretend to cry at your words.
You just roll your eyes as they all walk past you, high fiving some of the other members as they stroll by. Mark stops in front of you though, “We’re meeting in Jeno and Haechan’s room in an hour, don’t let coach spot you. Or worse, Doyoung.”
You stare back in confusion as he sighs in defeat, he just leans in as he whispers. “The beach, remember?”
You let out an Oh and nod your head, shooting Mark a thumbs up as confirmation. How could you say no to him?!
“Oh, by the way, I’m sure you already know but you did great out there today.” You smile, heart beating fast in your chest.
“Thank you, that means a lot coming from you.” He responds before being dragged away by his teammates. But not before flashing you that famous damn smile.
...
“The beach?” Yeri screeches over the phone as you updated her on the latest plans. “With tons of hot - Probably shirtless - Baseball boys in the middle of the night?”
“Are you really thirsting over them right now? I’m calling Sincheng.” Chenle, who is also on the FaceTime call, scrunches his nose.
“You know I love my honey bear-” She defends but her pet names are cut off by your groans of annoyance. “Please shut up Yeri.”
“Whatever, never mind the others, have you made a move on Mark yet?”
You sigh. “Well we talk.. a little bit more?”
“Oh lord.” Chenle comments.
“That’s a step in the right direction!” Yeri confirms.
“It doesn’t even matter, I’m not even sure I want to make a move. I have no clue what I’m doing.” You rant, face palming.
Chenle snorts. “Oh we know.”
“Maybe try and get some one-on-one time with him at the beach, that could help?” Yeri suggests, and you nod.
Though it was shaping up to be harder of a task than you had initially thought. Yes, Haechan caught the winning ball, but Mark was always the MVP. You learned that at these gatherings, even impromptu ones, Mark was the star.
You were debating why you even came out, was it really necessary? Was it worth losing a few hours of sleep to see Mark? Why even ask that?! The answer was definitely yes.
Haechan currently held out a beer from a cooler towards you, attempting to shove it in your grip to which you shake your head. “I don’t drink.”
“What?!” Xiaojun exclaims from a few feet away, spilling some of them liquid he was dousing in his mouth from the keg someone had quickly picked up from the store.
“Also, I don’t want to deal with a massive hangover when we leave tomorrow at six again.” You shrug, to which Haechan narrows his eyes. “Okay, Doyoung.”
You just giggle and gaze into the dark water. Noting how some players are splashing each other, as others violently throw their friends into the water.
They were all dressed in swimming attire, you sticking out as you wear simple shorts and a t-shirt. In your defense, you had no intentions on coming to the beach before, you had barely even packed a clean shirt in your overnight bag. So you stay away from the water, instead standing by a makeshift bonfire as you laugh to yourself, it wasn’t even cold enough for a fire.
Mark was in the water as well, surrounded by others as they drop him playfully into a face full of the sea water. He laughs and returns the favor, and you have to stop yourself before he catches you staring. God, you were so down bad.
“So Mark, huh?” A voice springs you from your attention on the male. You had barely noticed anyone had even approached you.
“Uh, I’m sorry?” You ask, confused.
It’s Jeong Jaehyun, smirking as he realizes he’s caught you. “It’s just that..” You stand, still very puzzled as he continues.
He takes a deep breath. “You have about ten other boys with their abs on display to ogle on the beach, and yet you’re drooling over Mark Lee in a dri-fit Nike shirt.”
You turn away as you avoid eye contact, defending. “I’m not drooling.”
“Yeah, and I don’t have eyes.” He remarks sarcastically as he rolls his eyes. “But, if you’re not into Mark.. does that mean I could have a chance?”
And you’re sweating on the inside because, yes you have a raging crush on Mark Lee who is swimming only a few feet away, but Jeong Jaehyun is currently leaning in as he’s dripping wet from the water. And even worse?
He’s shirtless.
You’re only human, you think as you attempt to curb the heat rising up in your body from the close proximity. You’re actually about to reject him when, “Hey, back up! You know that’s Mark’s girl.”
The nickname getting lost on you as you look for the source of the voice, but wait, did you just get referred to as Mark’s?
And Yangyang is clumsily stumbling towards you two, making steps in the stand as he positions himself between you guys. Jaehyun leans back, “She said no, she’s free game!”
Yangyang shoots him as scowl as he points his finger at the latter’s face. “We all know it, don’t act stupid Jaehyun.”
“What’s going on?” Lee Jeno approaches, wanting to simmer down the weird tension happening.
“Nothing-” You start.
Though you’re interrupted by a seemingly already-drunk Yangyang. “Jaehyun’s trying to hit on Mark’s girl.”
There it was again, the declaration that made you heat up ten times more than what you felt when Jaehyun leaned it. Just the simple words feeding your silly delusions of belonging to Mark Lee.
“Oh, so Jaehyun has a death wish.” Jeno declares, shrugging as he walks back the other way.
“What are you guys talking about?!” You let out, looking towards Yangyang as he seems sure to spill his guts sometime soon. You just hope its information and not his lunch.
You, however, make the mistake of glancing back at the sea. You spot Mark staring back at you, eyes wide as he looks away fast. He undoubtedly heard what was said and definitely thought you were a freak now.
“I don’t know.” Yangyang slurs. “Mark has some weird alpha claim on you, starts growling when someone gets too close.”
Jaehyun laughs. “Mark doesn’t do that.”
“You’re right, he’s too nice to do that, but I can see it in his eyes! He does that in his brain!” Yangyang speaks, nodding as he tries to convince you. “Everyone knows why he asked you to be manager in the first place!”
“Well it doesn’t matter, she should still be able to talk to whoever she wants. Right?” Jaehyun asks as his eyes meet yours.
“Actually.. I sorta have a crush on Mark.”
“You what?!” Xiaojun stalks over, Haechan right behind him. Had they both heard that?
“I fucking knew it!” Haechan squeaks, fist pumping into the air.
Xiaojun stands there with his jaw dropped, unnerved. “My money was on Jeno..”
“Is that why you joined the team?”
“No-” You deny but you can tell they’re not going to believe you.
“Liar!” Haechan gasps, “It’s okay to admit it!”
“No seriously! I felt kinda bad that you guys were like abandoned and I wanted to help!” You explain, trying your very best to lie. It was somewhat the truth, just that Mark had helped sway your decision tremendously.
“Sure, not buying it.” Xiaojun shrugs, waddling his drunken body back to the log he was sitting on.
You really hope they’re all too drunk to remember this later, judging by the way they all gather you into a group hug and ruffle your hair while stupidly laughing.
So much for one on one time with Mark.
They were not too drunk, you learned after yet another teasing jab was pointed your way by the team. They’d do things like whistle when you and Mark were in close proximity, or very obviously nudge you when Mark was about to pitch. You weren’t sure how the news had spread like wild fire among the team, but it was annoying and you were sure you were going to pass out if they shoved you and Mark together one more time.
Mark, on the other hand, doesn’t notice at all. In fact, he thinks everything’s proceeding as normal, well except for what Haechan had just said to Yangyang when they thought Mark hadn’t walked in yet.
It had to be a joke right? They weren’t serious were they?
Well, now Mark had to find out. He couldn’t just brush that off, and knowing Haechan, he’d be happy to fill Mark in (Not really, he just can’t keep a secret, that’s why the two are best friends).
He catches the male after practice, both of them bidding you goodbye after a particularly rigorous training day. Haechan says something to him as they both enter the parking lot but it’s lost on Mark as he turns to his friend. “Why did you say she liked me?”
Haechan looks perfectly caught off guard, rushing to save face. “Who?”
“Our manager, Haechan. I heard what you said to Yangyang earlier, what’s with that?” Mark scowls, upset Haechan was spreading rumors.
“Shit! You weren’t supposed to find out!” Haechan exclaims, running his hands through his hair. “You can’t say anything!”
Mark’s stunned at this, did Haechan really expect him to side with him? “I’m not going to help you be an asshole to her.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re trying to start some rumor about her liking me-”
“Huh? Mark she told us she liked you.”
Mark deadpans, out of all the excuses he’d expected from Haechan, he hadn’t expected that. “What?”
“You thought I was lying?”
Mark looks down at his hands, he was serious?. “A little.”
“You think that low of me?!” Haechan pretends to be offended, but Mark knows better than to let him change the subject.
“Wait let me get this straight, you know for sure she likes me?”
“Yes.”
Mark shoots him a glare. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Mark throws his hands up, and he can’t understand why Haechan would keep this from him. Some friend he was!
“It’s not my place!” Haechan complains as he rolls his eyes. “And we swore we wouldn’t say anything!”
“But you know I have the biggest crush on her!” Mark facepalms, groaning before realization dawns on him. “Hold on, did you say we? Other people know she likes me?”
“She was loud about it.” Haechan shrugs.
Mark smiles to himself a bit. He had to say, the thought of you proudly admitting your crush on him to the others made his heart stupidly swell up a bit. “Why did she trust you guys anyways?”
“She didn’t really, I think she was rejecting Jaehyun and it slipped out.”
And Mark can’t believe that at all.
Well firstly, he couldn’t believe you had liked him at all. You liked loser sport fanatic Mark Lee? Yeah right.
Secondly, you passed up on a chance with Jeong Jaehyun for him? Mark had eyes, and he saw how other girls on campus went insane for the male. But you sidelined him for Mark?
He was losing his mind.
“Mark? Hello - Earth to Mark?” His best friend pulls him out of thinking.
“What Haechan?”
“Well now that you know, are you finally going to ask her out?” Haechan crosses his arms, not knowing what to think. He knew Mark was confident in himself for the most part, on and off the field. But for some reason, when it came to you? The poor boy was an entirely different version of himself.
In other words, Mark was putty in your hands.
“I don’t know man, you know how she is about relationships.” Mark replies, having heard your boyfriend qualms on the late night bus ride back, something about being scared of confessions in general.
“I know,” Haechan responds, teasing his friend. “But she’s crazy about you, and you’re batshit insane about her. I’d say it’s worth a shot.”
The ball is in his court now, and he’s never been one too well with aim.
..
“-And then I confessed my feelings about him to the entire team while he was in the ocean.” You finish recounting your nightmare come to life from the other night to your friends.
Chenle’s eyes grow comically wide as Yeri gapes her mouth open at you, both at a loss for words. Your girl friend just slowly shakes her head, staring in disbelief.
Chenle can feel his left eye twitching. “So.. you can tell everyone else about your feelings.. but not him?!”
You want to bang your head against the table. “...Yes?”
“You rejected Jaehyun?!” Yeri spouts, and Chenle hits her in her arm. “Ouch! Nothing wrong with that, you’re just more whipped for Mark than I thought.”
“I just really don’t want him to find out.” You put your head in your hands.
“Well he’s coming this way.” Yeri says, and you realize she’s looking directly behind you. It’s a public courtyard, of course Mark could just be passing through right?
Well maybe not, especially with how he’s directly coming towards you. Oh no.
Relax, it was probably just to speak about something baseball related.
“Hi Chenle, Yeri.” He greets the two as he approaches, while you look at him expectantly. He finally meets your eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey?”
He nervously rocks on the balls of his feet. “Can we talk?”
Talk? Talk about what? Baseball? ..Hopefully.
“Sure.” You squeak, ignoring pointed looks from your best friends as you try your best to not seem like you were shitting your pants.
“Yeah! Um- Chenle, we have to go feed Daegal right?” Yeri says loudly, shooting you a little wink as she awkwardly drags Chenle away.
“But I wanted to see-” Chenle protests, Yeri returning a punch into the boys arm, much like he did earlier. And you almost laugh at the sight, of course the boy who started all of this wanted to witness your demise.
Mark takes a seat on the bench beside you, “I don’t want to throw him under the bus but Haechan told me something yesterday.”
Your heart drops to your stomach, of course Haechan said something! “Oh really?”
“I actually wasn’t supposed to hear but then I confronted him about it. He’s horrible at keeping secrets.” Mark laughs, but he won’t meet your eyes.
Oh no, here it comes. Your very first rejection.
You stay silent as Mark goes on. “I’m really flattered and-”
“Oh my God, could you do this anymore staged?” Your eyes widen as Mark looks confused. “What?”
“How many times did you rehearse rejecting me in front of the mirror? Goodness, did Haechan help you practice what you were going to say?” You tease, wanting to keep everything light but Mark wasn’t giving.
“What do you mean?”
“That’s a text book rejection Mark, saying you’re flattered but you don’t see me that way.” You respond, trying your best to hide your aching heart under a joke.
“Is that really a thing people say?” And Mark know’s he fucked up.
“Well-”
“I like you too.” Mark lets out, not wanting anything to be caught in confusion. He had heard of way too many instances where confessions went wrong, he had to make it crystal clear. “I’ve liked you since that first day we met.”
“S-since the first day we met?” You repeat, face growing hot.
“Well, probably since before that. I always thought you were pretty when I would see you in the commons, and then that night when we first met, I learned you were even prettier up close. Actually, it’s your fault we don’t have a microwave.” He chuckles as you sit bewildered.
“My fault?”
“You were so pretty that I got distracted and forgot about the stupid egg. But you know, I wasn’t too upset about the situation since it got you to talk to me.” Mark admits, looking to face you.
He continues. “I was actually scared I’d never get to talk to you again, so when I saw you with Chenle, I started asking him about you a lot. Then he dropped the ball about you having taken stats for a team before, and I knew I had to ask you.”
“And you asked me to be your manager because you had a crush on me?” You smile, scooting closer to him.
“And you said yes because you had a crush on me?” He teases, cocking his head to the side.
“Touche.” You cross your arms. “So are you going to ask me on a date or not?”
“Oh shit- Of course.” He clears his throat as he beats himself up mentally for not already asking. “So-”
“Yes Mark, I’d love to finally get to go on a date with the boy I’ve been embarrassingly crushing on for way too long.” You smirk. “As long as you swear to protect me from your fangirls.”
“You have my word.”
“Does this mean I can’t be your manager anymore?”
“Just don’t pull a Jungwoo on us, not sure anything else matters.”
“Not like you can be picky right now anyways!”
“What-”
“My jersey!” Mark speaks, holding up the garment to your face as you stand there awkwardly.
“Babe,” You begin but your sweet boyfriend is too excited to hear anything about it, not even paying attention to the looks the rest of the team are giving him.
“You can wear it to every game now and cheer me on! And we’ll be like the campus sports couple and everyone-” He says enthusiastically before you cut him off.
“Mark, I can’t wear that.” You say, watching his smile fall.
“Why?” He frowns.
“I have a uniform.”
“Right.” Mark nods as he slowly lowers his jersey. He had been so excited about having you don his number that he didn’t even think about how you literally wear a manager required uniform to all of the games. “But then how will number fifteen on the other team know you’re mine?”
“Number fifteen?” You ask, quizzically.
“Yeah! The one who always stares at you!”
“Does he? I didn’t even notice.” You state truthfully, but it was a little silly to see Mark get all jealous. Could you blame him? He had ran around in heart shaped circles around you for too long to let number fifteen think he had a chance.
Mark groans. “Are you serious?”
“Sorry, but I only watch you on the field.” You smile and Mark is about to lean in for a kiss.
Too bad Haechan interrupts, ruining the moment. “Bullshit! You take stats, you watch all of us on the field.”
Mark pulls back, and gives you a look telling you to deny it.
“He’s right.”
“Baby-” He whines.
“It’s my job Mark!”
In embarrassment, he buries his face into your shoulder and you giggle a little. You weren’t sure of what you had been so afraid of before. Mark made you feel safe, made you feel loved. Even so that your fear of navigating a relationship was taking over by your adoration for him. Loving was a little easier with someone like Mark around.
“What did I say?! Strictly no P.D.A. on the field!” Doyoung’s voice echoes throughout the field.
“God, we need to get him a girlfriend.” Mark mutters as you watch Coach Minho tell Doyoung to loosen up.
“We have playoffs to win!” Doyoung states to the older male.
“Happy players mean good results on the field!” Coach responds, as Doyoung gives him a look like he grew three heads. “That’s not statistically proven!”
“Come on Markie, we have playoffs to win.”
“Yeah, and we have number fifteen to jump.”
“I promise I have no idea who that is.”
“If you did then I’d be way more upset.”
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the urge to kiss your wine stained lips
The lines are blurring between friends and lovers and you wouldn’t mind taking advantage of it, leaning in closer until you can taste the gin cocktail on his tongue.
pairing: haechan x reader
genre: fluff, suggestive (MDNI!), slight angst
length: 3.5k
warnings: heavy makeout, reader gets tipsy
net tags: @kflixnet @neowritingsnet
happy early 300 followers (still 20 away!)
You’re not naive. Okay, well, maybe you are but that’s not the point here. The point is that your relationship with Haechan is something you care about. Cherish, even. So much so that the idea of screwing it up with him is terrifying. So terrifying that you feel like running away any time you feel those little sparks fly through you any time he does anything that could be perceived as anything other than friendly.
You’ve heard the warning, that guys and girls can’t just be friends but you never bought into it, using your friendship with Haechan as proof. That is, until he got his dick sucked for the first time and dyed his hair pink. He gained such an attractive confidence and his regular teasing jokes started to feel more like flirting and suddenly everything you used to find endearing about him became straight up torturous.
The worst part of it all is that you aren’t just attracted to the new Haechan, you have grown real life big girl feelings for him too. The scary ones, the friendship ending ones. The ones you’d never have the courage to confess to him. The ones you desperately hope he reciprocates but aren’t quite sure if he does.
It’s all come to a head tonight. Of course it does, your hormones are insane and he just got his roots touched up and his hair is styled in a perfect quiff.
Fuck his hairstylist.
You’re scowling, thinking about the damned attractive man in front of you as you down your final sips of red wine in your glass.
“Woah,” he grabs your wrist and that makes you want to groan. “What are you going so fast for? I’m not done yet and you’re already on your second glass.”
There’s a reason for your sudden affinity for binge drinking, but you can’t tell him. He had grown interested in sophisticated life skills recently for some godawful reason and decided tonight was the perfect night to show off his new cooking skills to you.
So now you’re here in your kitchen that you’ve never so much as turned your oven on in, while your “best friend” flies around in an apron making you a meal.
Goddamn. He looks so fine.
You sink, dropping your glass down onto the counter you’re sitting on beside you.
“Bad day I guess.” You lie, swinging your feet back and forth.
He chuckles an extremely attractive chuckle, “Cacio E Pepe will make it all better.” you frown at that, you’ve never even heard of such a dish but it sounds amazing and totally not something that your best friend would know about either.
With the courage of a wine glass behind you, you allow your curiosity to get the best of you.
“Why are you doing this anyway?” You ask, words slightly mumbled from your tipsiness. With a soft groan you pull the cork out of the wine bottle you were supposed to share with him with no difficulty preparing to pour another glass.
He frowns, his eyes not leaving the pan as he stirs the pasta, perfectly pretending not to have heard the cork pop.
“What do you mean, cooking for you?” He asks.
You take a sip, “No, the learning to cook thing. Why? Trying to impress girls?” You try to hide your bitterness but you aren’t sure how well you’ve done it. You take another sip.
He looks at you this time and you want to hide.
He pauses for a minute, an unreadable expression on his face before he looks back down to his pan and says softly, “Something like that.”
You scoff and roll your eyes at that, the jealousy burning alive at the idea that he’s using you as a trial run.
“Well, thank whoever she is for making you want to get your act together.” You jump off the counter and brush past him on your way to the fridge.
Bending over, your head half in the vegetable drawer looking for the gin you keep stocked for nights like these.
“So I’m your fake girlfriend for the evening?” You ask, avoiding his eyes as you shuffle through your fridge.
He giggled to himself at your comment before saying, “I guess so.”
“What was that giggle for?” You tease, poking his shoulder, making him rock a bit and let out another chuckle.
“Nothing.” He says casually before grabbing the pepper grinder and twists, adding his own flair as he flicks his wrist.
Fuck, you’re going to go crazy. If he was anyone else you’d make fun of him for the stupid moves he’s pulling clearly in an attempt to impress you. The issue with that, of course, is that you want him to want to impress you.
So you draw your attention to the cocktail you’re stirring up for him, your own little sophisticated life skill you picked up around the same time Haechan began cooking.
Something about all of this feels insanely domestic and it’s comforting. As selfish as it sounds, you don’t mind stealing the memories from Haechan’s future girlfriend. It’s a life you wouldn’t hesitate to steal from her provided the chance, too.
You squeeze the lemon peel once to spritz the glass before pouring in the spirits and taking your knife to the lemon to curl a perfect twist for his drink.
Satisfied with the cocktail you’ve created for your fake boyfriend (gag, by the way. You’ve never been into cute stuff like this. Of course, until now.) you turn around, placing a hand on his shoulder to grab your attention and hand him the glass.
He smiles down at the glass and then once he’s caught your eyes he says, “Thanks, fake girlfriend for the evening.” His arm loops around your waist, pulling you into him as he plants a delicate kiss on your cheek.
Your brain goes haywire as he doesn’t let you go, taking a sip of the drink. You’re not quite sure what to do as you stand, slightly stunned by the proximity.
Lowering the glass from his lips, he smacks them together and grows a thoughtful frown on his face, “This is your best one yet.” He says looking into your eyes again with a glimmer.
Your stomach drops the moment your eyes lock. And as if he has some sort of insane agenda, his sparkling eye winks at you before letting go to give his attention back to the pan in front of him.
Your wine is calling your name again as you try to will away the blush that’s definitely arisen on your cheeks.
As much as you probably shouldn’t, you pop the cork and top off your glass, situating yourself back up on the counter to watch him again.
You sit quietly and sip, watching his every move. Every once in a while he’ll sneak a glance out of the corner of his eye, a smirk growing on his lips watching you turn your gaze quickly elsewhere as to pretend you weren’t just staring at him.
He’s getting confident, aware that he’s had some sort of effect on you as he pulls out his tricks, gallivanting around the kitchen, faking a French accent as he explains the ingredients to you.
Your face is warm with flush from the wine you’ve been drinking all night and a permanent small smile is on your face as you watch him, eyes low with relaxation.
Maybe it’s the wine, or the “fake girlfriend” title, or the intimacy of the moment that boldens you to flirt the way you do next.
“We should do this more often.” He looks at you, surprised by your first words in a while.
“I cook for you all the time!” He fakes offense and that leads you to laugh and stretch out your leg to kick his hip.
“Not ramen, but this sort of romantic dinner thing.” You half speak into your wine glass, the embarrassment catching up to you but but enough to prevent you from saying it all together.
“Ooooh,” he teases, shifting his weight from one hip to another, “you like the romance, huh?” He giggles and with a smile he attempts to catch your eye.
You blush outright this time, the butterflies in your belly erupt from their cage, sneaking up your sternum when you make eye contact. Quickly, you look away and giggle.
“Shut up.” You whisper, both hands on your wine glass in your lap. You stare down and try and preoccupy your thoughts with counting the bubbles that come to the surface, playing with the overhead light reflection in the effervescent pale yellow.
Thankfully, Haechan does shut up this time and you watch him again, this time he’s lost his playful edge and you feel the tipsiness rock you back and forth, setting your glass down beside you. Maybe it is time to slow down, you don’t want to forget tonight.
He looks more pensive as he continues, he’s standing up straight and is looking straight ahead at the pan. It worries you how when a song you know he despises comes on shuffle and he doesn’t move to change it or complain to you how it’s still on your playlist although you know he doesn’t like it.
The butterflies have settled down probably a bit too much, as you feel a sinking feeling of embarrassment that you spoke too candidly earlier, the flush on your face taking on a new meaning.
“Y/N,” he says with a small voice, looking over to you.
“Yeah?” You croak out, watching with wide eyes as he looks you up and down. You gulp when his eyes linger a little too long on your chest. What has gotten into him?
He drops the wooden spoon in an act you weren’t expecting one bit and traverses the 3 steps over to stand in front of you, his hips inches away from your knees.
His hands find your knees and it feels like fire as he pushes them apart to make space for himself between them. While he’s doing this his gaze is locked on you. Well, your lips, that is. You swallow thickly, trying to figure out his motive as his hands trail farther up your legs and finding their home eventually on your hips. You’re still sitting quite stiff, until he looks into your eyes as if to ask permission. When you don’t protest, he moves in closer and closer until your lips are finally together.
The sparks that are present every time he touches you seem so small compared to the absolute lightning you feel as he kisses you. It’s slow at first, his soft lips moving against yours gently and carefully. He’s holding back in a way you wish he wouldn’t, your hands moving to find the back of his head as you kiss him harder.
He takes the hint, his hands holding you just a bit tighter as he licks into your mouth. You can’t help the moan you let out, absolutely shocked at your own reaction. This is your first kiss with your best friend. Yet you can’t seem to hold it together.
Unsurprisingly, he can’t either as his hands move down just a bit further to tease at touching your ass. You move off his mouth to trail kisses down to his neck where you begin to suck and lick. He’s panting in your ears, his hands grabbing a full handful now.
“So, uh, Y/N,” he says, and you hum in response not picking up on his tone. You’re on a mission you don’t particularly wish to be taken off of.
You hum, moving your hand to his hair and kissing him again, humming to urge him to go on.
“Can I tell you something?” He says and you lean back to get a proper look at him. He looks unbelievably sexy, but you have to ignore that for the slightly worried look behind his eyes. This is not the same man that boldly started this make out session with you. This is Donghyuck, your best friend of 9 years.
“Yeah.” You say, your hands intertwining behind his head, forearms on his shoulders.
“I don’t want to be your fake boyfriend.” He breathes out, avoiding eye contact and looking back down at your lips as he begins chewing on his own.
“Oh?” Your confidence takes over as the butterflies are released from their cage and flutter upwards out of your belly and light up your body in a strange tingly feeling.
“What do you want to be then?” You whisper, eyes wide waiting for him to look back up at you. He does, but only in short sequences as his eyes find yours and then back down. He’s holding his breath, you can tell by how his fingers that were dancing across your skin before have stilled uncomfortably.
He’s taking too long, you decide, so you make the executive decision to get back on track with the original plan by pulling on the back of his neck to join your lips again.
It’s the right call obviously as he kisses you back almost immediately and the tension from the moment before is expressed through strong squeezes of your thigh and ass flesh as his tongue enters your mouth again.
The same guy that kissed you in the first place is back as he situates both his hands on your hips and pulls you forward harshly so that his hips can officially meet yours.
You moan, letting your head fall back at the feeling of him underneath his jeans meets your core. You wrap your legs around his hips as he kisses down your neck, pressing his hips harder into yours and sliding up to offer some much appreciated friction.
“Hae- Haechan.” You stutter, blissed out and he responds with a hum, clearly not appreciating being interrupted on his mission to mark you.
“You- oh fuck” his hand slithers up your shirt to grasp your breast, thumbing your hard nipple through your thin bralette. He smiles into your neck as he listens to you breathe, gauging what makes you make the noises he loves so much.
“You never answered my question.” You half moan out and that makes him lean back from his work on your neck and look into your eyes with an incredulous look. Taking in your stunned features at him halting his work on you, he groans and lifts you up from the counter.
With a squeal you wrap both your hands around his shoulders as he moves to carry you out of the kitchen.
“Wait-“ you smack his shoulder.
“Haechan! The stove!” You point from your look over his shoulder.
“What? Oh” He then chuckes a deep chuckle before walking back into the kitchen, releasing his grip on one of your thighs to turn the knob and remove the sauce pan from the stove.
“Thanks for that.” He smiles at you and gives you a soft kiss on the corner of your mouth drawing a giggle from you.
“That’s what fake girlfriends are for, right?” You joke and something switches behind his eyes, the fierce sexy guy who was just about to carry you to his bed is now looking at you with the same soft heartbroken eyes that he had when he got stood up that one time freshman year.
He sighs long and loud before letting you down. Your feet touch the floor with unceremonious thuds as you watch him take a step and a half back from you, a pained expression on his face as he lets out a sharp breath through his pursed lips.
“What?” You say, concerned by the crease between his eyebrows and the way he won’t make eye contact with you.
You suddenly feel exposed, and extremely stupid. Your roommates were right about you, you are the dumbest bitch on the planet. Why would you say something like that? Bringing up a fake girlfriend joke when he’s trying to hook up with you freaked him out.
“Ouch, I mean ouch, Y/N” You don’t say anything, continuing to stand and stare at him with wide eyes.
“Damn, that hurt to hear. Do you know what you just implied?” He finally looks up at you and you can finally read him— he’s hurt.
“I mean I’ve been trying to prove to you that I’m into you for months. Like months, Y/N. I’m here now cooking a romantic dinner for you and I just kissed you. I don’t know what else to do here. You don’t get it at all.” His hands are flying about, exasperated. His words cut you like a knife.
Your heart sinks and you can’t pin down the emotion that is creeping up inside of you. Similar to relief and shock but it’s more than that, much more.
“You were okay with the fake girlfriend bit before, how was I supposed to know it would hurt you now?” You say, finally landing on your feelings of offense at his words. How dare he make this into something more than it was?
“I was fine with it until I kissed you! I did that and was about to do a whole lot more and yet you still think this is a game to me?”
That shut you up fast. You didn’t know, you truly didn’t.
“I- I didn’t know.” You say, your sternum stinging with the telltale sign you may start crying soon.
“Of course you didn’t, I didn’t tell you but trust me I’ve tried. I just thought you understood.”
“I’m sorry.” A tear slipped. Overwhelmed with far too many emotions of finally having the awareness that the man in front of you is familiar with his own demon of having feelings for you.
At the notice of your tear, Haechan’s face changes from anger to concern as he steps into you, toes touching. His hands find your cold biceps and he rubs his hand up and down to comfort you.
“No, no don’t be sorry. Please don’t be sorry. It’s me, it was my job to tell you how I felt and I was expecting you to read my mind.” He sighs to himself, head hanging low to try and meet your eye.
“I just thought you wanted to hook up. That’s all you’ve been doing nowadays anyway I thought that was happening here too.”
You say, chin still tucked into your chest.
“Fuck, I’m sorry that you felt that way. You could never just be a regular hookup to me. I- I mean I’ve been all about you for a long time. That’s why I was having all those hookups and everything. Like, for you.”
You laugh through your sniffles, finally looking up into his eyes with a teary smile. He smiles back and giggles with you.
“That didn’t sound right I just mean— I meant— I dunno, hookups are hookups but you’re more I hope you believe me.”
“I believe you.” You whisper, eyes flicking between his two. He notices your stare and his smile softens to a comfortable one.
“So, I did my part.” He draws out with a playful tone in his voice, hands still on your arms. “How about you?” His pleading eyes pierce into your heart.
You sniffle once more, hand coming up to wipe one stray tear from your chin. It’s now or never, you think as your heart beats out of your chest. You’re surprised he can’t hear it.
“I like you, you idiot.” You finally speak, giggling at the last word. His face lights up in a bright smile, eyes swimming in adoration as he stares down at you.
“Really?” He gasps and you both laugh, eyes filled to the brim with fondness for one another meeting.
You bite your lip, watching his eyes immediately stare down at your lips as you hum, nodding in affirmation.
He smiles a satisfied wide grin, “how lucky am I?”
His lips barely meet yours in your kiss, both of you simply unable to stop grinning or laughing with joy. When his hand travels down to grab your hips with more passion, you finally kiss him for real. He responds quickly, slotting his pillowy lips with yours, eyes squinting shut.
“You’re my girl now, right?” He says once you both lean away to catch your breaths, cheeks blushing and warm.
You nod again in response, a “yeah,” escaping your swollen lips through a giggle.
His eyes open fully to look at you again and something mysterious flashes in his eyes as his wide hands find the space between your ass and thighs, picking you up swiftly.
taglist: @matchahyuck @shxnz @haechanaceah @haeerisuh @haetkeeper @count-your-shadows @yamaggukie
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