FOR THE FUTURE ⋮ nohyuck/markhyuck/markhyuckno

Chapter Six

Knowing that Jeno drove way faster than the old taxi driver with no glasses, Donghyuck knew he must've been too late as he rushed inside the stadium. He saw familiar guys doing warm-ups, running around, then squatting. Counting them, he didn't see Mark and Jeno, which led to the obvious.

He saw three coaches roaming around and ran up to the coach he knew the best, distracting a few guys and making them feel his wrath.

"Where are you looking, you bastards?" the coach yelled so energetically that he even spit. "Eyes up the front! I challenge you to look away for at least a second!"

He then cleared his throat and looked at Dongyuck with usual tenderness. All because once Donghyuck formed a cheerleading group with unique people with talents, both girls and boys. They cheered the team and created impressive performances. The coach hoped that Donghyuck would do that again, therefore he was always so polite with him! If only he knew what this boy did to his team members, he would be screaming at him too.

"Can I help you, Lee Donghyuck?" he asked.

"Uh, I'm looking for Jeno. I thought he'd practice like everybody else," Donghyuck smiled innocently.

"Oh, that rascal," the coach shook his head in disappointment. "Stormed here in a rage, punched our catcher, and turned our humble stadium into a filthy fighting ring. All of these chickens," he pointed at the rest of the team, "screamed like crazy, encouraging them to fight more."

"And?" Donghyuck's breath hitched.

"They did. They beat the daylights out of each other until I grabbed each one of them by their collars and told them to solve it outside!"

The coach sounded so proud, but Donghyuck got more concerned.

"So... they're outside?"

"Might be on the rooftop," the man shrugged his shoulders, then glanced at his wristwatch. "Should return soon as I only gave them ten minutes. I'm not joking. If they're not returning in three minutes I'll make them clean the stadium."

Donghyuck faked a laugh just to remain on the good side of this man. In very truth, he was kind of terrified. How did Mark and Jeno even survive him?

"Sit and wait for your friend," the man pushed Donghyuck onto the plastic chairs. "You're distracting the guys for some reason."

Donghyuck hit his elbow but suppressed a cry. One word from this man and the boy would run away from here on all fours. Thankfully, the coach left him alone and walked to roast the team. He called them offensive names, but neither of the guys seemed to be offended. Donghyuck hoped that they weren't. Maybe it was a normal relationship between a coach and his team.

"Look who's returning," the man scoffed upon noticing the arrival of Mark and Jeno. "Are you good now?"

Donghyuck tensed up as he looked at the guys. He couldn't decide whether Mark or Jeno was more hurt. Both had violently bruised knuckles, Mark seemed to be the one limping, and Jeno had a bloody nose.

They noticed Donghyuck's presence instantly. Why wouldn't they? He sat behind the rude coach and, perhaps, looked scared to death. One way or another, both were fast to look away and break eye contact with Donghyuck. They were embarrassed for their awful appearances.

"Yes, coach," they said in a choir.

"Good, because catcher and pitcher have to be in a good relationship, you know? One argument and we have no chemistry. No chemistry is equal defeat."

"Yes, coach."

"No, go and join the team."

"Don't you think it'd better if they rest?" said another coach.