In Between the Lines | Completed

Chapter Twelve | Courteous Companionship

Lee Young-Min

Best friend or not, he's dating Miss Jones and that is...

I had directed the driver to take me from the studio and to the stadium so I could run laps to cool off.

So far, I had been unsuccessful. I had convinced myself last night that maybe I had misheard Miss Jones' confession from before, but today, watching her walk and look for her boyfriend I had realized that she was indeed dating my friend.

You shouldn't get this upset over Miss Jones and Bu Seok dating. You have barely spoken to the woman and he's your friend. You should be supportive. At least that's what the angel on my shoulder was telling me.

The devil on my shoulder was more thinking about practical prank ideas that wouldn't give my identity away.

"Ugh!" I yell, throwing myself to my knees, my athletic gear scraping the green grass and probably leaving permanent stains in the fabric.

I want to throw a tantrum, or at the very least, throw SOMETHING, but I refrain from doing so. Instead, I lie down on the ground, spread like a starfish as I try and think of something good to distract me before I needed to return to the set for filming.

A clatter of feet sends me upright and I watch as Coaches Gal Jii and Chang Dong come onto the field with a couple of older players in practice uniforms and a herd of younger kids who are smiling brightly at the professional players. I spot the mischievous grin of Sj, the boy I had worked with last time, and see him laughing as another boy tries his hand at balancing a bat on one finger.

"Lee Young-min!" Coach Gal Jii calls out, waving me over.

I jog over, wiping the sweat off my forehead from my 'rage run' on my way. I bow to him and Coach Chang Dong and watch as the players split into teams with the kids and start warming up.

"I didn't think you could make today's practice?"

"Oh, well I couldn't originally. I needed a break from the office and ended up here," I admit sheepishly.

Gal Jii nods appreciatively, "There's something about the field that makes me erase the day's frustrations too."

I watch as the players begin to run back and forth, pulling their knees to their chests to stretch them out. "Looks like you have a good turnout, even for a weekend."

"Ryan Jae was able to come this time, so pretty much every player in the league wanted to come today. We had to limit it to 20 players this time around."

"Ryan Jae?"

"Newest pitcher in the league. Played in America for a while. It will be his first season back in Korea, so everyone's stoked." Gal Jii explains, pointing to a tall, lanky man who was pulling some of the kids aside to work with them.

"I see."

"Looks like he picked Sj to work with," Chang Dong smirks, pointing at the blonde.

I watch as Sj high-fives the older player and I can see his mouth moving a mile a minute while we watch their interaction. Ryan Jae is smiling and talking animatedly in response, their conversation too far away for us to overhear.

"It's not surprising. I had a feeling Jae was very interested in Sj's mom when she was hitting during his tryout." Gal Jii laughs.

"What are you guys talking about?" I ask, turning back to the coaches.

The men chuckle and begin to explain, "An old friend of mine asked if his brother's boss' son could try out for the team. Sj's mom apparently just moved here, and she wanted to surprise her son with the opportunity to keep playing baseball despite moving here. We agreed, figuring that she was another society mom who just wanted her son on the team, even as a benchwarmer."