A Stroke of Victory [Yeongyu]

Chapter 6

Beomgyu sat at his desk, working on his latest cryptography challenge – deciphering a Hill cipher – while waiting for Yeonjun to arrive for their tutoring session. He had just finished writing a Python program to obtain a set of four-character sequences from the encrypted text to determine the result matrix when he heard a knock on the door.

"It's open," he called out, lowering his voice when Yeonjun entered. "Just give me a second to save my..." Beomgyu had to do a double-take when he focused on Yeonjun. He was wearing basketball shorts and a sleeveless shirt. His shoulders and arms were as beautifully sculpted as Beomgyu had imagined. He bit the side of his cheek to avoid smiling. It was evident that Yeonjun was trying to showcase his assets. Beomgyu supposed he should feel flattered that Yeonjun wanted to impress him. Or maybe it was an attempt to manipulate Beomgyu into helping with his studies. Was Yeonjun genuinely attracted to him? Beomgyu briefly wondered how he would react if the roles were reversed.

"Hey," Yeonjun said with a smile. "Where can I put my stuff?"

Beomgyu sat on the floor in front of his bed and patted the spot beside him. "Is here okay?"

"Yeah." Yeonjun joined him. "Thanks for doing this. You're a lifesaver. I have an exam on Tuesday, and I really need to get a good grade."

"It's okay. Let's get started." Beomgyu glanced over Yeonjun's scattered notes to see what he needed to practice: hypothesis testing. He took his time explaining the purpose of conducting a hypothesis test and then proceeded with the steps involved. Yeonjun seemed to grasp the process when Beomgyu walked through an example, but he struggled when attempting it on his own. Beomgyu noticed Yeonjun becoming quieter and more discouraged as time passed. "Let's take a minute break," he suggested.

Yeonjun pulled his knees up and buried his head between his arms.

"This doesn't make sense," he muttered. "I'm never going to get it. I'm not smart enough."

"Hey." Beomgyu nudged him with his foot, and Yeonjun lifted his head. "You're not dumb. Don't give up."

"I used to be good at math. But at some point, it got ridiculously hard."

Beomgyu bit his lower lip. The joke was on the tip of his tongue. Should he say it? No. Oh, but Ryujin would be proud. And Soobin too.

"That's what she said," he blurted out. Yeonjun looked surprised, but then they both laughed. Was that considered flirting? Did it meet Ryujin's request? It was the first time he had made the 'that's what she said' joke. He liked that he could make Yeonjun laugh, especially after how discouraged he had been for the past half-hour. "Everyone has different talents. Aren't you a baseball genius? I'm sure there are plenty of other things you're good at. Like baseball, right?"

Yeonjun shrugged. "I guess. The coach thinks so. But I'm not even sure if I want to play baseball after college. I love playing, but I don't know if I want to live that kind of life – always on the road, away from home and family, constantly worried about injuries and getting replaced. And the organization isn't exactly pro-gay. It's a lot of pressure."

"Wow, I never thought of it that way. I assumed all guys dreamed of making it to the big leagues."

"Well, yeah, I do, sometimes. But other times, I think reality doesn't measure up to the fantasy."

"I don't know. I mean, you can't really know unless you try, right?"

"Yeah, but the thing is, to make it, to go all the way, you have to want it more than anything else. And I'm not sure I do."

"What do you want to do then?"

"That's the problem. I have no idea. I'm not good at anything other than baseball."