A Stroke of Victory [Yeongyu]

Chapter 9

"Step back, Throw!" shouted the coach. "Keep your hands centered."

Yeonjun and the coach were doing long-throw exercises every two or three days to stretch and strengthen the arm he used for pitching.

"Good follow-through. Do it again."

Yeonjun focused on making smooth movements and maintaining a consistent release point.

"Well marked motion. Do it again."

As Yeonjun stepped back, a figure walking on the other side of the metal fence caught his attention. Beomgyu? What was Beomgyu doing there?

"Let's go!" the coach yelled.

"Yes, coach." Yeonjun glanced at his feet and aligned them with his shoulders. Step back, throw! At this point, his movements were automatic.

He quickly glanced in Beomgyu's direction. Was he there to watch Yeonjun? Would Beomgyu be able to recognize him among the dozen people on the field? Yeonjun would have greeted him, but the coach wouldn't like it if he lost concentration. No, it was better to continue, hoping Beomgyu wouldn't leave. He must have come to talk to Yeonjun about the messages. Was he upset about the sexual jokes? They seemed funny at the time, but now... Damn. He wouldn't reject him in front of all the guys, would he? A knot formed in Yeonjun's stomach.

"CHOI! Keep your center of balance."

Yeonjun worked on the long throw for another ten minutes before the coach let him take a break. Yeonjun jogged over to the fence where Beomgyu was sitting in the stands. Beomgyu, who seemed to be talking on the phone, jumped up to meet him.

"Hey" Yeonjun said, slightly out of breath.

Beomgyu shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and smiled at him.

"Hey. I hope you don't mind that I came."

"No, of course not. Though I can only talk for a minute."

"Hello? Hello!" A girl's voice came from the phone Beomgyu held in his hand.

"Oh, sorry" Beomgyu said. He held the phone up to show a smiling girl waving. "Say hi to my friend, Ryujin."

Yeonjun laughed."Hey, hi."

Beomgyu turned his back to Yeonjun, lifted the phone, and muttered:

"Are you happy now?" before turning back to Yeonjun.

He lifted his baseball cap and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

"Your friend?"

"Yeah, she wanted to greet you. Sorry."

"It's okay..."

"Um... I passed by to give you this." Beomgyu handed him a small piece of folded paper. Yeonjun opened it to find an illegible message: QHOHEJ H FHQ ITRVR KG RI GB MTHPSJ. TQH STQ QAJPSQ ER OHFJIMRQSJ. Had Beomgyu written to him in code? Damn. He had no idea how to decipher these things. "Oh, uh..."

Beomgyu chuckled.

"You know? Usually, when you want someone to decipher a message, you give them the key."

"Oh. So you don't..."

"I managed. This one's for you. It's a simple key cipher. The keyword is homerun.2

2Homerun" he repeated "Alright. It sounded promising."

"Make sure to read it before Saturday."

"Number Seven! Let's go!" shouted one of the coaches.

"I will. I gotta go."

Beomgyu waved, but he stayed in the stands watching Yeonjun return to the field. That had to be a good sign. Hopefully, Yeonjun would figure out what the note said!