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ACE OF HEART — SEUNGMIN. CHAPTER 1
⚾️ synopsis: new school year means new beginnings, right? you are a new student at prestigious seido high school with the goal to become the ace of the baseball team and win nationals. but to your surprise, some arrogant asshole kim seungmin is currently in the position of pitcher and ace of the team. how steel are your nerves and how long will it take you to steal his place?
pairing: seungmin x reader(afab) genre: baseball player au!seungmin, enemies to lovers, slow burn warnings: mean seungmin, reader has ego, underage characters, mention of daddy issues, reader has anxiety, A LOT of baseball terminology word count: 4.9k a/n: yall please appreciate my photoshop skills LMAO. i had to turn “11” into “1”, cause seung is the ace
chapter one | next . . . series masterlist . . . terminology
april — the second month of spring, the second month of the season of love. you hated april. not only because everyone around you seemed to find a relationship all of a sudden, but also because it meant the start of the new school year.
it was not an average school, but a prestigious seido high school with its own baseball team. located in tokyo, it was almost impossible to receive an acceptance letter. your screams were heard all over the house, when you opened it on your laptop. it took you an eternity to finish all trials, so you had zero hope by the end of them. but you succeeded. maybe it was just dumb luck, or maybe you were actually good at baseball. you kept telling yourself the latter.
the sound of endless chatter filled the courtyard as students were trying to figure out where to go, meeting possible new friends, and as well as old friends. senpais were giving glares to new girls, what made you want to vomit.
you were there too - standing in the courtyard, an email with instructions opened on your phone. new chapter of your life was about to start.
since you were a member of the baseball team, unlike ordinary students, you were given the opportunity to live in a dormitory. fortunately, the dorm has been divided into female and male part, so you didn’t have to live with nasty boys who won’t clean after themselves. but you’d have meet one of those type of guys on the field for sure. after all, baseball is a male dominated game.
“seido spirit dorm”
it looked more like an apartment complex. as you walked past the sign, you already noticed bats, basket with balls and other equipment. it definitely didn’t look like an ordinary dorm. it thrilled you with excitement, you’ve never felt so normal before. baseball was a passion of yours that no one around you understood. you’ve made it all the way on your own, and this simple scene with some equipment laying on the floor next to the room, made your eyes watery. you couldn’t wait to meet your roommates, teammates and the current ace. you were ready to learn a lot.
despite all the panic that was thrilling inside you, it wasn’t hard to find your room. you stared at the names on the sign.
“sanada rin
fujiwara aoi
l/n y/n”
suddenly, the door opened and two girls appeared in the doorway, welcoming you in.
located on the second floor, your room had a view right on the baseball field. your roommates turned out to be quite nice. two senpais - year two aoi and year three rin.
they quickly introduced you to the team, best players and the system that your coach uses.
the school was so popular, that current amount of players, including first-years, exceeded one hundred. obviously, everyone can’t play on the team, because baseball is an nine player game (not including the benched players). that is why seidou has two team lineups. first one consists of best of the best. while second one is for those, who are good, but not enough. and the rest, who did not make it even to the second lineup, need to work twice harder, to get noticed by the coach.
these were not a good news. you caught yourself getting anxious. but what about the acceptance letter and the trials? you thought that meant a guaranteed spot on the team. your roommates just laughed at your words, saying that with the number of overconfident players these restrictions are the only right option.
time flew, as you talked up until the midnight over a bottle of soju. it was not the smartest decision, considering that tomorrow was the first training and a meeting with the team at 8 in the morning.
of course, you felt drenched, squeezed out like a lemon, when you woke up. for a future baseball player, ace of the team, it was a bad habit of hating to wake up early in the morning. but you’ve decided to leave your thoughts about your future for now. it was time to leave the best first impression, so the coach would notice you in the sea of first years.
the cold morning air was refreshing. you shuddered as you tried to cover yourself in clothes more. the grass was still covered with dew drops and the sun has just begun to rise. despite your new friends in the faces of your roommates, you tried to stay apart and not stick to any people on the first day. you weren’t here to make friends, you were here to play baseball. and you wouldn’t let absolutely no one to distract you from the sport that you loved so much or your goals of going to nationals.
everyone was asked to line up, and the newcomers in the front row were told to take turns telling their name and the position they would like to play in.
oh you didn't like that. it felt like the coach hadn't even read the profiles of his students, since he was asking for everyone's names and dream positions.
finally your turn.
“watashiwa l/n y/n des! i want to play as a pitcher and my dream is to become an ace of the team! i have years of experience and a lot of potential. i am ready to show all my skills! thank you!” you finished your speech with a bow.
there were chuckes in the back.
“alright. thank you for your honesty, l/n y/n! let’s hope you will show your passion on the field as well.” coach replied coldly, crossing his arms.
if you had daddy issues, you'd start soaking over him, just like your roommates. he was definitely in his forties, but he was quite thin and tall, with a layer of trimmed beard and dark glasses on his nose.
did you say something wrong? the coach looked like he was unhappy about something. and those chuckles from behind hurt your ego a little.
after the roll call, you were approached by a group of guys who looked at least a year older. at the center of this not-friendly looking gang was a guy, apparently the leader and the ace, judging by the way how confident he looked, and of course the number 1 emblazoned on his chest.
“so you’re the kohai, right? aiming at ace position? how cute.” he grinned cockily, scanning you from top to bottom. “i bet you can only throw a fastball. am i right?”
“i don’t even know you.” you snapped back, turning around and getting ready to leave. you were already irritated because of failed introduction.
“i am your senpai, so i’d like to have your full respect.” he folded his arms across his chest, stretching out to his full height to show his dominance even more.
that made you look at him again. right, senpai. why do boys always keep using this as an excuse for their rudeness?
“i am kim seungmin, by the way. current ace of the team.” he turned around and pointed at his number on the back, as if you haven’t noticed it already on the front of the uniform. “i am just a second year, but I became an ace after two months on the team.” he squared his shoulders, braving himself even more.
you were about to reply with something like “so what? i will beat your so-called record, you won’t even have time to react.”, but you couldn’t. because he was your senpai.
“right. that’s what i was talking about. respect your senpais.” he smirked, patting you on the shoulder. you shrugged off his hand, making him let out a small laugh. “okay, we will see you around, i guess.”
not being able to say anything back you just stared at him, hoping that you would be able to burn a hole inside the number 1 on his back.
ugh.
and you hoped that you would be able to learn something from the current ace and even form some bond. maybe you shouldn’t have brought your goal up. but you wanted to show your coach that you were up to a good fight for a place on the team. you didn’t want to stay on the bench for the next three years, like your roommates. you were passionate and hardworking - that’s what led you in this high school after-all.
the training has started pretty light. after a warm-up and a few laps around the field, you were divided by positions. all fielders went to the field to practice and try assigned positions; first and second lineup players went to the pitching machines; the match of the season was already approaching, meaning that both lineups needed to be ready; and all the pitchers were gathered together with the second-year catchers in the bullpen. coach and his assistant were standing in the distance, planning on watching the new pitchers from afar. the main responsibility in spotting new talent among the newcomers laid on the team captain and current pitchers.
as you have already understood from the conversations, the team was short of pitchers right now. three other pitchers were third-years and will leave the team in half a year due to exams and graduation. of course, there was also kim seungmin who held the ace position, but no matter how talented he was, he physically could not pitch the entire match solo. the team needed a starting pitcher. the one who can open the match, confuse the batters with some unique pitching. this was your chance.
senpais looked scary. four pitchers, including kim seungmin, were giving everyone frightening glares, as if first-years were about to steal their spots right now. catchers on the other hand, did not care much about the upcoming rivalry. but they looked intimidating regardless, because of their layers of protection and masked helmets.
you uncontrollably shanked under the condemning gazes and you haven’t even shown anything yet. the atmosphere was tense and far from team spirit. the amount of rivalry within the team was shocking to you.
around three or four pitchers got assigned to each catcher. and god, you were sure that your catcher was the guy you saw next to that cocky kim. senpai kim.
the first-year pitches have begun. you watched everyone with interest, feeling like you were part of kim seungmin's gang.
first-years were really good. they had good ball control and different pitching types. you managed to notice a couple of cutters, of course a lot of fastballs, some were so fast that you only had time to flinch at the sound of gloves, sliders and even one changeup. and with such monsters you had to compete for the place on the team?
standing in line, you managed to get anxious and started overthinking. so when it was your turn, you could barely move your legs to get closer.
your fingers nervously clutched the ball in your hand. inhale and exhale.
out of the corner of your eye, you noticed kim seungmin grinning, his arms crossed over his chest. his gaze was burning a hole in you.
you decided to start with regular fastball, so as not to screw up completely at the first pitch. the key was throw the ball with speed and accuracy. pretty simple, you have done it plenty of time before.
“throw when you're ready, but don't delay it, there's a whole queue behind you.” catcher said. how thoughtful and generous of him. you shot a wry smile.
to relieve the tension you tossed the ball in your hand a couple of times. the anxiety finally got replaced with excitement. time to play.
you sensed the familiar feeling of the ball rolling off the middle and index fingers, creating a backspin.
it went right into the catchers glove with a loud slap. perfect accuracy. feeling the confidence again, you relaxed a bit, shaking off tension in the muscles.
it sounded quiet, but you still heard the arrogant. "i told you she only throws fastballs."
it took all your force not to look at him. can this kim “i am the ace” seungmin shut the fuck up?
feeling the need to show off and shut him up with your perfect pitching, you decided to throw a slider. you placed your middle finger directly on a seam, while the index finger went on the leather. both fingers were important at release to impart the necessary spin that would lead to a slider’s desired movement.
it’s a quite difficult pitch to learn and you still weren’t confident in it. the problem was that it’s not as straightforward as the fastball, and takes a lot more patience and a good coach to learn it. you probably should have chosen to throw another fastball to show off your accuracy and speed, but the desire to shut kim seungmin up was stronger.
getting into the stance, you lifted your left knee in the air, transferring the weight from the back leg to the front leg, generating force and velocity in the throw. as soon as you felt the ball leaving your hand you felt like it’s gonna turn out bad. you heart sank.
slider should be thrown as hard as possible, because of the speed change in the end. depending on your success, the pitch should move towards cather’s glove and drop during the last few feet. but something went wrong. maybe you didn’t throw it with enough force, maybe you messed up with the grip or maybe you were just nervous? the ball just flew to the right, not even in the strike zone, falling awkwardly next to the catcher. silence.
and then there were few giggles behind you. you felt your ears turning red. how did you fuck this up so badly?
you really couldn’t focus on your pitching. the feeling of his eyes burning holes in you was so distracting. you were holding yourself from turning right at him and yelling what’s been on your mind since morning.
“i am waiting.” catchers voice brought you back to reality. he was still holding a glove open, waiting for the ball, eyes looking at you, scolding through the mask.
you took a deep breath again, trying to collect your thoughts. alright, it’s just a simple pitch. forget about others and focus on your goal. your journey has already started, stop slacking off.
deep breath and you’ve got into position again, bringing your hands together. then, a quick kick of the leg and the ball flew out of your hand.
STRIKE!
with a loud slap the ball finally landed right into the glove, cutting the air.
you were so stressed, you didn’t notice you held your breath this whole time.
it was perfect. the speed, the fall in the end, the accuracy. it was…
“next!” catcher interrupted your thoughts.
he didn’t even leave any comments on your pitching. of course, he was a second or third-year already. probably, he didn’t give two shits about a new girl.
the corner of your eye caught a sight of kim seungmin again. your eyes met. he was still looking at you, even though you had already stopped pitching. did you make him nervous with your secret weapon? well, kim “i am the ace” seungmin, get ready to fight for your place.
you gave him a wink, getting an eye roll in response. it made you laugh a little. the displeased look on his face was a balm to the soul.
the training was over. the coach and his assistant said that in the evening they will announce the first-years who will become a trainee for the first and second lineups. it was time for lunch, and then your first school day was about to properly begin.
the schedule was cruel indeed. trainings were assigned in the morning and evening in combination with regular classes at school. baseball players had a special schedule - you had to attend classes in the afternoon. but even with the special arrangement of classes, you had no idea how you’d be able to survive like that. no wonder every player on the team has been rude as hell so far if they have no time to relax. what sacrifices do people make to become a professional player. and the graduates of seido high school were guaranteed a future career.
the dorm had its own canteen, which the baseball team could use for free. after taking a shower, you headed straight there with your roommates.
“i saw your pitching, it was good.” rin patted you on the shoulder.
the three of you were sitting at a table in the corner of the room. it was actually even better that you sat aside, because there was such a ruckus in the canteen. the guys were discussing something at the top of their voices, not holding back in their expressions. many of them didn't even bother to take a shower before lunch. it made you wonder once again why you didn't choose some kind of girls-only school.
“thank you!” you smiled. “actually, i panicked a bit because of the taunts and messed up. i wonder if it will affect coach’s decision.”
“taunts?” aoi asked curiously. “who’s bothering you already?”
“kim seungmin.” you sighed.
aoi and rin couldn’t hold their laughs. “okay. you don’t need to explain any further.”
you smiled as well. “has he always been… like this?”
“hmm…” rin thought for a second. “i was a second-year when he joined. at first i thought he was a nice guy. in fact, he was very shy, and then something changed in his attitude. but he managed to improve his pitching in a short period of time, which, frankly, is impressive. and then he became an ace, which was not surprising, because none of the pitchers we had could beat him.”
a shy guy who turned into an asshole. what happened to you one year ago, kim seungmin?
lunch was over. you said goodbye to rin and aoi and went to classes. to be honest, you could not care less about paying attention, especially when the biggest announcement of your life was about to happen in a few hours. whole time during classes you spent thinking about it. was your pitching good enough to impress the coach? will he count your failed attempt? will kim seungmin somehow sabotage your candidacy? you were fidgeting in the chair like crazy.
it probably looked funny how quickly you stormed out of the classroom. five minutes before the start, you were already standing on the field dressed in a uniform again. you were exhausted, almost falling asleep, but excited to hear the announcement.
as soon as the whole team was gathered and the coach arrived with his assistant, the speech began.
“good evening, everyone. i hope you worked your hardest in classes today, because as i remind you, your academic performance will affect your ability to attend trainings. anyway, with the help of my assistant, our team captain and our pitchers, we have complied a list of five player who will be accepted as trainees in the first and second lineups.” the coach’s voice echoed loudly across the field. “so. the first player who showed themselves at today’s training was-“
your breath hitched. honestly, you’ve never stressed so much in one day. this school will be the death of you.
loud clapping brought you back to reality. you looked around, hoping that your name got called. but no. some random guy walked out of the crowd, bowed and stood next to the coach. of course. and your naive ass thought you had a chance, especially after that failed slider.
everything repeated until only one place was left vacant. you’ve lost all hope, because every player that got chosen made an impression even on you. and you rarely acknowledged other pitchers.
“and the last candidate,” coach frowned. “had a really controversial reputation after just one day. but after some passionate discussion with my colleagues,” coach gave someone the look in the crowd. “i decided to change my mind and gave this person a chance.”
your heart skipped a beat.
“please welcome our last trainee, who has shown great potential and a good slider-“
no way.
“l/n y/n!”
you eyes widened. despite the fact that you hoped to get accepted, you were still surprised to hear your name.
still feeling like you were in a dream, you walked out of the crowd and headed forward under dozens of stares from your teammates. you bet that kim seungmin was the first one to burn a hole in you.
the coach gave you a slight nod and gestured to get in line. you saw two warm smiles in the crowd. aoi and rin. for a second, you felt bad. they had both been on the team for so long, but the chances of them being on one of the lineups were so little. and you doubled their chances in one day.
the coach said a few more encouraging words and let his assistant to step in. batteries were about to be announced. each pitcher was going to be judged not only based on individual skills, but also on the ability to work in a battery.
and here you were - anxious again. you didn’t disagree with coach on this, but still. your chances of getting an actual spot depended on your catcher. what if he is an asshole? what if he-
“takigawa aki and l/n y/n!”
you looked around, searching for someone to approach you.
oh, hell no.
it could have been anyone. anyone on the team, there were plenty of good catchers. but no. it was him, the guy who catched your piches in the morning. the friend of “i am the ace”. without protection, he looked much thinner, but still tall and intimidating. you saw dark brown hair and glasses, that you hadn’t noticed before. to be honest, you recognized him by his scolding eyes. he would actually be quite cute if he wasn’t kim seungmin’s friend.
“just call me aki. i don’t wanna see your grimace every time you’ll address me as senpai.” was the first thing he said when he approached you.
you chuckled. aki was straightforward indeed.
it was honestly impressive how you managed to create such a reputation on the first day.
“i have a question.”
“what is it?”
“are you friends with kim senpai?” you highlighted the last word, making aki chuckle. “cause i think i saw you next to him in the morning.”
“yes, you are right.” he admitted. “he is a good friend of mine, but i don’t really agree with how he treated you on your first day. gladly, you managed to get a spot as a trainee.”
aki seemed to be better than you predicted. maybe you really should stop overthinking.
“listen…” he cleared his throat. “wanna go practice a bit after we’re done? i know it’s your first day, but it’s better to start soon, so you’ll have an advantage. your slider was good, i think you just need more practice and a good coaching.”
“you think so?” you repeated shockingly.
aki nodded. “you are being too harsh on yourself. you are just a first-year, you aren’t supposed to know every pitch and be good at it. so… are you down or no?”
“count me in.” you smiled.
evening training was light. the coach was not so harsh on you on the first day. instead of pitching, you worked on your batting. it was the first time you used a pitching machine and you were terrified the whole time.
after the end of the training session, you waited for aki, and the two of you headed to the gym inside, because it was already getting dark and cold. your muscles felt so stiff. why did you agree to this again?
aki turned out to be a great coach. he explained you the basic of pitching in a way you’ve never heard anyone explain before. then he pointed out the mistake you made in the morning and why your slider failed. it was exhausting to throw over a hundred more pitches, but aki said it was a good start for your stamina training. as a pitcher, you had to be ready to throw that ball at least a hundred times per match, while standing under the burning sun.
even if you were dying when you finished, you still felt motivated. after all, it was your first day and you’ve already made so much progress.
on dying legs you made it to your room. the clock showed 11 in the evening. only having enough energy to walk to your bed, you laid on it and immediately fell asleep without even changing your clothes.
you overslept. fuck. you overslept on your second day and the first day as a trainee. yesterday’s workout really took its toll on you. the evidence of this were your sore muscles. and you still had to take a shower… gosh! you were a mess.
that’s how you ended up hiding behind a wall, thinking about the ways out of this situation. the coach was giving an introduction speech to the trainees and checking on older players in his usual strict manner. you couldn’t just walk out in this atmosphere. what could you even do?
“shit! they’ve already started.” sudden voice came behind you, making you squeal.
you turned around and faced the man himself. kim “i am the ace” seungmin was standing face to face next to you, as frightened as you were. what a surprise. never though you’d see the golden boy like this.
his voice was low, face swollen and eyes half-sleepy. he was still yawning, as if he just rolled out of bed and came here first thing.
“what are you doing here?” you raised an eyebrow. “aren’t you the ace? the best on the team?”
“shut up.” he leaned against the wall, still hiding from the sight of others. “it’s none of your business. i just fell asleep really late.”
“ah, right.” you rolled your eyes.
so now you were stuck in this position with him out of all people. great.
“anyway, why are you here?”
“what do you mean why? i am a new trainee, weren’t you at the training yesterday?” you gave him an evil look. this guy.
“ah yes, i already forgot.” a cocky smile slowly morphed onto his features. “wow. so you are late on your first day as a trainee? you have a big attitude wherever you go, huh?”
“you fu-“
“shh!” he put his hand on your mouth to muffle your approaching yell. “be quiet! they will catch us!”
you slapped his hand, making him to take it away from your mouth.
“i don’t wanna hear your notations, especially, when you are in the same position as me right now.” you clicked your tongue, turning away from him.
“well, our head coach is extremely strict about being punctual, and you’ve just got selected as a trainee. i don’t think we are in the same position, darling. you’d better listen to the discussion of your candidacy that happened in the office yesterday. and now you are about to show up late. worst case scenario, he will find a replacement for you and forget your name forever.” kim seungmin gave you the cockiest smike.
that’s bad. very bad. the wave of anxiety hit you again.
“should i just go there and beg for forgiveness on my knees? i think he will understand.”
“no, just calm down. a tardy is a tardy, even if you apologize. it won’t make your sentence lighter.” he shook his head. “however… what if you sneak into the line without anyone noticing?”
you looked at him suspiciously. what is this guy on?
“look here.” he gestured you to sit down next to him and you both cautiously peeked out from behind the wall. “take a good look at how they’re lined up. coach is talking to every player directly from far end to the close end. once the first row is done, it goes back to the far end of the second row. while the farthest guy is answering coach’s questions, everyone will be looking at him.”
“i still can’t believe i’ll be able to sneak in like that.” you whispered.
“take that chance and run quickly. you’ve got it.” he assured, looking right at you.
“what about you though?”
“i will be right behind you.” he patted you on the shoulder.
“are you sure? wouldn’t we be in bigger trouble if we fail?” you still weren’t convinced enough by his plan.
“don’t worry.” he grinned. “i did the same last year.”
“you’ve done it before?!” you almost yelled in surprise, but quickly lowered your tone.
“just trust me.” he said.
with that he talked you into it. you scooted a bit to the left, getting ready to run as soon as the attention would be on the guy in the second row.
“watch closely. we have one chance.” the ace gave you a thumbs up.
“alright, next is…”
you saw the coach turn his head in the opposite direction.
“c’mon!” kim seungmin almost shouted, signalizing you to go.
holding your breath, you crouched down and started running. the plan was working perfectly, you thought. the coach did not even pay attention to what was happening behind his back. a few more steps and…
“AAAAA! she came late and is trying to sneak into the line!”
you froze in disbelief. kim fucking seungmin was screaming behind you like some kind of alarm system. everyone, including the coach, turned around and looked right at you.
if you don’t get kicked off the team right now, you definitely going to beat his ass.
a/n (2): i’d really really really appreciate your feedback! i want to know what you think about this chapter. and please reblog, because likes do nothing to promote the post!
i wanted to leave this chapter as an introduction to the school, side characters and “y/n”, because i don’t wanna leave that unexplained. i promise that next chapter will have more interactions with seungmin!!
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