Boys(1)

October, after saying goodbye to his family, Dan takes a taxi and leaves the house for his flight to Taiwan for the MLB camp. The night before, he was excited and couldn't fall asleep. He can't wait to see his new teammates and the adventure that is waiting for him.

Dan walks into the airport after the taxi drops him off. He heads to the lobby to meet other people, and he sees nine people waiting there. A man notices his appearance and approaches him. Two Fighters staff come to Dan to greet him. "Hi, how are you? Are you Dan?" is the warm greeting uttered from a guy who is in a Fighters staff uniform. Dan nods. The man continues to say, "Wonderful!! I'm Alex, and this is Nova." and he introduces the woman with him. "We are going to be your guides in Taiwan, and we guarantee that everyone will be safe and happy on this trip."

Dan stares at Alex and the woman beside him and responds to them. "I'm Dan. Dan Sasaki, nice to meet you." He offers his hand to them with a smile. The Baku Fighters picked nine people in the draft; Dan Sasaki, Matt Logan, Juan Wilson, John Jay, Ray Kim, Dustin Wood, Chris Posey, Mark Lee, Josh Yang. Everyone has already arrived at the airport, except one person, Matt.

"Where is Matt? He's ten minutes late already. We have to go check in now." Nova is concerned. She looks around in the airport lobby and can't find any sign of the missing boy.

"Don't worry, we still have time. If he doesn't show up in five minutes then I will call him. " says Alex. He pats on Nova's shoulder to comfort her. While two of the adults are worried about Matt's absence, the boys beside them are chatting and getting to know their new teammates.

"Excuse me, are you Dan Sasaki?" Dan hears a quiet voice come from behind. He turns around and sees a boy with an Asian appearance. He seems to be the same age as him but quite short,compared to Dan. "Yes, I am." Dan replies.

"Really? Dan Sasaki? The guy who can pitch a 100mph (160kph) fastball?! I'm Josh. Nice to meet you." The boy gets excited and looks up. "Oh wow, you are tall. You must be around 6'4 or 6'5, aren't you?"

"I'm 6'6 (198cm), and you are right." Dan laughs, "You are talking to him." and he speaks to him with a friendly smile. "You are Josh, right? I've seen your videos before. You are a submarine pitcher. That's cool, I've never met anyone who can do that." They shake hands and introduce themselves to each other. Josh was selected in the ninth draft by the Fighters. He is a completely different type of player from Dan, different pitching style and different talent. "Do you know anything about Matt? The guy who hasn't showed up. Matt, right? I know he's a good outfielder, and that's it." Dan looks at Josh and wonders.

"Yes, I do know him. We are from the same town. I had met him many times in high school matches. He is a kind person, very outgoing, positive and casual… like a kid, I mean. I'm not surprised he is late." says Josh.

"Really? Can you tell me more about him?" Dan's curious.

"Yup." Josh nods. Two of them start to talk about the missing boy.

Five minutes later, Alex picks up his phone and searches for the number to contact Matt. Right at the moment, a boy with golden hair, blue eyes, and charming smile walks to him and apologizes, "Sorry I'm late. No excuse. I overslept. I'm Matt." with his warm smile.

Nova turns to him and stares at Matt. She shakes her head. "Finally, you are here, this is the last time, Matt. I was worried maybe something bad happened to you. I should report it to my supervisor." She speaks to him with anger in her voice.

"Okay, let it go. It's just his first time. He's here, and that's all it matters." Alex laughs and tries to make Nova cool down, "We should go check in now." and he speaks.

Nova signs, "It's not funny. Alex. Stop laughing." Then she turns to Matt. "Fine…you're lucky because we're running out of time. This is your first strike, Matt. You get two more, then I will pass it on and you will be finished." She turns to the rest of the group, "Alright. Boys, get your stuff ready. We are checking in." and she starts to help them check in for the flight.

The group starts moving. On the way to the check-in desk, Alex approaches Matt, "Did you really oversleep? On your first day?" and he whispers.

"Yeah." Matt nods.

Alex hears his answer and laughs again. "You are one if the kind, kid."

"Good save, by the way." Matt smiles, "Thank you."

"Don't mention that." Alex says, "It's nothing, but promise me you won't do that again. Ok? It wasn't what we call mature."

"Yup. You have my word."

"And don't mind her. She was just worried, cuz you were really late."

"Ok. I'm sorry." Matt apologizes once again.