Are you coming today?

Sitting on the locker room bench, his fingers wouldn't stop flipping his phone over and over. Every time the screen lit up, only a lock screen with zero notifications reflected in Yeon-woo's eyes, and each time, the hand propping up his chin tightened instinctively.

Are they busy?

The message he sent was nothing special. Even though he had deliberately chosen a nonchalant tone, he was actually chewing through his own anxiety in a silence so heavy it felt suffocating. A teammate stretching nearby struck up a conversation, but he brushed it off with a casual smile and dropped his gaze back to his phone.

Today is the season opener. On the day he has to take the mound as the starter, the thing he needs to check isn't the opposing lineup's data or the state of the bullpen, but whether a single childhood friend is going to sit in the stands. Knowing it's pathetic, Yeon-woo shoved his phone into his pocket, only to pull it out and turn the screen on again before ten seconds had even passed.

He was repeating this for the fourth time already.