Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 225

Hyung, Aren’t I Cute? 225

The little league game with the professional players began.

Instead of the usual 9 innings like in real baseball, it was shortened to 6 innings, and the professional players also didn’t go all out against the kids.

That’s not to say they were being careless.

Tyron, the pitcher, focused on control instead of speed.

Another thing was reducing the power in the ball.

Sometimes, bats break when hitting a baseball with full force.

If the kids were to injure their shoulders or wrists hitting Tyron’s pitches, that would be nothing short of violence.

That kind of risk.

The players were well aware of it, even without being told.

They’ve been injured plenty of times themselves. And the kids are young.

“Did you tell them to send the chicken and pizza on time?”

“Yes, I did.”

The staff were talking in the players’ waiting room.

It wasn’t just the players who were thinking about the kids.

The head of the HR team, who was dispatched from NM [likely an abbreviation for the company name], was leading the operation.

“You didn’t order all the pizzas from one place, right? You spread the orders around?”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“If you order from just one place, they won’t all arrive at the same time. The pizzas that are baked first will get cold.”

“I know. Something like that happened once before, and oh boy.”

The HR team leader looked at the PR marketing team employee.

“You’ll take good pictures and circulate them as press releases, right?”

“Yes, of course. An article like this is all publicity.”

“That’s right. Good publicity like this will encourage more people to support the company.”

“But what brings the HR team leader here? Did you come to see the players? Who are you a fan of?”

The HR team leader shook his head.

He wasn’t that interested in baseball in the first place.

If anything, he was more interested in games than baseball.

“I came because NM isn’t planning to hire translators as contract workers this time.”

“What? Then what’s going to happen?”

“Existing translators will maintain their current contracts, but new hires will be employed as full-time employees by NM.”

“???”

The PR marketing employee looked blank, as if he didn’t understand.

The HR team leader smiled, amused by his expression.

“The company plans to rotate translators to the team for 2-3 year assignments. This way, we don’t have to hire contract workers. And the players won’t have to go through the process of getting to know a new translator each time.”

“Ah…”

“But this is a headache. They need to be interested in baseball to some extent, as well as joining the game company.”

“The main focus is on games, and knowledge of baseball is additionally required.”

“That’s right. That adds another requirement to the qualifications. We won’t explicitly state it in the official announcement, though.”

“What is it?”

“Male. We’ll only be hiring male translators.”

“Ah!”

The employee nodded as if he understood.

With a 2-3 year rotation, they’ll inevitably have to work closely with the players.

Bathing together, eating together.

When they’re busy, they even have to change clothes together in the players’ waiting room.

“Working closely” isn’t just during games, but also in everyday life.

In some ways, it’s similar to being a celebrity manager.

Official announcements will always state that gender is irrelevant, but in the end, they can only hire men.

“With this specification added, it might be difficult to find talent.”

“Hmm. Definitely. They also need to know some medical terminology, right?”

“That’s right. Bones and organs too.”

Since players get injured sometimes, they need to know the specific terms like thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinky, not just the general words like ‘hand’ or ‘finger’.

They often have to go to the hospital, so they need to be able to translate in detail.

“Hmm. We can always fill in the gaps. There’s really no one who perfectly meets all the requirements anyway.”

On top of that, they have to do simultaneous interpretation for interviews, so they need to have incredibly practical skills.

“That’s why I came here today. Tyron. I wish I could see the other foreign players too, but for now, I’m trying to get a sense of the practical talent by watching him. This is just the beginning of applying this, so it’ll be exhausting if the standards are too high.”

“Ah, so that’s why you volunteered?”

“Well, that’s a big part of it.”

As they were talking, they heard some chatter from somewhere.

The guests who came with Bell today.

Siha and Sihyuk were talking about something enthusiastically.

They looked so adorable that he couldn’t help but keep looking at them.

He perked up his ears to listen.

“Siha, those hyungs [older brothers or male friends] are really good, aren’t they?”

“Ah, good!”

“Look at Tyron too. He throws really well, right?”

“Hyung, fast.”

“The ball is really fast, isn’t it?”

The HR team leader was watching the conversation with a pleased expression when Sihyuk’s words made his jaw drop slightly.

“Look at Tyron’s stance. He gets into a stance like a bird and then throws, right? It’s called an inverted W pitching form. You can throw really fast like that.”

“Bird? Bird.”

“Yeah. Like when you say, ‘I’m totally screwed!’ That kind of bird! Chirp chirp!”

“Chirp chirp?”

Next to him, Seungjun was laughing loudly, saying, “It’s real! It’s a real bird! Chirp chirp!”

Sihyuk looked ahead and said something.

“But he’s a dad with kids, so if he keeps using that form, I wonder if he’s had surgery on his arm.”

Bell looked surprised.

“Oh! Sihyuk hyung, how did you know?”

“Well, usually that form damages the Ulnar Collateral Ligament.”

“What’s that?”

“Ah, the ulnar collateral ligament. Just a ligament. I didn’t mean to say the word. Did I pick it up from talking to Tyron?”

“Hyung, you were talking in German. Is that some kind of occupational hazard?”

“Hehe. I guess so. I wonder if he had Tommy John surgery [a surgical reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament inside the elbow]?”

“Ah, I looked it up and it’s true. He had it.”

“See? But can we order something here? It’s more fun to watch while eating.”

“That’s true. Should we order something?”

The HR team leader stared intently at Sihyuk as if he were possessed.

A person who speaks English and German, a translator with what he calls an occupational hazard.

And someone with excellent baseball knowledge and medical terminology.

He doesn’t know about his game knowledge, but where else would he find someone so practical and qualified?

The HR team leader approached Sihyuk.

“Hello. Are you enjoying the baseball game?”

“Yes?”

“Haha. I’m the HR team leader from NM. But are you ordering something? Pizza and chicken will be here after the game, would you like to join us?”

“Wow. Really?”

The HR team leader smiled kindly and nodded.

His eyes, shining brightly, were staring right through Sihyuk.

***

The person who said he was the HR team leader kept asking me questions.

It feels strange that he’s only paying attention to me when there are so many celebrities here.

I’ve actually felt this way several times this year, and that look in his eyes was similar to Manager Hong Jinsu from KI Publishing.

But I haven’t shown him anything, so why is he doing this?

Did he see me talking to Tyron in German?

But it was just a casual conversation, so I don’t think he’d be that interested.

I don’t know why he’s doing this.

“Oh! You’ve also participated in game development at school? As a scenario writer?”

“Ah, I’m still working on that game.”

“Then you must know a bit about programming.”

“Well, not in detail, but I think I’ve learned a lot about the planning side.”

“Hahaha. You’re still a student?”

“Yeah, well.”

“That’s a shame. That you’re ‘still’ a student.”

“What is?”

“Haha. It’s nothing.”

It’s not nothing. I can see what’s going on.

He’s being so blatant about wanting to recruit me as a translator.

Are HR team leaders not supposed to keep a poker face like that?

That’s strange.

I watched the game in front of me.

The game was progressing much faster than I thought, and it was already the last 6th inning.

“It’s the last inning. It’s going quite fast because it’s a game between adults and kids.”

“There’s also time to personally coach them after we eat. It’s not easy to get this kind of experience.”

I hear “Strike!” from the front.

I’ll probably never see a professional player’s pitch again. Experiencing that firsthand from a young age might be a very good experience.

Of course, I don’t know if those kids will still be playing baseball when they grow up.

The HR team leader said.

“Then you’ll be graduating next year.”

“Well, I guess.”

“Are you interested in our company?”

“Haha…”

Bell said next to me.

“He worked as a translator for China’s Well during the Guns special match, didn’t you see? That video is really famous. They said he had an unbelievable memory.”

“Oh, stop with the compliments.”

“No, hyung. Everyone was just staring blankly. Do you know how many sentences it was?”

“Ahem.”

I can’t lift my head because I’m embarrassed by these compliments.

Before I knew it, the HR team leader quickly searched YouTube and found the exact part, which made me even more embarrassed.

“Wow.”

Stop it! Don’t say any more!

I fanned myself with my hand because I was getting hotter in this weather.

With an awkward smile.

“Stop watching. I’m embarrassed.”

“Why? It turned out well. That’s why I’m saying, would you like to work as a translator for just this month?”

“Yes?”

“I think they’ll be hiring everyone in December and then assigning them. The baseball season has a training period called spring camp between January and February, so they have to pick everyone in December to get in sync from then on.”

“Yes…”

“But the problem is that the translator who was in charge of Tyron quit because he was a contract worker. There’s still a month left until we hire someone. I don’t know what could happen in a month, but Tyron isn’t used to Korea yet.”

“I guess not.”

“And neither are his family. We have to send a translator, but we don’t have many people right now because it’s chaotic.”

“Ah…”

I had a rough idea of what he was saying when I heard the previous words.

They’re trying to hire a full-time translator.

But it seems like they included supporting Tyron with a translator in the contract.

I guess they were originally planning to extend the contract, but things don’t always go according to plan.

“If you’re not too busy, it might not be a bad idea to work for just one month. Actually, there aren’t any games during the off-season.”

“I guess not.”

“You just need to help with everyday things. Like bank errands or going to the nearby mart [Korean word for supermarket or convenience store].”

“Hmm.”

Wouldn’t it be worth trying for a month?

This kind of experience doesn’t come easily.

Of course, I won’t be able to experience traveling to games with the players for a year.

“A month, huh? Okay. I’ll give it a try.”

“Haha. Then come to the company the day after tomorrow. We’ll draw up a contract.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Oh, and you’ll have vacation after that, right?”

“Well, I guess.”

“I see. Haha. That’s great.”

“Haha. Well.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

The HR team leader said.

“I’m glad too.”

“???”

I don’t know why the HR team leader is happy that I’m having vacation.

Does the company have a winter vacation too?

That’s unlikely… Does he take a lot of vacation days?

***

I eat pizza and chicken and go home.

It was a good experience today.

I also got to experience something unexpected.

It’s not easy to be in charge of someone so closely like that.

If people don’t get along, the stress will be enormous.

There are good things about being together for too long, but there are also many things you keep inside.

Whether they’re good or bad.

“Siha, you remember Tyron from today, right?”

“Ah? Tiger?”

“Hehe. Yeah. Tiger. That person has a son and a daughter. One is the hyung who played baseball today, and the other is two years older than Siha. She’s five years old.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really. Um. Hyung might meet them while working. If that happens, you have to play well together, okay?”

Siha made a gun with his fingers and said.

“Siha good. Play bang bang. Play pow pow.”

Yeah. I don’t know what that means.

Maybe he’s talking about playing Guns with Bell today?

Can you tell me more about what bang bang and pow pow mean?