Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 73

With the end of the playoffs, the Wonha Challengers’ official 2018 season came to a close.

The series score was 3 to 1. I had expected a tough fight, but the unexpectedly good fight left me feeling regretful.

Ah, if only I had done this differently.

Ah, if only I hadn’t done that differently.

It’s useless to dwell on ‘if only,’ and everyone knows it. But because I’m human, and because I’m a professional player, I couldn’t help but feel that regret.

As the season ended, I received many texts and calls from people around me.

First, from my mother. She said I worked hard again this year, asked if I was hurt, and filled our two-hour conversation. It had been a while since we’d met.

I should go visit her when I get a break.

And then, Ms. Min-young. As always, she said I worked hard, that I was the coolest, and asked when we could meet. It was a series of encouraging words.

I always smiled when I replied to her.

Somewhat out of the blue, I also received a personal message from Ms. Eun-seo, along with a chicken gift certificate.

When I asked her what was up, she said I mentioned wanting to eat chicken during the interview, and she was sending it because I seemed to have worked hard. She was blunt.

[No, I said that after retirement.]

[Oh, then retire!]

[Really?!]

[Sorry.]

I also occasionally exchanged messages with Ms. Seo-yeon from Electric… no, Essentric, whom I had met briefly before.

Mostly, she would send me various updates, and I would reply appropriately.

This time, she said I worked hard, and that her agency president was a fan of mine. Simple things like that.

I also exchanged messages with several of my friends: Woo-seok, Myung-gyu, Heon-cheol, and Hyun-jin, who are playing in the same field [presumably meaning the same sport or industry].

In particular, Hyun-jin sent me a massive message of 1,000 characters, which gave me goosebumps.

Besides that, I also heard from Kyung-bae, and Dae-hwan, who introduced me to Ms. Min-young… and I also received casting calls from TV entertainment programs and Mytube [likely a fictional analogue to YouTube], which are related to baseball.

Oh, and I also heard from Rawlings.

They wanted to talk about the glove estimate for next year since the season was over. The contract I had this year was a six-month contract, so it was time to renew it and place a new order.

And…

“Yes, hello, senior.”

Around 6 PM, I received a call from MBS broadcasting station’s commentator, Lee Young-jin.

Lee Young-jin, who was he?

He still holds the record for the most career home runs, even though it’s been almost 10 years since he retired. He held that record until Park Hae-jin broke the record for the most home runs in a season last year.

“What’s going on?”

– Ah, Han-wool. You know the charity baseball game at the end of the year, right?

“Ah, yes. I know.”

– We want to scout you for our team this time. Is that something you’d be interested in?

“…Oh.”

The charity baseball game that happens every year at the end of the year. This year, I’m expected to participate.

“What is the exact date?”

– It’s scheduled for December 9th. It’s a Sunday.

“December… 9th…”

No matter how much I rack my brain, there’s no particularly important schedule around that time.

“Yes. I think it’ll be okay.”

– Ah, great, great. Then I’ll assume that Han-wool will be attending.

“Am I going to be on Senior Lee Young-jin’s team too?”

– I made the scouting call, so I have to bring you to my team.

“Ah, thank you.”

– Then I’ll contact you again later.

“Yes, goodbye.”

A sinister smile spread across my face at the thought that it would be fun.

If you ask professional baseball players who the craziest… no, the most unpredictable player is, about half of them will point to me.

Then I’ll have to live up to those expectations.

After finishing the phone call with commentator Lee Young-jin, I turned on the TV, which had been muted.

– Hello, professional baseball fans. The weather is getting colder, but the players’ and, more than anyone, the fans’ passion for baseball makes this Jamsil Baseball Stadium [a well-known baseball stadium in Seoul] still feel hot.

Wow, what a great thing to say.

The veteran’s comment from Korea’s No. 1 baseball caster was one that would make any baseball player’s heart burn.

– Hello, this is MBS caster Kwon Myung-hoon. Today’s Game 5 of the Korean Series will be with commentators Choi Soo-hyun and Kim Hyung-cheol. Hello.

– Hello.

– Hello.

One tall, handsome commentator, and one commentator with small eyes and glasses. The caster in between bowed, and they bowed together.

After that, caster Kwon Myung-hoon briefly summarized the previous four games.

Sangsoo won the first three games in a row, and then Dongseong barely took one game, something like that.

He also briefly asked commentators Choi Soo-hyun and Kim Hyung-cheol, who were positioned on the left and right, about the direction of the game.

Knock knock―

“Delivery―!”

While saying the line, Then I’ll see you in the broadcast booth shortly, someone knocked on the front door.

Singing a song I composed on the spot, Here it comes, here it comes, I received the chicken.

While listening to the starting lineup and batting order of today’s players, I tore open the plastic with force. I took out two small boxes and poured salt into the small dish I had prepared.

Pickled radish, get lost.

“…What the hell is he eating to be like that.”

And the most important beer. I poured draft beer into a glass, and then I saw Park Hae-jin’s stats for the 3rd game.

11 plate appearances, 8 at-bats, 8 hits, 4 home runs, 11 RBIs.

“Crazy… Ugh!”

The afterglow of the emotion I received from the unbelievable numbers was so great that I didn’t even realize the beer was overflowing the glass.

I didn’t come to my senses until the area around my knees was wet, and I grabbed a towel that was nearby.

“Hmm…”

I watched the game while chewing on a chicken leg.

As commentator Choi Soo-hyun said, the 5th game was overwhelming, as the 4th game was meant to be a break since they had won the first three games in a row.

The starting pitcher blocks well. The lineup scores. The bullpen and defense tightly tie up those points. In necessary situations, the bench gives necessary instructions.

No fun?

“Wow…”

No, it’s super fun.

If it were Dongseong, who always maintains the second-place line, or Sangsoo, who might just be tired of winning, it would be another boring series. No, to other people too.

But as I watched, there were many interesting elements.

Art.

The way each and every player, each and every member of the bench, and each and every member of the leadership all fit together perfectly gave me goosebumps.

Game score 4 to 1. Series score also 4 to 1.

I guess they never get tired of winning every year as if they’re eating rice [a common Korean expression for something easy or routine].

Seeing them run out onto the field and rejoice so brightly made my stomach ache.

“We too…”

We can do it too, right?

* * *

For a short two days, I really did nothing but eat and sleep. I didn’t do anything at all. I didn’t even take a single step outside the house.

Ah… I wish everyone in the world was like me…

First, I decided to cancel the appointments I had.

First of all, I was going to go see my mom and dad, who I hadn’t seen in years.

But they waved their hands and told me not to come, so I continued my unemployed life for another two days.

In chronological order, I met with Rawlings first.

The six-month contract I had signed in the middle of this season was slowly coming to an end, so it was time to sign a new contract for next year.

“…What is this?”

“What Han-wool will use next year.”

I met with the production manager of Rawlings, who had become close to me while donating to my alma mater, and the sales manager I had met at that time.

As soon as we met, the production manager showed me a new glove. The design itself is exactly the same as the previous glove.

11.5, a model without a finger cover on the go board web. The only change was one thing, but that one thing was everything to the glove.

“Wow… the color is real…”

Bright red!

Unlike this year’s black tones, the bright red color scheme naturally caught my eye.

Without a word, I signed the contract for next year on the spot.

After having a delicious meal with the two people from the company, I carefully placed three not-so-small boxes in the back seat of the car and arrived home.

As soon as I got home, I brought two boxes to the small room. I opened the lid, peeled off the plastic, and placed the gloves on the glove stands I had received together.

One black, one red.

The manager made one more glove for me to use next year, and he doubled his promise to make one more of this year’s model for collection.

One trophy, two gloves. And soon, another trophy will be set up next to it. Yeah, yeah.

And the next day was another meeting with Ms. Min-young.

“You worked hard!”

Clap clap clap clap clap!!

Listening to the exaggerated applause made my heart feel at ease. A smile naturally spread across my face.

I watched the dinner menu being set up one by one and talked about each other’s recent events.

Normally, I would just nod at what Ms. Min-young was saying, but today was a little different. It felt like Ms. Min-young was asking questions and I was answering them at length.

“Charity baseball game?”

“Yes. Senior Lee Young-jin told me about it a while ago. He asked if I would come out.”

“Oh… what position are you going to play?”

“I don’t know? It hasn’t been decided yet. I won’t be a pitcher or a catcher, so I’ll probably just squeeze into the outfield.”

“But if you’re not a pitcher, you’ll have to hit, are you okay with that?”

“Ah.”

That’s right.

“…It’s not a real game, it’s an exhibition game. They’ll be happy even if I strike out.”

Hehe…

Ms. Min-young smiled and continued.

“You’ll get to know how the hitters who always struck out against Han-wool feel.”

“I know. There’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

“Huh? You’re a pitcher?”

“I used to hit in high school too?”

“Huh.”

Why are you surprised?

“You don’t use a designated hitter [a player who bats in place of the pitcher]?”

“You know the saying ‘baseball is all about talent,’ Ms. Min-young.”

“Yes.”

Hehe.

This time, I smiled. I poked the left side of my chest with my thumb.

“That’s me.”

“Oh, oh oh…!”

Hmph.

“But why weren’t your stats good in the past…?”

Cough―!

“…Like that.”

Keheuk, aheuk, coop, euheok!

I got a bad case of choking from an attack that came from a completely unexpected place. I quickly patted the chest I had poked a little while ago and quickly regained my composure.

“Hoo…”

Once I could breathe freely, all that was left was poison.

“Hehe…”

Ah, it’s gone.

“It’s okay if you’re the best now, who’s a better pitcher than Han-wool now!”

“Yes… that’s right…”

Haha.

“What’s the date?”

“It’s the 9th of next month. I think I heard it was a Sunday… Do you want to come, Ms. Min-young?”

“December 9th? Ah…”

She took out her phone, looking somewhat ambiguous, and checked something. Then she quickly transformed into a tearful expression, which broke my heart.

“…It’s my mom’s birthday that day… Ah…”

“Ah… Aigoo [an expression of sympathy or frustration]…”

“Haa… I want to go…”

“Oh, oh well, haha, ha…”

She really likes baseball.

I smiled and emptied all the remaining food. I paid the bill and headed to the parking lot after leaving the restaurant. It was the first time in a long time that two people were in the car that I always rode alone.

Unlike the noisy restaurant, there was no conversation between us even after the car door closed, the navigation was set, the gear was lowered, and we slowly started.

Quietly.

Since I don’t play music unless I’m riding alone, the car was quiet.

Click, click―

The sound of moving to the right or left from time to time.

Bbang―!

Or the sound of cars on the evening streets getting angry.

It was quieter than usual, but I didn’t feel particularly awkward. I was driving on the boundary between comfort and having no thoughts.

“…Um, Han-wool.”

But Ms. Min-young seemed to have a slightly different thought, and she tentatively brought it up. That was when there were about 5 minutes left until we arrived.

“That…”

“Yes, yes.”

“…”

It seemed like she hadn’t even thought about what to say after tentatively bringing it up. After 5 seconds of silence, there was no conversation between us again.

I wanted to see what she was thinking, but I didn’t want to go to the afterlife due to careless driving, so I held back and looked only ahead.

“That…”

Click, click―

Then, when it was time to move to the right lane, I looked at the side mirror on the right, and I briefly made eye contact with Ms. Min-young.

A look that said she had something she wanted to say, but she wasn’t sure if she should.

“It’s okay. Please say it.”

It would have been great if the comfort I had was manifested here too.

“That…! Kang Sung-hyun is! Now a free agent!”

A voice that anyone could tell was just filling in. It’s a different story. That’s not what she was going to say.

“Ah, yes.”

I decided to sort out the story that had surfaced first in the vague guess.

“You don’t really… talk about it? You’re quite close to Han-wool.”

“We’re personally close, but before that, we’re in a business relationship. I don’t have an obligation to tell him to stay…”

“What did you say when Han-wool was a free agent last year?”

“I told him not to go, but I would have stayed even if Sung-hyun hadn’t said that. I stayed purely because I liked Wonha. I can’t force him to do that. If he goes, he goes, and if he stays, he stays. I’d be happy if he stayed.”

A national-level right fielder, it would be stupid to miss him.

“I always think that I want Wonha to get stronger.”

“Me too. Frankly, it’s the team I’m on. It has to get stronger.”

“But even so… I don’t want people to change.”

“Players?”

“Yes. I know it’s a selfish thought, but I want to see the people who are here now win without any recruitment or anyone leaving.”

“Hmm…”

It seems like it would be nice to do it just among ourselves.

“We will.”

It was a conversation that reminded me of what I had said to Young-jin someday.

“Just us.”

“Will you show us?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Since this year is over, there are only 2 years left.”

“What?”

“The promise Han-wool made. You said last year that you would win within 3 years.”

“Ah, why did I say that? I should have just thought it to myself.”

Ms. Min-young giggled at my self-reproach.

Ms. Min-young’s house, which had finally arrived. I parked the car in front of the grand apartment entrance.

It was fun, let’s see each other again next time, I’ll contact you again. The usual stories came and went, and Ms. Min-young grabbed the door handle of the passenger seat.

“…Han-wool!”

“Yes?”

But she couldn’t close it right away.

“Um… I’ll contact you again.”

“…”

What’s the reason for repeating the story she had just told a few seconds ago?

“…Yes. I’ll contact you too.”

I smiled and answered.

쿵― [onomatopoeia for a heavy thud]

The door closed heavily and the car started smoothly. I glanced at the passenger side mirror and saw a woman looking this way without going into the house right away.

Ah, I need to make up my mind quickly.