Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 160

After wiping the sweat trickling down my cheek with the back of my hand, I muttered,

“Ugh, it’s hot.”

“Isn’t it cool?” someone next to me casually responded.

“Aren’t you hot?”

“It’s chilly here?”

I wondered if this was a conversation people in the same place at the same time could have, but,

Swishhhhh-!

Looking at the refreshingly pouring rain, it made sense. August is definitely hot, but seeing the coldly falling rain makes me feel cool.

But this isn’t a very good story for baseball players.

“Canceled, canceled!”

Aw, geez.

Following yesterday, today as well, the game has been pushed back due to rain for two consecutive days.

No, the fact that it’s being pushed back doesn’t really matter. Instead, I feel like I’m wasting ‘today’ as it is, which is a shame.

“Hey, Gibum wants to get dinner.”

“Sure.”

I nodded lightly at Seungju’s suggestion and left the stadium.

The disappointment of not being able to play the game.

The relief of being able to hide the poor condition I was in today.

The frustration of not being able to show what I had prepared.

The players I met leaving the stadium each harbored their own emotions.

But the moment I left the stadium,

“What do you want to eat?”

“Let’s get some pork belly.”

“Pork belly on a rainy day? We should have green onion pancakes [savory pancakes with green onions] and makgeolli [Korean rice wine].”

“Ah, if it isn’t the boozehound. Hey, it’s pork belly because it’s raining.”

“Where are you leaving green onion pancakes behind?”

“Why would you eat that stuff?”

“Are you dissing green onion pancakes right now?”

Leave the emotions of the day at the stadium.

Following the advice of a senior player, everyone returns to their original mindset.

It’s a shame that the original mindset isn’t exactly sane, but,

“Are you dissing pork belly right now?”

I’m the same, so I don’t really have anything to say.

“That’s right. Can’t resist meat.”

“You bad guys.”

The greatness of majority rule.

Seungju had no choice but to follow the three of us into a pork belly restaurant near the stadium.

Sizzle―

The sizzling grill, the meat boasting its crimson color, and the side dishes that will make the meat even more radiant.

It hasn’t been long since I greeted it, and it hasn’t been long since I ate it, but my heart is already pounding and my hands are trembling with anticipation.

After placing one row, two rows, three rows, and a solid four rows on the well-heated grill, I didn’t get greedy anymore and put down the tongs and plate.

Now, what we have to do is wait reverently, with a reverent heart, for the Maillard reaction [the chemical reaction that gives browned food its distinctive flavor].

“Praise be.”

“Ma’am.”

“Ma’am….”

“You crazy bastards.”

Except for Seungju, the other two guys took my nonsense well.

“Don’t you eat, you bastard.”

“Go buy some green onion pancakes.”

Hun and Gibum are already on my side.

However,

“Damn it, I was going to treat you guys in celebration of the team doing well lately.”

“That’s right, you bad bastard. Why did you say let’s eat pork belly?”

“Go buy some green onion pancakes.”

With just one word, the situation was reversed.

“You guys, it’s nothing new, but you guys are really bad bastards.”

I’m going crazy, really.

“By the way, it’s been raining too much lately.”

“They said it’s coming again tomorrow?”

“Again?”

About a week has passed since entering August. Excluding Monday, which is a day off, the games we should have played were actually 6 games.

“What do we do? We’ve only played three games this week.”

However, with temporary closures declared on Tuesday, Saturday, and today, Sunday, a whopping three games have been pushed back.

“What do we do? In the second half of the season, we’ll play games on Mondays, and that won’t be enough, so we’ll cram in doubleheaders. Damn it, it’s a mess.”

If Seungju hadn’t unleashed a refreshing barrage of curses, I might have said it myself.

If it was just a slightly strong rain, we would just endure it and proceed, but it’s a terribly heavy rain that makes it impossible to proceed with the game itself.

Cancel it before the game even starts, call no game after proceeding to the 3rd inning.

There are especially many days like that this season.

“Are you guys managing your condition well?”

Thanks to that, the players’ condition is completely ruined.

For professional players who fill their routines on a daily or weekly basis, not being able to go out for a day or a week can make a really big difference later on.

Since I’m a bullpen pitcher, I’m used to that kind of life anyway…….

“I don’t know. I’m screwed.”

Hun shook his head.

“I’m screwed, what are you asking?”

Seungju, who is scheduled for FA [Free Agency] after the end of this season, spat out another refreshing curse.

“Well… I have a lot to say, but it’s a bit of a dangerous topic.”

Gibum was the only one with a subtle smile.

I know the meaning of that smile.

Fast feet, and even faster base-running sense than that. In addition, defense that is above average no matter which position you put him in.

Thanks to that, Gibum was one of the people who gave the Wonha Challengers front office a headache until the trade deadline.

We’ll give you someone, can you give us Kim Gibum?

Who are you trading Kim Gibum for!

Well… we’ll give you someone and someone and someone, so please add one person to Kim Gibum.

In fact, Wonha preventing Gibum’s outflow may not be very welcome from Gibum’s point of view.

Why?

Baseball players exist to play baseball, not to be treated like ornamental plants in one team.

Therefore, the front office promises Gibum a high annual salary every year to express their apologies for that.

“But I’m not feeling very good either.”

“Why? Still, isn’t it good to play a lot of games?”

Recently, Gibum has played in quite a few games.

Looking at the last 6 games, he started in 3 of them, and in the remaining non-starting games, he played as a pinch runner and a defensive replacement in two games each.

He receives a lot of salary compared to the number of games he plays, he receives precious treatment, but no matter what, baseball players have to go out on the ground.

But Gibum said that he was not very comfortable with the current situation.

“I’m a backup, I know I’m not a starter.”

For this reason.

“Hey, how can that be? If you’re good, you play as a starter.”

“That’s right, look at our Kim Hanwool. He was so bad, but he was stuck in the bullpen like an iron rice bowl [secure and stable position].”

“You crazy bastard.”

“Rather than that, you have a reason, right? So have confidence, you bastard.”

Even though curses flew from the seat next to him, Seungju didn’t bat an eye and comforted Gibum across from him.

“That’s true too.”

This bastard?

“But the situation is a bit different now.”

“What’s different?”

“Back then… well, now I’m just talking openly. Back then, honestly, everyone didn’t care that much about the results.”

Perennial bottom feeder.

That was the classification of the Wonha Challengers until a few years ago. Not perennial last place, but perennial bottom feeder.

I know it’s an excuse, but perhaps that’s why they lost their motivation even more.

If it’s just a bare bottom, you’d think, ‘Ah, I’ve hit rock bottom, so should I try to go up now?’

Almost every year, 6th place, a little worse, 7th place, and if it goes well, 5th place.

Plus/minus 1 fluctuation had something that made people tired.

That’s why the postseason appearance in the 17th season was even bigger.

“But now it’s different. Making the postseason every year is now a given, and now it’s beyond that, it’s the Korean Series [championship series of the KBO League].”

“No, not just the Korean Series, but the championship.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Hun briefly corrected Gibum’s words.

“Like he said, now it’s not enough to just make it to the Korean Series. We’re like that, and the people watching are like that, our eyes are too high. It’s right to look at high places and go there….”

“You’re wondering if you can be included on the way there, right?”

“Similar.”

When I threw a word in from the side, Gibum nodded bitterly.

I understand.

It’s not that I’m not helping the team, but I’m worried that being a frontman would be a minus for the team.

“I honestly thought about that too. I’m human, so I think about that. Why, why am I not a starter? If that’s the case, I’d rather be sent to another team.”

“You can think that.”

“But.”

Clang!

Gibum put down the soju [Korean distilled spirit] glass that had been added to the table and laughed heartily.

“I’ve let go of that, that kind of thing.”

“Let go of what?”

Gurgle gurgle gurgle―

The guy who hadn’t said anything opened his mouth only after the empty glass was filled.

“Winning the championship. If me doing this is the way for us to win the championship, then I’ll just do it.”

Should I call him a cool bastard, or a foolish bastard?

While I was struggling with those two words,

“You crazy bastard.”

Seungju chose an explicit word that wasn’t anywhere.

“How can that be, you bastard. If you’re good, you play as a starter, and if you’re not good, you don’t play.”

Clang!

You frustrating bastard.

Seungju, who put an empty glass on the table as cheerfully as Gibum, added a new word and comforted his friend’s feelings.

“And you’re the best right now, so you’re playing the most. Why are you sitting there thinking so hard?”

“That’s right. It’s not like you’re not training or doing anything.”

Hun added a word to that.

I couldn’t lose, so I brought back memories of the past and added a word.

“When was it, last year, why that. That, when Myungjin got hurt.”

“Ah.”

“At that time, you and Heonhee competed for a while.”

“That’s right.”

“In fact, before that, I thought you were playing baseball in a boring way.”

“Boring?”

“Why, you know Youngjin, right? In the front office.”

“I know.”

“Youngjin told me before. He said that in the past, it felt like you were just going up to the mound to make money.”

“Why is that?”

“But from some point on, he could see that I was having fun. Trying to win, trying to do something. No, I haven’t changed, I thought so.”

Clang!

This time, I put an empty soju glass on the table.

“But when I thought about you competing with Heonhee, I think I know why Youngjin said that, hey.”

Not just for the team, but the calculation that I have to do well to help the team. Not selfishness or individualism, but rather a sense of duty that I have to do better because I’m thinking about the group.

The joy I felt when I grew up like that and my share in the team grew must have been felt by Gibum as well.

Although the joy at that time was too weak and Myungjin returned before I could even savor it properly,

“And you, if you think like that, Myungjin will say, ‘Oh, hyungnim [term of respect for an older brother or male colleague], thank you so much,’ and be very happy.”

Also, most people don’t know how much vomit Myungjin, who returned like that, poured out to catch up again as much as he was behind.

“So, do what you’ve been doing. Don’t say anything like, ‘I can give everything for the team,’ or anything like that.”

I don’t know how he took my words, but Gibum raised his soju glass with a subtle smile.

“Okay, cheers!”

Gratitude to the friends who comforted him.

Apologies to the friends who were worried because of the same-age peer.

Regret for not showing these friends a good side until now.

“Cheers!”

Gibum mixed all the emotions in a golden ratio into a glass of soju,

Clang!

“Ugh… Lee Myungjin, just you wait!”

He took a refreshing one-shot.