A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 135

The Newbie in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 135

The Newbie in the Baseball Team is Too Good 135

Chapter 35: Heart Thump Thump Thump (4)

Around the time the owner of [Jeonju House, likely a well-known local restaurant] pried open the door to the group dining room with a newly prepared platter of boiled beef slices…

Jisub was receiving instructions from Seo Chang-gi, the general manager of the KH Cannons.

“About Mr. Hong Dae-jong… I’ll leave that decision up to you.”

Pour, pour, pour.

He said, filling Jisub’s empty glass with soju [a Korean distilled spirit] to the brim.

“The other team leaders need to return to their original duties, and more than anything, this is about deciding on your successor.”

He advised Jisub to carefully consider the opinions of each team leader.

He also instructed him to meet with Mr. Hong Dae-jong again, if possible, and listen to his story.

He even kindly explained that he could get Mr. Hong’s contact information from the operations team, but—

“……Huh?”

To put it bluntly, Jisub didn’t need to bother asking the operations team for Mr. Hong’s contact information.

That night, close to midnight, as he patted his belly full of boiled beef slices and walked toward the entrance of his apartment, thud—thud—thud—

He spotted a plump figure near the recycling bins, throwing away plastic bottles.

For a moment, he thought, ‘Ah, is that the cleaning lady?’ But Jisub quickly realized who that figure was.

The head of Yeongsan High School’s baseball team.

The man in question, Mr. Hong Dae-jong.

* * *

Looking back, that day, the Cannons front office had raised several questions about Mr. Hong Dae-jong.

Some were raised by the team leaders, some were mentioned by General Manager Seo Chang-gi, and of course, Jisub himself had quite a few.

However, all those questions could actually be neatly summarized into a single question.

[Why does he want to join the Cannons?]

It wasn’t like he had an overwhelming interest in baseball.

Nor was he overflowing with affection for the Cannons.

And it wasn’t like he was being treated like a spare part at his current job—

‘Why does he want to become an interpreter?’

Jisub wanted to just ask him directly.

What’s the reason? Tell me. We need to know to make a decision.

But by this point, Jisub had gained some experience.

He knew that to truly understand someone’s inner thoughts, a certain amount of ‘building up’ was necessary.

So, the first thing he said to Mr. Hong Dae-jong at that moment was:

“Isn’t this usually something kids do?”

“Oh, my goodness!”

Mr. Hong was startled.

Turning his head and confirming Jisub’s presence, he sighed in relief.

“Oh, it’s you… Are you just getting off work? You’re very late, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I apologize for startling you.”

Jisub bowed slightly.

Mr. Hong asked.

“But what were you just saying? Kids do? Do what?”

“Oh, throwing out the trash, I mean.”

Jisub took an empty plastic bottle from the plastic bag Mr. Hong was holding and tossed it into the recycling bin with a ‘whoosh.’

“Last time it was food waste, and this time it’s recyclables… My mother always made me or my brother do it.”

“Ah, you have a brother?”

Mr. Hong’s expression softened a little when the topic of family came up.

“Well, it’s not much different at my house. Until recently, my youngest son was in charge of this. But… he’s about to go into his second year of high school.”

He has more to study, more stress, and most of all, he gets home later from school.

It seemed that throwing out the trash had naturally become Mr. Hong’s role.

“Ah, second year of high school…”

Jisub nodded.

“Then isn’t it about time to start thinking about which schools or majors he wants to apply to? That’s how it was with my friends back then.”

Jisub was slightly intrigued.

He had always been curious.

How do students who don’t play baseball decide on their career paths?

There are so many universities and dozens of majors, how do they manage to pick the right one for them from all those choices?

As someone from the baseball team, where his path was determined by his skills, he couldn’t help but find it fascinating.

“What major is your son thinking of pursuing, sir? Perhaps law school or medical school… something like that?”

“Ma-major?”

“Ah, no, maybe education? Education major? It’s highly likely he’d be thinking along those lines. After all, kids are influenced by their parents.”

It was just a casual remark.

He had often encountered such cases around him.

A baseball player’s child plays baseball, or the child of a noodle shop owner takes over the business.

Although it ultimately failed, Jisub’s brother, Kim Jichang, had also prepared for the police exam, following in their father’s footsteps.

But surprisingly,

A casually thrown question brought back an unexpected result.

“Major… Well, I’m not sure. My youngest son doesn’t really talk to me about that.”

That was Mr. Hong Dae-jong’s answer.

“Ah, but he did mention something a few months ago. What was it? He said he’d do any job… except be a high school teacher.”

With that, Mr. Hong tossed an empty plastic bottle into the recycling bin with a ‘whoosh.’

It was just a fleeting remark, but Jisub was the kind of person who didn’t miss those moments.

“Sir.”

“Yes?”

“Was that… the reason?”

The reason he wanted to join the Cannons.

The reason he wanted to become the manager’s interpreter.

“I won’t become a teacher. I don’t want to live like my father. That kind of life seems too boring and dull…”

Jisub stared ‘intently’ into Mr. Hong’s eyes and continued.

“That one sentence from your son was the deciding factor… That’s what I’m thinking right now, you know?”

* * *

When Mr. Hong Dae-jong heard Jisub’s words, his first reaction was:

“Hahaha! Oh, Jisub! What are you even talking about!”

Mr. Hong laughed loudly.

Laughing, he dumped the remaining empty plastic bottles from the plastic bag into the recycling bin with a ‘crash.’

“That’s because you don’t know kids very well, Jisub. Kids that age say things like that all the time.”

I’m not going to live like my mother.

I’m not going to live like my father.

The veteran English teacher from Yeongsan High School laughed and continued.

“And in the first place, my son only said he wouldn’t become a teacher. He never said anything about not wanting to live like his father or that life seemed boring and dull… Where did you even get that from?”

“Ah, well, I don’t really know…”

Of course, there was a ‘source’ for the story, but he couldn’t reveal the truth here.

Instead of dwelling on Mr. Hong’s question, Jisub looked straight at him and asked in a firm voice.

“But… is that really not the case?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if your son’s words had no influence on you at all.”

If he let it go, the man would just keep denying it and laughing.

Jisub sensed that some pressure was needed at this moment.

“I’m asking you now as a special assistant to the general manager of the KH Cannons. There are many voices within the team who can’t understand your motives for joining.”

“……”

Perhaps recalling the interview, Mr. Hong closed his mouth slightly.

“If you didn’t submit your application lightly, please answer properly this time. Is that really not the case? Is your son completely unrelated to your motives for joining?”

“Ji-Jisub, that is…”

The weight of the words ‘special assistant to the general manager’ was much stronger than Jisub had anticipated.

The tension ‘visibly’ grew on Mr. Hong’s face, who had been trying to slip away like a loach [a type of fish, implying he’s slippery and hard to catch].

“Oh dear, this is…”

Mr. Hong Dae-jong crumpled the plastic bag and looked up at the dark night sky.

Finally, he looked at Jisub and slowly opened his mouth.

“First, please understand this one thing. What my son said wasn’t a big deal. Kids that age say those things all the time.”

There must have been a reason why he brought up the same story again.

“So, I wasn’t hurt by his words or anything. Really! How could a school teacher be like that?”

At this point, Mr. Hong seemed to be trying to protect his son.

Even if the audience was only a few people, he didn’t want his precious child to leave a bad impression on others.

Anyway, it was an understandable point, so Jisub nodded lightly.

“Yes, I understand. So?”

“It wasn’t that I was hurt… but it’s true that my son’s words gave me a chance to look back at myself.”

A calm voice followed.

“I used to tell my son as a habit. Do something that makes your heart race. Do it really hard. Then you can live a wonderful life.”

“……”

“But when I thought about it, I was living the exact opposite of what I told him.”

His heart doesn’t race.

He doesn’t work hard.

Unlike the evaluation of the people at Yeongsan High School, Mr. Hong seemed to have lost his passion for his job.

“What should I say? It feels like I’m just ashes. All burned up and only ashes left.”

Mr. Hong clicked his tongue.

“Honestly, I don’t know why. Is it because time has passed, or because I’m getting old… It’s strange, isn’t it? It was definitely a calling at one time.”

He sighed briefly.

“After that, I worried for a while. Should I quit my job? Or should I just close my eyes and keep going? While I was worrying like that, I saw something after a really long time, almost 10 years…”

“Baseball, was it?”

He could tell this much without looking into the other person’s eyes.

“The Cannons’ baseball, I mean.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Mr. Hong nodded.

“It wasn’t even a live broadcast. I think it was a program that looked back on the entire season after the Korean Series [the championship series in Korean baseball] was over… Wow, it was really amazing!”

It was dark so he couldn’t see well, but Jisub could feel his eyes sparkling.

“The pitchers gritting their teeth and throwing the ball, the batters swinging their bats with all their might, Manager Freeman giving instructions and Jisub shining his eyes next to him… Watching it made my heart race.”

I want to stand there.

I want to fight with them.

If I’m there, maybe my passion that disappeared someday will come back.

If I’m there, maybe I can be a great father to my son.

This was Mr. Hong Dae-jong’s real ‘reason for joining’.

Jisub smiled bitterly and couldn’t help but say this.

“It would have been better in many ways if you had told me that during the interview.”

This was Jisub’s honest feeling, but Mr. Hong only gave him an awkward look.

“Oh, Jisub! How can I tell these stories to strangers I’ve never seen before? I’m too embarrassed.”

Mr. Hong scratched the back of his head.

“I actually feel like I’m possessed right now. How could I ramble on and on to Jisub about so many things…”

Is this the secret?

The secret to becoming a special assistant to the general manager in a year?

Mr. Hong Dae-jong looked at Jisub as if he was amazed.

When Jisub only smiled faintly and didn’t say anything, he opened his mouth with a fairly relieved expression.

“Thank you, Jisub. I was feeling depressed because I messed up the interview today… but after telling you all this, I feel much lighter.”

“……”

“Still, it was a rewarding few days in my own way. When I said I was going to interview with the Cannons, my youngest son looked at me in surprise? Hahahaha.”

So it’s okay.

I’m really satisfied.

Mr. Hong Dae-jong bowed ‘deeply’ to Jisub.

“Jisub, please give me a call before the season starts. We’re not interviewer and applicant anymore, so it’s okay to have a meal together, right?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

“Okay, you have to call me? I’ll be looking at the intercom every evening!”

Hahahaha.

Mr. Hong Dae-jong started walking towards the entrance of the apartment, bursting into laughter.
The moment he turned his head and shouted ‘Definitely!’, what came to Jisub’s mind was Arthur Freeman’s request.

-Your successor… yes, I hope he is a passionate person.

Could Mr. Hong Dae-jong be evaluated as a ‘passionate person’?

Jisub couldn’t give a definite answer of ‘yes’ to this.

He is definitely a person who has lost his passion in the role of a teacher, and he may be a person who is ‘white ashes left’, as he said.

“……”

But it seemed clear that he was a person who wanted to burn again.

Rather than a person who presses down on the white ashes with his feet, he is a person who tries to find the embers that have survived inside.

If a suitable wind blows on this person, and if some things that can be used as kindling are given.

Wouldn’t a new flame burst out before long?

‘Maybe… maybe so.’

Reaching this point, Jisub slowly turned around.

And he said this to the Yeongsan High School English teacher, who was just pressing the elevator button.