A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 139

The Newcomer in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 139

The Newcomer in the Baseball Team is Too Good 139

Chapter 36: He’s Only Good at Baseball (3)

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Jang-ho? You mean… Ryu Jang-ho?”

“He broke up with his girlfriend?!”

“Wait, did he even have a girlfriend in the first place? Since when?”

The KH Cannons’ three oldest players reacted as if they couldn’t believe it.

However, at that moment, Ji-seop unconsciously made an ‘ah’ sound.

‘Right, I think I remember something like that.’

It was a memory from his time in the States.

Specifically, when he encountered Tommy Damon, a former teammate from his independent league days.

While talking about the Boston Red Sox’s incredible intelligence network, Ji-seop’s old teammate had shown him Ryu Jang-ho’s information file.

‘Jang-ho broke up with his girlfriend… Right, that kind of information was in that file.’

In terms of timing, it seemed to fit, but Ji-seop couldn’t readily accept it either.

‘He failed the physical test because of that? Ryu Jang-ho, of all people? Does that even make sense?’

It seemed like he needed more information.

The Red Sox’s file only contained the fragmented information that ‘he broke up with his girlfriend.’

It didn’t say who Jang-ho was dating, or how they broke up.

So, Ji-seop spoke up.

“Su-bin, be more specific.”

He wasn’t one to listen easily.

Ji-seop ‘slyly’ held out the cookie he had confiscated earlier and continued.

“Tell me what you know. You were Jang-ho’s roommate, after all, so you must have seen and heard a lot while living together.”

He had provided suitable ‘bait,’ and Ji-seop thought he could get information quickly this way.

But surprisingly, Lee Su-bin stared blankly at Ji-seop’s cookie and didn’t seem to want to take it.

“I don’t know the details very well.”

Lee Su-bin smacked his lips.

“To be honest… I’m just guessing about the girlfriend thing. When I asked Jang-ho *hyung* [older brother or male friend], he just said she was an elementary school classmate.”

Ryu Jang-ho himself had never mentioned the word ‘girlfriend.’

Watching the situation quietly, Go Chang-deok opened his mouth.

“Still, you must have had some basis for your judgment. You wouldn’t have made it up, Su-bin.”

“Ah, there is that!”

Lee Su-bin’s expression brightened slightly.

“Whenever we arrive at the away game dorms? Jang-ho *hyung*, not 100% of the time, but… he called that woman quite often.”

“Called? About what?”

“Well, just things like, ‘Have you eaten? I have,’ or ‘Let’s eat together sometime’… I think it was something like that.”

“What, so it’s not even a girlfriend.”

That was the reaction of Ahn Young-chan, the ‘top negotiator for salary negotiations.’

“Isn’t she just a regular elementary school classmate, like Jang-ho said? At best, it seems like they’re just starting to flirt?”

“Hey, no way!”

He said he didn’t know well, he said he didn’t know the details.

But Lee Su-bin flared up when someone challenged him.

“Jang-ho *hyung* hardly ever uses his phone. Why else would Jang-ho *hyung’s* mother nag him to use his phone more often?”

“Well, I hardly ever see that guy holding his phone, either.”

“Right? And most importantly…”

Three months ago.

The Cannons’ ‘baby pig’ began to bring up the most important point.

“That day, he was talking to that woman… and suddenly, Jang-ho *hyung* opened the door and went outside?”

“Outside?”

“Yes, that never happened before. He never cared whether I was listening next to him or not.”

Lee Su-bin swallowed hard.

“So, I was thinking to myself, ‘That’s strange,’ ‘What’s going on?’ But after a while, Jang-ho *hyung* came back with a face that was…”

Dark.

Very dark.

Much darker than when he hadn’t hit a single hit for about a week.

“Since then, I haven’t seen him once. Jang-ho *hyung* talking to that woman. Even though I stayed in the same dorm as Jang-ho *hyung* all winter because of winter training.”

So, he was thinking, ‘Ah, Jang-ho *hyung* broke up with his girlfriend.’

Having continued the story this far, Lee Su-bin carefully asked, watching Ji-seop’s expression.

“Chief, with this much information… can I eat the cookie you’re holding?”

“Yeah, eat it. But don’t eat it all at once.”

As Ji-seop gave a bitter smile and handed over the remaining cookies, Go Chang-deok opened his mouth with a worried expression.

“Ji-seop, I think we should meet Jang-ho in person?”

We haven’t found out much.

That was Go Chang-deok’s opinion.

“We don’t know what kind of conversation they had, and we don’t even know what kind of person that woman is in the first place.”

“…….”

“We still can’t get in touch with Jang-ho… but shouldn’t we wait in front of his house for now? I think that’s the answer.”

Ji-seop had a similar thought, so just as he was about to get up without saying anything.

“Hey, hey, what are you talking about!”

The KH Cannons’ three oldest players held Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok down.

“Where are you going? There’s no guarantee that Jang-ho will be at home.”

“Besides, Chief Kim and Chang-deok-ssi [honorific title], don’t you have a mountain of other work piled up right now?”

“That’s true, but that doesn’t mean there’s another way…”

“Hey, why isn’t there?”

It was Jang Dae-woo, the closer who had recently joined the team, who gave a ‘grin’ in response to Go Chang-deok’s question.

“What do baseball fans always say? That Korea Professional Baseball is the only place where pitchers take off their hats and bow when a hit-by-pitch comes out… right?”

“Why are you suddenly talking about that…”

“Why do you think that is? We players all know it. Even if we don’t know each other directly, we’re all middle school classmates, high school seniors and juniors… that’s how we are.”

So, leave it to us.

The Cannons’ three oldest players raised their cell phones ‘in unison,’ as if they had made a promise.

“We’ll call all our *seniors* [more experienced or older colleagues] and *juniors* [less experienced or younger colleagues] across the country… and get a good grasp of the situation.”

“What kind of woman Jang-ho was dating, and what happened between them!”

“Chief Kim and Chang-deok-ssi just have to wait in the most comfortable position in Korea.”

Go Chang-deok opened his mouth with a somewhat uneasy expression towards the three people who were even clenching their fists ‘tightly.’

“You’re really stepping up for Ji-seop and me, right? You don’t have any other motives, do you?”

“Hey, of course not!”

“What do you think of us!”

“We’re just dedicated to the team!”

The three people were making the most serious expressions, but a bitter smile was forming on Ji-seop’s lips as he looked at them.

When he looked into their eyes, the voice he heard in Ji-seop’s ear was as follows.

[Ryu Jang-ho’s girlfriend… I can’t let Ji-seop have something this fun!]

[Still waters run deep… I need to figure it out properly and tease him later.]

[Hehe, I’m looking forward to it? I wonder what kind of reaction that cold guy will show when I bring up his girlfriend later?]

What should I do with these old guys?

Ji-seop felt a slight stiffness in the back of his neck.

* * *

Thus, the Cannons’ three oldest players began investigating Ryu Jang-ho and his girlfriend.

Although their purpose was mixed with some impurity, their information gathering skills were truly amazing.

-Yeah, Jun-ho? Oh, it’s Jin-woo *hyung*. How have you been?

-Yeah, I called to ask my *hyung* a question!

– Oh, Coach Park! How have you been? You were from Yeongcheon Middle School, right?

About two hours after they each started investigating with their phones.

The three people who had gathered again at a pub near the baseball stadium presented a considerable amount of information to Ji-seop.

“Her name is Lee Ye-jin… She went to the same elementary, middle, and high school as Jang-ho. She’s currently pursuing a doctorate at a university in Seoul.”

“They were apparently famous in middle school? Everyone around them said they were dating, but they vehemently denied it…”

“After Jang-ho went pro, they only met once or twice a year, but they still called each other occasionally… They’ve been together for almost 10 years.”

The three people rattled off all sorts of stories before Ji-seop could even ask where they had gathered such information.

However, Go Chang-deok, who was sitting next to Ji-seop, opened his mouth with an expression that seemed dissatisfied.

“You’ve worked really hard… but haven’t you failed to find the most important information?”

“The most important information?”

“Yes, what exactly happened between them three months ago.”

Go Chang-deok narrowed his brows.

“We need to know that first, right? That way, we can comfort Jang-ho or set him up on a blind date.”

Go Chang-deok was making a fairly serious expression, but the Cannons’ three oldest players just ‘smirked’ at this.

“Hey, Chang-deok-ssi, too.”

“Yes?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at it? The situation Jang-ho is in right now… isn’t this completely ‘between love and friendship’?”

Farther than love.

Closer than friendship.

I’m leaving because I hate ambiguous relationships.

As Jang Dae-woo hummed a song from the past, question marks filled Go Chang-deok’s face.

“So, what does that…”

“Jang-ho is going to America next year.”

Jang Dae-woo continued.

“Wouldn’t the woman want to ask him once? What’s going to happen to us? Are we just going to keep calling each other like this in the future?”

“…….”

“Chang-deok-ssi, you know Jang-ho’s personality well, right? Then answer me. If Jang-ho received such a question from the woman, what do you think he would have answered?”

“Answer? Well…”

Go Chang-deok raised his gaze to the ceiling.

At first, his expression was calm.

But perhaps it was because he remembered Ryu Jang-ho’s personality. His face began to darken gradually.

And when he turned his gaze back to Jang Dae-woo, a deep worry was cast on Go Chang-deok’s brow.

“Were we… dating?”

That was Go Chang-deok’s expected answer.

“If it’s Jang-ho I know, I think he would have given that answer in nine out of ten cases…”

“Right? You think so too, Chang-deok-ssi? That’s what we thought too!”

A guy who only knows baseball.

A guy who thinks the world is only made up of pitchers and batters.

If it’s Ryu Jang-ho we know, he would have definitely said something like that and upset his girlfriend.

That was the conclusion reached by the Cannons’ three oldest players.

‘Well, Jang-ho could definitely do that. He’s only good at baseball, and everything else is a disaster…’

As Ji-seop shook his head, recalling Ryu Jang-ho’s past actions, Jang Dae-woo slammed his beer glass down and opened his mouth.

“Chief, so…”

“Yes?”

“I think this is a problem that our senior players need to address.”

Jang was making a fairly determined expression.

Ji-seop raised one eyebrow.

“The senior players need to step in?”

“Yes, we can’t just stand by and watch. Our senior players need to give that baseball-obsessed idiot some clear advice so he understands properly!”

You have to say it first.

You have to say you like her.

If you don’t say it now, you may lose that person forever.

“It’s just that he’s too dull in this area and hasn’t realized it yet… but in the end, Jang-ho likes that woman, doesn’t he?”

“Well, yeah, that’s true.”

If that weren’t the case, there would have been no reason to continue contacting her for nearly 10 years.

“We’ll call Jang-ho in and give him a stern warning. So that he doesn’t make a choice he’ll regret, so that he can recover his original condition as soon as possible and participate in spring camp.”

“That’s very kind of you, but…”

It was at this moment that Ji-seop gave a ‘smirk’.

“It seems like you want something from me?”

“Ah, yes, well… As you know, Chief, it’s hard to have these kinds of conversations sober…”

Jang Dae-woo smiled awkwardly.

“We were wondering if you could get the manager’s permission for us to have a small get-together.”

“Ah, a small get-together?”

“Yes, spring camp is just around the corner, isn’t it? It’s a bit… to have a get-together just among ourselves in this situation.”

“That’s right. I understand. Leave that part to me.”

Ji-seop took out his phone and began dialing Arthur Freeman’s number.