A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 199

51. Isn’t This Too Much? (5)

About two hours later.

Sunshine Kindergarten in Geumjin-dong, Yeongsan City.

Jeong Seon-jeong, the head of this kindergarten, was busy preparing for the ‘Dad’s Participation Class.’

“Oh, you’re here, Hye-jin’s father!”

“Hello, Director.”

She greeted the fathers who came in with slightly awkward expressions.

She also discussed the program with the recreation instructor she had hired for the event.

Snacks for the children, name tags for the fathers, and so on.

Director Jeong Seon-jeong, holding a checklist in her hand, hurried around the kindergarten.

She suddenly stopped about ten minutes before the event was scheduled to begin.

“…Huh?”

It was the 5-year-old class.

While the other children were walking towards the auditorium holding their fathers’ hands, one girl remained in the classroom, quietly drawing.

Surprised, Director Jeong gestured for the teacher sitting next to the child to come over.

“Ms. Ryu, what’s going on?”

Director Jeong lowered her voice.

“Didn’t Miju’s father come yet?”

“Yes, he went on a business trip to Daegu and hasn’t been able to leave yet. It seems he won’t be able to arrive until around dismissal time…”

“Dismissal time?”

Director Jeong’s eyes widened.

“Doesn’t he know what day it is today? Did you properly inform him?”

“Yes, don’t worry too much.”

Ms. Ryu replied.

“Miju’s father’s colleagues have agreed to come as substitutes. I think they’ll be here soon…”

“Company colleagues?”

Director Jeong sighed briefly.

“It sounds good to say company colleagues, but in reality, they’re probably just subordinates.”

A sentiment born from experience.

“How warmly would people who were forced to come treat a child? That’s why I repeatedly emphasized that the father should come in person on days like this…”

“Okay, I understand.”

Director Jeong nodded.

“I’ll take care of Miju. Ms. Ryu, go upstairs now. The class is about to start.”

Just as Ms. Ryu, who had received Director Jeong’s instructions, was about to head towards the auditorium.

“Hello!”

“Good day!”

A loud voice came from the kindergarten entrance.

A slight look of bewilderment crossed Director Jeong’s face as she stretched her neck to look.

“?!!”

There were about six men.

Each of them boasting an enormous physique.

Watching the men fumble around, unsure of where to put their shoes, Director Jeong cautiously asked.

“Who… are you?”

It wasn’t just a question to identify them.

She felt like she had seen those men who entered the kindergarten entrance somewhere before.

The man with thick eyebrows and sharp eyes, the foreigner with a short goatee, and the plump-faced, youthful-looking man.

“I, I mean, perhaps…”

Just as she was about to ask again, sensing something, the men bowed deeply in unison upon spotting Director Jeong.

“Hello, Teacher!!!”

And then, one of them said.

“We are… Miju Go’s uncles!!!”

“Uncles…?”

Director Jeong blinked.

* * *

Instead of Go Chang-deok, the starting players of the Cannons visited Sunshine Kindergarten that day.

Captain Cheon Jin-woo and Ahn Young-chan had to be absent to take care of their own families, but Jimmy Morris slyly joined in instead.

Thus, the ‘final entry’ was created: Ryu Jang-ho, Lee Soo-bin, Kyung Seon-woo, and even Jimmy Morris.

“Hello, Morris!”

“Oh, Miju! Hello, hello! How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you, and you?”

“I’m fine too! Hahaha!!”

Little Go Mi-ju often visited the baseball stadium with her father.

While the child greeted her ‘uncles’ happily, Ji-seop, who had brought them, was explaining the situation to the director.

“I’m sorry, Director.”

Ji-seop bowed his head first.

“I thought it would be difficult to play substitute alone, so I was only going to bring one more person… but suddenly, applicants flocked in.”

“No, you did well. You did really well.”

Director Jeong replied.

“If the father doesn’t come on days like this, the children get very discouraged. And it lasts a long time… Considering that, it’s actually a relief.”

Director Jeong smiled gently.

“Since so many uncles came, I think Miju will be able to take the class bravely.”

“Thank you for saying that. And this is, in case it might bother the other fathers…”

Ji-seop, who had asked the marketing team to get them, put down an armful of team logo balls, uniforms, and children’s T-shirts.

“I hope you can give these to the children. If necessary, our players can sign them.”

“Oh my, if you do that for us, we couldn’t ask for more! Well then, let’s go to the auditorium for now…”

Just as they were about to move to the auditorium where the ‘Dad’s Participation Class’ was being held, Ji-seop heard the players arguing in his ear.

“Wait a minute, senior! Why are you taking the ‘Go Miju’s Father’ name tag? Are you our representative, senior?”

“Hey, Kyung Seon-woo. Who’s the closest to Miju among us? It’s me, right? I even ate pork cutlet with Miju, and *tteokbokki* [spicy rice cakes]! And where was it, recently we even ate *tanghulu* [candied fruit skewers] together in front of the baseball stadium!”

“Enough, put it down. If we’re talking about who’s close to Miju, wouldn’t I be number one?”

“Even Senior Jang-ho is doing this?”

Listening carefully, it seemed that the cause of the dispute was the name tag that read ‘Go Miju’s Father.’

Was it because they wanted to create a kind of ‘couple look’ with Miju? Or was it because they wanted to wear the name tag and feel good since they came all the way here?

Watching the players bickering without backing down, Director Jeong said to Ji-seop.

“First of all… I think we need to make a few more name tags.”

Ji-seop bowed his head slightly.

“…Please, Director.”

* * *

To put it bluntly,

The Cannons players who visited the kindergarten with Ji-seop that day performed their assigned tasks admirably.

Of course, not everything went smoothly from the start.

“Ah, is Dad not coming?”

When she heard that Go Chang-deok would not be participating in the class, the child, who had been smiling brightly, lowered her head with a sullen expression.

No matter how many uncles came, she seemed upset that her father wasn’t coming.

“…”

“…”

Ji-seop, who could read other people’s minds, and Ryu Jang-ho, who hit .300 like it was nothing, couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed at this moment.

But right then,

The Cannons players heard a word from the recreation instructor.

-Now, let’s start the first program of the day! A physical education class with our fathers!

From here,

The atmosphere was reversed.

-Amazing, amazing! Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine… One hundred!!! Miju Go’s uncle has succeeded 100 times!

The first period was physical activity.

Ryu Jang-ho, who stepped up as the representative, overwhelmed the other fathers with his physique.

Holding the child and sitting up and down, holding the child on his back and standing on one foot for a long time, running a three-legged race with the child, and so on.

Ryu Jang-ho achieved first place in every event, giving Miju an armful of paper ‘gold medals.’

“…Why didn’t you just do it moderately?”

“I had to get first place no matter what. It’s Miju who’s receiving the award.”

“Ah, is that so?”

The second period was game activity.

The fathers would go behind a curtain and stick out their palms, soles, or hair ‘peeking’ out, and the children would go and find their fathers.

-Oh dear, what should we do! Jun-soo grabbed the wrong uncle? Hahaha…

While the other children seemed to have a hard time finding their fathers, Miju completed the mission in an instant.

That was probably because the person playing the role of ‘father’ was Jimmy Morris, but kindergarten teachers aren’t the type to nitpick such things.

“Our Miju, you’re really amazing, aren’t you? You found him so quickly?”

“Uncle Morris has yellow hair. That’s why it was easy to find him.”

“Oh my, well done! Really well done!”

In fact, at this point, Ji-seop couldn’t help but be aware of the surroundings.

The fathers who participated in the class that day were sending somewhat resentful glances.

They wanted to boost their own children’s spirits, but Miju was the only one getting attention because of the Cannons players.

‘Hehe, fathers are like that…’

But Ji-seop didn’t need to step in and take any action.

Coincidentally, the third period was cooking time, and Lee Soo-bin was by Ji-seop’s side.

“Ah, Father! Stop, stop!”

The mission given to the fathers that day was ‘making omelet rice with the child.’

Lee Soo-bin, who quickly finished cooking Miju’s portion, began to lend a helping hand to the other fathers around him.

“Ah, that’s right! Carrots should be stir-fried a little more sweetly so that the kids like to eat them, right? Okay, now try it.”

“Oh, that’s right! Wow, our Lee Soo-bin! Your skills are amazing?”

The fathers were completing the omelet rice with the help of Lee Soo-bin.

Thanks to that, they were able to save face in front of their children, so it was only natural that the atmosphere of the entire classroom improved.

“Thank you, Lee Soo-bin! I’ll cheer you on a lot in the future!”

“While we’re on the subject, can I ask for an autograph?”

“Of course! We brought a lot of balls with us anyway!”

The fathers approached Lee Soo-bin and asked for autographs and photos.

The children, who were happy to see those fathers, started to come to Go Miju and chatter.

“Miju, your uncles are really nice! And they’re really good at sports!”

“They must be good at English too, right?”

“Is that uncle really a player? But why is he so fat?”

Miju, who received envious glances from her friends, was already twitching at the corners of her mouth.

Ji-seop, knowing everything, couldn’t help but ask.

“Miju, did you have fun today?”

“Yes, Uncle! It was so much fun!”

Following Ji-seop, Kyung Seon-woo slyly poked his head in.

“Then, does Miju like her dad more, or her uncles more?”

“Hmm…”

I thought the answer would be ‘Still, it’s Dad,’ but the answer that followed was a bit unexpected.

“Right now… uncles!”

Watching Miju, who was shining her eyes, Ji-seop was smiling inwardly.

‘Hehe, Hyung [older brother/friend]… you’re going to have to put in a lot of effort from now on.’

* * *

The ‘Dad’s Participation Class’ held at Sunshine Kindergarten that day.

The entire schedule ended around 6 PM.

“Jang-ho, thanks for your hard work.”

“It’s nothing. It was nice to see Miju’s face after a long time.”

The other players went back first, and Ji-seop and Ryu Jang-ho remained as the ‘standby team.’

When they returned to the 5-year-old class with a can of coffee from the vending machine on the second floor.

“…”

They were able to meet a man who was quietly looking down at Miju, who was fast asleep.

“Hyung [older brother/friend], you’re here?”

“Ah, Ji-seop, Jang-ho.”

Go Chang-deok was sweating profusely on his face, as if he had rushed.

“I just heard from the teacher.”

Go Chang-deok wiped the sweat flowing down.

“I heard you had a hard time? Taking care of our Miju. Oh my, this is really…”

Go Chang-deok, who was considered one of the most ‘eloquent speakers’ among the Cannons employees, couldn’t speak properly at this moment.

He just looked at Ji-seop and Ryu Jang-ho, and his daughter who fell asleep while drawing, and only let out low sighs of ‘Oh my, oh my.’

Ji-seop, who could easily understand what that complicated feeling was.

He smiled faintly and called Go Chang-deok ‘Hyung [older brother/friend].’

“Hmm?”

“There’s another one in November.”

A dad’s participation class.

Ji-seop continued.

“It wasn’t originally planned… but it seems that all the kindergarten teachers have become Jang-ho’s fans. When Jang-ho casually mentioned it, they readily said they would try to promote it.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Seeing Go Chang-deok’s expression brighten up a little, Ji-seop said again.

“So Hyung [older brother/friend], put down your heavy heart… just a little bit.”

“Hmm?”

“When you’re chased by work, things like this can happen, right? It’s not entirely Hyung’s [older brother/friend] fault.”

“…”

“So go home with a lighter heart today. Buy some delicious ice cream with Miju on the way.”

I didn’t give her a lot of snacks on purpose.

I told her to eat with Hyung [older brother/friend] later.

At Ji-seop’s words, Go Chang-deok nodded slowly and smiled.

“Okay, I will.”

“Then we’ll go in first. We have to hurry a bit to take Jang-ho home.”

Just as Ji-seop and Ryu Jang-ho bowed their heads and were about to leave the classroom, Go Chang-deok called out to them.

“Ji-seop! Jang-ho!”

“Yes?”

I thought he would say ‘Thank you’ at this timing.

Or he might say ‘I’m sorry.’

But Go Chang-deok was also a person who made a living in the baseball world.

The greeting to his grateful colleagues was also very baseball-like.

“Mike Pontius… I’ve really analyzed that guy perfectly!”

He clenched his fist tightly.

“Let’s just completely rip him apart! That arrogant American bastard.”

“Yes, let’s rip him apart together!”

Ji-seop also clenched his fist.

“So that he can’t even utter the words ‘reverse victory’ or anything like that!”