A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 415

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 415

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 415

91 Taking the First Step (3)

A few days later, Ji-seop was visiting a hotel in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

It was to attend the wedding of Ryu Jang-ho, once a celebrated hitter for the KH Cannons, and now a key hitter for the Boston Red Sox.

“Wow…….”

As he entered the wedding hall on the second floor of the hotel, Ji-seop couldn’t help but exclaim.

Of course, the dazzling interior played a part, but it was the wedding guests that truly impressed him.

‘That’s the owner of the Boston team over there, and next to him is the president of baseball operations for Toronto… Wow, isn’t that Ortiz in the back? The Hall of Famer?’

Major League superstars’ weddings are like a ‘second Winter Meeting’ for baseball executives.

As his Tampa Bay teammates had told him, prominent figures in the industry were at the wedding.

“It’s only natural. Ryu Jang-ho is expected to lead the Boston lineup for the next 10 years,” John Llama said.

Ji-seop nodded in agreement.

“Let’s see, we should greet the groom first, right? I think we can go this way… Hmm?!”

As the son of the team owner, John Llama was more familiar with these events than Ji-seop.

He confidently guided Ji-seop, but his confidence quickly faded.

Ryu Jang-ho, the man of the hour, was already surrounded by a large group of people.

“Hey, Ryu!!! Congratulations, really congratulations! I can’t believe this day has come! Oh, thank you, God!”

“Hey, hurry up and say thank you! I flew for over 10 hours to get to this wedding today!”

“Hmph, only 10 hours? I traveled for over 20 hours! Well, it was on a motorcycle, though. Hahaha!”

The Boston Red Sox starting members were surrounding Ryu Jang-ho, offering their congratulations.

In Korea, it’s common to greet the groom briefly and step aside, but the culture was different in the United States.

They were gathered around Ryu Jang-ho, having a lively time.

With Major League superstars gathered in one place, the area was crowded with people trying to catch a glimpse and reporters looking for a story.

“……Let’s do it later.”

Ji-seop wasn’t fond of crowded situations.

“The manager and general manager will handle things when they arrive anyway. Let’s just sneak in and say hello then.”

“Ah, should we do that?”

John Llama didn’t feel confident enough to push through the crowd either, so he smiled wryly and took a step back.

But right then, Ji-seop heard a very familiar voice.

“Oh, Dreamcatcher08! Thank you for the $100 donation! Yes, as you said, this is for Ryu’s wedding gift… Uh?!!”

The person was backpedaling with a long selfie stick and bumped into John Llama.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Are you okay? My head is a bit hard, so the impact must have been quite something…….”

“No, it’s okay! It wasn’t that hard of a hit.”

“I’m really sorry! I was focusing on the broadcast screen… Huh?!”

The man, who had been looking at the back of John Llama’s head, suddenly turned and his eyes widened.

“No way, Kim?! It’s Kim, isn’t it?”

A faint smile appeared on Ji-seop’s face as he met the man’s gaze.

“Long time no see, Jimmy.”

It was Jimmy Morris.

He had led the KH Cannons to their first championship with Ji-seop and was now a starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.

He seemed to have attended the wedding because of his connection with Ryu Jang-ho in Korea.

He was carrying the internet broadcasting equipment that he had been carrying around since his Cannons days.

“Everyone, just a moment! I’ve met someone very important right now… 5 minutes! I’ll be back in 5 minutes!”

After giving a brief announcement to his fans, Jimmy Morris grabbed Ji-seop’s shoulders with both arms.

“Kim!! I knew you’d be here! It’s Jang-ho’s wedding, you couldn’t miss it!”

“……Are you still doing internet broadcasts even here? Is that okay?”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! I’m doing it with permission from Boston! I’m a popular streamer with over 100,000 subscribers…….”

He took out his phone to show Ji-seop something, but then tilted his head.

“Wait, what’s this then?”

“Why?”

“Well, I interviewed Jang-ho about 5 minutes ago… and he was complaining a lot. He said you were probably too busy to come.”

Jimmy Morris pointed at Ji-seop.

“But… you’re here, aren’t you? Why was he so worried when you’re clearly here?”

“Ah, I just arrived.”

No matter how busy he was, he couldn’t miss Ryu Jang-ho’s wedding.

Ji-seop chuckled and continued.

“I couldn’t attend the bachelor party or anything because of a meeting…….”

“Oh, really? Then have you said hello?”

“Not yet.”

Ji-seop pointed to Ryu Jang-ho’s surroundings, which were still crowded.

“Jang-ho seems busy too… I was thinking of going to say hello when there are fewer people around.”

“Hey, you can’t do that! Who is the groom waiting for the most?!!”

At that moment, Jimmy Morris cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly.

“Hey, groom over there!!!”

People’s attention was drawn to the booming voice, but the broadcasting pitcher didn’t seem to care.

Instead, he shouted even louder at the man of the hour.

“Your brother is here!!!”

“……Brother?”

The Boston Red Sox’s star hitter blinked and turned his head.

“!!!”

Ryu Jang-ho’s face lit up with joy.

* * *

“This way, brother.”

“Ah, okay, okay.”

About 5 minutes later.

Ji-seop was entering a reception room set aside in the corner of the wedding hall.

It was at Ryu Jang-ho’s suggestion, as it was impossible to have a conversation in the crowded lobby.

“Hehe, you’re going through a lot.”

When the hotel staff who had prepared refreshments left the room, Ji-seop tapped Ryu Jang-ho on the shoulder and said.

“Two weddings in a month… Ugh, I don’t think I could do that even if you paid me.”

That was true.

Ryu Jang-ho and his wife were having their second wedding.

Once last month in Korea, and again today in Boston, USA.

It was unavoidable for Ryu Jang-ho, who was active in both Korea and the United States.

“No, it’s nothing. What’s hard for me? I’m used to going back and forth between Korea and the United States…….”

“The hard part is… your wife’s side?”

Ryu Jang-ho scratched the back of his head with a bashful smile at Ji-seop’s playful remark.

He handed Ji-seop a cup of tea that the hotel staff had brought.

“Thank you, brother.”

Ryu Jang-ho had a serious expression.

“I think I was able to have a day like today thanks to you, brother. I really wanted to say that.”

“Hehe, you’re getting married? You’ve suddenly become mature?”

Ji-seop smiled gently.

“Did you say that to Chang-deok hyung [older brother/friend] in Korea too? I feel a little bad hearing these words alone…….”

Ji-seop was recalling that day when he stayed up all night at the Cannons’ minor league spring camp.

Ryu Jang-ho, who was in a terrible slump, and Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok, who had entered the industry as minor league training assistants.

Ji-seop thought Ryu Jang-ho was referring to that incident, but his intention seemed to be somewhere else.

“Yes, I greeted Chang-deok hyung. Of course, I had to greet him. But…….”

“But what?”

“Shouldn’t I also thank you for something else?”

“Something else? Ah?!!”

A wry smile appeared on Ji-seop’s face.

“Are you talking about that time? When you and your wife… no, when you were about to break up with your girlfriend back then?”

“Yes.”

It was when Ji-seop was about to start his second season with the Cannons.

At the time, Ryu Jang-ho was on the verge of breaking up with his girlfriend, whom he had been dating since childhood.

“Right, that happened too. You almost didn’t make it to the major league spring camp because of that… right?”

“Yes, if you hadn’t pushed me to contact her back then… we wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“Ugh, you have a good memory. How do you keep all those details in your head?”

“I have to remember. There are so many other things I’m grateful to you for.”

Ryu Jang-ho had been talking with a bright expression until this point.

It was when Ji-seop was finishing his cup of tea that he suddenly made a serious expression.

“So, brother.”

“Hmm?”

Ji-seop put down his cup.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you first, before anyone else knows…….”

“To me?”

“Yes, of course my parents already know, and it will be something that can’t be hidden in a few months, but still, the feeling changes depending on the timing.”

He was different from the Ryu Jang-ho he usually saw.

He didn’t talk much, but he rarely seemed this shy.

Ji-seop couldn’t help but tilt his head, but-

“Your parents already know, and everyone will know in a few months? No, it’s not like you’re doing a riddle… Uh uh uh?!!!”

The next moment, Ji-seop let out the loudest voice he’d made in the last 10 years.

“Hey, Ryu Jang-ho!!! You mean…….”

“Yes, brother.”

Ryu Jang-ho smiled awkwardly.

“Around the end of next season… I think I’m going to be a dad.”

Ji-seop felt like he finally understood why Ryu Jang-ho had prepared a separate, quiet reception room.

Why he had brought Ji-seop all the way here, even though he said it was okay.

* * *

“Kim, did something good happen?”

When Ji-seop left Ryu Jang-ho and entered the main hall where the wedding ceremony was being held, John Llama asked him.

“Yeah? Your facial expression is completely different from before?”

Jimmy Morris, who was sitting next to him, also gave him a suspicious look.

“What is it? Did Jang-ho tell you some secret story that he didn’t tell anyone else?”

“No, no secret story! It’s just a good day.”

It was a good day.

Really good day.

It was such a good day that he wondered if there had ever been a day that made him this happy.

‘Haha, I can’t believe I’m seeing this. That guy is going to be a dad.’

Ryu Jang-ho was like a brother to him. He was overjoyed that he was getting married and having a child.

But was this also a kind of occupational hazard? When he thought that Ryu Jang-ho was a key hitter for a rival team, he felt a slight chill.

‘Ryu Jang-ho is going to be a really scary hitter next season.’

Getting married and having a wife, and now having a child, he would feel a tremendous sense of responsibility.

And Ryu Jang-ho was the type who became stronger as the responsibility placed on him became heavier.

‘This… won’t be easy.’

Of course, the goal of the future strategy planning department for next season was to attract a lot of spectators, especially away spectators.

But all of those strategies were possible under the assumption that the Tampa Bay Rays would show a certain level of performance.

Ji-seop felt like his head was in a tangle for a moment, but he calmed himself down with a short sigh.

‘Yeah, it’s just going to make my head more complicated if I think about everything at once. You just have to do things one by one.’

Ji-seop continued to think as he watched the emcee come up onto the stage.

‘Today, I’ll focus on congratulating Jang-ho, and as soon as I get back, I’ll try to recruit some suitable minor league coaches.’

He had heard that the Double-A team was in the process of setting up its coaching staff.

If he was lucky, he might be able to put someone in place who shared his philosophy.

‘Minor league coach? Was there anyone suitable…….’

Just as he was lost in thought, John Llama spoke to Ji-seop.

“It looks like the ceremony is about to start…….”

John Llama pointed to an empty seat.

“It seems like the person who is supposed to be sitting in this seat hasn’t arrived yet?”

“Hmm?”

Ji-seop turned his head.

As John Llama said, one seat at the round table was still empty.

“Hey, Jimmy! Who’s supposed to be sitting in this seat? Have you heard anything?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea.”

Jimmy Morris scratched his head.

“But I think it would be someone that either Kim or I know…….”

He said that’s how they do it at more formal weddings in the United States.

Instead of everyone rushing in and sitting wherever they want, like in Korea, the bride and groom assign seats to the guests in advance.

The basic idea is to arrange for people who know each other and can have a conversation to sit together.

“Hey, Kim! What should we do? Should I go out and ask who the owner of this seat is?”

Jimmy Morris asked, but Ji-seop shook his head lightly.

“No, it looks like the ceremony is about to start. Rather than moving around unnecessarily, let’s just wait… Huh?”

And,

It was at that moment.

“Sorry! I’m sorry!”

Inside the wedding hall, where the main lights were turned off and the ceremony was about to begin in earnest.

A very large man was constantly bowing and wandering around.

“Ah, really? The seats are assigned? Then my seat is… Oh, thank you! Very thank you!”

After thanking the staff with his clumsy English, the man approached his seat.

“Whew!”

The man, who was sitting next to Ji-seop, in the empty seat, wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a long sigh.

“Damn, Americans are so strict? They could just tell me to sit in an empty seat…….”

The man, who seemed to have rushed over, was fanning himself while unbuttoning one of his shirt buttons.

“!!!”

The moment he saw the man, Ji-seop’s eyes widened with joy and surprise.

“……Senior?”

“Hmm?!”

The man, who turned his head to look at Ji-seop, was also startled and covered his mouth.

“Ji-seop-ah!! No way, even Jimmy is here?!!”

The man grabbed Ji-seop and Jimmy Morris’s hands tightly and started shaking them.

“Wow, what’s going on? Huh? How are we all meeting here!”

The man who had once created the KH Cannons’ first championship with Ji-seop.

The captain who had remained with the Cannons and led the juniors even after Ji-seop left.

And now, the very person who had retired from active duty and was looking for a new path.

It was a reunion with ‘the heart of the Cannons’, catcher Cheon Jin-woo.