On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 167

It wasn’t a record he personally set, but it was a significant achievement that happened while he was the manager.

Song Seok-hyun’s injury initially made his heart sink, but thankfully, it was just a contusion.

It wasn’t his wrist that was affected, but the area near his forearm. While the pain would be considerable, it wasn’t a major injury.

It wasn’t perfect – it would have been ideal if Song Seok-hyun hadn’t been hurt at all – but wasn’t it still a victory worth celebrating?

“I got a big gift today,” Ham Seong-hoon muttered, sinking into his manager’s office chair, chuckling to himself.

* * *

“Are you really okay?”

“I told you, I am…”

“Look at this. It’s so swollen.”

“I’m fine. Getting hit by a baseball is usually like this. Ah! Ouch, ouch! It hurts when you touch it there!”

“Sorry…”

It was past midnight.

Song Seok-hyun and Kim Na-young sat side by side on a park bench.

Kim Na-young hesitated to even touch Song Seok-hyun’s forearm, unable to take her eyes off it, and nervously tapping her foot.

“It must really hurt…”

“Baseball players usually live with this much discomfort.”

“Really? That baseball mark is so clear.”

“It’ll take at least a month. This kind of bruise will last that long.”

“Wow… that looks so painful.”

“I’m okay. I’m just glad the slider broke as much as it did. If it hadn’t broken enough, it would have hit my wrist directly. Ugh, the ball was coming in so fast.”

Kim Na-young pouted.

“The catcher position seems really tough.”

“Which position isn’t tough? They’re all demanding in their own way.”

“You have to squat and stand up hundreds of times a day.”

“Hey, it’s not that many.”

“Can’t you play a different position other than catcher? You could be a designated hitter [a player who bats in place of the pitcher].”

“It’s not like I’m old enough to be a designated hitter yet… And the designated hitter is usually a position you transition to when you can’t play your original one anymore. I’m the starting catcher, the starting catcher.”

“…I still don’t like it. I really hate seeing you get hurt all the time.”

Song Seok-hyun grabbed Kim Na-young’s cheeks with both hands.

“I like it.”

“What do you like?”

“I like that you’re so worried about me. If you’re going to worry about me like this every day, is getting hurt really such a big deal?”

“I don’t like you getting hurt.”

“You’re so cute.”

Song Seok-hyun kissed Kim Na-young’s cheek.

“Hey, what if someone sees us?”

“They’ll think we’re having a nice time.”

“You’re something else…”

The orange light from the streetlamp bathed Kim Na-young’s cheeks in a warm glow.

“I’m sorry. I’m always making you worry.”

“What…”

“I can’t even take you on proper dates, and I feel bad about it.”

“What are you talking about? This is a date. What else is there to a date?”

“I was originally planning to take you somewhere nice tomorrow, but with my arm like this…”

“It’s okay. Just rest at home tomorrow. Where would you even go when you’re hurt?”

“Instead, should we go on a trip when the season ends?”

“A trip…?”

*Thump!*

Kim Na-young’s face flushed red.

“What kind of trip…?”

“First, should we go to Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Japan?”

“An overseas trip? That means we’d be staying overnight.”

“Yeah. Did you think we were just going for a day trip?”

“Still, that’s… is it already… that… would that be okay…?”

Kim Na-young trailed off, her voice barely audible.

Song Seok-hyun reached out and wrapped his arm around Kim Na-young’s waist, pulling her closer.

“Why are you so shy?”

“What are you doing? People are watching.”

Song Seok-hyun looked into Kim Na-young’s eyes and said,

“Let’s tell our parents when the season ends that we’re seriously dating. Okay?”

“Huh? Uh, uh. Let’s do that.”

“I’m completely drained today. I was so tired.”

“Were you? Were you very tired?”

“I have no energy left.”

“Yeah. Then should we eat something? Are you very tired?”

Song Seok-hyun chuckled.

“You’re even more clueless than me at times like this.”

“Huh?”

Song Seok-hyun hugged Kim Na-young tightly and kissed her.

Kim Na-young’s eyes widened, then she closed them.

After a moment, Song Seok-hyun pulled away.

“I need to recharge, recharge.”

“…Okay.”

“Ugh. You’ve only learned about dating from books. How can you be so clueless? Haha.”

Song Seok-hyun got up.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you home. We should head back now.”

Kim Na-young didn’t move from her seat.

“What are you doing? We should go.”

Kim Na-young looked up at Song Seok-hyun.

“Seok-hyun.”

“Yeah?”

“Then what did you learn about dating from? What did you learn from to know so well?”

Song Seok-hyun’s pupils darted around nervously.

“Huh?”

“You… did you have a girlfriend I didn’t know about?”

“What are you talking about? Hey, you know there’s no such thing. You know there’s no such thing. Haha. You’re joking. What are you doing? It’s cold. It’s cold. Should we go inside quickly?”

“It’s a tropical night. Why would it be cold in the middle of summer?”

“Really? I feel a chill. I’m not feeling well today. Ahem, ahem.”

“Seok-hyun, you’re really not, are you? Tell me honestly. I’m really curious.”

“Hey, I told you, really not. Where would I find the time for a private life that you don’t know about?”

“Right? Right?”

“Of course. Oh, I’m getting a call. Just a moment. I’ll take this. Yes, Manager. This is Song Seok-hyun. Yes, yes. I got home safely.”

Song Seok-hyun smiled reassuringly at Kim Na-young and then moved a few steps away to answer the phone.

“Yes, yes. I’m okay. I’m really okay, Manager. Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow. Yes, yes. I understand. Go in. Ah, Manager… um… thank you. Thank you so much. Yes? Anyway, thank you. I’m always grateful to the Manager. Yes, yes. Go in.”

Song Seok-hyun hung up the phone and smiled at Kim Na-young again.

“Shall we go in now?”

* * *

[No-Hitter Thrown!]

[G.O.A.T. [Greatest Of All Time] on the Rise with Consecutive Wins and No-Hitter]

[Starting Catcher Song Seok-hyun Reveals Injury Isn’t Major]

[Will the G.O.A.T.’s Second-Half Surge Continue?]

It was Monday after the weekend’s three-game series.

Since it was a day off without baseball, the week’s baseball news was compiled and released on Mondays.

With the postseason approaching, fans, both online and offline, alternated between hope and despair depending on the standings. However, the biggest topics of discussion on Monday were three things.

One was Scorpion outfielder Hwang Gi-deok’s cycle hit [hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game].

Another was Han Min-seok’s no-hitter.

The last was Song Seok-hyun’s health.

In front of ×× Restaurant in Yeouido.

Men in white shirts, having finished their meal, left the restaurant in groups of three or five.

“Wow, when Seok-hyun collapsed, I thought I was going to collapse too, clutching the back of my neck.”

“Me too, me too. My heart sank.”

“Honestly, we can’t make the postseason without Seok-hyun. We just can’t, can we?”

“Is that even a question? How are we going to play in the postseason without Song Seok-hyun?”

“After Lee, Choi, and Kang left, I honestly gave up hope on the G.O.A.T. It didn’t make sense. How could we go to the postseason with three starting hitters gone? It’s not like we’re developing our minor league players well. It was completely hopeless, hopeless. Without Seok-hyun, we would have been playing like the Fox and Phoenix [referring to teams with poor performance].”

“That’s terrible.”

“It is terrible.”

“But we have Seok-hyun.”

“…Is it possible for us to make the postseason?”

“Even if he’s not as good as Kim Young-hoon, if it’s Seok-hyun…”

“I just hope we do better than the Wolves, even if it’s just that.”

“Me too. I just hope we beat the Wolves.”

“Ah, I want to watch baseball soon. I don’t know how many years it’s been since I’ve been this eager to watch baseball in the middle of summer.”

“Me too. I want to leave work early.”

“Me too.”

“Me too.”

* * *

Song Seok-hyun’s recovery routine was short and efficient.

He went to an oriental medicine clinic for acupuncture and heat treatment [a traditional Korean therapy using warm compresses], then enjoyed a movie date with Kim Na-young.

Kim Na-young insisted that he should rest, but she couldn’t win against Song Seok-hyun’s stubbornness.

After dinner, he met Han Min-seok.

“Congratulations, Senior. No-hitter. I’m so bummed I didn’t get to see it.”

“Is your arm okay?”

“Yes. How’s your condition, Senior?”

“Oh, I’m okay too. Ha, when you collapsed, I thought it was all a dream.”

“I’m sorry for acting up. It hurt so much in that moment that I thought something was wrong with my bone. Senior’s ball is usually so fast and powerful.”

Han Min-seok laughed.

“Anyway, I’m sorry, Senior.”

“For what?”

“If I hadn’t been taken out of the game, you could have had a perfect game.”

“It’s okay, man. Perfect game or no-hitter, it’s all the same.”

“Still, a perfect game and a no-hitter are different, aren’t they?”

“It’s okay as long as we won. The ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] is the same anyway. You’re fine, I got the win, and the team won, so that’s all that matters. And I also threw a slider because I misread the sign. It’s my fault too.”

“You struck out because of that slider.”

“It’s a relief the ball didn’t go wild. You blocked it well.”

“Still, I should have caught that…”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry too much about what’s past. I’m very satisfied with the no-hitter.”

“I’m grateful if you think so. I was worried about it, thinking I ruined your perfect game.”

“Do you think I’m that petty?”

“No. It’s not that…”

Han Min-seok ruffled Song Seok-hyun’s hair affectionately.

“I’m grateful.”

“Senior?”

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for you, would I have even made it past the second inning, let alone a no-hitter? You guided me well. No, even before that, you choosing me to pitch was the best decision.”

“Ah, actually, I didn’t know you would do so well. You were pitching like you were possessed, ugh.”

“I think I was a little possessed at that time. I don’t know what I was thinking when I threw.”

“I hope that spirit comes often in the future…”

“If I threw like that all the time, I’d have to go to the majors [Major League Baseball in the US].”

“There’s no reason you can’t go. If you throw like that, would the Cy Young [award for best pitcher] be a problem?”

“You’re overpraising me.”

“But Senior, don’t you have a lot of interviews scheduled? No-hitter. Ha, it’s not just sports news, it’s even on the 9 o’clock news, so they must have requested a lot of interviews.”

“A lot. It’s killing me.”

Han Min-seok shook his body exaggeratedly, frowning.

“But is it okay for you to be drinking coffee with me like this? You have to manage your interview schedule.”

“I have to rest on my days off.”

“Still, shouldn’t you enjoy the spotlight at times like this?”

Han Min-seok shook his head.

“I wanted to talk to you and see how you were doing, so it’s a win-win.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, I really wanted to thank you.”

“To me… um…”

Song Seok-hyun blinked, surprised.

“I’ve been acting like a child. I’m sorry. And thank you for leading me like an adult. Please continue to do so. If I act like a child, give me a word of advice like a catcher should.”

“Sigh… me?”

“Yeah, we’re a battery [a pitcher and catcher who work closely together]. Don’t worry about age and do what you think is best. You pushed for it this time and got a no-hitter.”

“That’s just a coincidence.”

“You have to buy a lottery ticket to win. If there wasn’t a friend who told you to buy a lottery ticket, would you have won the lottery?”

“Um… does it work that way?”

“Keep pushing with your own opinions in the future. You’ll be wrong sometimes, and I’ll be wrong sometimes, but let’s coordinate with each other. You don’t have to say yes, yes to everything I say.”

“No.”

“Huh…?”

Song Seok-hyun grinned.

“You said I don’t have to say yes, yes.”