On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 184

Kim In-hwan nodded instead of speaking.

“Wow… hyung [older brother or male friend], you finally did it. What happened?”

“I found out her phone number first and sent her a text. That’s all.”

“You said you didn’t have a girlfriend last time. Was that a fake-out?”

“No. I really didn’t have one then.”

“Then you must have started dating recently.”

“It hasn’t even been a week.”

“A week… daebak [amazing/awesome]. Hyung, you’re a real go-getter.”

Kim In-hwan poked Song Seok-hyun in the side.

“What about you? You said you didn’t have anyone? I could tell at the hospital that you two were in that kind of relationship.”

“No, we were just friends then.”

“Friends, my foot. The atmosphere was telling. I’ll keep it a secret, so you keep it a secret too. Okay?”

“Okay. Mutual benefit. But, hyung.”

“What?”

“Really, how did you start dating?”

Kim In-hwan scratched his sideburns.

“I don’t know either. Things just lined up, and I asked her for a cup of coffee, and somehow it worked out.”

“You got Han Ga-yeon… Hyung, you’re going to get a lot of hate.”

“I can’t believe it myself. It just suddenly worked out like this.”

“Anyway, congratulations.”

“Yeah, thanks. You have fun too.”

“Hyung, have a good date.”

Kim In-hwan returned to Han Ga-yeon, and she linked arms with him.

She stuck close to Kim In-hwan and left the movie theater.

Kim Na-young, who had been watching from afar, approached Song Seok-hyun and asked,

“What’s going on?”

“Well, we each shared a secret.”

“That’s Kim In-hwan, right?”

“Yeah. It’s In-hwan hyung and In-hwan hyung’s girlfriend.”

“I took a peek, and… it looked like Han Ga-yeon, wasn’t it?”

Song Seok-hyun shrugged.

“I can’t lie. It’s her. But we agreed to keep it a secret, so don’t tell anyone.”

“Who would I tell? But if it’s Han Ga-yeon, isn’t she a famous announcer? I heard she’s one of the few full-time sports announcers.”

“That’s right. She doesn’t get much media exposure like other announcers, but she’s incredibly popular. She’s even more famous as an ‘iron wall woman’ among baseball players. That’s why it’s so surprising, how In-hwan hyung… that hyung is even more of a clueless guy than me.”

“Did you like Han Ga-yeon too?”

Song Seok-hyun shook his head.

“No. I already had someone. My future wife, who is younger, prettier, and smarter than Han Ga-yeon.”

The corners of Kim Na-young’s lips twitched.

Song Seok-hyun wrapped his arm around Kim Na-young’s waist.

“Let’s go for now. I have to go in after dinner tonight. I don’t have much time. It’ll be tight to take you home.”

“You don’t have to take me home. I can go alone.”

“I don’t want to let you go alone. Let’s go, quickly.”

The two finished their meal at the restaurant and returned home.

After seeing Kim Na-young off, Song Seok-hyun headed back to Jamsil.

Originally, the rule was to go straight to the away game city after the game, but Manager Ham Seong-hoon allowed them to spend Monday with their families.

Thanks to that, on Tuesdays when there was an away game, the team gathered in Jamsil late Monday evening and traveled together.

“Yo, did you have fun?”

“What did you do? What were you up to?”

“You guys didn’t do anything sneaky, did you?”

As the players joked and chuckled with each other, Kim In-hwan also appeared.

Kim In-hwan made eye contact with Song Seok-hyun and winked.

Song Seok-hyun nodded once.

“Alright, alright, get on. Let’s get on quickly. Today, don’t worry about infielders or pitchers, just sit wherever you’re comfortable.”

“Yes, sir!”

The bus carrying the players headed to Daejeon.

A showdown with the Phoenix after a winning series.

The players chatted instead of sleeping.

Just as the bus was about to enter the Daejeon tollgate, Kim In-hwan suddenly jumped up.

“You scared me. What’s wrong?”

Despite Yoo Seon-ho’s question, Kim In-hwan was restless.

“What’s wrong, man?”

“Ah, no. I, uh, driver! I suddenly have a really bad stomachache, so could you stop here?”

“We’re almost at the hotel. It’s less than 10 minutes away.”

“It’s really urgent.”

The bus stopped briefly, and Kim In-hwan hurried off.

“I wonder if that guy ate something wrong?”

“Maybe he has an upset stomach.”

When the bus arrived at the accommodation, the players packed their bags and entered the hotel.

It was still a bit early to sleep, so the players gathered to watch TV or chat.

The youngest, Hong Dae-sung, suddenly went, “Whoa,” and held out his phone.

“In-hwan hyung has an article out.”

“An article?”

At the word “article,” the players were surprised and grabbed their phones.

The article was about dating rumors.

“…What is this? Is this a mistake?”

“Han Ga-yeon? Han Ga-yeon?”

“Something must be wrong. The article must be wrong.”

“Call In-hwan, quickly.”

Dating rumors between Kim In-hwan and Han Ga-yeon.

The content was that the dating rumors spread instantly because Han Ga-yeon accidentally checked her SNS private photos as public.

“Hyung isn’t answering.”

“Ah, that punk. So that’s why he got off the bus earlier.”

“But is this real? What does Han Ga-yeon lack that she’s dating In-hwan hyung? I heard she turned down even seniors who hit the FA [Free Agent] jackpot.”

“Han Ga-yeon’s family is loaded, and her own specs are amazing, so she doesn’t lack anything.”

Yoo Seon-ho clicked his tongue while searching on his phone.

“Look at this, look at this. Can you see this? ‘Released photos.'”

The photo Yoo Seon-ho showed was a couple photo of Kim In-hwan and Han Ga-yeon.

Han Ga-yeon was sticking close to Kim In-hwan, kissing him on the cheek.

There were many other photos, most of which showed Han Ga-yeon sticking close to Kim In-hwan and looking happy.

“……”

“…What is it? What kind of charm does he have?”

“The Han Ga-yeon… wow…”

The players burst into disbelieving laughter.

Song Seok-hyun nodded silently.

“Is In-hwan still not answering?”

“It seems like he turned off his phone?”

“He’s fast. Is this guy not coming to the accommodation today?”

Yoo Seon-ho got up from his seat.

“Anyone want to go for a drink?”

“……”

“No one?”

Kim Jeong-ryul stroked Yoo Seon-ho’s back.

“Hyung, let’s go to the sauna. Let’s sweat it out and get a good night’s sleep.”

“…Ha, I’m going crazy. I’m going even crazier because I don’t understand. How can he be dating someone like Han Ga-yeon in one shot when I’m not even close?”

“In-hwan must have his own charm. You’re doing well too, hyung.”

“If I was doing well, would I be like this?”

“…You’ll do well.”

“Hoo, I’m going to retire as an old bachelor at this rate. Other people have their wives and children congratulating them at their retirement ceremony, but I’m going to end up doing it alone.”

“I’ll definitely introduce you to some nice girls if I find any, hyung. Fighting.”

“Ha.”

“Let’s go to the sauna, you guys. Let’s sweat it out and get a good night’s sleep. How about it?”

Under Kim Jeong-ryul’s lead, the players headed to the hotel sauna, but it didn’t go as planned.

It happened to be under construction.

Some of the players returned to their rooms, and the rest headed to another sauna nearby.

Splash.

The players showered and entered the hot tub.

Kim Jeong-ryul and Yoo Seon-ho headed to the sauna room.

Creak.

When they opened the door, the person inside the sauna looked at Kim Jeong-ryul and Yoo Seon-ho.

As the steam cleared, Kim Jeong-ryul and Yoo Seon-ho also looked at the person inside the sauna.

“You…!”

“Hey, you punk.”

The person inside the sauna was Kim In-hwan.

When Kim In-hwan recognized them, he stood up in a flustered manner.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh. Well…”

Then Kim Jeong-ryul and Yoo Seon-ho’s eyes gradually moved down from Kim In-hwan’s face.

Yoo Seon-ho lowered his head further to look at himself, then looked back at Kim In-hwan.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Kim Jeong-ryul said to Kim In-hwan.

“Don’t overdo it and come back later. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Kim Jeong-ryul scanned Kim In-hwan’s body once more.

“…I knew it.”

“Yes?”

Kim Jeong-ryul closed the door to the sauna room.

“……”

Yoo Seon-ho stood blankly without saying a word.

Kim Jeong-ryul patted Yoo Seon-ho’s back.

“Everyone has their own charm.”

“What? Who said anything?”

“Hyung, he’s like that because he’s in the sauna. You just came from the cold tub.”

“Whatever. You were in the hot tub, and that’s the best you could do?”

“What are you talking about? I’m the solid type.”

“I’m solid on the inside too, you punk.”

The two looked at each other and left the sauna.

Kim In-hwan sat there, not knowing what was going on.

“Hoo, now I understand Seok-hyun’s feelings. Aish, my head.”

Rising to prominence as a catcher

Home Run King Kim In-hwan

Early dawn.

There was a man walking stealthily down the hallway of the hotel.

The man looked around and entered a room.

“Hoo.”

The person who entered the room was Kim In-hwan.

Kim In-hwan peeked his head into the room.

“Hyung, I can hear everything. Just come in.”

“…Weren’t you asleep?”

“I was just about to go to sleep, but you happened to come.”

“…I see. Sorry.”

Song Seok-hyun got up.

“You could have just come in, why are you filming a spy movie?”

“It’s obvious. How much would they nag me?”

“What’s there to nag about? They’ll congratulate you later.”

“Congratulations are congratulations, hoo. If I get chewed out, I won’t have anything to say, nothing to say.”

“Just come and sleep quickly. Either way, won’t you get chewed out tomorrow?”

“That’s true… tsk.”

Kim In-hwan threw himself onto the bed.

“I sweated so much that all my energy is gone. Do you know how long I was in the sauna today?”

“You took refuge in the sauna?”

“I had to go somewhere where there weren’t people, so I had no choice. But, wow… I ran into Jeong-ryul hyung and Seon-ho sunbae [senior] there, you know?”

“Why were those two there?”

“I don’t know. Did I have the mind to ask them that? While I was stuttering, the two of them just left. It’s a relief, I guess.”

Song Seok-hyun lay back down on the bed.

“Hyung, I have a lot of questions too, but I’m holding back. Tell me the story when I wake up tomorrow.”

“What story is there to tell? It hasn’t been that long since we started dating.”

“That’s even weirder. How can it be that it hasn’t even been a week since you started dating? Hyung, and you said you got rejected once.”

“She said she blocked all contacts coming through SNS [Social Networking Service] at that time, so she didn’t know.”

“…She’s older?”

“Yeah, she’s two years older.”

“Ah. Anyway, so that’s it after you texted her?”

“I sent her a text just in case, but she suddenly asked to meet up.”

“What did you say that she contacted you right away to meet up?”