On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 269

“That’s that. Hooo……”

Kim Young-hoon gave a bitter smile.

“I’m only telling you this, well, actually, everyone in our team who needs to know already does. Ahem.”

Kim Young-hoon lowered his voice.

“I’m retiring at the end of this season.”

“……Pardon?”

“Keep your voice down.”

“Ah, yes, yes. Retirement? You, Sunbae [senior/mentor]?”

There is only one pitcher in the league with an ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] in the 1.00s.

Kim Jung-ryul, the closer of the Goats.

Similarly, there is only one pitcher in the league with an ERA in the 0.00s.

Kim Young-hoon of the Phoenix.

An impregnable fortress.

A pitcher whom batters don’t even dare to think about touching.

If the managers, general managers, and players of the seven teams excluding the Phoenix had a wish, it would be for Kim Young-hoon to disappear from the league as soon as possible.

“The pain is getting worse and worse. If I keep pitching here, they say I might have pain even in my daily life, so what can I do? Originally, even coming back this season was greedy. But I wanted to finish properly.”

“Ah……”

Song Seok-hyun said nothing.

Kim Young-hoon’s retirement.

It was a topic that would cause quite a stir in the media.

“I think I did well to come back. This season is really fun. I played in the Olympics, and I even played a full season this time. Looking at our team’s condition, it seems difficult to make it to the postseason, so it’s a shame I won’t be able to play in it, but I got to meet a guy like you, so it’s all good.”

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“Moderately. No, quite a bit.”

“……”

Song Seok-hyun hesitated for a long time before asking.

“But isn’t this a secret? Why are you telling me……?”

“It’s still confidential. Originally, I was going to announce it after the season ended…… I guess my mouth is just itching. The Olympics are over, and the season is almost over, so there’s no need to keep it a secret.”

“Yes……”

Song Seok-hyun puffed out his cheeks.

“It’s such a shame. Sunbae, you’re someone who sets new records in the league every time you play.”

“I debuted too late, and I pushed myself too hard from the first season. I think it’s just my destiny.”

“Yes……”

“So, Seok-hyun.”

“Yes.”

“Do your best. Now that I’m retiring, your and my career records will never change. Do you know what I mean?”

At that moment, Song Seok-hyun’s phone rang.

Kim Young-hoon nodded for him to answer it, and Song Seok-hyun left the room while answering the phone.

“Yeah, Na-young. What’s up?”

As the door closed, Kim Young-hoon opened his phone with a stiff expression.

“……In the end, I didn’t get a call.”

Rising High as a Catcher

A Lonely Autumn

The national baseball team, which won the gold medal, received a warm welcome at the airport.

Originally, a boisterous disbandment ceremony was planned, but the plan changed when a Wolves player’s drunk driving incident occurred.

“Okay, everyone, you’ve worked hard.”

“You’ve worked hard!”

The players, coaches, and staff greeted each other and then scattered with their waiting families.

Some had their parents come, some had their girlfriends come, and some had their wives and children come.

The players who didn’t belong to any of these groups were with their teammates.

“Sunbae, I’ll head out first then.”

“Sunbae, thank you for your hard work.”

Before parting, Song Seok-hyun greeted Kim Young-hoon along with Kim In-hwan.

Since Song Seok-hyun was the only one who knew that Kim Young-hoon was retiring, Song Seok-hyun’s greeting was quite long.

“Okay. Go on. It looks like your wife is waiting over there.”

“Yes…… Please get home safely.”

“Okay, okay. You both worked hard.”

“Have a good one!”

Kim In-hwan and Song Seok-hyun hurried towards their waiting wives.

Kim Young-hoon set down his carrier and smiled bitterly.

“Those guys. Their wives are pretty too. And their kids are cute. Hoo.”

Kim Young-hoon watched the reunion of the two families for a long time before bowing his head.

As he was about to pull his carrier and go another way, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Kim Young-hoon, if you’re not busy, can you take a picture with me?”

A long-haired woman wearing sunglasses looked up at Kim Young-hoon.

“What? Why are you here?”

It was Kim Si-yoon, the Phoenix’s general manager, who greeted Kim Young-hoon.

“Why else? I came to comfort a lonely single person.”

* * *

The car carrying Kim Young-hoon and Kim Si-yoon headed to Seoul, not Daejeon.

“Instead of going straight to Daejeon, why?”

“You won a gold medal and worked hard, so you should eat something delicious here.”

“What delicious thing? Meat is enough.”

“I’ll buy it for you. I’ve already made a reservation.”

“It’s not like I don’t have money. I just want to rest.”

The two were silent for a long time after that.

Kim Si-yoon turned on the radio and opened the window a little.

“Why are you opening the window when it’s cold?”

“I was getting a little sleepy. Why? Are you too cold? Should I close it?”

“No, it’s okay. It’s better to be cold than to risk drowsy driving.”

“I came all the way to pick you up, and that’s how you talk.”

Kim Young-hoon crossed his arms and puffed out air.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Good thing you know. I’m a precious person too. You know that, right?”

“Yes, yes. Who doesn’t know?”

“Do you know how busy my phone is? I still came all the way here to see you.”

“Yeah. Thanks, thank you.”

“Ugh. Really. How did you get so twisted?”

“What’s twisted? Don’t make me out to be a bad person.”

Kim Si-yoon opened the window a little more.

The sound of the wind almost drowned out their conversation.

“But Young-hoon.”

“Why.”

“How long were you going to keep it a secret?”

“What.”

“Hye-rin.”

Kim Young-hoon turned his head towards the car window.

“What about her.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Shouldn’t I know by now? I’m closer to Hye-rin than anyone else.”

“So what.”

“So what? What happened to you two? Haven’t you waited long enough to tell me?”

Kim Young-hoon reclined his seat further back.

“Don’t want to talk about it?”

“……I’m sleepy. Wake me up when we get there.”

As Kim Young-hoon closed his eyes, Kim Si-yoon sighed.

* * *

“I was going to tell you after the season ended.”

Kim Young-hoon and Kim Si-yoon finished their meal and went to a bar for a second round.

Kim Young-hoon, who emptied a bottle of soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] like water, touched his forehead.

“How much do you know?”

“That you two are not separated, but divorced.”

“……Then you know everything.”

“That’s all. Hye-rin didn’t say anything more. And we don’t contact each other often after that. Well, Hye-rin doesn’t, anyway.”

“Then that’s enough. What more do you need to know?”

“Two people who were so in love broke up, so how can you say I don’t need to know?”

“Hooo.”

Kim Young-hoon ordered another bottle of soju and put both hands in his pockets.

“Okay. Well, if I talk about it for too long, it’ll become a melodrama, so I’ll keep it short.”

“Why did you two break up?”

“Hye-rin had a miscarriage.”

“What?”

Kim Si-yoon blinked in surprise.

“I’ve never heard anything about pregnancy or miscarriage from Hye-rin.”

“……Anyway. We blamed each other, and our hearts drifted apart. I was going to come back to Korea and start over, but Hye-rin decided to stay in the States. That’s the end.”

“Hey. You have to tell me how that happened.”

Kim Young-hoon scratched his cheek.

“Do you need all the details? Just take it as it is.”

“That’s the most important thing. Why did you start blaming each other?”

“Oh, geez. This is so tiring.”

Kim Young-hoon pushed his cheek with his tongue.

“When I was doing rehab in the States, Hye-rin was bored to death.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So she learned English and acting there. Then she got pregnant? I was so happy. But Hye-rin’s reaction was a bit off. Not happy, not unhappy. We were a bit off from then on.”

“Hye-rin didn’t like it?”

“It’s not that either. It was more like…… she didn’t know how she felt. Anyway. I was thinking of doing rehab in Korea since we had a baby, but she wanted to stay in the States longer. So I said okay. I thought it wouldn’t be bad to stay in the States for a while since it was still early in the pregnancy and we had to be careful. But Hye-rin kept going out. At first, she said she was taking acting lessons, then she was going to some meeting, visiting a close friend……”

“So?”

“It was less than a week after we went to the OB-GYN. Hye-rin called me late at night. She said she had a fender bender. It wasn’t a big accident. The car bumper was dented, but no one was hurt at all…… But just in case, we went to the OB-GYN, and they said it was a miscarriage?”

Kim Young-hoon downed a shot of soju.

“……”

“I was dumbfounded and angry. But she must have been the most upset. I tried to comfort her, but Hye-rin got angry at me instead. She said it was all my fault. That she came to the States because of me, that she was stressed because of me, and that’s how it happened.”

“Hye-rin said that?”

“She said it wasn’t because of the car accident, but all my fault.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“The doctor said they couldn’t tell if the miscarriage was caused by the car accident or something else. They said miscarriages often happen in early pregnancy. I’m human too. I was suddenly being blamed, so I was dumbfounded. I was also angry and sad, but I couldn’t say anything to her, so what could I do? I just bottled it up, but Hye-rin kept picking fights with me. Asking if I wasn’t sorry to her since it was my fault.”

“Hye-rin really said that? Really?”

“Ask her then. You can ask Hye-rin. I’m only telling you because you asked.”

“……”

“I didn’t want to hurt each other anymore with those truth battles. I asked her if she wanted to break up with me, and she didn’t say no. So I came to Korea and got the papers stamped, and I gave Hye-rin a fair share of the property. After the divorce settlement was over, Hye-rin went back to the States. That’s the end.”

“……What on earth happened to you two?”

“That’s all. I wish there was some kind of incident, but that’s all there is, really.”

Kim Si-yoon shook her head.

“You both had something like that happen and didn’t say anything?”

“It’s a matter between husband and wife. No matter how close you are, I can’t reveal everything.”

“……Still, I don’t think it should end like this.”

“What do you mean it shouldn’t? That’s the end, really. I haven’t contacted Hye-rin in a long time since then.”

“I can’t believe it. That you two ended like that.”

“Why are you making a fuss when the people involved say it’s over? Geez.”

“But, you two-.”

“Enough. Let’s drink.”

Kim Young-hoon poured a drink into Kim Si-yoon’s glass.

“Originally, I had to do rehab for longer. But I was so mentally exhausted that I needed something to focus on, so I came back this season. Thanks to that, my arm hurts every day, but what can I do? Everything comes with a price.”

Kim Young-hoon poured soju into a water glass instead of a soju glass.

“So I’m telling you in advance, there’s no going back on my retirement. Don’t try to stop me. You can’t deny that you came here today with the purpose of stopping me from retiring, right?”

“……”

“I really don’t have any pain-free spots on my shoulder or elbow. I don’t want anything more. I’m retiring. I came back to show Hye-rin that I’m doing well, but seeing as I haven’t heard from her, it’s completely over. Now I can leave without any regrets. I’ve done everything I wanted to do, including winning an Olympic gold medal.”

“Haa. Okay. What more can I say to you.”

“Well~ I am worried about what will happen to our team next year without me, but I guess that’s something our general manager should worry about, not me.”

Kim Si-yoon covered her face with both hands.

“……You’re right, I actually met you today to try to catch you. Although hearing about you and Hye-rin was the first thing.”

“At least one thing was successful.”

“……Yeah. The general manager has to bear the burden. It’s not something you should worry about.”

“I’m too busy with my own life. Let’s stop talking about the baseball team here.”

“Okay.”

The two clinked glasses.

“Then, Kim Young-hoon.”

“Why.”

“Never mind. It’s nothing.”

“What, what. Tell me.”

“What are you going to do next year? Do you have anything prepared?”

“No, nothing like that. Oh, I’m telling you in advance. Don’t even think about making me a coach or anything like that. I don’t want to go back and forth to coach training.”

“Someone like you doesn’t even need training-.”

“Enough. I don’t want to live as a coach while serving players older than me. It’s called a coach, but is a coach really a coach these days? Whether it’s the manager or the coach, the players are the boss these days. I don’t want to live a tiring life anymore. I want to live comfortably now. Com~fortably.”