On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 35

“A reporter?”

The manager rubbed his eyes.

“Why did they even call reporters? Trying to get some media attention? So what?”

“We thought it would be good to project a positive image in several ways.”

“It’s just a minor league game, not even the majors. What, do they think we’re going to cheat or something? Is that what they think of us?”

“No, no. Absolutely not. It’s just that since reporters are coming, wouldn’t it be better for both sides if the coverage is a bit more positive, regardless of the game’s outcome?”

“Seriously, what a worrywart. Alright, I get it. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you, Manager. Oh, and Coach Gu asked me to tell you he’d like to have a cup of tea with you later.”

“You telling me is enough. Why is Coach Gu getting involved?”

“We should have told you in advance, but we thought it might be impolite if we didn’t….”

“How timid. We should help each other out with these things. Don’t worry about it.”

The Gotes and Wolves were rivals and partners who shared Jamsil Stadium [a baseball stadium in Seoul, South Korea].

Players, front office staff, and coaches all knew each other.

Wolves’ manager, Kim Young-gi, chatted with Gote’s minor league coach, Gu Chang-hyun, and then returned to his team.

“Alright, alright. Pay attention, everyone.”

The manager gathered the players in the dugout before they started warming up.

“Uh, the owner of the other team is coming today. So, reporters are coming too. This is a good opportunity for you guys to get some media exposure, so play with more fighting spirit and make sure there are no issues. You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes! We understand!”

“Don’t cause any trouble. Work hard, but there shouldn’t be any unsightly incidents.”

The minor league players headed to the field.

As they warmed up and practiced, one of the Wolves players headed into the stadium.

The player, still looking young, looked around and then went into the restroom.

Creak!

When he opened the restroom door, one of the Gote players was washing his hands.

He couldn’t tell who it was because the player had his head down, but the Wolves player bowed his head.

“Hello.”

The player washing his hands turned his head.

“Yes, hello….”

Both the Wolves player and the Gote player stopped greeting each other and stared at each other.

The Gote player was Song Seok-hyun, and the Wolves player was Jang Dae-hee.

“You….”

Jang Dae-hee swallowed hard and hesitated.

Song Seok-hyun turned off the water and dried his hands.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

“You… how?”

“What do you mean? It’s been a while. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Jang Dae-hee stood in front of the restroom door, unsure of what to do.

“You came to the restroom, right? Take care of your business.”

“…No, not really.”

Jang Dae-hee tried to leave the restroom again.

Song Seok-hyun spoke to Jang Dae-hee’s back.

“Why did you do it?”

Jang Dae-hee’s shoulders twitched.

“Well, I was too flustered back then, and I got cut without really knowing what was going on, so I didn’t have a chance to ask. But now I want to ask. Why did you do it back then?”

“……”

“You’re timid and scared, right? But what gave you the guts to do that? It’s not like you and I were enemies. I just can’t understand it.”

“What?”

Jang Dae-hee said, with his back to Song Seok-hyun.

“What are you talking about? You messed up.”

“Seriously, who do you think you’re fooling? You did it on purpose. No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand it. There’s no good reason. You and I were kind of close and then drifted apart, but we weren’t on bad terms… hmm.”

“Why, why, why are you blaming me?”

“Why are you stuttering?”

“No. That’s not it.”

Song Seok-hyun put his hand on Jang Dae-hee’s shoulder as he turned around.

“Regardless of the reason, you’re not admitting it. You need to admit it to apologize. You know my life went to hell because of you, right? It’s just starting to get a little better, but I suffered a lot. First, apologize. It won’t make me feel completely better, but I need to hear your apology.”

Song Seok-hyun felt Jang Dae-hee’s shoulders trembling.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Jang Dae-hee shook off Song Seok-hyun’s hand and left the restroom.

Song Seok-hyun grabbed the restroom door, leaned out, and shouted at Jang Dae-hee.

“Are you even scared to apologize? You pathetic bastard.”

Jang Dae-hee stopped walking for a moment but quickly picked up the pace again.

Song Seok-hyun glared at Jang Dae-hee’s back.

“If he’s feeling guilty, it’s a hundred percent true….”

Song Seok-hyun’s first impression of Jang Dae-hee wasn’t bad. He was timid and seemed like a model student, but he was talented. They were on decent terms until their freshman year. Not close, but not bad.

That’s why, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand Jang Dae-hee’s actions back then.

Deliberately causing the team to lose a game when he was on the verge of winning as an ace pitcher? And making it look like it was his fault so skillfully.

It wasn’t a simple mistake; he was intentionally trying to bury him.

The method was so vicious that it was even harder to believe.

Jang Dae-hee was the son of Jang Hyuk-jin, a Korean baseball legend and successful businessman, and the ace of Woojin High School.

Back in their senior year of high school, it was hard to even compare his position with Jang Dae-hee’s.

A rookie who had just switched to catcher versus one of the top 3 ace pitchers in high school baseball.

He had never held a grudge against him, and there was no reason for Jang Dae-hee to be jealous of him.

At the time, he couldn’t suspect Jang Dae-hee, thinking, ‘No way, Jang Dae-hee would….’

But as time went on, the more he thought about it, the more he suspected, ‘It was Jang Dae-hee….’

Today’s meeting in the restroom turned his suspicion into certainty.

“Is there a real reason?”

Even after thinking about it carefully, he couldn’t figure it out.

* * *

The owner’s visit was extravagant.

The chairman toured the minor league stadium with newspaper reporters, dedicated photographers, and took pictures.

The chairman shook hands with both team managers, took pictures, and then headed to the stands.

“He’ll probably just watch the first two innings and leave, right?”

“He’ll probably leave after taking pictures.”

“But there’s no bonus?”

“Yeah. Just a word of encouragement and that’s it.”

As the Gote coaches whispered, the game began.

It was an unusual day for the owner to attend a minor league game.

The Gote players kept glancing at the chairman in the stands.

“Alright, alright. Relax. Fighting!”

“Fighting!”

The game began.

Pitcher Im Jin-pil stood on the mound.

Currently, he wasn’t the best player in the minor league, but he was the most consistent.

If the chairman was only going to watch the first two innings, all he had to do was get through them without incident.

The manager hoped that Im Jin-pil wouldn’t cause any trouble during the first two innings, regardless of the game’s outcome.

-Play ball!

Song Seok-hyun sat in the dugout, watching the game.

Thwack!

The pitcher’s first throw was way outside.

The team owner was watching him from the stands behind the catcher.

Tension filled his body.

The catcher lowered his hand, signaling him to calm down.

The catcher’s mitt was aimed right at the center.

It was just the first batter anyway.

He needed to be aggressive against the leadoff hitter, who lacked power.

Thwack!

The pitcher threw a fastball that drifted slightly outside.

Tap!

The batter lightly pushed the ball, reaching first base.

Applause erupted from the Wolves’ dugout.

In contrast, the Gotes’ dugout was as silent as a graveyard.

“Alright, alright. Let’s take it easy!”

The manager raised his voice, trying to break the frozen atmosphere.

The pitcher threw an outside fastball to the next batter as his first pitch.

It was a pitch intended to prevent a steal.

Whoosh!

Despite the pitcher throwing an outside fastball, the runner safely reached second base.

The catcher threw the ball, but it was a beat too late.

“He’s too fast. Ji-hwan’s theory won’t work on him.”

Kim Jung-ryul muttered.

Song Seok-hyun closed his eyes and simulated the play.

Could he have caught him?

It was a fifty-fifty chance.

The pitcher hadn’t held the runner, but the runner’s start was slow.

Even though the runner was fast, it was a challengeable timing.

Tap!

The second batter hit a single.

Runners on first and third with no outs.

The players were paying more attention to the stands behind the catcher than to the field.

The home team was in a crisis right from the start.

As the third batter came up, the dugout atmosphere grew even heavier.

The third batter, Yang Seung-won, was a power hitter who moved between the first and second teams.

“The catcher should go to the mound now.”

Kim Jung-ryul nodded at Song Seok-hyun’s comment.

“The pitcher is out of it. He’s in a daze. He’s not usually like this, but he’s completely frozen.”

“They’re just going to let it go without a break.”

“Well, they don’t want to make a fuss from the first inning with people watching.”

No sooner had he spoken than the batter hit a timely double.

The score quickly became 2-0.

The heavy dugout atmosphere turned into a sea of silence.

Manager Gu Chang-hyun wanted to replace the pitcher immediately.

Once the momentum was lost, it was hard to regain.

The Gotes, who had given up five runs in the top of the first, finished the bottom of the first with only eight pitches.

The players’ eyes kept scanning the stands where the chairman was sitting.

He had taken all the pictures, so he should be leaving soon, but the chairman remained in his seat.

“…….”

The chairman was silently looking down at the field. Next to the chairman, the baseball team president was anxiously watching him.

If there hadn’t been reporters, a stern order would have been issued immediately.

“The minor league team is weak.”

The chairman’s words made the president feel like he was sitting on a bed of nails.

Why did he come to the minor league team, which he had never visited when the first team was winning, and why was the team, which usually dominated the Northern League, getting hammered from the first inning today?

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

“He hasn’t left yet?”

“No.”

“He’s still in the stands?”

“Yes.”

“Haa.”

The manager couldn’t bring himself to look at the stands.

He was itching to replace the pitcher right now.

If he replaced the pitcher, the reporters would write articles about the unusual early substitution, clearly aware of the team owner.

He didn’t want to attract public attention with such a disastrous performance.

Tap!

Bang!

Tap!

The Wolves scored three more points in the second inning.

The Gotes failed to score in the second inning as well.

8-0.

Manager Gu Chang-hyun imagined a cold draft sweeping down his spine, even though it was spring.

What was even scarier was that the chairman was still in his seat.

“Coach Yeon.”

Manager Gu called the pitching coach.

“Yes.”

“You said Jung-ryul’s pitches are good enough for the first team, right?”

Yeon Woo-sik hesitated before answering.

“……Yes.”

“Get him ready.”

Yeon Woo-sik clenched his fist.

Why now of all times?

It was a time when he couldn’t stand out even if he did well, and he could only get covered in dirt if he didn’t.

He was already dreading the articles the media would write about Kim Jung-ryul if he failed.

But what could he do?

On the baseball field, the manager’s word was law and truth.

Yeon Woo-sik called Kim Jung-ryul.