On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 92

The article included several photos.

From a picture of Song Seok-hyun shielding Yoon Ro-mi from a water splash, to photos of them leaving the hospital together, and even one of them having coffee in a cafe, the evidence seemed damning.

The article also featured an interview.

A hospital nurse claimed to have seen Song Seok-hyun leaving the hospital with Yoon Ro-mi, gazing at her with obvious affection, conveniently leaving out Kim Jeong-ryul and Paeng Hye-ri.

Song Seok-hyun immediately called the team’s operations department.

“Yes, this is Song Seok-hyun.”

* * *

“I understand. So, you’re saying there’s no romantic relationship?”

“No, not at all. I was just following Jeong-ryul hyung [older brother or close male friend],”

Song Seok-hyun arrived at the stadium in the morning and was immediately pulled into questioning.

Seo Seung-jo, the operations team manager, closed his notebook.

“Alright. While romantic relationships are a personal matter, we’ve had a few unfortunate incidents recently, so I had to ask. Please don’t take it personally.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“So, the hospital interview and the cafe sighting are all false? What about the part where you fed her cake at the cafe?”

“That… she suddenly offered it, so I took it…”

“…”

“We really aren’t dating, but she just put it in front of my mouth, so I unconsciously…”

Manager Seo Seung-jo stood up.

“Well, let’s just call it a minor incident. I’ll discuss it with the PR team and we’ll release a statement clarifying that there’s no romantic relationship.”

“Yes, please.”

Before leaving, Manager Seo Seung-jo turned back to Song Seok-hyun.

“Dating isn’t the core problem, but you need to manage your private life. Even if it’s not illegal, there have been cases where baseball players’ careers ended because of love affairs. Even if you are dating, remember that baseball players are public figures and need to be careful.”

“I understand.”

Left alone in the office, Song Seok-hyun sighed.

He had been worried at the cafe, but he hadn’t expected to be caught in a dating rumor.

He wasn’t a celebrity, he was a baseball player.

A twenty-year-old high school graduate who hadn’t even been a regular on the first team for very long.

Song Seok-hyun was now realizing just how famous Yoon Ro-mi was.

There was no way a dating rumor would have started because of him otherwise.

Yoon Ro-mi, the baseball fans’ sweetheart, dating would be a major shock.

“I’m so sleepy…”

Belatedly, exhaustion washed over him.

He couldn’t go home now, so he decided to head to the team’s massage room for a nap.

He lay down on the bed and was about to close his eyes when he picked up his phone.

If he was dealing with this much commotion, Yoon Ro-mi must be going through even more.

After some thought, Song Seok-hyun sent a text message.

He figured a comforting text was appropriate since she probably couldn’t answer a call right now.

-I’m sorry this happened because of me. Are you very uncomfortable? I’ll be more careful to prevent this from happening again.

Song Seok-hyun was about to close his eyes after sending the text when he received a call.

The caller was Yoon Ro-mi.

Song Seok-hyun hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Yes, noona [term used by a younger male to address an older female he’s close to]. Are you okay?”

-Yeah. What about you? Are you in a mess too?

“I’m… okay. The team said they’ll handle it. What about you, noona?”

-I’m fine too. This kind of article isn’t new to me. I’m used to it.

“Is your company okay with it?”

-Of course, nothing serious. It’s nothing to worry about. I’m sorry. It’s all because of me.

“It’s not your fault.”

-I came to visit you in the hospital and ended up causing trouble. Are you getting a lot of calls from reporters?

“Not that many. I got some, but the team said they’ll take care of it, so I’m just waiting.”

-Okay… that’s a relief. I’m glad it worked out.

There was a moment of silence.

Song Seok-hyun cleared his throat.

“Noona, you should be sleeping now, but you woke up, right?”

-Yeah, I happened to wake up early today.

“Where are you now? Are you at home?”

-No, I’m at the company. I came to the company too.

“I see…”

-Oh, I’m getting another call. Sigh, let’s talk again later.

“Okay.”

Song Seok-hyun hung up and closed his eyes.

He was sleepy and laid down, but he couldn’t fall asleep and tossed and turned.

Eventually, Song Seok-hyun got up.

“Her voice didn’t sound good…”

* * *

Yoon Ro-mi wiped her eyes after hanging up.

She was in the announcer’s on-call room, with the lights off.

Yoon Ro-mi lay on the bed, blankly staring at the wall.

Knock knock.

The door opened, and Paeng Hye-ri peeked in.

“Are you okay?”

Yoon Ro-mi sat up.

“I’m okay.”

“I heard you got scolded a lot this morning.”

“…I’m okay.”

Paeng Hye-ri sat next to Yoon Ro-mi without turning on the light.

“You have to understand. It hasn’t even been a year since that incident. The company is still sensitive.”

“I know. It’s okay. The company is just worried about me.”

“That’s a relief. But why are you so gloomy?”

Yoon Ro-mi hung her head.

“The message board is a mess. SNS is even worse.”

“Didn’t you close your SNS?”

“I did. The message board is the problem.”

“The company will take immediate action. They’ll delete all the problematic posts.”

“My mom and dad called me too, asking if I was okay. They both saw the message board. What’s the point of deleting it now…”

Paeng Hye-ri sighed.

Paeng Hye-ri had also seen the message board.

The message board was filled with vulgar and hateful comments.

Among the teams in the league, Gote was one of the top three in terms of fan base.

It was hard to say who was more popular between Gote, Bulls, and Fox, as their popularity was so close.

With a large fan base came a large number of passionate fans.

Passionate fans were loyal to their team but were also often radical fans.

Song Seok-hyun was the powerful cleanup hitter that Gote hadn’t had in decades.

Just turned twenty, with the power to hit home runs over the Jamsil outfield, and also a catcher.

As existing popular players Max Geu, Lee Nak-gyun, and Kang Moon-gyu had left, the fans’ affections, with nowhere else to go, had flocked to Song Seok-hyun.

From older core fans to young teenage fans and female fans, the interest in and affection for Song Seok-hyun were so deep and passionate that Song Seok-hyun couldn’t even imagine it.

The scandal of a budding twenty-year-old player was seen by fans as an incident that would hold back the player and ruin his future.

Moreover, the scandal was with a sports announcer.

Since baseball players and sports announcer couples were common, fans saw it as the announcer’s attempt to seduce a successful baseball player.

The angry fans spewed harsh words without considering right or wrong.

Yoon Ro-mi found it harder to bear that her parents had seen the malicious posts and comments on the message board than the posts themselves.

The combination of feeling sorry for Song Seok-hyun, embarrassed for her parents, and resentful of herself caused her to burst into tears that morning.

“It’s okay. It’ll pass.”

Paeng Hye-ri hugged Yoon Ro-mi and patted her back.

“Lie down. Sleep here. I’ll wake you up later, so get some rest.”

Yoon Ro-mi silently pulled the blanket up to her chest.

Paeng Hye-ri went outside.

The sound of sobbing echoed in the room.

* * *

As it approached 2 PM, the players began to arrive.

Kim Jeong-ryul and Kim In-hwan arrived early and looked around the locker room.

“Isn’t Seok-hyun here yet?”

“He’s not answering my calls either?”

“I hope he didn’t go into hiding?”

“Surely not.”

“Our Seok-hyun must be overwhelmed by his first scandal. I wonder where he is and what he’s doing? Hasn’t he come to work yet?”

Song Seok-hyun appeared in the locker room just before group training started at 2:30 PM and hurriedly changed his clothes.

Kim In-hwan, who was heading to training, turned around and sat next to Song Seok-hyun.

“What, are you just getting here now?”

“I came in earlier.”

“Then what were you doing that I didn’t see you?”

“I was busy. I went out for a bit.”

“Why? Did you go on a date?”

Song Seok-hyun frowned.

“No. Didn’t Jeong-ryul sunbae [senior colleague] tell you? He dragged me there.”

“He didn’t say anything?”

“Ugh, seriously, that’s too much. Who do you think I got into this mess because of?”

“So, what’s your relationship? Is it like that?”

“No. I just followed Jeong-ryul sunbae to visit the hospital, and that’s how we got photographed.”

Song Seok-hyun quickly finished changing.

“So, what did you do? You said you didn’t go on a date.”

“I went to eat.”

“Alone?”

“Who else would I eat with? I came to work alone.”

“You should have called me.”

“No way. Hyung [older brother or close male friend] would definitely tease me, so why would I? Hyung and Jeong-ryul sunbae are definitely out of the question.”

“Tsk, I’m jealous. You got a dating rumor. And with Yoon Ro-mi.”

“Ugh, I turned off my phone. It feels like the battery will explode if it doesn’t rest. I’m not a celebrity, why are people calling me so much?”

“I want to get a dating rumor too.”

“Hyung, let’s go. I think we’re late for training.”

“Tsk, if you do well, please help me out. Put in a good word for me.”

“I told you, it’s not like that. Ask Jeong-ryul sunbae instead. Jeong-ryul sunbae seems serious. He and Paeng Hye-ri announcer seem to have something going on?”

“Really? Are you just saying that?”

“Yes, yes. Let’s go. I’ll get scolded if I’m late.”

As Song Seok-hyun appeared on the field, the players chuckled.

The coaches smiled too.

Only Manager Ham Seong-hoon folded his arms and remained silent.

They warmed up as usual and trained in their respective positions, but unlike usual, the reporters kept taking pictures of the training scenes with their cameras.

To be exact, it was Song Seok-hyun’s training.

Before training ended, Ham Seong-hoon called Song Seok-hyun aside and sent him to the meeting room first.

As Song Seok-hyun moved, the reporters rushed to get an interview, but the team staff blocked their way.

“He’s already a star, so they’re protecting him so much.”

“Ah, come on. Too uncooperative.”

The reporters didn’t hide their dissatisfaction.

Manager Ham Seong-hoon shook his head.

“There’s never a calm day.”

* * *

The meeting on the first day of a three-game series is usually longer.

Manager Ham Seong-hoon conducted the meeting as a whole, not by position.

“With two losses against the Wolves, we are now two games behind fourth-place Wales. We have six games remaining against the Fox and three against Wales. To make the top four, we need to win four out of six against the Fox and two against Wales. The Wales games are crucial, but it’s meaningless if we don’t score points against the Fox. Fortunately, our starting lineup is strong. We’re starting with our ace pitcher, and they’re starting with their third-best.”

Manager Ham Seong-hoon flipped the PPT screen.

“The Fox’s lineup is generally slow-footed and has poor base-running. On top of that, they lead the league in double plays. That sounds bad, but their team OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging] is third in the league. In particular, their slugging percentage is second, making them a dangerous offensive team. They swing for the fences without worrying about double plays.”

After Manager Ham Seong-hoon, the hitting coach took over.

“So, how do we attack them? To put it simply…”

After the meeting, Song Seok-hyun rubbed his eyes.

Kim In-hwan massaged Song Seok-hyun’s shoulder.

“Why? Didn’t you sleep well?”

“How can I sleep when my phone has been ringing since morning?”

“You should have slept during lunchtime.”

“I wasn’t sleepy then.”

“Our cleanup hitter isn’t in good condition today. What should we do? If I mess up, you have to do well.”

“Then hyung should do better.”

“I don’t know. I don’t have a good feeling today.”

“It’s more pressure on me if hyung is like that.”

“It’s more pressure on me because you’re like that?”

While the KS duo [Kim In-hwan and Song Seok-hyun] worried about each other’s poor condition, it was almost time for the game to start.

Song Seok-hyun splashed cold water on his face and stared at his red eyes in the mirror.

“Sigh, let’s get it together.”

The Fox’s starter is Shin Gyu-won.

He’s a master of changeups, which isn’t a good matchup for Song Seok-hyun.

He has to perform well today for the team and for himself.

What kind of article will come out if he performs poorly today?

Song Seok-hyun patted his cheeks.