The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 35

35. The Great Challenge (4)

“So, America?”

“Yes.”

It was a record.

To be facing each other and talking again in just two days. But even a fairly average father would be visibly surprised to hear that an American agency had come looking for her in person.

“I looked into it a bit, and it seems James Corporation has been making quite a name for itself recently. And it’s true that there’s an employee named Ted Park. However, I need to look into whether that’s the person you met, or if it’s a scam.”

Of course, even amidst all this, investigating James Corporation and its employee Ted Park, and suspecting it might be a scam, was just like Dad.

When I was younger, this attitude of my father’s was suffocating. Especially the reaction he showed when he brought her, which was similar to now. That was the first time I ever spoke harshly to my father’s face. To be spewing venom at the father I had feared my whole life. Truly, wasn’t that the greatness of love? Of course, the result was my father’s nagging, ‘See? What did I tell you back then?’ but still.

“But even if it is James Corporation and Ted Park, there’s no need to get too excited. Similarly, I’ve looked into your recent ten years a bit, and there aren’t many cases where high school students signed with American agencies and that led to MLB [Major League Baseball] advancement. And even fewer where that advancement led to good results.”

My father was still calm. But perhaps it was because I was getting older too?

I could see the subtle changes in my father that I couldn’t understand at this time. A slightly higher tone of voice, slightly flushed cheeks, a slightly faster way of speaking.

“Dad, calm down. Just because James Corporation made an offer doesn’t mean I have to sign with them. There’s no rush. If I just show my skills properly, offers from companies like this will flood in. All I have to do is pick the company with the best conditions.”

“Yes… yes, that’s right.”

My father looked at me with surprised eyes. And he nodded. For some reason, that sight reminded me of one memory.

It was when I was in my third year in the majors. There was a veteran on the team named Greg Olson, and one day he came to work with a very gloomy expression. Actually, I wasn’t very curious about why he was so gloomy, but he insisted on coming to me and telling me about it.

“Well, Swan, as you know, we don’t get to be home much. So, on the days I am home, I try to take responsibility for getting Junior to school as much as possible. So, today, like usual, I was going to take Junior to school, but guess what? He said he was going to take the school bus with his friend and go. So, I said I’d take all his friends too, but he said he didn’t need it and would go to school on his own… Huh, it feels like he’s all grown up now. I feel proud, and at the same time, I feel sad. I don’t know what to say.”

And then he went on to give me mundane advice about married life, which were very annoying stories at the time, but looking back now, I wonder if my married life wouldn’t have been like that if I had paid a little more attention to Greg’s words.

Anyway, did my words just now sound to my father like saying he would take the school bus and go to school alone? If so, I guess I’m really slow.

Greg’s Junior was only eleven years old when he said that, but I was seventeen, or maybe thirty-four, when I told my father this.

“But Dad. Please seriously consider the trip to America during vacation that I mentioned last time. It’s essential for my future. The parts you’re worried about can mostly be resolved by signing with an American agency. Of course, you still need to help me find a reliable agency.”

“That… Okay, I understand. I’ll think about the trip to America a little more.”

Huh?

Good heavens, my father is saying he’ll think about it? That was truly a surprising statement.

Before my regression, I had broken my father’s stubbornness with actions countless times. But I had never made my father back down on his own, not even a single step.

“Anyway, I got a call from Coach Park. He said you got 19 points on the math final this time?”

“No, that’s… well, it seems that the study of mathematics from its very roots…”

“That’s enough. It’s enough for a baseball player to have good character and play baseball well. Still, he said you got 83 points in English, which is the highest score in the baseball team. Haa… America… Anyway, just make sure you don’t get a failing grade that prevents you from participating in the competition. Coach Park is complaining so much that it’s difficult to get good results in the competition without you.”

It was very faint. But I saw it clearly.

The corners of my father’s lips were slightly raised.

“Yes!!”

I nodded with a happy heart.

***

Early morning.

Every time I go to school, I think it would be better to live in the dorms, even if they sometimes smell a bit.

To wake up at six in the morning to go to school. At least if I lived in the dorms, I could sleep 30 minutes more.

Today was not much different from usual.

In the distance, Jo Yu-jin was the first to come out and was swinging his bat.

“Hey, Choi Soo-won!!”

“Huh, huh?”

He threw his bat away and ran towards me quickly.

“Hey, I heard the news yesterday. But, even if you heard good news, how could you just go home? And why didn’t you look at your phone?”

“Sorry, sorry. I had it on silent. Still, wasn’t it good that we studied 2:1 yesterday thanks to me? It was the 2:1 date you wanted so much.”

“Ah…”

Jo Yu-jin gave me a harsh look with his eyes.

Actually, it was obvious without looking.

Well, he probably couldn’t say anything and just awkwardly stared at his phone waiting for me to come, and then broke up. That’s how guys are at this age in front of pretty girls.

“Anyway, Eun-jin texted me a lot too. We’re going to study together again tonight. How about it? Do you want to join us?”

“Uh, uh!! Definitely!! Absolutely!! You can’t leave me out, humanly speaking. But is Se-yeon coming out today too?”

“Se-yeon? That girl who’s good at studying? Why? Was she pretty?”

Yu-jin’s nostrils flared.

Looking at those nostrils of truth, I felt like I had heard the answer even without hearing it.

“More than that, Choi Soo-won. I’m curious, are you really going to America? I heard that agency is quite famous? They’ve signed several famous major leaguers too.”

“Well, I don’t know. I’m just going to a place with good conditions.”

“Isn’t that the same as going to America? The conditions are unconditionally better in the major leagues, right? They give you billions in signing bonuses and even the minimum salary is hundreds of millions.”

“Well, it would be like that if things go well.”

“Why the sudden humility? Honestly, with your skills, things can only go well, right?”

“I don’t know. Of course, in the end, it would be like that. But even if your skills are good, depending on the situation, you might be stuck in the minors for a few years. Some teams leave you in the lower leagues for half a year even if you crush the league in the early stages, and they make you play in every league step by step. The bigger the market team, the more that’s the tendency.”

“Still, if you’re drafted in Korea, you have to play for at least 7 years, right? Isn’t that too long? Ah!! That’s right. Then how about this? Go to NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, the highest level of baseball in Japan] first. They give you more signing bonuses than Korea. And then play for about 2 years like Otani and go to America right away through posting. Then you won’t have to roll around in the minors, isn’t that good?”

That was a stupid thing to say.

“Hey, think about it. If you’re under twenty-five years old anyway, it’s an international prospect contract, so the team only gets the posting fee and I don’t get much. And I have to play service time with the minimum salary too. It’s better to play quickly for 7 years in Korea and advance with FA [Free Agency] qualification than to go to NPB.”

“Ah, really? I didn’t know that much detail. It’s a story that has nothing to do with me anyway. By the way, from the way you’re talking, it seems like you’re definitely thinking about America? You know everything. So, does Eun-jin know that you might be going to America?”

“Why are you suddenly talking about her? We’re not even dating yet, we’re just in the ‘some’ stage [a Korean term for the ambiguous period before a relationship is officially defined]. And she’s probably busy with her work too. I heard she couldn’t take this exam because of work.”

“Huh? Haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?”

***

Actually, I prided myself on knowing idols quite well.

But perhaps the reason I thought I knew idols well was similar to thinking I knew baseball players well just by looking at professional first-team players or major leaguers.

Among the three thousand or so kids playing in high school right now, less than three hundred go pro. Among them, only about one-tenth survive in the pros. And in America, the competition to be a major leaguer is higher, not lower. The number of minor leaguers laid down for one major leaguer to be born is truly enormous.

And according to Jo Yu-jin, being an idol was similar to that.

Was it thanks to that? Park Eun-jin looked a little different throughout the study session.

Well, apart from my feelings, the study itself was quite substantial.

Like Eun-jin said, her friend Se-yeon was very helpful in the study. From experience, knowing a lot and teaching well were not the same, but Se-yeon was a friend who was as good at teaching as she was at knowing.

“Okay, today I’m paying as an apology for canceling yesterday without permission, so order as much as you want.”

“Soo-won, are you okay? Isn’t the pizza here expensive?”

“Se-yeon. Don’t worry. I told you. Choi Soo-won is going to get billions in signing bonuses. Don’t worry and eat as much as you want.”

Jo Yu-jin was spouting useless nonsense.

Actually, it could be an unpleasant story in some ways. Maybe if it was me before the regression, I would have been a little annoyed?

But now I understood everything. No, I actually felt sorry for Yu-jin. He’s never eaten alone with a girl other than his mom, so I couldn’t blame him for saying things without thinking in this situation.

And above all, the kids were cute.

Se-yeon worrying that it might be too expensive. Jo Yu-jin showing off and then glancing at me with worried eyes. And Park Eun-jin worrying about non-existent belly fat and wondering if she could really eat this, everyone.

Contrary to Se-yeon’s worries that it might be too expensive, the food bill that the four of us ate until we were full was just over 100,000 won [approximately $75 USD]. Of course, it was a huge amount of money for ordinary students, but even if I didn’t have the financial sense of a thirty-four-year-old major leaguer, I was in a position to receive a fairly generous allowance from my father, so it wasn’t a big burden.

Jo Yu-jin, who had inhaled the pizza like a storm, slipped away, saying he would take Se-yeon home.

As he left, he kept winking at me, as if he was telling me that he was taking Se-yeon away, but in my opinion, it seemed like Se-yeon was taking the clueless guy away.

Whatever the case, in the end, only Park Eun-jin and I were left.

Park Eun-jin glanced at me and said.

“Ah, did I eat too much? Soo-won. Shall we take a walk in the park for a while to digest?”

Fortunately, unlike when I was seventeen, I, at thirty-four, was not a fool like Jo Yu-jin.

So, I didn’t bother pointing out that she only ate one slice of pizza while worrying about non-existent belly fat.

“Okay. Let’s do that.”