Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 34

Bang-!!

“Strike!! Batter out!!”

The final out count went up.

[Jung Ha-sung! He gets the third out with a strikeout, marking the final out of the season for the team!]

It was the out count signaling the end of the season.

[Although Oakland failed to advance to the postseason, they have achieved success simply by discovering an excellent pitcher named Jung Ha-sung.]

The season was over.

To commemorate this, the players stood up in front of the stands.

[The Oakland team expresses their gratitude to the fans, signaling the end of the season.]

First season in the Major League.

The team felt a strong sense of regret.

But there was one exception.

‘I did everything I could this season.’

Ha-sung gave himself a perfect score for this season.

He had no choice but to.

Passing through the minor leagues and debuting in the major leagues.

Furthermore, he rose from a middle relief pitcher to a closer.

It was a perfect season in every way.

‘I’m already looking forward to next year.’

Ha-sung finished the season, greeting the audience with a face full of anticipation.

* * *

Returning to his accommodation, Ha-sung began to pack his bags.

He could have stayed longer in the United States, but he had things to take care of in Korea.

‘When I go to Korea, I need to contact the management companies that have reached out and check on the advertisement deals, too.’

As his performance in the major leagues grew, the advertising world continued to send love calls [expressions of strong interest].

The same went for management companies.

It was the same in the United States, but since he hadn’t established himself yet, there was no need to rush into a contract.

‘Let’s go in and get some rest first. And eat some kimchi stew.’

While in the United States, what he missed the most was Korean food.

He wanted to go back to Korea as soon as possible.

Ha-sung packed all his luggage and left the hotel.

“Huh?”

A familiar woman was standing in front of Ha-sung.

“Can I give you a ride?”

It was Isabel from J&J Agency.

Ha-sung stared at her intently, then spoke to the hotel staff.

“Has the taxi arrived?”

“Yes. Shall I load your luggage?”

“Please do.”

He lightly ignored her and loaded his luggage into the taxi.

“Ha-sung, it’s not very nice to ignore goodwill, is it?”

“If it’s purely goodwill, I’ll accept it. But it seems like there’s another purpose hidden, so I can’t accept it.”

“Oh my, what could that mean? I’m doing this purely out of goodwill?”

“An employee of a large agency like J&J is taking a player to the airport out of goodwill? You want me to believe that?”

Isabel’s smile faltered slightly.

“I’d rather believe that beans can be made into *meju* [fermented soybean block used to make soy sauce and soybean paste] with red beans than believe that.”

“Excuse me?”

“There’s a saying in Korea. If you’re curious, try Googling it. Then, I’ll be going.”

Ha-sung got into the taxi as it was.

It seemed like Isabel was shouting something from behind, but he lightly ignored her.

* * *

The time it took to travel from the United States to Korea was very long and tedious.

‘But at least I came in economy class, but I’m going back in business class. It’s worth it.’

The difference between economy and business class was only one grade, but it was like heaven and earth.

‘Business class is this good, how good would first class be?’

Ha-sung was motivated as he thought of the first class he had only seen through blogs and YouTube.

‘I have more reason to make money.’

He really felt that having money was convenient.

‘Anyway, when I arrive at the airport, I’m going to have a war.’

Before boarding the plane.

Ha-sung talked to his parents on the phone.

In the process, he heard that reporters would be at the airport.

He didn’t know how many there would be. There was a possibility that it would be crowded.

‘Above all, there are some people I have a bad relationship with.’

Reporters, including Kang Dong-soo.

Since Ha-sung’s declaration, the reporters had not been seen.

It didn’t seem like they were immediately pushed out of covering the major leagues.

‘There’s not much of the season left, and above all, I can’t replace the reporters at overseas branches in a short period of time because of my short career. But now it’s different.’

Ha-sung was in charge of the closer at the end of the season.

In other words, he was scheduled to receive intensive coverage from domestic media.

‘What if I don’t interview with them next year? There’s no choice.’

There is only one possibility that they will not change.

That’s when I was demoted to the minor leagues.

But that’s not going to happen.

No, I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen.

‘I need to get in shape during the off-season and prepare for next season. That way, I won’t be embarrassed.’

There’s nothing more embarrassing than saying something grandiose and not being able to keep it.

Ha-sung had no intention of becoming such a person.

To do that, he had to keep his promise no matter what.

‘Anyway, I need to be on my toes for this press conference. If those guys use their connections, it could be a mess.’

There is no place where connections work as well as in Korea.

So, I had to be careful.

It was up to him to have a successful homecoming.

* * *

There were more reporters gathered at the airport than he had expected.

‘It looks like there are about 20 of them. It seems like my rookie season performance has become quite a hot topic in Korea.’

The number of reporters at the airport was the same as the measure of interest in the player.

He had checked domestic public opinion even in the United States, but it felt different when he realized it.

‘How long has it been since I felt this joy?’

Back in his ace days, he was always surrounded by reporters.

But after he retired, reporters never came to visit.

So, it was a feeling he was experiencing again after more than ten years.

However, his reminiscence was short-lived.

Ha-sung had to stand in front of the reporters’ cameras.

“Jung Ha-sung! You’ve had a successful season, would you like to say a word?”

“You became the second Korean player to pass through the minor leagues in less than a year. What are your thoughts?”

“Jung Ha-sung! You threw a 100-mile ball, did you expect it?”

“How does it feel to play in the major leagues?”

The reporters’ questions poured out.

Ha-sung answered the normal questions with ease.

“The successful season is thanks to those who supported me.”

“I am honored to be able to add my name to the great record following in the footsteps of my senior.”

“I had thrown 100 miles a few times in practice, so I just thought my condition was good.”

His answers flowed out fluently, making it hard to believe that he was a player who debuted this year.

He continued the interview with answers that were sometimes humble and sometimes full of confidence.

Then, a reporter’s question caught his ear.

“There have been reports that Jung Ha-sung verbally abused reporters in the United States. What do you think about that?”

The reporters who had been pouring out questions stopped all at once.

Then, they whispered to each other.

“What? Did that happen?”

“Really?”

“I haven’t heard about it.”

“Come to think of it, I think I heard a similar story from our desk.”

“Jung Ha-sung! Is that question true?”

“Is it true?!”

The reporters poured out angry attacks like hawks catching prey.

Ha-sung did not answer any of their question bombs.

‘I didn’t think they’d blow it up here, would they?’

A smile was drawn on the face of the reporter who asked the first question.

He was Kim Myung-ki, who belonged to Today Baseball, the same company as Kang Dong-soo.

It was natural that he asked this question on Kang Dong-soo’s instructions.

‘How dare you say such a thing to our senior? I’ll beat you up properly until you beg for forgiveness.’

Kim Myung-ki was confident.

‘If you say that didn’t happen, I’ll just open the audio file.’

The voice was recorded when he was spewing out abusive language.

If Ha-sung distorted the truth, he was going to reveal it right away.

Then, Ha-sung opened his mouth.

“Yes, it’s true.”

“What kind of lie is that… Yes?”

Kim Myung-ki, who was preparing, misspoke.

Ha-sung made a strange expression at Kim Myung-ki’s words and asked back.

“I said it’s true?”

“No, that… Yes. It’s true. Please explain!”

“I have nothing to explain. I told you I have no intention of interviewing with you, so send other reporters.”

“Really?!”

“Is that statement true right now?!”

“Yes. It’s true. I told them to write proper articles.”

The reporters quickly typed in Ha-sung’s remarks.

“Most of the articles that poured out after I was called up to the major leagues were too absurd! I told those who wrote those articles to write proper articles. Is that strange?”

“What kind of absurd articles are you talking about?”

At the reporter’s question, Ha-sung listed the articles one by one.

At those words, some reporters nodded and some reporters blushed.

They were probably reporters who wrote similar articles.

But most of the reporters nodded as if they understood.

“Actually, the articles at that time were all over the place.”

“That’s right. It was too messy.”

“And it’s not even abusive language?”

“The level was a bit strong, but that’s about it…”

The atmosphere flowed strangely.

‘This… this shouldn’t be happening.’

I have to create an unfavorable situation somehow.

Kim Myung-ki hurriedly took out one of his trump cards.

“Didn’t you flip off the reporters?!”

“Is that true?”

“Really?”

“Is there any evidence?”

The moment Kim Myung-ki was about to take out his recorder with a confident face.

“Yes, I flipped them off.”

He admitted it willingly this time as well.

Thanks to this, Kim Myung-ki’s hand, which was about to take out the recorder, became embarrassed.

Regardless, Ha-sung continued to speak.

“Those reporters poured out articles with tabloids and malicious titles because I told them to write proper articles.”

The reporters wrote down Ha-sung’s remarks as they were.

“Those people who were pushing me with absurd titles like school violence when I succeeded in a flawless inning came to me with smiling faces and said it was a misunderstanding. The person who was pushing me with absurd titles like school violence.”

At Ha-sung’s words, some reporters nodded.

“There were definitely such articles.”

“It was revealed to be groundless.”

“Most of the articles that came up…”

The reporters’ eyes turned to Kim Myung-ki.

This was because all the articles were posted on Today Baseball.

“I got a lot of hate thanks to those absurd articles. Is it a problem that I gave this back to those people?!”

Ha-sung raised his middle finger to the reporters.

The camera kept taking pictures of the scene.

Ha-sung said confidently without being intimidated.

“Did those who wrote the false articles do wrong? Or did I do wrong?!”

The shocking arrival press conference ended like that.

* * *

[Jung Ha-sung flips off at arrival press conference!]

[Jung Ha-sung verbally abused reporters in the United States?!]

[Did the reporter who wrote the false article do wrong? Or did Jung Ha-sung, who verbally abused, do wrong?]

Naturally, articles poured out.

And the reactions were extremely divided.

-Jung Ha-sung is trash

-Still, how can a young man flip off older people?

-His personality seems to be trash from the start

-I knew it since he blew up his school like that.

-Why would you pick a guy like this for the national team?

-Start with personality education again!!

Those who cursed Ha-sung were half.

-Cool~

-Keu~! He said the right thing properly.

-It feels like I drank cider after eating a lot of sweet potatoes?

-Expression is amazing lol

-There were a lot of tabloids at that time.

-The trash reporters still haven’t come to their senses.

-How many people have died because of the trash reporters’ false articles?

-You need this much guts to be in charge of the major league finish.

-This kind of kid should be picked for the national team!

Those who supported Ha-sung were half.

But as time went by, Ha-sung’s supporters began to increase.

The reason why the supporters increased was thanks to Ha-sung’s character.

-Has there ever been a kid like this in Korean baseball history?

-He’s a kid who says what he wants to say properly

-I like that he’s bold lol

Until now, professional baseball players used to pretend to be docile in front of them.

Therefore, the appearance of a character like Ha-sung received overwhelming support from the younger generation.

Meanwhile, there were those who were carefully watching this.

“What should we do?”

A group of people gathered in the conference room of the KBO [Korea Baseball Organization] building.

They were all wearing blue jumpers symbolizing the national team.

The Taegeuk mark [Korean national symbol] was embroidered on the chest of the jumper, and the word KOREA was embroidered on the back.

They were the national team coaches and chairmen appointed for the WBC [World Baseball Classic] next year.

The WBC coach had not yet been appointed because the Korean Series had not yet finished, so Park Tae-gon, the technical committee chairman, was sitting at the head seat.

“What is the public opinion?”

“We still have to see it as half and half. Support from the younger generation is increasing, but the opposition is not easy.”

“Tsk, how could he cause such an accident at this important time.”

Park Tae-gon clicked his tongue and looked at the paper.

There, Jung Ha-sung’s photo and this season’s data were written in detail.

“Bring him in for now. We have to bring him in and make him apologize to the public or find a way to calm public opinion. That’s the priority. Let’s go in the direction of joining him after that.”

“I understand. Then I’ll call and tell him to come.”

One of the staff who received the wink left the conference room.

‘You stupid guy. He couldn’t overcome his youthful spirit and turned public opinion against him. It can’t be helped. Even if public opinion isn’t good right now, this guy will be a great help to the team if he joins.’

Park Tae-gon thought that Ha-sung would definitely join.

There can be no refusal.

Who can refuse the glorious Taegeuk mark?

Then, the door opened and the staff who had left the conference room came in, and Park Tae-gon asked a question.

“When is he coming?”

“That’s…”

“Why?”

“He said he’s not coming?”

“What? Why isn’t he coming? Are the reporters camping out?”

“It’s not that…”

“Oh, come on! Answer quickly!”

“He refused to be drafted into the national team…”

“What?!”