Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 94

Villain on the Mound – Episode 94

Becoming a star attracts attention.

That’s why many try to stay out of the spotlight after becoming stars.

But Ha-sung didn’t really care.

Vroom-!!

The Aston Martin roared as it sped down the road.

It was a quiet afternoon in Seoul, so he was able to drive without any traffic.

The place he arrived at was Sinsa-dong.

“Wow… an Aston Martin.”

“It’s a rare model.”

“Is an entertainer riding in it or something?”

People flocked around.

After a moment.

The door of the supercar opened, and Ha-sung stepped out with his red hair, causing people to take out their phones and take pictures of him.

“It’s Jung Ha-sung!”

“Wow… to see Ha-sung here.”

“Jung Ha-sung! Please sign this for me!”

The fans who recognized him flocked around, asking for autographs.

As if used to it, Ha-sung signed autographs, greeted them, and entered the building where the hair salon was located.

“Good fan service.”

“He really does everything, just like I saw online.”

“He must be tired.”

“I know, right.”

“But wasn’t his signing speed incredibly fast?”

“He did all of them in less than a minute.”

“As fast as his pitches.”

While the fans were marveling.

Designers greeted Ha-sung as he arrived at the hair salon.

“Welcome, Jung Ha-sung.”

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Isn’t this too much of a welcome?”

“It’s standard procedure since you’re registered as a VIP at our shop. We’ve reserved a private room for you over here, so let’s go.”

A private room at a hair salon.

It might seem unusual, but this is a service only offered to top-tier celebrities.

Since those kinds of people visit, they prefer a private space.

For this reason, a separate room existed where they could get their makeup and hair done.

“You have great hair.”

“To have this kind of hair even after bleaching it with red wine… you’re blessed.”

The designers were admiring Ha-sung’s hair.

‘Is that so? In my previous life, my hair started falling out when I was over 30.’

In fact, Ha-sung was stressed about hair loss.

‘Am I still young? No, that’s not it. I used to see signs of it little by little since I was young.’

It was a little different from his previous life.

Even the speed at which his body accepted training and its ability to recover.

‘It’s like my previous body was level 10, but now it’s higher than that.’

Since he played as a closer this season, he knew his limits, so it was unreasonable to push further.

But next season, he’s scheduled to play as a starter, so he’ll know for sure.

‘I’ll be able to tell if my body is the same as before or if it’s better than then.’

He was already looking forward to next season.

* * *

After finishing his styling, Ha-sung changed into casual clothes and arrived at the concert hall.

It was an event celebrating Christmas with all the singers from Eun-ha’s agency, Star Entertainment, participating.

Thanks to that, it was held in a fairly large concert hall.

‘In the future, she’ll be performing solo in an even bigger place than this.’

Ha-sung knew what Eun-ha would be like in the near future, so he was looking forward to that time.

As he was moving to the waiting room with a gift for her, he heard a loud noise.

“Seriously! Why do we have to share a waiting room with a complete rookie?”

“Ugh… isn’t this too much? Even if there are other seniors, how can we share a waiting room with a rookie?”

“That’s right. Give us a separate one right away!”

All of them were women’s voices, laced with venom.

He moved towards the place where the voice was coming from. There were several waiting rooms, and the door of the waiting room where the voice was coming from was slightly open.

The names of those using the waiting room were written on the door.

[Candies, Eun-ha]

Ha-sung, seeing the name Candies, fell into contemplation.

‘Was there a group like that?’

There was no way he could know all the idols of this time.

It’s not like he only watched TV.

Therefore, it was natural that he didn’t know Candies, who maintained a moderate fandom and then disappeared.

Anyway, when he peeked inside, he could see that Eun-ha was shrinking back.

“Why do we have to share a waiting room with someone who might disappear at any moment?!”

And a woman who appeared to be a member of Candies was glaring at Eun-ha.

Seeing Eun-ha shrinking her shoulders even more, Ha-sung quickly assessed the situation.

He soon reached out and knocked on the door.

Knock-!

At the knock, the eyes of the people in the waiting room focused on Ha-sung.

And the faces of Candies’ members and managers hardened when they recognized him.

“Jung Ha-sung?”

“How is Jung Ha-sung here…?”

They hadn’t heard him approach, or they were wondering about Ha-sung’s sudden appearance.

But Eun-ha and her manager smiled brightly and welcomed Ha-sung.

“Ha-sung!”

“Jung Ha-sung! It’s been a while!”

“Eun-ha, it’s been a while. Manager, have you been well too?”

Candies and their managers had bewildered expressions.

Even if they were from the same company, there was no way they would know all the schedules of other singers.

Besides, it was a year ago that Eun-ha and Ha-sung filmed a commercial together.

Naturally, there was no way they would remember such a thing.

Ha-sung looked at the embarrassed women and asked Eun-ha’s manager.

“It was a bit noisy. Did I come at the wrong time?”

“No, no. Ah! The CEO said he wanted to see Ha-sung when you arrived, so if you have time…”

“Shall we? Eun-ha, let’s go together.”

“Yes!”

Ha-sung’s recognition was higher than anyone else in this room.

Therefore, Candies could only watch them leave the waiting room without saying anything.

* * *

Eun-ha was looking at Ha-sung, who was greeting the CEO, with adoration in her eyes.

‘He’s become much more handsome in a year.’

Tall with fair skin.

And how well does red hair suit him?

Above all, she was falling even more for his protective gesture, as he had saved her when she was in trouble.

‘But he’s gone to a place too far away.’

However, in just one year, Ha-sung had risen to a high place.

Even in the major leagues, he was at the top.

On the other hand, she was just a so-so singer who hadn’t even made a name for herself in Korea yet.

‘I have to cheer up. If I want to be with that person, I have to go to an even higher place!’

But Eun-ha didn’t give up.

She wanted to stand next to Ha-sung.

To do that, she had to go to a higher place.

She was burning with determination.

“By the way, Ha-sung, do you like songs?”

“Songs?”

“Yes. Eun-ha is releasing a new song this time. We haven’t decided on a title yet. Would you like to listen to it if you’re okay with it?”

The CEO’s suggestion was unconventional.

It was rare to let an outsider listen to an unreleased song.

But the CEO had other thoughts in his head.

‘If the story comes out that Jung Ha-sung gave his opinion on the song, it will be a plus for promotion.’

Ha-sung knew that he had ulterior motives, but he didn’t care much.

‘If it’s Eun-ha’s new song, it’ll be okay.’

Ha-sung nodded.

“Please let me listen to it.”

The CEO played two songs.

“The first song is currently scheduled to be the title track. The song I’m going to play for you now is a song called ‘You and I,’ which we’re considering.”

You and I.

Ha-sung’s eyes lit up when he heard the title.

‘This is it, isn’t it?’

It was the song that started to make Eun-ha’s name known throughout the country.

After listening to all the songs, he was convinced.

In 2010, this song will resonate throughout the country.

“This one is better, isn’t it?”

Originally, they would promote with this song a few months after the title track.

But why bother doing that?

He wanted to move up the time even a little bit.

The CEO’s face changed a little embarrassedly at Ha-sung’s choice, but he didn’t dwell on it.

* * *

The performance was enjoyable.

He felt happy listening to Eun-ha’s voice directly after a long time.

Her song was like a kind of healing to him.

‘I listened to it more often because our debuts were similar.’

He had a good time listening to her song, which soothed the hardships of training.

The audience’s response to her song was not great.

This is because she is not very popular yet.

But Ha-sung applauded her song.

“Huh? It’s Ha-sung!”

“It really is Jung Ha-sung, isn’t it?”

“Why is he here?”

“Did he come to see the performance?”

Other audience members who recognized Ha-sung’s applause began to applaud.

Soon, the concert hall was filled with louder applause than ever before.

Eun-ha bowed deeply, greeting the audience’s enthusiastic response, which she was hearing for the first time in her life.

That’s how her first performance ended.

After that, other singers came out and sang, but only an empty chair was left in Ha-sung’s seat.

* * *

A few days later.

Ha-sung left Korea at Incheon Airport, receiving a warm welcome from reporters and fans.

He wasn’t alone on his way.

“Thanks to our son, I even get to ride in first class! This mother has no regrets now~ Isn’t that right, dear?”

“Mmm! I’m riding in first class for the first time in my life too. I’ve ridden in business class before, but not this. Our son is the best!”

His parents decided to accompany him to Hawaii.

To be exact, Ha-sung was going to Hawaii to train, and his parents were going on vacation.

“By the way, your father managed to get a vacation from his company?”

“It’s all thanks to our son! When I said I was going to Hawaii with my son, they let me take a vacation!”

“Haha…”

The power Ha-sung had was great.

There was no one in Korea who didn’t know him.

Thanks to that, his parents were receiving so much love that they became popular stars in their respective lives.

“But we’re going to train. Aren’t we going to be a hindrance if we go with you?”

“It’s okay. There’s no problem because we’ll be moving separately anyway. Dad is good at English, so you won’t have any major problems sightseeing.”

“Haha! That’s right. I’m good at English!”

“Oh, and this is a credit card for you to use when you go to Hawaii. Feel free to use it.”

“Oh my! You didn’t have to give us something like this. We have money to use there too.”

“It’s a gift from your son. Just take it.”

“Okay, let’s enjoy some luxury thanks to our son!”

The mother who initially refused eventually had no choice but to accept.

Ha-sung smiled as he watched her.

He was so happy that he could do things for them that he couldn’t do properly in his previous life.

And so, the plane carrying the three of them headed to Hawaii.

* * *

Ha-sung, who arrived in Hawaii, took a rest for a day and started moving the next day.

The place he arrived at in the Ferrari California he rented was a training center located on the outskirts.

Although it was located on the outskirts, the facilities here were all state-of-the-art.

As he parked and entered the center, a woman who had been waiting for him approached.

“Mr. Jung, it’s been a while.”

Isabel was still showing off her voluptuous figure.

The only difference was that today she was wearing leggings and sportswear that accentuated her figure instead of a suit.

Her figure was so good that all the men around her were staring.

Of course, Ha-sung immediately asked about work as if he had no interest at all.

“Are the people I asked for ready?”

“…Of course.”

Her answer was a little slow, but he just thought it was a mistake and moved on.

“We’ve gathered the best experts in each field. Nutritionist, weight trainer, sports science specialist, and masseuse. We’ve also arranged for you to exclusively use some of the center’s facilities, so feel free to train comfortably.”

The power of J&J Agency was great.

He thought that what he wanted was a bit excessive, but it was perfectly prepared.

“But unlike last year, you’re preparing for the new season on a large scale?”

“It’s natural because we have to completely change the body’s mechanism.”

“Change the mechanism?”

“Because we have to prepare to go from a sprinter to a marathon runner.”

It was time to start preparing for the starting pitcher position.