episode_0012

“The opponent is the prestigious Seongnam Industrial High School. We may have been at a disadvantage in the past, but this year is different.”

Before the game, the coach gathered the players for a pep talk. After being treated as weak for less than ten years of history, this year, with the performances of Kim Won-ho and me, we are competing for the top spot in the weekend league, so I felt excited about the possibility of winning.

“Let’s defeat Seongnam Industrial High School and rise to first place! Can we do it?”

“Yes!”

“We can do it!”

The players’ response was quite good. Well, maybe they listened well because it was Ik-cheol, the superstar of professional baseball?

Although he was someone who personally disliked me for not using me, baseball player Ik-cheol was an undisputed superstar. I thought everyone would walk the path of a coach-manager, but due to his connection with the chairman, Ik-cheol took his first step in his coaching career as the coach of a newly formed high school baseball team.

I couldn’t deny that Ik-cheol played a role in my decision to come to Hanche High School by defeating scouts from other high schools. As a catcher known for demanding the most baseball intelligence, he was a superstar who achieved a total of 274 home runs, three home run titles, and eight Golden Gloves.

I never thought that such a guy would criticize talented juniors like this. Well, it doesn’t matter now that I’ve taken his wife.

Now that I think about it, it feels like fate. Thanks to Ik-cheol, I was able to go to the Youth Baseball World Cup as a batting pitcher and even meet Rosby.

“Haha. Finally recognizing the greatness of this body, huh?”

“Well, yes. Thanks to that, I’m good at baseball and dating women.”

“Yeah. It’s not something I should say, but you could become more trashy than me. You know that trash usually excels at baseball, right?”

“Is that so? Well, considering how good Ik-cheol was at baseball, it seems plausible.”

Ik-cheol was the epitome of a trashy baseball player. Blinded by inferiority, he couldn’t recognize the talent of his disciple and put him as a batting pitcher. Perhaps he took me to the national team just so his wife could visit me while he was abroad?

“Leaving that aside, when are you going to date Choi Hyeon-ah? Young ones are indeed nice.”

“Timing is everything.”

“Pretending to be an expert.”

“The times have changed, so we need new methods. It’s not like the old days where you could just hit on girls like Rosby.”

Hyun-ah agreed to meet after today’s game. Because of thoughts about Hyun-ah, I wanted the game to end quickly. Ideally, a cold game would be great, but it won’t be easy against Seongnam Industrial High School.

“Haha. Can’t help but think of that crying loser, right?”

“It’s all thanks to Rosby.”

“Yeah, keep that mindset going forward.”

“Then let’s fight one last time and go.”

It seemed like the coach’s tedious speech ended while I was talking to Rosby. I discreetly went inside, clasped my hands together, and shouted slogans.

“The center of Korean sports! Hanche High School! Fighting!”

“Fighting!”

“Let’s win!”

Today’s lineup is the second baseman and the cleanup hitter. Since I’ve already hit three home runs, the coach decided to start me as the cleanup hitter in this game.

“Mang-ho. You must have heard, but let me explain again. Do you know the opposing pitcher is Aeson from Seongsilgo (Seongnam Industrial High School)?”

The assistant coach approached and spoke. I was a bit annoyed before the game, but it seemed like he came to provide care before my first appearance as the cleanup hitter to prevent any mental shake-ups.

“You mean Han Yeong-jun?”

Han Young-jun was a left-handed pitcher that scouts were paying attention to in this year’s draft. He was also seen in last year’s Youth Baseball World Cup. Although not very fast with pitches in the late 130s km/h, he was a player with sharp control and a big slider.

“I know it well. Probably the scouts have come to watch.”

Today was the matchup between Han Young-jun and Kim Won-ho. Both being draft prospects, it was a matchup that scouts couldn’t ignore. That means….

“If I do well…”

“Yeah. From what you’ve been showing lately, you could get drafted. There may be no records from the past two years, but you’re showing good form this year. Don’t be a supporting role, be the protagonist. You can do it, right?”

“Of course.”

A protagonist. Until now, he had always been a supporting role. A bit part like an understudy. But now, it’s different.

“Out!”

The sound of the first batter getting out from first base is heard. I slowly picked up the bat and stood up.

—

“Coach, Maeng-ho has been performing well lately, hasn’t he?”

“Sigh.”

At the words of the head coach, Lee Ki-cheol of the Korean Sports High School felt a sense of dissatisfaction. Shouldn’t he have used him since his freshman year?

“Maeng-ho always seems to have great physicality, doesn’t he?”

“He always had good physicality.”

He was originally a physically gifted guy. Standing at 188cm, which didn’t quite fit as a center infielder, with a weight in the mid-80s. This kind of center infielder wasn’t common even in the big leagues.

Having focused on weight training for three years when he couldn’t play games, he had enough strength and agility to defend swiftly. Looking at him as a high school player, one could say he was well-rounded, right? No, just by watching him hit fastballs, he could already make it to the pros.

His defense had a bit of flashiness, but these days, all the kids are like that, so what can you do?

However, Lee Ki-cheol was not pleased with Maeng-ho’s performance.

“That guy shouldn’t be doing well….”

Initially, the reason he didn’t use Maeng-ho was simply jealousy. Of course, it was true that as a freshman, he wasn’t skilled enough to surpass his seniors and become a starter, but he wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t even sit on the bench.

However, Maeng-ho wasn’t a player picked by Lee Ki-cheol, and fundamentally, he was handsome. Comparing his skin, always covered in sunscreen, to his own deeply wrinkled bear-like skin, he felt self-conscious.

It was behavior unbefitting of a coach, but deep down, Lee Ki-cheol harbored feelings of inferiority towards handsome people.

Three-time home run king, eight-time Golden Glove winner. Clearly a superstar in the world of professional baseball. However, Lee Ki-cheol had always lived a life of comparison.

As a rookie, he was overshadowed in the Rookie of the Year vote by a guy who was famous for being a handsome baseball player, and despite being more skilled, he was always pushed down in popularity rankings, often barely making it to the All-Star team through director’s recommendations.

And this feeling of inferiority intensified when he married Park Hye-jin, a beautiful tennis player. His wife, Park Hye-jin, would subtly inquire about handsome fellow athletes. Even a comment about a handsome junior contacting her sister-in-law added fuel to his feelings of inferiority.

He believed he hadn’t cheated, but he was always anxious. So, he became a high school coach, abandoning the secure path to becoming a professional baseball coach.

However, his wife always showed interest in handsome students.

A handsome guy who graduated two years ago. Clumsy, but his wife showed interest in him, so he kept him on the bench and didn’t send him to college. Maeng-ho was the same. Nowadays, his wife doesn’t show interest, but just a few years ago, she always asked how that kid was doing whenever he came home.

‘If she had shown even half of that interest in me, I wouldn’t have benched him.’

If someone heard this, they might think, “Are there such trashy directors?” But what can you do? No one knew the thoughts of Lee Ki-cheol, and there was no one with the ability to feel strange just because he sat on the bench.

“Still, that fierce guy has improved a lot. He couldn’t use defense at all. His footwork was not great, but he seems to be adapting somewhat at second base.”

However, recently, changing his batting form made his swing quite sharp, so I tested it in a practice game, and the results were amazing enough to surprise even Lee Ki-cheol. It’s not common for a high school baseball player to hit three home runs in five games.

Thunk!

While thinking such thoughts, a cheerful sound of splitting the ball was heard.

“Nice!”

“Home! All the way home!”

“Fierce hyung, why are you hitting so well all of a sudden?”

“Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maeng-ho!”

Ji Maeng-ho’s hit split left-center field, and the runner on second base stormed all the way home.

“Safe!”

As the runner on second base was comfortably safe, he scored the team’s first point.

“He did well honing his skills for two years. That swing wasn’t like that before.”

Lee Ki-cheol thought that the reason Ji Maeng-ho could develop like that was because he had focused on weights all this time. Forgetting about his defensive mistakes, not involving him in training, or making him face batting pitchers.

“Good job.”

Clap, clap, clap. The sound of applause spread from Lee Ki-cheol’s hands.

“As expected, there is value in honing skills without letting him play in the game. My way was right after all.”

Lee Ki-cheol had now reached the point of thinking that Ji Maeng-ho’s growth was possible due to his coaching style. And he began to admire himself as a skilled coach.

“With the combination of ace Kim Won-ho and power hitter Ji Maeng-ho, we might have a chance to win this year.”

If Ji Maeng-ho had heard this, he would have cursed, but what could he do? Even if he pretended to know Lee Ki-cheol’s thoughts, there was a significant difference between a coach and a player. The superstar of professional baseball and the high school baseball player.

“Out!”

The fifth batter was unfortunately caught by the center fielder with a fly ball, ending the first half of the inning. As the inning changed, Ji Maeng-ho came into the dugout to get his glove. Lee Ki-cheol approached the hero of the scoring point, Maeng-ho.

Maeng-ho’s expression soured, but Lee Ki-cheol was not someone who cared about such things.

“Well done. If you keep this up, going pro won’t be a problem. I know some people in the scout team, so tell them well.”

“…Yes? Oh, thank you.”

“Yes. When you get drafted into the pros, make sure to thank me.”

“Of course. I’m always grateful to you, Coach… in many ways.”

As Maeng-ho handed over his words, his expression turned sinister, but to Lee Ki-cheol, who was already intoxicated with himself, that expression was not visible. Even if he had noticed that sinister expression, Lee Ki-cheol would never have known that it meant gratitude for allowing him to devour his wife.

‘That bastard doesn’t even know where my wife is wandering around. Is it because he’s a damn monkey offspring? He’s clueless.’

‘If he knew that much, that sister wouldn’t be rolling around. I wanted to kill her before, but these days, when I see her, I feel sorry for the coach. I have such thoughts.’

‘Did that bastard go to that house yesterday too?’

‘That’s why it’s pitiful. Hehehe.’

Unconsciously, Maeng-ho, whose laughter resembled Rosby, entered the field while chatting with Rosby as usual.