episode_0080

Splash. The sound of water echoes in the bathhouse from the showerhead. At that moment,

“Sigh…. Went out as a starter, but gave up 2 runs in 3 innings… Must be nice for you, hyung. Even hit a home run.”

Jang Woo-joo’s voice could be faintly heard from a distance. Why is this guy striking up a conversation while showering?

Although it felt awkward to shower with other guys, due to the nature of communal living, it was unavoidable. Yet, he wasn’t keen on chatting with some guy while showering.

“Still, are we lucky there are only two of us here?”

As both pitcher Jo and I finished our batting practice and were now finishing our showers, the only ones left in the bathhouse were Jang Woo-joo and me. Best to just ignore him.

“Hyung, are you listening?”

“Ugh, so annoying. Shall I kill him, Master?”

I called out to Rosby as usual, but as expected, there was no response. Rosby always disappears when the guys gather to shower, finding it nauseating. …Envious. When I become a senior, I’ll have to shower alone.

“Hyung, answer me.”

Despite my continued silence, the guy didn’t know when to give up. Damn. I should respond at least a bit.

“So, do you think you’re on par with me?”

“At first, I thought so… but watching you train, I feel… inadequate.”

“You dream big. It’s too early, ten years.”

“Uh, I want to curse, hit a ball like Dong-hyun sunbae. Honestly, feeling demoralized. Why didn’t you go to the Major Leagues?”

“Demoralization is when a guy throws 100 miles. Then why didn’t you go?”

“My pitching isn’t perfect. I thought I might fail if I went, so I wanted to gain experience in Korea before trying. Like Seong-hyun sunbae.”

“Then go play in a volcano like Seong-hyun.”

“What a horrible thing to say… Anyway, why didn’t you go to the Majors?”

“I have to go to the military. Damn. This damn country doesn’t offer anything while exploiting people. Tried to get exempted to go to the U.S. Why?”

There might be a way to enter the Majors first and then get selected for the national team, but in reality, it was impossible. To be selected for the national team from the Major Leagues, you needed to be a key player, and even if I played well, I would still need 2-3 years in the minor leagues.

And money-driven Major League teams wouldn’t send me to the national team. There would be no team willing to show such favor to a departing free agent. Whether it was a big-market or small-market team, the outcome would be the same. In a big-market team, established high-salary players held key positions, making it unlikely for a young, lower-paid player like me to secure a starting spot. The player in the starting position would have to leave for me to be registered.

For a small-market team, it was natural to adjust registration days to use service time efficiently and send players on short assignments.

Regardless of where I went, to achieve results worthy of being selected for the national team, I would have to be over 24 years old. By then, getting picked as a wildcard would also be difficult. Wildcards were likely focused on young players lacking in catchers and pitchers, and with all 10 teams vying for slots, my chances would diminish. There was no guarantee of being picked.

Well, thanks to staying in Korea, I could meet So-young, which was more beneficial. And as Ju Hyeong-jin said, enjoying myself in Korea, bombing it, and then receiving a guaranteed contract to go to the U.S. suited my personality much better than enduring a damn minor league life.

“Can the national team say that?”

“So what? Tell your seniors?”

“Not that. Sigh… Anyway, what’s my problem? Even though I’m a pro, giving up 2 runs in 3 innings. Honestly, I was lucky to make it to the third inning; it wouldn’t have been surprising if I came out after one inning.”

“Blame it on your skills.”

‘This guy takes forever to shower… Ugh. If he’s done washing up, I should just head out.’

Growing annoyed with Jang Woo-joo’s questions, I turned off the shower and prepared to leave. Five minutes was enough shower time for a guy. One minute for the hair, one minute for the body, three minutes for the… well, you know.

“Huh? Hyung, are you leaving already?”

“Someone kept making noise.”

“…I’m sorry. Then, as a final question, what do you think my problem is when you look at me?”

Ugh, so annoying.

“You’re doing it right now.”

“Oh. Come on! Instead of that, think of giving advice to your younger brother.”

“Hey, first off, stop throwing like a scaredy-cat. What do you achieve by throwing 100 miles per hour? Just hitting the ball in the middle is enough.”

“What? Isn’t that because of you, hyung? Are you a Blue Dragon or something? You hit a home run from there.”

“Ha… I hit the home run because it was me. Do you think Korean batters can hit 100 miles per hour down the middle?”

A few batters who could possibly hit it came to mind, but since the important thing was just ending the conversation, I continued to speak to boost his morale. Well, the truth was that most batters couldn’t even touch that speed. But I did.

“Just focus on hitting it down the middle instead of trying to pitch. Even if you’re lucky, it might go into the corner.”

“Okay…”

“And if you talk to me again while I’m showering, you’re dead.”

Even a warning at the end. It’s unacceptable for a young kid to dare to talk to someone during their shower. It felt like the world was going downhill; I couldn’t even follow in the shadow of my seniors back in the day, and now it seemed like everything was falling apart.

Anyway, after calming down Jang Woo-joo, I left for the changing room.

“That kid keeps bothering me with his words.”

Cursing the arrogant junior, I roughly dried my hair, put on my clothes, and headed outside, only to find an unexpected figure waiting for me.

“You’re already out?”

It was Gu Jin-mo. Why was this guy here? Hadn’t he showered yet?

“Yes.”

“Who’s in the changing room?”

“No one’s in the changing room. Jang Woo-joo is taking a shower.”

“Is that so? Come in for a moment.”

There was a strong feeling about this. What’s going on? Years of group living experience told me something. This felt like a gathering. Following Gu Jin-mo inside, the changing room, which had been quiet, was filled only with the sound of running water.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Ha… What’s with your ceremony today? What happened with Japan?”

“It was nothing, really.”

I thought I had made another big mistake. Making a fuss over nothing.

“Still, even though they’re all seniors, you should show some respect, shouldn’t you?”

There was no cursing, but the tone was quite cold. But it was funny to hear such a reaction over something trivial. Perhaps Losbi would have laughed heartily if she had seen this scene.

“Then, should I just stay silent even if it’s a come-from-behind home run?”

“…That’s true. No, it’s not that. Hey! If a senior speaks, you listen. Don’t talk back. Are you crazy?”

Ugh, this country, I tell you. This hierarchical culture with these damn seniors and juniors. What’s so great about being old? Saying things like ‘if a senior speaks’?

“……”

“This guy just stares without saying anything back? Are you rebelling?”

What am I supposed to do? This old-fashioned guy.

“Just because you’re a senior doesn’t mean you can just come in and boss people around. Seriously.”

“If you keep pushing, it might lead to that. Anyway, if we’re going to have this kind of conversation, I’ll go in first.”

“Go in first? Are you mocking me?”

“Am I the one who’s being rude here? Am I the bad guy? Or are you AT-senior? Well, let’s just leave it at that without pouring out emotions we met as national representatives.”

“Bad guy? Look at this punk? Ha…, can’t even give a proper response.”

He raised his fist, perhaps angered.

“Are you going to hit me? Then go ahead and hit me once. Oh, I guess I’ll have to take the blame.”

I could feel his face turning red and his hands trembling.

“Tsk. If it’s not a national competition, we’re not on bad terms, so let’s keep it civil. I’m leaving.”

“Hey, can you handle this? Suho is right next to me now. And Sangju is waiting for me too.”

“No, why should a guy feel embarrassed? Then just do that. No, we need to have a reasonable conversation. Understood. Just say that. Why make a big deal out of it?”

There was no need to hear more, so I left Gu Jin-mo behind and walked out of the dressing room. Tsk. It might get a bit annoying later, but there was no reason to listen to such nonsense.

Anyway, the old-fashioned guys are the problem.

*

“Hey, don’t you have something to say to me?”

I was lying on the bed, using my phone when Gisang-ju, who had returned to the room, suddenly spoke up. Oh, he’s probably going to talk about baseball again. Mentally preparing myself, I turned off the YouTube video I was watching, sat up, and responded to Gisang-ju.

“No. Nothing at all?”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“You got scolded by Jinmo hyung today?”

“Uh… about that?”

“About that?”

This guy really seems to be poking around.

“Yes. And it wasn’t being scolded, it was because he said something unreasonable.”

“What did Jinmo hyung say?”

“Well, he was being overly dramatic or something like that. Senior. After hitting a game-winning home run, isn’t that allowed?”

“Hmm… that’s true. But Jinmo hyung isn’t someone who would mind such things, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“Anyway, Jinmo hyung seemed really upset. Well, I don’t want to scold a junior I care about, and since I don’t really understand the situation, if you see Jinmo hyung, apologize and tell him that I scolded you a lot. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Is that it?”

“Why?”

“Sigh, I thought I was in for some fun after a long time. Too bad. Instead, quickly put on what you were watching earlier. Nowadays, with this little device, you can watch girls change clothes, which is quite nice. Girls changing clothes on their own. Why didn’t we have such a thing back in my day?”

“I understand.”

“Anyway.”

Just as I was about to watch YouTube again, Gisang-ju started talking to me. What now?

“You had 2 hits in 4 at-bats today, right? Including a home run.”

“Yes.”

“How was it?”

“It was good.”

“Good for you. But baseball is a sport of luck. Even if you hit a home run like that, the chances of striking out are higher in baseball.”

“That’s true.”

“Today, luckily your batting average was .500, but can you maintain that throughout the season? That’s nearly impossible. So, the most important thing is to think about why you couldn’t get a hit in that at-bat. Understand?”

“…Yes?”

“Shall we start from the first at-bat then? You faced a sinker, right? What were you thinking when you faced the sinker?”

…Damn, maybe listening to Gu Jin-mo would have been better.

“Look. A sinker is a pitch that bends towards the body when thrown by the same-handed pitcher. It often results in a ground ball. There was a pitcher in the U.S. I knew who threw sinkers well, Britton, remember him? Actually, a sinker and a sinkerball are almost the same pitch. If it has more movement, it’s considered a sinker; if it drops, it’s a sinker, if it bends towards the body, it’s a sinker. But even in the majors, they don’t really distinguish between these. There was this guy Beltre, and he used to say, ‘What’s the point of differentiating when you can’t even tell from the batter’s box?’ Anyway, that’s not the important part…”

“…Yes.”

Is this a new form of torture? As Gisang-ju’s lecture began, Rosby had already left my side and was nowhere to be found.

“So, the point is that when facing a tough pitch, the trajectory of the bat is crucial. Got it? It would be great to hit the sweet spot accurately, but that’s not always possible. The pitches from pitchers don’t always have a consistent trajectory like in a game. Remember when you hit a ground ball on your first at-bat? Ah, words won’t cut it. Hey. Grab your bat and follow along.”

Damn. Just curse outright like Gu Jinmo! Let them know they might get hit!

“What are you doing? Not bringing your bat?”

“He says he’s not taking special hits! Damn!”

…After that, they did swing practices with Gisangju and Mechakucha.