episode_0327

“Ah! This is so damn tough! Damn it! All I did was run like crazy!”

While the other seniors had gone inside to take a break, only us juniors remained in the training ground. Amidst others cleaning up, Jun-ho, who was just sitting there complaining about how tough it was, caught my eye.

Seeing a guy resting while others worked didn’t sit well with me, the guardian of team spirit within our group.

“Hey, instead of cursing, why don’t you help with the cleanup?”

“What about the others, hyung?”

“Come on, man. I’m an MVP. Even though I have first-team privileges, should I clean up with the guys?”

“Hyung, I have first-team privileges too.”

“Hey! Lim Jun-ho! Aren’t you coming over here quickly?”

“Look, they’re calling for you.”

“Damn, why doesn’t anyone call me, just him…”

“Are you crazy? Are you on the same level as Maeng-ho hyung? He’s an MVP, man.”

Seemingly uncomfortable with Jun-ho being the only one resting, other juniors soon approached and dragged him away. Of course, no one dared disturb me during this time. It was like basking in the afterglow of being an MVP. In fact, even after training, I could skip cleanup without anyone questioning me, not even the seniors.

Even the coaches and the head coach were accommodating towards me.

“But why are you still here instead of going inside? Tsk.”

“But it’s a bit awkward for a Confucian to go in. Besides, isn’t it necessary for me to manage the team’s morale by supervising the juniors?”

“…This guy is nuts.”

Watching the others clean up while chatting with Rossby, someone approached me with a drink in hand.

“Good work, senior!”

He was one of the rookies who joined us for this spring camp. There were two rookies from the 2023 draft who came along this spring camp. This guy was our team’s first pick, selected overall fourth in the draft.

“But was he a batter or a pitcher?”

I did hear his introduction, but I’m not good at remembering people, so I was slightly confused.

“So… ”

“I’m Jung Jae-min! I was selected in the first round of the draft, and I play as a pitcher!”

As I hesitated, it seemed like he picked up on the vibe and quickly introduced himself. However…

“Hey. The seniors are over there cleaning up. Does it make sense for you to come to me right now?”

His sly attempt to take a break didn’t sit well with me. Such tricks wouldn’t work with Lee Ji-maeng-ho, the guardian of team spirit.

“I-I’m sorry!”

He bowed his head and hurriedly ran back to tidy up the icebox.

“This is what makes a proper baseball team.”

Watching him rush to clean up, instilling teamwork in another player filled me with pride. Baseball is a sport played by nine players. Including the designated hitter, that makes it ten. Regardless, in baseball, where every player counts, if even one person falters, winning becomes difficult.

Just last year in the Korean Series, when I was intentionally walked, the team’s collective effort helped sway public opinion, allowing us to delay UG’s tactics until we could turn the game around.

If my teammates hadn’t supported me, perhaps winning would have been impossible. Although I achieved the best performance in Korean baseball history and recorded a WAR of around 17 for the season, indicating outstanding stats, I couldn’t win alone.

Initially, until I debuted in the league, I believed that my individual performance was crucial. However, experiencing last year’s victory made me realize the importance of my teammates.

Rossby said winning in this league was meaningless, but honestly, I felt differently. Fans cheering for me, fans cheering for AT, and even Soyoung. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone and wanted to repay their cheers and support.

The easiest way a baseball player can repay fans is by winning. Of course, I also gave other rewards to pretty female fans, but fundamentally, winning was the way to make fans happy. And I wanted to repay the fans with as many wins as possible before going to the majors.

“To achieve that, these basic things are important. Yeah, that’s right.”

So, managing the younger guys was a justified action for the team. Especially those picked as first-rounders tended to be arrogant due to their skills, so they were a special focus for management.

“Hey! Hurry up and get in there.”

“Yes!”

“Ah, hyung. If you’re not going to help, just go in first!”

“Geez. But I have to manage them.”

“Who do you think you are, the coach?”

“Geez, stop grumbling and do it.”

…It seemed like my management was necessary to prevent this first pick from turning into an arrogant guy like Im Jun-hu.

“Hey! Jimaengho! Come here.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t manage them until the end. Gisangju called me while standing awkwardly at the training ground.

‘Oh, he’s probably going to talk about hitting form or launch angle again. Just hit the ball. Anyway, it’s annoying. I don’t know why seniors can’t stand their juniors.’

“What are you doing?! Why aren’t you coming quickly?!”

“Yes, senior!”

Since it was obvious he was going to talk about boring hitting stories, I didn’t want to go, but I reluctantly turned towards him due to Gisangju’s urging.

*

“Anyway, Maengho hyung is weird.”

“Senior, are you close with Maengho sunbae?”

“Forget about senior, just call me hyung.”

“Yes, Junhu hyung.”

As Jimaengho, who had been watching, left, the players who had been quietly cleaning up started to speak one by one. Their conversation revolved around Jimaengho, who had just exuded an old-fashioned vibe, and Im Jun-hu, who had been active shuttling between last year’s starting lineup and bullpen.

“Anyway, you guys be careful of Maengho hyung. That guy is really psycho.”

“Huh? Psycho?”

Shocked by Jun-hu’s blunt insult towards Maengho, two youngest players at spring camp turned their eyes towards Jun-hu.

“Don’t you read news articles or stuff? There’s a lot of controversy.”

Although Jun-hu was somewhat close to Maengho, occasionally he thought Maengho was a bit psycho, so Jun-hu expressed his thoughts without reservation.

“But isn’t that all devil’s editing?”

“Is throwing punches also devil’s editing? From what I saw, if there weren’t people around, wouldn’t Moon Gi-taek have fought with him? Anyway, I’m just warning you to be careful.”

Words that could be said among friends. In fact, Jun-hu was worried that even if it didn’t seem like it, these guys might touch on Maengho’s personality. It was because Jimaengho was very sensitive about senior-junior relationships. Of course, Jun-hu didn’t dislike Maengho for saying this. Rather, since going to the club with Maengho, he had come to regard him as a benefactor in life. Meeting his current girlfriend was partly thanks to Maengho. This was a warning to prevent any potential situations.

“Well, geniuses are said to have strange personalities. Oh, Hyunseong hyung, can I call you hyung? You said you were Maengho sunbae’s junior in middle school, how was Maengho sunbae when he was in middle school?”

“Maengho, huh? Back in middle school? He was quite popular. Good at baseball, good-looking, and had a decent physique. I don’t understand why he ended up at Hanche High School. If he had just gone to another high school in Seoul, that incident would have turned out differently… No, forget it. Anyway, he may be mischievous, but he’s a pretty decent guy.”

“Hey, no way. You should have seen him when he made it to the first team. Ugh! So frustrating, really.”

“Well, I mean, back in middle school, I was a bit like that too, but aren’t all seniors like that? Was it just our middle school that was strict?”

“Well, that kind of thing exists everywhere, you know.”

“Well, honestly, regardless of Maengho’s senior’s personality, his skills are real, right?”

“Definitely. I faced off against Maengho in the finals, and I truly felt the pressure back then.”

As the conversation shifted to stories about Ji Maengho’s skills, Jung Hwichul, who had been quietly listening nearby, chimed in. As a rookie player who participated in spring camp within a year as an ex-high school player, Jung Hwichul’s words drew the attention of the two youngest players towards him.

“Oh, senior. You went head-to-head with Senior Maengho in the finals?”

“Yeah. Honestly, we could have won, but we couldn’t stop Maengho, so we lost. I thought he was good even back then, but I didn’t expect him to be this good.”

The championship game against Hanche High School from last year still haunted their dreams—the situation where they were winning, only for an overturning grand slam in the 9th inning. The tears shed that day were still etched in their hearts. However, as time passed and they reflected on that game, rather than harboring resentment, a sense of admiration for batter Ji Maengho began to grow.

Especially admirable was his boldness in taking charge of his swing in crucial moments. Despite being in a situation where confidence could easily waver after recording no hits until then, Ji Maengho did not back down. He took his swing and rescued the team from crisis. A senior with a strong mentality to look up to—this was how Jung Hwichul saw Ji Maengho.

“Indeed, watching Senior Maengho bat is truly awe-inspiring.”

“His skills are definitely top-notch. If he were on a different team… Oh, I don’t even want to think about it.”

Even Junhu, who had been discussing Maengho’s character moments ago, couldn’t help but acknowledge his skills, which resonated even more profoundly with the younger players. Like a legend.

The records Ji Maengho set during the previous season were immortalized in history, and what was even more frightening was that it was achieved in his rookie year. Human Ji Maengho might be unknown, but batter Ji Maengho was undoubtedly a player to be reckoned with.

In particular, Kim Jonghoon, a player designated in the second round by AT Thunders and a batter, felt this even more strongly. To Kim Jonghoon, Ji Maengho was more than an idol. From power and physical abilities reminiscent of Major League players to his batting form, Kim Jonghoon wanted to emulate everything about Ji Maengho.

“Ah, I’d love to be close friends with Senior Maengho too.”

“It would be nice to be close with Maengho hyung.”

Upon Kim Jonghoon expressing his desire to be close with Maengho, Junhu, forgetting the original purpose of the warning, put on a slightly foolish expression and played along with his statement.

“Well… sure. Being close with Maengho hyung would be nice.”

“Why? Are you going to pass on some great tips or something?”

“Great tips? Well, if there are any, there are. Maengho hyung is good-looking, you know. He attracts a lot of girls. If you stick around Maengho hyung, you might get lucky even in your sleep.”

“What does that mean…”

“Do you know that I’m also close with Maengho hyung? We used to go to clubs together a lot. Ah, good times.”

“Senior Maengho goes to clubs? I thought he’d just focus on baseball… Wow, achieving such results while having fun?”

“Jonghoon, things are different between pros and high schoolers. You need to take it easy to perform efficiently. It’s pro-level play.”

“Sigh, someone would think he’s been playing for 10 years.”

“Shut it, second-string player.”

“….”

With a solid fact that shut Kim Hyun-seong’s mouth, Im Jun-hu looked back at Kim Jong-hoon and said,

“Anyway, I was hanging out with Maeng-ho hyung at the club and ended up getting a girlfriend too. Look. Isn’t she pretty in the photo?”

Then, he took out a photo from his uniform and showed it to Kim Jong-hoon. Unable to use phones during training, he had the photo printed to satisfy his desire to see her. In the picture, Im Jun-hu and his girlfriend were smiling and drawing hearts.

“Oh, she’s pretty. Where did you meet her?”

“In Daegu. She’s a long-distance relationship, but since I often go to see her anyway.”

The girl he met at the club during the away game in Daegu with Maeng-ho was exactly Jun-hu’s type of beauty, and they had started dating passionately.

“Wow, I’m envious.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t.”

“I do. Want me to show you a picture when we get in?”

“Forget it. What kind of picture is it?”

So, the five youngest members of AT Thunders found themselves sharing love stories and finished up their chores, and Jun-hu finally got some rest. After the grueling training, the hard-earned break came, and the first thing Jun-hu did was call his girlfriend.

“Hello~.”

-“Jun-hu…. What should I do?”

But the voice of his girlfriend that reached Jun-hu was filled with sobs. Flustered, Jun-hu stuttered as he asked her what was wrong, but she didn’t respond. After about 10 minutes of questioning, Jun-hu’s girlfriend finally managed to speak up.

-“My father’s factory is on the verge of bankruptcy due to being stuck with money. We need around 2,000, but we have nowhere to get it.”

“Sis! Don’t worry. I’ll try to arrange some. My salary has increased quite a bit this time. I still have my signing bonus.”

-“I’m sorry, Jun-hu. You’re busy with training, and I’m telling you this…”

“No, you’re my girlfriend. I should do this much.”

After ending the call and sending the money, Maeng-ho approached Jun-hu.

“Hey, why make a call like that?”