episode_0266

“We’re already leaving the country.”

“Yeah.”

Waiting at the airport for the airplane, it felt real that I was leaving the athlete village, no, the sex village. It was a bit regretful to leave like this. Just the women I’ve been fooling around with until departure, four in total. Starting from the judo player to the swimmer, gymnast, and track athlete.

The girl who was swimming was a bit arrogant, handling things roughly from the first day, so it was a bit disappointing that she didn’t contact me afterward. It was regrettable that Hyuna, who left early due to preliminaries, wasn’t here, but still, it was fortunate that there were women I could have sex with.

“Well, I did enjoy myself quite a bit.”

These past few days, not only at night but whenever I had free time to rest, it was more exhausting than the season itself.

“But where do you go every night?”

Even my roommate Woojoo noticed.

“Well, there’s something like that. You didn’t get caught by the coach, did you?”

“Whether I got caught or not, it’s not high school.”

“Well, don’t they have that kind of thing in the future? I heard your team is strict about that.”

“Well, our team… There’s a bit of that.”

“Do you rookies also stay in dorms?”

“Yeah, until the third year.”

“Wow, that must be tough.”

Wonho mentioned that even Shilla players use dorms, and if I had ended up in such a team, I probably wouldn’t have made it. I felt thankful once again to Soyoung, who picked me.

“At least you can focus on baseball without a girlfriend.”

“But with your status, you’d probably receive a lot of calls from different places, right?”

Jang Woojoo. Despite losing to me in head-to-head matchups, with a 2-point ERA and skills to win 10 games for the weak team Future Buffaloes, along with throwing 100 miles, he had decent physicality and a face that wasn’t bad to look at.

“I do, but for now, I’m told to focus on baseball. That’s why.”

“By whom?”

“My mom.”

This guy, a mama’s boy?

“…Cheer up.”

That was all I could say. Well, I understood what Woojoo’s parents might be thinking. With Jang Woojoo’s level, even if it weren’t me, he would have been named Rookie King and whether he goes to the majors or not, success in Korea was almost guaranteed. Still, not being able to enjoy his twenties a bit was a bit pitiful.

“Looks good, huh?”

While talking with Woojoo, the youngest member of the national team, Wonho, approached us.

“Oh, Wonho’s here?”

“Jimangho, you bastard. Because of you, Yonggi-hyung twisted his ankle during practice.”

“Yonggi-hyung? You seem pretty close already if you call him ‘hyung.’ After this season ends and you become a free agent, try to persuade him to come to Shilla.”

“Will he come? They probably won’t offer even 5 billion.”

Well, there’s no way to buy a free agent from Shilla.

“More importantly, are you preparing well?”

“What preparation?”

“You’re carrying the flag this time.”

“Oh, that.”

I almost forgot. As Wonho said, I was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the Asian Games this time. According to the coach, I was chosen because of my performance this year and my decent physical condition. It seemed like the Sports Council had an eye for talent.

“I envy you. Damn.”

“Envy what? Just waving a flag back and forth.”

Although Wonho said it nonchalantly, in reality, being a flag bearer was like representing the nation. No matter what, my heart couldn’t help but race.

“Where was it in the last Olympics? Some athlete from a certain country carried the flag and went to have sex like crazy afterward. How about you do the same?”

“Well, I don’t need to carry the flag to have fun.”

“That’s true. And to get Mengho attention, you should unzip your pants, not wave a flag.”

“Hey, but aren’t you and Mengho brothers from the same school?”

“That’s right.”

“When did Mengho get so big?”

“He was pretty huge even when I first saw him…”

“Ah, damn. Are those guys seriously talking about someone else’s junk?”

“Your dick size is even more disgusting.”

“If you’re jealous, just say you’re jealous, man.”

“…I’m jealous.”

Jang Woo-joo looked genuinely envious, giving me an uncomfortable glance. …I guess I’ll have to share a room with this guy in China.

“Oh, right. Maeng-ho.”

As Jang Woo-joo and I distanced ourselves slightly, Won-ho seemed to remember something and spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“Before the Asian Games end, the classmates want to get together. Why? Several of our classmates made it to the national team this time. Hyun-ah did too.”

“Is it based on enrollment criteria? Or graduation criteria?”

“Obviously, it’s based on graduation criteria.”

Thank goodness it was based on graduation criteria. Due to my injury, I honestly couldn’t even remember the classmates I entered school with.

“Really? Are there enough to see them once?”

“Haven’t you seen the guys?”

I didn’t have time to see them as I was busy having sex with girls. I did see a lot of senior students at school though.

“You, me, Hyun-ah, and then Seung-woo, Dohyun, Ji-hee, and Soo-yeon. About seven people like that?”

“That’s quite a few.”

Seven people. It was a lot. But luckily, I remembered the names and faces of those guys. If they were representing the country now, they were probably famous within the school as well.

“Wow, Hanche High School was famous in the sports world, there are really a lot of them. But there aren’t many in the baseball world, are there?”

“Well, in baseball, not many make it to the pros. Except for me and Maeng-ho, most have probably retired.”

“Oh, it had to be my era when I came out. You win one or two more and then go pro.”

“What’s the point of winning in high school?”

“It changes the signing bonus.”

“I didn’t see much difference.”

“You’re a hitter, and I’m a pitcher. Okay?”

…What a jerk.

“Alright, get ready to board now.”

As we chatted and relaxed, the time for the plane to depart approached.

This was already my third international competition. The first one I went as a batting ball pitcher, and the second, the WBC, I left amidst controversy. But the third international competition was different. I was selected as a rider even before the opening ceremony.

Thinking about this, I felt that I had really worked hard over the past year.

“Kid, seems like you’re nervous?”

“Me? Why would I be nervous?”

“Really? Your face looks stiff though.”

“That’s because of being a rider. Honestly, baseball is nothing.”

My response to Rosby was sincere. A gold medal? That wasn’t even a problem. Japan, which had a strong lineup, consisted of social baseball players, and Taiwan had a level of professionalism.

But my only worry was tripping while riding, that was all.

“You seem confident.”

“Well, if even an amateur can’t beat them, how will they go to the majors?”

“In that sense, are you going to do it alone?”

“Do we need multinational women gathering at the Asian Games?”

“…Let’s synchronize our breaths for this tournament.”

“Okay.”

Coolly rejecting Rosby’s worthless suggestion, I picked up my luggage. It was my first international competition as a key player of the team. Determined to win the gold medal, I walked forward.

*

After departure, time flew by quickly. Starting from the rehearsal of the opening ceremony, looking for a place outdoors near the team’s accommodation to have sex where there were no CCTV cameras, and conducting light training, the opening ceremony was approaching in no time.

“Maeng-ho, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“This guy, look at him freezing. Just walk holding the flag like in the rehearsal.”

“Don’t worry. I’m Ji Maeng-ho.”

And so the opening ceremony began. Contrary to my worries, I flawlessly performed my role as a flag bearer, holding the flag high. Perhaps thanks to being a flag bearer, after the ceremony, I even collected contact information from some female athletes from various countries who were okay with casual hookups, asking for their phone numbers, Instagram IDs, Line, and such. Since they were foreigners, it felt like a one-time meet-and-greet without any pressure.

“So, are you going out again today?”

As I was about to go enjoy a night with one of the girls whose contact I had received, my roommate Jang Woo-joo stared at me piercingly.

“Is it right to look at your hyung with those eyes just because he wants to have sex?”

“Sigh.”

Jang Woo-joo let out a deep sigh. However, he didn’t intend to stop there. With quite some time left before the baseball game started, I had no intention of wasting this time. Moreover, it seemed like our coach had no plans to confine us to the dormitory as long as we trained properly before the baseball schedule began.

‘This is the perfect environment for hooking up.’

As I was about to leave the room, my eyes met Woo-joo’s. The look in his eyes somehow seemed sad. He had done a lot of my laundry until now…

“Why? Are you planning to hook up with someone, hyung?”

Ugh… I’m weak-hearted, that’s why.

“Really?”

The kid acted uninterested. After casually browsing through my phone, I handed over the contact of a girl who wasn’t my type at all to Woo-joo and left the room.

‘She’s an adult too, she’ll handle it herself. She wouldn’t ask me to set her up, right?’

Feeling slightly uneasy, I suppressed my interest in the girl and turned on my phone. Messages from today’s target flooded my phone screen.

‘Did she have high expectations for today?’

Today’s target was an Indian equestrian athlete. Her face was somewhat nondescript, but her deep-set double-lidded eyes and straight nose made her a typical Indian beauty. As much as she was the first one to approach me, her appearance perfectly matched my taste. Furthermore, since it was my first time with a foreigner, I felt a bit nervous.

“Have you ever been with an Indian woman, Rossby?”

“Nope. I’m looking forward to it.”

Rossby’s voice was full of anticipation. Initially, Rossby wouldn’t even consider women unless they were Caucasian, but it seemed like his preferences had become more eclectic since being with me.

“Heh, race doesn’t matter down there.”

“Indeed, right?”

“Everyone has their own flavor. But it’s a shame it’s the Asian Games. If it were the Olympics, I could taste women from my homeland after a long time.”

While chatting with Rossby, I found myself reaching the apartment where the girl was waiting.

“I have to call it my room if I’m using it alone, it’s a team sport after all.”

Smart move. I knocked on the door, and she opened it.

“Natasha?”

“[Hi, Ji. Thanks for coming.]”

Although it was in an Indian accent, it was English, so it wasn’t hard to understand.

“Hmm, did you just shower?”

With damp hair and the lingering scent of perfume in the room, she seemed fully prepared before my arrival.

“[Should we talk in the room?]”

“[Sure, come in.]”

A foreign girl to taste for the first time. What would she be like? I wondered.