episode_0393

Thud – Ouch!

“Wait, seniors! Why are you here now? What were you doing yesterday!”

Cuba, known as the strongest in amateur baseball. Even though professional players have joined the national team for their own players’ showcase these days, they couldn’t stop our lineup.

Seonghyun, who started today, kept Cuba’s hitters scoreless until the 6th inning, and with Gu Jinmo’s two-run homer, the score widened to 12:0. I was worried because of yesterday’s game against the Netherlands, but fortunately, my familiar seniors had returned.

Although I managed to hit a single, I added another home run, recording a decent performance with 3 at-bats, 2 hits, 2 home runs, and 1 walk.

A top-notch game washing away the defeat from the Netherlands! The batters, who seemed tied up by Van den Berg yesterday, seemed to take out their frustration by hitting Cuba’s pitchers hard.

And in the bottom of the 7th, the pitcher who came up to finish the game was Go Yeonghwan, who had moved to the big leagues this season. Having been replaced by Park Cheolyoung, I could comfortably enjoy Go Yeonghwan’s pitching.

“Since it’s a cold game today, we won’t be eliminated.”

“That’s right.”

“If we win with a high score against Panama tomorrow, there won’t be any problem with being in first place.”

“Well, even if we lose, we should still move up. Unless we face a cold game.”

Conversations among the coaches could be heard from the dugout. Perhaps until yesterday, they were calculating various scenarios, but their voices sounded quite light-hearted.

To advance to the next round, a minimum of third place was needed. With three groups, only two teams would move up, but with today’s high-scoring game, the chances of us falling behind were slim. Moreover, victory against Panama would secure our advancement.

Especially considering that Cuba was not an easy team to beat, wiping them out in a cold game indicated that yesterday’s match might have been simply due to conditioning issues, making the coaches’ voices naturally cheerful.

With the coaches’ bright voices, Go Yeonghwan finished off the last batter, concluding the game.

“Great job.”

“Rest well today and prepare for tomorrow’s game!”

“But we still need to aim for first place.”

“Yes! Great job!”

A cheerful atmosphere in the dugout unlike yesterday. Today’s starting pitcher Seonghyun pitched well, so apart from the fact that he might become the game’s MVP, it was a perfect game.

“I’m relieved we won. Seriously, because of me yesterday.”

“You’re still worrying about that?”

“Sigh… Do you know how many insults I received in DMs yesterday? Calling me a traitor, telling me to drown.”

No wonder Wonho didn’t look cheerful since morning; he seemed bothered by those comments.

“I told you to delete them. What’s good about keeping those?”

“Still, reading the supportive messages is kind of fun. It’s comforting. Oh, but didn’t you create one in high school too?”

“…I deleted it. Weirdos just kept sending me dick pics.”

While I did have a secret account, I never posted anything, and since I only allowed selected people to follow me, it was practically non-existent.

“Really? You should try it. It can be helpful.”

“You do it a lot.”

“This guy never shares good things. Fine. Let’s go shower.”

“If you come near me, I’ll kill you.”

“…Why are you suddenly like this? You were like a chicken in a coop during high school, yet you managed fine.”

Back then, there were many baseball club members, but now with fewer people and excellent facilities akin to Major League stadiums, luckily, there was no need to shower while seeing the guys naked.

After finishing the shower and returning, I turned on my phone as usual, only to find it blowing up.

“…What’s this?”

-Soyoung: Maengho, don’t give weird answers. Try not to do interviews unless necessary. I’ll handle it.

-Dickhead1: Hey, are you okay? Haha, seems like you got screwed?

Sooyoung, Hyuna, and many others left me worried messages. There were so many messages that it was difficult to check each one.

“What’s going on? Why are they like this?”

And such pretense wasn’t just confined to my phone. While all the seniors in the locker room were watching me, Gisangju, one of my closest senior teammates on the national team, approached me.

“Mangho, did you see the article? It caused a huge stir.”

“Why? I just did as usual. Well, hitting two home runs in a game isn’t that difficult.”

“No, not that. Haven’t you read the article? It’s causing a commotion right now.”

“What article?”

Gisangju wordlessly thrust his phone towards me. On the phone screen was an article.

– Popular idol Juhee’s lover, national representative J. Controversy over a scandalous private life?

One day before iBLACK’s comeback, Juhee visited the stadium for a cheerleading event. It wasn’t unusual for a girl group preparing for a comeback to do cheerleading, but Juhee’s next destination was peculiar. A shabby bar on the outskirts of Seoul. There, Juhee met J. By the way, J had been involved in a scandal with Sehee, an actress from Juhee’s agency last year!

What is the charm of this man? Juhee smiles.

(Photo of Juhee and J laughing in front of a car.)

The affectionate appearance of the two seemed like they were dating. Since an iBLACK insider heard ‘It seems like iBLACK and a baseball player are dating,’ the reporter wanted to dig deeper into this meeting. And what was discovered was shocking.

J was constantly surrounded by women every night. J only went home three days a week. Except for the days he went home, J was busy meeting women at clubs and hotels. He even met a team’s cheerleader.

(Photo of A team’s cheerleader and J entering a hotel.)

Did Juhee notice J’s scandalous private life? Whether she was shocked or not, after that, there were no more sightings of Juhee and J meeting. However, judging from J’s private life, it seemed like Juhee and J were deeply in love…

“What the hell, when were these photos taken? Anyone can tell it’s me, right? And Juhee, what the hell? We haven’t even held hands. They’ve completely fabricated a story.”

It was unbelievable, but curious about what it said, I continued reading the article. However, after that, the article was filled with a few photos of me entering a hotel and some irrelevant talk. Feeling like there wasn’t anything particularly interesting, I handed the phone back to Gisangju.

“…Nothing special, right?”

“You read it till the end, right?”

“No. It got boring halfway through.”

“Hey, read it all.”

-…Meanwhile, J’s scandalous private life continued even in the United States. This Olympics, J, who was selected as a national representative, seemed to have forgotten that he represented the country. He was spotted dining with foreign athletes near the athletes’ village.

(An Italian track athlete dining with J.)

(American shooting athlete entering the athletes’ village with J.)

(French equestrian athlete entering a hotel near the athletes’ village with J.)

(Early morning, American swimmer coming out of the athletes’ village with J.)

Only what this reporter confirmed. Did J forget that he should be training for the Olympics representing the country, as he was busy meeting women? And then the games began.

(J getting out at 3rd base. Should he have had sex a little less? J seems to be regretting something.)

(J making an error at 2nd base. Was he thinking about the girl he met yesterday during the game?)

Due to J’s consecutive mistakes, the national team eventually suffered a defeat against the weaker team, the Netherlands… Meanwhile, a player who had enjoyed a night with J supported J’s scandalous private life by saying, “J is the best man I’ve ever met. After having sex with him, I couldn’t get my mind straight all day long,” “During my 7 visits, he only felt pleasure twice,” and “J. He was like a drill.”

“What? Are they crazy? Why did they write such an article?”

“Yeah, didn’t they say to keep it low-key?”

It was a given that I spent time with many women day and night. It was odd not to know this when I was out with my teammates six days a week. Even when asked about my routine, I would casually reply that it involved having sex the day before.

Initially, some seniors hinted for me to be discreet, but my sexual prowess made it so that no one dared to interfere.

It was strange to meddle in someone’s personal life, especially when it didn’t affect training or performance on the field. Hence, neither seniors nor anyone else had much to say.

“Sorry, Maengho. It seems like trouble followed after I introduced Juhee to you. That place specializes in entertainment news…”

Suddenly, Joo Seung-chul approached, expressing his apologies. He seemed to think it was his fault that such a reporter was trailing them.

“Ah, it’s fine, hyung.”

After reassuring Joo Seung-chul, senior players started gathering around me.

“Hey, are you really dating Juhee?”

“Weren’t there rumors about you dating an actress before?”

“No! Absolutely not. I haven’t even held hands with Juhee!”

“Well, what about the cheerleader?”

“Haha, that’s nothing.”

“Wow, this guy has been around, from Italy to the US to France.”

“Man, were you busy yesterday too?”

“Well, that’s…”

“Hyung, this guy usually hooks up the night before a game.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.”

“Usually, that works better.”

“Could it be that you hooked up before last year’s Korean Series too?”

“Yes. There’s no reason not to. Besides, I perform better on those days than when I don’t.”

“Ha… Ended up getting second place because of this guy.”

“Quiet! Quiet! Ji Maengho! Come here! The coach is calling you.”

While answering the players’ questions, the coach called me over. Ignoring the seniors who were questioning me, I followed the coach.

“Maengho… What are we going to do about this?”

“What do you mean, coach?”

“Our national team’s image is in shambles. Reporters are all over us outside. Oh, Coach, have you arrived?”

“Maengho.”

Coach Lee Geum-hyun approached with an unusually low voice. He usually spoke kindly to me, almost like a grandfather figure, so hearing him speak in such a tone made me break into a cold sweat.

“Yes?”

“How are we going to handle this?”

“Well…”

“…If you want, we can prevent any contact with reporters until the Olympics end.”

As expected, Coach Lee was on my side! Even during the Asian Games, he turned a blind eye to me entering other players’ rooms or inviting them to mine.

“But you must win the championship. Otherwise, the talks will continue.”

“…Understood.”

While the offer to avoid contact with reporters until the end of the Olympics was tempting, I didn’t want to cause trouble for a coach who believed in me. So, my response was a refusal.

“Huh?”

“Of course, we will win.”

“Then…”

“I’ll confront it head-on.”

Why should I avoid reporters when I haven’t done anything wrong?