The Half-Team's Harsh Reality
They weren't expecting the locker room air to lighten up anytime soon. Chairs still lay toppled on the floor in pathetic defeat, and Son Tae-ho's anger showed no signs of fading.
"You guys are fucking hilarious. Kim Hu-seong hasn't made a single defensive error so far, and his batting average is higher than yours—how the hell are you guys, the ones with errors and low averages, still playing?"
That's when the manager and coaches walked into the locker room.
"Uh... tone it down a bit before you head out."
"Yes, sir."
But they quickly gauged the atmosphere and kept moving. It was better not to intervene in situations like this. They'd only taken one loss so far, but nipping any major team shake-up in the bud like this made things easier to manage down the line.
Once Son Tae-ho had let off a round of steam, Lee Sang-hyeon stepped up for the second wave.
"Hey, and this is for all of you. You keep forgetting the basics..."
I watched the scene unfold, smirking inwardly. It was deeply satisfying. Those two had been strutting around all day, talking big, but now they were completely deflated, heads bowed like ripe barley ready for harvest.
Then it happened.
Son Tae-ho called out to me.
"Hey, Kim Hu-seong."
"Yes, sunbae!"
"Come with me. Let's talk out back for a sec."
My name being called out of the blue made my heart skip a beat. Was he finally going to rip into me for real this time?
But once we were outside, Son Tae-ho spoke in an unexpectedly calm tone.
"You—don't drink so much."
I blanked out for a second at the words. Even though I'd half-expected it, I quickly bowed my head.
"Your performance dipped today because of the booze, right? Watch out for that."
"Ahem. That's why I didn't make any excuses."
Son Tae-ho stared straight at me and sighed.
"That's why I didn't chew you out, you idiot. Got it?"
"Ahem. Yes, sir."
He kept going.
"You know your ears get all flushed when you drink? What if you just keep following along? I'm a booze hound, so it's fine for me, but plenty of guys have gotten into serious trouble from drinking. You got the memo this time—be careful. Understand?"
"Yep. Got it."
"The real stand-up guys won't drink even if a sunbae buys it for them. Those are the impressive ones. But you're not that type. You've got good guts, and that's a strength. You can read the room pretty well too. Unfortunately, though, you're no booze hound."
"Right. I'm kinda weak..."
"Yeah. Being weak's no sin. But drinking more when you know you're weak? That's a sin. Causing trouble drunk? Also a sin. Live knowing that."
His tone was stern, but there was an odd warmth beneath it. That was the weight carried by a true team leader.
I bowed my head again.
"I'll keep it in mind, sunbae."
"Good. Now get some solid rest tonight. Recover quick."
The Turkeys cheerleading team was quietly preparing to head out along the corridor next to the locker room after the game. Then, suddenly, a loud bang echoed from downstairs. Sounded like someone kicking a chair.
A thick male voice boomed next.
"Is this a team? Get your heads straight!"
A few cheerleaders exchanged glances. Whispers followed.
"Isn't that the players getting chewed out?"
"Yeah... the game was kinda rough today..."
"Poor guys..."
"It's their first loss, though..."
Cautious sympathy rippled through the cheerleaders. That's when Seo Ha-yoon's eyes flickered uncertainly. She recalled some players muttering about giving Kim Hu-seong hell.
Is the one getting yelled at right now... Kim Hu-seong? That player?
Her heart wasn't at ease because of it.
Then, cheerleader team leader Jeong Su-a spoke quietly.
"Times like this, we just slip out quietly. Don't get involved. It'll be fine. Getting reamed out mid-season after a team meeting? Happens all the time. We do our job, they do theirs."
"Right. Team leader knows best."
Everyone nodded. The cheerleaders headed down the corridor in silence, pulling their suitcases with clothes inside, exchanging quiet goodbyes as they clocked out.
A little later, as Seo Ha-yoon stepped out toward the parking lot, she spotted someone by chance. It was Kim Hu-seong, fresh off his chat with Son Tae-ho.
Kim Hu-seong gave Son Tae-ho a bow, and Son Tae-ho waved him off casually before heading back to the locker room first.
Seo Ha-yoon stared at the scene. Silently. Words bubbled up in her throat, but they wouldn't come out.
In the end, her feet moved first.
She shuffled over hesitantly and forced her mouth open.
"Um, excuse me."
Kim Hu-seong looked up.
"Huh? Who...?"
He tilted his head, and Seo Ha-yoon panicked. She'd already changed out of her cheer uniform, but she hadn't expected him not to recognize her at all.
"Uh... that... this morning..."
"Oh! Ah... the rookie cheer girl!?"
"Yeah."
Seo Ha-yoon hesitated a moment, then gave a small smile.
"Heard it was chaos in there. Got yelled at by the sunbaes, huh?"
Not really... So that's what the cheerleaders thought? I scratched my head.
"Kinda. They were just... setting the tone."
Seo Ha-yoon nodded at the answer.
"I get chewed out a lot too. Mess up rehearsal, and the team leader lays into me."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yep. So... let's both do our best."
She clenched her fist as she said it. But her face flushed red right after.
Cute... Embarrassed, Seo Ha-yoon grabbed her suitcase and scurried off.
Uh... what was that...? I was a bit thrown, but it was fine. Cute was good enough.
The next day, thanks to a good night's sleep, I'd recovered a ton and headed straight to the stadium. But in one corner of the locker room, I paused, lost in thought.
Something about what Son Tae-ho had said yesterday was nagging at me. So I approached him.
"What?"
"Uh... sunbae, I've got a question."
"Shoot."
"But... is the first team really only half-baked right now?"
His face twisted in disbelief the moment the words left my mouth. The corner of his lip twitched—not a smile, but pure exasperation.
"Hey, Hu-seong. Recite today's lineup for me."
I racked my brain, trying to recall.
"Uh... Leadoff shortstop Kim Han-seong, two-hole second baseman Hong Yu-chan. Cleanup right fielder Lee Sang-hyeon, four-hole DH Son Tae-ho, five-hole first baseman Ha Jin-woo, six-hole third baseman Lim Jae-min, seven-hole left fielder Yoo Sung-jae, eight-hole catcher Jang Ha-jun, nine-hole center fielder Kim Hu-seong."
"Good memory. But you don't see anything weird about our lineup?"
"Weird?"
"Yeah. Nothing at all?"
I repeated it in my head a few times, but nothing clicked.
"No clue...?"
Son Tae-ho smacked his forehead with a deep sigh.
"Man, you really have zero interest in this team. We're playing without any foreign hitters."
I blanked out.
"Oh... ah, right."
"Not 'right'—do you get how serious this is? Four starters are out injured. You think this is a proper team? You weren't even supposed to come up from the second team."
I finally nodded.
"Sorry. Didn't realize there were that many injuries. In rehab, the only guys I knew were Hwang Do-yoon sunbae and Gu Min-seok sunbae."
His eyes widened at that.
"Hwang Do-yoon and Gu Min-seok? Yeah, those two were starters, idiot. Hwang Do-yoon's a cleanup first baseman, Gu Min-seok's the two-hole. Add in Jeong Yi-hoon out injured, and our top four bats are gone. Got it?"
Wait, those two were that important? I scratched my head and muttered.
"Aha... gotcha."
"Yeah. Lee Sang-hyeon, our current three-hole, used to hit ninth. That's how we finished second last season."
"So this season..."
"Fucking tough. Winning two against the Phoenix on this lineup is a miracle. And our ace went to the army, so... 20 wins was a stretch anyway, but like 15 are gone."
Everything clicked then.
"Sounds rough..."
"The series against the Eulji Crows? We could get swept. That's partly why we set the tone yesterday."
Son Tae-ho patted my shoulder.
"It's gonna be hard, but no sweeps. Absolutely not. Win at least one of the next two. Got it?"
I nodded seriously.
"Yes. I'll do my best."
"That's the attitude. I don't expect much from you. No defensive errors, and get on base once a day."
Okay. No errors, one hit a game. I can do that!