Tame the Killing Intent
The moment I got home, I collapsed onto the bed as if all my strength had drained away. Haah… Suddenly, frustration, embarrassment, absurdity, and an inexplicable sense of emptiness washed over me. My mind had been pretty calm and my mood good when I headed out… But as the conversation with cheerleader Kim Se-rin replayed in my head, all those emotions surged back.
At first, it was fine. The misunderstanding seemed to clear up a bit, we even laughed and chatted, and the atmosphere improved. But the ending was the problem. Just date around and pick one? It felt like she said it just to piss me off… Those words scratched at a deep part of my heart in the most infuriating way. Every time I recalled them, my chest tightened uncomfortably.
"Ah…"
I clutched my head. My thoughts tangled into a mess, and my head started to throb. Staying awake like this would only make it worse, so I decided to just sleep it off. I lay down, closed my eyes, and soon fell into a deep slumber.
How long had I slept? When I opened my eyes, the room was dark and quiet. Checking my phone, it was 4 a.m. But the instant I woke, an inexplicable irritation flooded me. Yesterday's final scene replayed in my mind again.
"Argh, seriously… Why say something like that…"
Pondering how to shake off this annoyance, I opened my phone and typed into the search bar.
- Ways to control anger
Results poured in, and as I scrolled down a bit, one line caught my eye.
"Hmm… People who sublimated their pain into art?"
Below it were examples like Frida Kahlo, Van Gogh, Beethoven. A hollow laugh escaped me.
"…Sublimate pain into art? Bullshit."
Then a sudden thought struck me. I'm not an artist—I'm a baseball player. Whether it's pain or frustration, the only place I can vent it is on the field.
"Screw it. What am I even thinking? I'm a ballplayer—just play ball."
Muttering that, my mind strangely lightened a bit. My body felt heavier than usual and my head ached slightly, but I figured heading to the training ground would sort my thoughts out. I got up, washed up, grabbed my training gear, and prepared to head to the stadium.
As I finished and checked my phone, I noticed a message from last night.
Hmm? From Seo Ha-yoon.
The first was after the game ended—probably sent on her way home. The second came while I was watching Kim Se-rin the cheerleader. But… I hadn't even seen it and just crashed.
Only now did I reply belatedly.
For a moment, thoughts of Seo Ha-yoon crossed my mind. No, training first. I pushed those aside, opened the front door, and headed out.
What the hell now? That was Hwang Do-yoon's first thought upon seeing Kim Hu-seong. Just yesterday, after sweeping the Phoenixes in their three-game series, he'd been the first to notice Hu-seong's eyes had softened considerably from their usual sharpness. The venomous glare had faded, and his expression had relaxed.
Ah, he's finally back to normal.
But today's Kim Hu-seong had reverted. No, the killing intent in his eyes was even fiercer than before.
Shouldn't sweeping the Phoenixes put him in a good mood? What'd he see this time? Sigh…
Hwang Do-yoon quickly concluded: Something new had upset Kim Hu-seong. And it was a pretty serious emotional issue.
Definitely. He must've seen something. Needs venom detox… The seniors say sweating it out doesn't fix it, right?
So Hwang Do-yoon headed straight to the first-team manager.
"Hey, Manager. A sec?"
The first-team manager turned with a surprised look.
"Yeah? What's up, Do-yoon?"
Hwang Do-yoon glanced around and lowered his voice.
"Does our… YouTube promo team or whoever not shoot videos or something?"
"What's that out of the blue?"
"Well… That guy, Kim Hu-seong, he's the type who secretly does a lot of ego-searching."
"Kim Hu-seong?"
"Yeah. So maybe the club could put out some positive content? He's walking around with that murderous glare again… Probably saw something bad."
"For real?"
"Yeah. Last time too… I remember he got like this after seeing something similar…"
The first-team manager nodded.
"Ah, so that's the issue."
"Right? Even through fans or cheerleaders, we need some artificial positivity. His mental state's kinda fucked—er, a bit off."
Hwang Do-yoon sighed and added,
"Look at him today—he came super early, right? Night game means clocking in at noon is normal… But he shows up like it's a 2 p.m. start, 7 or earlier. Not slacking, just training non-stop."
"Yeah. Heard he got here around 5 or 6 today…"
"See? And his hustle playstyle's ramping up—gonna get hurt for sure. But he can't control it now. To dial back the venom… We gotta do something like this."
The manager seemed momentarily startled by the serious tone, then nodded.
"Good idea. Actually… The skipper told him not to come Mondays, but that might not be enough. I'll pass it up the chain."
"Yeah… Wait, what?"
Hwang Do-yoon's face froze.
"No training Mondays? For Hu-seong? Ongoing?"
The manager nodded casually.
"That's the plan, yeah?"
Hwang Do-yoon stared blankly as the manager walked away.
Damn… Kim Hu-seong, you lucky bastard…
The cheerleaders were running their scheduled practice. Music started, light footsteps syncing to the beat filled the air, and team leader Jeong Su-a was checking formations. Then the practice room door opened, and a Gocheok Turkeys promo team staffer poked their head in cautiously.
"Team leader Jeong Su-a? Got a minute?"
Jeong Su-a signaled to pause practice and approached.
"Sure, what's up?"
The staffer held up prepared documents.
"The club's making a video. We'd love the cheerleaders to appear."
Jeong Su-a nodded—it didn't seem like a big deal.
"No problem. How much footage?"
"Video's about 10 minutes, but with shooting… Maybe 30 minutes to an hour?"
Jeong Su-a nodded naturally.
"What's the content?"
The staffer pulled out materials and explained.
"It's like chatting about players. You cheerleaders as panelists sharing opinions and cheers."
Jeong Su-a nodded, summarizing.
"Send one or two from today's shift?"
The staffer pondered briefly.
"Hmm… Ideally, cheerleader Seo Ha-yoon too. She's super popular right now. First video needs views…"
Jeong Su-a smiled.
"Got it. Of course we'll bring her."
And so the first video shoot was Jeong Su-a and Seo Ha-yoon.
"Which players?"
The staffer handed over materials eagerly.
"Start with Kim Hu-seong. He's the hottest topic."
At that, Seo Ha-yoon's eyes sparkled faintly.
"Ah~ Kim Hu-seong?"
"Yes."
The promo team brought out more docs.
"Fan reactions too—for reference."
The screen showed compiled fan community comments.
Jeong Su-a skimmed indifferently, then her eyes widened.
Seo Ha-yoon flinched slightly at Jeong Su-a reading it. But scanning other reactions shifted the mood.
"More negative than expected? Okay for us to mention Kim Hu-seong?"
The staffer looked awkward too.
"We know. But cheer videos could help. Because…"
"There's a reason, huh."
Jeong Su-a crossed her arms, rechecking the screen.
"Kim Hu-seong gets shaken by this stuff… Constant negativity's bad. We're making positive content, right?"
"Huh? Does he check all this?"
"Probably… Don't spread it. Seems like it. Especially bad stuff makes him intense. Leads to overplay, injury risk. Intent to tone it down."
"Ah… That issue…"
Seo Ha-yoon fell silent. Her face stayed bright, but her eyes grew complex.
The staffer smiled awkwardly.
"At least we know why. Thanks to cheerleaders, he keeps performing well."
"Yeah, we'll do our best. Right, Ha-yoon?"
Seo Ha-yoon nodded at Jeong Su-a's words.
"Yes! Let's do it!"