4. A Man Plays Defense (2) (NSFW Illustration Ahead)
"Reeaady~…."
With her enthusiasm audibly deflating, Kim Na-hyun took her place on first base, glove held high. My motivation, for what it was worth, had actually grown — at last I could check with my own eyes whether my throws were the kind a teammate could actually handle.
"Stay sharp and get ready to take Tae-oh's throws."
"Yeesss~."
"Tae-oh, you just keep doing exactly what you were doing."
"Yes, Coach!"
"Ten more through the third-short gap."
Crack!
The bat in Coach Yoon Gaeul's hands turned over in a short, vicious cut, and a hard grounder squirted out between third and short. My body was already moving, springing reflexively toward the ball's path — I hurled myself left, dropped my glove in line with its trajectory, and swallowed it up.
Thwack!
The instant it hit the pocket I plucked it out with my bare hand and came up standing, then took one light shuffle step and fired to first.
Whoosh!
"…Huh?"
Kim Na-hyun, my throw smacking into her glove chest-high, stared back at me with a flicker of surprise. "What's this? That's a pretty nice arm."
"Thank you!"
"No chatting. Next."
Crack!
Right on the heels of Coach Yoon's words, another ball came rolling along the same course. This one pulled a little harder toward the shortstop's side — normally a ball the shortstop would field more comfortably than the third baseman, but this was practice, after all.
Thwack!
I went down in a slide, arm stretched to its very limit, somehow kept the ball in the glove, then popped up as fast as my body allowed and fired to first.
Whoosh!
"Gyaaah, I almost did the splits…."
My throw had been a touch rushed and it came in low, so Na-hyun had to lean into the catch, grumbling the whole way — but the ball stayed put in her glove all the same.
"Throw's too low."
"Sorry, Coach!"
"Throw another one like that and I'm not catching it next time~."
Tossing out the joke as she worked the ball free of her glove, Na-hyun — and after that, Coach Yoon's fielding drill simply kept rolling on. Past the grounders knifing through the third-short gap, on and on it went.
Crack!
"Next."
Crack!
"Next."
Still no praise — but nothing to pick apart either, and by her standards that meant I wasn't doing anything wrong.
Crack!
This time the ball took a rotten, unpredictable hop off the grass, and I chased it down to the last possible moment before finally corralling it — then threw to first in a single motion, no steps at all.
Whoosh!
"Ooooh~ he caught that? Coach, Tae-oh's defense is actually good, isn't it?"
"…Next."
Even with Na-hyun clowning around that openly, Coach didn't call her out — which probably meant that by her book, that last play had genuinely been pretty good. Having a fielder at first who reliably caught the ball did settle my nerves, I'll admit. With the glove sitting right there in my sight line, aiming my throws was that much easier.
"This time, ten rolling down the line."
"Yes, Coach!"
Tock.
I charged forward to meet the ball hugging the foul line, fielded it off the sprint, and threw to first.
Thwack!
"Ahh, throw it a little slower! It nearly popped out."
"Sorry, Coach!"
"Don't get hasty when you're charging in."
"Yes, Coach!"
…I had to admit, slow grounders did tend to make me rush. In my past life, if you didn't scoop one of those and get rid of it in a hurry, the runner would beat it out at first more often than not.
Settle down and think it through. The players I'd be facing here were women, not men. However much professional coaching they'd had since childhood, when it came down to raw foot speed they ran a step behind the male players I'd gone up against before — I needed to move with that fact baked into every play.
"Next."
Tock.
Coach Yoon's next ball rolled out in front of me, and this time I picked it up, took one unhurried step, and delivered a calm, easy throw to Na-hyun.
Pop!
"Nice ball!"
"…Then just keep it that calm every time."
Apparently that play had looked decent even to Coach Yoon — she'd come out with something close to praise, of all things. She kept that bat swinging for another thirty minutes before she finally called the fielding session to an end.
"Haah… haah… haah…."
"Good work. Go get some rest."
"Th-thank you, Coach!"
Brutal — brutal enough to leave my breath climbing up out of my throat — but the night fungo session was over, one way or another. Kim Na-hyun was peeling off her glove at first and wandering my way, an odd little smile playing on her lips.
"Wow, you're secretly pretty good at fielding, Tae-oh? When the Coach suddenly started making you do defense, I honestly thought it was some kind of pointless stunt."
"I can hear every word, Kim Na-hyun."
"Oh, come on — be honest, Coach, you didn't know he could field this well either. Between his reaction time and his arm, you could probably pencil him in as a third-base backup already."
"…."
"I'll admit I'm one of those 'what's a boy doing playing baseball' people myself, but Tae-oh really does seem a little different from the other boys? Like, y'know — all that. Hehe."
She wrapped it all in a joking tone, but underneath ran honest praise — by her own standards, some real acknowledgment. And with Coach Yoon not bothering to deny any of it even as Na-hyun said it to her face, maybe the two of them were thinking along the same lines.
"…Tomorrow."
"Yes?"
"Infield group fielding practice, seven tomorrow morning. It runs until eight-thirty, so don't be late."
"…Ah — yes, Coach!"
"Any spots that took a ball during fielding, ice them down properly on your own. You do know how that's done, right?"
"I do!"
"…Good. Then handle it yourself. Seven tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Coach!"
Taking care of my body after training was a habit I'd kept up religiously in my past life, after all.
"Thank you!"
I bowed toward Coach Yoon Gaeul's departing back, and she answered with a vague flap of her hand without so much as turning around. It might have read as overdoing it, but the gratitude was heartfelt. Without a mindset like Coach Yoon Gaeul's, no one in this world would ever even have attempted to give a man a real shot as a full-fledged player.
"Na-hyun — you. Don't go blabbing about what you saw today. Everyone will find out tomorrow morning anyway."
"Aigoo~ I have a sense for these things, you know~. And honestly, even if I told them, who'd believe me? A boy at third — not first base, not the outfield — who plays a boy at third?"
"…As long as you know. Straighten up the field between the two of you, then head in."
"Yes, Coach!"
"Yesss~."
Conscripted into surprise training with no warning whatsoever, yet answering right up to the very last with her energy fully intact — that was her for you. Grateful that she'd gone along with the session to the end, I bowed to Kim Na-hyun as well and offered my thanks.
"Thank you, Senior Na-hyun — for going along with training at this hour."
"Hmm, well, 'going along with' is a generous way to put it. 'Got dragged out here' is more accurate…."
"I'll clean up the field and head in after. You should go rest up, Senior."
"Oh, forget it. I've already sweated through everything anyway. Cleanup goes twice as fast with two of us, so I might as well see it through to the end."
"Still, I feel bad about it…."
"Nothing to feel bad about. I'm picking up the balls at first first, so grab a box and follow me."
"Yes, Senior."
Turning down her offer to help to the very end would have been rude, I figured, so I hoisted the box of fungo practice balls and followed her toward first base. The small fondness I'd been quietly nursing for Kim Na-hyun ticked up another notch.
Aaah, I'm beat.
I only wandered over because I was curious what all the fuss was, and then Director Yoon Gaeul — our dear skipper — snagged me on the spot. A boy doing fielding practice? It's not every day you see that, so I figured I'd watch for a minute. Who knew I'd get pressed into service the moment I arrived?
My mistake, my mistake. And there went my perfectly good shower, straight down the drain.
"Mmm, well…." At least I got a fun show out of it. I never would have guessed that Tae-oh kid could field third base like that.
Granted, I'd only seen him take grounders and throw to first, so it was too early to crown him or anything — but personally? Pretty decent, I'd say. Yeon-seo was supposed to be the third-base backup, and at this rate she might genuinely lose her spot to him.
…Is thinking that maybe going a bit far?
I do get why the Coach is drilling him on defense — bat or no bat, you can't park a guy in the designated hitter spot forever. Still, he's a boy. I really doubt he could hold down an infield backup job. And not first base — third, of all positions.
I mean, why did he even ask to play third in the first place?
I did slip the question in while we were cleaning up together, and apparently he's out there practicing third because he asked to practice third. Because he wanted to. Sure. If he'd just said outfield, there are three spots out there — wouldn't the competition have been a lot kinder to him?
Well, not like it's any of my business~.
Then again… with Tae-oh standing at third, things might actually be a little more fun? I'd feel a touch safer with him there than with the others, that's for sure. He's tall, and he was vacuuming up balls that should have gotten past anybody.
I was halfway to the dorm on that train of thought when I realized the sweat from catching at first was still clinging to me in the worst way.
"Mmm, what do I do…."
If I walked into the dorm like this, I'd feel too gross to sleep a wink. And Yu-ra would probably pitch a fit about me reeking of sweat, too. Maybe I'd better wash up one more time. It's not like the showers are far from the dorm anyway.
Would the shower room even still be unlocked at this hour?
Praying it hadn't locked up yet, I made my way over — and found the lights still burning. And with water drumming away somewhere inside, someone was clearly in there washing up.
Who is it? Didn't everyone shower already?
Not that it particularly mattered who. If anything, having someone else showering at this hour meant I wouldn't be bored — or so I thought, as I stripped down in a hurry and stepped up to the shower room entrance.
"All right — who's the shameless wretch hogging the shower room all by themselves in the dead of night~!!"
—Shhhhhhhh….
"…S-Senior Na-hyun?"
"E-Eeeh?!"
Standing under the showerhead was Kang Tae-oh — the very same man who'd been slinging throws from third not ten minutes ago. Naturally, without a stitch on him. Not so much as a towel between that bare body and the world.