Yoga

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!"

"Kyaha hahaha!"

"Ah—ah—ah! Team Leader! Team Leader! Wait a second, just a secon—aaaaargh!!"

I was currently twisted into the single most agonizing pose known to humankind. Cheon Sojin's full weight pressed down on my back, and my arms were bent at angles nature had never intended.

"Heh heh. Your flexibility is terrible. How do you expect to pitch like this?"

Team Leader Cheon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sojin gave my back a light push with her foot, grinning with pure mischief.

"Is this yoga, or is this torture…?!"

"It's yoga. Do you know what matters most for a pitcher these days? Flexibility. Flexibility."

"I'm going to shatter into a thousand pieces before I get any more flexible!!"

Cheon Sojin paid my suffering no mind whatsoever and simply continued the torment.

"Alright, breathe in~ and out~ That's it."

She spoke gently as she pressed lightly on my back. Maybe I was getting used to it—this time, I could actually hold on.

"Good. Stay just like that… and—now!"

"Gyaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

The sudden force hit me the moment I let my guard down. I couldn't hold it. I screamed and rolled across the mat like a log.

And then—

"Kyaha hahaha!"

Cheon Sojin burst into peals of laughter at the sight of me.

She did that on purpose. This is deliberate…!

How I'd ended up subjected to this unscheduled "yoga" session with the Team Leader—a session that was really just torture by another name—traced back to about an hour earlier.

"Wow, no wonder. You kept looking at me with that worried expression, Team Leader. I thought it was weird, but that was why."

"…Please stop."

Even on the way out after lunch, my teasing showed no signs of letting up.

"…"

Cheon Sojin stared at me for a long moment, then fiddled with her phone and finally spoke.

"…Player Doyoon."

"Yes?"

"Your next appointment is the flexibility and recovery session, right?"

"Yes."

Huh? Why bring that up all of a sudden?

Something about the meaningful look on her face made me uneasy.

"…Do your best. I'll be going, then."

With that, Cheon Sojin vanished without a backward glance.

"…What was that. Did I tease her too hard?"

She wouldn't actually be sulking over something that small, would she?

Nah. No way. The Team Leader isn't that petty.

I scratched my head, thinking that—and then,

—Bzzzt!

My phone vibrated.

"Whoa, it even pushes reminders like this? That's neat."

Just as Cheon Sojin had said when she talked about pouring everything into a true win-now run, the Wonju Flyers' systems showed real care down to the smallest details. I hadn't been with the team long enough to grasp everything yet, but the fact that they'd built a dedicated player app that automatically managed schedules made it clear—this wasn't just money. An enormous amount of effort had gone into it, too.

For first-team players in the middle of a season, with routines that barely changed day to day, it might not feel like much. But for someone like me, sent down to the developmental squad, or for second-team players whose training, recovery, and conditioning schedules shifted constantly—it was genuinely revolutionary.

"Alright, might as well take a walk and digest."

The moment I stepped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠outside, a landscape where nature and modern architecture blended with uncanny harmony filled my view. Low mountains in the distance, deep green trees, and between them, gleaming glass-and-metal buildings standing in a neat row.

"Throwing from close range… that failed. So what else is there?"

The memory of how ridiculous I'd looked earlier made me cringe a little, but that wasn't what mattered right now. Unless my arm miraculously returned to normal, I was going to need another workaround.

"I should've studied harder in school."

Ever since deciding to become a baseball player, I'd built a wall between myself and academics—and now not a single good idea ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would come to me.

—Bzzzt!

I'd been walking and thinking so long that it was already five minutes to two.

"Whoops—better head in."

I made my way back toward the training facility, opened the door, and spotted a small room off to one side of the weight training area. Mats were laid out neatly across the floor, and one entire wall was mirrored.

"…Yoga?"

Just me and an instructor? Guess I'll wait.

Then—

—Click.

The door opened, and someone walked in.

Form-fitting leggings and a tight athletic top, with a thin zip-up thrown over them—though the zipper was halfway down, casually revealing the healthy, well-toned lines of a body shaped by real training.

Whoa…

My eyes had nowhere safe to land. Nobody was going to call me out, but staring was still rude, so I shifted my gaze up to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her face as naturally as I could.

And then…

"T-Team Leader?!"

A face I had absolutely not expected. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

It was Team Leader Cheon Sojin.

"T-Team Leader, what are you doing here…?"

"Ah. The instructor had an ur.gent.ap.point.ment come up."

She deliberately broke "urgent appointment" into individual syllables as she said it.

"I'm filling in."

The sly little grin that came with those words sent a chill I couldn't quite name down my spine.

"Y-you, Team Leader?"

Why would she…?

"What? I'll have you know I actually have a certification."

"Ah, no—that's not what I meant…"

Don't tell me this is payback for teasing her earlier…!

"Hold on a second, Team Leader."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Did the instructor really get a last-minute appointment?"

Cheon Sojin nodded with a perfectly straight face.

"Of course~ A truly urgent matter came up, I swear."

"…What kind of matter?"

"I don't know either~ Anyway, something urgent came up."

A lie. A one-hundred-percent lie.

She was taking revenge in this petty way just because I'd teased her a little…!

"Well then, shall we get started? Hmm~ which pose should we try first?"

The smile spreading across Cheon Sojin's lips glittered with pure wickedness.

Like a cat watching a mouse it was about to bat around for fun—in that moment, I knew with absolute certainty that I had become the prey.

"Ah, well… since it's the first day, maybe just some light stretchi—"

"Come on, that won't do. I went out of my way to fill in as a spe.cial.fa.vor. We should do this properly."

You mean you told the yoga instructor not to come…?

With that, Cheon Sojin slowly approached the mat.

"Heh heh. Ready? Then let's begin."

The mouse in front of the cat had already lost every path of escape.

And now, screaming on the yoga mat, I thought back to that sly smile of Cheon Sojin's.

She did that on purpose. This is deliberate…!

Fiddling with her phone after lunch, that meaningful little smile—it had all been buildup for this…!

"Alright, up you get. We'll finish with some meditation and call it a day."

Having clearly had her fun, Team Leader Cheon Sojin grabbed me as I rolled around and hauled me upright. Then she made me sit cross-legged on the yoga mat and rest both hands neatly on my knees.

"Alright, breathe in… and out… That's it."

"Haa…"

"Now let go of your thoughts and empty your mind."

"I'm too wronged to empty anything."

"Oh my, what's got you so wronged?"

Cheon Sojin gave a little snort of laughter at my sullen tone and answered with perfect innocence.

"You turned me into a wreck over a little teasing…!"

"Heh heh. When did I do that?"

Still that same guileless tone. That bright, sunny smile of hers was genuinely infuriating.

"The thing about the yoga instructor getting a last-minute appointment—that was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Of course it was."

So she finally shows her true colors…!

"Wait—so you told the instructor not to come just so you could torment one player?"

"Ah, no. It was originally a group class with the other developmental players. I just pulled you out separately and took the session myself."

Tch. I'd been looking for something to pick at, but if that was the case, I had nothing to say.

"But aren't you busy, Team Leader? Do you really have enough free time to harass a single player like this?"

At my pointed question, Cheon Sojin flinched slightly.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I mean, first day and today both. When I was with the Whales, I barely ever even saw the operations team leader's face—but I keep running into you constantly."

She really did seem strangely free. No matter how high-ranking an operations team leader was, mid-season should have been crushing—and yet on day one she'd spent the entire day showing me around the organization, and today she'd filled in as a substitute just because I'd teased her a little and was putting me through this.

"I-I am busy. I carved out time for you, Player Doyoon, okay?"

That only made it weirder. Wasn't that basically admitting she could free up time whenever she felt like it, even when nothing special was going on?

And then there was her age—suspiciously young for a team leader. A front office was still a kind of company. Was it even possible to climb that fast?

"Man, no matter how I look at it, something's off."

Don't tell me…

"Um, Team Leader, are you by any chance—"

"Hold on a second!"

Before I could finish, Cheon Sojin cut me off in a rush.

Then, eyes darting away as if rattled, she started scrambling into her outer layer.

"I-I just got an urgent call! I have to go right now!"

"Huh? All of a sudden?"

"Yes! It's really urgent! Truly!"

With that, she hurried toward the door. Actually, "hurried" might have been generous—it was closer to a full sprint.

"That's it for today's session! See you next time, Player Doyoon!"

—Click.

The door shut, and all that remained was silence.

I stared blankly at the door and muttered,

"…What was that?"