Have You Lost Your Minds?!
After cleaning up the pitching practice field littered with baseballs, I headed upstairs to the first-floor cafeteria for breakfast.
When I opened the door, Park Taejeong and Kang Daegeun were already eating. I scooped up some rice and sat down with them like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"What are you two doing eating together?"
They got along fine, but their morning routines were different enough that seeing them share a meal like this was rare. I asked out of genuine curiosity.
"Ah, we've got a meeting with the manager a bit later, so we're eating together, sir."
"…Yeah."
"The manager? Why's he calling you this early? Assembly's at noon, isn't it?"
We were all going to gather soon enough for the game anyway. I couldn't figure out why he'd single just the two of them out.
"We don't really know either, sir."
"You guys mess something up?"
"…Not sure, sir."
The conversation died for a moment, leaving only the sound of chewing.
"But hyung — you pitched great yesterday. Does that mean you're heading up to the first team now?"
"Probably…? I haven't gotten the call yet, but I'd be surprised if I didn't."
"Kinda disappointing, if I'm honest, sir."
"Then climb up there yourselves. And nothing's confirmed yet, either. They could still tell me to throw one more game down here."
I said it casually and opened my phone to show them my schedule.
"See? Look. My second-team schedule's still up."
Kang Daegeun leaned in to peer at the screen.
"Ah, you're right."
I was about to lock the phone when—
"Wait, hyung — you've got a meeting too, sir."
Kang Daegeun suddenly pointed at the screen.
"…What?"
I looked again. He was right. There was a meeting on the calendar.
[10:30 / Manager Meeting]
"A meeting at this hour…"
Did they lock in a first-team start for me?
I'd been expecting it, but seeing it sitting there on the schedule made my heart pick up a little.
Then Kang Daegeun's eyes went wide beside me.
"…Ours is at ten-thirty too, sir."
All three of us froze at once. A brief silence hung in the air. The two of them exchanged a look, then turned toward me almost simultaneously.
"…No way."
I nodded without a word. No explanation needed. The same word surfaced in all three of our heads.
"Call-up?"
"Call-up?"
"Call-up?"
Kang Daegeun, Park Taejeong, and I all said it at the exact same time.
And just like that, Kang Daegeun and Park Taejeong wordlessly started shoveling rice into their mouths like their lives depended on it.
"Whoa — am I actually getting called up, sir?"
"…"
We polished off our food at lightning speed, and the three of us — me, Park Taejeong, and Kang Daegeun — headed straight for the manager's office. Excitement already outweighed nerves on both of their faces.
Kang Daegeun half-jogged down the hallway as he talked.
"Come on, this is a hundred percent, right? They called us in with you, hyung!"
"Calm down. We haven't heard a single word yet."
"Ah, then what else would it be? There's no reason to call us in together if only you're going up to the first team, sir!"
I crossed my arms and looked between the two of them.
"My first-team move isn't even confirmed yet. Don't start counting your chickens. What are you gonna do if it's not that?"
"Come on — four scoreless innings in a rehab start? Of course you're going up! And me and Taejeong are getting called up too!"
Watching him bounce around like that put an uneasy feeling in my gut.
What if it's not a call-up…?
Just then—
"Huh? What, you guys have a meeting too?"
Kim Gyeongmo came walking down the far end of the hallway in his training gear, a coffee in one hand and that usual easygoing smile on his face.
"Gyeongmo-hyung?"
Kang Daegeun's eyes went round.
"You've got a meeting too, hyung?"
"Yeah. Manager called me in first thing — figured he was about to chew me out again… He called you guys too?"
"Yes, sir. We're at ten-thirty as well."
"Hmm…"
Kim Gyeongmo looked us over with a meaningful nod.
The fact that Gyeongmo had been called in too only amplified the unease.
Even if the standings are basically settled this late in the season… calling up four guys at once?
"Let's just go in."
We all nodded at Kim Gyeongmo's words. There were still five minutes left, but showing up a little early wouldn't hurt.
"You're here."
A short greeting the second we knocked and stepped into the office.
"Come in. Sit down."
Kang Daegeun moved first, and the rest of us — me, Park Taejeong, Kim Gyeongmo — filed in behind him.
Kang Daegeun was so sure of the call-up he couldn't sit still, eyes constantly flicking toward whatever the manager was doing.
"Alright. I'm sure you already know why I called you in today."
The manager stood up with a serious expression and looked us over one by one.
But that face…
The rigid set of his features made me straighten up in my seat without thinking.
"Yes, sir!"
Kang Daegeun, still completely missing the shift in atmosphere, answered brightly — still floating on the high of an expected call-up.
Then the manager spoke.
"You lot — have you lost your minds these days, or what?"
Of course. The bad feeling hadn't been wrong.
At the manager's razor-edged words, even Kang Daegeun's goofy grin froze solid as he finally read the room. Kim Gyeongmo and Park Taejeong, who usually kept their expressions locked down, couldn't hide their shock this time either.
I had a feeling it was going to go like this…
Kang Daegeun's hyped-up, premature celebration replayed in my head.
Got my hopes up for nothing…
"Daegeun."
"…Yes, sir."
Reduced to a lamb in front of a wolf in the span of a second, Kang Daegeun's lips barely moved.
"Why has your play gotten so reckless lately? Passion hot, play cold — how many times have I told you that? All flash and no substance. Barehanded catches every other play, glove tosses for no reason."
"…I'm sorry, sir."
"And at the plate, too. You just want to be the hero so bad you swing at anything that looks close. You think the opposing pitcher is an idiot? You think he's just going to serve it up for you?"
"…No, sir."
Under the manager's cutting feedback, Kang Daegeun's head dropped low.
"And Taejeong."
"…Y-yes, sir."
Park Taejeong answered like he was on the verge of tears.
"Why is your call play this bad?! If you can get it, get it. If you can't, get out of the way clearly."
"…"
Taejeong looked one second from crying — the words wouldn't even come out of his mouth.
"You're not going to answer me?!"
"Y-yes. Yes, sir. Manager."
Park Taejeong jumped and answered at the manager's roar.
"Baseball is a team sport! Communicate! Talk to each other!"
"Y-yes… yes, sir…"
Leaving the stammering Park Taejeong behind, the manager's next blast swung toward Kim Gyeongmo.
"Gyeongmo."
"Yes, sir."
Kim Gyeongmo answered more calmly than expected.
"What were you doing while these kids got to this point? If you're the captain, act like a captain. If you're a senior, act like a senior. When the juniors go off the rails, you're supposed to reel them in."
Kim Gyeongmo stared straight at the manager's face without a word.
"Am I wrong?"
"No, sir. I'm sorry."
With that, the manager's blazing eyes landed on me.
"And last — Han Doyoon."
"Yes, sir."
I was wound tight myself, sitting ramrod straight as I met the manager's gaze. My pro career had only been three short years, but getting chewed out by managers had taught me one thing: when you're getting scolded, looking them in the eye like this is sometimes better than burying your head the way Kang Daegeun and Park Taejeong did.
"Why are you so impatient? Rest is training too. I get that you want to get to the first team as fast as possible, but you're overdoing it."
Hearing it out loud, I had to admit he was right. Blinded by clearing the Third Journey, I'd been grinding myself down with every training session I could find. This morning had been the same — hounding O Daesik into a throwing session that wasn't even in the routine, shadow-pitching nonstop in the dugout.
Sure, Diamond Body meant my body itself was fine. But that was only the body. Looking back on the days I'd run without ever giving my mind time to recover, I felt the weight of it.
"…I'm sorry."
The manager's speech ended, and a long silence settled in.
All four of us just sat with our heads down, unable to say a word.
How long did that silence last?
"Pff. Pff-hehehe."
A laugh came from somewhere.
Who has the nerve to laugh right now…!
At a sound that had absolutely no business existing in this ice-cold atmosphere, I lifted my head and looked around.
Park Taejeong and Kang Daegeun did the same. Taejeong's eyes were actually red — like he'd genuinely been about to cry.
"Khff, pff."
The culprit was Kim Gyeongmo.
His shoulders were shaking as he desperately tried to hold it in.
What is wrong with this guy all of a sudden…!
We sat there terrified, waiting for the manager's next explosion, when—
"Ah~ Gyeongmo. You can't start laughing here."
"Manager, your acting is genuinely terrible."
"You see how frozen solid those kids are? You're just too sharp, you little punk."
The exchange between the manager and Kim Gyeongmo made no sense to us. The three of us just stared blankly at each other.
"Eh, no fun."
The manager brushed his hands off and laughed.
"Hey. You're getting called up. Pack your bags!"
At that single line—
"…What?"
Only then did the situation click. Park Taejeong and Kang Daegeun finally let out the tears they'd been holding back. Taejeong's lips trembled, and a tear rolled straight down his cheek.
"Hic… is it real…?"
Kang Daegeun couldn't even form words — just sat there with his mouth open, staring at the manager — before covering his face with both arms and bursting into full sobs.
"Waaaah… Manager, that was way too much, sir…!"
The manager laughed heartily.
"Hey, why are you crying? Stop crying."
Kim Gyeongmo, still fighting back laughter, patted both of them on the shoulder.
"Ugh-hic. Hyung — sniff — you could've said something!"
"Come on, you couldn't tell just by looking? No instincts at all."
Once Kang Daegeun and Park Taejeong's crying settled a little, the manager spoke again with a smile.
"But what I said just now — that part was real."
"…Sir?"
The manager smiled.
"When you get to the first team — Daegeun, no more showboating! Taejeong, talk more! Doyoon, ease up on the training! Got it?"
Park Taejeong nodded through his tears, and Kang Daegeun sniffled and repeated, "Yes… yes, sir!" over and over.
The manager watched them and huffed a quiet laugh.
"Good. You all did well. Everyone worked hard."
The room filled with a mix of laughter and tears. Kim Gyeongmo set his coffee down and said,
"Manager, I genuinely thought we were filming a drama."
"Drama or whatever — as long as the ending's good, right?"
We all laughed at that.
Someone was crying, someone was laughing, and someone still wore a face that hadn't quite processed it yet.