Last Day Team Dinner (1)
"Ah—hello. Sorry I'm a little late."
The moment the door to the barbecue restaurant swung open, Cheon Sojin stepped in, let out a long breath, and swept her messy flyaways back behind her ears. Traces of a hurried run still clung to her face. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and she hadn't quite managed to steady her breathing yet.
"Huh? Team Leader, you actually came!"
"I know, right? She said she'd definitely make it today!"
The front-office staff waved cheerfully. Cheon Sojin caught her breath and flashed a bright smile.
"Yeah, I tried to get here as fast as I could… but I'm still a bit late. Sorry."
She lifted her head slightly and scanned the tables one by one—front office, coaching staff, players—her eyes moving as if searching for a seat.
Somehow my gaze followed hers without thinking. And for the briefest instant, our eyes met head-on.
"……"
"……"
Cheon Sojin's gaze lingered on my table for a moment.
Then—
"Team Leader! We saved you a seat over here!"
One of the front-office staff waved big and called out. Cheon Sojin's steps faltered—just barely, almost imperceptibly.
"Ah, right. Coming."
She turned toward the front-office table with a perfectly natural expression, smiling as if that tiny hesitation had never happened, exchanging greetings with the staff before taking her seat.
I was still watching her from behind when—
"Doyoon?"
Gyeongmo tapped the table in front of me with the tip of his chopsticks.
"Hey, flip the meat already. It's burning!!"
I snapped back to reality with a jolt.
"Ah…… huh? Oh—right."
"Aigoo, it's already charred. Want me to just take over? Ah, never mind. Daegeun, you grill it."
Kim Gyeongmo poked at the meat on the grill and clicked his tongue. In that short stretch of distraction, the edges of the marinated galbi had gone pitch black.
"N-no, I'll do it."
Remembering the catastrophe from last time we'd left Kang Daegeun in charge of the grill, I reflexively snatched up the tongs.
In all my life, I have never seen anyone that bad at grilling meat. Seriously.
As I got the meat going again, the mood around the table started to warm up.
"Hey…… Doyoon. You know about this? When that article about you dropped, this bastard Kang Daegeun……"
A tipsy Kim Gyeongmo slung an arm around Kang Daegeun's shoulders.
"Ah—ah! Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden! I didn't mean it like that, I swear……!"
Daegeun, who'd been drifting into a pleasant haze, snapped wide awake and flailed both hands in a panic.
"I never doubted you for a second, hyung-nim!! Never!!"
I stopped flipping the meat and looked at him.
"……What exactly did you say while I wasn't around?"
Kim Gyeongmo pinned down Daegeun's thrashing and pressed on.
"Hey, Doyoon. You be the judge. 'Hyung-nim… what if this is real? Aren't we in big trouble?' — is that not doubt?"
"Wha—how is that doubt! I was worried about you!"
Daegeun nearly sobbed as he protested.
"Hey, how is that worry? There's a sliver of suspicion in there—that's why you said 'what if'! Are we even a team after that?"
"Tsk…… it's kind of a gray area."
Daegeun raised his voice again.
"I'm telling you it's not! I believed in you, hyung-nim! The second I saw the article I went, 'Ah, this is a total hit piece'—"
"And then you went, 'What if it's real, though.'"
Kim Gyeongmo cut in, looking thoroughly smug.
I held back a laugh and pointed the tongs at Daegeun.
"Ha…… Kang Daegeun. Positions."
Daegeun shook his head like he was genuinely about to faint.
"Ah…… seriously, seriously, it's not like that. Hyung-nim."
And right then—
Kim Gyeongmo snatched up the water cup in front of him, filled it to the brim with soju, and advanced on Kang Daegeun.
"I said no!!! That's a misunderstanding!!"
Daegeun recoiled in horror—but I'd already been blocking his escape route for a while.
"H-hyung-nim… you're not serious…? You want me to drink… all of that?"
Gyeongmo pressed the cup into his hand like a Joseon-era executioner delivering a final sentence.
"The criminal Kang Daegeun—shall receive the poison cup!"
After forcibly pressing the poison cup—well, the water cup—into his hands, the table dissolved into a sea of laughter for a long while. But Kang Daegeun, the man at the center of it all, eventually went down for real. His face was flushed bright red, and his tongue was half-tied.
"Hyung-nim… I really… this is so unfair…… huuuh……"
"Hey, enough. Just go back to the dorm."
Kim Gyeongmo sighed and caught Daegeun by the shoulder as he swayed. I stood up and hauled him to his feet.
"Up. Can you walk?"
"Yes… yes! I can… walk… uhhh……"
He said that, then his legs gave out and he staggered. In the end I had to half-carry him out of the restaurant.
Outside, the cold night air cut straight through my uniform. A van taxi was waiting in front of the place.
The second the wind hit him, Daegeun launched into another confession.
"Hyung-nim… I really… never doubted you… I… believed in you… I really… did……"
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Drop it already and let's get you home."
"Hic…… yes……"
I opened the taxi door and got ready to load him in.
"In you go. The driver's taking you back to the dorm."
"I can… walk……!"
Before he even finished the sentence, his feet wobbled again.
"You walk, and tomorrow you wake up in a police station. No more talking—get in."
I finally shoved him into the taxi. A few other players who were already past the point of coherence were inside as well. The moment the door shut, Daegeun planted his forehead against the window and went limp like he'd passed out.
"Whew……"
I let out a breath and turned back toward the restaurant.
On the way, in a dark side alley near the barbecue place, I spotted someone on a phone call.
It was Cheon Sojin.
The noisy clamor of the dinner party spilled out from inside the restaurant, while she stood a step removed in the quiet alley with her phone pressed to her ear.
"Ah, oppa, come on……! I said I'll handle it myself……!"
It wasn't her usual clean, crisp way of speaking. The words came out a little soft and mushy… if I had to put a name to it, there was a hint of aegyo in her tone.
……Oppa?
I stopped walking and held my breath without meaning to.
"Ah, it's fine. I'm not that drunk. I'm serious…… I barely drank anything……"
She claimed she barely drank, but anyone listening could hear the alcohol thick in her voice.
"Mm…… okay. Yeah. Don't wait up, just go to slee……"
Don't wait up, just go to sleep……?
That affectionate, slightly coquettish tone—and the last line telling someone not to wait up and just go to bed.
……Must be a boyfriend.
Thinking about it, it was only natural. Someone that beautiful and that capable not having a boyfriend would be the strange part.
I should pretend I didn't see this.
I was about to quietly turn around and slip back into the restaurant like nothing had happened when—
"Oh, Doyoon!"
Cheon Sojin's voice snagged me from behind.
I turned my head slowly. She'd already ended the call and was looking at me with a sly glint in her eyes, phone still in hand.
"Where'd you go?"
Her tone had settled a little compared to before, but the ends of her sentences still lifted with that faintly playful, almost coquettish edge.
"I was looking for you anyway. Perfect timing."
She didn't seem interested in waiting for an answer—before I could get a word out, she trotted right up to me. She'd clearly had quite a bit to drink; the smell of alcohol rolled off her in waves.
"Uh, uh…… me?"
She was so close I instinctively took a step back. Cheon Sojin's eyes went round, and she actually looked a little hurt. Then she said, out of nowhere:
"Doyoon, are you upset with me about something?"
"……Huh? U-upset? Wha—no. Of course not……"
I scrambled for an answer, and she looked me up and down with even redder cheeks, then pushed out her lower lip in a pout.
"Then why have you been so cold to me lately?"
"……Excuse me?"
"You have."
She kept studying me, then stepped even closer and dropped her voice. Her speech stretched a little, the ends of her sentences curling upward.
"Lately when I talk to you… you just give me half answers. You barely even look me in the eye."
"……Th-that's……"
"And just now—you knew I was here and tried to sneak back inside, didn't you? Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
I opened my mouth, then quietly shut it again.
Honestly…… she had a point.
Back during that bullpen session in the developmental squad. When the GM had pushed for me to take the mound. The way Cheon Sojin had fought so hard against it from behind the scenes. After seeing that, I somehow couldn't treat her as easily as before.
I knew, of course. She hadn't opposed it because she disliked me. Anyone watching me throw nothing but meatballs straight down the middle would have done the same—kept me off the mound. That was the normal call.
It wasn't even something I could blame her for……
I'm just…… a petty person, that's all.
I couldn't find the courage to say it out loud and just muttered to myself—when Cheon Sojin took another step closer.
"Hmm…… looking at you, yeah. You really were sulking at me."
I jerked my head up in surprise.
"Wh-what?"
"Yep."
Cheon Sojin narrowed her eyes, puffed her cheeks slightly, and even crossed her arms.
Under her relentless pressure, I finally decided to just tell the truth. Admitting out loud that I was a petty person was honestly a little embarrassing… but I'd been in the wrong, so taking the hit felt like the right thing to do.
"W-well, the truth is……"
The words were right on the tip of my tongue when—
"Hold on!"
Cheon Sojin suddenly thrust her palm out in front of my face, cutting me off.
"Wait. Let me guess."
"……Huh?"
"Ah, there's a thing. It'd take a while to explain… anyway, I have to guess it myself."
She uncrossed her arms, rested a finger on her chin, and started slowly looking me over from head to toe.
Her completely unreadable behavior left me thoroughly confused.
……What on earth is this? Is she really that drunk?