161 km/h
After Park Haeun’s confession(?) offensive left the air a little awkward, I hurriedly changed the subject.
“Oh, right. Mom said she called you over a few more times after that day to eat together.”
“Ah… yes.”
Park Haeun nodded as she finished bagging the trash.
“Sorry. My mom’s a bit… really outgoing. It must’ve been a lot of pressure.”
“Oh, no, not at all.”
She shook her head quickly.
“I liked it too. Living alone, there are plenty of times I miss home-cooked food, and Auntie—uh, your mom—taking care of me like that…”
“……Really?”
“Of course. Later on I even asked if it was okay for me to come over first.”
Only then did the tension ease out of my shoulders.
“That’s a relief, then.”
Park Haeun just smiled softly without another word. We finished sorting the recyclables soon after that short exchange.
“Shall we head up?”
“Yes.”
We reached the third floor and said our goodbyes; she lived on the fifth.
“I’ll go, then. Get home safe.”
“You too… Doyoon.”
After parting with Park Haeun I headed for my own place, already thinking about what to do tomorrow.
Name: Han Doyoon
Position: Starting Pitcher
– Stuff: 65
└ Fastball: 70+5
└ Slider: 60
└ Changeup: 55
└ Cutter: 60+5
– Movement: 60
– Control: 65
– Stamina: 65
– Pickoff: 55
I hit 161 today, so tomorrow I ought to get a real taste of it, right?
I pulled out my phone and texted my senior right away.
In senior-speak, that meant yes.
If it had really been a no, he would have started with the reason.
I sent the near-command and closed the phone.
Then, out of nowhere, the conversation from my first meeting with Park Haeun floated back up.
“I’ll just show you next off-season. Watch from behind the net if you want. I’m telling you, it really comes in alive.”
“Huk……! R-really?!”
It had been a throwaway line, but I still remembered how excited she’d gotten when I offered to show her my pitches.
So I started digging through my contacts to invite her along to the center tomorrow—
Nothing?!
Come to think of it, Park Haeun and I had never exchanged numbers.
I spun around and sprinted back up the stairs.
In seconds I was on the fifth floor. Park Haeun was right there, hand already on the doorknob, about to step inside.
She turned at the sound.
“……Doyoon?”
I was a little out of breath. She looked me over once, clearly noticing the rush.
“Ah, hang on a second.”
“Yes?”
I spoke a beat late.
“Um… are you free tomorrow, by any chance?”
“T-tomorrow?”
Her voice jumped half an octave and she stumbled over the word. Her eyes flickered just a little.
“I’m going to a center run by a senior of mine to throw a bit.”
“……Okay.”
Short answer. Unlike a moment ago, her voice had dropped noticeably. I almost kept going, then felt the shift and took an extra breath.
“I told you before, remember? That I’d show you my pitching up close.”
“Ah.”
Park Haeun froze for a second—literally like her brain had hit a loading screen.
Then, a moment later—
“Really?!”
The shout was loud enough to echo down the hallway.
She startled herself at the volume, clapped a hand over her mouth with a quick “Hup!”, glanced around, then gave me an awkward look.
“S-sorry…”
“No, it’s fine.”
After another quick check of the corridor she lowered her voice to a near-whisper.
“Th-then… what time should I come?”
“Is one o’clock okay?”
“Ah…… I have something at one…”
Her sentence trailed off. She dipped her head, thinking.
“Then… what time works for you?”
“Before one should be fine.”
I answered right away.
“How about twelve?”
“Yes, that works.”
The second she said it I pulled my phone out again.
Classic senior—impossible to tell whether that was permission or resignation.
“We’re good.”
“Wow…”
Park Haeun gave a tiny clap.
“Then let’s meet out front of the villa at 11:40 tomorrow. Sound okay?”
“Yes! Perfect!”
She was still fighting a smile all the way through the second round of goodbyes and into her apartment. Watching her that happy made me feel good for no real reason.
On the way back downstairs after locking in the plan, a thought suddenly hit me.
……Wait. Was that a date invitation?
I shook my head almost immediately.
Come on, what kind of date is this? I didn’t even ask her to eat. I just said I’d show her my pitches. This is pure fan service. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
The next day I stepped out of the villa at exactly 11:35, already in workout clothes. I’d thought I was early, but Park Haeun was already waiting.
The autumn chill had settled in properly; she had a cardigan thrown over a knit top, jeans, and comfortable sneakers. Nothing fancy, yet her cute face kept pulling my eyes anyway.
“Uh… hi.”
“Ah, Doyoon.”
She looked my way and smiled a little. Only a small crossbody bag hung from her shoulder.
“I came out too early, didn’t I?”
“No. I just got here too.”
I checked my watch again for no reason. 11:36.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
We fell into step side by side. A short walk later we reached the building that housed the pitching training center my senior ran.
On the way down to the basement Park Haeun kept glancing around.
“First time somewhere like this?”
“Yeees… I’ve seen plenty of videos, but never actually been inside one. I didn’t even know a place like this was in our neighborhood.”
“My high-school senior runs it.”
“Wow… but is it okay for me to go in? There’ll be other students, right……? I won’t be in the way…?”
I waved off her unnecessary worry.
“Don’t worry. No customers.”
“Oh…… that’s a little sad…….”
We followed the stairs down until the familiar sign came into view.
KINETIC PITCH LAB.
The door opened onto the distinctive smell of rubber mats and a compact interior that took in everything at a glance. Lights hung at even intervals from the ceiling; inside the cage the netting and mound were neatly arranged.
“Whoa……”
Park Haeun let out an unconscious breath of wonder.
“Cozier than you’d expect, right?”
“Yeah. It feels like… an actual secret base. Exactly like the videos.”
Footsteps sounded from the back.
“Hey, why so early? It’s only 11:5—”
My senior started in his usual loose drawl, then stopped dead when he saw Park Haeun standing next to me.
“—0.”
That was all he managed before he fixed me with a glare that clearly said, Explain this situation right now.
Feeling a little guilty, I answered while dodging his eyes.
“She wanted to watch me throw. I figured I’d let her take a look.”
“……A look?”
The light in his eyes sharpened. He strode over, jabbed me in the ribs, and spoke through clenched teeth.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“Is this your personal dating spot?”
I felt Park Haeun flinch behind me. I hurried on.
“N-no. We’re not like that.”
I shook my head hard.
“She lives two floors up and says she’s a fan. Plus she really loves baseball! You know that sabermetrics stuff you talk about sometimes? She’s amazing at it. So I just thought… it’d be nice to show her as a little fan service… that kind of thing.”
“……”
The more I talked the longer the excuses got—probably because I felt guilty. Senior just stared at me in silence for a while.
“……You brought her knowing I couldn’t say no, didn’t you?”
“Hehe.”
“Ugh. Fine. Do whatever. If it hadn’t been for that Phoenix Flag thing I’d really……”
He let the sentence die and shook his head.
“Haa… whatever.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.”
He waved a hand, let out a long sigh, and disappeared back into the inner room.
“Um…… he seems really mad. Are you sure it’s okay?”
“It’s fine. He’s not mad—that’s just his personality.”
“Uh…… really? No matter how I look at it he looks mad…”
Anyone meeting him for the first time would be thrown. But he really was just like that. Even now he’d grumbled and still quietly made himself scarce.
With Park Haeun fidgeting beside me, I wordlessly started warming up.
I’d already finished Full Power Pitching – Hard and gotten all my skills back, so a long warm-up wasn’t necessary. After a light stretch I stepped into the cage. Park Haeun was pressed right up against the netting, both hands gripping the mesh, bright eyes locked solely on the ball in my hand.
Activate Full Power Pitching.
Full Power Pitching
Forces maximum velocity · Stamina consumption ×2
Even though it was the off-season I flipped on Full Power Pitching like it was a real game. The familiar heat bloomed from my shoulder all the way to my fingertips, and for a second it felt like I was standing on an actual mound.
“Sss…… haah.”
I drew a deep breath, let it out short, and set myself.
I dropped my center of gravity, locked my hips tight, and started the drive with my backside as the axis. Keeping balance, I drove as far forward as I could; the lead foot planted and stopped the forward momentum.
At the same instant the hips opened. The upper body that had been holding firm began to rotate in sequence. The rotation traveled up through the waist into the shoulders. Only the scapula stayed behind, holding its original position to the very end.
Tension stacked through my whole body like a bowstring drawn taut. The moment it hit its limit—
Whap!
All that stored power released at once. The scapula unlocked, the arm cracked like a whip, and the wrist added the final snap. The ball left my fingertips and shot out in a straight line before I could even track the path.
Sssshhhk!
Bang!
The sound of air tearing, then the ball smashed into the strike-zone board mounted on the wall. A brief silence settled over the cage before the machine chirped.
Beep-beep!
161 km/h