Escape
I slept deeply.
It felt like the first time in ages that I'd slept so soundly, without even a single dream.
"I woke up at the usual time… but somehow my condition is fantastic. Is this the medicine working too?"
Feeling far better than usual put me in a good mood right from the morning.
"Come to think of it… my shoulder feels fine as well…"
The shoulder that always ached stiffly every morning was completely fresh today. It felt as if I'd swapped in a brand-new arm.
In high spirits I rose from the bed, left it behind, and went looking for the wooden box I had carefully set aside the day before.
"Should I take it now? Or not? It's medicine, so maybe I ought to eat first? Hmm… well, she said a week, so roughly just Mondays should be fine…"
Part of me wondered if there was any need to take it this early, but honestly I couldn't hold back. The hooded woman had only said to take it on Monday; she hadn't specified a time.
Click.
I opened the wooden box and carefully lifted out the first of the four pills. Afraid I might drop it or snap it in half, I handled it with extreme care and sent it straight into my mouth.
Just like before, the moment it entered it melted and vanished in an instant.
"Ugh!"
Bitter. She had said the earlier one was a sample and this was the commercial version… and sure enough, it was far more bitter than what I'd taken before.
They say good medicine is bitter, but this was really going too far.
"I think I heard somewhere that you shouldn't drink water after this kind of medicine…"
I couldn't remember where I'd picked that up, but it suddenly came to mind—that these were supposed to be mixed with saliva and dissolved slowly.
But it had already melted the instant it hit my tongue… so I stirred my mouth vigorously with my tongue to work up saliva and swallowed it down.
"Phew… that did it."
A surge of strength seemed to well up inside me. Of course a lingering unease remained—what if this medicine caused some kind of problem…
"But it's already too late to worry about that… I've already taken it."
What could I do about something that had already melted in my mouth, left only bitterness behind, and gone into my stomach? I had no choice but to trust that mysterious hooded woman.
After lunch Ho-min suggested we grab a coffee, so I planned to head to the café right in front of the house. I threw on some casual clothes, pulled a hat down low, and was just about to leave the room when the phone I'd tossed onto the bed started ringing noisily.
"…"
I wanted nothing more than to ignore it and walk out. My parents never called on Mondays—on the grounds that their hardworking son needed rest. Beyond them… there was no one who would call, and even if someone did, it wouldn't be anyone worth talking to.
So I nearly ignored it… yet something about the ringing grated on me. A feeling that I absolutely had to answer.
"Hello."
"Player Kang Hajin?"
"Yes, that's me. Who is this?"
"Uh… well…"
A short while later I hung up and stared blankly at the already disconnected phone.
"What's with the vacant look?"
"Does a low-level staffer usually make this kind of call?"
"What is it? From the club? Second team? Or did you finally get cut?"
"Uh… well…"
"Huh? For real? What happened?"
"Well… they say I've been traded."
"…What? Really? Seriously? Fuck, where? Where to? Where are you going?"
Ho-min got more worked up than I was and started yelling at the top of his lungs. It wasn't anger at the sudden trade. On the contrary, he was thrilled.
The caller had been a complete stranger, but the number belonged to the stadium, so I couldn't dismiss it as a prank. Which meant…
"Please say Mirae. Say Mirae!"
"…Mirae. Mirae Savers."
"Yes! Done! Perfect! If it's that manager, we're good!"
"…Shit… Yes! Yes! Fi! Nal! Ly! Fuuuuuck!! I'm finally escaping!!"
The club staffer's call had been to inform me of the trade. It was odd that a low-level employee—not the general manager, not the manager, not even a coach—had delivered the news, but still…
Just to be safe I saved the number, then dialed one I had never called before. I couldn't bring myself to contact the manager, so I reached out to our team's—no, my former team's—pitching coach.
The pitching coach merely confirmed it in a thoroughly annoyed tone.
Still dressed in the same clothes I'd planned to wear to the café, I climbed into the car Ho-min was driving and headed for the stadium. I cleaned out my locker in record time and left without a shred of regret.
"Taeseong hyung."
I had zero attachment to this club. There was only one person—Taeseong hyung—who had looked after me even while the manager had me marked and the coaches wouldn't give me a second glance. The other players kept their distance out of fear of the staff, but Taeseong hyung had been different.
"Yeah. Go do well."
"…You knew?"
"Of course. I recommended you."
"What? What do you mean…"
"I'm pretty close with that manager over there. Heh."
"I-is that true? So you recommended me?"
"Yeah. So go throw however you want—let it rip."
"Th-thank you, hyung."
"Sure. See you soon. Hanging up."
"What? Hyung? Hyung?"
Taeseong hyung hung up right there. See you soon… was he planning to visit Seoul for fun?
"Ah! He means when they come for an away series."
I suddenly remembered him saying it was a waste for me to rot on this team. When he'd said it he hadn't looked merely regretful—he'd seemed to be turning something over carefully in his mind. He must have already been thinking of recommending me back then.
"Hmm… I should treat him to some beef later."
Back home I packed lightly.
"Finally the freeloader is leaving."
"…Yeah. I'm leaving. Thanks for everything all this time."
"Good that you know. But where are you going to live? Team dorms or something?"
"I'll have to find a place."
"Really? Hey, wait a second."
Ho-min sat me down on the bed for a moment, then left the room with his phone. From the voices in the living room it sounded like he was talking to someone. About ten minutes later he came back with a bright expression.
"Hey. You go live at our aunt's place."
"…What kind of nonsense is that out of nowhere?"
"Our aunt lived in Jamsil. Don't you know? I'm sure I told you."
"I know. I think I heard. But how can I just move into your aunt's house? I've never even met her. How uncomfortable would that be for her?"
I understood he was saying it for my sake, but this was still too much. What would a woman say if a nearly 190-centimeter stranger suddenly announced he was moving in?
"What bullshit? Our aunt went to America."
"…Huh?"
"I told you uncle got posted to the States and the whole family went with him. Don't you remember?"
"Uh… maybe I do…"
Honestly, why would I remember the family affairs of a friend's relatives—especially something about an overseas posting? Still, as I listened it started to feel familiar.
"There's an apartment in Jamsil where my aunt used to live. It's empty right now. They have to come back eventually, but the timing isn't fixed, so they can't rent it out and just left it vacant."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Live there for now. Don't go grabbing some crappy one-room and living like a beggar."
"…"
I was deeply grateful. Even between close friends, who would casually offer a relative's house? Empty or not.
"Th-then at least let me pay rent…"
"You crazy bastard, have you lost it? I know your salary perfectly well. Our aunt lives just fine without that pocket change of yours."
"P-pocket change…"
My salary wasn't the absolute minimum, though…
"Grab your stuff and come out. I'll start the car."
"Y-yeah."
After finishing the bare essentials of packing I called my mother, who was home. I fretted a little that she might be startled to hear her son had suddenly been traded and was heading to Seoul…
"Really? Okay. Go work hard. And don't act up and get marked again."
Her reaction was so calm that I actually felt a tiny bit disappointed.
"Dad's busy—don't call him. I'll tell him when he gets home from work."
"B-but shouldn't I be the one to tell him? He might feel left out…"
"It's not like you got cut—you're just changing teams. It's fine."
With that there was nothing more to say.
"And for housing, Ho-min said his aunt's place is empty so I should use that."
"Huh? That's too much of an imposition. Mom will chip in some money—just get a jeonse place at least."
"Huh? How much?"
Silence. I knew our family's situation perfectly well; what jeonse?
"He said it's just sitting empty. I'll pay rent or something if it comes to that."
"Always relying on others like this is a problem. I should call Ho-min's mother. Hang up now."
"…Okay. Then I'll contact you once I'm there."
She didn't seem particularly interested in the trade. Well… the two of them had always valued their own lives more than mine.
I left the house and climbed into Ho-min's car. As it started and slowly rolled out of the alley, reaching the far end, the hooded woman came to mind. I had run into her at this exact spot every time…
Come to think of it… if I leave for Seoul… how am I supposed to meet that woman? Do I have to come back down in a month? After a Sunday game? And what happens if I can't find her then?
The trade wasn't purely good news after all. I was already starting to worry about a month from now.