Actually, I'm Weak on Theory

"Just date. Just date."

"Exactly. No reason to rush into marriage early."

"I figure living alone is fine enough. Grind hard while you're young, retire, then do whatever the hell you want, right?"

Seo Gyeongmin, Jo Sangjun, and even Kang Chanjung had wandered over while I was taking a short break after training, dumping all this on me.

Why was I stuck listening to this?

These three married guys had zeroed in on me with advice for one simple reason… I was sitting alone.

I wasn't being iced out. I was just dodging people.

I couldn't stand being around them—the stares… no, the glares—were too sharp to handle.

Why the death stares?

Because our very own Ko Mandeok, whose mouth was lighter than a single sheet of toilet paper, had bellowed it out faster than anyone else on the planet.

"Hajin's asking Han Song-yi out on a date!!!"

Just like that…

The second the words left his mouth, the eyes locked on me from behind him carried a chill I'd only felt a handful of times in my life.

Apparently Han Song-yi's popularity among the players was way, way higher than I'd ever imagined.

All I'd done was ask for her number because I had something to ask her later… the injustice of it burned, but what could I do? Even if I tried to explain, nobody was going to buy it.

So there I was, hiding in a corner, avoiding the unmarried guys—hell, the ones without even a girlfriend.

And of course the married ones spotted me and came over. They'd been watching with pure glee ever since Ko Mandeok yelled, and now they were freely dumping every scrap of advice they had.

Even though I never asked for any of it.

"Uh, seniors… I didn't ask her out. We just exchanged numbers. I don't even know how old Han Song-yi is."

"That's how it always starts."

"Yep, yep."

"Then it snowballs overnight."

"I hear kids these days sleep together before they even kiss."

"Ohhh~"

They were having the time of their lives. They were seniors, so I couldn't snap back; I just sat there taking it, but it was getting old fast.

Game time was almost here. I was watching for the right moment to use that as an excuse and bolt for home when—

Ding.

A message popped up. Figuring it was Ho-min waiting for me, I checked without thinking.

It was from Han Song-yi.

"Ohhh~ Han Song-yi. Han Song-yi."

"She texted him first?"

"He's got her hooked. Hooked. Our Hajin's not half bad, heh heh."

"Hey guys~ Han Song-yi just texted Hajin~!"

Ugh… these three nosy old men were broadcasting it to the entire neighborhood.

And right on cue, the stares poured in all at once. Looks like I was going to be public enemy number one around the team for a while.

After a light training session the day before, I'd finally escaped the teammates who'd been hounding me and was about to make a run for it when the manager called me over.

Manager Park asked if I could play as a hitter in the next game. Of course I said yes.

From the very first conversation with Manager Park Donghoon we'd talked about me playing two days between starts, so I'd already assumed I'd be in the lineup.

He was worried about my stamina, but I… was honestly fine. During the game itself I'd felt like death, yet once it was over I recovered faster than expected.

That medicine really did have outstanding recovery effects. One night's sleep and I was this fresh.

Before today's game I had a short corrective session with the hitting coach. According to him, my swing had gotten looser compared to spring training.

When we compared the spring camp footage with the recent game, the coach was dead right.

He figured it started after the grand slam without me even noticing…

I'd only had two more at-bats after that grand slam, and he'd already spotted it. I was so impressed I almost felt respect for our hitting coach…

"Coach Cho Hyun-joon called."

That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the real reason, apparently.

We'd spoken on the phone right after the last game—why hadn't he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said anything then? He'd just told me I was doing well and to keep it up.

Anyway, we worked on tucking my slightly drifting elbow completely against my body, like pinning it to my stomach.

I doubted a quick pre-game fix would produce any spectacular change, but the hitting coach said it looked much better, so something must have improved.

He went on about in-and-out this and that, saying this was exactly what Coach Cho Hyun-joon had wanted from the start… but honestly, I'm the type who's weak on theory. Especially hitting theory—I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can listen all day and still not really get it.

Everyone went crazy from the first inning. Jo Changjun smashed a double with a bat full of energy, Choi Mingi moved him over with a productive out, then Shane and Seo Gyeongmin strung together consecutive hits.

Now it was my turn.

I grabbed Shane's bat from the sudden surplus of new ones. I planned to try the five new bats in the order I'd received them.

Confidently~ confidently~ elbow glued to the navel~ chin tucked just a little~

I chanted the "confidently~" that had become a mantra somewhere along the way and focused on everything the hitting coach had drilled into me.

Elbow in, chin down, wrists turned just a hair outward… all good.

CRACK!

"Huh?"

Even as I swung at the pitch coming inside, I thought oh crap. It wasn't that fast, so I just casually swung at what I saw.

I'd stepped in thinking, at least hit a deep fly. The moment I swung at the inside pitch I thought, ah… I screwed that up. I was sure it would catch the inner half of the bat and roll into a grounder.

But what was this? The ball met the sweet spot dead center, rocketed away, and in an instant dropped into the distant stands.

I stood there dazed for a second, staring at the ball in flight, then finally set the bat down gently and started a slow trot toward first.

"Wooooaaaah!"

"You crazy bastard. He did it again! Again!"

"We'll let the Han Song-yi thing slide for today!"

Even after rounding the bases and reaching the dugout I was still half in a daze.

"How the hell did that go out?"

I'd been certain it would be a grounder off the handle. Instead it caught the absolute center of the bat and barely registered in my hands.

"…What is this? Some new brand of showing off?"

Jo Changjun overheard my muttered comment and immediately started needling me again.

So much for "letting it slide today"…

"But you need to practice your bat flip. That one was way too plain."

"My what? Bat flip?"

"Paddon, man. Paddon."

"Same thing."

"Just crack it and snap the wrists—pop! Can't you?"

"I can if I want. But why bother…"

"Even on an infield fly you have to bat-flip. Wait. Tomorrow I'll teach you properly."

Why would I need that… I already know how.

I just didn't do it just now because I was too shocked.

Crack!

Crack!

"Wooooaaaah!!"

Our hitters caught fire.

Hits kept coming after my home run until the entire order had batted. Eleven men came to the plate in the first inning alone, and by the time the frame ended the score was already 7-0.

Our momentum never let up after that either.