Suspicion
Ko Mandeok climbed the mound, clapped me on the shoulder with a bright grin, and pulled the ball from his mitt to hand it over.
"How do you throw nine pitches without a single miss? You worked hard out there. Great job."
"······?"
"This is your first save since joining us. You've got to keep the ball, right?"
"Ah···"
Right. That was how it was supposed to go. Thinking back, something like this had happened before—my first win in the majors. The manager himself had written a little note on that ball and handed it to me with a "well done."
"Thank you."
While Ko Mandeok and I were still smiling, something heavy settled across my shoulders. I turned my head and found Captain Seo Gyeongmin wrapping one thick arm around me.
"Whoa~ Watching from the field, that ball was just—! Hey, maybe from now on we don't even need defense in the ninth?"
"What? Ah··· th-that's a bit much···"
"No, it really was that good. Felt just like watching Woo-sunbae back in the day."
"··· Thank you."
Woo-sunbae—he meant Woo Hee-chan, the longtime national-team closer who had since retired. Trading to a new team, throwing nine pitches, and already getting compared to him? I knew he was just pumping me up, but my mouth kept twitching upward anyway.
I exchanged greetings with the rest of the guys who had been out there with me and headed for the dugout, only to be told I still had an interview to do.
An interview··· It had been a while. Two years? No, three?
Still riding the high of my first save, I followed the club staffer to the interview spot. I stood in front of the backdrop they had set up, put on the headset they handed me, and a moment later the voice of today's play-by-play man came through.
"Kang Hajin, congratulations on your first save of the season."
"Thank you."
"How are you feeling right now?"
"Still a little dazed, honestly. But it feels good."
"You came in as the closer today··· Was that planned ahead of time?"
"No. I had no idea. In the eighth the coach told me to get ready, so I figured it was just a one-out spot or something, but···"
"I see. Still, you threw extremely well once you got out there. Especially the velocity—you hit 153 km/h. Completely different from before. Have you always been able to throw that hard?"
Of course the velocity question came up. How could it not? A guy who used to sit 141 suddenly lighting up the gun over 150. I had expected it and already decided how I would answer.
"Uh··· I'm not really sure."
"Sorry? Not sure?"
"It's true I threw harder in practice than I ever did in games. But I never actually had my velocity measured properly, so···"
"You never measured it? Why on earth not?"
"That··· is a little hard for me to talk about."
"Ah···"
The commentator seemed to realize he had stepped on a landmine. He probably already knew exactly how the Dragons had treated me.
"So when you were with your previous team, should we take it that you deliberately held back on velocity?"
"To a certain extent, yes."
"May I ask why?"
"First, I never knew when I'd be called or how many pitches I'd throw. And with the frequent back-to-back appearances, I just couldn't go all-out. Today I only had to cover one inning, so I threw with everything I had."
"I··· see. One last question—any words for your new team?"
"I'll give everything I've got wherever the manager wants me."
"Congratulations again on the save."
"Thank you."
Somehow I got through the interview cleanly.
After a quick shower I was told the manager wanted to see me. The game was already over—what could it be? Worried something had gone wrong in the interview, I hurried over.
"How was today?"
"Sir? Uh··· it was g-good."
"Yeah. You threw well. And, well··· I'm thinking of handing you the closer's job. How do you feel about that?"
"··· Are you serious?"
"Why? Not confident?"
"No! Not at all! I'll work my hardest!"
"Good. Just keep throwing like you did today and that'll be enough. More than that··· looking at you, I··· hmm··· never mind. You worked hard today. Go rest."
"Sir? Ah, yes. Understood. Thank you for your hard work."
He had started to say something and then held it back. There was definitely something there···
Because of the meeting I left the stadium a little later than the other players. Someone told me Ho-min was waiting in the parking lot, so I headed that way and spotted a small group of people standing around.
I kept my head down the way I always did and walked quietly—
"Um··· you're Kang Hajin, right?"
A soft, delicate voice stopped me.
"Sorry? Ah, yes. That's me."
"Wow~ Could I get an autograph···"
"Me? You mean me?"
"Yes. Is that okay?"
"Of course. Absolutely."
Back in my second year with the Dragons I had signed for fans now and then. After my third year—after the manager blacklisted me and sent me to the second team—it had never happened again. Who waits around for a mop-up pitcher's signature?
And now a Savers fan was asking for one. A female fan, no less.
"Um··· I'm sorry."
I carefully signed the jersey she held out. The moment I finished, she suddenly apologized.
"Sorry? For what?"
"It's another player's jersey···"
"Hey, of course it is. They don't even sell mine yet."
"Still···"
"Don't worry about it. Just being recognized is more than enough."
After she left, a few more fans came up for signatures. I tried to be as friendly as I could and signed every last one.
"Wow~ Look at the superstar."
"You crazy bastard. Just drive."
The second I got in the car Ho-min started snickering and ribbing me. I ignored him and we pulled out of the lot—only for him to immediately pull over to the curb again.
"Ah~ I can't take it. What the hell are you?"
"What?"
"I've known you for years! 153? One-five-three? Are you kidding me?"
Ah··· I hadn't thought about him. I'd been so busy hiding the box I forgot about this part.
"I don't know either. It just comes out like that—what am I supposed to do?"
"You didn't know either? For real?"
"Not exactly. You know Taeseong-hyung? He said my ball looked better and asked me to throw for him once, so we went to the bullpen."
"And?"
"We didn't measure it, but he said it was definitely over 150. Honestly I think this trade happened because of him. Apparently he knows our manager."
"··· Does that even make sense? Your velocity jumps ten klicks overnight and some bullpen catcher who's best friends with Manager Park just hands you a trade?"
"Yeah."
It was the truth—everything except the part about the pill the hooded girl had given me.
"Ha··· this is ridiculous."
I just shrugged. Ho-min shook his head and started the car again.
"Hey···"
"What?"
"That··· never mind."
"What is it?"
"It's··· not that, right?"
"What? You asking if I juiced?"
"You're not, right? Right?"
I should have gotten angry. I should have demanded how he could even think that. But my conscience wouldn't let me. I had taken the pill the hooded girl gave me.
"Quit talking nonsense and take us home. The save pitcher is tired."
"Right! Of course! Nine pitches, three Ks, the great ace needs his rest!"
"Heh. You lunatic."
"No, seriously, today—watching from the stands—what the hell happened to your slider? I thought Randy Johnson had shown up."
"What are you even saying."
"The pop of your four-seamer in the mitt··· I thought a war had broken out."
"Pfft. Enough with the overkill. Let's just go home~"
Ho-min spent the entire ride home practically worshipping me. He must have been that happy. For years he had been the only fan of a forgotten mop-up pitcher who also happened to be his friend. He couldn't contain the excitement.
Back home I showered, then lay on the bed and picked up my phone. Ho-min had already disappeared into his room, saying a day like this called for a beer—considerate of the fact that I never drank during the season.
Messages from my parents and Taeseong-hyung were waiting. My parents were over the moon; Taeseong-hyung just said he knew I could do it. I replied to both.
Then I started reading every portal baseball article that had my name in it. There were more than I expected—apparently today's outing had made an impact.
After the articles I opened the baseball community site and searched my name again. Our own fans were uniformly positive; almost every comment was glowing.
But that wasn't what I had come looking for.
I wanted the Dragons fans. I searched just in case, and sure enough—
Posts roasting the manager were everywhere. Just reading the titles made some of the old injustice ease a little.
That said···
The word that came up most when I searched my name was "juice."
I had expected it. I would have suspected the same thing. They might even show up for testing soon.
"She said it would never show up on a test···"
The hooded girl had been certain. Nothing illegal, she promised. No chance of failing a doping test, so don't worry.
But how was I supposed to not worry? I still had no idea what was even in that mysterious pill.
"It'll be fine, right? It has to be fine··· Yeah··· I just have to trust it."