Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Translator Wjin
Chapter 46
“Cha Tae-Hyun! Go explore Osaka right now!”
He was a little off the mark, but the coach had kept his promise.
“Yes!”
I answered loudly, washed up quickly, and after glancing around, I started walking briskly. Confirming that no one was around, I broke into a run and picked up my phone.
“Teacher, where are you?”
- I’m by the vending machine near the exit.
The vending machine near the exit.
I kept running toward the exit until I was slightly out of breath, and I found the vending machine, but there was no one there.
I paused to catch my breath and asked.
“Teacher, are you sure it’s the vending machine near the exit?”
There was no reply. For a moment, I wondered if the call had been disconnected. The moment I took the phone from my ear.
Tap, tap, tap, tap…
The sound of someone earnestly tapping the floor seeped into my ear.
I turned my head, following the sound, and saw Ms. Mi-Yeon running toward me.
I couldn’t help but smile at her strange expression, which was somewhere between crying and laughing.
Just as Ms. Mi-Yeon reached me, I was about to greet her happily, but before I could, she buried herself in my arms. Clinging tightly to me, Ms. Mi-Yeon wrapped her arms around my waist and mumbled.
“…want to.”
“Pardon?”
Her voice was muffled because her face was buried in my chest, and I couldn't hear her well.
Ms. Mi-Yeon lifted her head slightly, and a tearful voice came from her lips.
“I missed you…”
I don't know why those few short words made me so happy. I hugged Ms. Mi-Yeon back.
“Me too.”
For a short while, we held each other like that without a word.
“Teacher, I only hit two home runs today. Is it okay to hold you for this long?”
Ms. Mi-Yeon nodded her head up and down. Since her face was still buried, my shirt moved up and down with her.
“For how long?”
This time, she didn't answer or nod, but the arms wrapped around my waist tightened a little more.
…Hmm. Right. I guess I'll just have to stay like this all day today.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
When I unwillingly retired from the Major Leagues, I did some traveling abroad. No particular reason. Just that the people around me kept nagging that it was a waste not to travel when I had so much money and time.
It wasn't a very good time. Seeing traditional buildings or eating the food of that country didn't fill me with the emotion of happiness.
To be honest, I preferred just lazing around at home reading web novels. So I lived thinking that I wasn't really a person who suited traveling, but it seems that was because I had traveled alone.
“Tae-Hyun, this tonkatsu is really delicious. The home of it is definitely different! Try one of mine, too.”
Honestly, it looked the same, but strangely, all the food had a different taste.
“Wow… How did they build a castle like that in the old days?”
And the castle that I had looked at without much emotion now looked majestic.
“Ooh! Amazing. You’re the first to succeed at our batting center’s event!”
And when I won a fairly large teddy bear and gave it to Ms. Mi-Yeon, I felt more proud than when I had hit a home run, and that was no empty praise.
Right. Now I get it. Why they kept telling me to travel. It would have been nice if they had just added one more thing:
‘Go with someone precious to you!’
Well, to be honest, even if they had, it wouldn't have meant much. At that time, I didn't really have anyone I could call precious. I had been left at an orphanage as soon as I was born and had clung to baseball my entire life.
But at this moment, that precious person is next to me. A person who is holding my hand and leading me somewhere. Now, I really don't have even a hint of resentment toward whoever sent me here.
“Tae-Hyun, look at this flyer. It looks like they're having a fireworks display. Let's go! Huh? Let's go!”
Right. How could I resent it?
“The coach did say to be back by 10 o'clock though…”
“……Then I guess we can’t…. What a shame.”
“What's one day of not listening to the coach? How many home runs have I hit? Let's go.”
When my empty life is this full.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
The New York Mets won today's game, achieving their 10th consecutive victory. In this scene of frenzy, where champagne was popping here and there in the locker room and the players were shouting excitedly.
Kim Ho-San was looking at his phone alone, a smirk playing on his lips.
“Ho-San! To celebrate our 10th win today, Mac booked an entire club. You’re coming too, right? I heard there are some amazing girls there too!”
To that party invitation that most of the team had cheered for, Kim Ho-San firmly replied, “NO!”
The teammate, flustered by the very clean refusal, asked another teammate.
“Why isn't Ho-San going to the party?”
“I overheard that his country won the Baseball World Cup. So he said he wanted to celebrate the victory, even if he's alone.”
“Damn…. The more I see of Ho-San's patriotism, the more it makes me reflect on myself.”
Although it was slightly off, it was somewhat correct. Korea's victory was one of the reasons he was now rushing home.
Upon arriving home, Kim Ho-San immediately accessed NewTube on his smart TV and went to a Japanese NewTuber's channel.
“I wonder if the analysis is up today?”
This NewTube channel was a Japanese NewTube channel that Kim Ho-San enjoyed watching, which, unusually, mainly uploaded analysis videos related to Korean baseball…
It was called analysis, but in reality, it was a Japanese person's channel that had jumped on the national pride bandwagon.
“…Oh dear. Are there no subtitles yet? There’s no other place that does such a cool-headed analysis.”
Wanting to see the cool-headed analysis(?), Kim Ho-San let out a small sigh when he saw that there were no subtitles yet. After thinking for a moment, Kim Ho-San's lips curled up at a brilliant idea, and he contacted his teammate, Sakazaki.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
“Ho-San! What a surprise that you’d call me.”
Sakazaki gladly accepted Ho-San's invitation. How much help had he received from Ho-San when he first entered the Major Leagues?
As it was an invitation from a man who was like a benefactor, Sakazaki had rushed over in an instant, even though it was his rest time.
“This might be a little annoying, but I have a favor to ask.”
“Of course, tell me anything!”
“There's a Japanese video I want to watch, but there are no subtitles. Could you translate it for me on the side?”
“A Japanese video? That's easy! As long as it's not an AV, I'll do it, hahaha!”
As Sakazaki spoke playfully, Kim Ho-San also laughed heartily.
“Why would I watch something like that? There are much better videos in the world.”
Now that he had said this much, Sakazaki also started to get curious.
What kind of video is it that he would even call me over to watch?
Soon, the video started, and Sakazaki began to skillfully translate the Japanese into English.
“Korea is a great country. They have truly amazing speed and hitting! How can such a small country be so overflowing with talented players?”
“Japan really has to watch and… learn from Korea. What a wonderful and cool swing this is…?”
As he continued to translate, Sakazaki sensed that something was wrong and peeked at Ho-San beside him.
Ho-San, with a particularly happy face, was focused on the screen and urged Sakazaki on.
“Sakazaki, keep going!”
“Uh…. Right, Ho-San, I got it.”
“Looking at Korean baseball, Japan can’t even hold a candle to them anymore! Really, Korea is just so amazing… Hey Ho-San, is this really an analysis video?”
“Of course. Even as a Major Leaguer, I think this person's analysis is excellent.”
There’s no analysis to speak of though…?
“More importantly, keep translating.”
“Alright…”
“Look at this last scene…. Ryuji’s bat shatters, and along with it, so does Japanese baseball….”
“It’s truly amazing…. Why doesn’t Japan have a player like Cha Tae-Hyun……”
Sakazaki, whose voice was gradually getting lower, looked at Ho-San's face once again. It was a face of pure, genuine happiness.
…I can't even say anything.
Although Sakazaki had already noticed that this was not an analysis video, he knew that Ho-San was a really good person, so he diligently continued to translate the video.
Right…. He might really think it's an analysis….
“This is a player who will surprise not only Japan but the entire world! A superstar has emerged. I'm going crazy with envy for this player that Japan does not have….”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
On the day of the promotional shoot after the Baseball World Cup ended, Lee Si-Ha simply exchanged greetings with Cha Tae-Hyun and took him to a department store.
“This won't be enough of a reward, but if there's anything you need, please let me know right away. I'll buy everything for you.”
To repay him with money seemed too impersonal, and what if he just got him one gift? He might not like it… She had come to the conclusion that it would be better to just buy him what he wanted, which is why she had come to the department store today.
“Uh…. This is a bit much.”
Lee Si-Ha let out a small laugh. What was this man talking about, saying it was too much?
“Do you know what the situation at Nixon Baseball is like right now?”
After a brief pause, Cha Tae-Hyun shook his head.
“I don't really look at the internet.”
“Right now, thanks to you, Tae-Hyun, Nixon Baseball is achieving truly unbelievable results.”
“Because of me?”
“Yes. You recorded an incredible performance in this World Cup, didn't you? So naturally, the equipment you used was also exposed to various media, and it gained word-of-mouth publicity.”
There wasn't a single sports portal site in Korea, the US, or Japan that didn't have a picture of Cha Tae-Hyun. And in those pictures, Cha Tae-Hyun was always using a bat or glove with the Nixon logo, so in fact, he was already doing publicity.
“Most importantly, you once gave a bat to a young fan, didn't you?”
“Uh… I did?”
At his reaction, which was as if he was just remembering it, Lee Si-Ha smiled faintly.
So it wasn't for publicity after all.
She had wondered if giving the bat was a sophisticated publicity stunt, but judging from his reaction, it clearly wasn't. It was just a pure heart that was genuinely thinking of the fan.
“That story became quite a topic of conversation, and it had its own promotional effect.”
“Really? I don't really look at my phone, so I didn't know, but I guess it turned out well.”
“It’s not just ‘turned out well.’ We're recording results that are dozens of times higher than the global pre-order estimates, and the Korean market is the same.”
It was the truth, without a shred of exaggeration. The results were so amazing that the chairman himself had visited the Nixon Baseball business department and paid bonuses to the employees in cash.
“I'm actually worried that this won't be enough of a reward, so you don't have to feel burdened.”
Only then did Cha Tae-Hyun smile a little and speak playfully.
“Really? Then I won't refuse. I'm really going to buy a lot, okay?”
“Yes. In fact, I insist.”
And so, the shopping with Cha Tae-Hyun began.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
After quite some time had passed, Cha Tae-Hyun was holding quite a few bags in his hands. Since she was the one who had asked him to buy so much in the first place, she didn't have any particular complaints, but there was one thing that was a little strange.
“Tae-Hyun, it seems like everything you’ve bought is for women…”
Whether it was clothes, shoes, or even cosmetics, everything was for women. Surely he didn't have that kind of taste… Could it be that he had a girl he liked? If so, that was a little disappointing.
Of course, since it was a reward, it was none of her business what the recipient did with it, and separating her public and private life was one of the things Lee Si-Ha did best.
But for some reason, the thought of the things in that man's hands going to another woman's hands made her feel a little uncomfortable.
“This? Well… there's not much I really need. I just bought them to give to Ji-Hyun.”
Ji-Hyun….
At his very familiar tone, Lee Si-Ha's eyes narrowed slightly, then went up again at Cha Tae-Hyun's next words.
“I haven't done much for my little sister. I was just thinking of her.”
Controlling the corners of her lips, which had gone up to a surprising degree, Lee Si-Ha nodded her head. She really had no idea why she was feeling this way, but she seemed to know this one thing.
The reason she hadn't found that man unpleasant, even after seeing him being so money-minded at their first meeting. Perhaps it was because his purpose had been for his sister.
“You're a good brother.”
“A bad brother, more like. I haven't done much for her until now.”
Lee Si-Ha shook her head and continued.
“No. There are many siblings who don't do anything even when they can.”
Like my older sister, thought Lee Si-Ha to herself, chuckling as she started walking again.
Heading toward the exit, Lee Si-Ha asked Cha Tae-Hyun.
“What is our relationship?”
That had been her biggest worry lately. That's why, even though she knew it might sound like a strange question, she wanted to hear his answer.
After thinking for a moment, Cha Tae-Hyun said briefly.
“Business partners?”
At his very by-the-book answer, Lee Si-Ha silently nodded her head. The usual her would have ended the conversation there and returned to the boundaries of business. But now, she wanted to stay a little longer.
“Business partners is fine too, but… what about a slightly different kind of partner?”
“……What?”
As the atmosphere grew chilly for a moment, Lee Si-Ha, coming to her senses late, raised her voice.
“Th-that… no, friends! Friends! Because business partners is too formal…”
“Oh? Right? That's true. Friend partners… haha. Let's go with friend partners.”
“Friend partners, yes, that's good! We're friend partners.”
And so, Lee Si-Ha was able to develop her relationship with Cha Tae-Hyun beyond business partners to that of friend partners.