Slump?
Lately.
My teammates have been acting strange.
I keep getting the feeling that everyone's watching me out of the corner of their eye.
Even Jang Tae-wook, who never stops pestering me and trying to brainwash me about the greatness of the Rhinos. Even Garcia, who hums his godawful music whenever he's in a good mood. The moment I wander over for no particular reason, I can feel them tiptoeing around me.
Even that stone-faced Oh Jin-muk. No, seriously—today he just up and bought me coffee out of nowhere.
This is bad…
If it feels like everyone except me has changed, then I'm the one who's changed.
Don't tell me…
Has the classic regression disease finally hit me—the sudden personality shift? The scene where someone asks, “Ji-hoo, why has your personality changed so much?” and I answer, “Ah, it's nothing.” It's a cliché among clichés in regression stories.
“You think your personality's changed? You're only just now realizing that?”
“So it really has, huh?”
“It's famous around the league. Gong Ji-hoo's been weird since last year.”
Ah. Right.
“Your personality completely flipped starting last year. Didn't it?”
“…Yeah.”
Kang Ho-san was right. I'd already been plenty aware of the gap between “Minor League Yeopo Gong Ji-hoo” and “regressed Gong Ji-hoo.”
“That's why the players even started saying you have to be crazy to be good at baseball.”
“You have to be crazy to be good at baseball… You're saying I'm crazy?”
Kang Ho-san's eyes said, Well, duh. Honestly, I felt pretty wronged.
“Where else are you going to find a normal guy like me?”
“Nor…mal?”
“Did I keep throwing beanballs just to bury some guy? Did I act like I was the only superior one and look down on everyone else?”
“Singing in the batter's box. Spouting nonsense.”
“Uh…”
No comeback for that one.
“But I don't sing in the box anymore these days.”
“Wasn't that because the catchers kept spreading rumors that you can't sing for shit?”
“No!”
I just hadn't felt like singing. It absolutely was not because I'd once believed I sang pretty well and then got so traumatized I started holding back.
“…”
“Hey, you know I'm kidding, right? Can you unclench that face a little? You're scaring me, man.”
Right.
“This. Exactly this.”
“Haa… What is?”
When I finally broke the silence, Kang Ho-san let out a sigh of relief. And that very “sigh of relief” was the problem.
“Why is everyone walking on eggshells around me?”
“…Come on. Why would we be walking on eggshells around you, Ji-hoo?”
I wondered if Kang Ho-san realized how much more suspicious that tone made him sound.
“Ahem!”
Yeah. He knew.
“Everyone's just trying to be considerate of you, that's all.”
“…Considerate?”
Of me?
“Why exactly are you all being considerate of me?”
“Well… Do I really have to say it out loud?”
“At this rate I'm… going to start feeling left out, you know?”
“Haa…”
The answer that came out of Kang Ho-san's mouth was pretty shocking.
“It's because you're in a slump, Ji-hoo. Everyone's watching their step so you don't have anything extra to worry about outside of baseball.”
“…Who's in a slump?”
“You.”
“Me?”
A slump? Me?
The person in question had no idea, but according to everyone else, Gong Ji-hoo was currently stuck in a slump.
So I was in a slump…
I hadn't thought of it as a slump, but if everyone else was calling it one, maybe I was supposed to think of it that way too…
“No way in hell.”
I could say it with absolute certainty. I was not in a slump.
So that was it.
Lately my self-esteem as a player had been soaring so high I'd gotten lazy about ego-searching, and I hadn't even noticed articles like this were out there.
“Hey, why are you looking at crap like that?”
“Oh. Hyung.”
On the team bus, Jang Tae-wook in the seat next to me spotted the article I was reading and snatched my phone in a flash.
“I just bought this thing.”
“Oh, yeah? Sorry.”
Looking flustered, Jang Tae-wook turned the phone over and over, checking it.
“No scratches.”
“Good to hear. But hyung.”
“Hm?”
“Do you think I'm in a slump too?”
“Uh… Uh? No? Absolutely not?”
Jang Tae-wook possessed the remarkable talent of affirming something by denying it.
“Why, though…”
“…Ji-hoo. Hitting comes in cycles. It'll come back eventually.”
“That's not what I meant.”
Hmm.
“I've been feeling like baseball is ridiculously easy lately, so it's weird hearing everyone call it a slump.”
“What?”
“Pardon?”
“What did you just say?”
“What about it?”
Jang Tae-wook's face said he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
““Haa…””
A chorus of sighs rose from the seats behind us.
“Were you all listening to our conversation?”
No wonder the bus had been so quiet.
“It's a sensitive topic, so of course our ears perked up. But you're saying you're not in a slump, Ji-hoo?”
“Of course not.”
“And you even feel like baseball is easy?”
I looked back at Song Han-su in the seat behind us and nodded.
“Haa… Then what the hell were we walking on eggshells for this whole time?”
“Sadly, it didn't really mean much.”
So then why.
“Why were you all watching my every move?”
“No no no!”
Jang Tae-wook suddenly hit the gas. He seemed pretty aggrieved.
“No! You've gone fifteen games without a home run!”
“Yeah. I didn't realize it, but it's already been fifteen games since my last one.”
“And you're saying that's not a slump?”
“So how many home runs do you have, hyung?”
While Jang Tae-wook was left speechless, Song Han-su answered for him.
“Two.”
“Then how many games has it been since your last home run?”
“Hell if I know… Is there anyone out there counting how long Tae-wook goes without a home run?”
“Exactly.”
“What do you mean ‘exactly’?! You and I are the same?!”
“Gasp! Hyung and I are different? So I really am not a Daegu guy after all…”
“That's not what I meant!”
Jang Tae-wook was fuming. He really was the most fun senior to mess with.
“You're a home-run hitter!”
“And you're a ttuk-ttak-i.”
“Urgh… Fine.”
“Wow.”
How many times had I already said this?
“I'm telling you, I'm not a home-run hitter.”
“…That wasn't just you being humble?”
“This Gong Ji-hoo has been a player who keeps a healthy distance from humility. Since last year.”
“No…”
“Since I'm not a home-run hitter, not hitting home runs doesn't mean I'm in a slump.”
And.
“I'm still first in home runs, aren't I? Jae-sang's been trying hard to catch up lately, but still.”
Same with Jose from the Gamers. Tsk tsk. Home-run hitters who hit fewer home runs than a guy like me ought to reflect on themselves.
“…Your batting average! Your average's dropped too!”
“Listen, right now even if I get one hit a game, my average still drops.”
That's what a .400 average is. Sometimes even two hits in a game make it go down. Even so, I keep stacking hits and holding onto .400.
“Grrr…! Ah! Your hitting streak got snapped too! And you're still saying you're not in a slump?”
“That one's a little unfair, if I'm being honest.”
It broke at thirty-five games, I think. The all-time record is thirty-nine, so it really was a shame. Because.
“I drew three walks and then, in my last at-bat, a ball I squared up perfectly turned into a line-out. What was I supposed to do?”
“You could've just laid off it.”
Before I knew it, the entire team was hanging on my every word. Jeong Su-hyun, sitting farther away, asked the question, and I answered lightly.
“Even so, when a good pitch comes, how am I supposed to just take it?”
““Ooooh~””
For some reason the teammates all murmured in admiration.
“I refuse to accept this!”
Only Jang Tae-wook shouted that.
“Hey, hyung.”
“What!”
“Weren't you all being nice to me because you thought I was in a slump?”
“So what!”
“Then shouldn't you be happy that I'm not in a slump? Your precious junior turns out to have zero problems.”
“…Huh?”
““Booo~ Trash~””
The team was unusually united today.
“That kind of hurts.”
“I just feel like you've been teasing me way too much…”
“Sob. I guess I really was the bad one.”
“…I'm sorry, Ji-hoo.”
The exact moment Jang Tae-wook bowed his head, the bus coincidentally pulled up to the stadium.
“You all look like you're having fun before the game. Keep that energy going until we play.”
“Yes, sir!”
I answered Manager Dong Sang-guk at full volume and scrambled off the bus.
“Hey, you're accepting my apology, right?”
Ah, this is fun…
I'd accept Jang Tae-wook's apology a little later. Just a tiny bit more teasing first.
“Gong Ji-hoo. You're the designated hitter today.”
“Pardon?”
“It's not because I think you're in a slump like a certain someone.”
“Ahem! Manager, not you too.”
“I wasn't talking about you, Jang Tae-wook. I just saw an article about it today.”
That was what Manager Dong Sang-guk said, but—
He did that on purpose.
Judging by the way he was fighting with all his might to keep the corners of his mouth from rising, it was pretty clear who he'd been aiming at.
“Just think of it as rest. No matter how great you are, full-time is too much. You got hurt last year too, remember?”
Right. Even the person involved had forgotten, but last year I'd missed a good stretch of games with a back injury. And then, in my first at-bat after coming back—
I regressed…
“Got it.”
“Of course, your bat is too good to waste, so I'm putting you in as DH. Since you're not in a slump, go out there and produce.”
Well.
“Just leave it to me.”
“Look at that. He's completely thrown humility out the window now.”
At the quiet voice of our professional trash-talk catcher, I answered with complete honesty.
“Wouldn't a hitter of my caliber being humble just come off as more annoying?”
“It's true, so it pisses me off even more…”
As always, the truth beats mindless criticism.
Gong Ji-hoo still hadn't realized it, but his so-called batting slump was becoming a major issue. Right now he was a player who had the attention of every KBO fan. On top of that—
Who the hell is this guy. I think I have a pretty good idea.
If you call his recent numbers a slump, then every other player is a complete idiot. The wording's a bit strong, but he's only saying true things. But who is it?
Capital region, so it can't be the Rhinos.
With anonymous GMs now publicly clashing over Gong Ji-hoo, the interest only climbed higher.
“I genuinely have no idea who it was, but I'm just grateful they sent us Gong Ji-hoo.”
Straight-up dropping a “thank you for the gift that is Gong Ji-hoo” lmao
Gong Ji-hoo, the center of the baseball world's attention, stepped into the box for his first at-bat of the day with the unwavering faith of the Rhinos front office behind him.
“Good luck out there~”
The same greeting as always.
This was our second meeting with the Seoul Foxes. Last time we'd faced them at home.
We took the series cleanly, I think.
I'd hit a home run too, if I remembered right.
“Here comes the park-factor hitter.”
“Aigoo… Senior, the park-factor pitchers would be hurt if they heard you talking about park factors.”
The Foxes catcher was a smooth talker. He had a talent for saying things that should sting without actually making you mad. Personally I liked him, but—
“Tough times lately, huh? Just take it easy, strike out, and head back.”
“I'm the DH today, so that might be a little hard.”
Since I wasn't playing defense, I had to produce twice as much with the bat. I didn't have time to play along with the banter.
“Whether it's a slump or the bubble bursting, you haven't exactly been yourself lately, right? Just stand there and go sit down.”
“Haa…”
Why does everyone end up saying the same thing?
“Even if I am in a slump, the hitters better than me still fit on one hand.”
“What?”
“At the very least I'd clear every Foxes hitter.”
Through the catcher's mask I could see a face that looked like it had misheard.
“What is it?”
I was just telling the truth.