Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Misunderstanding 2
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Crunch crunch.
"Wow... I should've gone for the 15cm one. Can't even see the end."
Choi Seung-taek munched on his sandwich as he entered the Daejeon stadium.
The sandwich he'd bought on the train had way more filling than expected, and what he'd planned to eat lightly for breakfast had turned into a lunch ordeal. It was made with health in mind, so it was a bit dry and tough, which slowed him down even more.
"Hello, Player Choi Seung-taek. You were so cool yesterday."
"Hello. Thank you."
More and more people at the stadium were recognizing Choi Seung-taek now.
The Daejeon stadium staff, who he occasionally saw around, were spotting him right away and greeting him warmly.
"Player Choi Seung-taek, I've sorted all your uniforms and left them in the locker room."
"Ah! Thank you."
Now it really hit him that he was on the first team.
Back in his tearful days with the Busan Sea Gulls, he'd mostly been on the second team and never gotten treatment like this. Rookies like him usually lived together in dorms provided by the team, with the youngest guys handling the laundry.
People might think pro baseball players only have one uniform, but they actually have tons. Especially in the sweaty summer, they could go through three or four a day.
In that sense, Choi Seung-taek was thrilled he didn't have to wash his own anymore.
Once he reached the locker room, he unpacked his gear and checked his phone.
His screen was flooded with messages from the day before.
Ga-young: You were so cool! Fighting today too!
Mom: I watched the game yesterday too. Our son was amazing.
Bang-man-i: Jealous! Just straight-up jealous!
Kim Min-jae: Congrats on your first-team debut. And the post-game interview as MVP? Insane~! Choi Seung-taek!
"Mm! Gotta keep performing well. Feels great."
Reading those messages put a smile on his face as he headed into the stadium.
"Hm? Nobody here yet??"
He'd arrived ridiculously early, so no other players had shown up.
"Well... guess I'll start warming up alone."
Choi Seung-taek began a light jog.
As he loosened up, players started trickling in one by one.
"Hey, Choi Seung-taek. Early today, huh? Managed to crash early after yesterday?"
"Come on, I'm not a kid! Stuff like this happens all the time. What's there to get excited about? Haha."
"Dude, how many times did you watch that game-winning hit replay?"
"Like thirty?"
As Hwang Kang-kyeong chatted with Choi Seung-taek, the pitching coach called for him.
"Seung-taek, go catch for Damon, today's starter."
"Yes, sir!"
Choi Seung-taek headed to where the pitchers practiced.
"Hey~. Choi!"
Today's starter was Damon, another foreign hire.
The Black pitcher from Louisiana, USA, called out to Choi Seung-taek with full swagger.
Maybe Russell had hyped him up from yesterday's good lead, because Damon seemed to have a positive impression already.
"Okay! Start!"
Choi Seung-taek nodded with his broken English, signaling to throw, and Damon let it fly.
Whiiiish
Thwack
'Huh?'
Whiiiish
Thwack
'Sss... something's off.'
Whiiiish
Thwack
'What's going on? Just loosening his shoulder? Or does he want casual catch? Nah.'
"Okay! Fastball!"
"What?"
He'd asked for heat, but Damon looked confused.
'No way! That was his fastball?'
Choi Seung-taek felt a chill.
'Felt like low 130s? That velocity right?'
His expression soured, so Damon gripped up and fired again, face serious.
Whiiish
Thwack!
Whiiish
Thwack!
'Whew... speed's up a bit now.'
Low 140s at least.
'Out of shape? Won't be easy with this stuff...'
The fastball lacked oomph.
'Okay, breaking ball?'
"Hey! Breaking ball~!"
He played it cool and called for off-speed.
Shiiiish
Thwack
The movement was flat.
'Whoa... this is bad. Can he start like this? Basically batting practice.'
Choi Seung-taek's face darkened.
Damon was no rookie to Korean pro ball.
Though Choi Seung-taek hadn't overlapped, he'd spent three seasons with Busan Sea Gulls before signing with Daejeon MacPhies.
Surviving three years meant he had proven skills, but today felt shaky.
Even without Baekdu Mountain, putting this guy on the mound against Busan Sea Gulls didn't look good.
At least control was decent.
As Choi Seung-taek considered relaying his concerns to the pitching coach, the chief coach summoned him.
"Choi Seung-taek! Come here."
"Yes, Chief Coach. What's up?"
"Seung-taek. What the hell have you been up to? You didn't go straight home after yesterday's game?"
"I did."
The chief coach stared at him gravely.
'What's this about?'
"Follow me first."
"Yes, sir..."
The stiff tone threw Choi Seung-taek off.
He was led to a small meeting room, where a few MacPhies front office staff and the team beat reporter waited.
"Player Choi Seung-taek. Seen the internet yet?"
"No? Just got here and started training."
"We're doing this to protect you, so cooperate fully."
"Protect me from what?"
"Seung-taek, tell the truth. Please."
The mood turned ominous for Choi Seung-taek.
"What'd you do yesterday, Player Choi Seung-taek?"
"Played the game."
"After?"
"Went home."
"Sure about that?"
It felt like an interrogation.
"What about this morning?"
"Woke up, stretched, light jog, uh... wanted something different for breakfast so I grabbed a sandwich and headed out."
"Then?"
"...? Rested at home, then came to the stadium."
"Haa..."
He'd answered honestly, but the reporter and staff sighed heavily.
'Why the reaction?'
Choi Seung-taek looked baffled.
"Seung-taek, you really don't know?"
Frustrated, the chief coach shoved his phone in his face.
"Our cheerleaders, right?"
"This one."
"Mm..."
Choi Seung-taek eyed the photo of four cheerleaders.
The one the chief coach pointed to seemed vaguely familiar.
"Uh... who is she? Feels like I've seen her somewhere..."
"You playing dumb or actually clueless?"
"Player Choi Seung-taek, be straight with us."
"No, seriously, I have no idea what's going on here? What do you want me to say?"
The MacPhies reporter pulled up a laptop.
"Sigh... just look."
That's when it clicked for Choi Seung-taek.
'Holy shit.'
"I saw this woman for the first time today. Or more precisely, first conversation was today."
"You sure?"
"This why you called me in?"
"Yeah."
Choi Seung-taek's head spun.
"I'm innocent! We're not a thing!"
"Good, strong denial noted. Cheerleader side?"
"Lee Na-eun denied it too. Same story."
"Got it. We'll issue an official MacPhies statement soon..."
The reporter explained the corrective article they'd release.
Luckily, it was damage control, with a firm denial.
"Understood. Thanks."
"Can I get back to training now?"
"Go ahead."
Choi Seung-taek returned to the field to warm up.
He was waiting for his batting practice turn when the chief coach called again.
"Seung-taek..."
"Yes, Coach."
He'd been about to bring up Damon anyway, so this was convenient—until the bombshell dropped.
"Uh... Seung-taek, the manager says you're not starting today."
"Who catches then?"
"Thinks he'll try a second-team guy."
'Second-team catcher? Does he have the chops? I'm barely scraping by myself.'
"Not because of your issue—he wants to test someone in case you get hurt too."
"Got it."
'Damn. This... fucking... well, not really...'
Heat rose in his chest, but he bit it back.
Too obvious they were scrambling from the rumor.
Unable to hide his disappointment, he headed to the locker room.
Hard to mask his face out on the field.
'Ah... this sucks.'
Back in the locker room, he checked his phone to kill time.
Tae Pyeong-yang had heard and rushed to find him.
Someone must've tipped him off that Choi Seung-taek was in the locker room.
'Goddamn... Manager too.'
As a young player, stuff like this could crush him, so Tae Pyeong-yang—knowing that well—came to console.
'Crap...'
But Choi Seung-taek looked worse than Tae Pyeong-yang expected.
Frozen expression.
He set down his phone, sighed deeply, and rubbed his dry face.
"Seung-taek?"
"Ah! Yes, Sunbae."
"Heard what happened. Benched from starting—bummer, right?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Bull, your face says otherwise."
Tae Pyeong-yang clapped his shoulder.
"Happens sometimes. But your skills are solid—they'll slot you right back in. Just tough it out today."
"Got it."
Tae Pyeong-yang headed back out to training.
But Choi Seung-taek still looked soulless.
21 Missed Calls - Park Ga-young
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It wasn't about missing the game.