The Returnee Catcher Wants to Win the Championship
Kim Min-jae stood in front of Choi Seung-taek’s room, staring at him with a grin that mixed pure satisfaction and mockery. Choi Seung-taek could only stand there, shaking like a leaf, unable to do anything in return.
Kim Min-jae had teased him endlessly about the text message he had somehow drafted, but today’s morning class incident wiped away all those old grievances in one stroke.
“Hey, who’s the idiot who went and confessed right away like that~?”
“Shut up. I really want to die. One more time and I’m jumping off the dormitory roof.”
“Still haven’t jumped? If it were me, I’d have jumped straight from the classroom. Heh heh heh.”
Kim Min-jae’s tongue worked like a turbo charger, taunting Choi Seung-taek without mercy.
“Aaaah! This can’t be happening!”
“Can’t happen, my ass.”
Thunk. Thunk.
Choi Seung-taek started punching his empty dormitory bed in frustration.
“Hahahaha. So the old beating you took in the dorm is gone now, huh?”
The empty dormitory hallway rang with Kim Min-jae’s laughter.
“Hey, what’s with all this smiling like you’re leaving the dorm for good?”
It was Han Bang-man, drawn by the laughter.
“Huh? Why the smiling?”
“Ah… no, it’s not—”
Choi Seung-taek tried to stop him, but it was already too late. Kim Min-jae had quickly spilled the beans in Han Bang-man’s ear.
“That guy got rejected in his confession today.”
—
“Hahahaha. Hahaha.”
“Hehe… hehe hehe hehe.”
Now there were two devils laughing at Choi Seung-taek.
“Stop it~.”
Choi Seung-taek’s weak voice only doubled their amusement.
“Stop it~.”
“Stop it~.”
“Aaaah!”
Just as Choi Seung-taek was about to break, Kang Taepoong appeared.
“What are you all doing here?”
“What are we doing? We’re chilling.”
Kim Min-jae flashed a mischievous grin at the newcomer.
“Is Seung-taek here? The manager is calling him right now.”
But Kang Taepoong never joined their teasing. The manager’s summons was too serious for Kim Min-jae to risk it.
Thanks to the call, Choi Seung-taek finally escaped the devils.
“I’m here.”
Choi Seung-taek shuffled out of his room like a zombie.
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? By the way, the manager wants you—hurry up and go.”
“Ah… okay.”
“Oh! And don’t forget, you promised to tell me when we win the championship!”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you on the way. Come on.”
Leaving the two devils behind, Choi Seung-taek walked toward the manager’s office with Kang Taepoong.
The real-life horror of the draft kept replaying in his mind, inflicting fresh damage with every step.
“Ah! I’m such an idiot!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Kang Taepoong jumped at the sudden scream.
“Hey? What are you doing?”
“Ah… yeah, I’m coming.”
Choi Seung-taek’s serious tone made Kang Taepoong sigh deeply.
“Haa… so what’s your problem, huh?”
“My problem? Why would I have one? You’re the one who said you’d tell me.”
Choi Seung-taek paused for a moment.
“Um… that’s true. But you should build the habit of checking for new bad habits. Yeah! Your bad habit is your index finger.”
“Huh? My index finger?”
“Exactly! That’s why your tell is showing. When you throw a fastball, your index finger twitches.”
Kang Taepoong looked at his left hand.
“In the pros, you catch all these little habits. Fix it quick, or at least stop tucking your index finger into the glove. Fix it fast and good.”
Choi Seung-taek patted Kang Taepoong’s shoulder casually and headed for the manager’s office.
“I’ve told you everything. Fixing it is your job now.”
It was a simple fix, yet one that felt almost impossible in the moment. Kang Taepoong stood there lost in thought while Choi Seung-taek knocked on the manager’s door.
Knock knock.
“Manager, you called for me?”
“Yes, come in.”
As Choi Seung-taek stepped inside, Kim Ik-hyun smiled warmly.
“Our top catcher, Choi Seung-taek! I’m truly delighted to meet you.”
“Why so sudden?”
“Come here, kid.”
Kim Ik-hyun handed him something.
[2015 Professional Baseball Draft Invitation]
“Here it is. Looks like you have to head to the Seoul A Hotel.”
“The A Hotel?”
“Yes, kid. That’s why I’m congratulating you.”
In late August, the long-awaited 2015 KBO Professional Baseball Draft would take place—the second-round selection meeting, though everyone just called it the draft.
Held at the Seoul A Hotel, the meeting would gather ten team general managers and scouting staff, sports journalists, thirty selected players and their families.
Receiving one of those invitations meant you were about to sign with a professional team—the biggest honor a high-schooler could dream of.
“Wow… I actually got it?”
“Then I’ll give it to you. How many other guys in our school could have?”
Choi Seung-taek had never received such an envelope before. He still didn’t know how to process the overwhelming emotion now flooding him.
“So go tell your mother right away. You’re coming with her to the meeting.”
“Ah… yes, I will.”
Choi Seung-taek rushed straight to his mother’s phone.
***
And the long-awaited draft day finally arrived.
“Here?”
“Yes, Mom.”
On Choi Seung-taek’s right sat his mother, dressed in the neat clothes she had saved for this moment.
Choi Seung-taek walked into the A Hotel in his senior high-school baseball uniform, mother on his arm.
“Welcome. Are you here for the draft?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“May I see your invitation?”
He showed the hotel staff the envelope.
“Choi Seung-taek confirmed. Please come with your family to the Diamond Hall on the third floor.”
Choi Seung-taek followed the staff while his mother was guided to the family section. He was directed to the players’ seating area.
“Where’s my seat?”
“Choi Seung-taek? You’re not on a reserved seat, but you’ll be moved up a bit.”
He ended up in the front row of the players’ bench—the very first row.
Whoa… they’re treating me like this? This is the first time I’ve ever felt this special.
Even though he had pro experience, this was his first time stepping into a live draft. The excitement left him dizzy.
Time passed, and players began filling the seats beside him.
“Yo, Seung-taek. You made it.”
“I was already here.”
Ha Seung-yoon and Lim Seong-han sat in the front row with him. Lim Seong-han waved as if they were old friends.
“Everyone, we’re about to begin.”
Choi Seung-taek wanted to reply to Lim Seong-han, but the words “about to begin” silenced the room. A hush fell as the broadcast started.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. We are now starting the 2015 KBO Professional Baseball Second-Round Selection Meeting. This year’s casters are—”
Huu… this is nerve-wracking.
Choi Seung-taek had a clear goal. The System had told him exactly what he needed: a pick in the first or second round, preferably higher, with a contract large enough to move his mother to a proper apartment.
He had always preferred a non-Seoul team. Staying in Seoul would leave him unable to afford a home no matter how big the signing bonus was. Even the smallest apartment in Seoul would be too tiny for his mother to accept.
She had lived alone in that cramped room her whole life. She would never leave it willingly. If she stayed in Seoul too long, her health would suffer. A cheaper city—any city but Seoul—would be perfect for making her life comfortable again.
Choi Seung-taek didn’t care which team drafted him, as long as it wasn’t Seoul. If forced to choose, he would have picked Busan Seagulls—his old team. He had even mentioned them in his interview. The Seagulls should have taken him.
Even if the interview was a little weird, they’d still pick me in a high round, right?
“Then we shall begin the Second-Round Selection Meeting.”
Only thirty players were in the hall, but when high-school and college athletes were added, nearly a thousand names were still being prayed over. Of those thousand, only one hundred would earn the right to enter the pros.
The first round of the second selection was picked in reverse order of last season’s standings: Daejeon Magpies, Gwangju Pigeons, Ulsan Egrets, Incheon Cranes, Busan Seagulls, Gangseo Turkeys, Gangbuk Sparrows, Gangdong Falcons, Daegu Eagles, Gangnam Parrots.
Originally Daegu would have been last, but because the league expanded to ten teams in 2015, Gangnam Parrots—given a special first-round pick—would end the round.
After the first round came the second round, starting again with Gangnam Parrots.
The clock ticked, and the screen switched to the general manager of the first team of the second round: the Daejeon Magpies.
Everyone stared at the monitor. The moment grew tense.
The general manager picked up the microphone.
“We are selecting Choi Seung-taek, catcher from Suseok High School.”
Eh?
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Applause erupted from every direction.
Quest Objective Completed: Selected in a high round.
Text flashed on the screen, congratulating him, but Choi Seung-taek could not feel joy.
No way. This can’t be happening.
He had been drafted by a small-market team, yet he felt frozen solid.
Small-market team? Daejeon Magpies of all teams?
There was a saying on the baseball field: “If you study hard, you go to Seoul. If you play baseball well, you go to Daejeon.”
While the Busan Seagulls were the basement dwellers, the Daejeon Magpies were like the basement beneath the basement—perpetual cellar dwellers.
Choi Seung-taek had spent years on the Seagulls, a team that lived in defeat. He knew exactly what kind of team the Magpies were.
Low ranking and many losses were not a problem. But the real reason he could not manage his expression right now was the special manager the Daejeon Magpies had hired in 2015.
Ah… nothing is going right.