The Second Exhibition Game
"Hey! Kyung-ho, are you okay?"
The Magpies' battery coach rushed over to the fallen Jung Kyungho and asked about his condition.
"Ugh... ugh... It hurts so much. Ugh. The pain from my shoulder all the way up to my neck is unbearable. Uuuugh."
Jung Kyungho's condition looked dire.
"Can you stand up?"
"No... too... ah... ugh."
In the end, the battery coach signaled the dugout that the situation was serious. There was nothing more they could do.
The Magpies' dugout, having received the battery coach's sign, descended into chaos.
"First, call the medical team and find out if Kyung-ho is all right right away."
"Understood!"
"And now for the catcher..."
The head coach glanced at Manager Han Geunseong. The biggest problem right now was that they had no catcher.
Having two catchers in the lineup was enough, but they were already down three players, and if they put a non-catcher in the catcher's mask, the opposing team and the broadcast crew would notice immediately.
Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal, but two players getting injured in such a short time had turned things upside down.
With his head spinning, the head coach called Choi Seungtaek.
***
'Why am I even on the list?'
Uuuuuh
Just as Choi Seungtaek's mind was about to spiral, his phone started ringing.
"Head coach?"
Choi Seungtaek hurriedly swallowed the lamb he was eating and picked up.
"Yes, Coach."
"Se... Seungtaek!"
The moment Choi Seungtaek heard the head coach's voice, he knew something had gone wrong.
A voice too busy trying to fix a mess to ignore the fallout... That voice he couldn't ignore.
"Yes, Coach. I was watching the game. Are the seniors okay?"
"Both of them are bad. Anyway, where are you right now?"
At the head coach's words, Choi Seungtaek glanced at Park Gayoung for a second.
'Today's date is over.'
Uncertain, but with a sliver of hope, he couldn't ignore the call, and since the team was in emergency, he had no choice.
"I'm in Jamsilbon-dong right now. If I leave immediately, it'll take about five minutes to get to Jamsil Stadium. Can I just go now?"
Choi Seungtaek's words were a lifeline.
"Haaaah... Yeah. You need to be here right now. Just come to Jamsil Stadium as is. How did you even get here? You being nearby is such a relief."
"Understood. I'm leaving right away."
Choi Seungtaek hung up and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Seungtaek, you have to go, don't you?"
Park Gayoung, having pieced together the situation from the call, said with concern.
"Yeah, I think I do."
"Then let's go together. I wanted to go to the baseball stadium again. I like that too."
"Alright."
***
Park Gayoung found Choi Seungtaek's appearance a little strange now.
'But why is he so cool?'
As they drove to Jamsil Stadium, Choi Seungtaek was driving in silence with eyes blazing with anger.
The expression on Seungtaek's face had changed since the seniors got injured, and to Park Gayoung it looked like pure fury.
'What if... He's so cool. Is he angry because his teammates got hurt?'
From Choi Seungtaek's serious demeanor, Park Gayoung felt an even stronger pull.
"Seungtaek, are you really mad?"
"Huh? No, no. I'm not mad at all."
Just as Park Gayoung was about to say something "just in case," Choi Seungtaek immediately answered her gently.
'And he talks to me like this.'
The temperature difference—how he was sweet with her while so harsh with others—made Park Gayoung like Choi Seungtaek even more.
'Oh no, I almost showed him my embarrassing side.'
Right now, Choi Seungtaek was indeed angry.
'These bastards.'
Of course the real reason wasn't just that Jung Kyungho was injured; it was because their hotel date had been canceled and it was pissing him off.
That's why it embarrassed Choi Seungtaek a little that Park Gayoung had seen his angry expression.
"Gayoung, I have to get inside quickly, so I can't explain anything."
"I'm not a kid, you know? I can get into the stadium on my own. Don't worry about me and hurry up."
When Choi Seungtaek arrived at Jamsil Stadium, he parked, grabbed the equipment, and entered the field.
Choi Seungtaek changed into his uniform in the dugout locker room and put on his catcher gear in record time.
'What kind of day is this.'
And he let his anger simmer.
He remembered Park Gayoung's kind farewell as he was told to hurry inside.
It only made the anger burn hotter.
Creak.
"We're here. Can I go in right away?"
Han Geunseong, the manager, was surprised when Choi Seungtaek suddenly opened the locker room door and stepped out.
"Oh! Seungtaek, you're here! Just go in. Do you need to loosen up?"
"I'm always ready. I'll crush them today."
For a moment, the head coach watched Han Geunseong with a glance.
Manager Han tried to say something to Choi Seungtaek, but given how aggressive his vibe was, he decided to watch and wait.
Knocking
The head coach confirmed that Han Geunseong had nodded in approval, then immediately sent Choi Seungtaek into the game.
"Good, get in right now! We have one out, bases loaded."
"Understood."
Choi Seungtaek quickly took his spot behind home plate.
[Yoon Jeong-jin: B-grade setup pitcher, condition: good]
[Pitches: fastball, curve, slider]
[Feature: sharp slider angle]
Current batter for the Sparrows was their catcher, Nam Yu-gam.
'Ha... how do I start? I don't have much info on the hitter. Huh?'
People sometimes unlock hidden abilities when they're extremely pissed off.
Right now Choi Seungtaek was at MAX anger—one mad guy.
In the Sparrows' dugout, a double-steal order was given to the runners on first and third to rattle the rookie catcher.
Choi Seungtaek read the double steal with animal instincts and saw the runners give away their signal.
'This shit. Double steal in an exhibition game?'
The moment he figured out the double steal, the safe play was to let the runner advance and catch the batter.
But conservative options weren't on the table for the enraged Choi Seungtaek.
'I'll catch them both. I know I won't get hurt.'
[Pitchout]
Yoon Jeong-jin, the pitcher, was confused by Choi Seungtaek's unexpected call.
'Double steal at first and third? Not what I expected.'
As a seasoned pitcher, Yoon read the unusual energy coming from the catcher's sign.
'Pitchout isn't the safest here... but whatever.'
'Since it's just an exhibition, I'll trust the kid this once.'
Knocking
Choi Seungtaek stepped back from center and threw wide to the outside as the pitcher wound up.
Whoosh!
Pop!
"Second base!"
Infielder Woo Jeong-geun, the veteran second baseman, rushed to second the instant the runner moved, and Choi Seungtaek threw the ball straight at him.
[Perfect baserunner throw-out - S+ grade achieved! Pop time 1.85 seconds!]
Choi Seungtaek's vision filled with text, but he ignored it and immediately whipped the ball to home.
"Back! HOME!!!"
The ball Choi Seungtaek threw was so perfect it landed exactly on the second baseman's beltline, and Woo Jeong-geun tagged the runner out without breaking a sweat.
"Out!"
After tagging out the runner at first, Woo Jeong-geun threw back to home as the runner pointed there.
The ball arrived, and Choi Seungtaek saw the runner coming in.
Everything felt like slow motion.
'I don't care about injury. Come at me.'
Choi Seungtaek unleashed a powerful home-block toward the runner charging in.
BOOM!
- AAAHH!! COLLISION AGAIN AT HOME PLATE!
The Sparrows' runner on third barreled toward home and collided hard with Choi Seungtaek.
"Uwaaaah."
Choi Seungtaek, who had braced firmly, tagged the runner and sent him flying, slamming him into the dirt.
"Out!"
'If you're coming into home like that, it's garbage. Even with no collision prevention, you don't run in like that.'
- Whoa... Choi Seungtaek is amazing!
- Same collision as before, but the feeling is totally different from Jung Kyungho. He completely crushed the runner charging home.
And the clip showed Choi Seungtaek's perfect baserunner throw-out.
- The part where Choi Seungtaek throws out the runner just now is incredible. He got the tag on him before the runner even reached the base area.
- Yeah, that was a perfect baserunner throw-out. The Sparrows tried a sharp double steal, but both runners were caught by the Magpies' flawless defense.
- I heard Choi Seungtaek was known as a defense-oriented catcher even in high school, and he's really good at it.
Choi Seungtaek, who had just grabbed two outs, walked back to the dugout with a winner's smile.
"Choi Seungtaek..." Call him."
"Seungtaek?"
The head coach, realizing the crisis wasn't over, called him.
"Seungtaek! The manager is calling. But honestly... the manager wants to play baseball with you! He seems to like that kind of thing."
'Huh! Is this the rumor? Suddenly?'
"Please. Just once. You'll get what I mean."
"Ah... understood."
Choi Seungtaek listened to the advice and went to Manager Han.
"Yes! Manager, you called?"
"I told you not to show up at the practice field, yet you were near the stadium?"
'I was just on a date with my girlfriend, though?'
Those words were about to come out, but Choi Seungtaek followed the head coach's advice.
"I just wanted to play baseball. I was always that way."
"You really want to keep playing baseball?"
"Yes. That's right."
"That's it? Good. Let's work hard."