The Sandwich That Caught Him Off Guard
Chomp, chomp.
"Whoa…. I should've gone with the six-inch. I can't even see the end of this thing."
Choi Seungtaek walked into Daejeon Baseball Stadium still working on his sandwich. The one he'd bought at Train had turned out to be a lot bigger than he'd expected, and the light little meal he'd planned on was already proving him wrong.
He'd clearly bought it for breakfast, but one thing had led to another, and he was still eating it at lunchtime. It had been built with health in mind, so it was a little dry — which was a big part of why he couldn't get through it any faster.
"Hello, Choi Seungtaek. You were so cool yesterday."
"Hello. Thank you."
People at the stadium were starting to recognize him now. Magpies staff he ran into here and there spotted him right away and lit up as they greeted him.
"Choi Seungtaek, we got all the uniforms sorted and put them in the locker room."
"Ah! Thank you."
It was finally sinking in that he was a first-team player. Back in his tear-soaked days with the Seagulls, he'd spent most of his time in the second team, not the first, and nobody had treated him like this. Rookies like him usually lived together in club housing, and the youngest guys did the laundry.
People tended to think a baseball player owned one uniform. Actual professionals kept far more than that. In the sweat-soaked summer months, a player could go through three or four in a single day. On that point alone, Seungtaek was plenty satisfied — he didn't have to wash them himself anymore.
He reached the locker room, put his things in order, and checked his phone. Messages from the day before were stacked up in a long run.
"Mm! You've gotta play well to get this. This is the life."
Reading those messages, Seungtaek headed out onto the field in a good mood.
"Huh? Nobody's here yet?"
He'd arrived so early that not a single other player had shown up.
"Hmm…. Guess I'll start working out first, then."
He eased into a light jog. While he was loosening up, the others began arriving one and two at a time.
"Hey, Choi Seungtaek. You got here early today. Managed to fall asleep at a decent hour last night, huh?"
"Come on, I'm not a kid. This kind of thing's going to happen all the time — what's there to get worked up about? Hahaha."
"You little punk. How many times did you rewatch that game-winning hit of yours?"
"Felt like about thirty, honestly?"
While Hwang Ganggyeong was still talking with him, the pitching coach came looking for Seungtaek.
"Seungtaek, go sync up with Damon. He's starting today."
"Yes, sir!"
Seungtaek headed over to where the pitchers were doing their throwing work.
"Hey~. Choi!"
Today's starter was the other foreign import, Damon. A Black pitcher out of Louisiana, he called Seungtaek over in a voice dripping with swagger. Russell must have told him the pitch-calling the day before had been good, because Damon seemed to have a pretty favorable impression of him already.
"Okay! Startu!"
Seungtaek flicked his glove with his bargain-bin English, telling him to throw, and Damon delivered.
Whooooosh.
Thwack.
Huh?
Whooooosh.
Thwack.
Hssss. That's weird.
Whooooosh.
Thwack.
What is this? Is he just loosely warming up his shoulder? Or does he think we're playing catch right now? No way, right?
"Okay! Fastball!"
"What?"
Seungtaek asked for a heater, and Damon looked at him like he had no idea what that was supposed to mean.
No. Don't tell me that was the fastball?
A bad feeling crawled up Seungtaek's spine.
That felt like the 130s. Was that actually the velocity?
Seungtaek's face soured, and Damon set his jaw and threw again.
Whooosh.
Thwack!
Whooosh.
Thwack!
Whew…. At least the velo's come up a little.
It felt like he was scraping the low 140s now.
Is he just off today? Stuff like this…. this isn't going to be easy.
There was no life on the fastball.
Then what about the breaking stuff?
"Hey! Breaking ball~!"
Seungtaek kept his face even and called for an off-speed pitch.
Whiiiiish.
Thwack.
The break wasn't sharp either.
Whoa…. this is bad. Can they even start him like this today? This is basically batting practice.
Seungtaek's expression kept darkening. Damon had been around Korean pro ball for a while. They hadn't been teammates, but he'd spent three seasons with the Busan Seagulls before signing with the Daejeon Magpies. Anyone who survived three years in the league should have been able to show a certain guaranteed floor — and yet the feel of it was all wrong. Even a Busan Seagulls club without Baek Du-san wouldn't have a good day if a starter like this took the mound. The one saving grace was that the ball was, more or less, going where he aimed it.
Seungtaek was just about to take that grim assessment to the pitching coach when the head coach called for him.
"Choi Seungtaek! Come over here."
"Yes, Coach. What is it?"
"Seungtaek. What on earth have you been doing? You didn't go straight home yesterday?"
"I did go straight home."
The head coach was looking at him with a very serious face.
What's going on?
"Just come with me."
"Yes…."
The stiffness in the head coach's manner left Seungtaek a little rattled. The place he was led to was a small meeting room, and waiting inside were a few Magpies front-office staffers and the beat writer who covered the club.
"Choi Seungtaek. Have you been on the internet at all?"
"No? I just got here and I've been training."
"We're doing this to protect you, so we need you to be careful with what you say."
"Protect me from what?"
"Seungtaek, you have to tell the truth. Please."
A worse and worse feeling was settling over him.
"What did you do yesterday, Choi Seungtaek?"
"I played a game."
"And after that?"
"I went home."
"You're sure?"
It felt like he was being grilled.
"And what did you do this morning?"
"I just woke up, stretched, did a light jog, and, uh…. I wanted breakfast to be a little different today, so I bought a sandwich, ate it, and went home."
"And then?"
"...? And then I rested at home and came to the stadium."
"Haa…."
He'd answered diligently, and the reporter and the front-office staffer both let out a long sigh. Seungtaek's face went blank with confusion.
Why are they acting like this?
"Seungtaek, you know this girl?"
The head coach, apparently out of patience, shoved a phone in his face.
"Aren't those our cheerleaders?"
"This one."
"Hmm…."
Seungtaek looked at a photo of four cheerleaders. The woman the head coach was pointing at felt vaguely familiar, like he'd seen her somewhere.
"Uh…. who was that? I feel like I've seen her, but…."
"Are you really asking because you don't know, or are you trying to hide it?"
"Choi Seungtaek, we need you to be straight with us."
"No…. I genuinely have no idea what this situation even is. I don't know what you want me to say."
The Magpies beat writer turned a laptop toward him.
"Hoo…. Then look at this."
That was when it clicked.
Daejeon Magpies catcher Choi Seungtaek and Magpies cheerleader Lee Naeun are believed to be in a relationship.
The handsome-and-beautiful pair were recently spotted looking sweet at a sandwich shop in Daejeon…. Dressed in casual clothes, the two appeared affectionate with each other….
You've got to be kidding me.
"I saw this person for the first time today. No — more precisely, today was the first time I ever actually spoke with her."
"You're sure?"
"You called me in here for this?"
"That's right."
The whole situation made his head spin.
"This isn't fair! We are not like that!"
"He's denying it pretty hard, so all right. What about the cheerleader's side?"
"Cheerleader Lee Naeun said the same thing. Their stories match."
"Understood. We'll put out a piece from the Magpies' position shortly, and…."
The beat writer walked Seungtaek through exactly how the article would be written. Fortunately, it was just a cleanup piece, and they told him the club would put out a firm statement.
"Understood. Thank you."
"Then can I go back to training?"
"Go ahead."
Seungtaek went back out to the field and started loosening up again. He was waiting his turn for batting practice when the head coach came looking for him a second time.
"Seungtaek…."
"Yes, Coach."
He'd been meaning to talk about Damon anyway, so for a second he thought this might actually work out — and then the coach hit him with something else entirely.
"So…. Seungtaek, the manager says you're not starting today."
"If I'm sitting, who's going?"
"Well…. I think he's looking at using a second-team catcher for a game."
He's using a second-team catcher? Does that guy even have the stuff? I'm barely hanging on myself, honestly.
"It's not that he's sitting you because of this thing with you. I think he wants to run a test once, in case you ever get hurt."
"Understood."
Ah, damn it…. well, not that I—
Heat surged up in his chest, but he swallowed the words. The scramble to smooth it over was so obvious he couldn't miss it. He couldn't hide the disappointment, so he headed for the locker room. Out on the field, he didn't think he'd be able to keep his face under control.
Ah…. this is garbage.
Back in the locker room, Seungtaek pulled out his phone just to kill a little time. Tae Pyung-yang, who'd heard what had happened, came looking for him in a hurry. Someone had told him Seungtaek had gone into the locker room, and he'd followed him in.
Ah, hell…. the manager, I swear.
Seungtaek was still a young player. Something like this could snap him in half, and Tae Pyung-yang knew that well enough that he'd come to offer a little comfort.
This is….
Seungtaek's condition was worse than Tae Pyung-yang had expected. His face had gone completely stiff. He set the phone down, let out a long breath, and even scrubbed his dry hands over his face.
"Seungtaek?"
"Ah! Yes, hyung."
"I heard. You got scratched from the lineup. Feeling pretty lousy, huh?"
"No, sir. I'm fine."
"The hell you are. Your face looks that bad and you're fine?"
Tae Pyung-yang tapped him on the shoulder.
"This kind of thing happens. But your ability's the real deal, so they'll put you right back in. Just get through today."
"Understood."
Tae Pyung-yang headed back out to the field to resume training. Seungtaek's expression, though, still looked like his soul had stepped out for a walk.
Sitting out the game wasn't the problem.