Children's Day Chaos and Bench-Clearing Brawl
Hey there!
This time a cute little girl came running over.
'Whoa! So this is why the man’s a total daddy’s girl.'
“Aigo. You here for an autograph?”
“Yes! Please sign it!”
Choi Seungtaek signed the uniform with a smile full of joy.
'Huh? The uniform’s a bit big, though.'
The uniform he’d received this time was closer to an adult size than a child’s size.
“Here it is!”
“Daddy! I got a signed ball! You did great!”
'Hmm... that must be the dad’s way of getting his kid to show off that she did a good job. She’s such a dutiful daughter, waving that big uniform like it’s her trophy.'
The father of the little fan took the uniform his daughter had brought and grabbed her hand, leading her into the stadium.
'Nice. Building a family. I really do need a daughter, though. Daughters are better than these noisy little brats.'
He kept signing, but it looked like it would never end.
“Hello!”
“Yeah, hello!”
“Hey!”
“Yeah. You want a signing too? Where should I put it?”
“On a baseball!”
Some people took the autograph on paper, some on the uniform, and some on the baseball itself.
'This is endless.'
Then one little fan stood there staring blankly at Choi Seungtaek for a moment.
“U-um... p-please give me a high-five.”
“A high-five? Sure!”
Slap!
Choi Seungtaek gave the hesitant child a high-five.
Then...
“Me too, please give me a high-five.”
The child who had just received the signing and was about to leave stopped and said in a pitiful voice, “What? Oh! Okay, I’ll do it.”
Slap!
“Hehe!”
Choi Seungtaek slapped the child’s hand, and the child laughed all the way out the door.
'Whew...'
“Hey! Me too!”
The kids who came after the one he’d high-fived reached out their hands.
'Haha... I’m done for. I never should’ve added high-fives. Just signing was supposed to be enough. Now it’s all high-fives.'
His mouth was smiling, but his heart was hurting.
'No! What kind of stupid thought is that?! Damn it! I’m barely a one-game wonder in the first team and I was almost in the minors, and now I’m already getting soft. Has the world gone crazy? I sat on the starting catcher spot and turned arrogant overnight?'
Choi Seungtaek immediately whipped himself for the thought.
'If I’m doing this, I’m doing it right!'
He signaled the arriving child to stop.
“Wait! Time out! Stop!”
The child froze completely the moment she heard him say to stop, just like when you get scolded by the ice man.
“Wait a sec. Let me loosen up.”
And Choi Seungtaek rubbed both wrists as hard as he could.
'I really need to rotate hands. If I keep using only my right hand, my wrist will wear out.'
“Done. High-five!”
Choi Seungtaek held out his left hand.
Slap!
“Good! Where do you want the signing?”
“Right here, please!”
The kid who had come for an autograph handed him a piece of paper.
Choi Seungtaek signed with his right hand.
'Perfect. Left hand for high-five, right for signing.'
So Choi Seungtaek’s assembly line began.
“Come in quick! I’ll be sad if you don’t high-five! Here!”
“High-five!”
Slap!
Smiling, he called the kids over, and they toddled in with big steps, slamming their palms onto his hand!
“Me too!”
“Me too!”
Seeing how fun it was, the kids at the seats of Kwon Gyu-jin and Woo Jeong-geun also requested high-fives from them, and the two of them happily obliged with brand-new high-fives.
Some gave him grateful looks, but since they were only half the number Choi Seungtaek had to handle anyway, he just ignored them.
“You okay?”
“No. My hands hurt.”
The autograph session had been incredibly long, and the other two had already left their seats, but Choi Seungtaek still had to do another fifteen minutes of signing.
Once it finally ended, he was completely drained, so Woo Jeong-geun came over to check on him.
“You should be grateful, man. You’re not even playing today. What the hell is this compared to what I do when I play?”
“Haha...”
Choi Seungtaek looked a little embarrassed. But Woo Jeong-geun grinned like he knew there was more.
“By the way, Seungtaek. You have another schedule today. I think the lineup doesn’t include you because they want you for kids’ day activities, right?”
“What? Me? More schedule?”
“Yeah. You’re doing a tug-of-war with the kids or something.”
Just as Choi Seungtaek was about to protest, the manager called him over and dragged him straight onto the field.
On the wide Daejeon Magpies stadium, more than forty little kids were running around, and they had split them into twenty teams for the tug-of-war.
The lucky kids picked by lottery wandered around the field, wide-eyed.
“Kyarrr!”
“Whoa! It’s the home-run guy!”
'Whoa... I’m dead. I wish we’d played a doubleheader instead. I’m about to lose my mind. Seriously, the club is determined to suck the life out of me until the very end!'
Choi Seungtaek would be stuck with the kids all day.
Finally, the game was about to start.
Thud
'I burned myself out.'
Choi Seungtaek looked up at the scoreboard.
The name Choi Seungtaek was nowhere on it. He was sitting out today.
'Yeah, this is right. I’ve worked so hard—today I’m allowed to rest. I’m actually grateful for the break.'
Choi Seungtaek slumped in the dugout, relaxed.
'Today I’m just gonna enjoy the game.'
But he had momentarily forgotten what day it was. Children’s Day had a strange magic all its own.
“Choi Gun-taek single! Choi Gun-taek single!”
Bottom of the first. After the Gangnam Parrots’ offense ended, it was the Magpies’ turn.
The fans in the Magpies’ stands were cheering for leadoff hitter Choi Gun-taek.
“Here!”
- Ah! First baseman Choi Gun-taek is hit by a pitch.
The excitement dipped slightly, and Choi Gun-taek grumbled a little as he headed to first.
“Good job! You’re fine!”
The base-running coach at first base patted him.
Thud!
- Second baseman Woo Jeong-geun hits a single in front of right field.
With no outs, runners on first and second, the Magpies’ table setters were doing their job.
Tap!
- Cha Haeng-jin bunted beautifully!
Manager Han Geunseong had called for the bunt, and Cha Haeng-jin had executed it perfectly. Now fourth hitter Tae Pyung-yang had a chance with runners on second and third.
“Tae Pyung-yang! Home run!”
“Tae Pyung-yang! Home run!”
The Magpies fans were demanding a homer from Tae Pyung-yang, and he calmly eyed the pitcher.
'The expansion team is pretty weak. Easy start today.'
Choi Seungtaek felt that surge of confidence.
Then...
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Oh no! Damn it!”
Swears flew from the stands and the dugout.
The opposing pitcher’s pitch had brushed Tae Pyung-yang’s body, and the ball had glanced off his swinging hand.
'Shit! This means—'
Tae Pyung-yang’s face flushed red as he charged the pitcher.
“You motherfucker! What the hell are you doing?!”
Tae Pyung-yang swung at the pitcher, and every player from both dugouts jumped onto the field.
“Damn it, even on Children’s Day everyone acts this way. I’m losing my mind!”
He said it, but Choi Seungtaek—uninjured and the most bench-clearing appropriate talent on the team—charged straight into the middle of the field.
'Damn, the old romance is still alive. They’re legends!'
Most bench-clearings in 2021 were mostly chest-thumping and noogies, but the real fighting spirit was still lingering, with just enough shoving, pulling, and light hitting left.
Choi Seungtaek, who had joined the fray, watched the field fill with people, then spotted Tae Pyung-yang.
But Tae Pyung-yang was already fighting a Gangnam Parrots foreign player.
'What? He’s actually punching?'
Suddenly Choi Seungtaek’s head went ice-cold.
The endless blocking drills he’d been forced to do because of Manager Han Geunseong! The countless insults he’d taken from the little kids today!
The accumulated frustration burned hot in his chest.
'Damn it! This is payback!'
Choi Seungtaek’s fist shot toward the Gangnam Parrots foreign player who had been hitting Tae Pyung-yang.
Pow!
The clean punch landed, and the foreign player dropped like a sack.
- Wow! Choi Seungtaek’s throwing a punch!
“What?!”
“What?!”
Shouts erupted, and players from both sides turned toward the two combatants. Players who hadn’t understood the situation froze for a second before rushing to Choi Seungtaek’s side.
The shocked Magpies players tried to calm him down by grabbing him, but the effect backfired.
“Hey! You punchin’ me?!”
“No! You hit our captain first! You missed the ball and punched anyway!”
Choi Seungtaek shoved the senior Magpies players aside and sprinted to the front.
Pow!
Another Parrots player dropped.
“Hold him! Seungtaek!”
“Whoa! You’re gonna cause a riot!”
The fight was already on. It turned into a full-on brawl, and Choi Seungtaek took plenty of hits—but he landed more.
-15 HP
“Hey man... if you were starting catcher, you could just go in like that.”
“No! I’m pissed! You threw a ball right at me, and I still beat up your seniors!”
Choi Seungtaek shot back at Woo Jeong-geun.
“No, no. You did great, Seungtaek. That’s exactly what a bench-clearing fight calls for.”
Captain Tae Pyung-yang tried to soothe him.
“Yeah, you’re right. You have to move together when things get like this.”
“I’ll smooth things over with the front office so you don’t get suspended.”
“No internal punishment. If there is, it’ll be just a formality. Manager Han’s not gonna worry. He’ll probably just order a revenge pitch in the next inning if you hadn’t taken a few down.”
Woo Jeong-geun and Tae Pyung-yang quickly discussed what kind of punishment Choi Seungtaek might face, but it didn’t look like the club would actually punish him.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Worry about the league punishment instead.”
Separately, the game ended with the Magpies winning by a comfortable margin.
It wasn’t intentional, but it was thanks to Choi Seungtaek having beaten up the Parrots’ aces and foreign hitters.
The ace pitcher Lee Son-ik and the foreign hitter had both been knocked out by his punches and were carried off on stretchers.
With the expansion Parrots already weak, losing their two main offensive pieces left them powerless all game and defeated without a fight.
After the game, while Choi Seungtaek waited in the dugout, the 1st team manager found him.
“Seungtaek, go home and rest today.”
“Just rest? No night training?”
“Yeah. The manager said you did well today. So just rest. It’s fine, go on home.”
With that, Choi Seungtaek could head straight home after the game.
'Whew~ Bench-clearing was awesome! Stress gone! Praised! Won the game! No training! It’s one bird, two stones!'