Regular Season Opening (2)
"Junseong, you said you live in Gangbuk too, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Get in. I'll give you a ride."
We'd just wrapped up the season opener, and I was about to head home when Park Ujin offered to drive me.
"I'm fine, really. If I take the express, I'll be there in no time."
"I said get in. For guys like us, our bodies are our livelihood."
"...Then I'll take you up on that."
Come to think of it, I was going to need a license and a car of my own soon enough. I climbed into the passenger seat of Park Ujin's car, and we pulled out onto the road.
"You didn't even flinch during that interview. Talked like you'd been doing it for years."
"Haha, I was nervous, but once it started the words just came out."
"Most guys stammer and stumble through it the first time. Especially when Kim Seoa is standing right next to them."
"Announcer Kim Seoa?"
"Yeah."
Was she really that famous? It wasn't as if there weren't a handful of women running around the baseball world with announcer titles attached to their names.
"That woman is notorious for going after the ones who look soft and innocent. The ones who don't look like they've been around."
"Ah..."
I had no idea. She was a complete fucking slut.
"Why does she only go after the clueless ones?"
"Because the guys in this business who've actually been around dump her after a couple of dates anyway."
"..."
A pretty shrewd approach, if you asked me.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not saying our fellow players are a bunch of sluts. It's just that this country in particular has no shortage of foxes who latch onto baseball players."
"If that many women are hanging around, it makes sense to be careful."
"Exactly. But the funny part is, the ones who actually want to get married won't even put out easily. Meanwhile the guys just want to sleep with them a few times and move on. It's a complete standoff."
"Haha. I guess it's like that everywhere."
Of course, the more casual women would still want to have their fun even knowing it would never last.
"Be careful. You're a man, so you like women, right?"
"I'm crazy about them."
"Meeting women is fine, but the crazy ones will take potshots at you after a breakup and mix in a bunch of lies, so don't just go after anyone. And be thorough about contraception. I know more than a few seniors who got drunk, finished inside, and got dragged straight to the wedding hall."
Just hearing it was horrifying.
"I'll keep that in mind. But trying to think everything through every time I meet someone is pretty exhausting."
"That's only when you're dealing with women who approach you because they know you're a baseball player. Though with talent like yours, I'm not even sure a normal relationship is possible anymore."
"Haha. I'm not a major leaguer or anything."
Not yet, anyway.
Of all the advice I'd gotten from seniors since joining the team, what Park Ujin told me today was by far the most useful.
"Good work today, everyone. There's zero rain in the forecast this month, so don't drink yourselves stupid on the off days. I want to see you all in one piece."
After Gang Daeho's speech before we clocked out, we filed out of the stadium.
Some time had passed since the April opener.
I'd thrown another scoreless inning today, and through seven appearances I was sitting at 0-0 with four holds, six innings, fourteen strikeouts, no walks, and a scoreless streak that still hadn't broken. I'd come in during a few tie games, but I still hadn't picked up my first win.
I could throw more, no problem — but maybe they were still taking it easy on me because I was a rookie? I hadn't even gone an inning and a third in a single outing, let alone two straight.
Well, for now both I and the team were doing all right. Fourteen games, nine and five — sailing along reasonably well.
"Let's go, Junseong."
"Yes, hyung."
Park Ujin, the other players, and I headed out of the stadium.
"Hello!"
"Great game today!"
Sunday games wrapped up early at two, so there were especially many fans waiting around for the players to leave. Kim Junsu and Gang Daeho were signing autographs at a pretty leisurely pace.
"Lee Junseong!"
"Yes?"
Oh. An incredibly pretty fan was walking toward me. If a camera had ever caught her cheering, she would have been responsible for the entire community's page-view count that day.
"Could I get a picture with you?"
"Of course."
But she didn't need an autograph?
The girl pressed up next to me and started taking pictures. Why so many shots just for a selfie, though?
"If it's okay... could we do a video too?"
"A video?"
These days photos weren't enough — they needed video too?
"I'm actually a YouTuber."
"Ah..."
Right. I'd seen those baseball-stadium vlog videos on YouTube myself from time to time. A smart girl who knew how to make money off her looks.
She held up a selfie stick and started filming, prompting me to toss out a few throwaway lines. It wasn't costing me anything, so I played along.
"Thank you so much!"
"I should be the one thanking you. What's your channel name, by the way?"
I pulled out my phone and opened the app.
"I'll find it for you!"
She took my phone, searched, and hit the subscribe button herself.
"I do Instagram too, actually..."
"Ah, I don't have an account."
Come to think of it, I probably should have made one. But too many people around me got addicted to the thing, so I never bothered. Plus, plenty of players had gotten themselves roasted by fans over the last few years for doing something stupid on social media.
I glanced at the girl as she tucked her selfie stick into her bag.
Her makeup, the way she dressed — she had this fresh, youthful vibe. Was she around my age? The ponytail was genuinely cute.
I swallowed. Yeah. This was my type — not some slut who flashed her chest and tried to devour a guy just because she was pretty, but a girl like this.
But how was I supposed to approach her? Just go straight at it? If I went in with the attitude that I could always just never see her again, it wouldn't matter. But for some reason, I was really drawn to this girl.
Huh?
I'd been too distracted by how unusual she was to notice, but looking at the uniform she was wearing — my name was marked on the back.
"You had my name put on it?"
"Huh? Yeah. Hehe."
The girl proudly turned to show me my name across her shoulders.
"Ah... haha. That really caught me off guard."
I put on the most wholesome smile I could manage.
"Why? Tons of fans have been getting your name marked these days."
"I've seen it from a distance a few times, but this is the first time I've seen it up close... it's just really something."
I stared at my name on the jersey without saying anything, acting as moved as I possibly could. It was starting to get so cringey I thought I might accidentally burst out laughing.
"Then I guess that makes you my number-one fan?"
"Number-one fan? I... I guess so?"
It was complete nonsense, honestly, but the girl seemed pleased — the corners of her mouth turned up. Good. She didn't have a shred of wariness toward me.
"Ah... I'm sorry. Strictly speaking, you're a Dragons fan, not my fan. I got carried away just looking at a jersey marking."
"Huh?"
That was the obvious truth. She probably had other players' names marked on other jerseys. Almost nobody got their first custom marking done with a rookie's name — especially one who'd only just debuted. The people who paid attention to a team's rookies were usually fans who'd been around for a while.
"W-well, that's true, but... I think from now on I'll only wear the jersey with your name on it!"
"Really? It's okay. There are plenty of great seniors on the team. You don't have to do that just because of me."
"No! I've become a complete Lee Junseong fan lately!"
I couldn't claim to be an expert on women, but what I'd figured out was this: women went crazy for being treated as someone special, and for the idea of a fated encounter. Even if it wasn't actually true, all you had to do was make them feel like it was. If you could pull that off, there was no better bang for your buck.
And if it didn't work — well, no harm done.
"Thank you so much. Please come out to the Jamsil games often."
"I follow the team even when it's not Jamsil, as long as I don't have class! Gocheok for sure, and sometimes Incheon and Suwon too."
A college student? I thought she seemed a little young.
"Wow... but I can't just sit here and take all this support from someone so special. And since you're a YouTuber..."
I pulled out my phone.
"Would it be all right if I contacted you privately? If there's anything I can do to help with your channel, I'd like to."
"What?! Contact me?"
She reacted pretty strongly. Well, that much was unavoidable.
"Too much? Your channel's already doing well anyway."
"No, no — I'd be grateful, actually."
She typed in her number.
"I'm Song Hyeonji!"
"That's a pretty name. I'll keep showing you my best. Thank you."
I bowed my head in greeting, just a little more deeply than necessary.
"Yes, take care of yourself, and feel free to reach out anytime!"
I said goodbye to Song Hyeonji and slipped away.
She's even more impressive than I thought.
I hadn't actually checked the channel earlier since I wasn't that interested, but she had over a hundred thousand subscribers. Considering the content was basically just videos about her passion as a fan — which was really just her putting her looks front and center — that was a pretty solid number.
She was twenty. Looking at older videos, she'd been posting since high school, and sure enough there were clips of her in her school uniform cheering for the Dragons.
And her saying she was my fan wasn't a complete lie. She'd recently uploaded a video about buying a newly marked jersey with my name on it. She'd even been at Jamsil for my debut on opening day.
"You just gonna stare at your phone the whole time your hyung is driving?"
"I'm not much of a talker, that's all."
Park Ujin struck up a conversation. Though he usually didn't say much even when I was just sitting there quietly...
"You pissed that they're only letting you throw one inning?"
"..."
Was it that obvious?
I'd never argued with the coaches or anything, but I had kept saying I could throw more.
"You know the manager has absolute authority on this team, right?"
"I know."
"Cut him some slack. The skipper's been catching a lot of heat for overworking rookies. He probably figures pushing you on top of that would be too much."
"We've been running the bullpen into the ground for years. Why start holding back now?"
"Apparently the front office has been saying that with this kind of roster, we should at least be making the Korean Series. There's some discontent over the results, and since the manager is always dealing with overwork controversies, they might use that as an excuse to shake him. Same as always — under the pretext of listening to the fans."
"Oh, so even the skipper plays politics."
"He plays them when he has to. That's how you last that long as a manager. Politics matter more than skill. Anyway, don't worry too much. Both the pitching coach and I have been saying you need more opportunities. Of course, that doesn't mean they should run you into the ground."
"I appreciate you looking out for me."
"It's for the team. I'd like to win a championship one of these days."
"A championship..."
It was a rich organization, so the bonus for winning would be pretty fat, right? Just looking at the roster, I wasn't sure we were actually better than the first-place Marines... but if I somehow put up a performance that led us to a title, it would be absolute chaos.
I was confident. I just wished they'd use me properly.