Let's Win Today
A day much like yesterday.
I loafed around killing time, had lunch, then headed out for a workout. Choi Yeram, who'd tagged along, died all over again, and the camera diligently captured every last second of her suffering.
We came back home, ate dinner, and once more it was time to watch baseball.
With a little over ten minutes left until first pitch, someone knocked on my door.
"Oppa."
"Yeah? What's up?"
It was Kim Sehee. She slipped into the room and asked,
"You watching the game?"
"Yeah. The Eagles are gonna win today."
Today's starter for the Eagles was Rael Ramirez. She was having a strong season — a 5-3 record and a 2.98 ERA. The pitcher she'd be facing was a respectable 4-6 with a 3.74 ERA. But the Eagles' lineup had just pounded the other team's number-two starter yesterday. The bullpen had torched the lead and they'd lost the game, sure, but that kind of hitting couldn't be ignored. Good bats, a starter who could shut them down. A win today wasn't out of the question.
Kim Sehee burst out laughing at my confident declaration.
"Pfft. The Eagles?"
A follow-up to yesterday's taunting, then. I didn't bother rising to it. Humans are creatures of learning. I'd jumped in recklessly just yesterday and hadn't even broken even. Whatever I said, it was a fight I was going to lose. I stared down at my phone in silence.
"I'm watching the game, so just say what you came for and go, would you?"
"You're gonna lose again today anyway. Why even bother watching?"
Another jab. Whatever goodwill I'd had toward Kim Sehee came raining down in clumps. I'd even taught her how to work out, and this was the insult I got in return? Far from showing the underdog a little consideration, this wasn't any different from mockery.
I was about to harden my face and give her a piece of my mind when Kim Sehee spoke first.
"Maybe they keep losing because the fans never show up to cheer and just sit around trash-talking. I already bought tickets, so let's go cheer them on."
"You— ...what did you just say?"
Go cheer them on? Where?
I stared at her blankly, and she hurried me along.
"Hurry up and get ready to leave. If we want to make first pitch, we need to go now."
"Huh? Uh. Okay."
My body moved first. Whenever someone gave me an order, my body just... went. A habit born of rotting in the military for three years. Who else would be giving me orders besides a superior officer? Acting the instant I heard a command had been drilled straight into me.
And so, without even fully understanding what was going on, I finished getting ready to leave. I was out of the room in a flash. Kim Sehee, packing up a camera in the living room, looked at me in surprise.
"Huh? You're already done?"
"Yeah. You said to hurry."
"Still, that was way too fast. Don't you need to do your makeup or something?"
"I don't wear makeup."
That surprised her all over again.
"For real?"
"Yeah. I only put on lotion."
"Oppa, you said you went to the military too."
"Yeah."
"And your skin's that fair without any makeup?"
"I do wear sunscreen."
"No, but still. Skin like that doesn't make any sense."
I'd heard that a few times in my original world, too. There had been a handful of occasions when I'd found myself surrounded by girls, and one of those times had been because of my skin. Back in school, the so-called party girls had crowded around to inspect it. A thoroughly miserable experience.
At first it felt nice that girls were paying attention to me. But I had a habit of getting nervous in front of women, so I'd start stammering, shrinking in on myself, until even meeting their eyes became difficult. And those heinous little monsters, looking at me like that, had pinched my cheeks and called me cute. That was the first day I ever felt fear toward women.
Just imagining it again, it felt like my hands and feet were starting to tremble.
Thank god the women here were kind.
Anyway. I looked at Kim Sehee.
"You said we had to leave soon. You ready?"
"Ah, yes. Let's go."
Kim Sehee called out that she was grabbing something from the workroom, then left the house with me.
Riding the elevator down, I asked her,
"So we are going to the baseball stadium, right?"
"Yes. Bears versus Eagles."
"Yeah. Eagles versus Bears. But why all of a sudden?"
Kim Sehee glanced up at me.
"You heard we're going to the stadium tomorrow to film with Yeram unnie, right?"
"Yeah. I heard."
"If we just show up at the stadium out of nowhere for a date, I don't think the viewers would be able to get into it. So we're going today to build some narrative first."
"Narrative?"
"Yes. Like, Oppa's such a diehard Eagles fan that he went to the stadium by himself, so we're going together to cheer them on. That kind of thing."
I was a little surprised. That they'd planned it out this thoroughly just to go to a baseball game. She'd sprung the invitation on me so suddenly I'd wondered what on earth was going on, but there had been an intention behind it all along.
And here I'd thought she was trying to make up for teasing me yesterday. It wasn't anything that simple. I was floored.
The elevator arrived at the underground parking garage, and Kim Sehee stepped out first. I followed.
"For the record, this was my idea."
"Huh?"
"The stadium shoot. I pitched it because I figured Oppa would like it."
The car was nearby. Kim Sehee left it at that and climbed in.
What is this. Be grateful you get to go to the stadium thanks to me — was that it? Something about the way she was showing off rubbed me the wrong way.
That rotten Bears fan. As if mocking the Eagles wasn't enough, now she was putting on airs.
I glared at the driver's seat she'd claimed, then walked around to the passenger side.
I'll let it slide this time. She did plan the stadium shoot, after all.
Praying that the Eagles would please, please win today, I got in the car.
"Oppa, put this on."
"What is it? Oh!"
What Kim Sehee held out was an Eagles uniform.
"Where'd you get this?"
"Manager Hyeona used to be an Eagles fan, apparently. When I told her we were going to the stadium, she lent it to us."
"Wait, seriously?"
Gwak Hyeona was an Eagles fan? Then why hadn't she said anything? She knew I was an Eagles fan. If it were me, I'd have been thrilled to meet a fellow one. Gwak Hyeona hadn't shown even a hint of it.
Kim Sehee resolved the mystery.
"But she quit two years ago. Said if she kept watching Eagles games, she was going to make herself sick with rage."
"Ah..."
That explained it. Yeah, she wouldn't mention it. I found myself growing solemn in spite of myself.
Sorry, Eagles.
"I'll wear this."
Kim Sehee pulled out a Bears uniform and put it on. So she'd come to enjoy herself with the shoot as an excuse, huh. No way she'd have prepped a uniform otherwise.
"Come on, Oppa. It already started."
She was in such a hurry she even dropped the polite speech to rush me.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Six-forty. The game had already been underway for ten minutes. I was in just as much of a hurry. We ran toward the stadium.
We printed the tickets we'd bought online at the machine and headed inside. Our seats were table seats set along the third-base side, right next to the center section.
Typically the home team's cheering section is on the first-base side, the away team's on the third-base side. Jamsil Baseball Stadium was the Bears' home ground. The Eagles' cheering section was on the third-base side.
From our seats we could see the cheerleaders' platform — and they were all men.
"Ugh."
On a screen I could shrug it off, but seeing it in person was a whole different kind of viscerally wrong. Cheerleaders dancing in short shorts and crop tops that left their belly buttons out. At least the cheer captain being a woman was a novelty, but the cheerleaders flanking her were way too much.
Focus on the baseball.
The score was still 0-0. Bottom of the first, Bears at bat, one out.
"Oppa, you're not getting anything to eat, right?"
"Yeah."
"Aww, but you've gotta tear into some fried chicken at the ballpark."
Kim Sehee smacked her lips beside me. Looking around, every table had something sitting on it. At the very least a beer.
Chicken. Chicken, huh.
I'd already eaten dinner, so it was a heavy food, but maybe just for today?
Of course it wasn't okay. A single piece of fried chicken packed about as many calories as a bowl of rice. Even if the two of us split a half-chicken between us, we'd still be taking in more than half a day's recommended calories.
Not that I didn't understand the vibe. Watching baseball at the stadium with fried chicken and beer. In that rowdy atmosphere, not having something to eat left a little something missing.
There was one way around it.
"Want some chicken?"
"Huh? For real?"
"If you want to eat, you should eat."
"Oppa, you said you don't eat anything after dinner."
"You said if you're at the ballpark, you've gotta have chicken."
"Ah... so it's just me eating? I feel kind of bad, though..."
"Nah. I'm eating too."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. I'll just work out extra for whatever I eat."
That was right. If you ate it, you just added that much extra exercise. Cardio. I wasn't particularly fond of cardio, but enduring a little suffering for the happiness of a single transgression wasn't the worst trade in the world.
"Then I'll go buy some!"
"Yeah. If you want something to drink, grab that too."
"Okay!"
Kim Sehee left the seats beaming, completely unaware that she'd have to go through that suffering herself...
Left alone, I focused on the game.
The foreign pitcher cleaned up the Bears' hitters without a fuss. Three up, three down. She retired all three batters and strode off the mound like she owned it.
Inning change. I couldn't bring myself to watch the cheerleaders' cover dance, so I picked up my phone. I wasn't usually the type to take pictures, but a baseball stadium was something I wanted to keep.
Click. Click.
I photographed the stadium.
Should I take a selfie too? This wasn't like me. I must've gotten a little giddy coming to the ballpark.
Before I knew it, I'd switched to selfie mode and was snapping a few shots.
"Excuse me."
Someone spoke to me.
"Yes?"
"You look like you're taking pictures — shall I take one for you?"
Long, straight brown hair. Skinny jeans and an Eagles uniform. Round glasses, giving off a warm, pleasant air. A woman.
"A photo...?"
"Yes. I'm actually pretty good at taking pictures. Fellow Eagles fan — let me help you out."
She held out her hand with a kind smile. Unable to get a read on the situation, I just stared at her blankly.
What even was this.
A pickup attempt, dressed up as a helping hand.