Chapter 15. Joining Ceremony (2)
"Wow. That kid's really something. Taeyoung hyung, shouldn't you start getting nervous?"
Hawks second baseman Park Hyunsu spoke playfully.
The Hawks players were listening to the rookies give short introductions.
Kim Nahan, the first round pick who had recently become a small topic even among the first team players,
had just made a bold statement.
"It takes real guts to stand up there and confidently say you'll bring the team a championship. Especially when the team is the Hawks. Hey, Taeyoung hyung might get demoted to backup soon."
"Good grief. I'm not losing to some kid who isn't even twenty yet. I've still got ten good years left."
"Hehehe. But be honest, hyung. You like hearing it too."
The Hawks had fallen into a long dark age.
The players had become accustomed to losing.
The field staff and front office were constantly fighting.
One of the teammates who had once supported the team together with Taeyoung had left for America.
Only Taeyoung remained behind, protecting his position.
The team's results continued growing worse.
Facing that hopeless reality slowly wore down his spirit.
Taeyoung had also grown past the age when he was full of passion.
He was now thirty eight.
He no longer expected much.
He simply continued playing games and training out of habit.
Then a single sentence from a rookie stirred a new wind inside him.
It almost reminded him of his younger self.
Taeyoung nearly smiled.
But he forced the smile down.
"A championship... Sure, a championship sounds nice. But before that, shouldn't he worry about getting called up to the first team?"
"Well, under the current manager, that might be difficult. Tch."
"Keep your voice down. Everyone can hear you. Besides, he's leaving soon anyway."
That rookie named Nahan would probably need to spend a long time developing in the second team.
He would need to polish his tools and improve.
Only then would he become a shining jewel capable of claiming a first team position.
Still, Taeyoung had a strange feeling.
"But I don't know why, I just have this feeling."
"What kind?"
"I have a feeling he'll reach the first team sooner than people think."
After saying that, Taeyoung left the dugout to personally place a cap on Kim Nahan's head.
Hyunsu also grabbed a cap and stood.
"...Trying to act romantic at your age."
Hyunsu complained while watching the corner of Taeyoung's mouth rise slightly.
But even as he said it,
Hyunsu was smiling too.
Sizzle.
Kim Taeyoung and my family sat around a grill, cooking meat.
To exaggerate only slightly,
Father's eyes were practically firing lasers.
He pretended to carefully inspect whether the meat was burning,
but it was obvious he kept sneaking glances at Kim Taeyoung.
Well, that's understandable in front of Kim Taeyoung.
Father's favorite pitcher was Hawks legend Kim Minchan.
And naturally, his favorite hitter was Kim Taeyoung.
What fan would not feel excited when a player like that personally bought them dinner?
Even I still could not believe the situation.
At the moment,
Father looked like the perfect example of a successful fan.
So why exactly were we eating dinner with Kim Taeyoung?
To understand that,
we needed to go back to immediately after the joining ceremony.
"Nahan."
Just as the rookies had gathered to hear a few final words before separating,
Kim Taeyoung and several other players came looking for us.
The sudden appearance of veteran players made the atmosphere noisy.
"I can speak casually to you, right? Anyway, want to have dinner together?"
According to Kim Taeyoung,
the veteran players had decided to each buy dinner for one rookie.
They wanted to give advice to players who had just entered the professional world and help them adjust to the team's atmosphere.
Of course,
they also said we did not have to participate if our families were uncomfortable.
"Sir, if this makes you uncomfortable, please tell me right away."
"Of course."
"Pardon?"
"Ah, I meant of course it's fine. I'm very grateful."
There was no chance Father, a massive Hawks fan, would refuse.
And that was how we ended up at a barbecue restaurant near the stadium.
The four of us sat awkwardly, silently watching the meat turn golden brown.
After glancing around nervously, Father eventually seemed to make a decision.
He spoke with a determined expression.
"Kim Taeyoung."
"Yes, sir."
"Would it be possible... to take a picture together?"
Kim Taeyoung smiled.
"Of course. Please come over to my side."
Father sat beside him for the photograph and smiled brightly.
Once the picture was taken, the atmosphere quickly relaxed.
When things became more comfortable, Father began digging through his bag.
He pulled out a uniform.
It was from the 2015 season,
the best season of Kim Taeyoung's career.
"My goodness."
Even Kim Taeyoung opened his mouth in surprise.
It was not from the latest season.
Father had carefully preserved a uniform from the brightest moment of Kim Taeyoung's career.
The object made it clear just how much Father loved him as a player.
"Goodness. You even put it in a frame and treated it like treasure. Imagine if you hadn't gotten dinner with Kim Taeyoung today."
"Ahem. Kim Taeyoung, could I ask for your autograph here too?"
"Haha, of course."
As Father received the autograph on the uniform,
he looked happier than I had ever seen him.
His eyes were even moist enough that tears seemed ready to fall.
Was Father capable of smiling like that?
Why did he look even happier than when I became the Bonghwangdaegi home run king?
It felt strangely ridiculous.
Still,
if Father was happy, I was happy too.
In a warm atmosphere, we began talking about various things.
Kim Taeyoung placed some meat onto our plates as he spoke.
"This might sound a little old fashioned, but you understand that professional baseball and amateur baseball are completely different, right?"
"Of course."
"The players are on a different level, and the games are much tighter."
I've spent decades playing professionally, so I know very well.
I swallowed that final sentence and simply nodded.
He eagerly explained the things he had felt when he first became a professional,
and how different professional baseball was from amateur baseball.
I already knew most of it.
Still, I listened carefully.
His advice came from real experience.
I knew very well how valuable advice like that could be.
We continued talking about many things.
"Did you find an agency?"
"Yes. I signed with Michael Corporation."
"Oh."
Kim Taeyoung seemed extremely surprised when he heard that Michael had personally approached me and I had signed with his company.
"What have you been doing lately?"
"Mostly conditioning. I've been focusing on strength and muscular endurance. I only do enough batting practice to avoid losing my feel."
He nodded after hearing about my current training.
A small smile gradually appeared around his mouth.
Maybe he liked what he was hearing.
Mother and Father also asked several things.
What was daily life usually like for a rookie?
How would players live inside the club?
Kim Taeyoung answered kindly without any of the arrogance people sometimes associated with star players.
As the dinner approached its end, his expression became serious.
"A quick first team debut might be difficult."
I had already expected that.
"The only advice I can really give you is to keep working quietly and consistently from where you are now. I know that sounds extremely basic."
He quickly drank some water before continuing.
"If you keep producing results like that, you'll definitely get a good outcome eventually. A player's career is long, right? Don't let yourself become too happy or too depressed based only on what's happening right now."
He scratched his chin and muttered that he might have sounded too much like an old man.
Still, his words somehow calmed the impatience inside me.
Right.
The season was long.
A player's career was even longer.
There were still more than eight months until the All Star break.
If I focused on each goal directly in front of me,
I would eventually reach the first team.
Seeing me nod, Kim Taeyoung added another thought.
"And I'm only asking just in case, but... you're getting enough rest too, right?"
"Yes. I'm very strict about keeping my rest days."
"Good. Sounds like you're managing yourself properly. Later, think about finding some hobby that helps you relax without affecting your performance. If you pull a bow too hard, the string eventually snaps."
"Yes. I'll remember that."
"If you ever have free time, let's play some games together. There are a lot of guys on the Hawks who like gaming."
After our conversation ended, he began preparing to leave.
Kim Taeyoung had a family.
We also needed to return home.
We could not stay too long.
We left the restaurant and went our separate ways.
After casually paying the entire bill, Kim Taeyoung waved as he walked away.
Mother watched him leave and exclaimed in admiration.
"My goodness, Kim Taeyoung is really impressive. You should become a great player like him too."
"That won't be easy. Kim Taeyoung is a legend of Korean baseball."
Father watched Kim Taeyoung with moist eyes.
At this point, I could hardly tell whether Kim Taeyoung was his son or I was.
"I'm going to become an even better player than Kim Taeyoung."
Feeling slightly irritated, I announced my goal.
But,
"Is that... really possible? Our son?"
"Hmm... That's a little much."
My parents responded without much enthusiasm.
Come on.
I used to be an MVP.
Not that I could exactly tell them I had returned from the future.
I'll have to show them with my ability instead of words.
I felt slightly sorry for Kim Taeyoung,
but it seemed I needed to move him to first base as quickly as possible.
It was not because I was sulking over my parents' reaction.
Absolutely not.
Ding.
[Park Gyumin: Anyone want to lift weights together after lunch?]
[Kim Minseok: Wait. Buying some sports drinks first. I'll come right after.]
[Park Gyumin: k]
[Kim Minseok: What about Nahan?]
[Me: I'll go.]
At the end of October, I was staying in the Hawks second team dormitory.
I had not officially graduated yet.
But thanks to special consideration from my school, I had been allowed to move to Daejeon early.
Naturally, Minseok, who attended the same school, had come too.
Fourth round pick Park Gyumin also started spending time with us.
Thanks to the club placing the three of us in the same room, we became close quickly.
Minseok seemed to like Gyumin quite a bit too.
The evidence was that he often started conversations like this.
"Gyumin. Are you completely ready for finishing camp?"
Minseok brought up the finishing camp that would begin soon.
Finishing camp.
It was a training period held after the season ended.
Players focused on weaknesses or trained basic fundamentals to improve individual skills.
And for rookies like us,
it would also be our first official training program.
In other words,
we needed to prepare for it.
"Manga? Yeah, I packed all of it."
"What about other things?"
"Other things? Do we need anything else?"
Minseok had probably been thinking about underwear, personal belongings, and baseball equipment.
Gyumin, meanwhile, simply asked what else he could possibly need.
Minseok's expression became strange.
"You're not bringing sports drinks?"
"Why would I bring those? I can buy them there."
"Ah, right. I wonder what Japanese sports drinks taste like. I'm excited."
"Aren't you guys packing actual luggage?"
"What luggage? Doesn't the team prepare it for us? I don't have room because of all my manga."
I sighed at the sight.
One person was simple minded and overflowing with confidence.
The other was only thinking about buying drinks after arriving.
When these two combined,
it did not feel like the boat was climbing a mountain.
It felt like the boat was somehow entering an underground cave.
"Obviously you have to prepare your personal belongings yourself. We did the same thing in high school, so why would professional baseball be different?"
"Ah... Annoying. In the manga I read, the team took care of everything for the protagonist."
"Maybe that's because the protagonist hits eighty home runs a season in the Majors?"
"...Then I just have to hit eighty."
"People say it's a blessing if your eighth grade syndrome actually comes in eighth grade. Why did yours arrive this late?"
Minseok watched Gyumin and me talking, then nodded.
He began typing something into his phone.
Glancing over, I saw he was making a rough list of things to pack.
What am I supposed to do with these guys?
I felt less like their friend and more like someone raising children.
Finishing camp was right around the corner, yet they had not even prepared properly.
Well, there was no helping it.
I was the one with experience.
I would have to help them.
The next manager is fairly reasonable, but the training could still be difficult for rookies whose bodies aren't fully developed.
The finishing camp would last through November.
Recently, more clubs had begun valuing rest and training quality over sheer volume.
But the difference between players who had survived even one year in professional baseball and players who had not was larger than most people thought.
Some rookie might try to keep pace with experienced players and get injured.
"Hey, when we get there, we're training together."
"Okay."
"Sure. Then if I train better than you, I'll reward myself with one sports drink."
"Does that mean you don't want to drink anything?"
If either of them tried to force themselves to train despite feeling physically wrong,
I only needed to step in at moments like that.
In this life, I planned to care about more than my individual statistics.
I wanted to care about the team's results too.
These guys might become future core players.
I should take good care of them.
"But seriously, I probably don't need to bring a bat, right? There'll be bats everywhere."
"...Good grief."
Time passed quickly.
Soon, November arrived.
The Hawks players departed for Japan for finishing camp.
