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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“He said his name was Cha Tae-hyun? He hit well. Let’s keep up the good work.”
“I really thought you were a crazy person when you just stood there at the end.”
“Hey, what middle school baseball team were you on? Why don’t I remember seeing you? Someone of your caliber, I definitely would have seen you in a tournament…”
The team members, who had been cold before the game, started to approach me warmly after I returned from hitting a home run.
Was it like that? When a player who had been criticized for his poor performance made a dramatic contribution in a Korea-Japan match, he was suddenly treated as a national hero.
…I was lucky.
If it hadn’t been for the Dongshin High game, and if it hadn’t been my turn at bat at the end, it would have taken a while to find my place on the baseball team. Of course, not all the team members were looking at me favorably.
For one, Lee Chang-soo, the original starting shortstop, and his friends still seemed to be avoiding me. Well, I guess time would solve that.
“You said your name was Cha Tae-hyun.”
At that moment, a huge figure approached me. It was senior Lee Tae-hyung, the cleanup hitter and leader of the fielders.
“Yes, that’s right.”
I hadn’t noticed from a distance, but up close, his face was quite intimidating. His expression was so stiff that I wondered if he was angry at me.
“You hit well. Especially that surprise attack at the end, even I was surprised.”
It wasn’t that. Just an ordinary compliment. I bowed my head, and he patted my shoulder and said, “I look forward to working with you,” before disappearing.
Was I acknowledged…? I was about to go to the locker room when senior Kim Chang-hyun approached me. This senior was just… fun.
Even now, he was trying to imitate senior Lee Tae-hyung with a serious face, but it was so obvious.
“Cha Tae-hyun.”
“Yes.”
“I held them off in the last inning as promised.”
“Yes. I believed in you. Your pitches were good throughout the game.”
“!!”
Senior Kim Chang-hyun’s eyes widened for a moment, and his lips twitched. Ah, I knew this person. That was it.
The whale that even praise could make dance. People with great pride generally liked to be acknowledged.
“As expected… you are worthy of being Hyeoksan High’s ace. I look forward to working with you.”
His last words were similar to senior Lee Tae-hyung’s. Anyway, I bowed my head and greeted him, and senior Kim Chang-hyun also patted my shoulder and disappeared.
“Should I go now too?”
As I was walking towards the exit, I ran into the coach. He grinned as soon as he saw me and took out two balls from his pocket.
“Take these.”
“…What are these?”
Why the balls all of a sudden…? Looking closely, they were used balls, with some dirt on them, not new ones. Why this… No, could it be?
“Are these the balls I hit for home runs?”
“I have to give you your first game, first home run balls. Ah, the one on the left is the first home run ball, and the one on the right is the second. You should mark them with a magic marker or something.”
Could it be that the coach was missing in the early part of the game because he was looking for these? This was… surprising.
From what I had seen in Nemesis, I thought he was just an old man obsessed with results, but now I saw that he had a certain warmth to him. No, maybe it was because I was good at baseball…
Either way, I was grateful. I bowed 90 degrees and shouted loudly.
“Thank you, Coach!”
“Don’t thank me. If you’re thankful, just keep playing well. Ah, if you need a magic marker, go to the lounge.”
The coach disappeared after saying that. I turned my steps from the locker room to the lounge.
“It’s my first home run ball, so I should mark it right away.”
If I got them mixed up, I’d be bothered for the rest of my life, wondering which one was the first. There was no one in the lounge, and I saw a magic marker right by the whiteboard.
First, I wrote today’s date on the first home run ball with the magic marker.
“…Should I sign it too?”
While I was at it, I also signed it. With the signature I used in the major leagues.
“Oh… not bad.”
It had been a while since I had signed a ball, but I was satisfied with how it turned out. Looking at the ball, a person’s face suddenly came to mind.
“…I wonder if Ms. Miyeon has left work yet.”
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By the time the sky started to turn black, the workday had long since passed. But to prepare for the upcoming classes, Lee Mi-yeon was still sitting in a corner of the faculty room, preparing materials.
At that moment, the teacher from class 3 tapped on her desk.
“Ms. Miyeon, why do you look so down today? Are you sick?”
“What? Me…?”
The teacher from class 3 nodded.
“What should I say? You usually have this smile energy? But today, you look like a droopy puppy. It’s been like that since lunchtime. Did you have a stomachache or something?”
“It’s not that…”
“Hmm… really? Anyway, if you’re tired, go get some air. A walk is the best when you’re feeling down.”
After thinking for a moment, Lee Mi-yeon finally left the faculty room and went down the stairs. She walked slowly across the school field and sat on a bench.
“Scary… class 3 teacher…”
Lee Mi-yeon muttered with a bitter smile. Honestly, she also felt that today was different from usual. That empty feeling had been lingering all day. She might have known the reason. No, she knew, not might have known…
The only thing that had changed between yesterday and today was that she hadn’t had lunch with Tae-hyun… But it was hard to admit that.
The moment she admitted it, she wouldn’t be the ‘teacher’ she wanted to be. So, even though she had felt that her ambiguous relationship with Tae-hyun was ‘wrong’… it was just…
“I can’t help it that I enjoy talking to him.”
At first, she had packed him a lunch out of pity. It was so sad that he couldn’t even afford to eat. She also thought he must have a lot of scars, so she had tried to talk to him as a teacher to heal them…
“I’m really hopeless…”
At some point, she had started to enjoy the conversation itself and had forgotten about that purpose. No, but he was good at baseball, liked the Phoenix, was kind, and even gave her the signed bat she had wanted so much…
Honestly, wasn’t it Tae-hyun’s fault…? Lee Mi-yeon suddenly shook her head vigorously.
“What am I thinking…”
Anyway, the reason her ‘smile energy’ had bottomed out was ultimately because of Cha Tae-hyun. He had gone to the baseball team.
“I won’t be able to see him much anymore…”
‘It’s for the better…’
If it weren’t for this forced situation, she wouldn’t have the courage to distance herself from him.
“Right… From now on, I’ll just have a normal student-teacher relationship with Tae-hyun—”
“Teacher?”
“Hic…!”
Lee Mi-yeon, who had bitten her tongue at Cha Tae-hyun’s sudden appearance under the streetlamp, let out a strange sound.
“You haven’t gone home yet?”
“Uh, yeah! I was just getting some things ready for class, so I’m a little late.”
“You’re lucky today.”
“What do you mean?”
Cha Tae-hyun smiled slightly and took out a baseball from his pocket.
“I wanted to give this to you. If you had already left, I was going to give it to you next time.”
Lee Mi-yeon’s eyes, which had been drooping all day, widened and sparkled.
“It’s the home run ball. First game, first home run ball.”
Lee Mi-yeon’s mouth fell open as she received the ball. The first home run ball of the first game. She, who loved baseball, knew how precious that was.
“Is it really okay for me to have this…? It’s your first game, first home run ball…”
“You’ve been making me lunch every day. It’s not much of a reward… but when I get famous and make a lot of money, I’ll give you a signed ball made of gold.”
A small laugh escaped Lee Mi-yeon’s lips.
“You don’t have to give me a gold ball. This is more than enough to make me happy.”
It was 100% true. She was so happy that it was hard to keep her lips from twitching. Cha Tae-hyun hesitated for a moment, as if he had something more to say, and then looked at her.
“And I just wanted to give it to you. The lunchbox was great, but…”
“Huh…?”
“Thanks to you, my days have been enjoyable.”
Lee Mi-yeon was stunned at his words.
“The lunchbox was delicious, but the time I spent with you was a great source of strength for me.”
“…Uh-huh. I see…”
“Teacher? Why are you suddenly bowing your head?”
Because my face is burning! Of course, she couldn’t say that.
“So… I’d like to keep eating lunchboxes… It’s a bit shameless, but can I ask you?”
Lee Mi-yeon’s head shot up.
“Huh? I thought you couldn’t make time because of the baseball team?”
Cha Tae-hyun smiled playfully and replied, “The coach is the type who doesn’t care what I do as long as I’m good at baseball, so it’s okay to sneak out during lunchtime.”
“Really? Then…”
Lee Mi-yeon, who was about to answer immediately, paused.
‘…What am I thinking? I just made a resolution…’
But the moment Cha Tae-hyun’s words were heard…
“If you’re uncomfortable, I’m fine—”
“No, no! It was boring just making one lunchbox.”
Her resolution crumbled.
‘It’s not… weird to eat lunch together, right?’
Anyway, Lee Mi-yeon, who had regained her smile energy, returned to the school with Cha Tae-hyun, who said he had left something in the classroom. After parting with him, she opened the door to the faculty room and sat down.
Soon, the teacher from class 3 looked at her strangely.
“What? Ms. Miyeon, you’re back to normal?”
“What? Oh, am I?”
“Yeah. No, you’re even more full of smile energy than usual. Did you find some money while you were out for a walk?”
“Well… it’s not money.”
Lee Mi-yeon stealthily placed the home run ball on her desk and smiled.
“I received something much better than money.”
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A week had passed since I joined the baseball team. I had gotten to know the team members, and some of them even started to follow me, so I was quite satisfied. But… a problem had arisen. A big one.
Thwack!
“Ah! Lee Ji-ho again?”
“What’s wrong with him these days?”
“He’s a double-play machine.”
Whether it was the world’s suppression or something else, Lee Ji-ho had fallen into a slump. Not only was it a problem because it might create a connection with Ms. Miyeon, but it was also a problem for the baseball team.
Right now, we were only playing intra-squad games and friendly matches, but if this continued during the tournament season… we’d have to worry about being eliminated in the first round, let alone winning.
No, it wasn’t just because one batter was struggling. It was because it wasn’t just Lee Ji-ho.
“Is senior Seung-tae really missing?”
“I know, right? What, did he get into a car accident or something?”
“The coach didn’t say anything either.”
The team’s ace pitcher had been missing for a week without any contact.
“Well, maybe he caught a bad cold. That guy is a bit of a jerk, but he’s serious about baseball. But I hope he doesn’t come back.”
“Agreed. Honestly, it wasn’t good to see him bully Hwang Gwang-hyun. And since the coach didn’t say anything, there was nothing we could do…”
“Really? Then should I bring him back?”
The second-year team members, who had been chatting excitedly in the dugout, suddenly froze. Of course, I did too.
“L-Lee Seung-tae, senior?”
“His hair…?”
Lee Seung-tae, who was smiling as if he were enjoying it, had his hair cut so short that it was almost a buzz cut.
No… why was he suddenly like that?
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