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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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She said she would buy me something delicious, but it was practically a date. Or, more accurately, was I entertaining Ms. Miyeon?
The streets of Seoul were full of things to see and do, and she was darting around without a break. Well, that wasn’t to say I disliked it. Just seeing her happy face made me feel energized.
“Tae-hyun, look at that! Isn’t that the ice cream from TV?”
She pulled me by the hand, and I followed.
“One, please!”
The man behind the counter, a Turk, scooped up some ice cream and handed it to her. She quickly reached for it, but…
“Haha!”
The man, with his large mustache, laughed and playfully moved the cone around with a stick. As the cone danced just out of her reach, Ms. Miyeon’s face started to crumble.
Wasn’t this what she wanted to see…? It looked like she was about to cry, so I snatched the cone.
“What…”
I gave a thumbs-up to the dumbfounded Turkish man and handed the cone to Ms. Miyeon.
“Thanks, Tae-hyun.”
She smiled shyly and took the cone, then suddenly grabbed my hand. Hmm… I looked at her, but she just smiled and licked her ice cream. Was it just a habit?
Well, it was fine. I walked where she led me.
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‘I… I held his hand!’
She was fully conscious of it. She was just pretending that she had grabbed it by accident. She knew it was wrong, but…
‘What can I do if I want to hold it…’
It was a mystery. Just a simple touch of hands, yet it brought her so much happiness. And this was Seoul. No one knew she was his teacher. She had always suppressed her desire to be with him because of prying eyes.
But now… she didn’t have to worry about that. The ‘desire’ she had been suppressing was slowly starting to surface.
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As we were walking, Ms. Miyeon suddenly intertwined her fingers with mine.
“…Teacher?”
“Hmm? What?”
She looked at me with an innocent expression. I was a little flustered, but… since I didn’t dislike it, I just kept walking. But it seemed she was getting closer to my shoulder…
“Do you know you’re a total celebrity now, Tae-hyun?”
“What…? Me?”
“You were already famous on the Phoenix Gallery, but because of the broadcast, all the Phoenix fans probably know you now.”
Considering my performance today, it was plausible.
“That’s great. You’ll probably get free food around Sajik Baseball Stadium.”
I seemed to recall hearing something like that. Was it true? “Well… would they really give it for free?”
“They probably would.”
We looked at the restaurants as we talked. When I saw a place that looked good, I said, “Teacher, how about that tonkatsu place? I like it.”
“Hmm… it’s good… but let’s look around a bit more!”
“There’s a shabu-shabu place. How about that? It looks good.”
“Hmm… let’s just look around a little more!”
“Wow, there’s a dwaeji-gukbap place in Seoul. I’m curious, should we try it?”
“If there’s a dwaeji-gukbap place in Seoul, there must be something more interesting, right?”
It seemed Ms. Miyeon wasn’t hungry yet. It wasn’t until the sun had set and it was dark that we finally entered a restaurant.
I asked her playfully, “In the end, it’s a tonkatsu place. The one I suggested first.”
Her face turned as red as a tomato, and a smile tugged at my lips.
“…S-Sorry.”
“I’m kidding. I like tonkatsu.”
“B-But I was supposed to treat you to something delicious… we should have eaten something more expensive.”
“What does the price matter? The important thing is that I’m eating with you.”
“Oh… um… uh-huh…”
She was now a perfectly ripe tomato, and I finally burst out laughing.
“You know you still have one more treat, right? Since I hit two. I’ll be expecting it next time.”
Instead of answering, she just nodded vigorously as the tonkatsu was placed in front of her. It was called “Bomb Cheese Tonkatsu,” and it was covered in cheese.
There were certainly a lot of strange things here. It was the first time I’d seen cheese on top of a tonkatsu instead of inside it. Anyway, Ms. Miyeon was struggling to cut the tonkatsu.
“Here, let me.”
I quickly cut it into seven pieces and gave it back.
“Thanks.”
She took a bite with her fork, and her eyes lit up.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah! It’s really, really good, Tae-hyun. You should try it.”
She smiled and offered me a piece. The one she had just bitten.
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t realize. Wait a minute.”
I grabbed the fork as she was about to put it down and snatched the piece into my mouth. Hmm… it was definitely delicious.
Delicious was delicious, but Ms. Miyeon was frozen, still holding the fork.
“What’s wrong? Do you want some of mine?”
I cut a piece of mine and offered it to her. She hesitated for a moment, but eventually opened her mouth and took it.
“Is this one good too?”
“…Yeah.”
I used to think it was embarrassing when couples fed each other, but… now I understood. I didn’t know the principle, but just seeing her eat it brought a strange sense of happiness. Well, it was more of a ‘here you go’ than a romantic gesture.
“Want another one?”
“Ah, no, then you won’t have any.”
“If you don’t want it, then fine.”
“N-No, I’ll have it.”
Right. What was happiness? This was happiness.
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By the time we arrived at the KTTX station, the clock showed 1:20 AM. Fortunately, in Nemesis, the KTTX also had a late-night service.
“I’ve never taken the late-night train before. There’s no one here.”
“It’s not that there’s no one. It’s just us, I think.”
This was a first for me too. A high-speed train this quiet, even before departure.
“It feels like we’ve chartered the whole train, right?”
I nodded at Ms. Miyeon’s strangely excited words. The seats we had booked were in the regular class, so they were right next to each other.
The first-class seats a little ahead were wider and clearly separated.
“Since there’s no one here, should we just sit in first class?”
“We can’t do that, Tae-hyun! Even if there’s no one, we have to have a conscience.”
“…You’re right. Then should we sit here?”
“Yeah!”
As we were sitting and waiting for departure…
Thud.
Ms. Miyeon’s head fell onto my left shoulder. I glanced at her. Her mouth was slightly agape.
“She falls asleep so quickly.”
It hadn’t even been 10 minutes since we sat down. I carefully took out my phone, trying not to wake her. I covered the speaker slightly and took a picture of her sleeping.
It came out well. Smiling with satisfaction, I put my phone away and was about to close my eyes too when…
“I want to… go to the baseball stadium with Tae-hyun… Hmm… and… go on a trip together…”
Ms. Miyeon was talking in her sleep. A baseball game and a trip together… Does this mean she’ll say yes if I ask her next time?
I got some good information. It was a good thing I didn’t fall asleep. I closed my eyes too.
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After the KTTX departed and Cha Tae-hyun fell asleep, Lee Mi-yeon stealthily opened her eyes.
“Is he really sleeping…?”
She poked his cheek a couple of times, and when he didn’t move, she buried her face in her hands.
‘I’m crazy, I’m crazy, I’m crazy, Lee Mi-yeon, really…’
Pretending to talk in her sleep and saying she wanted to go on a baseball date and a trip together was a huge risk. It was a good thing she wasn’t caught…
But since she had already done it, she couldn’t take it back. The best she could do was reflect on her actions today and be more careful in the future.
‘Right…. From tomorrow, I’ll go back to being a teacher, Lee Mi-yeon… Right… from tomorrow.’
Having made that resolution, she stealthily took out her phone and took a picture of his sleeping face. Smiling with satisfaction, she put her phone away and slowly leaned her head on his shoulder.
‘Let’s just enjoy it for today…’
Late at night, with the stars hanging in the sky, the train carrying only two passengers was heading towards Busan.
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After winning the 64th round, which was practically the finals, we went straight to the finals without any problems. Just as it was being predicted that Hyeoksan High would win the championship, one team started to stand out. Cheongshin High.
It was their first time participating in the Golden Lion Flag, and they were a weak team with a very short baseball history. But a player named ‘Jin Tae-hyun’ appeared on this weak team and literally wrote a miracle, advancing to the finals.
Now, there were even opinions that Cheongshin High might win. Was it because of this narrative? This year’s Golden Lion Flag finals were drawing a record amount of attention.
“Wow… I’ve never seen the stands this full before.”
“It’s because of Jjin-Taehyun and Jjap-Taehyun.”
Ah. For reference, Jjin-Taehyun was me, and Jjap-Taehyun was Jin Tae-hyun, who was carrying Cheongshin High on his shoulders.
“Wow, but doesn’t Jjap-Taehyun look exactly like that?”
“Hmm… a passionate baseball manga protagonist?”
“Right! That! I saw the broadcast, and he was wailing every time he got a hit. He’s on senior Chang-hyun’s level.”
“But Jjin-Taehyun is… um… he has passion, but…”
“Oh, he’s no fun. He’s so good that it’s annoying.”
I chuckled and approached Jin Myung-hwan.
“Myung-hwan. To have passion, you need… huh? An opponent who can make you boil over. I’m jealous of Jin Tae-hyun. How fun must baseball be for him?”
“Wow… you’re so annoying…”
“Just kidding. Let’s get ready and go out. The game is starting soon.”
Well, I was half-serious, though. Anyway, at this moment, under the scorching sun, the Golden Lion Flag finals began.
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They both took a picture and her fake sleeping… What a move