Chapter 327 – Episode 319. Ready for the Season. (2)

“Ah! It’s so fucking hard! Fuck! All I did was run!”

All the other seniors had gone inside to take a break, and only the youngest members, including me, remained in the training area. And while all the other kids were cleaning up after themselves, I noticed Junhu not moving and whining that he was having a hard time.

As the guardian of discipline within the team, I couldn’t just watch this guy rest while other kids were working.

“Hey, please help me clean up while I’m swearing.”

“Who is that brother?”

“Bastard. I’m from MVP. “I also have group 1 jjambap, so do I have to clean up after the kids?”

“Brother, I also have Group 1 Jjambap.”

“Hey! Lim Jun-hoo! “Aren’t you coming soon?”

“Look. “The kids are calling you.”

“Ai, why didn’t you call your brother and just me…”

“It’s crazy? Are you and Meng Ho the same? My brother is from MVP, and he’s a bastard.”

The other classmates, probably because they didn’t want to see only Lim Jun-hu resting, come over and drag Lim Jun-hu away. Of course, in the meantime, no one touched me. It’s like the halo of being an MVP. In fact, even if I went in without cleaning up after training, no one would say anything to me. Even including seniors.

Even the coaches and managers were taking care of my convenience in various ways.

‘But why don’t you go in and stay? Tsk.’

‘Still, it would be a bit difficult to become a Confucian. And shouldn’t I supervise the kids like this to establish team discipline?’

‘… ‘Crazy guy.’

As I was chatting with Rossby while watching the kids clean up after themselves, someone came up to me holding a drink.

“Thank you for your hard work, senior!”

He was the youngest who came along to this spring camp. There are two 2023 draft rookies who followed this spring camp. This guy was our team’s first pick, selected 4th overall.

‘But was he a batter or a pitcher?’

I heard you introduce yourself. I’m not the type of person to easily remember men, so I’m a little confused.

“Therefore…”

“This is Jeong Jae-min! I was selected in the first round of this draft, and my position is pitcher!”

When I hesitated, he seemed to have noticed as he lightened the mood and introduced himself. But…,

“Hey. “Your seniors are over there cleaning up after themselves, so does it make sense for you to come to me now?”

I didn’t like the way he was quietly trying to rest. This kind of trick does not work on Lee Ji Maeng-ho, who is the guardian of discipline within the team.

“S-sorry!”

The guy lowered his head and hurriedly ran back to organizing the ice box.

‘As expected, this is the right baseball team.’

When I saw him running and working hard to clean up after himself, I felt proud that I had instilled a team spirit in another person. Baseball is a sport played by 9 people. If you include the designated hitter, there are ten people. Anyway, there were many players playing in the game, and baseball was a sport where it was difficult to win if even one player played poorly.

Right now, even in last year’s Korean Series, when I was on the receiving end of an intentional attack, I was able to move public opinion because my teammates played well, and I was even able to buy time to quit a strategy that didn’t even work for UG.

If my teammates didn’t support me, it probably wouldn’t have been possible to win. Although I say this with my own mouth, the performance I posted was the best in Korean baseball history, and my season WAR was around 17, which was an incredible performance. But even though I was like that, I couldn’t win on my own.

In fact, until I debuted in the league, I thought it was important for me to do well. But after winning last year, I realized the importance of my teammates.

Rossby said winning in a league like this meant nothing, but honestly I thought differently. The fans who support me, the fans who support AT, and even Soyoung. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, and I wanted to repay the cheers and support.

The easiest way for a baseball player to give back to his fans is by winning. Of course, he gave other rewards to his pretty female fans, but fundamentally, winning was a way to make fans happy. And I also wanted to repay the fans with as many wins as possible before going to the majors.

‘For that to happen, these basic things are important. Cancer. Of course.’

Therefore, it was a fair move for the team for me to manage the youngest members. In particular, many of the guys who were selected as the first pick were arrogant and intoxicated with their skills, so that guy was subject to special management.

“Hey! Let’s hurry up and go in.”

“Yes!”

“Ah, bro. If you’re not going to help me, why don’t you go in first!”

“Bastard. Still, I just have to take care of it.”

“What are you, Coach?”

“Bitch, stop fussing and do it.”

… I felt that my management was needed to prevent this first round nomination from becoming an arrogant bastard like Lim Jun-hoo.

“Hey! Ji Maengho! Come to work.”

But unfortunately, I couldn’t manage it until the end. It was because the weatherman who came back to the training ground called me while I was standing blankly.

‘Oh, what about the hitting form and launch angle? All you have to do is just hit it. Anyway, it’s annoying. Now that I’m a senior, I don’t know why I treat my juniors so poorly.’

“What are you doing?! “Can’t you come quickly?!”

“Yes, senior!”

I didn’t want to go because it was obvious that I would end up talking about boring batting, but I had no choice but to turn in that direction due to weather warnings.

*

“Anyway, I heard Meng Hao is strange.”

“Senior, are you close with senior Meng Hao?”

“Why don’t you just call me hyung?”

“Yes, Junhu hyung.”

When Ji Maeng-ho, who was watching, left his seat, the players who had been silently cleaning up after themselves began to speak one by one. The topic of their conversation was Ji Maeng-ho, who had been showing off his old-fashioned power until now, and the source of the conversation was Lim Jun-hoo, who had been active as a first-team starter and bullpen player last year.

“Anyway, you guys be careful, Meng Hao. Because that guy is really a psycho.”

“Yes? Psycho?”

The two youngest members who participated in the spring camp were startled and turned their eyes towards Jun-hoo when he heard Jun-hoo criticize Meng-ho without hesitation.

“Don’t you write articles or do things like the Internet? There are so many controversies.”

Junhu was friendly with Maengho, but apart from being friendly, there were times when he felt like he was psycho, so Junhu expressed his thoughts without hesitation.

“But isn’t that all the devil’s editing?”

“Is blowing up bullets also the devil’s editing? When I saw it, if there were no people around, I would have fought with Moon Ki-taek. Anyway, I’m telling you to be careful.”

This is something I can say because I am close. In fact, Junhu was worried that these guys might mess with Meng Hao’s personality. Even though it may not seem like it, Ji Maeng-ho was very sensitive to the relationship between seniors and juniors. Of course, just because Junhu said this doesn’t mean he hates Meng Hao. In fact, ever since he went to the club with Meng Hao, he felt like he was the savior of his life. In a way, it was thanks to Meng Hao that he met his current girlfriend. This was a warning to prevent unexpected situations.

“Well, they say that all geniuses have strange personalities. Oh, can I call Hyunseong hyung, hyung? “You said you were Meng Ho’s junior in middle school. What was it like when Meng Ho was in middle school?”

“Brother Meng Hao? In middle school? It was very popular. He is good at baseball, has a handsome face, and is physically fit. I don’t know why he went to Hanche High School. If I had just gone to another high school in Seoul, the accident would have happened… No. Done. Anyway, even though he’s very playful, he’s a pretty nice guy.”

“Hey, I said no. I should have seen you move up to the first team and do that. Ah! I’m really frustrated.”

“Well, I was a bit like that when I was in middle school, but aren’t all seniors like that? Was it only our middle school where discipline was strict?”

“Well, that’s it, it’s everywhere.”

“Well, honestly, no matter what Meng Hao’s personality is, his skills are real. Right?”

“It’s true. Fierce tiger… “My brother and I were tied in the finals, and he really felt the wall.”

When the story about Ji Meng-ho’s skills came out, he also spoke to Jeong Hwi-cheol, who was listening silently next to him. When Jeong Hwi-cheol, who had participated in spring training for the first time in a year as a reported athlete, said those words, the eyes of the two youngest members turned towards Jeong Hwi-cheol.

“Oh, senior. “Did you compete with senior Meng Ho in the finals?”

“Huh. Honestly, we deserved to win, but we lost because we couldn’t stop Meng Ho. To be honest, I thought I was good at it even then, but I didn’t know it would be this good.”

I still dream of the Phoenix Grand Final against Hanse High School, and the grand slam in the 9th inning while the team was winning. The tears from that day were still lodged in my heart. However, as time passed, and as I watched the game and gave my own feedback, my respect for batter Ji Maeng-ho grew, rather than a feeling of resentment.

I especially admired his courage in taking his swing in critical situations. Until then, he had recorded no hits and was in a situation where he could have lost confidence, but Ji Maeng-ho was not scared. And then came his own swing and saved his team from the brink. A senior with a strong mentality whom he wanted to emulate, that was the Ji Maeng-ho that Jeong Hwi-cheol saw.

“It really is. “I am also a batsman, but it is amazing to see Meng Ho play.”

“For sure, Meng Hao’s skills are real. I wish it was a different team. Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it.”

Even Jun-hoo, who had just been talking about Meng-ho’s personality, could not help but admit that his skills were even more impressive in the eyes of his youngest members. Like a legend.

Meng Hao’s performance during the season last year was an undying record that will remain in history, and what was even scarier was that it was the performance of a first-year player. I don’t know much about the human Ji Maeng-ho, but the batter Ji Maeng-ho was definitely a player to look up to.

This was especially true for Kim Jong-hoon, a player and hitter who was drafted in the second round by the AT Thunders. To Kim Jong-hoon, Ji Maeng-ho was more than an idol. Power, physical ability, and batting form that you would only see in the major leagues. Kim Jong-hoon wanted to resemble everything Ji Maeng-ho.

“Ha, I also want to be friends with senior Meng Hao.”

“It would be nice to be close with Meng Ho.”

When Kim Jong-hoon said that he wanted to become friends with Meng-ho, Jun-hu forgot his original purpose of warning him and agreed with his words with a slightly foolish expression.

“Hmm…, Good. “If you become close with Meng Ho.”

“Yes? Why? “Can you give me some useful tips?”

“Good tip? If it’s a good tip, it’s a good tip. Meng Ho is handsome. There are a lot of women. “If you stick with Meng Ho, you’ll have fun even while you sleep.”

“What is that…”

“You know that I’m close with Meng Ho again, right? We went to a lot of clubs together. “Wow, it was a good time.”

“Senior Meng Hao, does he go to the club too? I think I’ll just play baseball… Wow, are you getting those grades while playing?”

“Jonghun. It’s different from when I was a professional or in high school. You will be efficient only if you rest appropriately. “You’re a professional.”

“Wow, anyone who sees it will think it’s been 10 years.”

“Shut up, you 2nd team idiot.”

“…”

Lim Jun-hoo, who silenced Kim Hyun-sung with a heavy fact, looked at Kim Jong-hoon again and spoke.

“Anyway, I also hung out at the club with Mengho and met a girlfriend. Look. “Isn’t the photo pretty?”

Then, I took out a photo of Juseomjuseom from one side of my uniform and showed it to Kim Jong-hoon. Since I couldn’t use my cell phone during training, I wanted to see a photo, so I printed the photo, and it showed Lim Jun-hoo and his girlfriend smiling and drawing a heart.

“Oh, it’s pretty. Where did you meet?”

“Daegu. It’s long, but I go to see him often anyway.”

During the Daegu expedition, she followed Meng Hao to a club and met her. She was a beautiful woman just to Junhu’s taste, and after Junhu passionately pursued her, they ended up dating.

“Wow, I’m jealous.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t have any.”

“I am. “Would you like me to show you a picture when we go in?”

“It’s done. “What kind of photo is this?”

Just like that, the five youngest members of the AT Thunders line finished cleaning up after chatting about their love lives, and it was time for Junhu to take a break as well. After hard training, the first thing Junhu did during his hard-earned break was to call his girlfriend.

“Honey~.”

-“Junhu… What should I do?”

However, the voice that Junhu heard from his girlfriend was full of tears. Junhu was embarrassed and stammered as he asked his girlfriend, but her girlfriend did not answer. After asking for about 10 minutes, Junhu’s girlfriend opened her mouth with difficulty.

-“Right now, my father’s factory is running out of money and is on the verge of going bankrupt. I need about 2,000, but I have nowhere to get it.”

“Sister! Don’t worry. I’ll try to provide some. This time, my salary also went up quite a bit. “I still have the down payment left.”

-“I’m sorry, Junhu. You’re busy training, but you said this…”

“No, it’s your boyfriend. “I have to do at least this much.”

When Junhu hung up the phone and sent the money, Meng Hao approached.

“Hey, what are you calling me like that?”