Chapter 362 – Episode 354. One Love Is Forgotten by Another Love. (2)

“Junhoo! Since it’s Jamsil, let’s take it easy! Comfortably!”

Before the game started, Kim Hyun-seong, who was taking advantage of the injury to Jeong Yun-cheol, who had been the starting catcher until last year, and was establishing himself as the starting catcher, gave Lim Jun-hoo a fighting spirit by throwing the last pitch of his practice pitch.

‘Well, I guess it’s quite believable that the guy who was a hustle in middle school has now become a first-team catcher.’

Kim Hyun-seong, who was giving his fighting spirit, now looked like a decent first-team starter, and Lim Jun-hoo, who was standing on the mound, certainly seemed to have improved mentally compared to when we met the day before yesterday. It certainly seemed like my mental care was effective.

‘Anyway, he’s crazy about women. What kind of professional athlete’s mood swings like that just because he meets a girl?’

‘… What do you want to say?’

‘… That’s not something Mr. Rossby would say.’

Putting the unpleasant silence with Rossby behind him, he prepares himself before today’s game. Shilla Triggers’ number one hitter is Kim Hwan-young, who won the Golden Glove Award at shortstop last year. He was a left-handed hitter who was quite good at pulling, so he needed special attention.

No, Silla’s important batting lineup, including Kim Hwan-young, Lee Eun-chong, Park Cheol-young, and Martin, were all left-handed hitters, so it was a team where I, as a second baseman, could hit quite fast balls. I hit a lot of balls in this series as well.

“Well then, seniors, please take care of yourself today!”

Junhu looks around the infield and says hello to his seniors to see if he is just as determined as me. As expected, I feel like I did a good job of managing my juniors.

“Okay.”

“Good fighting!”

Kim Su-ho and Choi Jin-cheol also give fighting spirit to Jun-hoo.

“Work hard. Don’t drag your feet again.”

“… “You’re not a senior.”

“Focus on the game.”

And then the game started. Junhu must have been working hard in the 2nd team and threw a fast ball of 147 from the first pitch.

“Good ball!”

‘Are you sure you’re in good shape today? Is it because you took a break for about two months?’

Before that thought occurred to him, Kim Hwan-young swung his bet just in time for Jun-hoo’s fourth ball.

Damn!

‘It’s coming…’ !’

Thanks to the defensive shift, I settled down without moving even a few steps and was waiting for Kim Hwan-young to hit the ball. Kim Hwan-young’s batted ball bounces and comes closer. An ordinary ground ball to second base. I brought a light glove…

“Huh?”

When I tried to hit it, the batted ball, which was supposed to be fine, bounced upward as it hit between the grass and the dirt.

‘Fuck you, Jamsil!’

I tried jumping high on the bounce, but unfortunately the hit ball grazed my glove.

“Don’t throw it!”

And Kim Hwan-young has already arrived at first base. I was unlucky from the very first batter.

“Don my! Don’t go my way!”

“… “Shouldn’t I usually say things like that?”

“Bitch, don’t worry about it. “I will solve it.”

“Ha…”

“To take a sigh. “I’ll do it for you, dude.”

He definitely looked young. You might not be able to catch the ball. Well, the young guy is making the senior feel uncomfortable.

‘Tsk, if it were me, I would have caught it.’

‘Mr. Rossby, aren’t you about 10 cm shorter than me? How can Mr. Rossby catch that ball when I barely touched it with my glove?’

‘… Shut up. A tall gorilla guy.’

The pudgy bastard… It was obvious that if I said that, I would get scolded by Rossby, so I just cursed Rossby in my mind and focused on the game again. The next batter is Lee Eun-chong, a regular customer of the national team. I think he hit around .304 last year, but this season, he was in a slump at .205.

And perhaps conscious of his poor batting average, Lee Eun-chong laid down the bat from the beginning.

‘What kind of bunt is this from the first inning? It’s not fun.’

Well, although Wonho, the starting pitcher for Shilla Triggers, is performing well today, he bunts from the first inning. It was really petty baseball.

Damn!

However, the ball that Eun-chong Lee touched fell right in front of the catcher, and Hyun-seong immediately took off the catcher’s mask and picked up the ball.

“Second base!”

And throw to second base.

“Out!”

‘Hey, a guy like Lee Eun-chong failed to bunt. It certainly seems like the feeling of hitting isn’t very good. Seeing as how I can’t even bunt, I guess I’m unlucky?’

Lee Eun-chong’s sent bunt failed, putting the runner on first base and one out. And then Park Cheol-young came in at bat.

‘Kim Hwan-young, Lee Eun-chong, Park Cheol-young. The number 4 hitter is a mercenary hitter. The batting lineup is definitely strong.’

It was a top batting order that made it immediately clear why the Shilla Triggers were right below us. It certainly seemed like the batting line-up was the best outside our team.

Perfect!

‘It’s fast!’

This time, the ball that Park Cheol-young pulled came quickly towards me.

‘Ugh, it’s a bit far?’

Park Cheol-young’s batted ball gets closer as he runs. If this gets out, 1 out, 1st and 3rd bases! Park Cheol-young’s batted ball hits the ground and bounces loudly. He quickly threw himself to the right in response to the bounce.

And the heavy feeling of the baseball in the glove.

‘Gotcha!’

As soon as I felt that sensation, I got up from the ground and took my hand out of my glove. Just before Park Cheol-young arrived at first base,

“Throw it!”

As soon as Choi Jin-cheol shouted, the ball was thrown to first base. And at the same time that Choi Jin-cheol closes his mitt, Park Cheol-young’s footsteps on the first base.

“…”

The referee’s decision takes longer.

“… Out!”

“Video! Video!”

And Park Cheol-young and the Shilla Triggers’ first base coach simultaneously called for a video call.

“Hey, Cheolyoung! Why are you being like this? Anyone could see that I was fast.”

“Are they the color of Dontae’s eyes? “My feet were faster, but what do you mean?”

While the video review was in progress, I had a chat with Park Cheol-young, and the video review was over before I knew it.

“Out!”

“So why are you asking for criticism in such a lame manner?”

“Ha, I guess I was faster. “You bastard, it’s pointless to just like your shoulders.”

Park Cheol-young returns to the dugout with regret. Now the situation is 2 outs and 2nd base. One hit would have tied the game, but we had two outs, so we had room to spare.

And Martin, Silla’s mercenary hitter, comes to bat. As a club with no money, they brought in a mercenary who had been struggling in the minors, but he was a player with an OPS of over 0.8 at .300, so we needed to be careful. I heard he had good contact skills, but what I felt after watching him for three days was that he was pretty good at making contact.

‘Sweet, I’m a little uneasy.’

And, my anxiety became reality.

Ta – Aak!

“It’s fast!”

“Fuck!”

Martin’s batted ball flew quickly toward right field. Fortunately, Baek Jeong-jin, who predicted the direction of the batted ball, prevented the batted ball from rolling any further, but Lee Eun-chong, who was the runner on second base, had already started and crossed third base. I decided that it would be impossible with Baek Jeong-jin’s shoulders to block the first point, so I ran forward and shouted at Baek Jeong-jin.

“Hey! “Give me the ball!”

Phut! The ball thrown quickly by Baek Jeong-jin is caught in the glove. As soon as I received the ball, I turned around, took the ball out, and used my momentum to throw the ball toward home plate.

‘Gana?!’

Eun-chong Lee’s position was near home plate, but the ball was flying toward the catcher’s mitt faster than Eun-chong Lee.

And at home, the bodies of Hyunseong and Lee Eunchong overlap.

‘… Did you stop it?’

The once noisy Jamsil Stadium became silent for a moment, and Hyeonseong, who was lying down, lifted his mitt.

“… Out!”

“Nice!”

-Wow!!!

-Lim Jun-hoo! Lim Jun-hoo! Im Jun-hoo!

“Wow, I thought it was going to suck.”

To be honest, I could have given him at least 1 point, but Junhu’s mental health after returning to the mound for the first time in a long time could have been difficult, so preventing this 1 point was a big deal. Because the outcome of the game depends on how the starting pitcher spends the first inning.

“Wow, I think I just hit 160? Meng Hao, you did well.”

“Thank you.”

Choi Jin-cheol, who was nearby, comes over and taps my shoulder.

“Brother Meng Hao!!”

Then, the voice of Junhu, who was playing cover near home plate, was heard. When he turned his head that way, Junhu took off his hat and expressed his gratitude.

“Bitch, I said I’d solve it.”

“Thank you, Haeng.”

When I come closer and tap Junhu on the shoulder, Junhu smiles brightly and says hello.

“Baby, you’re finally smiling now. Please wait. “I’ll give you points too.”

“I’ll wait! Haengnim!”

When I saw Junhu smiling, I felt fortunate.

‘After all, baseball players should be at the baseball field. How did I meet the wrong woman and go through so much trouble?’

Anyway, why are men so obsessed with women? I couldn’t understand. After all, a man should make a woman hang herself.

Still, there were good things about that personality. Just by introducing a new girl, he was throwing the ball in such a bright mood today.

“Junhoo.”

“Yes, brother.”

“From now on, don’t go all-in on one woman, but gain experience by meeting several women.”

“… Uh? Mr. Ai? Is it okay to shake up a starting pitcher’s mentality like this? “Are you trying to send me away because you’re close to the opponent’s starter?”

“Hey, my brother is talking to you as a senior who has lived life before you.”

“What if they are one year older than me?”

Seeing that he reacted jokingly to my words, it seemed like my mental care was effective. As the saying goes, forget love with a new love, I felt fortunate to see a woman forgetting a new woman.

“Wow, the youngest kids play well together. Maengho, don’t be damned and get ready to bat.”

“… Yes.”

With the weather warning coming soon, I took off my gloves and grabbed my bat.

‘Now that I think about it, the starting matchup today is between Wonho and Junhu?’

In a way, Wonho was a guy who was constantly exposed to danger like Junhoo. He has a golden spoon and his baseball skills are so good that people are talking about him being a member of the Olympic team these days. He was the perfect target for the flower snakes.

‘Wonho would have had a hard time without my care, right? Thank god. If I hadn’t stopped those attempts, Wonho might have had a mental breakdown as well. After all, there is no one who thinks of friends like I do.’

It’s good to forget love with a new love, but it’s better to have a love that you can’t forget. I was going to continue to work hard for my best friend, Wonho.

‘Well, that’s it. Baseball is baseball.’

I will try to make him a good lover, but I have no intention of supporting him in baseball. I went into the standby batter’s box and focused on his pitching.

“Strike!”

First pitch of 153 km/h. It was a ball whose power could be felt even in the standby at-bat.

‘As expected, one skill is certain. I will have to protect Wonho from now on.’