That Annoying Pitcher

Hyun led Song Him-chan not to their usual gateball court for catch-ball, but to a much quieter empty lot. It was a particularly dark spot, where a streetlamp was broken, on a stretch of benches alongside the bicycle track.

“Hyung-nim, if we throw here, I don’t think we’ll be able to see the ball?”

“Before that, I wanted to talk first.”

Hyun bought an electrolyte drink from a vending machine and handed it over. Song Him-chan bowed his head in thanks but couldn’t hide his anxious expression.

They sat side by side on the bench, drinking their beverages and buying time. Not all well-intentioned proposals were met with joy, so it was necessary to discuss carefully.

When Hyun first received Kwon Hyuk-won’s casting offer, he was more bewildered than happy.

This was especially true because he had never considered a dream other than baseball. Even though he knew it was a good intention, it was hard to hide his confusion.

Hyun beat around the bush for a very long time before finally bringing up the topic. Only after more than ten minutes of preamble did he finally reach the manager discussion.

“No, me? Can I really do it?”

Song Him-chan stood up abruptly before Hyun had even finished speaking.

At his expression, as moved as an actor receiving a Best Actor award, Hyun was momentarily flustered. Because of that, his prepared words came out a beat late.

“I’m absolutely not telling you to quit baseball, but rather suggesting it because I hope you’ll continue for the long term. If you have to keep working part-time, I thought this might be better. At least while I’m filming <Dahireon>, you can go to the training ground with me and get advice, right?”

“Yes, that’s right, hyung-nim.”

“Of course, if you’re sick of baseball and want to quit, you can do that too, but you’re still young. Getting to the final tryout is enough proof of your talent. Who knows? I might get eliminated in a month, and you could take my place.”

“Haa, hyung-nim. Why would you say such a thing?”

Had the intentionally light joke crossed a line? Song Him-chan’s expression suddenly darkened, and he let out a weak, long sigh. Clutching the empty electrolyte drink can with both hands, he lowered his voice.

“Can I ask just one thing?”

Hyun, surprised by his newfound seriousness, felt unnecessarily tense. He replied casually, “Uh-huh,” while observing Song Him-chan’s expression. The darkly shadowed face slowly turned back to Hyun.

“Do you like younger guys, by any chance?”

“Huh?”

“I just decided I want to marry you, hyung, how are you going to take responsibility? Ugh!”

Song Him-chan, who had exaggeratedly shouted, suddenly embraced Hyun. His crying sound, “Hoo-uhh,” was playful, but his shoulder was genuinely getting wet.

Ten minutes before the first broadcast of <Hit & Run Again> Season 2. Song Him-chan, sitting in Hyun’s living room, squinted his eyes.

“Do you know something, hyung-nim?”

He pushed up his clear fashion glasses with his index finger. Him-chan, with unnecessarily sharp eyes, turned to Hyun with a pat sound.

“Monitoring and understanding public opinion are very important duties of a manager.”

Song Him-chan, having landed his first job, was full of enthusiasm. He muttered gravely, pushing aside the food piled on the table, and propped up a tablet PC. It was an item Kwon Hyuk-won had provided for work use.

“I’ve been diligently searching for the past two days. This site seems to be the mildest of the baseball communities. I even made an ID in advance.”

Song Him-chan opened the site, boasting proudly. Just then, the broadcast began on the TV screen hanging on the living room wall. The signal song for <Hit & Run Again> played, and an explanation of the tryouts followed.

Meanwhile, Hyun deciphered the community posts Song Him-chan had opened, reading them like encrypted messages. The words were clearly written in Korean, but he had to read very slowly to understand their meaning.

[[LIVE] (Congrats ★Cha Seok-young appearing on a regular variety show★ Celebrations) Changgeon fans, let’s watch Dahireon together in real-time]

Comments:
I didn’t used to watch Dahireon, but I tuned in to see Michael.
└ 222
└ 333
└ 333
After begging for a year, we only got one 3-minute team vlog, but a regular variety showㅠㅠ!! I can’t believe it.
└ Right.. I was a little sad about Changgeon TV, but a regular variety show on another network…. I honestly feel a little disappointed..ㅠㅠ They should do more on Changgeon TVㅠㅠ..
└ Oh really? I don’t think it’s anything to be sad about~!
Hi, I’m a sasaeng fan here to see Cha Seok-young’s face~ No matter how I look at it, his face is too good for a baseball player. Debut right now, Cha Seok-young.
└ Excuse me, without our Changgeon Cha Seok-young, we’d just die.
└ Seriously, please, no, please understand, the entertainment industry will do fine without Cha Seok-young, but Changgeon won’t.
└ I thought sasaengs were nice, but if you keep this up, I’ll steal the Rookie of the Year award.
Cha Seok-young slurp~ kidnapping him for our team~
└ Cuff him immediately.
└ Please, Cha Seok-young is a flower, I’ll plant him in our team’s plant lineup ㅠ
└ Cha Seok-young is a pitcher, thoughㅠㅠ?
└ Still, he’d hit better than our team’s bat, wouldn’t he?

“Wow, hyung-nim. The broadcast just started, and there are so many comments!”

Each time Song Him-chan pressed the refresh icon, dozens of comments appeared. Hyun, who had been following the text distractedly for a while, finally shook his head.

“I can’t read any more. Him-chan, you should eat something too.”

“Ah, yes. Actually, I need to get drunk fast. I can’t watch the legendary wild pitch scene sober.”

Song Him-chan chuckled and rolled up his sleeves. Chicken, cake, and beer quickly began to disappear.

Still, Song Him-chan received quite a bit of attention during the running test scene. The subtitle ‘Young blood of the pitching group!’ appeared, and comments mentioned how cute he looked. Song Him-chan, even putting down his chicken, grinned as he meticulously checked people’s reactions.

However, as the broadcast got closer to the pitching evaluation, Song Him-chan grew quiet. Finally, as Hyun’s appearance approached, he placed the tablet directly on his lap and focused solely on it. The tablet screen, held close, was clearly visible to Hyun as well.

Comments:
What, isn’t that person, ‘Hey, you, man’?
└ Looks like it, lol, Jung Hyun.
└ Hey, what did this young lady do wrong to make you watch baseball and act out?
└ What is this?
Don’t you know the ‘Hey, you’ meme? Original here (link)(photo)
HandsomeOmnivore @ieatallhansome Oh, some web drama? They’ve been filming the same scene in front of my house for almost 2 hours now? But f***, the neighborhood ajusshi went completely nuts, lol, and delivered the lines himself, ㅠㅠ lol. Please watch it, lol. (video)
Hey, you!!!! What did this young lady do wrong to make you curse and act out!!!! You can’t even memorize this one line, you son of a b****!!!!
└ Ah, s***ㅠㅠ the ajusshi’s scream is so funnyㅠㅠ
└ Oh, it’s on broadcast right now, lolㅠㅠ
Jung Hyun-ssi, please do well and pass. I didn’t know it during the ‘Hey, you’ meme, but seeing it in high definition, I feel the value of the viewing fee in your Face.
└ Agreed.

At this point, Hyun, whose face was flushed, turned his head towards the TV. But it was counterproductive. The large TV screen was filled with Cha Seok-young’s face during a personal interview.

“It’s been six years. He’s also from Jeongwon Jeil High, same as me.”

His clear, pristine eyes seemed to pierce through Hyun from beyond the screen. Hyun’s eyes widened, and he lowered his gaze back to the tablet.

Comments:
Guys, Jung Hyun and Cha Seok-young are middle and high school classmates ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ✧
Our secret Cha is spilling so much unasked-for tmi like that.
Wow, our Seok-young had a lot to say…
Dae-gyu hyung is starting to tease again.
Dae-gyu hyung, calm down.
Cha Seok-young’s shocking statement, ‘Jung Hyun was the ace over me.’
It wasn’t me, Jung Hyun was the ace,,, Wow,,, this is a rival reunion story,,, ㅎ_ㅁ
└ Let’s decide on the coupling name first ㄱㄱ
└ Michael x HeyYou >> How about Chayo lol
└ I prefer Cha Seok-young as the uke.
└ You’re eating weird food, humph.
OMG, I didn’t expect much, but why is he pitching so well?
Found him, our team’s pitcher.
Please join Changgeon, seriously.
He just pitched and smiled, so crazy.
HeyYou Jung Hyun-ssi,,, what did this young lady do wrong to make you strike her right in the heart and act out,,,?
Even the crazy Cha Seok-young is smiling, I’ve seriously never seen that expression before…
Is this heaven?
The Archangel showed us heaven.
S***!!!! Seriously, ㅠㅠ talented people, I’ll wait for the edits ㅠㅠ
This visual combination works, I’m buying stocks.
└ I’m buying, buying~~
└ It’s cheap, it’s cheap~~
└ Oh, excuse me, what are you selling;

Even though he had chosen this place to avoid Cha Seok-young, it was filled with even more embarrassing comments. Even without understanding the exact meaning, his face burned hot.

“Aaah, it’s my turn now, I think!”

Fortunately, there was someone beside him struggling even more with embarrassment. Song Him-chan, whose face was bright red, flopped onto the living room floor in a turtle pose.

However, the program went in an unexpected direction. Cha Seok-young appeared, perched on a makeshift chair against a black background. Song Him-chan, who had been about to hide under the sofa, peeked his head up.

“How did you view Jung Hyun’s pitching?”

“He was just as good. There’s no way he could pitch like that after a six-year break. Did he keep pitching alone somewhere?”

“Was he that good?”

“Yes, his control was clean, and his fastball speed was good. There was nothing to fault.”

“That’s high praise. What do you think about the concern that his injury might recur?”

“If he can pitch like this without the injury coming back, then what? Seems fine.”

Perhaps because he believed Hyun’s shoulder injury was a lie, Cha Seok-young’s reaction was lukewarm. CG of a snowstorm appeared over the face of the sullen beauty.

“Hahahaha, isn’t that too cold? Then, finally, we’d like to ask for a video message to your friend, Jung Hyun.”

Cha Seok-young looked directly into the camera. Perhaps thanks to the stark black background, his features, usually clear, appeared even more defined and intense up close.

‘He probably left some scary threat again, like telling me to do it properly or that he’d be watching.’ Hyun slowly gulped.

Cha Seok-young’s lips opened very slowly. As if choosing from countless words, a low voice flowed out from between his deliberately parted lips.

“Hyun-ah.”

“I hope you pass, and we can play baseball together. Like before.”

‘Ah, this is a bit unfair.’ Hyun bit his lower lip tightly.

“Honestly, you missed it too, didn’t you?”

The screen transitioned beyond Cha Seok-young, who smiled somewhat playfully.

Photos of their middle school and high school alma mater, team baseball photos, and commemorative photos from championship tournaments appeared with sentimental music. At the bottom, the words ‘The unforgettable memories of the two’ shimmered faintly. With a sha-lal-la sound effect, a halo of light also poured down.

“Wow, the editing is so cringe-worthy.”

As Song Him-chan said, the direction was old-fashioned. Yet, Hyun couldn’t bear it, his eyes getting watery. He pressed his red eyes tightly and abruptly stood up.

“Yeah, I can’t watch this.”

He grumbled spitefully and escaped to the bathroom.

His worry that Song Him-chan might suspect his awkward acting was only fleeting. Song Him-chan was soon too preoccupied with facing his own pitching scene and letting out fierce screams.