The Sweetness of Old Memories

Soon, with the arrival of the production team, pitching coach, and trainer, the quiet training ground became bustling. Song Him-chan, who had just returned with drinks, exchanged long greetings with the staff.

Even though it was an unofficial training session with only a few participants, it was more systematic than expected.

The trainer first palpated their physical conditions and led them through personalized stretches. Only after gradually warming up their bodies with ample time for warm-up could they proceed to tubing training1). It was on a different level from their high school days when they were just told to throw the ball without much preparation.

As they finished tubing training and were about to throw weighted balls, the starting catcher, Seon Dae-gyu, arrived. As soon as he came, he put Cha Seok-young in a playful armlock. Hyun expected him to refuse with a straight face, but Cha Seok-young greeted him calmly and accepted it with a smile.

‘His selective social skills are insane.’

Hyun inwardly grumbled and threw the weighted ball. It was then, after throwing the heavy ball three or four times as if taking out his frustrations and picking it up again.

“If your arm opens up like that, you’ll injure your shoulder.”

Cha Seok-young approached and lightly pushed Hyun’s shoulder.

“Keep your core inside, and gather your strength here when you throw. That way it won’t open up.”

The hand that casually touched his chest and shoulder was hot. Hyun held his breath for a moment, then adjusted his posture as he was told. Then he threw the heavy ball again.

His arm certainly rotated more lightly than before. He looked back with surprised eyes, and Cha Seok-young lightly shrugged his shoulders. His expression, which suggested it was basic, should have been annoying, but honestly, it looked good. His heart pounded just like in high school.

‘Ah, Jung Hyun. Please get a grip.’

Hyun shook his head and stepped a foot away from Cha Seok-young. He deliberately sought advice from the pitching coach, forming a defensive barrier with serious conversation. The enthusiastic pitching coach’s advice cleared his mind of stray thoughts.

The pitching test was scheduled to be a light 30-minute session for each person. Hyun and Seon Dae-gyu took their positions inside the fence first.

“This is the historic first experience of our handsome battery, everyone.”

Seon Dae-gyu winked playfully and opened his mitt. It was a moment when Hyun paused at his subtly lewd expression.

“Hyun-ssi, please hit it hard?”

At the unexpectedly lewd joke, Hyun’s hand gripping the ball froze. The production staff filming nearby also shrieked.

“Ack, player-nim! The cameras are rolling right now!”

“Really? What a shame, we can’t broadcast this funny moment.”

“Please, adjust your level of obscenity, please!”

Thanks to the production team’s outcry, Seon Dae-gyu quieted down. Instead, he sat with his legs spread wider, wearing a smirking expression. A sign came from between his embarrassingly wide-spread legs.

Hyun, undisturbed by his mischievous prank, calmly threw the ball. The speed was similar to the tryouts. The pitching coach clapped at the speed, which fluctuated between 140 and 145 km/h.

“Can you make it a little faster?”

“I’ll try.”

He then threw three fastballs consecutively. The ball, thrown with full power, clocked a speed of 147 km/h.

“Wow, if you refine it, it could even reach 150!”

“His control is already shaky.”

Cha Seok-young threw cold water on the excited pitching coach from beside him. Hyun couldn’t retort and touched his shoulder.

The pitching coach mumbled, “So, if he refines it,” and opened the fence door. It was a signal to stop pitching for the day.

He still had strength left. He wanted to step on the mound a little longer. His muscles, just now warmed up, twitched, wanting to run freely.

However, perhaps due to overexertion, he felt pain in his shoulder early today. If he pushed himself here, he might face the worst-case scenario of being eliminated without even getting to pitch in a game. Hyun hid his regretful expression and walked out of the fence.

Next was Cha Seok-young’s turn. He stretched broadly, extending his body, then stood on the mound with familiar movements.

Seon Dae-gyu opened his mitt again and let out a playful groan. The production staff, who had been disgusted again, quickly had no choice but to shut their mouths.

Thwack!

The power of the ball Cha Seok-young threw commanded silence. The number displayed on the scoreboard was 150 km/h. Even for the first pitch.

Honestly, Hyun found the angle of the ball, which curved with every throw, more fascinating than Cha Seok-young’s speed. The trajectory, which seemed like a ball at first but then settled into the strike zone at the last moment, was annoyingly perfect. It was a pitch that could only be described as a magical pitch.

“Nice! Oh, that ball is delicious!”

Laughter erupted here and there at Seon Dae-gyu’s playful cheering.

Cha Seok-young’s subsequent pitching continued to elicit admiration. His elegant wind-up posture despite his large physique, the power with which he drove the ball, his speed and accuracy. Everything was surreal. Those watching shook their heads in disbelief.

“That must be a baseball genius.”

“It looks like it’s been programmed or something.”

“Seok-young, Korea is too small to contain you. Go to America, you bastard!”

Haha, the wave of laughter that erupted finally reached Cha Seok-young too. He re-gripped the ball and smiled silently.

“Are you really going?”

Cha Seok-young frowned slightly as if in reprimand and burst into laughter. His face, beautiful enough even with a partial frown, brought back a certain memory.

Was he seventeen? It was the day Cha Seok-young became a winning pitcher for the first time.

“Ah, Jung Hyun. It’s all your fault. I really didn’t want to play baseball.”

That day, Cha Seok-young, with a joyful smile on his face, kept blaming Hyun. He pushed Hyun’s shoulder, annoyed, then quickly pulled him into a hug, unable to resist, and ruffled his hair.

“Now I’m stuck pitching with you for life, what are you going to do?”

He hugged Hyun, smiling with crinkled eyes just like today. In that instant, their bodies pressed together hard, and Hyun’s heart pounded as if it would burst. Thump, thump, thump. It was as if his loudly beating heart was shouting. ‘Please open this door, I want to cross over to the other side.’

It was a feeling that, no matter how new it was, he couldn’t pretend not to know.

Thwack, the sound rang out again, as if to awaken Hyun from his old memories. The ball, sucked into the mitt, clocked a speed of 153 km/h this time. Gasps of astonishment rippled through the audience.

Hyun, hidden in the commotion, naturally sighed. He dry-washed his face, muttering softly.

‘Please, stop thinking about it. It’s all in the past, all in the past…’

He repeated it like a mantra, but the effect was minimal. His eyes kept gravitating towards Cha Seok-young, and even if he looked elsewhere, his ears reacted. Because he kept secretly eavesdropping on Cha Seok-young’s conversations with the coach, Hyun eventually took out his earphones.

He finished training while listening to loud music. Before heading to the showers, there was a personal interview.

Hyun let his guard down when told it would be short and simple. He thought they would ask about his impressions of being accepted or his first training session. He sat on the small chair, thinking lightly.

But thirty minutes later, Hyun came out with a completely flushed face. The PD, beaming happily, followed Hyun, who was trudging to the van. The culprit, who had only asked mischievous questions, had a surprisingly cheerful expression.

“Hyun-ssi, you worked hard. Today’s filming will be uploaded as a spoiler video only on OneTube. The lineup has already spread too much, so we decided to play it off as a regular player. Oh, do you know the schedule? The start of group training tomorrow and the date of the welcoming ceremony. Did you receive them?”

“Yes, Senior Dae-gyu invited me to the group chat earlier.”

“Alright, all announcements will be posted there, so please check them! You worked hard.”

“You too. See you tomorrow.”

He had no strength left in his replies, as if all his energy had been drained. Hyun, who bowed slowly, got into the van. Seeing his noticeably tired state, Song Him-chan quickly turned down the music.

“Hyung-nim, get some sleep.”

Song Him-chan, who had also worked hard, must have been tired, so Hyun didn’t want to sleep alone. But the day had been too long, and his eyes closed on their own. As Hyun drifted off, drawn by sleep, a voice suddenly intruded into his mind.

“To Jung Hyun, what is Cha Seok-young?”

It was a question from the personal interview he had just finished. Hyun internally screamed ‘Crazy!’ and his eyes shot open. His face was already burning red.

Comments:
Dahireon OneTube has a spoiler video up, guys!!1
Ah, Cha Seok-young’s workout clothes are seriously making me drool.
└ Seriously, super sexy when he lifts his leg.
As expected, Hyun-kun passed! I believed in you! ㅠoㅠ
└ It was too obvious already, so they just revealed it, I guess.
└ Yeah, seeing Captain and Dae-gyu hyung’s comments on Him-chan’s post, I figured they had no intention of hiding it.
OMG, what was Cha Seok-young doing just now? He touched something, wasn’t it his chest?
└ Soft!
But there are no other pitchers? Did they train alone?
└ Yeah, seems so?
└ My guess is they’ll be the two ace starters for the opening game.
└ Cha Seok-young is a mentor, can he start?
└ Yeah, but mentors can only pitch 2 innings per game ㅠlol
└ They say Cha Seok-young deliberately set up this day just to personally coach Jung Hyun, lol.
Ah… I know this sounds a bit much, but… I just want to lick Cha Seok-young’s forearm once…
└ That’s a bit much, ㅠㅠ.
Anyone recommend Jung Hyun’s filmography? I need to personally check why he hasn’t become famous with that face.
└ You’re that river…
└ Is it that bad?
└ He hasn’t done many works, and he has no eye for scripts.. Just look for clips ㅠㅠ
S*** ㅋㅋ ‘To Jung Hyun, what is Cha Seok-young?’ Ack ㅋㅋ Look at Jung Hyun’s face turning red ㅋㅋ
Did you ask Cha Seok-young too? << Why do I like this question so much…
└ High stimulation.
Jung Hyun: “Cha Seok-young is just Cha Seok-young.”
S*** why does he say such a mundane answer so shyly… I had expectations…
What do I do, Jung Hyun looks like a Maltese to me;
└ His profile height is 185 cm.
└ But he looks so small.. He’s too gentleㅠㅠ
PD-nim also asked Cha Seok-young, lol;;
“What does Jung Hyun mean to Cha Seok-young?”
└ Isn’t this person one of us?
After making me excited by saying, ‘Can I say this?’, he says, ‘Childhood friend’.
Honestly… I find it hotter when he says ‘friend’? lol
└ Me too, lol.
#UnawareTop
└ Tagging keywords and causing a commotion ㅋㅋ

1. Tubing training: Training using rubber bands or tubes.