The Heat of the Mound

Hyun, forgetting even to breathe, stared only at the ball. A moment felt like an eternity. Finally, when it felt as though the batter’s bat met the ball.

“Whoa!” A scream-like cheer filled the stadium. It was a roar loud enough to cause tinnitus.

“Swing and a miss! Seong Ju-yong collapses. With this, Jung Hyun has retired sixteen batters without giving up a run!”

“Ah, he really drew a picturesque trajectory. I was a bit worried about his control because the ball count had increased this inning. But he’s throwing pitches like this, as if to show off.”

“Haha, Catcher Seon Dae-gyu. He’s running out with a wide smile.”

Seon Dae-gyu, who approached, removing his catcher’s mask, was bouncing wildly. It seemed he wanted to express his joy by roughly hitting Hyun’s shoulder or back, but he restrained himself, fearing he might ruin the string of good pitches.

Instead, he covered his mouth with his mitt and smirked.

“This is a truly crazy debut game, isn’t it? This is the first time I’ve seen such a hot virgin.”

Perhaps because he had heard such absurd words, his muffled ears began to clear. Even his heart, which felt like it would burst, became chillingly calm.

“Senior, I will definitely sue you someday.”

Seon Dae-gyu laughed loudly at the joke, which was filled with sincerity. Leaving him, who laughed with his head thrown back like a cartoon character, Hyun entered the dugout.

No sooner had he descended the steps than hands reached out to touch his head from everywhere. ‘Nice pitching,’ ‘You’re cool,’ ‘You’re handsome!’ He barely managed to push through the excited crowd before he could meet the face he most wanted to see.

Cha Seok-young stood at the very back of the dugout, the face he had most wanted to see since catching the final out.

He didn’t shout with emotion like the other players. Instead, he maintained a very expressionless face, proudly lifting his chin as if to showcase his sculpted features.

“See? You did it.”

Even his softly lowered voice was arrogant.

For a moment, Hyun was bewildered by his boastful expression, as if he had done it himself, then a sigh of relief escaped him.

He hated to admit it, but his single word was better than a hundred compliments from others. So much so that even his aching shoulder was forgotten.

Cha Seok-young let out a faint chuckle. His face, smiling silently with long eyelashes lowered, made his heart pound.

For a fleeting moment, it felt like he had returned to the past. To a time when everything was in its right place. When they trusted each other more than themselves, and each other’s victories became their own.

To that day when Cha Seok-young still didn’t hate Jung Hyun.

He wanted to go back.

“Hey, Jung Hyun!”

His spirit, which had sunk like a heavy stone to the bottom of the water, was suddenly pulled back up.

Hyun looked back at the pitching coach with surprised eyes. The coach, who approached with a beaming smile, massaged Hyun’s shoulder and patted it gently.

“You worked hard, now get some good rest.”

Because he had thrown with full power at every at-bat, his shoulder heated up faster than usual. His control was slowly starting to waver, and even in the inning he had just finished, there was a full count battle and a runner on base. Logically, Cha Seok-young should definitely go up in the next inning.

He knew that, but greed arose. Seeing Cha Seok-young proudly looking at him like before made his lingering attachment grow stronger.

“Cha Seok-young, why are you still here? Go warm up quickly.”

The coach had spoken to him, but Cha Seok-young looked at Hyun. Hyun bit his lip at the gaze that seemed to pierce through him.

“Why are you standing there like that, you brat? You want Hyun to go up for the 7th inning too?”

“I can at least watch.”

“Hey, you idiot, it’s a tie. It’ll be too late if we get hit and then make a change.”

“Who’s getting hit? Is Jung Hyun saying that?”

Cha Seok-young frowned. At his uncharacteristic outburst, the coach looked at Hyun with a bewildered smile. It was a reaction that seemed to ask Hyun to intervene.

“…I want to go out one more time.”

“Huh?”

“If I cover up to the 7th inning, Cha Seok-young can cleanly finish the 8th and 9th. Even if Seong-bin hyung is left, there’s another game next week right away, so if someone can rest, they should.”

The troubled coach took off his cap. As he scratched his head, pondering, Hyun subtly approached and stood beside him.

“If I let even one batter get on base, I’ll come down immediately, Coach.”

When he subtly pulled his arm, the corners of the coach’s lips twitched. Behind him, as he turned away, warning him to just try to fail, Cha Seok-young gave a crooked smile.

“Seong-bin hyung?”

“Ah, he said he feels burdened when I call him ‘senior’ even though it’s only a two-year age difference.”

‘Is that so?’ Is it professional etiquette to call him ‘senior’ at least in the dugout? While Hyun was looking around cautiously, Cha Seok-young swiftly walked past him. The warm atmosphere, as if they had returned to the past, had completely vanished.

Later, in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Re-emergence Dreamers’ lineup began to come alive. Their luck had turned as the opposing team’s ace pitcher crumbled.

The protagonist was Jeong Hye-seong. After #8 hitter Jeong Hye-seong got on base, he tenaciously succeeded in stealing, shifting the momentum. Following that, #9 hitter Seon Dae-gyu walked to first, and a fierce offensive continued from the #1 hitter.

The score was now 7:4.

They had pulled ahead by three runs, but many innings still remained. Given the opposing team’s characteristic of always swinging their bats, it wasn’t a score difference to be complacent about.

‘Stop them. Definitely stop them and pass the chance to Cha Seok-young to close the game.’

Hyun stepped onto the mound with a resolute heart. His shoulder blade was slowly starting to heat up, but it wasn’t unbearable.

“Bottom of the 7th inning, Jung Hyun is still on the mound.”

“This is interesting. I expected Cha Seok-young to be substituted. Is this a strategy to save pitcher Hong Seong-bin and not put him in?”

“Can Jung Hyun truly hold onto the team’s lead? As I speak, he threw the ball!”

The battle was not easy from the start. The opposing batters began to see the ball well. No player had hit a single, but they were gradually making contact1).

A situation of persistently picking pitches in a full count battle continued. The #7 batter, who stepped up for the second time, was particularly problematic. It was already his 11th pitch. As the pitch count increased rapidly, his shoulder blade burned.

Hyun’s uneasy gaze turned to the bullpen. Cha Seok-young, who had received an urgent call from the coach, was walking out of the bullpen.

‘No. I have to stop them until the 7th and hand it over…’

“Jung Hyun looks very tired. Yuil University’s Jeong Young is cutting him off very tenaciously.”

“At this rate, it’s already the 21st pitch of this inning alone. In a two-out, full count situation, surely…”

The red numbers on the pitch clock2) rapidly decreased. His heart pounded nervously with a thump, thump, thump. The ball, hastily pulled from his glove and thrown, cut through the air.

He knew it the moment he threw it. The ball was right in the middle.

“He hit it! A single opening up the gap between first and second!”

With a clang, the ball quickly tore through the infield and went out. The excited spectators shouted, and all the dugout players were out in front of the fence. Their faces showed nervousness, even as they offered large, reassuring cheers of “It’s okay.”

“Ah, is he running to second! Jeong Young eventually creates an opportunity.”

He ended up giving up a double. He didn’t want to let a runner get past the mound. Hyun took a deep breath and wiped his face with his uniform.

His once only hot shoulder now began to ache distinctly. The body, sensing pain, became passive, making it difficult to pitch with full power.

‘I should have taken painkillers before going up.’ He briefly regretted it, then looked at the dugout. His eyes immediately met Cha Seok-young’s.

Even though he had allowed a runner to second, there was no timeout request from the bench. The pitching coach was speaking passionately beside Cha Seok-young.

The content was inaudible, but it seemed Cha Seok-young was ignoring the coach’s persuasion to go up now.

Cha Seok-young alone was calm amidst the chaotic dugout, filled with excitement and worry.

His pale face, meeting Hyun’s gaze, tilted slightly. ‘You’re not thinking of handing it over like this, are you?’ He seemed to hear an arrogant voice asking.

‘This is my last chance.’

Hyun, catching his shallow breath, met Seon Dae-gyu’s eyes. Again, a curveball sign appeared, but he shook his head. The awaited fastball sign only came at the very end.

“With two outs and a runner in scoring position, he faces #8 hitter Shin Ji-oh. First pitch, a strike right down the middle! Jung Hyun is not backing down and confronting him head-on.”

“He really pitches similarly to Cha Seok-young. He’ll throw a curveball now, right?”

“Second pitch, a breaking ball dropping low…! The bat doesn’t follow. One ball, one strike.”

“Shin Ji-oh has struck out three times today. He’s showing good concentration in a desperate situation. Ah, it’s another ball.”

The batter doesn’t move for the intended breaking ball. Now he has no choice but to throw a strike. Hyun gritted his teeth and threw the next pitch.

“A strike curving to the outside! The count is now two balls, two strikes!”

Cheers erupted, and the stands undulated like waves, but Hyun heard nothing. All he could hear was his own heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump, the fierce pounding seemed to be in his shoulder, not his chest.

‘Please, just endure one more time.’ Hyun prayed to his throbbing shoulder and threw the final pitch. The ball, flying furiously, slammed into the mitt with a thwack.

“Strike!”

Only after the umpire’s call did a deafening roar erupt. As he was engulfed in thunderous cheers, Hyun’s gaze went somewhere. In his spreading vision, Cha Seok-young was smiling, uncharacteristically.

1. Contact: When a batter swings the bat and makes contact with the ball.

2. Pitch clock: A clock that displays the time limit given for the pitcher and batter to prepare.