Unraveling the Past

“…Training?”

Cha Seok-young repeated the question, extending his hand. He easily took the ball from Hyun’s hand and lightly tossed it into the air.

“A pitcher three days before a game needs infield fungo training?”

He caught the ball that soared into the air with a rhetorical question, looking down at Hyun with an arrogant face. It was as if he was daring Hyun to make an excuse, even though he wouldn’t listen.

“Are you secretly preparing to be a shortstop?”

The question had a sting as sharp as his crooked smile. It was a cold jab, as if to say, ‘Don’t do anything useless when your pitching isn’t even perfect.’

For Cha Seok-young, it was a natural reaction. Hyun had quit baseball, claiming he hated the sight of it, and left the mound saying he’d make money much more easily than with baseball. Then, his current behavior of using baseball for success would naturally look quite amusing.

It was what he had wanted. It was an excuse he had concocted, desperately wanting Cha Seok-young to be disappointed and distance himself, and as he wished, Cha Seok-young no longer fully trusted him.

But why did it leave such a bitter taste in his mouth?

Every time he realized how trivial he appeared in Cha Seok-young’s eyes, his lungs felt hollow. Hyun took a deep breath, so deep his ribs ached, and cleared his throat.

“Cha Seok-young, let’s stop this.”

“Stop what?”

‘What did I do?’ His handsome eyes widened as if asking. Despite checking Hyun’s commuting times every day, guarding the seat next to him throughout training, and even making him report when he went to the bathroom.

At Cha Seok-young’s expression, as if he had forgotten everything, a sudden surge of anger rose within Hyun.

“Stop monitoring me. In your eyes, it might look like I’m fooling around, but I’m doing my best in my own way. I can manage without you interfering all day.”

He had blurted out overly honest emotions. Just as he realized his mistake and closed his mouth, Cha Seok-young mumbled.

“Monitoring? Interfering?”

The amusement was fading from his face. Hyun had a bad feeling.

Hyun looked behind him with a sense of foreboding. He wouldn’t dare curse in front of Jeong Hye-seong, would he? Cha Seok-young chuckled hollowly at Hyun, who was anxious.

“You’re fooling around with those brats the moment I take my eyes off you. Is that what you call doing your best?”

“Hey, when did I ever fool around?!”

At his sharply raised voice, Jeong Hye-seong began to approach. The moment he heard the footsteps, Hyun’s lips clamped shut.

Hyun glared at Cha Seok-young with resentful eyes, then let out a long sigh. He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair.

“That’s enough. What would a naturally talented bastard know?”

“……”

“And you bastard, a pitcher is an infielder after throwing the ball. What’s so wrong with a defender fielding fungo balls?”

Hyun grumbled irritably and snatched the ball back. Cha Seok-young, perhaps not expecting such a counterattack, was uncharacteristically quiet. His wide-eyed stare provoked a strange sense of satisfaction in Hyun.

It seemed he had missed even such childish fights. Hyun’s lips twitched subtly as he quickly turned around. The sadness that had stung his heart just moments ago quickly swelled.

“Are you okay?”

Jeong Hye-seong approached, asking in a low voice. Hyun grabbed his arm to prevent him from glancing at Cha Seok-young and smiled.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Are you really okay? I thought you two were fighting.”

“Fighting? How could I fight with Cha Seok-young?”

‘Anyway, the one who loves more will lose.’

He replied only in his thoughts, then subtly looked back. Cha Seok-young was still standing there. He now stared at Hyun, who was moving away, without any expression. The blunt and cold beautiful face was consistent, yet strangely, he looked pathetic, like a lost puppy.

‘Does this mean I won today?’

He looked back once more as he entered the dugout. The tall figure still stood unmoving, and Hyun thought with a lingering sense of uneasiness.

‘It feels like this is the first time I’ve beaten Cha Seok-young on a baseball field.’

But that was Hyun’s misunderstanding.

The next day, Cha Seok-young acted as if nothing had happened. He naturally stood next to Hyun as usual, warmed up, and focused solely on Hyun throughout the pitching test. Hyun expected him to grill him about yesterday or ignore him all day, but surprisingly, he showed a mature attitude.

“Gather your core more. The moment you ease up a bit, your arm immediately opens up.”

Even the touch of his hand, tightly holding his shoulder and chest, was gentler than usual.

Hyun took a difficult, deep breath. Even after days of continuous training, his heart still pounded uncontrollably whenever Cha Seok-young’s hand touched him. He couldn’t concentrate, bothered by his loud heartbeat.

“Jung Hyun, I told you to gather your core.”

‘How foolish.’ Cha Seok-young, who was always emotional, was now concentrating on work like a mature adult, while he was the only one self-conscious.

He frowned and nodded. Exhaling the breath that had painfully filled his chest, he gathered his core as Cha Seok-young instructed. Cha Seok-young only stepped back and stood behind him after personally checking that Hyun’s shoulder wasn’t pushed outward.

Only then did he feel like he could breathe.

Hyun re-gripped the ball in his glove. His wavering eyes sharpened, and soon the ball was thrown. It fiercely cut through the air and quickly landed with a thwack in Seon Dae-gyu’s mitt.

“Okay, nice ball! The end of the ball is really, alive!”

Seon Dae-gyu shouted with a raised voice. Even though Hyun knew it was a reaction meant to boost the pitcher’s morale, his shoulders puffed up. Since Cha Seok-young would soon pour cold water on it, he had to enjoy it while he could.

He grinned at Seon Dae-gyu and then glanced sideways at Cha Seok-young. Now would be the time for him to grumble, ‘Stop lying. His control isn’t even set yet, what nice ball?’

“Keep throwing consecutively until 30 pitches.”

Unexpectedly, Cha Seok-young’s voice was emotionless. No irritation, just a dry, expressionless face appeared before him.

“When you’re done, go to the training room as announced this morning.”

“Ah, uh-huh…”

He felt strangely awkward. To shake off the embarrassment, he put a little more power into the next pitch. The remaining 29 balls were all nice balls too.

Cha Seok-young remained quiet throughout. He only occasionally wrote something in a small notebook, never teasing or picking a fight with Hyun as he usually would. Even when the last ball almost became a wild pitch.

“Our Hyun-ssi is more human than I thought. With that inhuman face, I thought he wouldn’t even make such mistakes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, I wasn’t telling you to apologize. You worked hard.”

Seon Dae-gyu, who patted Hyun’s shoulder, left the bullpen first. Cha Seok-young didn’t particularly reply to his goodbye, only giving a brief nod.

A suffocating silence fell. Hyun, rolling his eyes, quickly slung his equipment bag over his shoulder.

“You worked hard. Training room, you said? I’ll go check it out.”

He walked out of the bullpen with an awkward smile. According to the announcement he received in the morning, a rehabilitation trainer was waiting for Hyun in the training room. They would surely ask in detail about his injury and its circumstances, so it would be a big problem if Cha Seok-young followed.

In his haste, he practically ran down the corridor. His movements were swift, like he was undergoing a push-and-pull training.

Soon, the distance from the bullpen grew significantly. His footsteps returned to their normal pace only when he passed the long, white hall.

Haa, Hyun, who was stepping on the stairs, letting out a sigh of relief, suddenly stopped. At the same time, the sound from behind him also vanished. ‘No way?’ With an ominous mumble, he turned around.

Cha Seok-young was seen a few steps above him. He had no idea when he had started following, and he wasn’t even panting, looking relaxed. He looked down at Hyun with a brazen expression, as if asking, ‘Did you just figure it out?’

“Aren’t you going down? The manager is probably waiting.”

“You’re… are you following me right now?”

“Following? We’re going together.”

Hyun’s eyes widened. ‘Together?’ Despite his bewildered gaze, Cha Seok-young didn’t mind. He merely shrugged his broad shoulders.

“Isn’t it obvious? What good is a pitching mentor if he doesn’t know the players’ physical condition?”

He had no words to retort, but his feet wouldn’t move. Hyun’s lips, hesitant for a while, stammered open.

“Then… can’t you just get the results in a report?”

“Are you going to keep saying stupid things? Why waste time when I can check directly?”

His lips, which had been trying to retort something, slowly lost their strength. Cha Seok-young, sensing the heavy defeat, leisurely descended the stairs. He gently wrapped an arm around Hyun’s shoulder from one step above and smiled.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

“……”

“What problem could a pitcher’s shoulder have when he’s doing fungo training three days before a game?”

He had pretended not to care all day, but he was still holding a grudge. Huh, Cha Seok-young pulled Hyun, who let out a gasp of exasperation. His face, even humming lowly, was annoyingly handsome.

Inside the training room, four or five players with a history of surgery were already seated. Hyun sat down in the very back row and whispered to Cha Seok-young.

“Why don’t you just leave? I think I’m the only one who came with a guardian.”

No sooner had he whispered than Cha Seok-young let out a sneer. His beautiful face twisted coldly as he asked.

“Why, are you scared your injury was a lie and will be exposed?”

“…Let’s not talk.”

Hyun shook his head and waited for his turn. The large bed at the very front of the training room felt eerily like an execution block.