Chapter 14: Fish meets water

Although she never expressed it to anyone, Soo-hyun was secretly hoping for an offer from the Dodgers.

She thought that the Dodgers, who had debuted the first black player, Jackie Robinson, wouldn’t miss the chance to

debut the first female player, Jung Soo-hyun.

But reality was harsh.

“Coach.”

“This basically means they don’t want me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I can feel their strong will to keep Soo-hyun buried in the Rookie League if she comes.”

100,000 dollars.

If I’m going to be stuck in the minors for that kind of money, with no guarantee of when I’ll get out.

I’d be better off going to Daejeon and eating Sungsimdang bread every day.

Suddenly, the Chicken’s offer looked good compared to the Dodgers’.

Why are they doing this to me?

Do they have a grudge against me or something?

Jung Soo-hyun will remember this.

“Although there was the betrayal of the Dodgers, the American League still remains!”

“Please focus, everyone!”

“Next up is the New York Yankees, and I’ll skip the explanation here too!”

Flick-

The Yankees offered a signing bonus of $1 million.

If you only cared about winning the fall baseball championship, the New York Yankees would be the top team to choose.

But a team with the Yankees’ resources only offered a measly 1 million?

This meant, “Come if you want, but don’t if you don’t.”

“Somehow I feel worse than I did with the Dodgers.”

“Even though the amount is 10 times more.”

“There’s no player greater than the team, I guess.”

“They’re saying not to expect special treatment just because she’s a woman.”

Even putting aside the issue of feeling.

Starting with a 1 million dollar contract and trying to climb the Yankees’ farm depth?

This is a real march of hardship.

Even in the Greatest Baseball Tournament, she was treated like a fluke.

A conservative team like that would be even worse, not better.

Skip it, Sari.

“It seems like the successful teams don’t really like Soo-hyun.”

“But!”

“What if the Yankees’ biggest rival appeared at this timing?”

“Boston Red Sox, I was counting on you!”

A signing bonus of $2 million.

It was double the amount offered by the Yankees.

At the same time, it was half the amount offered by the Cubs.

“Now I understand.”

“They know how much I’m worth.”

“Don’t be too disappointed, Soo-hyun.”

“This is still a great offer.”

Excluding the outlier Cubs.

Soo-hyun’s value, as assessed by MLB teams, was around the 2nd or 3rd round of the rookie draft.

What if they treated Soo-hyun, who had no amateur career, like a first-round prospect and she flopped?

A baseball team is also an organization, and someone would have to take responsibility.

As a result, the contract terms offered to Soo-hyun were devoid of the romance of being the first female player.

They were the result of crunching the numbers.

“Sari, there are no teams offering more than $4 million after this, right?”

“Yes, Soo-hyun.”

“The Chicago Cubs offered the highest signing bonus.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s stop here.”

The presentation screen went dark, and Putty stepped down from the podium.

Now it was time to choose.

Soo-hyun wanted to win, she wanted to make money, and she wanted to be with Dae-joon.

You need to be brave.

Soo-hyun finally brought up the words she had been thinking about for a while but hadn’t been able to say out loud.

“Coach, how was it watching Ricky?”

“Ricky?”

“He definitely has a lot of potential, but he lacks fitnesse.”

“It’ll take a long time to fix his control.”

“Why do you ask?”

She hadn’t brought it up to make him choose between Ricky and her.

She was just curious about how interested Dae-joon was in Ricky Rahman.

“Coach.”

“I haven’t decided where I’m going yet.”

“But there’s someone I want to go with.”

“Soo-hyun, what are you…”

Soo-hyun pointed at Aisha Rahman with her chin again and continued.

“I can’t offer you as much as she can right now.”

“Maybe not even in the future.”

“And I know we’ve only known each other for about half a year.”

“But…”

But, Dae-joon hyung, it’s me.

It’s Soo-hyun.

Soo-hyun suppressed the urge to just blurt it all out and be done with it.

“I need you, Coach.”

“Wherever I go, I want to go with you.”

Dae-joon, caught off guard by Soo-hyun’s words, stared into her eyes.

Her usual playful look was gone.

It was a look of earnestness, almost pleading, desperately trying to hold onto him, like a beautiful deer.

I thought I was the only fool, but she’s a fool too.

“Soo-hyun.”

“Yes.”

“Did I ever say I was going to teach Ricky?”

“I didn’t say it, but of course, of course I was planning on going with you.”

From the moment Dae-joon first saw Soo-hyun, he felt a connection with her.

He thought it was natural because she was a busty beauty.

But as he spent more time with Soo-hyun, got closer to her, and got used to her chest.

At some point, he started to see the image of his close friend who had passed away at a young age in Soo-hyun.

He was younger, but they had a strong bond through their shared interest in baseball.

He must have been mistaken because they were namesakes.

Whatever the reason, Dae-joon didn’t want to part ways with Soo-hyun.

“I thought I was going to be abandoned.”

“I’m glad.”

“I still have a lot to teach you.”

“Coach…”

Is it because I’ve become a woman?

Why do I keep tearing up?

“Thank you.”

“I’ll work harder.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll push you even harder.”

There’s a saying, “a bond between fish and water.”

It comes from Liu Bei, who finally obtained Zhuge Liang after three visits.

Soo-hyun’s feelings after obtaining DJ through emotional appeal were the same as Liu Bei’s 1,800 years ago.

Planning to finish the contract as quickly as she had conquered Jing Province, Soo-hyun immediately used her cheat key.

“Sari.”

“Yes, Soo-hyun.”

“Contact the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.”

“Tell them I’ll sign immediately if they hire trainer Kim Dae-joon as well.”

After throwing it out there, Soo-hyun checked Dae-joon’s reaction.

“Coach, you’re okay with this, right?”

“You said the SoftBank Hawks were fine.”

“Of course.”

“But are you going to give up on Major League Baseball because of me?”

“You can still teach me in America, and I can make a living.”

Dae-joon was worried that his situation had influenced Soo-hyun’s decision.

“It’s not just that.”

“Honestly, with this kind of signing bonus, there’s no guarantee of when I’ll get out of the minors.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s rare for a rookie to go straight to the Major Leagues and succeed.”

Soo-hyun had no experience in America, but she had heard many stories from her seniors and juniors who had returned from America.

One of the things they all talked about was.

The poor conditions in the minor leagues.

Soo-hyun had gained confidence in her pitching after winning the Greatest Baseball Tournament.

She was confident that she could dominate even at the Triple-A level.

Unless the opposing team was a team of homosexuals.

But she wasn’t confident that she could endure the tear-soaked bread of the minor leagues and travel across the continent on a bus for 20 hours with this body.

It was a living hell just coming to Bali for 7 hours.

On the other hand, if she went to Fukuoka, she could get pampered by an owner who likes her.

Enjoy the infrastructure of an MLB-level team and train comfortably.

And live a little lavishly with her prize money and salary.

They say youth is the time to endure hardship, but Soo-hyun wasn’t young.

“Soo-hyun.”

“A new contract offer has arrived from the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.”

“They’ve added the condition of hiring Dae-joon as a team trainer.”

“Alright, proceed!”

And according to Soo-hyun’s research.

Japan was one of the countries with the lowest LGBT population in the world.

She didn’t know how this kind of research was conducted, so she couldn’t fully trust it.

But this was also one of the reasons why Soo-hyun decided to go to Japan.

“Mr. Dae-joon, I’m sorry we couldn’t have you, but congratulations.”

“I hope you do well in Japan.”

“Thank you, Aisha.”

“Ricky will be a great player.”

“You can trust your brother a little more.”

Aisha, who lost the battle for DJ, remained composed.

Soo-hyun felt a little sorry after winning.

“I’m sorry, Aisha.”

“Congratulations, Soo-hyun.”

“If you’re sorry, come visit Bali often.”

“Of course, not alone, but with your coach.”

The 2030 Jung Soo-hyun draft reverse nomination ceremony came to an end.

Soo-hyun’s choice was the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Nippon Professional Baseball.

Thanks to the endless consideration of the Rahman family, Soo-hyun and Dae-joon were to fly to Fukuoka tomorrow morning on the Rahman family’s private jet.

The last night in Bali.

A farewell party for Soo-hyun was held, with all the employees of the Rahman estate in attendance.

“Soo-hyun, you look so beautiful!”

“Putty is blinded by your beauty…”

“When will I ever see such a beautiful sight again…”

“Sniffle sob 1…”

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“I’ve never worn anything like this before, it’s so awkward.”

The star of the party was awkwardly standing in adorned off-the-shoulder dress.

Although they had only stayed at the Rahman estate for four days, everyone at the estate was celebrating Soo-hyun’s

future and lamenting her departure.

Dae-joon, also dressed in an ill-fitting tuxedo, was busy saying goodbye to the people of the estate.

“Soo-hyun, you can’t drink?”

“You have a weakness too, it seems.”

“I’m disappointed too.”

“I wanted to have a drink with Ricky.”

Asking for a moment of her time, Ricky called Soo-hyun out to the balcony of the estate.

The night view of Denpasar city in the distance.

The low moon and the pleasant breeze.

It was a beautiful night.

The two of them looked out at the scenery for a long time without saying anything.

Finally, Ricky Rahman broke the silence.