The Extra in a Baseball Novel

Chapter 48

[Did you watch Taehyun-shin’s documentary?]

I seriously watched it with tears in my eyes. ???

Why did our gallery master have to live such a hard life? ??

And those idiots who claimed it was all made up… The part-time job owners even showed the pay stubs, so I wonder what they’ll say now.

? Seriously, it was so heartbreaking. ??

? Watching that video made me reflect on myself… Trying to achieve his dream while working two part-time jobs a day, and here I am doing nothing.

? My whole family are Phoenix fans, so we watched it together during dinner, and even my dad teared up…

? Damn, I hope all those malicious commenters disappear.

? Since even the pay stubs were revealed, those who claimed it was fake are probably going to be eradicated. At least that’s some relief…

“Glad I filmed it.”

After the documentary aired, the number of malicious commenters significantly decreased.

Especially those who claimed it was fabricated are now almost nonexistent.

“That’s one problem solved.”

Now, the mountain of winning the Phoenix championship remains…

But is that mountain too high…?

Of course, the situation has improved since Lee Seungtae gave up on the Major League and chose to join Phoenix.

But Phoenix is Phoenix.

They aren’t called the ‘owner of last place’ for nothing.

Lee Seungtae and I joining won’t suddenly change the team.

“If only Shin Hayoon joined as a coach, some of the problems would be solved…”

This isn’t just a figure of speech; it’s a fact.

Others might see Shin Hayoon as just an ordinary high school girl, but since I know the future, she’s a talent I really want.

Her coaching skills are undeniable; she becomes the first Korean woman to coach in the Major League.

She has the passion to even bow and ask to document my batting form, even if she previously criticized me as a delinquent.

More importantly, she actually delivers results.

When Lee Jiho joined the Dynos but failed to perform, it was Shin Hayoon who stepped in and started fixing the team.

Or rather, overhauling it?

She offered advice to both pitchers and batters, resulting in significant improvements.

Thanks to her, the Dynos advanced to postseason baseball within a year of Lee Jiho joining, and they even considered her as an intern as they aimed for the championship.

“If she joined Phoenix, it would be perfect…”

Thinking of that, she really is the talent Phoenix desperately needs.

And since she’s a Phoenix fan, she likely has plenty of data.

Just as I was pondering how to make Shin Hayoon a coach for Phoenix, my phone vibrated.

Speak of the devil; it was a text from Shin Hayoon.

[Come to the fountain in Hyuksan Park. I’ll be waiting.]

“What’s this about all of a sudden?”

It was an unexpected text, and I couldn’t predict what it meant.

[What’s this about?]

“Ugh…”

No reply.

Now I can’t ignore it… What if she’s really waiting in the park?

“…Might as well stop by while I’m out for a run.”

I quickly put on my training gear and left the house.

I arrived at the fountain in Hyuksan Park.

Since there weren’t many people around, I spotted Shin Hayoon immediately, and something seemed off.

She was standing with her head hung low like someone who had committed a crime.

“What’s up with her…?”

It was clear from the look of things that the atmosphere was unusual.

Should I go over or not…

I considered pretending I hadn’t seen her and leaving, but I ended up approaching her.

As I got closer, Shin Hayoon slowly lifted her head.

Why does she look like this…?

Her eyes drooped, and she couldn’t meet my gaze directly.

“You called me over, so what’s with the guilty look? What’s this about?”

“…”

Shin Hayoon’s lips trembled.

She didn’t say anything and just stood there, making me feel guilty for no reason.

It took quite a while before she finally spoke up, her words coming out slowly.

“…I’m sorry.”

“What…?”

The unexpected words caught me off guard, and my voice involuntarily rose. Shin Hayoon flinched, looking scared.

She struggled to meet my eyes with her wavering gaze before speaking again.

“…I know I’m late. I should have properly apologized when I heard your story in the interview… I shouldn’t have pretended like nothing was wrong after just sending a text… I’m sorry… I’m really… sorry.”

Her voice was filled with tears, as if she was about to break down at any moment.

“…This is all very sudden. I don’t even know why you’re apologizing.”

I genuinely didn’t understand, but for some reason, Shin Hayoon interpreted my response differently and dropped her head.

“Yeah… You’re right… I know it’s meaningless to apologize now… I know it’s all excuses… But I… I really didn’t know. I had no idea you were going through such a hard time. No… No, it’s all my fault… I shouldn’t have said those things, believing the rumors…”

The mention of rumors immediately made me realize what this situation was about, and I let out a sigh of relief.

I thought it was something serious, but it seems she felt guilty about treating me like a delinquent at the beginning of the semester.

I guess it’s either a sign of her foolishness or just typical of Shin Hayoon.

“Yeah, you did say some harsh things on the first day.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I’m just kidding. I didn’t really care, so don’t take it so seriously.”

“How could you not care… I’m sorry…”

No, I’m telling you, it’s really fine…

Honestly, I hadn’t given it a second thought until she brought it up. But now, here she is, apologizing as if she had committed a terrible crime.

“If you’re that sorry, why don’t you help Phoenix with their coaching? I have to lead them to victory, so it works out well.”

I said it half-jokingly, but Shin Hayoon lifted her head slowly.

Wait, is this… possible?

I decided to probe further.

“I was serious when I said you had talent as a coach. So, instead of working for another team, why not use that talent to help Phoenix?”

She didn’t answer and just stared at me blankly.

…Guess it’s not going to happen.

Well, it was too much of a freebie, even if she felt guilty. Doing it unpaid would be a bit much.

Let’s see, after taxes, I have about 700 million won left from the signing bonus I got from Lee Siha. Should I just make a sudden investment…?

Just as I was calculating her potential monthly salary, Shin Hayoon spoke up.

“I’ll do it.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll do it. I’ll be your personal coach.”

I mean, I’m happy you’re offering… but isn’t this turning into something else?

“I appreciate it, but there’s no need to be my personal coach. There are plenty of Phoenix players who need coaching. Just collecting data for them would be enough.”

Shin Hayoon shook her head.

“You’re going to be a Phoenix player too, right?”

“Well… yeah, that’s true.”

“So you’re included, aren’t you?”

“…I guess so. Then how much would your monthly salary be?”

Judging by the situation, I could probably get away with not paying her, but my conscience wouldn’t let me.

“Salary?”

“We have to keep business and personal matters separate.”

“I’m fine with it…”

“No, I’m not. I seriously intend to hire you.”

With a somewhat regretful expression, Shin Hayoon nodded.

“Then I’ll think about the salary and let you know later.”

“Sure, that works.”

“So, should we start today?”

“No need to rush. We haven’t even signed a contract yet.”

“It’s fine. I want to start today.”

Her eyes were no longer lifeless; they were filled with so much energy and enthusiasm.

“Then today doesn’t count for your daily wage, okay?”

“That’s fine. I already owe you, anyway.”

That was just a joke.

Shin Hayoon sat on a bench and patted the spot beside her.

“Um… It’s a bit awkward to do this standing up.”

When I sat beside her, she took out her phone and began scrolling through a long list of videos.

Even at a glance, there seemed to be many videos… and they all looked like videos of me.

“Did you come to watch my games?”

Shin Hayoon nodded.

She said that if the stadium was nearby, she would always go; if it was farther away, she would use her allowance to get there…

“It was just to collect data, okay? There’s no special meaning behind it.”

“Who said anything?”

At my response, Shin Hayoon closed her mouth for a moment before suddenly speaking out.

“…You have a lot to work on. I haven’t mentioned it before, but you have quite a few things to fix.”

“Uh… okay.”

“Remember how I pointed out that you were opening up your side too much before? You held up fine until the President’s Cup, but you faltered when facing Ryuji in the Japan match, right?”

“Well, it was a situation where it was hard not to get tense.”

“I don’t know what happened, but you need to keep it in check consistently.”

“Yeah, okay…”

And so, Shin Hayoon’s coaching began in earnest.

“I think that covers all the problems with Phoenix.”

“Then let’s wrap up. It’s already getting dark.”

“You’re right. When did it get this late?”

Getting up from the bench, Shin Hayoon realized how well things had turned out today.

When she had

first arrived at the park, she didn’t even know how to properly apologize.

But Taehyun had forgiven her without a second thought, even praising her talents and asking for her help as a coach.

‘To think I treated someone like him like a delinquent…’

Looking back, she realized just how awful she had been.

‘I have to work hard to make up for it.’

Shin Hayoon made up her mind. She would do her best to help Cha Taehyun achieve his dream of leading Phoenix to victory.

“You worked hard. I hope I didn’t keep you too late.”

At Cha Taehyun’s words, Shin Hayoon shook her head.

“No, it wasn’t tiring at all.”

She meant it.

How could it be tiring? Here was someone who acknowledged her efforts, who took her coaching seriously.

In fact, part of her was a little sad to see him go.

As she watched Cha Taehyun’s back retreat, she couldn’t help but call out.

“Hey… So… are we good now?”

Taehyun turned his head slightly and gave a faint smile.

“Were we ever fighting? You were just moping around by yourself.”

Shin Hayoon let out a small laugh and waved.

Soon, Taehyun disappeared from her sight, and she found herself staring at the moon in the sky.

Suddenly, her sister’s words echoed in her mind.

‘Someone else might snatch Taehyun oppa away from you, you know?’

That silly tease, which she had brushed off without a second thought, was starting to weigh on her a little.

Time flew by, and now it was the third year of high school.

As planned, senior Seungtae joined Phoenix, immediately made it to the first team, and maintained an ERA in the low 3s, living up to his reputation as a monstrous rookie. But now, near the end of the season, he still has only 5 wins.

That’s probably why he looks so defeated during interviews. I worry he might be burnt out by the time I get there.

Changhyun-senior joined the Daejeon Volcanoes, and although he has an ERA in the mid-3s, which is impressive for a rookie, the team has been performing better than expected.

People are even saying that the Volcanoes might make it to postseason baseball for the first time in a long while.

Maybe that’s why he has already become a star among the people of Daejeon.

Jintaehyun joined the Seoul Winners, and since they had a weakness in the catcher position, he quickly became the starting catcher.

His performance at bat has also been strong, making him extremely popular.

So, although everyone seems to be having a good season…

Hyuksan High School is going through a bit of a disappointing year.

We did win the Golden Lion Trophy, but we didn’t do well in the other tournaments.

In fact, we won the Golden Lion Trophy mainly because Jiho and I performed exceptionally. Otherwise, we might not have won any trophies this year.

Well, it couldn’t be helped.

The team was already unbalanced, and it feels like the graduation of the third-year players has left us with a failed generation shift.

Today, we just lost the semifinals of the President’s Cup, our last tournament of the year, with a score of 7:12.

“It’s a shame. You tried to close the gap toward the end,” Jiho commented.

“Yeah, you should have hit another home run,” I replied.

“Together, we hit three home runs today…”

“If Changhyun-senior were here, he’d say, ‘An ace is responsible until the end!’”

“Haha, that’s true. By the way, now that the tournament is over, I remembered something. Why did you do that back then?”

“Do what?”

“You acted weird when I tried to give the signed ball to the teacher.”

Oh, right. I remember. When Jiho wanted to give the home run ball to Ms. Miyeon, I got a bit worked up and blocked him.

“I just wanted to thank her for always coming to cheer for us. It didn’t mean anything else.”

He probably meant nothing by it. Jiho was definitely taking a different path than in Nemesis.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I overreacted. It’s hard to explain, but it was like PTSD or something.”

“Why would giving the signed ball to the teacher give you PTSD?”

“It’s… hard to explain.”

“Okay, then. I was just bringing it up because I thought of it. Anyway, now that the tournament is over, want to go play some screen baseball?”

Jin Myunghwan suddenly appeared and said, “Oh! That sounds fun!”

“I’m gonna pass. I have plans.”

“Why do you have plans after every tournament?”

“Yeah, who is it? Stop hiding and just tell us.”

“Nope.”

Not a chance.

At least not until we graduate.

“Anyway, I’m heading out.”

Well, it’s almost time.

For graduation, and for my professional debut.

—