A Log Bridge (2)
That evening.
'It feels like it's been a really long time.'
Han Min-woo, having boarded the subway, headed to Wangsimni Station where his family home was located.
The way home felt unfamiliar. Since finishing his public service, he hadn't gone home even once.
Before being traded, the distance between the Dolphins, his former team, and his family home was too far.
Busan—no, even Gimhae, where the second-division stadium was located, took over 5 hours to reach Seoul.
Even taking the KTX was the same.
He had to factor in the time to get to the station and the time to get home after getting off.
'Even going home was something I had to make a conscious decision to do.'
And after joining the Wolves, he was too busy. He went in to train even on rest days, and normally he had to travel all over the country to fulfill the schedule.
A baseball player was a much busier profession than one might think.
'It's not like I could just walk around freely either.'
Moreover, as a public figure who frequently appeared on TV, dormitory life was recommended if he didn't have his own car.
It was because he might cause a commotion if he traveled around using public transportation.
Today as well, he was covering his face with a hat and mask.
"Hello? Mom. I'm on the 1st floor. I forgot the password. Yeah. Yeah. Ah, right. It was this one, of course."
With an awkward touch, he pressed the password for the communal entrance door and boarded the elevator.
As he went up, someone was waiting for Han Min-woo in front of the door.
Familiar eyes and a gentle-looking face. A tall stature close to 180cm. Hair styled handsomely to the side with gel.
It was Han Min-woo's father, Han Yoo-sub.
"Dad. Why are you out here?"
"I came out because I wanted to see my son quickly. Have you been doing well?"
Han Yoo-sub warmly embraced Han Min-woo as he stepped out of the elevator.
It was the warmth of someone he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Yeah, I've been doing well."
"Let's go inside. Mom's waiting."
"Yes."
Upon entering the house, a sweet smell stimulated the tip of his nose. In the living room, an amount of food enough to break the table legs was already prepared.
Han Min-woo hugged from behind the middle-aged woman who was boiling soup in the living room.
"Mom."
"You're here? You've worked so hard. I watched the games well."
Han Min-woo's mother, Yoon Ji-hee, welcomed him with a bright smile.
Familiar, cozy, and peaceful. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a really long time.
Anyone living in a dormitory with multiple people in an unfamiliar place would probably feel the same way.
Even normally, you couldn't let your guard down. That's just how group living was.
A little while later, the door opened and another man came in.
"Oh, you're here?"
"Hyung."
It was Han Min-woo's older brother, Han Ji-woo, who had played BnB together in the past.
Han Ji-woo patted Han Min-woo's shoulder and laughed.
"I saw the highlights on YouTube. You've been playing well lately?"
"Hyung……."
The four people sat around the dining table.
It felt like it had been a really long time since they gathered like this.
In a comfortable atmosphere, Han Ji-woo scooped a spoonful of soup and said,
"You really need to get away from the Dolphins. Didn't I tell you? They don't develop pitchers properly there."
"They only develop batters well, pitchers are completely useless there. They don't even know how important pitchers are in baseball."
At Han Ji-woo's words, Han Yoo-sub agreed.
Yoon Ji-hee, who was tearing rib meat and placing it on Han Min-woo's rice, added her words.
"Since it's come to this, it would have been nice if you went to the Gladiators instead of the Wolves."
"No, Mom. Going to the Wolves might be better. You've been cursing the Gladiators kids lately saying they can't play. Are you trying to curse Min-woo too?"
"The team your mom curses the most these days is the Lunatics. Saying they held them back again this time."
"Come on, it's about time they gave up first place. They've dominated for years now."
"……."
At his family's words, Han Min-woo let out a deep sigh.
Previous memories were vividly coming back.
'Here they go again.'
It was a familiar sight. His family was usually fine, but when it came to certain topics—namely baseball—they were extremely sensitive.
Why?
Because Han Min-woo's family were also die-hard pro baseball fans.
'Shouldn't they be getting tired of it by now?'
But the problem was that they all supported different teams.
They had lived in Seoul for half their lives, but his father and mother were long-time fans of the Daegu Gladiators. Because both of their hometowns were Daegu.
He even heard that the place they first met was Jamsil Baseball Stadium. They said they came to watch a Gladiators away game and ended up sitting next to each other.
Meanwhile, his older brother, who was born and raised in Seoul, supported the Seoul Lunatics. Because most of his brother's ex-girlfriends were Seoul Lunatics fans.
But Han Min-woo himself was playing for the Seoul Wolves.
'……What am I supposed to say?'
Pro baseball was the most popular sport in South Korea. Moreover, it was a sport with intense rivalries. It was the kind of sport where arguments could easily break out when talking to fans of other teams.
That was the reason this situation couldn't help but be chaotic.
"Yeah, the Gladiators' second baseman has a .220 batting average. The catcher is at .210. A batting lineup that's considerate enough to rest because they're struggling."
"I believe a certain team suffered a losing series against those Gladiators this time?"
"The Gladiators' lead-off hitter gets paid 500 million won in annual salary but only has 99 hits. Our lead-off hitter gets 170 million won but has 113 hits."
"But the Gladiators are still in 1st place and the Lunatics are in 2nd, right?"
Eventually, Han Yoo-sub, who couldn't bear to watch his wife and son's bickering, wrapped up the situation.
"Ahem! Let's eat first, eat first. The kid is waiting."
"Yessir. I'll eat well, Mo-ther."
At Han Yoo-sub's words, Han Ji-woo picked up his utensils as if nothing had happened. Seeing that, Yoon Ji-hee huffed softly.
"……."
Han Min-woo shook his head.
Normally, they were a very quiet family that respected each other and had gentle conversations. But the moment baseball came up, they switched to battle mode.
It was so bad that when he was first drafted by the Dolphins, they even suggested he give up the 700 million won signing bonus and go to college instead.
'The Dolphins scouting team leader came looking for us and it was quite a commotion.'
Han Min-woo sighed as he recalled that time.
And so the peaceful mealtime returned.
The topic moved from baseball to Han Min-woo's older brother, Han Ji-woo.
"When does your season start again?"
"What are you talking about, Mom? It started again the week before last. There's even a game this Sunday. I have to leave after watching up to the All-Star Game."
"It already started? The World Cup hasn't even been over for that long."
"It was paused for two months. They need to hurry to finish the league. But I'm a bit hurt, Mom? You know all of Min-woo's schedule but you don't even know when your eldest son has a game?"
"Sorry, sorry. Baseball is played almost every day. So why didn't you play baseball instead of soccer?"
Han Ji-woo put down his utensils and grumbled softly. At that, Yoon Ji-hee gently coaxed him.
Han Min-woo, who was scooping a spoonful of soup, glanced at Han Ji-woo.
'Hyung is still the same.'
Fortunately, it was just talk, and he didn't seem to take it too much to heart.
Honestly, from Han Min-woo's perspective, he couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious.
Since childhood, his parents had been very interested in Han Min-woo, while they hadn't paid as much attention to his older brother, Han Ji-woo.
Ah, of course, that didn't mean they neglected him at all.
They did as much for Han Ji-woo as any other parents would. It was just that they were so serious about baseball that they ended up pouring more time and attention into Han Min-woo.
After that, light catch-up conversations continued.
Rather than participating in the conversation, Han Min-woo focused on eating.
Seeing that, Yoon Ji-hee smiled brightly.
"Min-woo, how's the food? Is it to your taste?"
"Yeah. It's so, so delicious."
His mother's home-cooked meal, which he hadn't had in a long time, was incredibly delicious.
All-Star Break.
A full four days of rest were given. From a baseball player's perspective, it felt like getting a summer vacation.
Other players would have gone on family trips they couldn't take, or taken care of utility bills they'd fallen behind on—things they couldn't do during the season.
But Han Min-woo's schedule during the All-Star Break was focused solely on rest.
'It feels like it's been a long time since I passed by here.'
After waking up in the morning and doing some light stretching, Han Min-woo took a walk within the apartment complex, looking around.
Trees and grass stretched out along both sides of the paved sidewalk. There were benches to sit and rest on here and there, and on one side, there was a space to store bicycles.
In the playground, children were running around playing on the equipment, and at the rest area nearby, young mothers were chattering away.
He had lived here for a very long time.
He moved in right after it was completed when he was about 10 years old, so he'd been living here for over 15 years.
During that time, he had walked this path countless times. On the way to school, when going grocery shopping at the mart, when going to baseball classes for practice, and so on.
And yet, everything felt unfamiliar.
'Has it really been that long?'
It was the same when he woke up in the morning. His family must have all left for work, because when he opened his eyes, he was alone in the empty house.
That was when he felt a sense of displacement. Because whenever he opened his eyes, his roommate had always been with him.
It was so bad that the dormitory now felt more like home.
'I should come more often from now on.'
He had lived too intensely up until now.
During high school, it was to achieve good results in national tournaments, and after becoming a pro, he devoted himself solely to baseball—to overcome trauma, to undergo rehabilitation.
But thinking about it again, it might have been okay to take things a bit easier.
He had been neglectful to his family, and neglectful to himself as well.
What foods his father and mother liked, how his brother's recent performance was, how his work was going these days—he knew nothing.
He didn't even know what he himself liked. That was probably why he was aimlessly wandering around the apartment complex even on a rest day like this.
Of course, he had no regrets.
At the time, he believed that was the best option, and he gave his all in every situation as much as he believed.
From now on, it would just be different.
As he had those thoughts and was about to turn his steps to head home—
"Huh…?"
At that moment, a familiar voice was heard in an unfamiliar space.
Han Min-woo turned his head in the direction where the voice came from.
A space where he had lived for nearly half his life, yet everything felt unfamiliar. There, he encountered a familiar person.
"……?"
"Sunbae-nim? Why are you here?"
A tall man wearing a hat walked steadily toward Han Min-woo.
Yoon Jae-hyun.
The guy was smiling as if delighted to see Han Min-woo.