Yun Donghyeok, who had led the hell training for three whole days, was standing in front of me.
Smiling coolly, Yun Donghyeok folded his arms.
“Don’t slack off just because I’m not here; go hard. I’ve already asked Coach An Chunghui.”
A sense of camaraderie had formed from merely training together for three days.
He’d gone from being a vaguely unapproachable senior to feeling like a close older brother.
“I’ll keep at it until I make the first team!”
“Yeah. You need to come up to the first team.”
Yun Donghyeok tapped my shoulder.
“Two weeks left. Until the opening ceremony.”
I immediately caught the hidden meaning behind those words.
He was telling me to come up within two weeks. To the first team.
I didn’t know if that was possible, but I, Chae Gang-u, was someone who did what he said he’d do.
“I’m going. Within two weeks.”
At that, Yun Donghyeok nodded.
“Chae Gang-u, see you next time? Next time, I’ll really get to hit your pitches?”
“I didn’t even get to play catch with you because of you, Donghyeok hyung. Let’s do it together next time.”
“Gang-u and Jaeyul, see you in the first team.”
Seo Jaeyun, Min Hyoseop, and Baek Seongchan. And all the other first-team players added a word each.
And everyone’s conclusion was the same.
Hurry up and come to the first team.
My answer was obviously just one thing.
“Please wait just a little longer.”
Because I’d be there soon.
The first-team players left. The training ground, which had been bustling just moments ago, grew quiet.
Still, nothing had changed.
Because Ryu Jaeyul and I would continue the hell training known as special training, following the schedule Yun Donghyeok had made for us.
“Now, now. Let’s train!”
At Coach An Chunghui’s words, the second-team players began to move.
I was no different.
“Ryu Jaeyul.”
At my voice, Ryu Jaeyul, who had been walking ahead, turned his head.
“One hour of release point practice.”
At that, Ryu Jaeyul snorted.
“Then I’ll do squatting and drop step.”
“Pitching in an hour?”
“Are we going for 129 this time?”
I replied as if it were obvious to Ryu Jaeyul, who was asking as if to provoke me whether I could clock 129.
“129? I can do it.”
My shoulder felt loose and my arm swing felt light.
“I’m really going to hit 130 this week.”
It was now two weeks and three days until the KBO opening.
At the latest, I had to join the first team one week before the opener so we could get our timing down.
I didn’t know if that was possible either.
No, whether it was possible wasn’t for me to worry about. For now, I just had to throw.
For 130.
***
A few days had passed since that resolve.
Swish-.
The ball thrown from my fingertips flew toward the mitt.
Thwack.
130 km.
I had thought I would hit it without difficulty.
At least by a week before the opening.
But even today, three days before the opening ceremony, I couldn’t hit 130.
“Hoo…”
Sweat beaded on my forehead, and the hand wearing the glove was damp.
Ryu Jaeyul checked the radar gun.
Please, let it read 130 this time.
But at Ryu Jaeyul’s words, I was frustrated once again.
“129.”
“Argh, it really won’t go up.”
I just needed it to go up by one.
Was it this hard to raise it by just one?
Perhaps because I’d been practicing at the optimal release point angle Ryu Jaeyul had calculated for me, every throw clocked 128.
But no matter how much I threw, the number 130 never appeared on the radar gun.
“Ha. Why, why won’t it work!”
Now it was reaching the point of anger beyond irritation.
Strength entered the hand holding the ball. I threw it in a state mixed with anger and frustration.
Swish-.
At the same time, the ball soared far over Ryu Jaeyul’s head, let alone the strike zone.
It was an obvious wild pitch.
Removing his catcher’s mask, Ryu Jaeyul stood up.
“Chae Gang-u, are you okay?”
I must have been pretty anxious. To think I’d thrown a wild pitch.
“Ah. Sorry.”
“Your spin vector was off 15 degrees on the X-axis. Because of the non-linearity, the trajectory seems warped.”
It was something I couldn’t understand at all, but I roughly felt like I knew what he meant.
“…Well, basically you’re saying I threw it wrong, right?”
“Yeah.”
A sigh burst out.
“Why, why won’t it come out.”
“Chae Gang-u.”
Instead of answering, I stared at Ryu Jaeyul. Standing with a calm face, he continued.
“Should I calculate it again?”
“No.”
Ryu Jaeyul’s help was already enough just from calculating and locking down the release point for me.
If receiving the ball was Ryu Jaeyul’s role, throwing it was mine.
“I have to break through this on my own.”
At my words filled with sincerity, Ryu Jaeyul agreed.
“I appreciate it.”
“As long as you know.”
Ryu Jaeyul put his catcher’s mask back on and returned to his position.
Looking at Ryu Jaeyul showing his mitt as if telling me to throw again, I composed my breathing.
130.
Swish-, thwack.
130!
Swish-, thwack.
I threw like that all day, but as expected, I couldn’t surpass 130.
“I’ll… throw a little more. Hoo…”
“No. You have to know how to regulate yourself. Throw tomorrow.”
“This much is fine.”
To my insistence on continuing, Ryu Jaeyul replied irritably.
“Don’t you know why your right shoulder got wrecked? You abused it like that and tore it, and now you want to do the same to your left?”
“Ryu Jaeyul. Isn’t that too harsh?”
“That’s my point. Take it easy. Wanting to increase speed is fine, but you have to let your shoulder rest too.”
I knew Ryu Jaeyul was saying this because he was worried about me.
Even so, I couldn’t give up.
It felt like just a few more throws and I’d hit 130. Just a few more like this.
While running on wishful thinking and fidgeting with the ball, Ryu Jaeyul spoke.
“But, earlier…”
Curious at his hesitation, I asked.
“Earlier? What?”
“Manager Yun Seonggeun was watching you throw.”
Manager Yun Seonggeun was watching?
“When?! Earlier? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“There was no time. You were just throwing the ball the whole time.”
Come to think of it, I had been throwing while looking at nothing but the mitt, paying no attention to Ryu Jaeyul. All day long.
Could he have come to check if I had a shot at the first team?
“He watched for a bit and then left. His expression was completely neutral.”
Disappointment surged at Ryu Jaeyul’s words.
Well, I had boldly declared I’d hit 130, yet I couldn’t even reach it.
“Ah, this won’t do. I want to throw the ball.”
At my words, Ryu Jaeyul took off his catcher’s mask and even pulled the mitt from his hand.
“I’m stopping. Let’s rest. I’m exhausted to death.”
Staring blankly at Ryu Jaeyul, who turned sharply and walked away after those words, I soon turned my gaze to the baseball in my hand.
I must have gripped and thrown it so hard; blood had pooled under the skin beneath my fingernail pressing against the ball.
“Ah. I need to take care of my nails today.”
I caressed my reddened fingertips and put the ball down. As Ryu Jaeyul said, it was more important not to overwork my shoulder.
130 was simply a challenge for tomorrow.
“Yeah, let’s save my shoulder first.”
And those words, “let’s save my shoulder first,” were broken precisely the next day, at lunch.
***
After lunch ended, the second-team players crowded into one place.
It was because of the punching machine that had suddenly appeared in front of the indoor training room.
I was the happiest to hear that news.
They said pitchers didn’t even go near the punching machine to protect their shoulders, but I was different.
Ever since joining the second team as a developmental player, I hadn’t had the chance to hit a punching machine even once.
It was perfect for relieving stress.
Especially now, when irritation and anger were brimming over from failing to hit 130, what I needed most was the punching machine.
It was just one time anyway.
I headed to the training room almost before the meal was even over. The moment I saw the red machine placed at the entrance, my heart pounded for no reason.
The machine definitely looked old, but the cushion and parts all seemed new.
“Oh, nice.”
The cushion seemed sturdy enough that it wouldn’t hurt even if I hit it hard.
As I lightly rolled my shoulder and warmed up, Ryu Jaeyul stopped me.
“Are you crazy?! You’re going to hit that?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey!”
“Don’t worry. I used to do this every day.”
I realized at once.
That the suddenly appeared punching machine was the one from in front of my parents’ arcade.
Even though the leather and parts had been changed, I recognized it at a glance.
I ran my hand over the coin slot. There was an artificially made scratch next to the coin hole.
That scratch was something I had made when I was young.
It was a scratch made from trying to put coins in and take them back out to play the punching machine for free.
“How did this get here?”
It was amazing no matter how I thought about it.
“Did Dad send it?”
Curiosity was brief; my body moved on its own.
“Uh, uh, Chae Gang-u?!”
Habits were truly scary. Maybe because I had hit the punching machine with my left hand since childhood, my left hand naturally went up.
Only after slamming the arm I needed to treasure most into the punching machine did the thought occur to me.
That I was now a left-handed pitcher.
Bam-!!!
“Ah! I should have hit it with my right hand.”
As soon as my hand struck down, the score shot up.
Hitting the punching machine for the first time in a while felt like stress was melting away.
Strangely, my left shoulder also felt a bit freer.
“Well, my right side is injured, so maybe I should just use my left.”
I’d been hitting with my left the whole time, and since my shoulder seemed fine, I figured it would be okay.
Coach An Chunghui had also said my left shoulder was better than my right.
It was just two or three hits.
Ignoring Ryu Jaeyul, who was trying to stop me, I slammed my fist down again.
Bam-!!!
This time the numbers shot up quickly and broke the record.
“Yeah!!!”
Watching my excited self, Ryu Jaeyul shook his head.
“What are you, an elementary schooler? You like this kind of thing?”
“You must not know, but punching machines are the dream of every man.”
How many people had been obsessed with this punching machine.
From drunk middle-aged men to elementary, middle, and high schoolers, and even college students. Everyone was frantic because they couldn’t hit it.
And I was among them too.
“I need to hit it properly one more time and then go.”
I raised my hand again.
Bam-!!!
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!
Just as I was excited about the new record again.
Coach An Chunghui seemed to be walking from afar and waved at me.
“Chae Gang-u.”
“Ah. Hello!”
Coach An Chunghui, who had been nodding his head a few times, spoke.
“Did you hit the punching machine?”
I flinched at those words. Here I was with an injured right shoulder and a left shoulder I needed to protect, hitting a punching machine.
I was quickly trying to find an excuse in case I got scolded.
“You need to make the first team, right?”
“Huh?”
“I’m thinking of checking tomorrow.”
A check?
Seeing my bewildered face, Coach An Chunghui smiled.
“130. Whether you hit it or not.”
He had no idea what was going through my mind.
“So, I’ll check tomorrow morning, so don’t overdo it.”
Watching Coach An Chunghui leave after those words, I quietly lowered the left hand I had raised.
This was no time to be hitting the punching machine.
“Ryu Jaeyul.”
As if he knew what I was going to say, Ryu Jaeyul’s expression hardened.
“Hey, you were throwing just now? A pitcher needs to know how to control his pitch count too. You’re overdoing it right now!”
“I can control my pitch count after I make the first team.”
“Hey, hey!! Chae Gang-u!”
I threw my arm around Ryu Jaeyul’s shoulders and headed to the obvious place.
The training ground.
“You crazy bastard!”
I tossed him the mitt toward the cursing Ryu Jaeyul and grinned.
I’m hitting 130 today. For real.