The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 84

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 84
#84.
After finishing the contract, I headed to the apartment near Dongrae Station with both hands full of gifts.
As I stepped out on the seventh floor, cheerful voices greeted me.
I stood before the already crowded, noisy door, rang the doorbell, and stepped inside.
“Oh! Senior Pitcher, you’re here!”
“How have you been? This is a gift for you.”
“Thank you so much. Please come in.”
This was none other than Hyun Myung-su’s home.
And what was making such a ruckus at this gathering was a group chat of married men from the Dolphins and fathers—a gathering of fathers, no less.
The senior pitchers had mentioned at the last company dinner that they had quite a few things to give to Hyun Myung-su, and since this was also a gathering where baby supplies were being exchanged, I’d brought a few items from Seoul as well.
“What is all this…?”
I’d brought along just a couple of appropriate items, but when I looked to one side, I could see boxes stacked like a mountain.
Seeing such an enormous amount of baby supplies—as if they’d cleaned out an entire baby store—the senior pitchers who were already seated eating and drinking welcomed me warmly.
“Oh, Ho-jin’s here?”
“Come sit down. Let’s finish off Je-su’s cooking.”
“The two of them could eat so much that if one of them died, the other wouldn’t even notice.”
After greeting the senior pitchers, I looked to the side and saw a woman holding a child who looked exactly like Myung-su.
“This is my wife, Mi-young. And this is my son, Jun-woo.”
“Oh my! Kang Ho-jin! I’m a real fan! Come on, Jun-woo, say hello to Uncle.”
The little one, who was approaching his first birthday, stared at me with wide, round eyes.
“Aboo.”
Not satisfied with that, he reached his arms toward me and babbled, and he was such an adorable and lovely child.
Suddenly, Ye-jin came to mind.
I carefully took Jun-woo and held him in my arms.
“Jun-woo, hello.”
“Aboo!”
“Ha ha, nice to meet you.”
Jun-woo nestled in my arms and grinned at me.
As if he’d found his father’s embrace, he clung tightly to me, and seeming delighted, he laughed to himself and squirmed with joy.
“Wow, Jun-woo’s got some serious leg strength. He’s going to be running around like crazy later.”
At my words, Myung-su let out a deep sigh.
“It runs in our family, apparently. My father and I both have strong legs, and they say we used to run around like crazy when we were young… I’m already worried about it.”
I laughed at that and patted Jun-woo gently.
“Aboo! Aboo!”
Jun-woo babbled away, seemingly delighted and excited about something.
At my behavior, Je-su watched with a smile, while the senior pitchers spoke with expressions of surprise.
“Wow… even when we gave gifts, he wouldn’t let us hold him.”
“That’s because the Captain looks so intimidating.”
“Come on. I’m pretty reasonable, if you ask me.”
“Don’t you remember our daughter crying when she saw the Captain?”
“My daughter was so startled she wouldn’t leave my side either.”
“What?! You two!”
The Captain stretched out both hands and poked Han Seok-do and Ham Ji-ha in the ribs with his fingers.
Those thick fingers possessed tremendous strength, so it must have hurt considerably, yet the two seniors endured it while teasing the Captain.
Thanks to that, Myung-su, Je-su, and I laughed, and Jun-woo joined in as well.
“That’s not wrong, is it? I was terrified when I first saw you too. Was it at Bonghwang Stadium? After striking out, you just glared… ugh…”
A voice suddenly came from the restroom, and when I looked over, I saw Se-jin.
“Ho-jin came.”
“You came too, hyung?”
“Yeah. Everyone said they were coming because of the Spring Training call, so I slipped over too.”
I made a fist and bumped it against the senior’s extended fist.
Jun-woo, who was in my arms, reached out one arm toward Se-jin. When hyung tapped him gently, he giggled with delight.
“Ki-ha, look. Kids have accurate eyes. I was told I was handsome back in the day, and Ho-jin is handsome too, so they like us, right?”
“Sigh… really… My daughter likes me.”
“That’s only because she’s your daughter.”
Unlike the other seniors, Se-jin delivered facts with heavy impact.
“Jun-woo. Come to Mom now.”
Jun-woo, who had been in my arms, returned to his mother’s embrace, and only then could I sit facing the seniors.
As if it was the last dish, Myung-su and Je-su sat down together.
After meeting again after so long, we started with what everyone had been up to, congratulated me on my Rookie of the Year award, and before long, the conversation bloomed into parenting stories.
The Captain Ki-ha’s daughter was an elementary school student and was being pestered to buy Tiny Ping these days, and Seok-do and Ji-ha’s daughters were now five years old, and they said it was absolutely killing them.
Why wasn’t it called “terrible fives” instead of “terrible twos”? At that age, the sense of self became stronger, cognitive abilities developed, and stubbornness and self-assertion intensified, which was why the two seniors were struggling.
“Our Jun-woo will listen well to Dad and Mom, right?”
Myung-su grabbed Jun-woo’s hand and said that, and he responded.
“Dada!”
“Oh my, our Jun-woo is so good.”
Myung-su was activating his happiness circuits.
Anyone could see he was just responding because his dad was talking to him, but watching Myung-su think positively, the seniors brought up how this was the best time.
We laughed and chattered like that for a while, and the seniors had emptied every last bit of food from the table.
“By the way, Se-jin hyung. So you’re taking Myung-su with you?”
“Yeah, surprisingly Je-su asked me to take him first.”
Apparently, originally they had planned to take Kang Do-bin.
It seemed like a better decision to take Do-bin, who was still single, rather than take Myung-su who would soon be doing his first birthday celebration.
But when Do-bin’s Mother became unwell and was admitted to the Hospital, he naturally had to drop out, and when they asked Myung-su just in case, before Myung-su could even answer, Je-su shouted from beside him to go.
“How could you miss such a great opportunity? It would be an incredible experience for the baby’s father. You have to let him go.”
Je-su was remarkable.
Everyone here knows how difficult and hard it is to raise a child alone. Even with help from those around you, it’s exhausting, but the decision to raise a child alone for three months with Spring Training and Spring Camp would be something I couldn’t easily make no matter what.
Yet Je-su seized this tremendous opportunity and pushed Myung-su forward, telling him to become a baseball player he wouldn’t be ashamed of in front of Jun-woo.
“And my parents’ home and my in-laws’ home are incredibly close. It’s a five-second walk.”
Surprisingly, Jun-woo’s paternal grandparents’ home was just a five-second walk to the left, while his maternal grandparents’ home was a five-second walk to the right. In other words, both sides of his family lived right next to each other.
“Wow… that’s incredible….”
“I never would have imagined….”
“Both sets of parents must be thrilled?”
“Yes, they’re all very happy about it.”
Myung-su nodded at the seniors’ remarks.
And when this gathering was about to end, they’d asked to be called when it was time to leave. The moment we told them to come, Jun-woo’s grandfather and grandmother, along with his maternal grandfather and grandmother, appeared in exactly five seconds after hanging up the phone.
“Oh my! Aren’t you the Dolphins players?!”
“How is our son doing?”
“We got such a good son-in-law, and now we get to see the players too.”
“Kang Ho-jin. I’m a fan of yours.”
The four of them, all native Busan residents, were longtime fans of the Busan Dolphins and welcomed us warmly.
We signed the uniforms they’d brought and took photos with them, providing fan service, and only after seeing their satisfied expressions did we prepare to head home.
“Jun-woo. See you next time.”
“Dad!”
“Yes. Listen to your mother. Eat well. Sleep well at night.”
“Daaad!”
“Goodbye.”
I held Jun-woo in my arms and said goodbye while meeting his eyes.
Perhaps realizing I was leaving, his eyes began to redden, and then he burst into tears.
At the sound of their grandson’s crying, all four of them rushed over to comfort him, and after seeing his tears subside not long after, I hurried out.
“Jun-woo really likes you, senior.”
“Right? For just a brief meeting today, he really took a liking to you.”
When we reached the apartment entrance, I sent Myung-su off.
After exchanging farewells to prepare well and meet at Incheon Airport next week, with only the seniors remaining, our next destination was already decided.
“Well then, shall we relax and enjoy some more food and drinks?”
“The Captain will lead the way. Ji-ha and I don’t know the area well.”
“That’s right. The Captain is a native of this place.”
So the five of us headed to a nearby meat restaurant for our second round.
Even though we’d just eaten a lot, there were still plenty of places to visit, and meat kept coming up on the grill continuously.
I ate heartily since I needed to build up my body, and we were finally able to part ways at a reasonable hour.
“See you next week, hyung.”
“Yeah. See you then.”
Everyone headed home by taxi, while I entered the hotel alone and went to sleep.
Was it thanks to the brief time I spent with Jun-woo?
I dreamed of Ye-jin in her childhood form, nestled in my arms and yawning.
I patted my daughter’s back and said to her.
“Sleep well. My most beautiful daughter in the world.”
“Yaaaawn.”
Along with the small yawn from her tiny mouth, my daughter soon fell asleep, and I lay down beside her and drifted off as well.
I knew it was a dream, but it felt too wonderful.
Sleeping beside my daughter.
Even knowing it was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.
* * *
Time passed, and the day of departure arrived.
The flight was scheduled for noon, with Guam as our destination.
When we arrived at the airport, I could see my senior teammates gathered together.
“Hello. I’m Kang Ho-jin from the Dolphins.”
At my greeting, Byun Hee-su from the Dragons and Ga Jin-heo from the Elephants smiled and extended their hands.
“Oh! The Rookie of the Year! It’s been a while.”
“Thanks for having me.”
As the two seniors shook hands with gravitas, Myung-hwan beside them let out a scoff.
“Putting on airs, huh? Just be yourself. You’re being cringey.”
The two seniors seemed taken aback by his words but let it slide.
I could see other players beside the seniors.
“It’s been a while.”
“Nice to meet you, Senior. I’m Park Woo-jin.”
Ra Dong-guk, who extended his hand saying it had been a while, was my fellow rookie from the same year and someone I’d seen once at the Blue Dragon Cup. Park Woo-jin beside him was a face I was seeing for the first time—apparently a junior from a year later. The two of them were from the same school.
Dong-guk was with the Dragons, and Woo-jin was with the Elephants.
Myung-hwan had originally wanted to bring a catcher along, but he lamented that personal circumstances prevented it. Hyun-im was sitting on the bench, dozing off repeatedly.
Se-jin and Myung-su would arrive soon, so we were scheduled to depart shortly.
“How many hours to Guam?”
“Four and a half hours. We can just sleep a bit and wake up.”
“Ugh… my condition always drops when I fly….”
“That’s because you’re getting old.”
“And you’re not?”
The seniors bickered back and forth.
Behind them, Dong-guk and I, along with the two juniors, followed in their wake.
A total of nine of us headed toward the departure gate for Spring Training.
For the next month.
We departed for Guam, where an ordeal more grueling than hell itself awaited us.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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