The Extra in a Baseball Novel

A typical weekend morning. After studying all night, Shin Hayoon rubbed her eyes and walked into the living room.

– “Wow! What is happening here?! He hit the first pitch and sent it for a home run! Look at this course! I want to see that again… Look at this! Is this even possible? He hit that? He really hit that?!”

– “Look at that fantastic upper swing. We should call this Cha Taehyun’s signature move. Should we even call him a baseball player or a golfer?”

But something about the living room felt unfamiliar.

“Golden Lion…?”

In Shin Hayoon’s house, it wasn’t unusual to watch baseball broadcasts since the entire family were enthusiastic Phoenix fans. However, they usually didn’t go as far as watching high school baseball.

Above all, the conversation between her mom and dad felt a bit off.

“Wow, Cha Taehyun is really something.”

“Right? And he’s so manly and handsome.”

“Still, it’s better if he’s good-looking. Should we get a jersey with Taehyun’s name on it?”

“That’s a great idea! Get one for me too.”

“…What? What Taehyun…?”

She tried to dismiss it, thinking she misheard, but a nagging thought made her ask cautiously.

“Mom, Dad, who did you just say? Taehyun…?”

“Oh? Our daughter is awake? Who else could it be? Our Taehyun, of course. Isn’t Cha Taehyun the only one?”

Shin Hayoon was stunned for a moment. Shaking her head violently, she asked again.

“Who is Cha Taehyun?”

She thought it couldn’t be the thug Cha Taehyun she knew.

“Our daughter, you’ve been studying so hard lately. He’s already famous among Phoenix fans. Look, he’s on TV right now. Isn’t he handsome?”

Shin Hayoon’s mouth dropped open when she looked at the screen.

“It’s really Cha Taehyun?”

The thug Cha Taehyun she knew was swinging a bat.

She had heard that he joined the baseball team, but was he already starting and performing so well?

“Wow… Sis, look at that! Isn’t he amazing? Our Taehyun oppa is not only handsome but also insanely good at baseball. I saw him on the first day, remember?”

And it wasn’t just that he was performing well; the highlight reel was filled with nothing but Cha Taehyun.

“What… What is this…?”

“Oh, right, Sis! You’re at the same school as Taehyun oppa. Go after him! Where else can you find a guy like that?”

“Hey! Little sis! What kind of… brilliant idea is that? You’re so clever! Hayoon, I approve. Even if you don’t date him, at least get an autograph ball.”

“Yeah, sis! The Phoenix ace as your husband? How can you resist that? What else are you going to do with that pretty face of yours?”

“Hahaha!”

The living room filled with laughter.

Her mom, dad, and little sister laughed heartily, making it a warm family scene.

Except for one person—Shin Hayoon.

“Sh-shut up!!”

After hitting the grand slam and returning to the dugout, I was greeted by a barrage of high-fives.

“Cha Taehyun, you crazy bastard! I’m speechless now, haha!”

“Stop being so good, Cha Taehyun!”

“That’s it, Cha Taehyun!”

“Why do you keep copying what I say?!”

After finally escaping the clutches of my teammates, I sat down next to Jin Myunghwan.

“Crazy bastard…”

“What?”

“You just shattered the hopes of hundreds of people in the stands…”

“So, was I supposed to feel bad about that?”

Jin Myunghwan chuckled and offered a fist bump.

“No, you’re the best. That was truly satisfying. The real villain of villains.”

I smirked and bumped his fist.

Seeing him this happy, it seemed like the cheers during his earlier mistake had really bothered him.

Anyway, I focused back on the game.

The fifth batter, Lee Jiho, was getting ready for his check swing.

“This is crucial.”

“Huh?”

“We’ll see if the pitcher completely collapses or manages to hang on a bit longer.”

“Yeah… If he gets hit again here, he might completely lose it.”

Well, after a grand slam, the chances are high for the former, but there are no absolutes in baseball.

The pitcher threw the first pitch.

-Thud!

“Ball!”

A slider that just missed the borderline.

“Oh… I guess he hasn’t lost his composure?”

“…Really? I’m not so sure…”

Although the slider became a ball, it was intended as a bait pitch. This means his control isn’t necessarily off.

While his velocity had dropped a bit, it wasn’t enough to say he had completely lost his composure.

Looks like Jin Taehyun climbed the mound again to give his pitcher a pep talk.

He’s certainly a talented catcher. Calming down the pitcher is also part of a catcher’s skillset.

The second pitch followed.

Once again, a slider that went outside.

It looked like a standard setup to lure the batter into swinging with consecutive pitches in the same spot, but…

“Jin Taehyun… he’s more prepared than I thought.”

“…What do you mean, ‘more prepared’?”

“You wouldn’t get it even if I explained.”

“…”

Jin Myunghwan gave me a sulky look, but this time I wasn’t teasing him; it was true.

To understand Jin Taehyun’s pitch combination, you have to know Lee Jiho very well.

Since I’m an avid reader of StrikeHeart, I know Lee Jiho’s weaknesses well.

This pitch combination is targeting his weaknesses with precision, almost as if dividing the field into sections to target the areas where he hits the fewest.

“For a hot-blooded baseball manga protagonist, he’s pretty meticulous.”

“I don’t get it… But if you say so, I guess it’s true.”

To break it down to that extent, how much must he have analyzed? He probably went through Lee Jiho’s records and watched the videos dozens of times if they were available.

A genius with both effort and talent… He definitely won’t fade into obscurity.

The Cheongsin High pitcher threw the third pitch—a low inside curve with a sharp drop.

One of Lee Jiho’s notorious weaknesses.

I’d almost applaud them for targeting it so well, but…

-Whack!

Unfortunately for them, Lee Jiho, having overcome his slump, was currently on fire.

“Oh? Wait a minute, is it going over?”

“It went over.”

“What…? It really went over…? I thought you said the pitcher hadn’t lost it?”

“He hasn’t. Lee Jiho just hit it well.”

“Hmm… Well, Jiho did hit it cleanly…”

“Get ready. We’ll be switching to defense soon.”

“Huh? But they haven’t even recorded one out yet? And there was just a home run…?”

“Jin Taehyun is going to the mound. That guy’s speeches seem to get the pitcher back on track. He’ll probably hold off the lower batting order.”

“Is the catcher some kind of miracle worker? One speech and the pitcher’s back in the zone?”

“Jin Taehyun is a pretty good speaker.”

“What do you mean, ‘speaker’…?”

After giving up a grand slam, the pitcher gave up another home run to the next batter. Despite barely holding on and stopping the lower batting order, Cheongsin High’s hardships continued.

Now at the top of the 5th inning, the score was 7 to 3, and they were clearly on the losing side.

Aside from Jin Taehyun adding a solo home run, they hadn’t managed to score at all.

“……”

It was just… hopeless.

Kim Changhyun, who had stepped up instead of Seungtae Lee, pitched with such ferocity that even making contact was difficult.

-Whack!n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Finally! A decent hit! It’s heading toward the shortstop! Ah…! But Cha Taehyun makes a diving catch! Throws to first, and he’s out!”

“Wow… This must feel like having a hit stolen. Pitcher Kim Changhyun is beaming! It’s hard not to be happy with defense like that!”

When they did manage to make contact, that shortstop would magically catch everything.

Now, the cheers for decent hits had died down, and people in the stands had started to leave.

-“Strike-out!”

The second batter swung without even making contact, ending up with a strikeout.

His face showed disappointment, but it didn’t seem like he felt much regret.

Rather, it was more like resignation.

“…How are we supposed to hit those pitches?”

The issue wasn’t Kim Changhyun, the second-string pitcher, who was pitching as well as Seungtae Lee…

As the second batter picked up his bat and went to sit down, Jin Taehyun suddenly stood up.

Jin Taehyun closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“At least show some frustration!!”

His shout was loud enough to shake the dugout.

The Cheongsin High players flinched at his words.

“It’s okay to mess up… It’s okay if you can’t hit…! It’s okay if you can’t catch! Hell, it’s okay to lose!!”

Jin Taehyun continued, his fist trembling with emotion.

“But… is this really right? Looking at your faces, it’s like the game is already over. It’s written all over your faces that you just want to go home!”

“Aren’t you frustrated? Huh? How can you not be? I feel like I’m going crazy

! Are you thinking ‘We made it to the finals, so that’s good enough?’ ‘We couldn’t win anyway?’ Screw that! If that’s your mindset, then pack up and leave right now!”

Still visibly angry, Jin Taehyun picked up his bat and spoke quietly.

“…Sorry for yelling. I’ll hit a home run to get us one run closer… so from the next batter, let’s do this right. Even if we lose, let’s go down swinging…”

Jin Taehyun walked to the batter’s box, leaving behind a chilling silence in the dugout.

Breaking the silence, the coach spoke up first.

“He said what I wanted to say. Just watch how different Jin Taehyun is from you all.”

-Whack!

No sooner had the coach finished speaking than a loud crack echoed in the dugout.

A huge hit, enough to clear the fence, soared high into the air.

And yet,

Jin Taehyun ran. He clenched his teeth, not even glancing at the ball, and sprinted toward the bases.

“Baseball is not played alone. Even if people say we made it this far thanks to Jin Taehyun, Jin Taehyun can’t win the game by himself. We got here because of all of you. Because of Jin Taehyun and Cheongsin High.”

The coach paused before smiling faintly.

“Do you all understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes, sir!!”

Cheongsin High’s baseball was not over yet.

At the end of the top of the 6th inning, Cheongsin High only managed to score one more run thanks to Jin Taehyun’s home run. The score was 7-4, still a tough situation.

However, the Cheongsin High players’ expressions had changed.

No longer lifeless, their eyes now glowed with the determination to win.

Seeing their renewed determination, Jin Taehyun nodded.

“Yeah. We can do this. In baseball, you never know what will happen.”

Wearing his catcher’s mask, Jin Taehyun smiled as he watched Cha Taehyun approach.

They hadn’t added many runs, but it was clear that they had regained their focus and improved their hitting.

However, Cha Taehyun’s face showed he wasn’t worried at all.

“As expected of a good player.”

As such, they couldn’t let their guard down.

While Jin Taehyun was thinking about his next pitch combination, Cha Taehyun suddenly spoke.

“You’re working hard.”

The remark stirred something inside Jin Taehyun, but he swallowed it down.

It was part of the mental game of baseball; he thought it was a psychological trick.

Jin Taehyun replied as calmly as he could.

“Of course, I am. The game isn’t over yet.”

“Really…?”

Cha Taehyun trailed off and closed his mouth, seemingly focusing on his batting stance.

Jin Taehyun turned to his pitcher and focused again.

“Let’s walk him… but try to lure him.”

After giving up two home runs in consecutive at-bats, Jin Taehyun realized that Cha Taehyun could hit almost anything.

So they had no choice but to walk him.

However, since he often swings at bad balls… Jin Taehyun planned to use that to their advantage.

Perhaps he’d swing at a truly bad ball.

Jin Taehyun signaled to the pitcher, pulling his mitt wide. The pitcher wound up and threw the ball.

The pitch approached quickly toward Jin Taehyun’s mitt, but its trajectory began to deviate.

‘W-wait a minute.’

Jin Taehyun had overlooked one thing.

It was only the 6th inning, but the pitcher was mentally exhausted after facing so many hits and home runs.

He had barely been holding on with Jin Taehyun’s support and encouragement… a fact that Jin Taehyun had completely missed.

So, a wild pitch from the pitcher was hardly a surprise.

-Wham!

The intense sound of the hit made Jin Taehyun’s spine tingle as the ball shot straight up into the sky, flying over the center fielder’s head at a terrifying speed.

Its final destination—

-Thud!

The back screen, right where “Cheongsin High” was written.

“I think it’s over. The game.”

Cha Taehyun coolly tossed his bat aside, leaving those words as he sprinted toward the bases.

—