Chapter 3:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 3

Oh my god.

What have I done?

Are you okay?

I hurried over to the policeman who was groaning on the marble floor.

Im sorry! I dont know how

I-Im fine.

Grab my hand and get up.

As the young man grabbed my hand and got up, my head was in a mess.

Whats going on?

It was unbelievable.

My body moved on its own and I slapped a stranger on the floor.

He looked shocked, but so was I.

The move I used to flip him over was the same one I had just seen in a movie on TV.

Hello.

After moving to a cafe in the hospital, the man introduced himself.

Im from the Eunpyeong Police Station. Im the investigator in charge of this case.

Hi.

He had a short sports cut.

His skin was rough and his features were thick, making him look like a detective.

His name card said Traffic Investigation Team Chief Jang Kyung-il.

Are you hurt?

Im fine.

Jang chief smiled coolly.

I used to be in the judo club back in the day. This is nothing to me, ow, ow, ow!

Are you okay?

Ah, ah I mean, its nothing.

He seemed to be in a lot of pain, but I let it go.

Youre amazing at flipping people over. Youre not a beginner, are you? You must have been a professional to do it unconsciously.

Ah, yes

Figures.

It was a lie, but I couldnt say I just copied the technique from a movie, haha. here, could I?

He then took out a notebook and started asking me questions.

I answered faithfully.

After a short Q&A, I asked him a question I was curious about.

Was he drunk driving? The car was swerving all over the place.

No, he wasnt. Hes an epileptic. He said he was dropping off his daughter at the test site when he had a seizure.

Can epileptics have a drivers license?

Yes, they can.

The policeman nodded.

Well, its complicated to explain here, but there was no legal problem with his license.

I see.

I felt bitter thinking that the reason he couldnt take the exam was because of the family of another examinee like me.

What happens now?

Hell be arrested. He almost killed two people, after all.

I almost died.

I realized how reckless it was to jump in front of a speeding car.

Would I do the same thing if the situation repeated itself?

Honestly, I couldnt guarantee it.

My life is precious, but there is one person in this world who lives only for me.

Have you contacted your family?

My grandmother lives in Gunsan. I tried to call her, but her phone is off. She must still be praying for me at the temple.

Oh

The young policeman, who had a hard time expressing his feelings, changed the subject.

I know this is not the best thing to say, but you did a great thing.

Thank you.

How many times have I heard that today?

About 26 times, I think.

But the policeman said something different from the others.

You must feel wronged and angry right now. But life is not free, you know. You get what you give.

Yes?

Youll be fine for a while.

He smiled as he picked up his notebook and asked me.

What did you say?

Do you know what hospitals and police stations have in common?

I dont know.

Rumors spread like wildfire there.

He shook my hand with a smile.

What did he mean by rumors?

I was about to follow Chief Jang, who left me with a puzzling riddle, out of the hospital cafe.

Thats when I realized what he meant.

Oh? Hes here.

A crowd of people surrounded me.

They were all different in gender and attire, so I didnt notice at first.

But as soon as I saw someone carrying a camera on their shoulder, I knew what was going on.

Someone handed me a business card.

Hello, Mr. Seon Woojoo. Im Noh Yong-ki, a reporter from KTN. Do you have a minute?

I blinked my eyes in confusion, then understood.

Thats what he meant.

The story must have spread through the people who work at the hospital and the police station.

Well, it was a good story, even from my perspective.

-A student on his way to take the college entrance exam throws himself to save an old man pulling a handcart.

I smiled at the reporters business cards.

Sure. I have time.

I remembered a proverb I had seen in an English textbook while studying for the exam.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

It means to turn a crisis into an opportunity.

Yeah. If its already happened, I might as well enjoy it.

I was ready to make some lemonade.

***

KTN Evening News.

A middle-aged anchor with neatly combed hair was on the TV screen.

[2014 College Entrance Exam]

With that screen as the background, the anchor opened his mouth.

-This is the Issue Talk Talk corner, where we look at the issues in the online world, with anchor Hong Ah-ran.

-Yes.

They are a bit like that.

I sighed as I badmouthed the company.

By the way, whats up?

-Do we need a reason to contact each other?

Yes.

-

You contacted me because you have something to say. I wont take it badly.

-I have something to propose to you.

Cant you do it over the phone?

-You know how it is in this industry. Its customary to talk face to face. Do you have any plans today?

No, I dont.

-Then come out, man. Lets meet and catch up. Ill buy you dinner.

Gulp.

Now that I think about it, I havent eaten dinner because I was so busy.

I felt my stomach rumble and coughed.

I wont go unless its expensive.

-I have a corporate card ready. Just name the place.

Flower sirloin.

-Flower sirloin?

Yeah, not just flower sirloin, but snowflake sirloin.

-Werent you a pork lover?

That was true.

It still is, but.

The last thing I remembered when I slipped on the ice at dawn was very clear.

Three servings of sirloin for 45,000 won.

If it wasnt for that memory, I would have suggested pork belly.

-Anyway, I appreciate that you like free stuff. How about I take you to a amazing beef restaurant I know? Youre in Eunpyeong-gu right now, right?

How did you know?

-How would I know. Your face is all over the internet communities.

Was it that bad?

-Ill send you the address of the restaurant on KakaoTalk.

Hyung, but it might take me some time.

-How long?

I fiddled with the baseball as I answered.

I have something to do.

-Okay. Contact me when you leave.

I hung up the phone and got up.

I brushed off the sand that was stuck to my butt with one hand and searched for YouTube with the other.

[MLB top plays]

There were clips of the best games played by the American Major League Baseball players.

I clicked on the video and the games started playing with BGM.

I focused on the video with bated breath.

And how long had it been?

When the video ended and the ads started playing, I was sure.

A strange feeling.

I felt a sensation that I couldnt describe with words throughout the video.

If I had to express it

A sixth sense beyond the five senses.

The experiment I was doing now was to test that.

After watching a rough play video, I set my smartphone to camera mode and placed it on the stand.

Then I stepped back and took some distance before taking a pitching stance.

As soon as I intended to throw the ball.

My body moved on its own.

It was the same as when I slapped the cop in the morning.

My body moved involuntarily.

Whoosh-

I felt a momentary pain due to the angle that exceeded my flexibility, but it was only for a moment.

My right arm drew a splendid curve.

Bang-!

The baseball that hit the stand bounced a few times and then rolled away.

Instead of picking it up, I grabbed my smartphone right away.

And then I checked.

[First video]

Before watching the MLB video, I played the video I had recorded for comparison.

As soon as the video started, I shivered with embarrassment.

I looked awkward in every movement in the video.

It was no wonder I was nicknamed robot when I was a trainee.

From the choppy motions to the awkward arm and leg positions.

Ping.

The ball flew away without any appeal.

I threw a few more balls after that, but there was no need to watch any more.

I pressed the back button to exit the video and then entered the next one.

[Second video]

The video started playing and within seconds, I let out an involuntary sigh.

Is that really me?

Its different.

From the eye contact to everything else, its different from the first one.

It was clumsy, but enough to make people say You must have played baseball before? wherever I went.

The interval between the two videos was five minutes.

But in just five minutes, my posture had changed so much that even I couldnt believe it.

There was only one factor that could explain the huge gap between the two movements.

It was that I had seen the pros pitching movements.

Doubt turned into evidence, and evidence turned into certainty.

Could I use the same movements as the ones I saw once?

I didnt know why.

Maybe it was because of the concussion that changed the nerve cells in my brain, or maybe it was a heavenly reward for a good deed.

But two things were certain.

Ugh!

My thigh twitched.

It was because I had lifted my leg beyond its flexibility to follow the pros pitching movement.

I grimaced as I massaged my sore thigh.

My body couldnt keep up with the movement.

There was no such thing as a perfect freebie in the world.

That was the first certain fact.

And the second one was

A new path had opened up for me.