Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 301

The car drove into the parking lot of the baseball stadium. 

The lot was half full.

Seo-jun got out of the car and looked around the stadium. 

He asked Jack Smith.

“Who are you playing against?”

“A baseball club from the next town. It’s a practice game.”

“The school tournament ended in May.”

Eric Smith said and Seo-jun nodded.

“I know. Jack kept whining about losing in the finals.”

“Hey!”

Jack, who was taking out his bag from the trunk, shouted and Seo-jun and Eric Smith laughed.

After laughing, Eric Smith checked the time. 

He was supposed to come with the other players on the club bus, but Jack came separately to pick up Seo-jun. 

The club bus was parked, so it seemed that Jack’s team had already arrived.

“Jack. You should go in and warm up now.”

“Okay? Jack. Go ahead.”

Evan Smith said and Seo-jun waved his hand.

“Jun.”

“Hmm?”

Jack, who was scratching his neck, opened his mouth as he saw Seo-jun tilting his head.

“Can you check my stance for me?”

***

Seo-jun, wearing a cap, sat in the stands. 

The baseball stadium in America seemed to have good facilities. 

And there were quite a few spectators for a friendly match between high school students.

‘Maybe it’s because this is a country with Major League.’

Eric Smith, who sat next to Seo-jun, took out a cold water from his bag and handed it to Seo-jun. 

It was obvious that it would get hot sitting in the roofless stands.

‘But it’s less hot than Korea.’

Seo-jun took a sip of cold water.

“Jack becomes childish when Jun comes. I don’t know how mature he pretends to be usually.”

“Really? He used to stick to me like glue just the other day…”

“Oh. You remember that too. Jack was scared back then. But he had a weird taste for Sang-ui dolls.”

Seo-jun laughed at Eric Smith’s words. Other kids hated Kim Hee-sang’s dolls that felt strangely realistic, but Jack Smith loved them so much that he threw a tantrum.

“And now Jack is the fourth batter…”

“We were all surprised at first. We didn’t know he was that good.”

Eric Smith’s face was full of pride as he said that. 

Seo-jun also smiled happily at his friend’s growth. 

They were waiting for the game to start when something caught Eric Smith’s eye.

“The scouts are here too.”

“Scouts?”

“Yeah. See those people over there wearing sunglasses and acting cool?”

Eric Smith pointed to one side of the stands with his finger. 

As Eric Smith said, there were people wearing sunglasses sitting there. 

Some of them had cameras too.

Seo-jun widened his eyes.

“Oh. That’s amazing. I’ve never seen those scouts before.”

“They came quite a lot, huh? Maybe there are many players worth watching today.”

“Including Jack?”

Seo-jun said with a smile and Eric Smith also smiled and said.

“Yeah. Including Jack.”

-Play ball!

The umpire’s voice echoed throughout the stadium.

At that sound, Seo-jun’s eyes turned to the stadium, leaving the scouts behind. 

The scouts were amazing, but more important was Jack’s game.

-Strike!

The game started with Jack’s baseball club on defense.

***

“Hmm?”

“What is it?”

The scout tilted his head. His colleague who was filming the game asked him.

“That man. Isn’t he Jack Smith’s father?”

“Yeah?”

Jack Smith, who had outstanding skills for his age, was also a promising player among the scouts. 

That’s why they watched his games and also looked into his family.

‘He seemed to be in a slump since the finals in May.’

He would be a good player if he overcame his slump. 

If not, this would be the end for him.

The cold-eyed scout looked at Eric Smith’s side.

“Who is that boy sitting next to him?”

“I can’t see him well because he’s wearing a hat… but he looks like an Asian?”

“Jack Smith’s mother was Korean, right?”

“Yeah. A relative maybe?”

Clang!

As they heard a pleasant sound, the scouts looked at the stadium. 

The player who was standing on second base and Jack Smith who swung his bat were excitedly running home.

“Jack!!!”

“Smith!!”

It was Jack Smith’s two-run homerun.

“Jack! Awesome!!”

“That’s my son!!”

Seo-jun and Eric Smith jumped up and shouted Jack’s name at the homerun that exploded from the bottom of the first inning.

As if he heard their voices, Jack stopped walking and turned around as he entered the bench. 

Seeing his father and childhood friend waving their arms in the stands, Jack Smith also smiled brightly and waved his hand.

***

Clang!

The scouts marveled at the baseball flying cleanly.

“Jack Smith is in good condition today, huh?”

It was Jack Smith’s solo homerun.

That’s how the game ended today.

“3-0. He scored all the points by himself with a two-run and a solo…”

“He must have completely gotten out of his slump.”

“Yeah. He seems mentally stable too.”

The scouts looked at Jack Smith, who was waving his arms vigorously in the stands.

***

Clang!

Six glasses collided in the air.

“Congratulations on getting out of your slump!”

“Congrats!”

A celebration party was held for Jack, who had safely escaped from his slump.

The table was full of delicious dishes and Seo-jun’s family and Smith’s family sat down. 

They had met often since they were babies, so it was a familiar dinner gathering.

“He hit it so hard from the bottom of the first inning!”

Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-joon, and Maria, who came after the game, listened to the exciting game story with interest. 

Jack, who was in a good mood and had played a game, was hungry and sucked in the dishes with a smile.

“And he finished with a solo homerun!”

Eric Smith made a swing gesture and laughter grew louder. Seo-jun smiled and said.

“The scouts were only looking at Jack.”

“Today’s MVP was our Jack!”

The happy laughter filled the house.

After the pleasant dinner, Maria, who was eating dessert brought by her parents, opened her mouth.

“Jun. How about staying at our house tonight? Jack has a day off tomorrow, so it would be nice to go out together.”

Jack also looked forward to it.

Seo-jun looked at Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-joon. The couple smiled and Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Let’s go up. Jun!”

“Yeah!”

Seo Eun-hye shouted as she saw Seo-jun and Jack heading to the second floor with excited faces.

“Don’t stay up too late, you two!”

“Okay!”

“We won’t!”

Lee Min-joon smiled and said.

“Do you believe them? Should we stop them?”

***

Seo-jun’s eyes flashed white as he sat on the chair.

[The White Snake’s Eye of the Village Councilor-Middle Low Grade is activated.]

He could see the muscle movements of Jack Smith, who was holding a bat and taking a swing stance in the middle of the room.

As the center of gravity shifted from right to left, he could see which muscles were strained, and whether the shoulders, elbows, wrists, etc. that held and swung the bat moved smoothly and without strain.

[The White Snake’s Eye of the Village Councilor-Middle Low Grade]

You can look into the body (muscles) of a living being.

You can find imbalanced places.

A village councilor saved a dying baby snake and brought it back to life. I

t was his first time treating a snake, so its black scales turned pure white, but that was a blessing.

‘Thanks to that, I gained this sense.’

In the white snake’s sight, he could see the bones, muscles, blood vessels, etc. of a person clearly.

The village councilor became famous thanks to the white snake, who could look into the body of a person and find places that were injured.

‘I can’t do that much now.’

Maybe because only the eyes of the white snake were transmitted among its many senses, he couldn’t see as finely as the white snake, but his ability was useful.

Seo-jun blinked a few times and looked at Jack, who was taking a swing stance.

“You look fine?”

“You look fine? Not like that. Look carefully. Is my balance okay? I feel like I’m leaning a bit more than during the game.”

“Your balance is fine. You’re good.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jack’s question.

At Seo-jun’s words, Jack sighed and repeated his stance several times to remember it.

Seo-jun watched Jack Smith swinging his baseball bat.

Seo-jun didn’t know much about baseball, but he knew well about the body, movement, and balance of a person.

 [The Dog of Hwangbo Se’s Youngest Son-Low Grade], [The White Snake’s Eye of the Village Councilor-Middle Low Grade], [The Whiskers of Sacheondang’s Pharmacy’s Three-Colored Cat-Middle Low Grade], etc. 

They were abilities related to martial arts.

Seo-jun joined Jack’s training since he came to America and played baseball with Jack Smith.

‘It was more like just throwing and hitting than baseball.’

What would kids do properly?

He felt sorry for Jack Smith’s clumsy stance with a baseball bat, so he started teaching him one by one and it continued until now.

‘There was also video calling.’

Seo-jun, who was in Korea, checked and corrected Jack Smith’s posture by video call or video. 

It was amazing that Jack Smith trusted Seo-jun’s words more than his own.

‘I fixed his center of gravity that was leaning a bit in the parking lot today.’

He sometimes told him about parts where he put too much force and asked Jack.

“But why do you still listen to me even though you’re older than me?”

“Well. You know. The school director or coaches don’t interfere much with the players’ postures.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

Unlike Korean high school players who were taught textbook-like postures, American high school players’ postures were left to their own discretion. 

That’s why each player had different batting stances.

“Then why don’t you ask your club? They would teach you more professionally than me?”

“Hmm. I think you’re good at sports too. Soccer, basketball, baseball, you name it. It’s a shame that you’re not a real baseball player, but you like acting more so I can’t help it.”

Jack put down his bat and sat on the bed.

He was always the first to learn and do well in any play.

‘So I thought about why you’re so good at it and it felt like you’re not good at sports but good at using your body. You know which muscles to use and how to use them more efficiently without injury and naturally.’

Jack smiled at Seo-jun’s words.

“I tried studying pro players’ videos too… but it was definitely better to do as you said. It felt more comfortable and effective for my body. The director said so too.”

Jack chuckled and said.

“‘Jack! Smith! What did you see!’ He was shocked. He said my old form was better.”

Seo-jun laughed at Jack’s imitation of his director.

“So I’m going to listen to you well from now on. So let’s go to the batting cage tomorrow. I need to try it for real.”

“Yeah. I haven’t been to the batting cage for a long time, so it sounds fun.”

“Didn’t you go in Korea?”

Jack tilted his head at Seo-jun’s words.

“There aren’t many works with baseball as a theme, so I was busy learning other things. I also filmed. That was more fun.”

He snickered at that.

He still didn’t know what fun he had in life except for acting.

If Seo-jun knew, he would have said the same thing to Jack. You don’t know what fun you have in life except for baseball.

“So, do you want to play a game? This looks fun. It’s about aliens and you control the aliens with AI. They learn and chase you even if you hide. Dad and mom were scared just by hearing it and didn’t want to play with me, so I was waiting for you.”

“That sounds fun?”

Seo-jun and Jack, who liked Kim Hee-sang’s monster dolls since they were babies, looked at each other and giggled.

***

The next day.

Seo-jun and Jack stayed up late playing games and slept, so they ate breakfast a little late.

Maria and Eric rolled their eyes at the sight of Seo-jun and Jack, who were laughing as if it was funny. 

Seo-jun and Jack looked at each other and laughed even more. 

Maria and Eric also smiled at the sight of the two kids.

After a late breakfast, Seo-jun went outside.

‘Do I have to take a bus to go to the batting cage? Will Eric take me?’

As he wondered how to get there, Seo-jun saw Jack Smith, who had come out first. 

He was smiling next to a black car he had never seen before.

“Come on! Get in!”

“…What?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at the sight of Jack laughing and tapping the car that was scratched all over.