“Here Miss Kang, this is the information for your new patient,” Kang Hye-jung heard as a clipboard of paperwork was sent her way. 

Giving a small “Thank you Hyeri” as she grabbed the offered clipboard from the nurse before her, Hye-jung couldn’t help but let her eyes wander to the numbers in front of her. Her mind quickly taking notes of the information that was provided, frowning whenever she came across a piece of information that worried her. The boy’s weight being the most prominent thing that stood out, especially since it could reveal other issues that the boy might have like low iron levels, lack of certain vitamins and minerals, and low blood sugar. Three things that could easily cause problems for an athlete like him.

But to know for sure, blood work would have to be done.

So turning to the other woman in the room, she couldn’t help but ask, “Have you taken any blood yet?”

“No ma’am, thought I’d let you look at that information first before doing anything like that.” 

“Understandable,” She quickly gave before looking back at the sheets before her, running through the information again. Only to conclude that it was probably a good idea to take a blood sample, especially if the boy’s weight was anything to go by, that she couldn’t help but quickly continue her earlier sentiments, “Yes, let’s take some blood just to be safe and while I’m looking the boy over, we’ll test to see what his iron and mineral levels are. Especially since his blood pressure is a little low, alright?” 

“Yes ma’am, right away.”

“Thank you. I’ll be over in about five or so minutes. I just want to grab a few pamphlets and a diet plan for him. I need to have have him gain some weight for sure, boy’s skin and bones it looks like. So I definitely need to rectify that.” 

Not even hiding a smile, Hyeri nodded in agreement before she was quickly walking away to do as she was told. While Hye-jung went over to her desk to look at a couple of files on her computer to print, making sure to grab an eight-week diet plan, as well as a few other nutritional pamphlets to make sure that the boy would eat right. Or at least know what he should and should not be eating for the next couple of weeks.

The boy was going to have to eat about 3500-4000 calories a day to gain the 1-2 kilograms a week that he would need before he could cut back a little to maintain a much healthier weight. And if she was lucky, he’d actually be able to gain that weight during her husband’s training, rather than losing it like some players did. Because as tough as her husband was on the boys, the first month and the half of training was the worst, especially when it came to the freshmen that walked onto the team. The constant running being something that many of them weren’t used to and was one of the major causes that caused weight loss. However, most players usually started at a much higher weight than Myungsoo’s 57 kilograms and could afford to lose a few kilograms without any repercussions. While in Hye-jung’s eyes, Myungsoo could not.

Especially since Myungsoo was quite underweight for an athlete of his size. And while she was no stranger to a player weighing about 60 or so kilograms here and there at the start of their college baseball career, they usually weren’t as tall as Myungsoo was. But even then, she’d rather have most of her players weigh at least 65 kilograms, even if 70-85 kilograms was a much better range in her eyes. Even their shortest and most lightest player, Jang Dongwoo, weighed a healthy and sturdy 72 kilograms. So knowing that, it was quite imperative to increase Myungsoo’s weight. 

If Myungsoo was anything like a catcher instead of a pitcher, she would have had the boy sit out a couple of weeks to gain that weight, rather than allowing him to potentially lose it while practicing. However, knowing how Daniel’s and Mithra’s players were, it didn’t feel right to just bench him just yet, so she’d watch over him instead and if things didn’t improve in a few weeks, then she would step in.

So grabbing a pen and her stethoscope when she had noticed Hyeri walk past the nurse’s station to do the blood tests that she had asked for, Hyejung quietly made her way to her patient. A small smile on her face as she walked into the room, ing out a hand as she brightly greeted, “I’m Kang Hye-jung and you may address me as Dr. Kang. I’m the team’s physician and someone you’ll get to know quite well during your time here, alright? So let’s do our best to get along.”

Silently nodding, Myungsoo couldn’t help but rub the arm that had blood recently taken before he was reaching out to shake her hand, “Kim Myungsoo.” 

Chuckling, Hye-jung could only reply, “Not much of a talker or doctors aren’t your thing, but that’s alright. I’m just here to make sure that you’re healthy and that you can play, so as long as you’re willing to do your best to listen to me, then we’ll get along quite well and I won’t have to bench you.” 

Eyes widening at the words ‘play’ and ‘bench,’ Myungsoo couldn’t help but mutter in surprise, “B-bench?”

Nodding in a way that told him that she wasn’t kidding and she definitely wasn’t going to mess around when it came to his health, she softly asked to look at his breathing patterns and heartbeat, before putting her stethoscope to his chest, continuing on, “Yes. I don’t like it when my players play recklessly and do things that will get them hurt. And since I want all my patients to have long, successful careers, especially since a good portion of my players go pro, it’s better to listen to me and nip things in the bud then ruin your chances later on because you didn’t allow things to heal correctly or you endangered your health. So it’s really not a punishment, but a way to make sure that you can play your absolute best, not only for yourself and your future, but for the team as well.”

Understanding what she had to say, especially since it seemed like she really just wanted to look out for them, he quietly stuttered, “I-I see.” 

Humming in response as she finished checking his heart, noticing nothing wrong, except that it seemed a little fast, most likely a reaction to nerves than being an actual problem, she couldn’t help but try to get him to relax as she softly asked, “So what are you going to be studying here?” 

Her question being a way to take his mind off what was going on, while also being a way to lull him into a false sense of security since it would only be a few minutes until she would have to lay down the law about his weight and what he would have to do to keep playing. She could only give a soft smile when he answered, voice sounding nervous but passionate. 

“Engineering... I might get a minor in Computer science or mathematics as well, but Mechanical engineering is the major I decided on. It seems like it’ll be a lot of fun.”

“Ah, I see, you’re a math and computer wiz I take it?” 

“Not really... Both of them are just things that I’m good at and I like using my hands, so I thought it was fitting... Engineering that is. And since it pays well and I want to make sure that my mom’s taken care of when I finish school, it’s definitely something I can handle... I have to if I want to take care of her.” 

Not really surprised about the sentiments about his mother as quite a few players they had on the team were mama’s boys, Myungsoo coming across as very sweet with his words, she was quite surprised by his other confession. Especially since more often than not, most of the pitchers that they had on the team in the past were players that went on to play professionally, something of which all of them wanted to do, it seemed odd that Myungsoo didn’t say anything like that. So she couldn’t help but ask, wondering what his reason was because it wasn’t every day that Mithra found players like Myungsoo who weren’t dreaming about playing on the national team, “Don’t you want to play professionally?”

Flushing at the question, at how she could even think of such a thing just yet since she didn’t know anything about how he played, Myungsoo found himself admitting, “I-I don’t know about that... Only if they want me t-to... B-but I need to get my engineering degree first.” 

Nodding at the boy’s words, at how insecure he sounded about such a thing, she couldn’t help but wonder what happened to make the boy this way. Because of all the players that Mithra had scouted in the past had always been confident, even if a few ranged from being quiet, stoic players to hyperactive, rambunctious players that did nothing but talk. So the contrast was a little startling, but knowing that she had to say something, she could only give, “Knowing my husband, you may get a few offers and as much as you may like engineering, I wouldn’t sell yourself short just yet... You got on this team by your own merit, didn’t you?”  

Not knowing what to say or how to even answer such a thing, because Myungsoo was sure that he had gotten on this team by pure luck, he could only silently nod instead. Unable to stop himself from thinking about his high school team and how he didn’t really get to play that often, he was lucky that Coach Mithra had been watching him during the only game that he had ever gotten to pitch in... He didn’t think he could answer her question with words. 

But before he could even think of saying something to appease her, he was saved by his nurse from earlier when she decided to pop into the room with more paperwork in hand. A small smile was on her face as she cheerfully asked, “Doing okay Myungsoo-yah?”

“Yes ma’am, very much so.” Myungsoo answered while Dr. Kang thanked the  young woman before she was going through the new set of paperwork the nurse had given her. 

Face blank of any emotion that would help him figure out what she was thinking, Hye-jung could only pat herself on the back for printing out the pamphlets about low iron and blood sugar, congratulating herself on the insight. However, it wasn’t long before she was nodding to herself and dismissing Hyeri to turn her attention back to Myungsoo. A set of paperwork and pamphlets for him in hand, things that she hoped he would read and adhere to for the next couple of weeks. 

“So I’m sure you might know a little of what I have to say, but I hope you’ll listen well because this will be the key to keep you playing on my husband’s team, alright?” She gave while giving Myungsoo the documents that she had picked out before continuing on, “The first couple of documents are general information about iron deficiency and how to take care of it so that it doesn’t turn into something like anemia, which you definitely don’t want to have as it will only hinder your playing. So read up on it and I suggest taking some multi-purpose vitamins and eating foods rich in iron as described in the pamphlets. Your blood sugar was also a little low, but I feel like that is more from your diet than anything else, so as long as you make sure you’re eating enough and not skipping any meals, you should be fine. While this brings me to my last point: your weight.”

“What about my weight?” 

Giving him a slightly concerned look, she informed, “Myungsoo, you’re a little underweight for an athlete, especially for a pitcher that needs a strong body to pitch, and because of that, I want you to gain some weight. So the last document in your hand is a diet plan that I want you to use. I know it may seem a little daunting since you’ll most likely need to be eating a lot more than you do now, but if you follow it, you should be able to gain enough weight to get you to at least 65 to 70 kilograms by the end of it. However, I know my husband’s training can be a little tough and may not allow those numbers within that time period, so I would at least like to get you over 60 kilograms by the time games start, which is roughly the period of the diet plan.”

Quietly looking at the paperwork, eyes widening at how much he would have to eat and how often, he couldn’t help but be a little wary with what the other was saying. Because with these numbers, it seemed impossible.

“What if I’m below that weight, wh-what will happen then?”

Unable to stop herself from frowning, Hye-jung could only reply, “I’ll have to bench you. The health and safety of my players come first and while I’m no stranger to having a few lighter players on my team, it does not sit well with me to have someone that is underweight and possibly anemic play. So you’re going to have to try your best to get to a much healthier weight as it will not only help with stamina, but health as well. Seoul U has many strong players, so if you want to be strong and keep your position, then you’ll have to follow my directions, you understand?”

Seeing no fault in her logic, despite it being something that was going to be quite hard, especially at first, Myungsoo couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. 

He knew he wasn’t the heaviest guy out there, knowing that his weight was probably going to be an issue, but hearing Dr. Kang’s words, it was going to be a lot bigger issue than he thought. But if he wanted to play, then he would have to do this, even if it would be hard at first. So silently coming to the conclusion to do his best to at least gain enough weight to play, possibly to the amount that she truly wanted, Myungsoo found himself nodding, answering with a “I understand ma’am, anything else?” 

“No, that’s it for now, but I would like to see you in a few weeks to see how things are going, especially in regards to your iron levels and how the diet is going, whether anything needs to be changed. But for now, if you don’t have any questions, then you’re free to go if you wish.” 

Shaking his head, Myungsoo softly verified,“I don’t have any, so thank you ma’am. I’ll see you in a few weeks then?” 

Giving one last smile, she assured, “I’ll let your coaches know.”