On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 65

“Haa, okay. I understand. Let’s talk about the details tomorrow. I’m done for today.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Manager. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay, I’ll head to the stadium as soon as I wake up.”

Lim Eui-soo returned home and collapsed onto his bed.

The combination of alcohol and fatigue overwhelmed him, making it impossible to keep his eyes open.

Lim Eui-soo woke up to the battery coach’s phone ringing.

“Manager! We have a big problem!”

Lim Eui-soo took a breath and replied.

“Yeah, I know. Something happened.”

“…You knew?”

“Stay calm. The club will handle it. Dae-gyu is out for the season, and we’re calling up In-hwan today.”

“What? Dae-gyu is out for the season?”

Lim Eui-soo frowned at the battery coach’s reaction.

“Why are you asking something so obvious?”

“It’s not that… I’m saying this because my daughter texted me that social media is going crazy right now.”

“What is it?”

“Pictures of our guys partying wildly last night were taken and are circulating online. The club’s website is already down.”

“What?”

Lim Eui-soo’s head spun.

His vision blurred.

“I’m coming over now. Where are you?”

“I’m on my way to work too.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at the stadium.”

When Lim Eui-soo arrived at the stadium, it looked like the aftermath of a nuclear bomb.

Even before Choi Dae-gyu’s drunk driving and season-ending injury were officially revealed, the atmosphere was chaotic.

The operations manager was so busy fielding calls that he didn’t even have time to greet Lim Eui-soo.

“Here, look at this.”

The battery coach slid his phone over.

The photos posted online were quite explicit.

There were blatant shots of players touching women’s breasts or laughing while touching intimate areas.

There weren’t just one, but more than ten such photos.

“What the hell is this?”

“These are photos taken of the guys at a club last night.”

“What about their phones?”

“I called, but they’re not answering. I only got in touch with Nak-gyun.”

“Then tell him to come right away, at least.”

“He said he wants to talk to a lawyer first…”

“What?”

Lim Eui-soo’s eyes flashed. Even the usually stern battery coach flinched.

“Have I ever seen such crazy bastards? Drag that son of a bitch here right now! Immediately!”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

Lim Eui-soo covered his head.

His eyes were spinning.

He staggered to the manager’s office and lay down on the sofa.

The ceiling was spinning, and his head was throbbing.

Ring, ring.

Even the phone ringing was scary now.

The caller was his wife; he couldn’t not answer.

“What?”

-You still haven’t signed, have you?

“…I don’t want to argue right now. I don’t have time for that today.”

-You don’t have time?

The call ended immediately.

Lim Eui-soo put the phone next to him and raised his arm to his forehead.

Cold sweat ran down his neck.

Ding.

Lim Eui-soo picked up the phone again at the sound of the text message.

“…What the fuck!”

Lim Eui-soo called his wife after checking the text.

“What are you trying to do!”

-What else? It’s a picture of you hanging out with young girls.

“Is this a threat? Huh? How did you take these? Do you even know this is illegal? Huh? Do you think you can do whatever you want with this? I’m Lim Eui-soo! Lim Eui-soo!”

-Oh, really? Then should I send this to the club? Or to the press? Choose wisely if you want to keep even your current job. If you don’t sign and send it by today, I’ll spread it all tomorrow. Got it?

Lim Eui-soo grabbed his neck.

He felt like he was going to throw up, beyond just being dizzy.

His vision was blurry.

Knock knock.

With the knock, battery coach Park Yoon-soo came in.

“Manager, Nak-gyun said he’s coming right away. I’ve also reached Moon-gyu.”

“…Ugh, really?”

Lim Eui-soo raised himself up with a hoarse voice.

His body staggered as he met Park Yoon-soo’s eyes.

“Manager!”

Lim Eui-soo saw Park Yoon-soo coming towards him, but everything started to double, then triple.

Lim Eui-soo’s body fell forward.

Thump!

Park Yoon-soo barely managed to support him, but both of them tumbled to the floor.

“Manager!”

* * *

“This is driving me crazy.”

Operations Manager Kim Hak-in was visiting the hospital for the second time today.

Once for Choi Dae-gyu and the driver involved in the accident, and once for Manager Lim Eui-soo.

Kim Hak-in left the hospital and headed straight to the stadium.

Kim Hak-in headed to where head coach Ham Sung-hoon was sitting.

“Coach.”

“Team Manager Kim.”

Kim Hak-in sighed deeply as soon as he saw Ham Sung-hoon.

“Please, sit down first.”

Kim Hak-in slumped into the chair as if collapsing.

“Did you hear?”

“…I heard roughly.”

“How much did you hear?”

“That Dae-gyu got into a drunk driving accident and will be out for the season. And that photos of Moon-gyu and Nak-gyun are circulating on the internet.”

“Did you hear that the manager collapsed too?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s a stroke. He went to the hospital right away, but we don’t know when he’ll be back. I’m not an expert, so I don’t know, but I heard from the doctor that a stroke doesn’t mean you can immediately go back to your daily life.”

“Yes, I see.”

“This is an unprecedented crisis for the club. Dae-gyu is out for the season, and we should assume the manager won’t be back this season… I don’t know how Moon-gyu or Nak-gyun will be dealt with either. It’s really the worst. We could lose three free agents.”

“…Yes.”

Kim Hak-in glanced at Ham Sung-hoon and cleared his throat.

“So, well, I’m sorry to bring this up… but it seems we have no choice but to go with an interim manager system.”

“Yes, we have to.”

“I’m really sorry to ask, but… it’s a difficult situation and a difficult task, but would you be willing to take on the role of interim manager?”

Ham Sung-hoon hesitated for a moment before answering.

“There are many coaches who are older than me.”

“…To be honest, they’ve already expressed their refusal.”

Ham Sung-hoon nodded.

“If you have your eye on the next manager position, you wouldn’t want to take over the team at this point. You’d have to take responsibility for the decline in performance.”

Kim Hak-in swallowed hard.

“You know.”

“That’s usually how the interim manager position is.”

“Ahem.”

Kim Hak-in couldn’t meet Ham Sung-hoon’s eyes.

“…I’m sorry. Is it difficult after all?”

Ham Sung-hoon nodded.

“Yes, I think it’s right for me to resign here and take responsibility. Even if I were to be the interim manager, it would only cause division among the coaching staff and make the situation more difficult.”

“Resign?”

“I’m thinking of going back to the United States to study. There may not be a position available during the season, but I need to prepare in advance to get a position.”

“Have you already decided?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”

Ham Sung-hoon stood up.

“I apologize for my responsibility in the management of the players.”

Ham Sung-hoon bowed to Kim Hak-in and left the room.

Kim Hak-in rolled his eyes with a dazed expression.

“If this happens… we’re screwed.”

Kim Hak-in ran straight to the general manager.

The general manager was on the phone, arguing.

Knock knock.

When Kim Hak-in knocked, the general manager held out his hand, telling him to wait.

Kim Hak-in said quietly, almost inaudibly.

“Coach Ham also refused to be the interim manager.”

The general manager glared and hung up the phone.

“What?”

“He said he’s quitting and going to the United States.”

“The United States? At this time? Huh, this is too much. Are there no responsible people like this? Huh?”

“What should we do? Everyone who needs to know our situation already knows it within the club. There’s no one else who will step up to take the interim manager position.”

“I didn’t expect Ham Sung-hoon to refuse… How about bringing up the former manager from the minor league team?”

“The rumors will have spread there too.”

“We can just appoint him as the interim manager for now.”

“Then the coaching staff, not just the manager, will be even more shaken. Almost all of the minor league coaching staff are from our club, and if we mistreat the coaches, the players will also be shaken.”

“Damn… ha. We need to fix this by today, but there’s no one?”

“Coach Ham is the most qualified, but I didn’t expect him to come out so strongly… Should we ask Coach Park again?”

The general manager tapped his fingers.

“No, no. Those sly old foxes will refuse no matter what.”

The general manager sat in his chair and closed his eyes.

Kim Hak-in didn’t know what to do, watching the general manager’s expression.

“Ham Coach can’t go to the United States right away, right? Unless he’s booked a plane ticket in advance.”

“Yes.”

“Ham Sung-hoon is the right person to be the interim manager. Anyway, that guy is a loner. It’s better for us to deal with a friend who has no ties. That way, there won’t be any problems later when we replace the manager.”

The general manager snapped his fingers.

“I don’t care what conditions he sets. Grab Ham Coach. Tell him we’ll give him money if it’s money, tell him we’ll do anything, anything. Even if we have to go back on our word later, just agree to all the conditions. Just grab him. How chaotic will the team be if there’s no interim manager after the Choi Dae-gyu drunk driving announcement? Someone has to take responsibility. Grab him right away. Right now.”

Kim Hak-in left the general manager’s office and immediately called Ham Sung-hoon.

Ham Sung-hoon was organizing his belongings in the office.

-Yes, Team Manager Kim.

“Can we talk a little more?”

-……Okay, I understand for now.

“Where are you now?”

-I’m organizing my belongings.

“Ah, then just wait, just wait there.”

Kim Hak-in ran straight to the office to find Ham Sung-hoon.

Ham Sung-hoon handed Kim Hak-in a water bottle.

“Have some. You look tired.”

“Thank you.”

Kim Hak-in emptied the 500ml water bottle in one gulp and wiped his mouth.

“Coach, is there really no way? I’ll grant you anything you want, Coach. We’ll raise your salary too. Anyway, we’ll do everything we can.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, everything. Anything.”

“Is this your decision, Team Manager?”

“No, no. It’s the general manager’s decision. The general manager said it would be difficult without you, Coach, and told me to grant you anything.”

“You’ve already met with the general manager, I see.”

“Ah… well…”

Kim Hak-in rolled his eyes down.

“Then can you really grant my conditions?”

Kim Hak-in’s face lit up instantly.

“Of course! Just tell me anything!”

“I don’t need the salary. It’s already enough.”

“No, no. We’ll compensate you sufficiently. We’ll match your current salary to the manager’s salary and pay it directly into your account.”

“…You can handle the salary as you see fit. However, there is one condition.”

“Yes, tell me. Anything!”

“That is…”

Succeeding as a Catcher