Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 23

23. A Secret Temptation (4)

Baaang-

“Ugh!”

I jerked the steering wheel at the sound of the horn.

I hadn’t even realized my car was drifting into the next lane.

I turned on my blinker to signal my apology to the other driver.

“Whew-”

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

It felt like I’d been brought back from the dead.

Every time I thought back to the situation, I felt frustrated and wronged.

I guess I was too impatient, thinking about the time crunch.

If I had taken a little more time, I would have prepared perfectly…….

I slammed my hand on the steering wheel for no reason.

Instead of relieving my frustration, it only made my hand hurt.

I barely made it home, not even knowing how I drove.

The new house still felt unfamiliar.

It was the middle of the night, so the surroundings were dark, and I had turned off all the lights when I left, so it was like being in complete darkness.

With the help of my smartphone flashlight, I barely found my way into my room.

My body was tired from moving and running around all day, but I didn’t feel like resting at all. So I opened my laptop and clicked on the sports tab of the portal site [a website or platform that aggregates information from various sources].

All the games for the day were already over, except for one that had gone into overtime.

I was about to check the details of our players’ games today when the earlier incident came to mind.

It felt so unfair that I had become someone who made baseless lies.

I needed to create a clear turning point.

But the biggest problem was that time was too short.

What should I do right now?

Right.

Let’s meet Lee Ju-ho in person.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a more certain method than this.

I picked up my smartphone.

The call rang a few times before Choi Jung-hwan’s voice came through.

-Yes, Senior.

“Jung-hwan, are you free to talk right now?”

-Yes. Training is over for today, so it’s okay.

“It’s not about anything else. You know the businessman I met last time? Could you set up a meeting with him?”

-You mean Hyung [older brother/male friend] Min-seok?

“Hyung Min-seok? No. Not him, but the person I ran into and greeted a while ago.”

-That person is Hyung Min-seok. His name is Kang Min-seok.”

What is this all about?

Not Lee Ju-ho, but Kang Min-seok?

“That person back then was Kang. Min. Seok. ?”

-Yes, that’s right.

It took me a moment to figure out what was going on.

The information window for that person clearly said Lee Ju-ho.

Which one is right?

Ah!

So, the reason the police couldn’t find information about Lee Ju-ho was because that person was operating under a different name than his real name?

Just knowing that Lee Ju-ho wasn’t using his real name was a big clue.

“Jung-hwan, I think I need to meet you first. Let’s meet right now.”

As soon as I finished the call, I ran to the car.

* * *

Because it was late at night, the roads weren’t congested at all.

Thanks to that, I was able to arrive near Choi Jung-hwan’s house in just 30 minutes after leaving.

The address Choi Jung-hwan gave me was a villa not far from the Doubles’ home stadium.

Thanks to him sending me the room number, I was able to find it easily.

I sent Choi Jung-hwan a message that I was going up before getting out of the car and walking up slowly.

Ding-dong.

-Who is it?

A woman’s voice came from the intercom.

What is this?

I checked the room number in the message again.

I definitely came to the right place?

“Hello, this is Kang Hyun-woo. Is this Jung-hwan’s house?”

-Ah! Just a moment.

A moment later, the door opened.

“Welcome.”

The person who opened the door was a woman who looked to be in her mid-20s.

“Um, is Choi Jung-hwan at home?”

“Yes, he just came in. Please come in.”

“Thank you.”

I followed her into the house.

“Senior, you’re here?”

Choi Jung-hwan showed up late, probably after taking a quick shower.

“Sis [short for sister]. I’m going to talk in my room.”

The woman who opened the door must have been Choi Jung-hwan’s sister.

Now that I see it, they look a bit alike.

“Senior, come this way.”

“Oh, okay.”

I went into the room that Choi Jung-hwan was pointing to.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

I went into the room alone and looked around Choi Jung-hwan’s room.

As expected of a baseball player, there was a glove and a baseball with autographs on the bookshelf.

There was a family photo of four people in the corner of the desk.

A moment later, the door opened, and Choi Jung-hwan came in with a cup in each hand.

“Senior, have this.”

“Thanks.”

The cup he handed me contained juice made from ground vegetables.

Just looking at this, I thought he must be managing his diet well on a regular basis.

As our hands touched while receiving the cup, new information was updated above Choi Jung-hwan’s head.

-He is reluctantly trying to accept Lee Ju-ho’s offer due to Lee Ju-ho’s earnest request.

-Lee Ju-ho’s mind is wavering a little as he offered twice as much money as last time.

It seemed difficult to turn down because someone he was close to was offering twice as much money.

But that didn’t mean it was wise to participate in illegal activities.

I had to stop him now.

“Sorry for being late. You should rest.”

“No. It’s not like I usually sleep at this time anyway.”

“It’s not about anything else. I have something to ask and something to tell you.”

“Yes. What is it?”

I struggled until the end to figure out how to start the conversation.

“Jung-hwan. You said you don’t know what Kang Min-seok does, right?”

“Yes…… I don’t know exactly.”

Choi Jung-hwan’s gaze lost focus and wandered around.

Clearly, this was the time for a head-on battle, not a feint.

“You have something that person asked you to do, right?”

It was a fastball thrown right down the middle [a direct and straightforward approach].

“There’s no such thing…… How did you know that?”

Choi Jung-hwan’s eyes shook rapidly.

He tried to avoid it, but he seemed to sense that he couldn’t avoid it.

“How much did he say he’d give you?”

“That’s…… 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD].”

Huh.

It was more than twice the amount of Choi Jung-hwan’s annual salary this year.

It was an enormous amount of money that was so overwhelming that it would be strange if he didn’t waver.

“What are the conditions?”

“……A hit by pitch in the first inning.”

It was a simple condition that would be difficult to notice even if he carried it out.

To be cold, Choi Jung-hwan’s control wasn’t rated well, so even if he carried it out, there was a high possibility that it would go unnoticed and end as a perfect crime.

However, it was a cruel condition for him, who had a trauma of throwing a hit by pitch.

“He said that no one would notice at all because only the two of us know……”

“So, are you really going to do it?”

“Actually…… it’s too difficult to refuse…….”

Choi Jung-hwan lowered his head and answered.

“You don’t want to be involved in that, do you?”

“Of course! Who would want to do that?”

Choi Jung-hwan, who was startled, shook his hands vigorously.

“Even though you can get twice your current salary if you just close your eyes and do it once?”

I was curious about his true feelings deep inside.

“To be honest, it would be a lie if I said I wasn’t wavering. It’s not like giving up one hit by pitch in the first inning would cause great damage to our team, and with that money, our family of three could live a little more comfortably. But…….”

His lips trembled as he spoke.

But the family photo I saw earlier clearly had four people, but he said a family of three.

“But really, this is definitely not what I want.”

I’m glad that it doesn’t seem like he’s being sincere for now.

“I’ll help you.”

“……How?”

Expectation and doubt were felt simultaneously in Choi Jung-hwan’s eyes as he raised his head.

“Instead, you have to tell me everything honestly from now on.”

Choi Jung-hwan slowly nodded his head up and down.

“Did you get money from that person?”

“When I met him a while ago, he gave me 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD] as a down payment. But I didn’t use it.”

“Is that all?”

“Um……. He used to give me 1 or 2 million won [approximately $750 – $1,500 USD] to buy and use equipment.”

At the time, he may have just thought of him as a grateful older brother.

But there’s no such thing as a free lunch in the world.

He had been gradually accumulating debt without realizing it.

“You still have the money he gave you a while ago, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can you make an appointment with that person? As quickly as possible.”

“I was going to meet him after the game tomorrow night anyway.”

He was probably going to meet him tomorrow to get a definite answer that he would participate in the match-fixing.

“Good. Let’s go out with me tomorrow. I’ll ask the police for cooperation.”

“The police?”

Choi Jung-hwan’s complexion darkened rapidly.

“You don’t have to worry. He said that if you play a decisive role in arresting that person, it can be fully taken into account for this case.”

Only after hearing my words did Choi Jung-hwan slowly nod his head.

“Rest well today. I should go now.”

I patted Choi Jung-hwan’s shoulder a few times and got up.

“Senior. Thank you.”

Choi Jung-hwan jumped up and bowed deeply.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine, and get a good night’s sleep.”

“Yes.”

Choi Jung-hwan opened the door.

In the living room outside the door, there was a woman who appeared to be Choi Jung-hwan’s mother next to the sister I met earlier.

“Did you finish talking?”

“Ah…… Nice to meet you for the first time. I’m Kang Hyun-woo.”

I hurriedly bowed my head at the sudden meeting with his mother.

“I often hear news about you. Are you okay?”

“I’m all better now. There’s no problem at all.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t be of great help.”

Suddenly, his mother bowed to me, so I hurriedly bowed back to almost 90 degrees.

“Come over for lunch or dinner sometime. I want to treat you to a meal, even though my skills are lacking.”

“Yes. I’ll visit you at your convenience.”

I bowed again at the front door.

“Hyung. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll call you.”

I said goodbye to Choi Jung-hwan and turned my head to meet his sister’s eyes.

I exchanged an awkward eye greeting and turned around.

Whew-

I felt relieved only after closing the front door.