Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 95

95. I Don’t Think This Is Right (2)

As soon as Go Ji-hoon unpacked, he changed into his workout clothes and headed straight to the training field.

‘Could it really be working?’

When he met Professor Park Jung-joon earlier today, he didn’t receive any particularly special prescription.

However, both CEO Lim Ye-ji and Professor Park Jung-joon said it would be definitely different from before.

He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt the pain was gradually disappearing.

That’s why he wanted to check his physical condition as soon as possible.

As soon as he entered the training field, he slowly moved his body with light stretching.

‘So far, so good.’

He didn’t feel any pain at all yet.

He had felt pain even while stretching not long ago, so there was definitely a difference compared to that.

Once he felt he had warmed up enough, he picked up a towel.

‘Would it be okay to do some shadow pitching with the towel?’

It was definitely a less stressful motion than throwing a baseball directly.

“Hoo-”

Even though it was just a solo pitching practice, his heart was pounding.

If he really didn’t feel any pain while pitching, it meant he could return to the mound soon.

Go Ji-hoon took a few more deep breaths and swung the towel with all his might, just like he would on the mound.

Whoosh-

‘Huh?’

The pain seemed almost nonexistent.

Could it really be okay?

It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely different from what it had been until recently.

‘Let’s try it again.’

Go Ji-hoon took his pitching stance again.

Whoosh-

He swung the towel with all his might, just like when throwing a ball, but it hardly hurt at all.

Whoosh-

Whoosh-

It was the same even after swinging it several times in a row.

There was a slight pain, but it was bearable.

‘Would it be the same if I threw a real ball?’

Shadow pitching with a towel was similar to actual pitching in many ways, but it couldn’t be exactly the same.

Go Ji-hoon picked up a ball from the box and prepared to pitch.

Then, he stood on the practice mound.

Standing on the mound with the ball and looking at the strike zone made him feel like he was really on the field.

‘If it doesn’t hurt here, it’s really okay.’

Having finished his preparations, Go Ji-hoon threw the ball with all his might toward the strike zone.

As he bent his waist, stretched his leg forward, and rotated his torso, he could definitely feel that the pain had decreased.

Thanks to that, he didn’t have much trouble putting power into it.

Thump!

The ball also went toward the strike zone.

‘Wow! It really seems okay.’

The ball seemed to have plenty of power behind it.

His velocity might have dropped a bit because he hadn’t trained for a few days, but that was something he could quickly make up for once he started training again.

He immediately picked up a new ball and threw it with all his might in the same posture as before.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Since he didn’t feel any pain, his pitching form became consistent, and his control became stable.

‘At this rate, I’ll be able to return soon.’

After that, Go Ji-hoon completed about 20 pitches without any difficulty.

After pitching, he didn’t skip weight training and flexibility exercises either.

The training was finished after about 2 hours.

Go Ji-hoon’s body staggered for a moment as he wiped away sweat with a towel and tried to leave the training field.

‘W-Why is this happening all of a sudden?’

Suddenly, he felt a dizziness as if the world was spinning.

Could it be because he had been resting for a few days and trained too much after a long time?

He grabbed the exercise equipment next to him and stood there for a while.

After some time, he finally felt a little better.

Barely regaining his senses, Go Ji-hoon hurriedly drank water and left the training field.

I had been watching Go Ji-hoon train from the side.

I was curious if he really wasn’t feeling any pain.

The information window had never given wrong information before.

Especially after confirming through the information window that Lee Joo-ho, who had suggested match-fixing to Choi Jung-hwan, had been working under a pseudonym, I had come to trust it unconditionally.

But this time, the situation was different.

In the current situation, where domestic hospitals as well as American hospitals had given opinions that he needed rest and treatment for more than 3 months, how could the pain suddenly decrease?

It didn’t make sense to me with my common sense.

Regardless of how such a thing was possible, I wanted to check whether the pain was really decreasing.

Just as Go Ji-hoon was going to train, I quietly followed him down.

He did some simple stretching and then picked up a towel.

Watching Go Ji-hoon doing shadow pitching, it definitely looked similar to his usual pitching.

‘Has his body really gotten better?’

But soon after, the moment Go Ji-hoon picked up a ball, my heart sank.

I had a strong urge to go and stop him right away.

If he felt any pain, he would stop on his own.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Contrary to my worries, Go Ji-hoon had no intention of stopping his pitching.

I could feel the power in his ball just from the sound echoing in the training field.

Moreover, the pitching continued with a stable posture.

If I didn’t know about the injury, I would have felt that his condition wasn’t bad.

Above all, he could never throw like that if he was feeling severe pain in his waist.

It was the moment when I confirmed once again that the information window’s content was not wrong.

How on earth did this happen?

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Go Ji-hoon knocked on the door of the Doubleheaders’ minor league manager’s office.

-Come in.

Go Ji-hoon opened the door and went inside.

“Manager, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, Ji-hoon, come and sit down. How is your rehabilitation going?”

Kim Se-hwan, the Doubleheaders’ minor league manager, gestured for Go Ji-hoon to sit down and smiled brightly.

“I’m preparing hard.”

“Are there any difficulties or anything you need?”

“Thanks to the help of those around me, it’s going well.”

“Don’t think too hastily and prepare slowly. There’s still a lot of season left.”

Kim Se-hwan patted Go Ji-hoon’s shoulder.

“Manager, actually, I was wondering if I could pitch in the next game.”

“You’re already going to pitch?”

Kim Se-hwan’s eyes widened at Go Ji-hoon’s words.

“I think I can throw enough for 2-3 innings.”

“No matter how okay you are, it’s too early to play in a real game right now.”

“My physical condition has improved a lot. I think I can throw little by little now.”

“According to the report I received from the training department a few days ago, you should be receiving treatment for about 3 months?”

Kim Se-hwan tilted his head, looking at Go Ji-hoon.

“I thought so too. I tried pitching lightly on my own, and it was good enough.”

“You’ve already tried pitching?”

“It wasn’t full power, but I did throw lightly, and there was almost no pain in my waist while throwing about 20 pitches.”

“Huh. Almost no pain while throwing 20 pitches? That’s amazing.”

“I’m also wondering how it happened.”

Kim Se-hwan couldn’t hide his confusion after hearing Go Ji-hoon’s answer.

After pondering for a moment, he carefully opened his mouth.

“Then, can you throw a few practice pitches now?”

“Of course.”

As soon as he heard Go Ji-hoon’s answer, Kim Se-hwan picked up the phone and called someone.

“Can a few of you from the training department come to the pitching zone? There’s something we need to see together. Okay, then let’s prepare and meet at the pitching zone.”

Kim Se-hwan hung up the phone after hearing the answer from the other side of the phone.

“They said they’re preparing to come now, so let’s move together right away and decide after watching you pitch. We also need to hear the opinions of the training department.”

“Yes, I understand.”

A faint smile appeared on Go Ji-hoon’s face as he bowed his head.

* * *

An interesting match was taking place at the agency training center.

Tension was flowing between Lee Joo-hyuk on the mound and Park Sung-joo at the plate.

Lee Joo-hyuk threw the ball with all his might,

Whoosh-

Park Sung-joo’s bat cut through the air.

“Strikeout swinging! Nice!”

Lee Joo-hyuk shouted loudly and rejoiced.

Oh Seok-hoon, who was next to him, also clapped and cheered.

“What was that ball just now?”

Park Sung-joo was gaping as if his soul had left his body.

“I told you, Joo-hyuk’s ball is no joke.”

Oh Seok-hoon, who was high-fiving Lee Joo-hyuk, said teasingly to Park Sung-joo.

“Joo-hyuk, is it becoming too difficult to time your ball?”

“Hey, you’re exaggerating. A professional player can’t hit an amateur ball.”

“No, I’m serious! It’s completely different from the last practice. How did the players who participated in the tryout hit this?”

“It’s because you were only seeing fastballs and suddenly saw a slow ball.”

Lee Joo-hyuk looked at Park Sung-joo and answered with an awkward smile.

“It doesn’t make sense that Joo-hyuk was dropped from the tryout. Why would they drop a player like this?”

Park Sung-joo shook his head in disbelief, looking at me running on the treadmill.

After that, the three continued to enjoy baseball.

I sweated profusely and then pressed the stop button, panting.

Wiping away sweat with a towel, I turned my gaze and the training center door opened quietly.

The person slowly walking in was Go Ji-hoon.

“Everyone is training hard?”

Go Ji-hoon, who made eye contact with me, waved his hand and walked over.

“Senior, is it okay for you to be training already?”

I had already seen him pitching, but I couldn’t show that I had been secretly watching.

“My body got better after receiving treatment. I thought it would be okay to start again.”

“Already? The hospital said to rest and receive treatment for 3 months, wouldn’t it be too much if you rush it?”

“When I asked the hospital again, they said it would be okay to play in a game if I threw the ball and my body felt okay.”

“Really?”

It was very different from what I saw in the medical certificate.

What happened?

“I pitched lightly a while ago and it was okay.”

“Well, it’s a relief if your body is okay for now. I thought it would take quite a while to recover.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I thought I would suffer for a few months this time.”

Go Ji-hoon’s lips curled up slightly as he spoke.

In order to get accurate information, I subtly put my hand on Go Ji-hoon’s body without being obvious.

-He is nervous ahead of tomorrow’s appearance.

-He feels grateful to Professor Park Jung-joon.

Oh, who was Professor Park Jung-joon?

I felt like I had heard of him a lot, but it didn’t come to mind right away.

“Then when will you be appearing in a game?”

“The club told me to play in a minor league game first. They also said they would call me up right away if my condition is good.”

As the early part of the season passed and the ranking competition was fierce, the club had no reason to refuse the return of an injured player.

“If you need anything, please tell me anytime.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Go Ji-hoon, who finished talking to me, headed to the pitching zone.