A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 119

32. A New First Step (3)

The end-of-season retreat at Daebudo in Ansan lasted for two days and one night.

It was around 3 PM the next day when Ji-seop and his group returned to the KH Cannons field.

“Jang-ho, what do you want to do?”

Ji-seop, getting off the bus with his luggage, asked Ryu Jang-ho, who was next to him, while checking his phone.

“The timing is a bit awkward, but… shouldn’t we still grab lunch? How about a simple burger?”

The departure time from Daebudo was ambiguous.

The group arrived back in Yeongsan without a proper lunch.

It was just a passing comment, assuming they would be hungry by now, but Ryu Jang-ho slowly shook his head.

“No, I’m… okay.”

Ryu Jang-ho’s face was pale for some reason.

“Maybe it’s because of the hangover ramen I had this morning… My stomach has been burning ever since.”

Ryu Jang-ho clicked his tongue.

“Hyung [older brother or senior colleague], aren’t our guys going too far? Just because I dozed off during Senior Young-chan’s lecture, who puts that much chili pepper in hangover ramen? If they were going to do that, they could have at least put in more eggs…”

The KH Cannons’ best hitter grumbled while gulping down plain water.

Approaching Ryu Jang-ho with a smirk was the man who orchestrated this whole plan, veteran second baseman Ahn Young-chan.

“Hey, you should know I went easy on you! I felt bad at the end and put in one egg, didn’t I?”

“Ah, still!”

“Alright, alright! I’ll buy you a bowl of *juk* [Korean rice porridge] later! One with two abalones in it. Will that be enough?”

“Well, yes, but…”

As Ryu Jang-ho’s grumbling subsided a bit, Ahn Young-chan smiled at Ji-seop.

“Good job, Ji-seop. Thanks to your help, the end-of-season retreat went well.”

“You worked hard too, Senior.”

Ji-seop bowed slightly.

Ahn Young-chan gave Ji-seop a meaningful look.

“Do you remember what I told you yesterday?”

“Yes?”

“About the salary negotiation.”

Ahn Young-chan continued.

“From what I hear, the front office staff’s salary negotiations are a bit faster than our players’.”

“Ah, I see.”

“The news will come out as early as today or tomorrow. Then, do as I told you… you know?”

Ahn Young-chan winked, and Ji-seop nodded with a smile.

“No matter what temptations the club offers, never accept an expensive lunch… I remember.”

“And one more thing.”

Ahn Young-chan raised a finger.

“Even if you receive a decent offer, never just nod your head. Squeeze your brain and extract the maximum benefit from the club.”

You deserve it, Ji-seop.

Ahn Young-chan said firmly.

“Frankly speaking, if it weren’t for you this season… would our Cannons have even smelled the playoffs?”

In the past, hearing such words would have made his face burn, but now Ji-seop was able to respond quite brazenly.

“Oh, you’re saying that again.”

Even as he said that, Ji-seop couldn’t hide the ‘grin’ that kept creeping up.

* * *

“Then, I’ll head in.”

“Okay, go in!”

“Be careful, Hyung!”

After exchanging loud greetings, Ji-seop parted ways with the group.

Ryu Jang-ho, who had complained of a stomach ache, was taken by Ahn Young-chan, so Ji-seop started walking home alone.

‘Should I just take a taxi today? It’s a bit tiring to take the bus…’

Now as always, being around the players was, as they say, ‘draining’.

Ji-seop took out his phone to check the taxi app, thinking he should go home quickly.

But just then, his phone vibrated, and someone’s name filled the screen.

‘…The Vice Chairman?’

The caller was Sahalin Park.

KH Cannons’ Vice Chairman, Park Hong-joo.

Ji-seop immediately pressed the ‘Call’ button.

“Yes, Vice Chairman.”

-Hey, Ji-seop, is that you?!

As always, a booming voice as if he had swallowed a steam train.

Before Ji-seop could even say ‘How have you been?’, the impatient Sahalin Park got straight to the point.

“I just got a report. The kids who went to Daebudo are back, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Then where are you? You haven’t gone home already, have you?”

“Yes, I’m still near the stadium, but…”

Ji-seop trailed off, looking towards the KH Cannons field.

Beyond the phone speaker, Sahalin Park’s voice was heard, ‘Ah, that’s good.’

“Then come up here. I’m in Director Seo’s office right now.”

“To the Director’s office?”

Even if he was acting as the team owner, he wouldn’t be sitting alone in an empty room.

That meant Director Seo Chang-ki was with Sahalin Park right now.

When his thoughts reached this point, one word flashed through Ji-seop’s mind.

‘This… is it the salary negotiation?’

The front office staff’s salary negotiations were scheduled to begin as early as today or tomorrow.

If that was the case, there was one thing Ji-seop had to confirm.

“Vice Chairman.”

“What.”

“If I go now… will you buy me lunch?”

“Lunch?”

Ji-seop perked up his ears.

Was he really going to buy him an expensive lunch?

If he did, what kind of menu would it be?

If he stubbornly said, ‘It’s okay,’ what kind of reaction would this stubborn old man show?

Ji-seop smiled slyly to himself, but-

“You rascal, what time is it to be talking about lunch?!

What came back was Sahalin Park’s roar.

“You’re old enough to take care of your own meals… tsk tsk.”

“If you’re really hungry, go to the cafeteria or something. They always have things like *kimbap* [Korean seaweed rice rolls] there.”

“Anyway, come quickly! Got it?!”

Click.

The call ended.

Looking at the screen that read ‘Call Ended,’ Ji-seop could only blink.

‘…Go to the cafeteria?’

Wait a minute,

This throws off my calculations a bit?

* * *

About ten minutes later.

Ji-seop stood in front of the Director’s office.

‘I guess you can’t use Ahn Young-chan’s strategy with Sahalin Park. It just doesn’t seem to work.’

Perhaps it was only natural.

Who was Sahalin Park? How could a simple baseball player’s shallow negotiation strategy work on him?

‘Still, if someone says they’re hungry, you should at least pretend to be concerned. That old man has no compassion, even if you try to use it as medicine?’

Aren’t you being too harsh?

Honestly, I’m a little disappointed.

Ji-seop was about to knock on the Director’s office door with such complaints in mind, but-

“Oh, come in.”

The moment Ji-seop opened the Director’s office door, he could no longer think of such trivial lines.

Next to Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo and Director Seo Chang-ki, there was someone he hadn’t expected sitting there.

“…Manager?”

It was Arthur Freeman, the 30-year veteran baseball manager.

The manager smiled brightly at Ji-seop.

“I thought you were supposed to be in Jeju Island until next week? But how are you here…”

“That’s right, I was originally planning to relax and play golf there… but I thought it would be better to talk face to face.”

As far as Ji-seop knew, golf was almost Freeman’s only hobby.

What was the reason for setting aside such a hobby and coming all the way to Yeongsan?

While Ji-seop, who had not yet grasped the situation, was tilting his head, Director Seo Chang-ki opened his mouth.

“Ji-seop, there’s no need to be so nervous. It’s not something to worry about.”

“Ah, yes.”

“We were just discussing your role for next season with our Vice Chairman and Manager Freeman.”

“My… role?”

As Ji-seop’s eyes widened, Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo put down his teacup and said in a firm tone.

“I’ll just say it straight.”

Beating around the bush was not Sahalin Park’s style.

“Next season, our KH Cannons will be assigning a new interpreter to Manager Arthur Freeman.”

And then, one more word.

“Ji-seop, you will be helping Director Seo Chang-ki here from now on.”

Special Advisor to the Director. Director’s Special Envoy.

That was the name of the new position that KH Cannons had given to Ji-seop.

* * *

Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo, Director Seo Chang-ki, and Manager Arthur Freeman.

At this meeting where all the executives of KH Cannons were gathered, Secretary Yang took on the role of interpreter instead of Ji-seop.

As he conveyed Vice Chairman Park’s words in a low voice, Manager Arthur Freeman looked at Ji-seop and opened his mouth.

“Of course, it wasn’t easy for me to accept. Where else would I find an interpreter like you? But…”

Freeman gave a faint smile.

“Looking back on this season, I felt that it would be a waste to keep you only as an interpreter.”

“…Manager.”

What kind of reaction should he show in this situation?

Should he thank the manager for recognizing his abilities?

Or should he beg to work under the manager more?

While Ji-seop was struggling to figure out what to do, Freeman continued.

“Of course, I have conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“First of all, the person who will be my interpreter next season… I want you, Ji-seop, to pick them yourself.”

“Ah, yes.”

So far, not a bad condition.

“And when you have meetings with Director Seo… you must be present.”

“Ah, I see.”

He didn’t feel anything particularly strange up to this point either.

However, the very next moment.

“And even if you go as the Director’s Special Envoy… I would like you to come to the manager’s office when I take my morning walks or drink coffee.”

“…Yes?”

Whether Ji-seop tilted his head or not, Freeman’s ‘conditions’ continued.

Listening to it all, Ji-seop realized for sure at some point.

“Wait a minute, Manager! If I put the words together roughly…”

Ji-seop burst out laughing in disbelief.

“The only thing that’s changing is that I won’t be going into the dugout during the game… but you mean I’ll be doing all the other work as before?”

“There was no other way.”

It was Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo who answered instead of the manager.

“If we didn’t do that, the manager wouldn’t budge and send you as the Director’s Special Envoy.”

“…Yes?!”

These old men, really.

Ji-seop was speechless.

He was already overwhelmed with the work of the manager’s interpreter, but now he was supposed to take on the work of the Director’s Special Envoy while almost maintaining that?

Did these old men see him as a human being, or as a machine that runs the baseball team?

“I’m grateful that the manager cares about me… but still, this isn’t right. How can I handle that much work.”

“You rascal, it all depends on you.”

Vice Chairman Park began to appease Ji-seop with a subtle expression.

“The manager gave you the authority to pick your successor, right? If you pick someone smart, your workload will decrease accordingly.”

“Is it easy to find a smart guy?”

Ji-seop retorted bluntly, but Vice Chairman Park didn’t bat an eye.

“And you… don’t you know my style? I never use people for free. As much as you work, as much as you demonstrate your abilities, I will generously provide compensation accordingly… that’s my motto.”

With that, Sahalin Park took out an envelope.

“Check it out. It’s next year’s salary.”

“Vice Chairman, no matter how much salary I receive, doing the work of two people alone is… um?”

Um?

Uh oh?

How many zeros are there?

Ji-seop, who looked at the contents of the envelope, was momentarily speechless.

“T, this is…”

Honestly, Ji-seop thought it was impossible.

If he could split his body into two, maybe, but Ji-seop thought it was an impossible amount of work.

However, the moment he saw the salary conditions proposed by Sahalin Park, the thought that flashed through Ji-seop’s mind was as follows.

‘With this… shouldn’t I do it?’

It was a kind of magic.

A magic that makes the impossible possible.

A magic that makes you think it’s okay to live like a machine for a year or two.

A magic that suddenly makes the hopeless old men look like excellent elders in our society.

“You like money, don’t you.”

Park said.

“So I told them to give you plenty. How about it, are you satisfied with that much?”

In fact, it was more than enough.

It was a salary he could never have dreamed of during his playing days.

But at this moment, Ji-seop was recalling the advice of veteran second baseman Ahn Young-chan.

-Even if you receive a decent offer, never nod your head right away.

-Get the maximum benefit from the club.

-I think you deserve it, Ji-seop.

‘Yeah, if I’m destined to work until my bones are ground… it’s right to ask for one more thing here.’

Ji-seop made up his mind.

He slowly raised his head.

“I like the salary. Thank you for thinking of me this much. But…”

Swish.

Ji-seop raised one finger.

“Just one thing… can I ask for just one more thing here?”

“Ah, that guy has a lot of greed.”

Sahalin Park grumbled.

However, he seemed a little intrigued by what Ji-seop wanted.

“Okay, tell me.”

Park Hong-joo leaned towards Ji-seop.

“What is it that you want?”