A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 247

62. The Day Dreams Came True (5)

According to Department Head Cha Yoon-jin of ‘Black Curtain Cha Cha,’ Chairman Joo-young was calling in key Canon executives one by one.

-There’s no need to look so scared. She’s just going to thank you for your hard work.

She was the chairman of a large corporation—a busy person.

Since it was difficult to visit Yeongsan separately, she intended to offer her appreciation and encouragement to the baseball team staff while holding the celebratory party.

‘It’s only natural since we won the championship, but… I didn’t expect my turn to come.’

A little dazed.

And feeling a bit of pride.

As he adjusted his tie, he heard the elevator ‘ding.’

Ji-seop stepped off the elevator on the 17th floor of the hotel, where a man in a sharply pressed suit bowed lightly.

“Are you Special Assistant Kim Ji-seop?”

“Ah, yes.”

Ji-seop bowed in response, and the man replied in a very businesslike tone.

“The Chairman is waiting. This way… please follow me.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The man spoke as if Ji-seop could meet Chairman Joo right away, but he was led to a waiting room.

“I’m sorry. The Chairman is currently receiving a flurry of congratulatory calls…”

“Congratulatory calls? Because of the Canon’s victory?”

“Of course, it’s only natural.”

Ji-seop guessed that this suited man was also a fan of the Canons.

The moment the word ‘Canons’ came out, his lips, which had been consistently businesslike, twitched slightly.

“One way or another, the Canons are like the face of our KH Group. Since the Canons have achieved the Korean Series victory, congratulatory calls are bound to come from all over.”

“Ah.”

Ji-seop laughed inwardly.

‘Our Canons are the face of the KH Group?’

When he first joined, the Canons were nothing more than a useless burden within the group.

To think that the Canons would suddenly be highly regarded as the ‘face of the group.’

‘If even the Chairman’s Secretariat staff are in this mood, next year’s group funding… I can look forward to it?’

While having such thoughts, befitting a baseball team front office employee, he sipped the tea in front of him.

“Special Assistant Kim Ji-seop?”

Another female employee came into the waiting room and looked for Ji-seop.

“Please come in,” she continued. “The Chairman has just finished her call.”

* * *

The 17th-floor suite was being used as KH Group Chairman’s temporary reception room.

When Ji-seop entered, he saw Team Manager Seo Chang-ki, Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo, and Chairman Joo Young-eun, the main figure of the day.

“Ah, Mr. Kim Ji-seop.”

Chairman Joo, who knew Ji-seop, gestured for him to come in and sit down.

“Yes, thank you.”

Ji-seop awkwardly entered and sat down.

The first words Chairman Joo-young spoke were slightly different from what Ji-seop expected.

“Ji-seop, how was the celebratory drink today…?”

“Yes?”

Ji-seop’s eyes widened.

“Ce, celebratory drink, you mean?”

“Yes, Mr. Kim Ji-seop must have had some too. How was it? Was it drinkable?”

The celebratory drink that the late Chairman Joo Tae-san had prepared in anticipation of the Korean Series victory.

Even if others didn’t know, only Ji-seop knew the story behind the celebratory drink he had that day.

Because it had been stored for so long, the original alcohol had evaporated.

In the end, Vice Chairman ‘Sakhalin Park’ Park Hong-joo had filled it with other alcohol with his quick wit.

Knowing all this, Ji-seop hesitated.

“Ah, that, that’s…”

Carefully trying not to show it, Ji-seop looked at Chairman Joo and Sakhalin Park.

After a moment, he smiled faintly and replied, “I think it was quite good.”

When Ji-seop gave a positive answer, Sakhalin Park clenched his fist under the chair.

Chairman Joo-young made a ‘hmm’ sound and raised her eyebrows.

“But then again… considering it’s been stored for over 30 years, it’s too fresh? Yes, I think I felt that way too.”

“Right?”

A satisfied smile appeared on Chairman Joo-young’s face.

“See, Vice Chairman,” Chairman Joo looked at Sakhalin Park. “I told you, didn’t I? Mr. Kim Ji-seop is an upright person, so he’ll give us a proper answer.”

“Ku, cough…”

Sakhalin Park looked at Ji-seop with resentful eyes.

“Even if other people didn’t say it, they would all have been thinking the same thing. The taste of the alcohol is strange; it doesn’t have the dignity I expected.”

“……”

“So why did you pour other alcohol into it? Isn’t it okay to just say it honestly? The alcohol has been stored for a long time and has all evaporated, so I brought other alcohol… who would say anything?”

“No, Young-eun, you…”

Sakhalin Park called Chairman Joo’s name for a moment.

Because there were others present, including Ji-seop, he quickly corrected himself. “You know, Chairman. If we say the alcohol has evaporated, how noisy will the media be again? Saying that the Canon’s dark age was long, and so on…”

Chairman Joo-young and Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo seemed to have been bickering for a long time over the ‘celebratory drink evaporation incident.’

Team Manager Seo Chang-ki seemed anxious, but Ji-seop was quietly smiling inside.

For some reason, the two seemed very affectionate, like uncle and niece in the old days.

‘The company baseball tournament in the past was really cold…’

Could it be that achieving the will of the late Chairman Joo Tae-san has made them feel at ease?

In that sense, could this also be another positive effect of the Canon’s Korean Series victory?

Just as Ji-seop was lost in thought, the bickering of the two ‘high-ranking officials’ of the KH Group was coming to an end.

“Still, you must have had a hard time. Filling up all those alcohol jars wouldn’t have been easy,” said Chairman Joo-young warmly.

Sakhalin Park also loosened his grumpy expression and coughed, “Ahem!”

“Of course, it was hard. It would have been a little better if that guy Qingdao [likely a nickname or alias] was next to me, but I couldn’t call him because it was the Korean Series period…”

“Qingdao? Ah, you mean Mr. Kim Ji-seop?”

Chairman Joo-young’s gaze turned to Ji-seop.

“Mr. Kim Ji-seop must have had a lot of trouble. Our Vice Chairman Park… is definitely not an easy person to deal with.”

“No, not at all. Thanks to the Vice Chairman, I also had many opportunities…”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

Even in a good mood, Chairman Joo seemed to be herself, showing an attitude that she doesn’t bother to hear stories she already knows from other people’s mouths.

“Given Vice Chairman Park’s personality, he would have given Mr. Kim Ji-seop enough compensation for his work. But that’s… the same for me.”

Ji-seop could sense that the main topic of the day was beginning.

“I heard it from Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo,” Chairman Joo-young continued. “I heard that Mr. Kim Ji-seop is being sent to the United States for further studies… is that right?”

* * *

Ji-seop later learned that this was a KH Group tradition passed down since the time of the late Chairman Joo Tae-san.

When an employee is selected to go abroad for further studies, the group chairman personally talks to the employee.

This is to further solidify the employee’s loyalty to the group and to put pressure on them to study and learn harder since they were going abroad anyway.

He didn’t know how the late chairman talked to the employees, but Chairman Joo-young seemed to be carefully taking care of Ji-seop’s schedule that day.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

After a long conversation, Chairman Joo-young nodded and said, “Let’s have Mr. Kim Ji-seop work at our Canons until mid-December. It would be nice if Ryu Jang-ho’s posting procedure [transfer to another team or league] is completed by then… but it doesn’t really matter if it’s not finished, right?”

“Yes. That’s right, Chairman,” Team Manager Seo Chang-ki replied. “Once we hand over the data needed for posting, Ryu Jang-ho’s agent will take the lead. You don’t have to worry about that part.”

“Okay, then everything’s done.”

While handing over the documents she was holding to Team Manager Seo, Chairman Joo-young said to Ji-seop, “Mr. Kim Ji-seop, do you know? Sending someone from the baseball team for further studies… is the first time since the founding of the company.”

“Yes, I heard it from the team manager.”

“Okay, I think Mr. Kim Ji-seop would know how much Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo and Team Manager Seo Chang-ki here… are expecting from you.”

This was easy to guess.

Ji-seop nodded heavily with his mouth tightly closed.

“I won’t say anything else. I hope you will do your best in the United States as well… so that you can live up to their expectations, just like you did in our KH Canons.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

When Ji-seop gave a firm answer, Chairman Joo-young lightly tapped her knee. “Let’s go down now. We still have a lot of people to meet.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Ji-seop quickly got up.

Just as he was about to open the door and leave after greeting the three people in the room in turn, Chairman Joo-young called him.

“Ah, Mr. Kim Ji-seop?”

“Yes?”

“There’s something I forgot to tell you…”

Chairman Joo’s advice made Ji-seop’s heart sink.

“Make sure to take care of your farewell greetings… to your colleagues who have been with you.”

Chairman Joo continued, “I heard that the baseball team people relied on Mr. Ji-seop a lot… If you leave without saying goodbye, everyone will be very heartbroken, right?”

“Ah……”

‘I understand, Chairman.’

Ji-seop, who always answered with a confident voice, couldn’t give a clear answer this time.

* * *

‘Farewell greetings…’

While taking the elevator down, Ji-seop stared blankly at the electronic display on the wall.

‘I didn’t think I’d be thinking about that already.’

Ji-seop thought he would have enough time.

Once they achieved the Korean Series victory, they would have enough time to share the joy.

Since it was such a hard-won victory, it wouldn’t be too late to think about it after fully enjoying the joy.

Going to the United States, handing over work, and above all-

‘Farewell to everyone.’

But as soon as he achieved the victory, everything was moving much faster than Ji-seop had expected.

In that sense, Chairman Joo-young’s advice was very appropriate.

If you hesitate, time will just pass by indifferently again.

People who were grateful, people who cared for him, people who endured difficult times together—saying a proper farewell to all of them was something that should be prioritized above all else.

‘Damn it, but how do I bring that up…’

Should he arrange a separate meeting?

If so, with whom, when, and where would be good?

No, even if he arranged such a meeting, would the words ‘I’m leaving’ come out so easily?

Ding-

While he was worrying, Ji-seop arrived at the 6th floor of the hotel where his accommodation was prepared.

The moment he stepped out of the elevator with his head bowed, familiar voices reached Ji-seop’s ears.

“Wow, Ji-seop! You can’t be a nobleman [someone who is too good to associate with others after achieving success]. Huh? You can’t be a nobleman!”

“I know, right. How did you know we were talking about you, hyung [older brother or respected male figure]…”

Go Chang-deok of the power analysis team and Canon’s genius hitter, Ryu Jang-ho, were smiling at Ji-seop with flushed faces.

“No, why are you two here…”

“Why else! We came to have another drink with the three of us!”

“Is beer okay? Ah, I also brought some wine from the celebration.”

Seeing the two colleagues who appeared at the right time, Ji-seop couldn’t help but laugh.

‘How did they know and come…’

He thought it was a good thing.

The story of leaving, the story that it will be difficult to see each other for a while—these stories can never be brought up without the help of alcohol.

“Yes, good.”

Ji-seop put his hand on the shoulders of the two people and said in a loud voice, “Tonight, let’s… really go all the way!”