A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 263

66. A Place Where the Sunlight is Warm (5)

John Rahma Taylor was overjoyed at Ji-seop’s suggestion of joining the Future Strategy Planning Department.

“Are you serious? Wow, that would be great! I’d always welcome Kim into our department, but…”

However, John Rahma clicked his tongue with an embarrassed expression.

“Considering Kim’s experience and future, I’d recommend the Baseball R&D Team or the Performance Science Team. Those are the core departments of our Tampa Bay Rays.”

He said those departments were the busiest and had the most work within the team.

“Of course, it would be tough, but if you’re dreaming of moving to a big market team, that’s the best way to go.”

John Rahma smiled, showing his white teeth, as he mentioned the names of former colleagues who had received offers from other teams in just a few years.

“So, I wouldn’t really recommend coming to the Future Strategy Planning Department. We have so many other good departments in the Tampa Bay Rays…”

Looking back, Ji-seop genuinely felt ‘disappointed’ at that moment, though it seemed odd.

Disappointed that the Future Strategy Planning Department wasn’t a core department of the Tampa Bay Rays. Disappointed that working with John Rahma wouldn’t be very helpful for his career.

Perhaps that disappointment was evident on his face, as John Rahma added with a friendly smile.

“You can always come to the Future Strategy Planning Department when you feel like you need a sugar rush. I’ll provide you with delicious coffee and snacks.”

“Delicious coffee and snacks… That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Can I really come anytime?”

“Of course, come anytime! Although, I can’t guarantee that I’ll always be in the office…”

Ji-seop now vaguely knew the reason for that.

“Is it because of the alligators? Because there might be reports of alligators entering your house?”

“Hey, I told you I’m reducing them little by little, didn’t I? Anyone would think I’m just chasing after alligators all day.”

“…Is that really a misunderstanding?”

“It’s a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding, that is!!”

The two were now able to exchange such lighthearted jokes.

Considering they hadn’t known each other for very long, it was a surprisingly warm atmosphere, but-

“Excuse me… Mr. Taylor?”

The first crack in that good atmosphere appeared immediately after that.

Specifically, when the restaurant employee, who had taken John Rahma’s card to pay, returned with a troubled expression.

“Hey, Jessica! Just call me Rahma. How long are you going to call me Mr. Taylor?”

Up until this point, John Rahma had a relaxed smile, but it didn’t last long.

“Oh, okay, Rahma…”

The restaurant employee, called ‘Jessica,’ returned John Rahma’s card and said.

“This card, it says the transaction is suspended.”

“…Pardon?”

* * *

At first, John Rahma was calm.

“Oh, really? Transaction suspended… What’s going on suddenly?”

Then, he added a bit of Florida humor.

“Haha, don’t worry, Kim! This kind of thing happens often in Florida. The weather is so warm that cards sometimes malfunction!”

“Ah, is that so?”

However, Ji-seop already had a vague idea.

That something unusual had happened to this innocent young master.

And that was proven not long after.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Taylor. The card you just gave me isn’t working either.”

“What should we do? The card you gave me this time is also suspended.”

“Mr. Taylor?”

“Mr. Taylor!”

All the cards in his wallet were suspended.

All the accounts he checked, just in case, were also unavailable.

It was perhaps natural that a drop of cold sweat ran down John Rahma’s face, who always laughed heartily.

“What would you like to do, sir?”

The restaurant employee no longer used affectionate titles such as ‘Mr. Taylor’ or ‘Rahma.’

“It seems that all the payment methods you’ve given me are blocked…”

“W-wait a minute! Just a moment! Could you wait just a moment?!”

John Rahma took out his phone and hurriedly made a call.

“Oh, Hendrick! Quickly, please answer the phone…”

He was shaking one leg and biting his thumbnail.

John Rahma’s face lit up in an instant as he waited for the other person to answer.

It seemed that someone named ‘Hendrick’ had answered the phone.

“Oh, thank goodness! Hendrick! Uncle Hendrick! It’s Rahma.”

He sighed in relief and pulled the memo given to him by the store clerk towards him.

“I’m going to give you an account number, could you send $500 to this account? I’ll send it back as soon as I get home… Yes?”

And the next moment, John Rahma’s eyes widened and he stared blankly ahead.

“W-what… What are you talking about?”

He looked as if he had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer. Exactly that kind of expression.

“My father told you not to answer my calls, what… Hendrick? Uncle Hendrick! Uncle!!!”

John Rahma shouted ‘Hendrick’ in a desperate voice, but the other person seemed to have already hung up.

After that, he made several more calls, but the response was exactly the same as Uncle Hendrick’s.

“Excuse me… sir?”

When the restaurant employee, who now roughly understood the situation, approached with a rather serious expression.

John Rahma was looking back at Ji-seop with a half-lost face, a face that couldn’t accept it.

“…Kim?”

Considering he had lived his whole life as the son of a major league team owner, this might have been the first time he had ever said these words.

“Could you… lend me some money?”

* * *

Perhaps it was a natural course of events, but Ji-seop and John Rahma’s ‘alumni mentoring’ ended there that day.

Visiting the Tampa Bay Rays’ home stadium together and submitting his resume to the HR manager were also put on hold for the time being.

Everything was to be done when they met again next time, and they had no choice but to part ways for now.

‘What… what’s going on?’

Ji-seop couldn’t figure out the truth even when looking into John Rahma’s eyes, so he had no choice but to tilt his head and return to his reserved accommodation.

He learned the truth of the whole situation when he called Professor Kevin Pryor for a ‘mentoring result report.’

-Hehe, if the tail is long, it will be caught.

Professor Pryor was laughing.

-Jeffrey Taylor has been sharpening his knife for months… It seems that it exploded today of all days.

“So, how much money did he spend? When did he say he would pay it back?”

Professor Pryor asked these questions, but that wasn’t a big problem for Ji-seop.

“I can get the money back later… but what happened?”

-It’s nothing much. It’s just that John Rahma’s foolishness over the past few years has been exposed.

“Foolishness?”

-Yes, as the family of the Tampa Bay Rays’ owner, John Rahma had one obligation.

It wasn’t anything special.

Selling 50 season tickets every year.

In popular teams like the Yankees or Red Sox, you can’t get season tickets even if you pay a premium.

However, in Tampa Bay, which isn’t popular, even the owner’s family had to step up and sell them.

-He usually knows a lot of people and has a lot of friends… Jeffrey Taylor thought it was an easy mission for his son…

Ji-seop had been with John Rahma just a few hours ago.

He could easily guess what would follow.

“Don’t tell me… he bought them with his own money? Because he couldn’t sell them to his friends or acquaintances?”

-Yes, that’s right.

Professor Pryor continued, sounding like he was holding back laughter.

-As you know, that guy can’t ask anyone for favors. Tampa Bay’s season tickets, which he can’t even sell half of every year because they’re not popular… He couldn’t force them on his friends.

And as that fact became known, Tampa Bay team owner Jeffrey Taylor was furious.

The anger that had been building up over the years of ‘foolishness’ exploded all at once, and he ended up suspending all of his son’s financial transactions.

-If I had to choose, I’m on Jeffrey Taylor’s side.

Professor Pryor said.

-Whenever he comes to me for advice, I see that the old man is having a hard time. He’s trying to improve the Tampa Bay Rays’ management situation somehow.

But his son is struggling to sell season tickets, so how would he feel?

-I heard that the Future Strategy Planning Department? The department where John Rahma was a director is also going to be abolished. He said that the idea that giving him a plausible title would change his attitude was wrong.

“Ah, I see…”

Quite a lot of shocking news was coming in, but Ji-seop felt surprisingly calm.

Perhaps it was just that what was bound to happen had happened.

If he were the son of a very wealthy team owner like the New York Yankees, it might be different, but it was definitely a problem for the Tampa Bay team owner’s son to act like that.

‘It’s a little unfortunate…’

And the next moment, one question came to Ji-seop’s mind.

Ji-seop asked, switching the phone to his other hand as it started to warm up slightly.

“But Professor.”

-Hmm?

“Then you knew from the beginning what kind of guy John Rahma was, didn’t you?”

-That’s right. I’ve had a relationship with the Tampa Bay team owner’s family for quite some time.

“Then why…”

Ji-seop, feeling a bit dumbfounded, cleared his throat and asked again.

“Then why did you introduce John Rahma to me? If you’ve known him for a long time, there would have been many other people in the team, wouldn’t there?”

Kevin Pryor would know many people in the Tampa Bay leadership.

In fact, why even mention someone he didn’t even know? He thought he could have just introduced him to team owner Jeffrey Taylor.

He was someone who had even won over ‘Sakhalin Park,’ [a powerful figure in baseball], so there was no reason why he couldn’t win over the Tampa Bay team owner’s heart.

But why John Rahma Taylor, who has no other advantages than being a nice guy?

Ji-seop was honestly disappointed, but Kevin Pryor said in a calm voice.

-Hehe, is that what you were curious about? I thought you would have understood my intentions by now?

“Your intentions?”

It’s hard to look into his eyes because he’s on the phone.

As Ji-seop paused for a moment, Professor Pryor continued.

-Sakhalin told me something. He said that you have a talent for changing other people.

“Yes?!”

Ji-seop tilted his head at the unexpected compliment.

-He said that you see through other people’s hearts, comfort their hearts, and lead them to make the right choices. He said he had experienced it himself.

“The Vice Chairman said that?”

Ji-seop asked in confusion, but Kevin Pryor did not answer.

Instead, he asked Ji-seop another question.

-Ji-seop, what do you think?

“Yes?”

-John Rahma Taylor. What did you think of him?

“That, that friend…”

-Jeffrey Taylor grinds his teeth whenever he sees his son, but I think a little differently.

Professor Pryor said.

-He’s definitely a clumsy friend. He doesn’t have the sharp analytical skills or the bold action of his father. But…

A talent for attracting people.

-I think he’s really talented at attracting people… What do you think?

“…”

At this time, Ji-seop was quietly nodding his head.

Certainly, John Rahma Taylor, he did have that talent.

Even Ji-seop, who prides himself on being quite rational, had his judgment clouded for a moment.

Because he had that experience, Ji-seop could give this answer.

“I think you’re right, Professor. He definitely has that talent.”

-Yes, for someone who will lead a team in the future, that’s a very big advantage.

So, I had this thought.

Kevin Pryor continued.

-If someone could hold onto him, lead him to become a little stronger, and change him so that he can take on his responsibilities firmly… He could become a pretty good team owner.

Kevin Pryor didn’t clearly state why he was saying this.

At this time, he only said this one thing.

-If you have time later, why don’t you give John Rahma a call?

He must be having a lot of trouble right now.

He must be struggling with the hardships he’s experiencing for the first time in his life.

-Don’t you think every piece of advice you give him will hit him hard?