A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 29

9. Going to the First Team (3)

Jo Sung-beom, the head of the International Affairs Team, was a difficult person to read.

‘The International Team is supposedly busy, yet the team leader takes a three-hour round trip to a donut shop during work hours?’

From that perspective, he seemed like a typical “salary thief” [someone who slacks off at work].

However, when I looked ‘intently’ into his eyes, I perceived a slightly different story.

[It seems like some pretty sharp guys have joined. That’s a relief. Now our International Team’s work will be a little easier.]

His actions made him seem like an old guy trying to slack off and collect his paycheck, but he was actually concerned about the International Affairs Team.

Ji-seop wanted to calmly consider how to interpret this discrepancy, but—

“Ji-seop, Ji-seop!”

It seemed that a training assistant who had just been promoted to the first team didn’t have the luxury of being lost in thought.

No sooner had he unpacked his luggage in the dorm provided by the club and taken a breather than Go Chang-deok came rushing over.

“Did you check the International Team group chat? It looks like the tasks for you and me have been decided.”

“Already?”

Ji-seop, who was just about to take off his socks, couldn’t help but tilt his head.

“Weren’t we supposed to get our assignments at the morning meeting tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but it just came up now.”

Go Chang-deok continued, swiping through his phone screen.

“I’m going to be under Deputy Manager Kang Min-gu, helping foreign players adapt, and you, Ji-seop… you’re going to be under Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin, helping set up practice games?”

“Ah, is that so?”

Finding opponents for practice games against the KH Cannons, coordinating schedules, and scouting locations for meals or breaks during travel.

Since this was originally one of the main tasks of the International Team, Ji-seop was just thinking, ‘Okay, then.’

But right then, there was someone who showed an unusually strong reaction.

“Wait a minute, what?!”

Ryu Jang-ho, who was lying on Go Chang-deok’s bed fiddling with a tablet PC, suddenly raised his head.

“Chang-deok, did you just say… ‘Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin’?”

“Yeah.”

Go Chang-deok checked his phone again.

“That’s right, why?”

“Heol….”

You’re going to have a hard time.

It was at this moment that the KH Cannons’ genius hitter gave Ji-seop a pitiful look.

“Not just anyone, but to be working under ‘Black Curtain Cha Cha’….”

“Black Curtain… Cha Cha?”

Go Chang-deok tilted his head.

“Not Red Riding Hood Cha Cha?”

“…What’s that?”

* * *

Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok looked at Ryu Jang-ho as if they had made a promise.

They hadn’t known him for very long, but this was definitely a first.

Ryu Jang-ho, who showed no interest in anything other than his own baseball stats.

For him to show such a noticeable reaction upon hearing the name of a baseball team’s front office member.

“She’s a very capable person.”

Taking out the earphone he had in, Ryu Jang-ho continued.

“Wasn’t there a drama about a baseball team’s front office a few years ago? You know… the one where a really pretty actress played the operations team leader.”

“Yeah, I know, I know.”

Go Chang-deok nodded.

“Maybe it was because of that actress… but reporters went around surveying all ten teams.”

‘Who is the most likely person to become the first female operations team leader in Korean professional baseball?’

‘Furthermore, who is the most likely person to aim for the first female general manager in Korean professional baseball?’

It was said to be a survey like that.

“The person who overwhelmingly took first place in that survey was Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin.”

“Oh, she’s amazing.”

This alone was interesting enough, but Go Chang-deok seemed more curious about the strange nickname ‘Black Curtain Cha Cha.’

“That was also a few years ago, I think? It was around the time I was first called up to spring training….”

Ryu Jang-ho scratched his ear.

“There was a foreign pitcher who joined our team back then who was really arrogant. He thought he was a big deal because he was from the majors [Major League Baseball in the US].”

“If it was your debut season… was it that guy MacMahon?”

When Go Chang-deok pretended to know, Ryu Jang-ho nodded, ‘That’s right, that’s right.’

“It was unbelievable. He didn’t listen to the manager, he completely ignored the pitching coach… Anyway, you could feel the atmosphere on the field turn cold whenever that guy showed up, you know?”

An arrogant foreign player who appears on every team every few years.

But the person who corrected the attitude of that foreign pitcher named ‘MacMahon’ in one fell swoop was Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin.

“It was really instantaneous.”

Perhaps it was a very impressive incident for him, as Ryu Jang-ho vividly remembered the events of a few years ago.

“That day too, MacMahon was complaining to the manager about this and that… when Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin suddenly appeared and grabbed his arm.”

“Grabbed his arm?”

“Yeah, she just said, ‘You, come here,’ and took MacMahon to the back of the dugout….”

Shwa-lak [onomatopoeia for a curtain being drawn].

Ryu Jang-ho made a sound with his mouth.

“She pulled the curtain ‘shwa-lak’ behind the dugout and said a few words, you know? And after a while, MacMahon came out of there with an expression on his face….”

Ugh.

Ryu Jang-ho shuddered.

“The guy’s face was pale white, and he couldn’t even make eye contact with the manager.”

“No, what did she say to him?”

Go Chang-deok asked the obvious question, but all he got in return was Ryu Jang-ho’s ‘I don’t know.’

“I can’t know because he wouldn’t answer even if I asked, right? He just looked dazed and trembled….”

What Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin said was never revealed, but in any case, MacMahon became an obedient foreign pitcher and guarded the Cannons’ starting mound for a year—a heartwarming story.

Having heard this, Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok couldn’t help but look at each other.

“……”

“……”

Should we believe this or not?

It sounded like nonsense at first, but the person who witnessed it with his own eyes was sitting right in front of them.

“So, so….”

Go Chang-deok was the first to come to his senses in that bewilderment.

“So that’s why Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin’s nickname is ‘Black Curtain Cha Cha’?”

“Yeah, similar things have happened a few times since then, but… that was the most dramatic, after all.”

Anyway, that’s the kind of person she is.

Ryu Jang-ho continued.

“Even though KH’s performance isn’t great, there have hardly ever been problems with the foreign players’ personalities, right? You have to see that as all thanks to Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin.”

Ryu Jang-ho spoke with a bright expression, as if proud of the existence of ‘Black Curtain Cha Cha,’ but Ji-seop’s face was not so bright as he looked at him.

‘…Hehe.’

Listening to Ryu Jang-ho’s story, Ji-seop remembered that Team Leader Jo Sung-beom seemed to trust Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin a lot.

It seemed that the reason Team Leader Jo could leisurely go to the donut shop during work hours was because he had a smart subordinate like Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin.

Of course, the thought that occupied the largest percentage in Ji-seop’s head at this time was this.

‘If I work under such a great person… it seems like it will be quite tiring.’

Ji-seop was silently smirking inwardly at the ‘march of hardship’ that was beginning to unfold before his eyes.

It was the very next moment that Ji-seop heard his phone vibrate, ‘Brrr, brrr.’

‘Who is it?’

A call from an unknown number.

Ji-seop pressed the ‘Call’ button.

“Hello.”

-Ah, yes! Is this Kim Ji-seop’s phone? This is Kim Dong-hui from the International Affairs Team!

At the mention of ‘International Affairs Team,’ Ji-seop’s expression became slightly tense.

“Yes, hello.”

-Yes, it’s nothing much… but you haven’t had dinner yet, have you?

“Yes, but….”

The unease that crept up his spine.

-That’s good. Then could you come out to the hotel front gate now? The Assistant Manager wants to have a meal with Kim Ji-seop before starting work in earnest.

“Um… Assistant Manager, you mean?”

Ji-seop’s unease became a reality.

“Yes, you received the call, right?”

The voice heard through the receiver.

“Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin.”

* * *

‘Black Curtain Cha Cha’ Assistant Manager Cha Yun-jin’s sudden summons.

Ji-seop hastily found the socks he had taken off, put them on roughly, and rushed out of the hotel front gate.

He was looking around, wondering where the great Assistant Manager might be, when a voice came from over there.

“Kim Ji-seop? Over here!”

A man in his early 30s sitting in the driver’s seat of a car, waving at Ji-seop.

Ji-seop intuitively knew that he was Deputy Manager Kim Dong-hui, who had called him a little while ago.

“Hello, Deputy Manager.”

“Yes, get in quickly.”

Deputy Manager Kim Dong-hui opened the car door.

As Ji-seop got into the passenger seat, Deputy Manager Kim carefully moved the steering wheel and opened his mouth.

“We’re going to eat dinner at a restaurant about 20 minutes away from here. The Assistant Manager will meet us there.”

“Ah, yes.”

As Ji-seop nodded, Deputy Manager Kim asked with a subtle smile.

“You were very surprised, weren’t you? To have a company dinner from the first day you arrived in Okinawa.”

“Hehe, a little bit.”

Ji-seop didn’t feel the need to hide his true feelings.

“Originally, we tend to hold new employee welcome parties later… but these days, our team is in the middle of a food tour.”

“A food tour… you said?”

Ji-seop tilted his head slightly at the unexpected phrase.

Deputy Manager Kim chuckled and continued.

“Yes, a food tour.”

Deputy Manager Kim turned on the blinker.

“Since practice games will continue from next weekend… we have to reserve restaurants for the players to visit while they’re traveling.”

Usually, reservations are made before spring camp starts, but there are cases where reservations have to be made again when that time approaches.

“There are cases where the players request restaurants that are known for being delicious, and there are also cases where problems arise with the restaurants that have been reserved.”

“So the place we’re going to now is also….”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Deputy Manager Kim nodded.

“It’s a restaurant that the team is scheduled to visit the week after next. We go in advance to check if the food is good, if many people can enter, and if reservations are possible… we go and check it out ourselves.”

“Ah-ha.”

It was a slightly funny thing, but at this time, Ji-seop thought, ‘Professional players are different.’

During his time in the independent league, he had to find restaurants near the stadium himself to solve his meals.

‘If you’re a professional player, the front office staff takes care of everything.’

As he was feeling envious, he heard a word from Deputy Manager Kim Dong-hui, who was sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Anyway, since it’s that kind of company dinner… it would be good for Ji-seop to be very alert while eating.”

“Why is that…?”

At Ji-seop’s question, Deputy Manager Kim gave him an expression as if to say, ‘Don’t you know?’

“After the meal, the Assistant Manager will ask us.”

How was the meal.

Does it seem like a good restaurant.

Are there any special requests that need to be made to the restaurant.

“You have to answer well at this time.”

Deputy Manager Kim continued with an expression as if he wanted to borrow even a cat’s paw [seek any help possible].

“If the answers that the Assistant Manager wants don’t come out right away… our 퇴근 (toe-geun) [leaving work] can be postponed indefinitely.”

“Ah-ha.”

It was at this moment that a subtle smile appeared on Ji-seop’s face.

“If it’s something like that, then….”

“Hmm?”

Deputy Manager Kim tilted his head.

“Why… do you have an expression that you’re confident in that area?”