A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 6

3. No Turning Back (2)

Sakhalin Park, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju.

He approached Kim Ji-seop.

“Do you have something to say to me? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Seen up close, ‘Sakhalin Park’ was indeed someone who deserved to be called a big shot.

First of all, he was incredibly large.

He was slightly smaller than Ji-seop, who was 187cm tall, but his broad shoulders and raised trapezius muscles were definitely intimidating.

His hair, slicked back with pomade, and his sharply angled suit were also extraordinary.

Above all, his fierce eyes seemed to swallow the person he faced.

‘Even at over seventy years old… Hehe, in the past, even the Russian president must have sweated a lot.’

However, Ji-seop was not someone who would be intimidated by appearances.

He could read other people’s minds.

No matter how ‘big’ they were, when you looked into their hearts, they were often no different from ordinary people.

This time,

It was no exception.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? If you stared at me, there must be a reason!”

‘Sakhalin Park’ growled like an old tiger.

Ji-seop, without a change in expression, opened his mouth to the legendary figure who once negotiated with the Russian president.

“Vice Chairman.”

“What.”

“Why do you make things so difficult?”

The moment Ji-seop’s words fell, everyone in the lesson room widened their eyes.

They probably didn’t expect a friend who only made and sold ‘custom gloves’ to talk so boldly to the great Sakhalin Park.

“Wait a minute… Coach Kim!”

Oh Su-man, the CEO of [Superstar Baseball], tried to stop Ji-seop, but Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju raised his hand to stop him.

“What did you say just now?”

Vice Chairman Park narrowed his eyes.

“I’m making things difficult?”

“Isn’t that so?”

Ji-seop continued.

“You’re shouting that people over seventy can’t play baseball… but it’s true that they can’t.”

“What?”

“As you get older, your agility decreases. When your agility decreases, various dangerous situations can occur while playing baseball.”

“You might not be able to avoid a flying ball, or you might injure your joints while running and changing direction suddenly.”

It was a story close to common sense, but Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju didn’t seem to understand easily.

“That’s only true for ordinary old people sitting in senior centers!”

“I’m different!”

Vice Chairman Park thumped his chest with his hand like a pot lid.

“I’m someone who doesn’t lose to anyone when it comes to health management! Doctors said my physical age is in my mid-50s! Does it make sense that I can’t play baseball!”

Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju clenched his fist as if to show off his still strong muscles.

Thinking that he looked a bit like a child, Ji-seop opened his mouth again.

“That’s right. That’s exactly what I want to say.”

“What?”

“Think about it. Do you think we wouldn’t know just by looking? Whether you usually enjoy exercising or not?”

Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju, who had been arguing with Ji-seop’s words, closed his mouth tightly for the first time at this moment.

“We’re experts in our own way… We know everything. That there won’t be any problems with taking baseball lessons lightly once or twice.”

“Th, then why…”

“Do you not know why you’re asking? It’s because you’re such a high-ranking person.”

“A… incredibly high-ranking?”

Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju looked very surprised.

Has this old man been living without thinking about his position?

Or is there no one around him to tell him these things?

Ji-seop felt a bit dumbfounded and continued.

“If you had brought a doctor’s note saying it was okay for you to play baseball in the first place, things would have been much easier.”

“…….”

“Or you have a lot of money, right? It would have been even better if you had brought a doctor you knew with you.”

“…….”

“If you come here out of the blue without any preparation and say you want to play baseball, how are we supposed to accept that? Even if the chairman gets a small scratch, we’ll be on the verge of losing our jobs.”

“Well, I understand what you mean, but…”

He didn’t seem to find anything to refute Ji-seop’s words, but perhaps ‘Sakhalin Park’ had his pride.

Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju raised his voice once again.

“My friend, I… I’m a busy person!”

He must have thought, ‘That’s it.’

Vice Chairman Park raised his voice even more.

“To a person who is so busy with company work… you’re telling me to call a doctor, get a medical certificate… for just one baseball game?”

Vice Chairman Park seemed to be trying to save his last bit of face, but even that didn’t do any damage to Ji-seop.

“Just… one baseball game, you said?”

Ji-seop chuckled.

“Who was it that shouted, cursed, and kicked the door of the consultation room because they couldn’t play that ‘just’ one baseball game?”

“Wh, what?!”

Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju was speechless.

He looked at Ji-seop with a dumbfounded expression and then called out to the middle-aged man standing next to him, ‘Secretary Yang.’

“Yes, Vice Chairman.”

“That guy.”

Vice Chairman Park pointed at Ji-seop.

“Get his contact information.”

Those were the last words of ‘Sakhalin Park’ Park Hong-ju that day.

* * *

The incident that day when KH Group Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju visited the [Superstar Baseball] lesson room.

Ji-seop heard about the whole story of this incident late in the afternoon of that day.

-Wow, wow…

-Our Coach Kim is really… wow…

The men who kept shouting ‘Wow, wow’ at Ji-seop all went home,

-Oh, Coach Kim! I thought my heart was going to drop!

-Coach Kim, is Kim Ji-chang really your brother? If he were your brother, he wouldn’t be so bold?

After being scolded by Coach Han Min-wook and CEO Oh Su-man.

CEO Oh, who had a truly dynamic day, opened his mouth with a long sigh of ‘Hoo.’

“It’s nothing much… but it seems like KH Group is holding an in-house baseball tournament next week.”

At this time, Ji-seop was recalling Coach Han Min-wook’s words from a few hours ago.

That many in-house baseball tournaments are held in October.

“Originally, it’s a tournament only for employees… but this year, there was an order that executives must also participate, I heard?”

“So that’s why he made such a fuss?”

Coach Han Min-wook looked a little confused.

“No, shouldn’t someone like Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju be able to ignore such orders? He’s old, too.”

“Hey, Coach Han. After seeing that man’s temper today, are you still saying that? Didn’t you see him insisting that his physical age is still in his mid-50s?”

CEO Oh chuckled.

“Secretary Yang, was it? That friend said that he was originally planning to visit famous coaches he knew. But no one readily agreed to take on the job…”

“So he went around looking for coaches and ended up at our lesson room.”

“Well, in fact, in some ways… Vice Chairman Park’s age might not have been the fundamental problem. Everyone might have been shaking their heads because of his eccentric temper.”

When the conversation reached this point, CEO Oh and Coach Han looked at Ji-seop as if they had made a promise.

“Coach Kim.”

“Yes.”

“You said that you received a call from that friend named Secretary Yang earlier?”

“Yes, around the end of the 9 o’clock time slot.”

It was about Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju receiving a doctor’s certificate a little while ago.

It also included that if Ji-seop wanted, a doctor would accompany him every time he gave a lesson.

Of course, the most important content was that he wanted Ji-seop to take on Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju’s personal lessons for the next ten days.

“So… did you say you would do it?”

Coach Han’s question.

Ji-seop nodded.

“There was no reason to refuse. The CEO also actively recommended it.”

There was no need to mention that the lesson fee was set so high that it made him gasp.

“He said that a driver would come every time I gave a lesson. He would provide an unlimited supply of items needed for the lesson, and he would entrust the lesson content and method entirely to me… Ah.”

Ji-seop looked at CEO Oh.

“He said he would adjust everything else to my standards… but he asked me to concede on the lesson time.”

“Concede? What concession?”

“Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju is such a busy person that he can’t set a fixed time. So he said he would contact me when he has time, so please be prepared to come out at any time…”

“Well, someone like Vice Chairman Park would probably make such a condition.”

CEO Oh turned his gaze to the whiteboard on the wall.

“Then for the next ten days, I’ll take Coach Kim out of the group lesson schedule. There’s also a friend who’s coming for an interview.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s better than getting a phone call during a lesson and running out, right? Focus on Vice Chairman Park’s personal lessons for the time being. Anyway…”

CEO Oh continued.

“I get 20% of the personal lesson fee.”

“Ah…”

When Ji-seop slightly trailed off, CEO Oh said with a subtle smile.

“By any chance, you’re not thinking of leaving [Superstar Baseball] right now, are you?”

“Yes? Ah, no. That’s not possible.”

‘What a quick-witted old man.’

Ji-seop thought to himself.

* * *

After leaving [Superstar Baseball] that day, Ji-seop received another call from Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju’s secretary.

-Coach Kim Ji-seop, the Vice Chairman said he will make time tomorrow morning. Please prepare for the first lesson.

“I understand.”

After hanging up the phone, Ji-seop sat down at his desk and began to create a personal lesson program for Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju.

‘Even if Sakhalin Park is healthy, I can’t train him like the other middle-aged men…’

In fact, Ji-seop was a coach famous for being ‘tough’ even at [Superstar Baseball].

Even just stretching made the members gasp for breath, and after hitting practice and fielding practice, they groaned and cried.

Even when CEO Oh ordered him to ‘take it easy,’ Ji-seop didn’t budge on this part.

However, he couldn’t maintain his coaching style even for the elderly Vice Chairman Park.

‘Well, tomorrow is the first day, so I guess I can just do some light toss batting.’

Ji-seop, who had set up a ‘mild’ lesson plan, went to bed, but-

Brrr- Brrr- Brrrrr-

Not even three hours after going to bed, Ji-seop had no choice but to open his eyes to the ringing phone.

‘It’s an unknown number… Who is it?’

Ji-seop put the phone to his ear with his eyes half-closed.

“Who is this?”

What followed was a vigorous voice as if he had eaten a train’s firebox [firebox: the part of a steam engine where the fire is contained].

-Were you still sleeping? How are you going to be my teacher with that mental state?

Ji-seop was a little dumbfounded.

“Park Hong-ju… Vice Chairman?”

-Are there any other people you’re giving personal lessons to besides me?

And then came the nagging.

-Didn’t Secretary Yang tell you? I clearly said I would have a lesson this morning, I think?

“I heard about that, but…”

Ji-seop looked at the clock.

“It’s still 4 a.m.?”

-Isn’t 4 a.m. morning? It’s been 4 hours since morning started!

I’m in front of your house.

Get ready and come out quickly.

Park Hong-ju, who only said what he wanted to say and hung up.

“…….”

Looking at the ‘call ended’ sign left alone on his phone, Ji-seop slightly gritted his teeth.

‘Vice Chairman, today…’

Ji-seop threw the ‘mild’ lesson plan on the desk with his hand.

‘Today, I’m going to give you a spicy taste [spicy taste: a Korean expression meaning a tough or challenging experience].’

You won’t be able to call me at 4 a.m. tomorrow.

Probably.