Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 124

The umpire, seeing the intentional walk signal from the Pelicans’ bench, gestured for Oh Seok-hoon to take first base.

Oh Seok-hoon immediately dropped his gear and jogged to first.

“Boo-oo-oo-”

The Buffaloes fans booed the Pelicans.

-The Pelicans are choosing to intentionally walk him here!

-They’re saying they’d rather face Park Seong-ju than Oh Seok-hoon. It’s a bold gamble by the Pelicans.

-Normally, you wouldn’t avoid the third batter to face the cleanup hitter [the fourth batter in the lineup]. But with Park Seong-ju’s slump, the situation is different. It’s a strategy worth considering.

-Now the bases are loaded. Can Park Seong-ju come through in this crucial late-inning situation?

Now the Buffaloes had runners on every base.

Despite the pressure, the Pelicans’ fans looked relaxed.

The Pelicans’ players’ expressions were the same.

Park Seong-ju tried to keep a poker face, but his cheeks flushed red.

‘They intentionally walked the batter in front of me?’

Park Seong-ju, approaching the plate, felt like a soldier heading into battle.

He wanted to prove the opposing team’s strategy wrong.

‘I just got out in my last at-bat because the pitch wasn’t ideal, but my swing felt good. Stay confident.’

One out, bases loaded.

The Pelicans’ infielders positioned themselves for a double play.

Park Seong-ju took a deep breath and cleared his mind.

‘Wait for my pitch.’

The pitcher delivered.

Thwack!

Park Seong-ju couldn’t help but be surprised as the ball whizzed by.

“Strike!”

The pitch had cut right through the heart of the strike zone.

‘They’re throwing a fastball right down the middle?’

Since it was a fastball, not a breaking ball, it was unlikely to be a mistake.

That meant they genuinely believed they could get Park Seong-ju out.

And a rookie pitcher, no less.

He wanted to swing with all his might, but he forced himself to stay calm and wait for the next pitch.

‘Surely they won’t throw another fastball down the middle, will they?’

If a fastball came again, he’d swing without hesitation.

Park Seong-ju gripped his bat as the pitcher went into his windup.

The moment the ball left the pitcher’s hand, he knew it wasn’t the pitch he was expecting.

The ball started like a fastball, but then the spin changed, and it slowed down.

But,

“Strike!”

Even though it was a changeup, it still clipped the strike zone.

-Park Seong-ju is now at no balls, two strikes. He didn’t even swing at a pitch right down the middle.

-He’s in a very tough count for the batter. This is the perfect time for a breaking ball. Can Park Seong-ju hold off from swinging?

“Strikeout! Strikeout!”

The Pelicans’ fans cheered, anticipating an easy escape from the jam.

Ignoring the noise, Park Seong-ju focused on the bat in his hands.

‘There’s a good chance he’ll throw a breaking ball. Narrow the strike zone and be patient.’

The pitcher threw with everything he had, knowing it could be his last pitch of the at-bat.

The ball hurtled toward the plate and then sharply broke away.

Park Seong-ju flinched and twitched his bat, but managed to check his swing.

“Ball!”

-That was a great slider, trying to bait the batter. Park Seong-ju held back just in time.

-In a high-pressure situation like this, he could have easily swung at that breaking ball, but he showed great discipline.

Now it’s one ball and two strikes.

Still a favorable count for the pitcher.

He could throw another breaking ball, but with the bases loaded, the stakes were high.

Considering the pitcher’s inexperience, he probably wasn’t feeling too relaxed either.

The catcher gave the pitcher a careful signal.

The game resumed.

‘If it’s in the zone, swing with confidence.’

Park Seong-ju gripped his bat tighter than ever.

He tracked the incoming pitch and swung decisively.

He made solid contact.

Thwack!

‘This is it!’

It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

He was sure it would travel far, but Park Seong-ju still sprinted toward first base.

-Oh! He got a hold of that one! It’s flying with incredible speed! Is it going out?

The ball soared toward the deepest part of center field.

The Pelicans’ center fielder turned and sprinted back, thinking he had a chance to catch it.

But the ball kept carrying.

Finally, it cleared the fence by a hair.

“Home run!”

The umpire emphatically signaled the home run.

“Wowwwww-”

-It’s over! It’s over! A line-drive home run, Park Seong-ju’s signature! It reached the farthest part of the stadium! A grand slam!

-The Buffaloes, who had been struggling all game, have taken the lead with one swing from Park Seong-ju!

-This is what makes home run hitters so dangerous. No matter how cold they are, they can explode at any moment. Honestly, even we in the broadcast booth didn’t think he’d hit it. That’s why baseball is so exciting!

“Park Seong-ju! Park Seong-ju! Park Seong-ju!”

The Buffaloes fans leaped to their feet, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Park Seong-ju, rounding first and heading for second, slowed down only after confirming the home run.

‘Finally.’

He finally let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the sky.

He felt like he’d released the pressure that had been weighing him down for days.

As Park Seong-ju touched second and third and headed for home, he saw his teammates waving wildly.

When Park Seong-ju reached home plate and stomped on it, three players mobbed him, playfully hitting him on the head.

“Nice home run!”

“It hurts, it hurts! You’re hitting too hard!”

Park Seong-ju, high-fiving his teammates, wore a relieved smile.

Oh Seok-hoon, standing at the end of the line, bumped into Park Seong-ju as if body-checking him.

“Our cleanup hitter is back!”

“If I hadn’t hit that, I would have been in serious trouble.”

“Good job. That was an amazing hit.”

Even as Park Seong-ju entered the dugout, the fans’ cheers continued.

“Home run hitter Park Seong-ju! Fly away, Park Seong-ju!”

Park Seong-ju finally smiled brightly and raised his fist to the Buffaloes fans.

On the other hand, the smiles vanished from the faces of the Pelicans’ players.

Although the Buffaloes now led 4-2, they couldn’t relax until the final out.

The Buffaloes’ pitchers were struggling to keep the Pelicans scoreless, and the Pelicans’ offense grew fiercer as the game progressed.

At the center of it all was So Young-jun.

So Young-jun followed up with a deep drive that nearly cleared the fence for a home run.

It was a dangerous shot for the Buffaloes, barely caught in front of the warning track.

-The Pelicans are making the Buffaloes sweat until the very end.

-In baseball, a two-run lead is never safe. The Buffaloes’ hitters need to score more runs to give the pitchers some breathing room.

Back to the Buffaloes’ offensive half of the inning.

Oh Seok-hoon stepped to the plate.

Now, with Park Seong-ju batting behind him, an intentional walk was out of the question.

The pitcher tried to focus and battle, but

Thwack!

Oh Seok-hoon connected for a base hit with a powerful swing.

Runners on first and third.

Park Seong-ju came to the plate again with another scoring opportunity.

-Park Seong-ju, who hit a game-changing grand slam in his last at-bat, is up again.

-The pressure Park Seong-ju is putting on the pitcher now is on a completely different level than earlier in the game.

-He just stands there, but you can feel he’s about to hit another one. That’s how much one home run can change the atmosphere.

Thwack!

Park Seong-ju laced another sharp hit.

-Another hit deep to the outfield! It’s a long fly ball! The runner on third scores, and the runner on first is coming home! Everyone is safe!

-Park Seong-ju is putting the game away!

-Was the intentional walk the trigger? It seems like he’s suddenly found his groove.

-Even so, Park Seong-ju is the cleanup hitter. They messed with his pride too much.

Thanks to Park Seong-ju’s outstanding performance, the Buffaloes finally snapped their long losing streak, widened their lead over the Doubles, and solidified their hold on third place in the league.

Unsurprisingly, Park Seong-ju, who drove in six runs, including the game-winning home run, was named MVP of the game.

* * *

Park Seong-ju had a smile on his face for the first time in days when he arrived back at the dorm.

His boisterous laughter filled the room.

“Hahaha. Did you see me hit that home run, CEO?”

“Of course, I saw it. I watched it ten times.”

“Wow, it feels so good to connect like that again after so long.”

Park Seong-ju took a practice swing and pumped his fist.

“It must have been tough the last few days. Good job.”

“It’s all thanks to you, CEO.”

Park Seong-ju’s expression turned serious, and he grabbed my hand and bowed.

“Why are you being so 부담스럽게 [burdensome/awkward] all of a sudden?”

“I realized again that I can’t do without you, 선배 [senior/mentor].”

I brought up what I wanted to say as the conversation with Park Seong-ju was winding down.

“By the way, we have a new member joining our agency.”

“Who is it?”

When I pointed to Seo Seong-min, who was standing beside me, Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju turned their heads in unison.

“You know Doubles’ Seo Seong-min, 선배 [senior], right?”

“Oh, hello.”

Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju approached Seo Seong-min and greeted him.

“Nice to meet you.”

Seo Seong-min smiled awkwardly and returned the greeting.

“Seong-min, 선배 [senior], you’ve been recruited into our agency too?”

Park Seong-ju looked at me and asked.

“Yeah, we’ll be training together from now on.”

“Oh ho. 선배 [senior], please take care of me in the future.”

Park Seong-ju greeted Seo Seong-min again.

“I’ll be the one asking for your help.”

“Are you going to stay here too?”

Oh Seok-hoon looked at Seo Seong-min with hopeful eyes.

“I have a family, so… I think I’ll have to commute from home.”

“That’s too bad. It would have been fun if we lived together.”

Oh Seok-hoon couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“You must be tired from the game. Go wash up and rest.”

“Okay.”

Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju went back to their rooms.

“선배 [senior], let’s go down.”

I went down to the training center with Seo Seong-min.