Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 13

“Weren’t we supposed to meet today?”

“Meet……? I was supposed to meet with YJ Agency today…….”

Director Lee Jin-won, glancing at the calendar on the wall, wore a puzzled expression.

“Ah, I’m the one from YJ Agency.”

“Oh……. Is that so?”

Director Lee Jin-won seemed not to have imagined, even for a moment, that the person coming from the agency would be me.

“It’s a bit unexpected, but come on in.”

“Yes.”

I bowed to Director Lee Jin-won and handed him the box of drinks I had brought.

“You didn’t have to buy something like this. Thank you.”

Director Lee Jin-won pointed to a seat for me and sat down across from me.

I had expected him to offer a handshake first, but he just exchanged greetings and sat down.

From what I had gathered so far, the information window only appeared when I shook hands or made even slight physical contact with the other person.

In the current situation, where I hadn’t made any contact with him, no window appeared, as expected.

My plan to gather definite information before starting the conversation hit a snag from the beginning.

“I heard you retired, so you went into an agency?”

“Yes. That’s how it turned out.”

“I see. I naturally assumed Team Leader Kim would come, but I never imagined it would be you. Hahaha.”

The conversation flowed comfortably, as if we were old acquaintances.

“Still, you’re a guest, so I should offer you something.”

Director Lee Jin-won, looking around, opened the box I brought and took out two drinks.

“I don’t usually drink anything like this.”

“Thank you.”

As I received the drink, I managed to subtly brush hands with Director Lee Jin-won without making it obvious.

Fortunately, this slight contact was enough for the information window to pop up.

-He is stressed due to recent losses in important games.

-He is hoping that @x!$ will be dismissed.

Again, some content was obscured by special characters.

I guessed that the special characters appeared only when I wasn’t close to the person or when they had something they wanted to hide.

And seeing that he was stressed about losing the game, it seemed the rumors about him being obsessed with rankings were true.

Moreover, the fact that he was waiting for someone to be dismissed probably meant he wanted to take their place.

Going to another team’s minor league coach wouldn’t mean much, so he was likely aiming for a spot in one of the major league teams.

‘So that’s why he valued performance so much!’

Since they would likely consider his immediate performance when deciding whether to hire him as a coach, Director Lee Jin-won must have been anxious.

“I’ll enjoy this.”

“Sure. Drink comfortably.”

I took a sip of the drink, managing to moisten my parched throat a little.

“Anyway, what brings you here today?”

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“About me? What is it? Tell me.”

We weren’t close enough to exchange pleasantries about our recent activities, so it seemed best to get straight to the point.

“It’s about what you think of player Oh Seok-hoon.”

“Oh Seok-hoon? Ah! I almost forgot you came as an agent.”

Director Lee Jin-won’s expression hardened as soon as he heard my words, and he put down the can of soda he was holding.

“Then I should give an answer to the affiliated player’s agent, right?”

It was nothing much, but an invisible tension rose with Director Lee Jin-won’s cold words.

“Since I received a question, let me ask you one in return. What do you think is the reason Oh Seok-hoon absolutely needs to play in our team?”

Because it was a question I was most confident in, I answered without hesitation.

“His hitting ability alone is enough to be effective in the major league right now.”

“Oh Seok-hoon?”

Lee Jin-won picked up the soda can again, took a sip, and smirked slightly.

“He’s been a proven player since his high school days. He has everything a hitter needs. You saw the games back then, too, but he was known as a hitting genius.”

“That was because he was an amateur. You can’t compare it to the professional stage.”

Director Lee Jin-won shook his head without the slightest hesitation.

“Excuse me, but he definitely has the ability to succeed in the professional league. I can prove it.”

“Prove it? With what qualifications?”

“Pardon?”

“You don’t have a proper player career, and you don’t have any experience working in the field, do you? Just because you suddenly joined an agency doesn’t mean you’re qualified, does it?”

His words hit so close to home that I couldn’t immediately think of a rebuttal.

Director Lee Jin-won looked at me and continued, smirking.

“Okay. I understand that you have to take the side of your affiliated player since you just started working as an agent. But I don’t have time to listen to such ridiculous stories.”

I pretended to ponder for a moment and then took out the data that Kim Min-hwan had sent me last night from my bag.

“What’s this?”

“It’s data showing how valuable Oh Seok-hoon is as a player.”

As I neatly handed over the data, Director Lee Jin-won reluctantly accepted it as if it were a nuisance.

He flipped through a few pages at the beginning and then tossed it on the table with a nonchalant expression.

“These things are necessary, but baseball isn’t done with numbers. The real part is what’s hidden behind these numbers.”

“But you can’t deny the facts that concrete data is proving.”

“Data is just the past. Is there any guarantee that he’ll do well in the future just because he did well in the past?”

“But Oh Seok-hoon hasn’t even been given a proper opportunity to prove his potential.”

“A proper opportunity? I can’t agree with that at all. If giving him that much playing time is not enough, then how much more should we give him?”

Director Lee Jin-won shook his head vehemently in protest.

“I’m not just talking about the number of appearances. Oh Seok-hoon has rarely played in key positions among them.”

“Look. Baseball is a team sport. The team can’t move for one player; the player has to play the role needed by the team.”

The conversation wasn’t going the way I had planned.

To bring the flow back to my side, a definite change of atmosphere was needed.

I picked up the data that Director Lee Jin-won had thrown on the table and showed him the necessary parts.

“As you can see here, Oh Seok-hoon’s hitting performance is significantly better when he plays as a right fielder than in other positions. The same goes for defense. His ability to make outs with accurate throws is also excellent. If he only plays as a fixed right fielder, he can fully play the necessary role.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Director Lee Jin-won, with a contorted expression, snatched the data as if to take it away.

He seemed to be trying to confirm something in the data.

But his next action was completely unexpected.

Tear. Tear.

Director Lee Jin-won was tearing up the data he had taken right there.

“Director?”

“Don’t call me ‘Director.’ What are you trying to do right now!”

“Yes? I’m using concrete data to…….”

“You like data so much. Are you trying to teach me now!”

I froze at the loud shout that echoed through the room.

“I tried to respect you as much as possible because you came from the agency, but this is not it. If that’s the case, why don’t you just be the director?”

“……!”

“I’m a championship-winning director. Why? Because I’m a minor league coach, you think my skills are also minor league and you can ignore me?”

“That’s not it…….”

“Enough. Behave like an agent and take care of the players. If you want to be directly involved in the game, you can be the director yourself.”

I could feel the deep anger in Director Lee Jin-won’s blazing eyes.

* * *

“Ha…….”

I sighed deeply as I left the director’s office.

I thought that even if Director Lee Jin-won’s personality was erratic, things would go well if I just talked according to what I had prepared.

But I never imagined it would turn out this bad.

‘Was I too naive?’

That wasn’t it.

I had meticulously prepared everything from data research to the player’s potential and the most suitable position for the player.

But the reason things turned out this way was because I failed to read Director Lee Jin-won’s pride and desires.

“Right……. The moment I presented statistical data, he thought his experience and abilities were being completely ignored…….”

And one more thing.

For him, who was coveting the position of a major league team coach, immediate performance was the most important thing.

There was no way Oh Seok-hoon, who hadn’t even properly established himself in the minor leagues, would catch his eye.

‘What do I do now?’

Today’s meeting was much more twisted than expected, making it difficult to come up with an alternative.

Moreover, considering Director Lee Jin-won’s personality, it seemed like the aftermath would last for a long time.

‘Should I really request a trade?’

As I was walking aimlessly with that thought,

“Hyun-woo hyung [older brother/male friend]!”

I heard someone calling out happily.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw Oh Seok-hoon walking with a few other players.

“Oh, Seok-hoon.”

“You came early?”

“Yeah. I had some other business.”

“Hello, senior.”

Another player next to him greeted me.

“Oh, yeah. You’re working hard.”

I naturally shook hands with him.

The information window popped up above that player’s head.

-He has a longing for home run hitters.

-He could hit more home runs if he increased his accuracy with a level swing instead of an upper swing.

The information window was no longer unfamiliar.

But I felt like I had been hit hard when I saw Park Seong-ju’s information window.

As I stood there silently for a long time, Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju tilted their heads and looked at me.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

The dazed mind returned when Oh Seok-hoon lightly touched my shoulder.

Ah!

Yes, this is it.

Seeing Park Seong-ju’s information window gave me a solution.

“You guys are going to train now, right?”

“Yes. We have to.”

“Let’s go together. I’ll help you.”

I put my hands on the shoulders of Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju, who were looking bewildered, and headed to the training practice field with them.