Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 184

Tough Growing Pains (5)

As soon as the game ended, I went to Choi Jeong-hwan’s place to meet him.

After experiencing a blown save for the first time, there was no way his mental state could be unaffected.

Moreover, it was a walk-off home run, so the shock would have been even greater.

While I was happy about Na Jun-ho’s dramatic walk-off home run, I couldn’t shake the regret that it had to be against Choi Jeong-hwan.

For a closer, a blown save was inevitable at some point, and it was certain to follow him constantly in the future.

However, to grow into the best closer in the future, he had to be able to shake it off and get back up in the next game as if nothing had happened, even after a blown save.

Of course, handling all of that alone wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

To overcome a first-time experience well, someone’s help was needed.

That was why I was waiting there late at night.

After waiting for a while at the entrance of Choi Jeong-hwan’s apartment, I could see Choi Jeong-hwan walking towards me, looking dejected.

His shoulders were slumped, and he seemed to have no energy with each step he took.

I quickly opened the car door and approached Choi Jeong-hwan.

“Jeong-hwan!”

“Oh, Manager?”

Choi Jeong-hwan, confirming it was me, quickly moved his feet.

“You’re out a bit late today?”

“I rested at the stadium for a bit.”

It must have been difficult to leave the stadium as usual.

“Jeong-hwan, shall we go for a drive?”

“Now?”

He seemed surprised by my sudden suggestion.

“Tomorrow is a day off, right? There’s no team training either, is there?”

“That’s true…”

“Then it’s settled. Let’s go quickly before it gets any later.”

“Where are we going?”

“Well… you’ll see when we get there.”

I put my hand on Choi Jeong-hwan’s shoulder and we got into the car together.

* * *

Because it was late at night, the roads were clear, and we could drive smoothly without traffic.

“Are we going far?”

“Since we’re going, we should take a proper rest.”

I smiled at Choi Jeong-hwan.

“I’m having this kind of experience thanks to you, Manager.”

“Have you never left this far at night before?”

“During home games, I go straight home, and during away games, I just rest at the hotel.”

“Actually, me too. I think it’s been a long time since I’ve gone out like this at night.”

“We’re similar, then.”

“That’s why we get along so well.”

I smiled at Choi Jeong-hwan.

After talking about this and that for about two hours, the East Sea [Sea of Japan] 펼쳐져 was 펼쳐져 in front of me.

Swaaaash-

Swaaaash- crash.

As soon as we got out of the car, we could hear the sound of the waves.

Choi Jeong-hwan and I bought drinks and light snacks from the convenience store and walked along the coast.

“Jeong-hwan, let’s sit here.”

“Yes.”

We sat down by the sea where the cool sea breeze was blowing.

It was a dark night, so we couldn’t see the horizon, but just listening to the sound of the waves made me feel like my chest was opening up.

Taking a deep breath, I felt like clear air was entering my whole body.

The sea breeze still felt cold, but it was rather good for shaking off the stuffy feeling.

“It’s refreshing, isn’t it?”

“It is. I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

“Do you like the sea?”

“Yes, I always come here with my family at least once after the season ends.”

“Come to think of it, how is your mother doing?”

“Yes. She always says she misses you whenever Manager Kang appears on the news.”

“Really? I should visit her again.”

The last time I saw her was not long after I became an agent, so a lot of time had already passed.

“She’ll be very happy if you come.”

“Is your sister doing well too?”

“Of course. She watches baseball every day these days, so I think she’s almost becoming an expert.”

Talking about his family seemed to have eased his mind, and a faint smile appeared on Choi Jeong-hwan’s face.

Shall we get to the main point now?

“Being a closer isn’t easy, is it?”

“No… It’s really not easy. It feels different from being a starting pitcher. Since the innings I have to cover are short, I thought I could do much better if I threw with all my might… but it doesn’t seem to be working out as I thought it would.”

Choi Jeong-hwan’s expression, after taking a deep breath, was filled with deep worry.

“It’s your first time being a closer. How could you be good at it from the start?”

“I have experience pitching as a reliever in the All-Star game last year and in the postseason, so I thought I could do much better than just doing it…”

“Jeong-hwan, you have enough potential to become the best closer.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have recommended it if that weren’t the case.”

“…”

Choi Jeong-hwan’s face was still full of worries.

“Let’s throw away the memories of the last game into the sea. It’s already in the past.”

“I should, sigh…”

Choi Jeong-hwan and I turned our heads together and spent some time looking at the sea.

Swaaaash-

Swaaaash- crash.

After staring blankly at the sea and sharing various stories, it was already past 3 a.m.

It was time to get up and leave to avoid the rush hour traffic on the way back to the dorm.

“Shall we go back to the dorm now?”

“Manager, I’ll drive on the way back.”

Choi Jeong-hwan reached out to take the key I was holding.

“Don’t worry. I can sleep during the day.”

“Still, you’re driving such a long distance…”

“I think we’ll arrive around morning anyway, so how about going to the dorm for the first time in a while? You can catch some sleep too.”

“Should we? I’ve been missing our agency’s meals too.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I drove the car towards the agency’s dorm.

Fortunately, the road back wasn’t congested, so it didn’t take too long.

Choi Jeong-hwan fell asleep for a while, probably because he was tired.

* * *

Choi Jeong-hwan and I, who had returned to the dorm, took a nap and woke up.

And I took Choi Jeong-hwan down to the training field.

It was important to ease Choi Jeong-hwan’s heavy heart by talking to him, but that alone couldn’t completely solve the problem.

It was also necessary to present practical solutions that would be helpful in the game.

In fact, what Choi Jeong-hwan needed right now was clear.

Choi Jeong-hwan, who has good velocity, didn’t need to force himself to throw the ball into the corners.

However, in order to become a player like Oh Seung-soo, the best closer in Korea, it was necessary to have not only velocity but also precise control to freely utilize the strike zone.

To do that, he had to be able to throw balls that go back and forth between the inside and outside, not just adjusting the height from outside the strike zone like he was doing now.

“Jeong-hwan, I’ll stand here, so throw the ball once.”

“Yes? You, Manager?”

Choi Jeong-hwan’s eyes widened.

“Wouldn’t it be most certain if I stood there rather than someone else?”

“No, but… to be honest, I don’t have the confidence to throw the ball if you’re standing there…”

“You can’t throw it at all?”

“Sigh… Just thinking about it makes my hands tremble…”

Looking at Choi Jeong-hwan’s hands, it wasn’t a lie.

“Then there’s nothing I can do. Wait a moment.”

To be honest, I wasn’t confident in facing Choi Jeong-hwan’s ball as it was, not another player’s.

So I had prepared something in advance.

I brought the prop I had prepared in advance.

It was a standee [life-size cardboard cutout] made exactly like I looked when I was a player.

It was a bit crude because it was made in a hurry, but it looked like me in my player days at a glance because it was made with the actual height and even the color of the equipment on the uniform I was wearing last.

I stood next to my standee and looked at Choi Jeong-hwan.

“Isn’t this almost the same as me standing there?”

“It is. It’s exactly like you, Manager.”

Choi Jeong-hwan burst into laughter.

It may seem funny, but it was the best way to gradually eliminate Choi Jeong-hwan’s trauma that I could do right now.

Rather, if I were really standing in the batter’s box, it would be difficult to even throw the ball, as he said.

“I made several of these, so you can break them as much as you want.”

Then I placed my standee in the middle of the batter’s box.

“Yes.”

Choi Jeong-hwan answered vigorously and started warming up by moving his body.

Meanwhile, I set up a machine to measure the speed and spin rate of the ball.

After a while, Choi Jeong-hwan grabbed the ball and stood on the pitcher’s mound.

And the pitching began.

Bang!

“Nice ball!”

148km/h.

Bang!

“Crazy, the ball is so good right now.”

150km/h.

I reacted with exaggerated gestures like any bullpen catcher every time he threw a ball.

Bang!

151km/h!

Bang!

153km/h!

Certainly, maybe it was because of that, but his velocity was gradually increasing.

However, although it was passing through the strike zone, it was almost entirely on the outside.

At best, the middle of the strike zone was the closest course to the body.

“Jeong-hwan, the ball you’re throwing today is really good. And from now on, try to intentionally throw it towards the body. It’s okay if you hit it.”

“Yes.”

Choi Jeong-hwan, nodding his head, took a pitching stance again.

Bang!

Bang!

You could feel it getting closer to the body little by little.

It seemed to be going smoothly,

Crack!

The standee hit by the ball made a loud noise and shattered.

“Gasp.”

Choi Jeong-hwan, startled, froze.

“Phew.”

I wasn’t much different.

If I had really been standing there, I would have had at least a blue bruise.

I tried to hide my expression, but just imagining it made my spine feel cold.

“Jeong-hwan, it’s okay. There are many standees.”

I pretended to be okay, cleaned up the broken pieces, and set up a new standee.

“Sigh…”

“And I’ll move the location a little bit.”

I placed the standee in the closest place to the strike zone.

“Sigh…”

As the distance to the batter became closer, Choi Jeong-hwan seemed more nervous.

“Jeong-hwan, you can hit it this time too. Don’t worry and throw it boldly.”

“Yes.”

After taking several deep breaths, he started pitching.

Bang!

Bang!

The ball started to go into a course closer to the body little by little.

Fortunately, the good thing was that there were no more balls hitting the standee.

Bang!

I wanted to help with the training until it went into the perfect course, but now was the time when the regular season was in full swing.

If he pitched too much, it would definitely affect the next game.

“Jeong-hwan, let’s stop here today.”

“It’s a bit disappointing, can’t I throw it more?”

Before I knew it, sweat was beading on Choi Jeong-hwan’s face.

“You might have to pitch tomorrow. It seems like it would be too much if you threw more.”

It consumed less stamina than pitching in a real game, but he had already thrown 30 pitches, so it was by no means a small number of pitches.

“That’s true, but…”

“Let’s come and do it again on the day off next week. I’ll prepare it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“It’s time to eat. Let’s go quickly, I’m hungry.”

I went up to the first floor with Choi Jeong-hwan and had a meal.

I wondered if today’s training had had some effect.