Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 26

New Roommate (1)

“Hyung [Korean honorific for older brother or male friend]! Open the door quickly.”

“How did you know to come here? Wait a minute. I’m coming out now.”

I hurriedly shoved my feet into my shoes and rushed to the front gate.

Click.

The person standing beyond the door was Oh Seok-hoon.

“Wow.”

He exclaimed, looking around the house.

“The team leader said I could look forward to it, and this house is really amazing. There’s even a second floor?”

His eyes widened as he admired the building for a long time.

Woof! Woof woof!

Surprised, I turned my head to see a puppy in Oh Seok-hoon’s arms.

“Who’s this?”

“It’s my dog. I brought him because I heard there was a yard here… Hyung, are you afraid of dogs by any chance?”

“I’m not afraid.”

“That’s a relief.”

Oh Seok-hoon carefully put the puppy down.

As if he liked the wide yard, the puppy started running around so fast that his legs were barely visible.

Just by looking at him running around, I could tell how excited he was.

A smile crept onto my face, even though I don’t particularly like dogs.

I heard a rustling sound and turned my gaze to see boxes piled up behind Oh Seok-hoon, including a carrier.

“What’s all this?”

“It’s my luggage. It’s not that much, is it?”

“Luggage?”

As I tilted my head, Oh Seok-hoon picked up a box.

“Then where should I put this?”

“What? Are you moving in here?”

I was so surprised that Oh Seok-hoon tilted his head instead.

“Didn’t you hear about it from Hyung? I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I told the team leader. That I wanted to move in too.”

“Really?”

“The team leader said I could come starting today. Isn’t that right?”

“It’s totally possible. But isn’t your current place closer to the stadium?”

“It is, but… I think Hyung has been busy lately. It’ll be easier to ask you things if we live together. And I heard all the training equipment is here.”

Now that I think about it, I haven’t been able to manage Oh Seok-hoon much since he was promoted to the first team.

I’ve just been checking the game results every day and sending him messages with what he needs.

I need to focus and pay attention to him again.

It didn’t take long to move Oh Seok-hoon’s luggage.

There weren’t any heavy items except for the equipment bag, so there were no difficulties.

As soon as the door opened, Oh Seok-hoon looked around excitedly and exclaimed.

“Wow. It’s clean inside too. Hyung, are you living here alone right now?”

“Yeah. Until now.”

“I saw a second floor from outside?”

“There’s a basement too. It’s an indoor training room, and all the exercise equipment is in there. I haven’t even taken off the plastic wrap yet.”

“Really? I heard it would be good for training, and it’s true.”

Oh Seok-hoon pressed down on the living room sofa a few times and then sat down carefully.

“Then which room should I use?”

“Look around and use whichever one is comfortable. Except for the room I’m using over there.”

I pointed to my room in the corner of the first floor.

“Then I’ll use the one right across from it.”

Oh Seok-hoon answered without hesitation.

“Should I help you unpack?”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t have much luggage, and I feel more comfortable organizing it myself.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. But is there anything here? I don’t see any stores around here.”

“That’s right. There’s really nothing.”

It was hard to get around without a car.

The cook that the company was supposed to send was scheduled to start next week.

“Then how do you eat?”

“I order delivery or go out to eat. What do you want to do? Should we go out and get some meat?”

“Let’s do that. I don’t have a game tomorrow anyway.”

“Let’s go quickly. I’m hungry.”

I put on another layer of outerwear and left the house with Oh Seok-hoon.

As we were about to open the gate and go out, the puppy who had been playing in the yard came wagging his tail.

“Luffy. I’ll be back soon, wait a little bit.”

Oh Seok-hoon stroked the puppy’s head.

I also went over and stroked the puppy’s head.

I could feel the soft texture and warm body temperature.

Having a new member of the family made it feel a little more like home.

* * *

Finally, the long regular season was over.

Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo showed great performances until the last game, but the Buffaloes finished 6th, unfortunately failing to advance to the postseason.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I knocked and carefully opened the door to the CEO’s office.

Im Ye-ji was looking at the monitor with a serious expression.

Then, when she met my eyes, she smiled brightly and stood up from her seat.

“Hyun-woo. Come on in.”

Im Ye-ji, who had come to the conference table, gestured for me to sit down.

“Oh Seok-hoon’s performance was amazing until the last game of the season.”

“He’s a player with the potential to do even better than he is now. If he plays a full-time season next year, you can expect even better results.”

A faint smile appeared on Im Ye-ji’s face.

“Personally, I like people like Hyun-woo. People who prove things with results rather than words.”

“Thank you.”

I didn’t know what to do with the sudden praise.

“The reason I asked you to come in today is that I wanted to give Hyun-woo a new job.”

The word “new job” made my body twitch for a moment.

It was closer to excitement than fear.

“Do you happen to know that Na Joon-ho is with our agency?”

“Of course. I know him well. He’s also becoming a free agent [FA] this season.”

“That’s right. How about Hyun-woo preparing for that FA contract?”

“Me, a FA contract?”

It was a completely unexpected proposal.

A FA contract was on a different level than a typical salary negotiation.

Moreover, it was a major source of income for the agency.

I couldn’t even negotiate my own salary properly when I was a player, so can I really do well?

“But you don’t have to feel pressured. I’m not saying you have to handle the contract alone. I’ll be there with you during the negotiations.”

That made me feel a little better.

“The core task that Hyun-woo will be in charge of is planning how to maximize Na Joon-ho’s value, so that we can get the best possible terms in the negotiations.”

“I understand.”

Analyzing game data to find points wasn’t that difficult.

“A player like Na Joon-ho will probably have every team in the country trying to sign him. In fact, this contract is like we’re holding the knife [having the upper hand]. But how good of a contract we can give the player is another matter, right?”

That was an accurate point.

Na Joon-ho of the Dragons was already considered the best outfielder in the country.

He had the hitting ability and power to hit a home run at any time, and he was also a pitcher until high school, so he had a strong arm.

As a result, not only domestic clubs, including his current team, the Dragons, but also Major League teams were showing interest.

“Negotiations will begin in earnest after the postseason is over. Can you do well?”

“Then should I have it ready before the end of the Korean Series [championship series of the KBO]?”

“Please report on the progress from time to time.”

I nodded, organizing the schedule in my head.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Ah! And teams whose season is over will be conducting salary negotiations. Team leader Kim will be in charge of most of them, but try to work with him and get some practice.”

“Yes! I understand.”

Im Ye-ji smiled silently, as if she liked my confident answer.

As soon as I left the CEO’s office, I approached Kim Min-hwan.

“Um… Team Leader.”

“Oh. Yeah, I heard you’re going to handle the FA.”

He already knew.

“I just had a conversation with the CEO, and she told me to work with you on the salary negotiations for the other players.”

“That’s right. We need to prepare for salary negotiations. There’s a lot to do.”

With that, Kim Min-hwan brought a pile of documents that had been piled up next to him and placed them in front of me.

“I thought Hyun-woo would be more comfortable with analog, so I printed out all the data you might need for this negotiation. Phew, I almost died.”

“Ah… Thank you.”

When I rummaged through the data, it was the regular season game data for the agency’s players this year.

At first glance, it was enough to fill three or four books.

“All the necessary data is there. Make a presentation using the data when you go into negotiations.”

Is he thinking of me, or is he trying to trick me?

I couldn’t grasp his true intentions, but Kim Min-hwan was rubbing his shoulders alone with difficulty and turning his head.

Okay. This is it.

I went behind Kim Min-hwan and put my hand on his shoulder.

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“I thought your shoulders were too tight.”

“Oh! Oh oh. You’re doing it really well. Where did you learn this?”

“I used to massage my parents often.”

His shoulders were so tight that my hands felt weak after just a few rubs.

Then, I carefully raised my head and looked at Kim Min-hwan’s updated information window.

-Deeply concerned about the year-end performance announcement.

The baseball team was the department with the largest sales proportion in YJ Agency.

Baseball was the most popular sport in Korea, and the market size was large because major domestic companies had entered the market.

Therefore, it was natural to have better performance compared to other sports teams.

The key was how much better the performance was compared to last year and compared to other departments.

Considering that, it was clear that this year’s performance was not satisfactory.

Is that why he asked me the other day if I could bring in a new player?

If so, it was necessary to help him with something at this timing.

That way, I can focus on the negotiations comfortably.

“Team Leader, you asked me last time if there were any players worth signing to the agency, right?”

“Do you happen to have a player to bring in? It would be nice if we could sign a contract by the end of the year.”

At my words, Kim Min-hwan’s expression brightened as if he had found an oasis in the desert.