Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 33

33. My First Salary Negotiation (5)

I took out four sheets of paper and handed one to everyone, including myself.

“What is this?”

“This is the sales data for Buffaloes team uniforms this year.”

I sat back down and picked up the sheet in front of me.

“Fifteen percent of the Buffaloes uniforms sold this year had Oh Seok-hoon’s name on them. This is remarkable for a player who was called up in August and played only 43 games, about a quarter of the season.”

I glanced up and saw that the president and Kim Min-hwan’s expressions had completely changed.

“You already know that Oh Seok-hoon’s SNS [Social Networking Service] follower count is among the top five on the Buffaloes. It’s old news that fans came from far away to see him even when he was in the minor leagues. After being called up to the majors this year, his follower count has been steadily increasing as he plays more games. The saying that Oh Seok-hoon only needs to play baseball well didn’t come out of nowhere.”

I placed the data back on the table and looked at the president, continuing, “As you can clearly see from the uniform sales, Oh Seok-hoon has already brought a considerable amount of revenue to the team this year, even outside of the games themselves. If he plays full-time as a starting right fielder next year, the Buffaloes’ uniform sales will reach a completely different level.”

This time, the president cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Isn’t it a bit unreasonable to compare him with players from other teams based solely on the number of games played, without considering these other factors? Don’t you think so, Team Manager of Operations?”

The Team Manager of Operations met my eyes, smiled awkwardly, and avoided my gaze.

“Well…”

As the president and the Team Manager of Operations remained silent, a brief silence fell over the conference room.

“And there’s one more important thing.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me at my words, which broke the silence.

It was the perfect moment to deliver the final punch that would seal the deal.

“You know that Na Joon-ho, who is considered the biggest free agent [FA] this year, is represented by our company, right?”

“Of course. I’m well aware.”

The president swallowed hard when I brought up the FA situation.

For a moment, I felt like I was in control.

“From the Buffaloes’ point of view, isn’t Na Joon-ho someone you should seriously consider signing?”

“That’s… that’s right.”

Even though Na Joon-ho’s main position overlapped with Oh Seok-hoon’s, if they could sign a player with Na Joon-ho’s skills, it would be wise to bring him in first and then figure out the position situation.

If one of them moved to left field or center field, they could create a perfect outfield with tremendous offensive power and solid defense.

“In fact, many teams are interested in Na Joon-ho, and the player’s own opinion is also important, so I can’t give you a definite answer that the Buffaloes will definitely be able to sign him at this point. But if you want, I can at least create an opportunity for you to negotiate first.”

“How can you promise that right now?”

The president’s eyes sparkled as he clasped his slightly trembling hands, as if trying to hide them.

“Because I’m in charge of those negotiations.”

I smiled at the president.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“Please do.”

The president signaled the Team Manager of Operations to get up, pushed his chair back, and stood up.

Kim Min-hwan smiled broadly and showed off his composure with a slightly exaggerated gesture.

The negotiation concluded shortly after the president and the Team Manager of Operations returned from their private discussion.

Kim Min-hwan and I quietly left the Buffaloes office, receiving greetings from the employees.

We walked in silence, neither of us speaking.

Ding.

Fortunately, the elevator that arrived was empty.

No one else got on before the doors closed.

The moment the elevator doors closed completely, Kim Min-hwan and I made eye contact.

“Yeah!”

We shouted for joy, neither of us initiating it.

We were so excited that we even gave each other a vigorous high-five, shaking the elevator.

Oh Seok-hoon: 100 million won, Park Seong-joo: 90 million won.

Both players signed contracts with conditions that paid them higher salaries than our initial goals.

I had achieved thrilling results in my first salary negotiation.

“We’ve just finalized an important contract, how about dinner if you don’t have any plans?”

“Sounds good.”

I nodded enthusiastically at Kim Min-hwan’s question.

* * *

Kim Min-hwan and I went to a nearby chicken restaurant.

It was after typical office hours, but there was plenty of space since it was a weekday.

We were able to snag the most comfortable-looking seats.

“Boss, two fried chickens and two 500mL draft beers, please.”

When the employee approached, Kim Min-hwan ordered food familiarly without even opening the menu.

As usual, he didn’t ask for my opinion.

Even though almost everyone likes chicken, it still wasn’t very considerate.

At least it was a good day to finish the contract well.

“They fry the chicken really well here. You’ll like it.”

“Can I look forward to it?”

Kim Min-hwan nodded vigorously with a confident expression.

“Wow!”

Suddenly, there were loud shouts from a group of people.

I turned my head to see what was happening.

They were watching the Korean Series on TV.

It was the moment when Na Joon-ho of the Dragons hit another home run.

Na Joon-ho raised his right hand and rounded the bases.

The passionate cheers of the Dragons fans on the screen seemed as hot as the heat pouring out of a blast furnace.

“I can practically hear that guy’s price going up from here.”

Kim Min-hwan gave a wry smile.

“Are you in a good mood?”

“Actually, I’m neither bad nor good.”

“Why? Aren’t you happy when your players do well?”

“I am happy… but I feel a little weird even though I’m happy.”

While we were talking, the employee placed two glasses of draft beer in front of us.

“Let’s have a drink.”

Clink.

I clinked glasses with Kim Min-hwan and took a long gulp of the cool beer.

“Kya. As expected, the taste of beer after finishing work is the best.”

Kim Min-hwan put down his beer glass and ate a few pretzels with a satisfied expression.

Then, I suddenly remembered what I wanted to ask Kim Min-hwan.

“Oh, right. Team Manager, have you ever played baseball before?”

“Huh…? How did you know that?”

Kim Min-hwan paused, stared at me intently, and asked.

“You have, right?”

“How did you know? No one’s supposed to know.”

“Are you sure no one knows? Your email ID is powerhitter. It’s like you’re telling me too blatantly, isn’t it?”

“Are you really saying you figured it out just from that?”

Kim Min-hwan looked at me with disbelief.

“And just by looking at your build, Team Manager, I can tell that you used to exercise a lot.”

“Huh…”

Kim Min-hwan let out a hollow laugh, as if he was feeling deflated.

“But why did you stop?”

“I didn’t stop, I couldn’t. I really wanted to.”

Looking at his darkening expression as he sighed, I paused.

I could sense the loneliness in Kim Min-hwan’s eyes, as if he was thinking about those days.

“Is there a reason why you couldn’t?”

“It costs a lot of money to play baseball. When I was in school, my family couldn’t afford to support me that much. It cost a lot of money back then, although it was less than it is now.”

“Ah…”

“I even heard that I was a promising player back then.”

To pursue sports to become a professional player beyond the level of a hobby requires a significant financial investment.

The monthly membership fee for the school baseball team, the cost of equipment such as gloves and bats that had to be purchased regularly, and the cost of private coaching were all basic expenses.

And if the school went on an overseas training camp in the winter, the costs became astronomical.

Even if you kept it to a minimum, you needed well over 100 million won in support.

It was a huge sum of money that was difficult to manage unless the family had considerable financial resources.

I was momentarily at a loss for words when I heard something I didn’t expect.

Kim Min-hwan quietly raised his beer glass, perhaps because he didn’t like the awkward atmosphere.

Then he took a sip of beer.

Soon after, two steaming plates of fried chicken were placed in front of us.

The chicken looked crispy just by looking at it.

“Wow. It looks amazing today. Try it. It’s delicious.”

Kim Min-hwan’s eyes, which had been full of gloom, completely changed when he saw the chicken.

“I like this style of chicken too.”

“Really? Hyun-woo knows what’s up. I think that eating chicken is not just about the meat itself, but the fried coating is also an important part of the experience.”

Kim Min-hwan was excited and spoke as if he was pleased that I shared his taste.

“Please, have this first.”

I picked up a chicken leg and handed it to Kim Min-hwan.

“Oh… Thank you. You should eat quickly too, before I eat it all.”

We stopped talking for a while and focused on eating chicken.

Before long, most of the chicken had disappeared.

As our hunger subsided, the conversation resumed.

“Now that the contract with the Buffaloes is over today, you can prepare for FA negotiations with CEO Im starting tomorrow.”

“Do you have any tips for FA negotiations?”

Kim Min-hwan was lost in thought for a moment at my question.

“Um… Think about what choice is best for the player.”

“A choice for the player?”

“It seems ideal to be able to negotiate freely with all teams when you become a free agent, but that may not always be the case. It can be hard to make a decision when there are too many options.”

“Really…?”

To be honest, I didn’t immediately understand what Kim Min-hwan meant.

From the player’s point of view, the FA contract was almost the only opportunity to have their value evaluated in the market, and it was an opportunity to earn a lot of money with a long-term contract, unlike the regular salary negotiations.

“The player and the agency don’t always think the same way. There will be times when you get betrayed by the very axe you trusted. FA negotiations are truly a battlefield where you can’t predict what will happen next.”

I nodded and concentrated.

On the TV screen, the Dragons players who had won the first game were high-fiving.

“The war is about to begin.”

Kim Min-hwan raised his beer glass to me.

I clinked glasses with him and finished the remaining beer.