Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 51

Small Flapping of Wings Creates a Butterfly Effect (3)

“I’m sorry.”

Park Seong-ju looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“Did you tell me everything without leaving anything out?”

“Yes. I think I told you everything.”

Since there were things I was hearing for the first time, it seemed he continued broadcasting even after I fell asleep.

Thankfully, there wasn’t anything controversial in the stories he told afterward.

“Okay. Park Seong-ju, can you step outside for a moment?”

“Yes…”

Park Seong-ju answered in a barely audible voice and went outside with slumped shoulders.

A moment of silence filled the conference room.

Lim Ye-ji sighed briefly and said,

“This problem is mostly my fault. I heard that Park Seong-ju uses SNS frequently, but I made excuses that I was busy and didn’t think much of it. Eventually, this problem arose.”

Lim Ye-ji was saying it was her fault, but in reality, my responsibility was greater. After signing the management contract with Park Seong-ju, I was so focused on the salary negotiations and Na Jun-ho’s FA [Free Agent] contract that I didn’t pay enough attention.

“No. I should have managed Park Seong-ju better. I’m sorry.”

Lim Ye-ji shook her head at my apology.

“We can’t do anything about what’s already happened. Let’s find a solution from now on.”

“But it’s ridiculous to discipline him for something like this. Honestly, it’s not like Seong-ju said anything that wasn’t true, right?”

Kim Min-hwan put down the pen he was holding with a dumbfounded expression and continued,

“Frankly speaking, is Seok-hoon’s improved performance thanks to the Buffaloes’ minor league development system? It’s because our Hyun-woo helped him properly.”

Our Hyun-woo?

Did I hear that wrong?

Why is he suddenly being so cheesy?

Well, I had a rough idea why.

– I am happy with the satisfactory results of last year’s performance evaluation.

Of course, it was much better than being hostile, but I didn’t want this kind of burdensome reaction.

I quickly changed the subject to escape the awkward situation.

“This incident only revealed the internal problems of the club, and it’s not like Park Seong-ju caused any social controversy, so wouldn’t we be able to get help if we used public opinion?”

Although this issue started because of Park Seong-ju, there was hardly any criticism of Park Seong-ju himself.

Most of the opinions criticized the operation and development system of the Buffaloes’ minor league, which had already been pointed out as a problem several times.

In fact, it was a problem that several baseball officials and sports columnists had already pointed out years ago.

And it was easy to guess who was at the center of this situation.

I could never forget the way he nonchalantly spoke in informal language and tore up the documents I brought in front of my face.

Also, too coincidentally, the Buffaloes’ minor league development system had been deteriorating since he took office as the minor league manager.

“Then, how can we use public opinion?”

Lim Ye-ji looked at me and asked.

“We have to lie low no matter what. The arrows of public opinion aren’t flying towards us right now.”

“Hyun-woo is right, CEO [Chief Executive Officer].”

Kim Min-hwan nodded vigorously at my words.

It’s too much… Please stop it.

“The Buffaloes’ broken system should be blamed, not Park Seong-ju. And it’s unlikely that the Buffaloes will impose heavy penalties on Park Seong-ju.”

“Do you have a reason to be so sure?”

“Park Seong-ju is the Buffaloes’ cleanup hitter next season.”

It was cold but realistic.

Even if they make the same mistake, players who are not good at baseball are severely punished under the pretext of setting an example.

But if they are good at baseball, they quietly return after a few years of self-reflection, even if they drive under the influence.

Lim Ye-ji pondered for a moment and then nodded as if she had made up her mind.

“Um… Then, let’s create materials and send them to the media to ask them to write articles so that the focus doesn’t get blurred in the middle. Please prepare so that the media can upload articles as quickly as possible. But only include accurate facts. Absolutely no content that is even slightly different from the truth should be included.”

“Yes. I’ll proceed right away.”

“And make sure to prepare the statement of reasons to be submitted to the Buffaloes’ disciplinary committee without any problems.”

“Yes.”

I nodded to Lim Ye-ji and hurriedly left the CEO’s office with Kim Min-hwan.

* * *

As soon as Kim Min-hwan and I sat down, we moved busily without even having time to talk.

To get the article up as quickly as possible, it seemed faster to find and provide the data ourselves.

While I was finding and organizing columns dealing with the problems of the Buffaloes’ development system, Kim Min-hwan was finding actual game data that matched the content next to me.

I tried my best to base it on facts without including personal feelings about Lee Jin-won, but I couldn’t help but include a lot of criticism about Lee Jin-won.

Of course, it was all based on content that could be clearly substantiated.

It didn’t take long to create the data because I already knew it better than anyone else.

“Is this good enough?”

I turned the laptop around and showed the screen to Kim Min-hwan.

Kim Min-hwan nodded with a satisfied expression as he read the article I had organized.

“The content is really flawless. But maybe…”

Kim Min-hwan looked at me and asked cautiously.

“…?”

“Hyun-woo, you don’t have any ill feelings towards Manager Lee Jin-won, do you?”

“Me? Why would I have ill feelings towards him?”

I managed my expression as if nothing was wrong.

If I talked about what happened with Lee Jin-won now, I could be misunderstood as responding emotionally.

I was sure I could put my hand on my heart and say that I was based on facts.

“It’s important to protect our players, but broadly speaking, Lee Jin-won is also Hyun-woo’s senior. I don’t think it’s easy to criticize a senior to this extent.”

“I didn’t make up anything that didn’t happen. And the article isn’t going out under my name.”

“That’s true… But still…”

“And is that important now? We need to help our player recover his mentality quickly.”

“That’s true.”

I was able to avoid Kim Min-hwan’s barrage of questions only after pretending to be urgent.

I immediately sent an email to Lee Soo-min and even called to ask for a favor.

Lee Soo-min said he would upload it as quickly as possible.

And soon after, I was able to check Lee Soo-min’s article that had been uploaded.

└If the manager’s game management is this bad, shouldn’t the club have been reformed?

└Change everything right now. What if all the fans leave?

└Buffaloes general manager, please read this article.

└Let’s spread the word and make this article the number one hit!

The fans’ arrows were perfectly aimed at Manager Lee Jin-won and the coaches called his line, as we intended.

In addition, follow-up reports from other media followed in droves.

For the next few days, there was a heated discussion about what the real problem with the Buffaloes’ development system was.

It was no longer difficult to find Park Seong-ju’s name, which was the starting point of the issue.

I could finally take a breather.

* * *

As soon as I finished work at the agency, I took Park Seong-ju home.

Park Seong-ju was looking out the window the whole way without saying a word.

Then, as soon as he arrived home, he trudged upstairs to the second floor.

“Seong-ju, don’t worry too much and get some rest.”

“…”

Park Seong-ju didn’t react to my words.

He probably can’t hear anything right now.

I didn’t say anything more and quietly watched his back.

I thought he only had a bright and cheerful side, but seeing this side of him made me feel unfamiliar and sad.

Then, Oh Seok-hoon, who had been quietly watching from the corner, approached.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend]. How is Seong-ju?”

“How could he be okay? This is probably the first time he’s ever had his name mentioned like this.”

I weakly placed the carrier I brought in the corner.

“By the way…”

Oh Seok-hoon looked around as if someone was listening, then whispered,

“It looks like the club is going to turn things upside down this time.”

“At the Buffaloes?”

“Yes. They said they’re going to reorganize the coaches’ positions properly before going to spring camp.”

“Really? Who did you hear it from?”

“A close front office employee told me. So the coaches are meeting with the general manager one by one right now.”

“Really?”

It seemed like things were getting bigger than I thought.

“And the jackpot is…”

Oh Seok-hoon paused for a moment, then widened his eyes and continued,

“There’s a high chance that Manager Lee Jin-won will be fired this time.”

“Really?”

Lee Jin-won had been unshakable at the Buffaloes for over 15 years.

Moreover, I heard that he was so close to the Buffaloes president that they met frequently.

Could General Manager Choi Min-sung get rid of Lee Jin-won?

It was definitely the most necessary decision for the Buffaloes right now, but it wouldn’t be easy at all.

“Is that really possible?”

“It doesn’t seem easy, but it seems like the general manager is really determined this time.”

The moment Lee Jin-won tore up the paper in front of my eyes and shouted came back to my mind once again.

It was a memory close to trauma for me.

“And Coach Kim Yong-min has also decided to leave.”

“What? Why is Coach Kim Yong-min?”

What is this again?

The Buffaloes couldn’t possibly not know that Coach Kim Yong-min is recognized as the best hitting coach in the country.

“I heard he met with the general manager and said he would resign.”

“He said that himself? Are you sure?”

“This is just my opinion, but Seong-ju was talking about hitting when that came up. I wonder if that’s why.”

I can’t believe he would choose to resign himself.

I didn’t expect this.

But when I thought about it again, I thought that the hitting coach might have felt bad.

That’s definitely not what I meant…

I was worried that Coach Kim Yong-min might be misunderstanding greatly.

“I’ll be back in a minute. And make sure Seong-ju eats later.”

“I’ll drag him to the table even if I have to carry him.”

I chuckled and grabbed the car keys and left the house.

Ah!

Then something suddenly flashed through my mind.

I came back, opened the door, and stuck my head in.

“Seok-hoon-ah [term of endearment].?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Coach Kim Yong-min lives?”

Actually, it’s my first time meeting him in person.”