Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 77

77. The Lazy Genius (1)

I was eating a simple bowl of cereal before heading to work.

Living in the dorms, I really appreciated being able to have breakfast provided.

“Hyunwoo, are you leaving early again today?”

Huh, whose voice is that?

I turned my head to see Go Jihoon approaching me with a gentle smile.

I was so surprised that I almost spat out my cereal.

He looked so different from the Go Jihoon I had seen just a few days ago.

“Yes. I have a meeting today.”

“You’re working hard.”

Go Jihoon picked up a protein shake prepared for his meal.

Then, he came back to the table and sat across from me.

I thought he would just exchange a quick greeting and pass by, but he didn’t.

I was taken aback by his unexpected behavior, but also grateful that he approached me first.

“How’s your condition these days?”

“It’s the same as usual. My feel for throwing the ball is still there.”

“It’s amazing how you consistently manage your body throughout the season.”

“All professional players do this.”

Go Jihoon smiled awkwardly, seemingly embarrassed, and pointed at something behind me.

“Could you hand me a bottle of water back there?”

“Yes, here you go.”

I grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to Go Jihoon.

In the process, Go Jihoon’s information window updated.

-Risk of injury is increasing due to lack of rest.

Huh?

Is the lack of rest gradually affecting his performance?

He needs to be careful of injuries, especially this year.

Just watching him train, I could easily tell that Go Jihoon wasn’t getting enough rest.

I needed to become friends with him as soon as possible, even to talk about these things comfortably.

“How old is Sua?”

“She’s three years old now.”

Now, a smile began to spread across Go Jihoon’s face.

“How does it feel to raise a daughter?”

“Just a moment.”

Suddenly, Go Jihoon took out his smartphone from his pocket.

Then, he showed me photos and videos one by one.

It was Sua’s childhood.

“She looks a lot like you, doesn’t she?”

“Do you really think so?”

“She has your nose and mouth.”

“Really? Everyone says that, but I don’t really see it.”

Unlike his words, the corners of his mouth didn’t seem to want to come down.

I was only able to get up from my seat after seeing all the photos and videos, almost like a chronicle from the day Sua was born until a few days ago.

I almost missed my meeting.

* * *

The most noticeable person at today’s meeting was Kim Minhwan.

Not to mention his confident expression, his shoulders were also raised high.

He had the look of someone walking on clouds, probably because he thought he played an important role in Jang Suyeong’s trade being successful.

“Team Leader Kim, Jang Suyeong’s performance yesterday was really amazing.”

“He perfectly shut down the inning. The batters couldn’t even hit the ball. It was so refreshing to see him throw strikes with his fastball, even on TV.”

Im Yaeji smiled faintly at Kim Minhwan’s response.

“There shouldn’t be any problem with him maintaining his closer position in Angels, right?”

“Unless he suddenly gets injured, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

This time, I answered without hesitation.

“Did Jang Suyeong like the house he’ll be living in?”

“I urgently found him a monthly rental to stay in for the time being. He liked it because it was close to the stadium and the house was clean. I think he might continue living there.”

When a player suddenly moves teams, one of the agent’s jobs is to find a place for them to stay, taking care of it for the player who is in a state of chaos.

“You’ve both worked hard.”

“Thank you.”

Kim Minhwan shrugged his shoulders and replied to Im Yaeji’s words.

Im Yaeji turned over a page of the meeting materials and continued the conversation.

As she looked at the next page, Im Yaeji’s expression turned sharply dark.

“But why are So Youngjoon’s stats still like this?”

“Ah… Youngjoon.”

“He made a mistake in an important situation in yesterday’s game as well. And his batting average doesn’t seem to be going up either.”

“Yes, that’s how it is these days…”

Kim Minhwan’s confident demeanor, which he had just shown, disappeared without a trace at Im Yaeji’s sharp words.

So Youngjoon was the Pelicans’ shortstop.

He was a player who was often evaluated as having talent in hitting because he often showed home runs or long hits.

However, his fatal weakness was that his defense was very unstable, even though he was a shortstop.

To put it bluntly, his defensive skills were at a level where he would never be able to play as a starting shortstop if it weren’t for the Pelicans, a perennial bottom-ranked team.

“What is the problem with So Youngjoon’s skills being stagnant for several years?”

“Well…”

Kim Minhwan turned his head and looked at me with pleading eyes, as if he felt Im Yaeji’s gaze was piercing.

I couldn’t ignore his desperate eyes, so I had no choice but to continue the conversation.

“The reason why his growth has been slow is probably largely due to the lack of a competitive environment within the team…”

I paused for a moment and hesitated.

A thought flashed through my mind whether it was right to even say these words.

But this was an undeniable fact.

“The fact that these kinds of errors are frequent in defense means that he needs to practice more.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

Im Yaeji nodded with a stiff expression and looked at Kim Minhwan.

“Team Leader Kim, I don’t think we can just keep watching like this. What can we do to solve this problem?”

“Hmm… Youngjoon’s problem?”

Kim Minhwan couldn’t hide his embarrassment as his eyes darted around.

“His popularity seems to be declining as his performance doesn’t support him, right? I think it’s clearly revealed in the fact that his SNS [Social Networking Service] follower count isn’t increasing.”

“Oh… that’s true.”

A moment of silence flowed through the conference room as he couldn’t give a clear answer.

Im Yaeji closed the meeting materials and concluded the meeting.

“Think about what measures can be taken as quickly as possible. In this situation, the agency will have to take some action.”

“Yes…”

Kim Minhwan’s shoulders were drooping powerlessly, unlike at the beginning of the meeting.

* * *

“Here, drink up.”

Kim Minhwan handed me the coffee he brought.

Now he even makes coffee for me himself.

“Thank you.”

“Is this what you like?”

“This isn’t bad either, but the Americano [a type of coffee] from the cafe in front of the company is more delicious.”

I nodded my head in the direction of the cafe.

“Oh, really? Should I go out and buy you a cup?”

“No. It’s not like I only drink that. I just meant that it was delicious when I tried it once.”

“I’ll buy you a cup next time we go out.”

“I’ll gratefully accept it if the team leader buys it for me.”

I took a sip of the coffee Kim Minhwan made with a relaxed expression.

“By the way, what do you think we should do about So Youngjoon?”

“Well…”

It was a sudden issue, so it was difficult for me to come up with an alternative right away.

“Should we try to push for a trade again this time?”

“A trade?”

Jang Suyeong had made a good turning point through the trade, so he might have thought that this situation was similar.

“He says there’s no competition in the current team, so wouldn’t it be a stimulus to move him to a team with competition?”

“If So Youngjoon goes to a team with fierce competition right now, it will be difficult for him to even get his name on the first-team lineup. Would there be a team that would put a shortstop with many errors in a first-team game?”

“That’s true…”

Kim Minhwan sighed powerlessly as the idea he had barely come up with collapsed in an instant.

“Then is there another way?”

“Is So Youngjoon training hard these days?”

“Ha… To be honest, he’s not the type of friend who trains hard.”

Kim Minhwan shook his head violently and replied.

“But he was called a genius when he was in school…”

“That’s right. I thought we’d have a national team shortstop when he debuted.”

Kim Minhwan raised his head slightly and thought about something, then looked at me with wide eyes.

“Are you close to So Youngjoon?”

“We were high school classmates.”

“Ah! Really?”

Kim Minhwan’s expression brightened rapidly.

“Then you must be close?”

“I haven’t contacted him personally since graduating from high school, so I wouldn’t say we’re close.”

“Hey, you went to the same school, so you must be close.”

Seeing Kim Minhwan’s mouth corners raised high, I could somewhat predict what he was going to say.

“Since you’re close, how about meeting him and talking to him?”

As expected, the prediction was not off at all.

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to talk about these things comfortably because he’s a friend?”

“But I think it’ll be okay since you’re the same age?”

No matter what I said here, it seemed like the answer was already decided.

“Then shall I go?”

“Can you do that?”

Kim Minhwan replied with a straight face.

If so, it felt unfair to end it like this.

“But I think I need more caffeine to go on another long-distance trip.”

I shook the coffee cup I was holding and said.

“Let’s go out. Let’s drink something more expensive.”

“I can just drink another cup at the company…”

“No. We have to drink properly if we’re going to drink.”

“That would be better, right?”

At Kim Minhwan’s gesture, I got up as if I couldn’t win.

* * *

The Pelicans were scheduled to play a three-game series against the Buffaloes starting today.

Unlike the Buffaloes, who were running in the upper ranks, the Pelicans had been staying in the lower ranks since the start of the season.

The biggest reason was the instability of the defense.

They were in the upper ranks in terms of the number of errors alone among the 10 teams, and the number of error-like plays that were not shown in the indicators was even greater.

The clip video made by collecting the Pelicans’ defensive errors had recorded millions of views on the Internet.

So Youngjoon had a significant share of that.

In addition, the lineup was not exploding coolly, and even the starting pitchers were not evaluated as solid.

In this situation, hoping that the team would go to the upper ranks was more difficult than winning the lottery.

Perhaps not many fans would expect the Pelicans to win in today’s game either.

I arrived at the Pelicans’ home stadium earlier than the game time.

Thanks to that, I was able to see both teams’ players warming up.

On the opposite side of So Youngjoon, Oh Seokhoon and Park Seongjoo were also seen.

As the game time approached, the Pelicans and Buffaloes fans began to fill the stands one by one.

Everyone in the stadium, including me, was waiting for the game to start.