Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 80

80. The Lazy Genius (4)

“Haa… That bastard still hasn’t learned his lesson.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Kim Min-hwan sighed.

“And he went to the club again as soon as it was over?”

“Judging by how urgently he left, I think that’s probably right.”

“Ugh, my head.”

Kim Min-hwan frowned, closed his eyes, and pressed hard on his temples.

“If his performance was completely terrible, I’d say something harsh, but he’s still hitting home runs from time to time.”

“But every home run he hits is useless. Most are 1-run home runs, and he hasn’t hit any home runs at crucial moments.”

“I know that. But the problem is that So Young-joon is still the team’s home run leader even doing this.”

“That’s really the worst.”

That’s how bleak the Pelicans’ team performance, as well as the individual players’ performances, were.

“Isn’t there any other way?”

“What way?”

“It’s weird to say anything about a grown adult going to clubs. From the agency’s perspective, as long as the player doesn’t cause trouble and performs well, that’s all that matters. The team’s performance is the team’s problem to worry about.”

“In some ways, that’s not wrong either…”

“Isn’t there a way to reliably improve his batting and defensive performance?”

Kim Min-hwan seemed to be expecting me to do for Oh Seok-hoon what I had done before.

But it wasn’t like I could instantly boost a player’s performance.

I just tell them the most effective and accurate method.

“Basically, he needs to increase his training volume, but with his head full of thoughts of going to clubs, what way is there to make him perform well?”

“Should we keep him from going out and make him train?”

“We’re supposed to respect his privacy, right?”

“Haa… What should I report to the CEO?”

Kim Min-hwan put down his pen and crossed his arms.

“You should tell him the truth. Is there any need for us to lie?”

“You’re telling me to report that now?”

Kim Min-hwan ruffled his hair as if expressing his confused state of mind.

“I’ll meet him one more time and talk to him.”

“I really hope there’s a good result.”

Kim Min-hwan sighed as if the ground was sinking beneath him.

“Don’t get your hopes up too high. The disappointment is likely to be great.”

“Haa…”

Kim Min-hwan, hearing my words, hung his head and tore at his hair.

* * *

I trudged back to the dorm.

I sat at the table, drank a glass of water, and enjoyed a moment of leisure.

Thanks to Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo being away on a road trip, the dorm was quiet.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I heard footsteps coming down from the second floor.

I could easily guess who it was.

“Oh, you’re back.”

Go Ji-hoon came down wearing a tracksuit and holding a towel.

“Yes. Did you have dinner?”

“I ate as soon as I got back. I’m going to train now to digest.”

Go Ji-hoon picked up a bottle of water and paused in front of me before cautiously opening his mouth.

“If you’re feeling up to it, could you catch a few balls with me?”

“Catch? Sure.”

“It’s okay if you’re tired.”

“No, it’s fine. Let’s go, I need to exercise regularly too.”

“Thanks. You must be tired with so much work.”

Go Ji-hoon raised the corners of his mouth and tapped my shoulder.

-I’m feeling back pain again and plan to go to the hospital again tomorrow.

He seemed to be referring to the hospital visit I heard about at the meeting last time.

Back pain was a chronic condition that Go Ji-hoon had been suffering from for years.

There wasn’t a single player who didn’t have aches and pains during the season.

Soon after, I changed into my tracksuit and went down to the training ground.

It was just a light catch, but I warmed up lightly just in case.

I had hardly exercised lately because I was busy with work, and I could feel my body getting heavy.

My body was also itching to move, and it seemed like it would be good for me to move my body like this.

More than anything, it was really fun to touch a baseball and play catch.

“Then I’ll start.”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

Go Ji-hoon lifted the ball and signaled that he would throw it to me.

Whoosh-

I took a deep breath and focused on the ball flying towards me.

Thanks to having played catch several times already, I was almost overcoming my fear of the flying ball.

Instead, I was still very nervous when receiving the first ball.

Go Ji-hoon bent his back only slightly and threw the ball, rather than pitching as he would in a real game.

Thwack.

“Wow.”

I let out a soft groan.

The ball dug in so hard it felt like it would go right through the glove.

Even though it was a light throw, it had a lot of spin and felt powerful.

I was able to feel the power of a pitcher’s ball, even if only for a moment, that was said to be among the best in the country.

I opened my glove and took out the ball.

And threw it back to Go Ji-hoon.

Thwack.

The feeling of the ball leaving my fingers is always good.

Thwack.

Thwack.

As the catch continued, I felt like the ball’s speed was gradually increasing.

I was sorry that I couldn’t tell how fast I was receiving the ball because there was no speed gun.

It didn’t seem to be much different from the level Go Ji-hoon threw in a real game.

In addition, Go Ji-hoon’s sinker or two-seamer had a lot of movement, so it wriggled and flew as if a snake were alive.

“I’ll throw one more fastball and then do breaking balls.”

“Yes.”

Thwack.

The last ball Go Ji-hoon threw was probably the fastest of all so far.

Go Ji-hoon paused for a moment, out of breath from the continued pitching.

“I’ll throw 5 sliders and 5 changeups in order.”

“Yes.”

I nodded and replied.

Go Ji-hoon carefully picked up the ball, changed his grip, took a moment to catch his breath, and then threw the ball with all his might.

But.

“Ugh.”

Go Ji-hoon groaned and grabbed his back.

“Senior, are you okay?”

I rushed to Go Ji-hoon.

“Oh, I’m okay. I just lost my balance for a moment at the end.”

Go Ji-hoon gestured to me that he was okay.

Has the pain in his back gotten worse?

Then I think it would be better to stop here?

“Is your back okay?”

“I was supposed to get treatment today, but I postponed it for a day because of the away game, and this happened.”

“If you’re not feeling well, I think it would be better to rest today?”

“No. I’m fine. I’m not going to throw at full power.”

Go Ji-hoon took the ball from my glove.

I had no choice but to return to where I was standing.

As soon as I was ready to catch, Go Ji-hoon signaled that he would throw.

It took him longer to prepare than before.

His face also showed signs of tension at the moment he was about to throw the ball.

“Ugh.”

Go Ji-hoon groaned again this time as well.

The ball also flew to a difficult place to catch.

I threw the ball back and looked at Go Ji-hoon with a worried expression, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping.

“Whoosh-”

He took a couple of deep breaths and threw the ball again.

The moment Go Ji-hoon stretched out his left foot and tried to turn his back to throw the ball,

“Aaaagh!”

A loud scream echoed through the indoor practice field.

The ball flew completely in the wrong direction and was rolling away, and Go Ji-hoon fell to the ground, clutching his back.

“Senior!”

I ran to Go Ji-hoon right away.

“Ugh…”

“Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing. I just stumbled a little when I stepped.”

But Go Ji-hoon couldn’t get up for a long time after that.

“Shall I see if I can see a doctor right away?”

“No. I have a hospital appointment tomorrow anyway.”

Go Ji-hoon waved his hand at me.

“It would be better to go and get treatment right away today…”

“I can rest while steaming. This has happened a lot before.”

I’m not a pitcher, so I don’t know exactly, but it’s definitely a problem that this has happened a lot.

“Anyway, let’s just stop here today and rest.”

“I think I should.”

Go Ji-hoon barely got up from his seat with my support.

“I’ll go up first.”

“Yes, if you don’t feel well, please tell me anytime.”

Go Ji-hoon gestured that he understood and left the practice field.

Is it really okay to play a game in that condition?

I could understand a little bit of what Kim Min-hwan was worried about.

Not long after sending Go Ji-hoon away.

Weeing-

The smartphone next to me vibrated.

Looking at the screen, it was a call from Lee Soo-min.

It’s late, is something wrong?

“Yes, Reporter Lee.”

-Hyun-woo, YJ Agency already knows about it, right?

“What are you talking about?”

-About player So Young-joon.

Why is So Young-joon suddenly coming out?

“Is something wrong with So Young-joon?”

-You don’t know. Our company’s social affairs department is going to publish an article tomorrow morning.”

“What does that mean?”

It was not a good situation for a sports player to appear on the social pages.

Only after hearing what Lee Soo-min told me was I able to grasp the general situation.

As soon as I heard it, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Soo-min, can you stop the article? I’ll go and fix it right now.”

-Don’t worry about that. I have that much power now.”

Lee Soo-min answered without hesitation.

I’m going to use the rewards I’ve given Lee Soo-min so far in this way.

It was too bad, but there was no other way in the current situation.

As soon as I hung up the phone, I quickly headed outside.

Right now, I’ve only stopped the article from going up, but this is by no means a situation that will end here.

I’ll have to go and check it out myself.

He’s a troublesome guy in many ways.

I hurriedly left for where So Young-joon was.

* * *

The place I arrived at was the police station.

“I’ve never been to a place like this in my life.”

I rushed into the police station.

There was a police officer guarding the lobby at the entrance.

“Is So Young-joon here?”

“How did you get here?”

“I’m So Young-joon’s agent.”

“Ah. Go straight down the hallway in this direction.”

The police officer pointed to the left.

“Thank you.”

I bowed my head and walked in quickly.

Even though it was late at night, the entire building was brightly lit.

The closer I got to the end of the hallway, the louder the noise became.

I looked up and saw the words ‘Criminal Affairs Division’ written on it.

I’ve come to the right place.

I carefully entered the Criminal Affairs Division and was able to find So Young-joon without difficulty.

So Young-joon was sitting in front of a detective with a stern expression, along with a man.