NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12 - Not Even the Russian President Was Feared (4)
Chapter 12: Not Even the Russian President Was Feared (4)
Kim Ji-seop sent the sign.
‘It’s time.’
The sign was conveyed by clenching both fists tightly.
‘Don’t miss this pitch. Go for a full swing, no matter what! Give it your all!’
After confirming Ji-seop’s sign, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju grabbed the brim of his helmet, pressed it down firmly, and nodded.
[Okay.]
When Vice Chairman Park returned to the batter’s box after receiving the sign, the atmosphere in the stadium became even more intense.
Ba-bam! Ba-bam! Park! Hong! Ju!
Ba-bam! Ba-bam! Park! Hong! Ju!
At this moment, no matter what anyone said, the main character at KH Cannons Field was Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju.
The players sitting in both dugouts, the KH Group employees in the stands, and even the executives gathered in the skybox were all swallowing dryly, their gazes fixated on Vice Chairman Park.
“……”
Feeling all those countless stares with his entire body, the 72-year-old former “gambler” tightly gripped the bat’s handle.
With the same intense gaze he had when he once charged at the Russian President, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju stared down the pitcher on the mound.
‘…Here it comes.’
The pitcher assumed the set position.
As the pitcher puffed up his cheeks and exhaled a long breath, he finally moved into his pitching motion. At that moment, Vice Chairman Park’s eyes shone even more sharply.
‘Hey, Joo Tae-san!’
Lifting the bat handle up to his ear, Vice Chairman Park bit down hard on his lower lip.
‘Your friend… isn’t dead yet.’
The ball left the pitcher’s fingertips and started flying with a “Whoooosh”.
‘Here’s the proof… the proof…’
Keeping his left leg, which he had slightly lifted, firmly planted on the ground, Vice Chairman Park swung the bat with all his might.
‘I’ll show you right now!!!’
Vice Chairman Park swung with all his might, his eyes wide open, unleashing a truly powerful full swing.
The very moment when his aluminum bat collided with the pitcher’s “Arirang Ball” right over the home plate—
Taeng—
The sound of the bat connecting was not what Vice Chairman Park had expected.
‘Tae, Taeng?!’
As he turned his head towards the sound, a look of bewilderment appeared on Vice Chairman Park’s face.
Roll, roll, roll…
The ball that Vice Chairman Park had swung at with all his might had turned into a weak grounder, rolling awkwardly on the ground.
‘What… what is this…’
For a moment, Vice Chairman Park’s body froze.
He wasn’t the only one.
The employees in the stands, the executives in the skybox, and even the players on the field were momentarily frozen.
The silence was broken by Ji-seop, who had been watching from the dugout.
“What are you just standing there for!!!”
Ji-seop shouted at Vice Chairman Park.
“Run! To first base! Hurry!!!”
“O, oh… That’s right!!!”
Snapping back to his senses at Ji-seop’s shout, Vice Chairman Park threw the bat aside and started running towards first base.
At the exact same moment, the opposing team’s fielders, also coming back to their senses, frantically chased after the ball.
“Run! Run! Run, you damn old man!”
“Qingdao, you bastard! Just wait till this is over!!!”
Cursing under his breath at Ji-seop, Vice Chairman Park ran with all his might.
His heart was pounding like crazy, the sound of the opposing players throwing the ball seemed to ring in his ears, and first base felt agonizingly far away.
‘Damn it, I… I can’t make it…!!!’
With a heart determined to do everything he could, Vice Chairman Park, with a “To hell with it!” attitude, hurled himself towards first base.
Sssssh!
Vice Chairman Park’s large body slid across the dirt towards first base.
At almost the same moment, the opposing team’s shortstop’s throw was sucked into the first baseman’s mitt.
Vice Chairman Park, who had both hands firmly gripping first base, looked up at the umpire.
“The… what’s the call?”
The first base umpire hesitated slightly, perhaps feeling pity for the old man, covered in dirt and staring up at him.
Vice Chairman Park grew anxious.
“Hey, what’s the call?!”
The first base umpire, who had been taking his time, suddenly made up his mind, raising his right hand high into the air in the very next moment.
“Out! Oooout!”
It was a grounder to the shortstop.
Three outs, game over.
“That was a bad call.”
After the game ended, on the way out of the dugout to the place he had prearranged with Secretary Yang, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju grumbled about the umpire’s call while following Ji-seop closely.
“It was a bad call, I tell you! Anyone could see I was faster! I was safe! Damn it, they should implement video review starting next year…”
Grumble, grumble, grumble.
It was hard to believe that such a grumbling person was one of the founding members of the mighty KH Group.
But it seemed that this was a ‘defensive mechanism’ to avoid Ji-seop’s nagging.
“……”
Without saying a word, Ji-seop continued to walk, his steps heavy. When he placed his equipment bag on a bench near the baseball field, Vice Chairman Park, as if waiting for this moment, started talking.
“Hey, Qingdao.”
“Yes, Vice Chairman.”
“What’s with you?”
Vice Chairman Park opened his mouth again, watching Ji-seop’s expression closely.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? I thought you’d scream at me like you’ve seen your mortal enemy.”
“When have I ever screamed…”
A saying goes, ‘it feels like your insides are on fire.’
To be honest, that’s exactly how Ji-seop felt at first.
‘I now understand why the coaches used to freak out during my playing days.’
He had gone through so much hell.
From the moment he began coaching to the moment Vice Chairman Park stepped into the batter’s box today.
Not a single moment went smoothly; it had been one crazy ordeal after another to get here.
And then it all ended with a grounder rolling to the shortstop.
Just like Vice Chairman Park had said, he had considered scolding him as if he were facing his worst enemy.
However, the moment he saw the old man’s eyes as he returned to the dugout after the game, that feeling vanished.
“Baseball is just like that. It doesn’t always go the way you want.”
At that moment, Ji-seop could read all of Vice Chairman Park’s thoughts, so there wasn’t much else he could say.
“There’s just one thing I regret…”
Ji-seop slumped onto the bench and looked up at Vice Chairman Park.
“You showed such great concentration during practice, so I’m disappointed that your mind got so muddled in such a crucial situation…”
“My mind… got muddled?”
Vice Chairman Park questioned.
Ji-seop nodded.
“Yes, that’s how it seemed to me.”
“So, you could see that?”
It was a bad call. Definitely a bad call.
For almost 30 minutes, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju had been raising his voice, insisting it was a bad call.
It was only then, while watching the sun slowly setting in the western sky, that Vice Chairman Park sighed deeply.
“…You ghost of a kid.”
“Pardon?”
“Move aside, you rascal.”
Vice Chairman Park grumbled as he tapped Ji-seop’s knee.
“Young man, hogging the entire bench… You can clearly see an old man standing.”
Vice Chairman Park took a seat next to Ji-seop.
Finding a bottle of lukewarm water in the equipment bag, he cracked it open and started speaking.
“Suddenly… I felt too happy.”
It was a sudden statement, a classic move in Vice Chairman Park’s unique conversational style. Still, Ji-seop slowly nodded in agreement.
“Did you?”
“Yeah, just like you said, when that Arirang ball came right down the middle… damn, I got this intense thrill, as if my hair was standing on end.”
An opportunity had arrived.
A chance to strike a blow to the executives.
A chance to strike a blow to Chairman Joo Yeong-eun.
And although it might seem a bit pathetic… it was a chance to show his deceased friend that he was still doing well.
“I was so happy… I was so thrilled… that I must have tensed up all over.”
Vice Chairman Park drank the lukewarm water in one gulp.
He placed the half-empty bottle beside him with a “tok” sound and made his conclusion.
“I’m getting old.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m… getting old.”
Vice Chairman Park wore a calm expression.
“I wasn’t like this before. I was thorough. Even if a deal was sealed, I didn’t let my guard down until the results were in my hands. That’s why I didn’t make mistakes.”
“……”
“But now, here I am, all flustered just because a pitch comes flying my way… Heh, even the great Sakhalin Park is getting old. I really thought I wouldn’t…”
“Oh, come on.”
Ji-seop interrupted Vice Chairman Park at just the right moment.
“So what? Are you going to weep and say, ‘Oh no, I can’t achieve the dream of being in the top 10 in business rankings I promised Chairman Joo Tae-san…’ and cry about it?”
“What?”
Vice Chairman Park, who had been leaning back on the bench, shot up.
“Isn’t that what you’re doing? Lamenting over failing in just one at-bat?”
Ji-seop snorted.
“Just because you hit a grounder, you say you’re old, that you’ve lost it… If that’s the case, what should I do? I gave up over 30 home runs in a season. I should just die of embarrassment.”
“Haha, are you trying to console me?”
Vice Chairman Park scoffed.
“I get what you’re trying to say, but it’s not very convincing coming from you.”
And then he added.
“You were pretty bad at baseball.”
“……”
Ji-seop glared at Vice Chairman Park as if he could kill him, but soon he sighed and continued speaking.
“Anyway.”
“What?”
“Even though you didn’t get a hit, I still think you achieved your goal.”
Vice Chairman Park’s eyebrow twitched.
“Wasn’t your goal to send the message that Sakhalin Park isn’t dead, that you’re still in the game? To the people at KH Group.”
“And you think that was achieved?”
“I’d say it was completely achieved.”
Ji-seop wasn’t just making up a story to comfort Vice Chairman Park.
He could read people’s minds.
This was the conclusion he reached after observing the eyes of the people while Vice Chairman Park was in the batter’s box.
“You might not have realized it, but everyone was genuinely surprised.”
‘Incredible, Sakhalin Park.’
‘He’s still got it, Sakhalin Park.’
Recalling the thoughts he had heard, Ji-seop continued.
“The headfirst slide at the end was also a good move. I could feel your approval rating shoot up at that moment.”
“…What kind of feeling is that?”
Vice Chairman Park kept tilting his head, but there was a peculiar certainty in Ji-seop’s expression.
“That’s how it worked in baseball. Even if a coach wielded immense power, they couldn’t just get rid of a coach who had the players’ respect and support.”
Isn’t it the same?
Ji-seop lowered his voice.
“Even if Chairman Joo Yeong-eun dislikes you… I don’t think she can get rid of you right now.”
“……”
“If I were to speculate further… after watching today’s game, she might even give you a new task, something that impressed her.”
“Oh, you rascal. So your head was just a field of flowers after all. Do you think the world works the way you want it to?”
Despite his words, a pleased smile began to spread across Vice Chairman Park’s face.
No matter what might happen in the future, for now, he was simply enjoying the conversation with this cheeky kid.
“I’m hungry!”
Vice Chairman Park stood up from the bench.
“Enough of this pointless talk. Let’s go eat as soon as Secretary Yang arrives. There’s a hangover soup place nearby that I know well.”
“Are you treating today?”
When Ji-seop asked, Vice Chairman Park firmly shook his head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You spoke rudely to me earlier. Did you call me a damn old man?”
“No, no, that was just in the heat of the moment…”
Seeing Ji-seop stammering, Vice Chairman Park burst into a hearty laugh.
And just at that moment, Vice Chairman Park’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
“Vice Chairman, isn’t this too much? I worked so hard for ten days…”
“Shut up, kid. It’s Secretary Yang calling.”
Waving Ji-seop off, Vice Chairman Park brought the phone to his ear with a “Yes, okay”.
He nodded slowly as he listened to Secretary Yang’s report, but suddenly raised his voice.
“Secretary Yang, what did you just say? Who… who is asking to see me?”
Vice Chairman Park turned to Ji-seop with a look as if he had just seen a ghost.