LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 8 - No Backing Down (4)
Chapter 8: No Backing Down (4)
“Yes, you said his name was Joo Yeong-eun.”
Kim Ji-seop continued.
“The Vice Chairman described him as a particularly ‘ill-mannered brat.’”
“A-an ill-mannered brat?!”
Secretary Yang was startled.
Sensing there was more to this, Ji-seop turned to Secretary Yang.
“Who is Joo Yeong-eun? Why does the Vice Chairman intend to ‘teach her a lesson’? And why at the company baseball tournament?”
“A-ah, well, that….”
At first, Secretary Yang was greatly flustered.
But perhaps, as expected of the personal secretary of ‘Sakhalin Park,’ he quickly regained his usual gentle smile and spoke.
“Chairman Joo Yeong-eun is….”
Ji-seop pricked up his ears at the word ‘Chairman.’
“Chairman, you say?”
“That’s correct.”
Secretary Yang nodded.
“Chairman Joo Yeong-eun is the only daughter of the late Chairman JooTae-san… and she currently leads our KH Group.”
The only daughter of the late Chairman JooTae-san.
The current Chairman of KH Group.
Although Ji-seop had spent his whole life focused solely on baseball, he could roughly understand the situation now.
‘It seems there’s some trouble between that old man Sakhalin Park and the late chairman’s daughter….’
In fact, Ji-seop had little interest in the conflict itself.
It was the story of a conglomerate family, dealing with billions, even trillions, of won. Of course, there would be conflicts, and sometimes things would get so heated that they’d grab each other by the collar and shout obscenities.
But there was one thing that puzzled him.
‘Why… baseball?’
That was what Ji-seop was curious about.
“Why baseball?”
There was conflict with the current chairman of the group, so why would ‘Sakhalin Park’ want to play baseball?
Why would he push himself to play baseball so desperately, even collapsing during dinner?
“Secretary Yang, uh….”
Ji-seop called out, hoping to get a hint, but Secretary Yang just smiled gently.
“I’m sorry, Coach Kim.”
“…”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything more about the two of them.”
As expected of a corporate secretary, Secretary Yang was quick to cut off any further questioning.
However, it seemed that the past week of interactions had created a small bond between them.
“All I can say is… our KH Group’s company baseball tournament is a very significant event.”
Secretary Yang looked at Ji-seop.
“The late Chairman also always attended the company baseball tournament. And, of course, the Vice Chairman too.”
“I see.”
Ji-seop spoke again.
“Understood. I won’t ask any more. I don’t want to put you in a difficult position, Secretary Yang.”
He said this while gazing steadily, very steadily, into Secretary Yang’s eyes.
* * *
Brrrr— Brrrr— Brrrrrr—
4 a.m. the next day.
Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju, ‘Sakhalin Park,’ called Ji-seop on his phone.
It was hard to believe this was the same person who had collapsed during dinner.
“Hey, Qingdao!”
As soon as Ji-seop got into the car, a roar erupted.
“I told you to be out here by 4 a.m.! Does someone like me have to call you every single time?”
“I was late because I was taking a dump, taking a dump!”
In truth, Ji-seop had intentionally come out late because he was annoyed by the Vice Chairman’s antics, but this was his excuse.
“No matter how important baseball is, you can’t just hold it in and play, right?”
“You insolent brat, you don’t even bother to come up with a plausible excuse anymore! Ugh, this is why young people these days….”
At that moment, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju was full of complaints about Ji-seop.
However, as time passed, Ji-seop could feel that the Vice Chairman was actually trying to gauge his reaction.
“Shall we play catch?”
“Yes.”
The warm-up session that followed included a catch drill.
Normally, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju would criticize, saying the ball was too slow or that this was why Ji-seop ended up in China. But today, he was quietly focused on the catch.
“Now, let’s get started!”
Whooosh— Thwack!
Whooosh— Thwack!
In the later part of the lesson, most of the time was spent on batting practice.
Usually, when Ji-seop threw what he called his ‘Arirang ball,’ the Vice Chairman would complain that this wasn’t proper training, but today he swung the bat without a word.
“…”
Throughout the training session, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju kept glancing nervously at Ji-seop.
But perhaps his patience had run out, as he suddenly yelled out during batting practice.
“Hey, Qingdao!”
“Yes, Vice Chairman.”
Knowing the Vice Chairman’s true feelings, Ji-seop responded with his usual calm expression.
The Vice Chairman didn’t seem to like that expression at all.
“You, punk… why aren’t you asking me anything?”
“Pardon?”
“Secretary Yang told me. He said I babbled some nonsense to you yesterday?”
‘That you must perform well in the baseball tournament.
That you need to teach the late Chairman’s daughter a lesson.’
It seemed the Vice Chairman was aware that he had said such things.
“With your usual personality, as soon as you saw me today, wouldn’t you have immediately pestered me about what that meant?!”
So why are you so quiet?
What are you plotting?
The Vice Chairman tried to intimidate him, but Ji-seop just smiled.
“Why would I ask? I can pretty much guess the situation.”
“What?”
As Ji-seop put the baseball he was holding back into the box, he continued.
“Vice Chairman, aren’t you hearing something like… it’s time for you to step down from the group?”
Pressure to retire.
The Vice Chairman’s eyes wavered slightly.
“Was it Secretary Yang?”
He asked.
“Did that bastard Secretary Yang say that?”
“Why would you think that? You know better than anyone that Secretary Yang is tight-lipped.”
“Then how?”
In truth, 90% of it was inferred from reading Secretary Yang’s expressions.
But there was another 10% that he sensed even before meeting Secretary Yang.
“Vice Chairman, as you know… I played baseball in China.”
“What?”
The Vice Chairman’s thick eyebrows twitched.
A look that said, ‘What nonsense is this all of a sudden?’
“But think about it. Do you think I wanted to go to China? Do you think I wanted to play on the Chinese stage from the start?”
“I suppose… you didn’t.”
“That’s right.”
Ji-seop nodded.
“I failed to go pro and initially went to Japan. After being kicked out of there, I went to the U.S. When I was kicked out of the U.S., I returned to Korea. When there was no place for me in Korea, I went back to China.”
Ji-seop gave a slight bitter smile.
“Of course… I got kicked out of there too.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I may be younger than you, Vice Chairman, but I’ve experienced getting kicked out of an organization many times… That’s what I’m saying.”
“So I know well.”
Ji-seop continued.
“People who are on the brink of being ousted, those who are at the edge of a cliff, people who’ve been branded as useless by their organization and have to endure the bitter taste of neglect….”
He looked at the Vice Chairman.
“I can tell what kind of expressions they make.”
* * *
At that moment, Ji-seop expected Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju to erupt in another outburst.
‘That I’m on the brink of being ousted?
That I’m at the edge of a cliff?
What, that I’m enduring the bitter taste of neglect?!!’
Considering what Ji-seop knew of ‘Sakhalin Park,’ he was sure the Vice Chairman would react this way.
“…”
But unexpectedly, Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju showed a calm response.
He stood quietly, resting an aluminum bat on his shoulder, gazing steadily into Ji-seop’s eyes.
Then he spoke in a somewhat indifferent tone.
“A guy who’s been kicked out of Japan, the U.S., and China… knows how I feel?”
A strange smile appeared on the wrinkled face of Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju.
“Hey, Qingdao.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you play baseball?”
It was a sudden question.
“You seem like you could’ve done a lot of things well other than baseball.”
“No, surprisingly, baseball was the one thing I did best.”
When Ji-seop replied with a straight face, the Vice Chairman snorted, as if it wasn’t funny.
Then he suddenly said something out of context.
“The day after the company baseball tournament rules were announced… they sent me a suit.”
This was another seemingly random statement, but by now, Ji-seop was getting used to ‘Sakhalin Park’s’ unique way of speaking.
“Who?”
“Joo Yeong-eun… No, I should say the Chairman of KH Group now, right?”
The Vice Chairman spoke while leaning on the aluminum bat like a cane.
“The secretary who brought the suit told me that Chairman Joo Yeong-eun was very worried about me.”
-Given your age and the fact that you’re not as physically fit as you used to be, how could you participate in the company baseball tournament?
The weather is getting chilly, so on the day of the tournament, I hope you’ll come as a spectator, wearing this suit instead of a uniform.
Unlike my father, I don’t know much about baseball, so I’d appreciate it if you could sit next to me and explain the rules.
“At first, I just thought, ‘Well, that’s nice,’ but it turns out that other old-timers who served the late Chairman Joo Tae-san received similar messages.”
Although Ji-seop had spent most of his school days sleeping through class, he could still read between the lines in this situation.
‘Is this… a kind of final ultimatum?’
The KH Group’s company baseball tournament, now just three days away.
If he showed up in a suit, it would mean he was accepting Chairman Joo Yeong-eun’s decision to step down from management.
On the other hand, if he wore a uniform and participated in the game, it would mean defying her decision.
‘So… it wasn’t just a simple company baseball tournament for team building.’
Ji-seop finally felt like he understood everything.
Why Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju had been so desperate to find a baseball coach.
Why Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju had been so determined to swing a bat.
‘Heh heh, so that’s why.’
Nodding slowly as if he understood everything, Ji-seop noticed that the Vice Chairman was looking at him with a somewhat displeased expression.
“Hey, Qingdao!”
“Yes?”
“You, punk… don’t you understand the concept of human decency?”
“Pardon?”
‘Why’s this old man causing a fuss again?’
Ji-seop tilted his head.
“What do you mean?”
“When an old man like me opens up and talks like this, shouldn’t you at least ask some questions out of decency?”
“What kind of questions?”
“You know, like, why are you so determined to play baseball? Why are you trying to avoid stepping down from management? Things like that!”
“Ah, well….”
This old man really is high-maintenance.
Thinking this to himself, Ji-seop slowly spoke.
“If I already know the answers, what’s the point of asking? It’d be a waste of time.”
“You… already know?”
“Last night, I was watching closely, despite everything.”
-KH Group Special Documentary
-KH: 40 Years of Innovation and Turmoil
When Ji-seop mentioned the documentary he had seen at the hotel restaurant the previous evening, the Vice Chairman gave a laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Hah… you’re something else….”
Tapping the aluminum bat on the ground, the Vice Chairman muttered, “You’re something else, really.”
He then looked up at the still-dark morning sky.
He gestured to Secretary Yang, who had been waiting at the entrance to the field.
“Secretary Yang, this guy… Qingdao… we only signed a personal training contract with him, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“And we were going to use another player as a mercenary for the tournament?”
“Yes, we had arranged for a former KBO League batting champion, but….”
“Is that so? Then cancel that.”
Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju turned to Ji-seop and said,
“For this company baseball tournament… I’m taking this guy with me.”