On the way out from meeting Jin-pyo Gong, the Taehwa baseball club representative, Jeong-seop Yun, head of the support division, asked Seong-ho cautiously,

"Representative. Will Taehwa really give up Manager Ho-yeong Kim for three billion won?"

"They will."

Seong-ho's voice was full of conviction.

"Do you know what state the Taehwa Group is in right now?"

At Seong-ho's question, Director Jeong-seop Yun shook his head.

"The year before last, Taehwa had already gone bankrupt, and right now it's barely clinging to life in the middle of the group's dissolution. Before long the group will be completely broken up, and in the end it won't be able to use the Taehwa name at all."

"Then the baseball club too…"

"Yes, the baseball club will go through the motions of dissolution as well. Or else be acquired by someone somewhere."

Director Jeong-seop Yun's eyes wavered.

He couldn't contain his astonishment at the notion that Taehwa — Korea's finest baseball club, and the one with the most championships — would vanish into history.

"Then what becomes of our pro baseball…?"

"What becomes of it? Taehwa disappears, someone else moves into that spot, and it carries on."

"Pro baseball isn't going to disappear… is it?"

"Hahaha. There's no chance of that."

Seong-ho laughed heartily and looked back at Director Jeong-seop Yun.

"To put it back in plain terms, Taehwa is in a situation where it has to sell off anything worth money at the highest price it can get, while it has the chance. So it won't be able to refuse our offer to hand over the manager for three billion won."

Hearing Seong-ho out, Director Jeong-seop Yun nodded.

"Three billion… yes, that would do it. But Representative."

Director Jeong-seop Yun turned to Seong-ho and asked,

"How do you intend to come up with the three billion?"

"How do I come up with it? Isn't that something you, Director Yun, head of the support division, ought to be giving me the answer to?"

Perhaps it was a question he'd never anticipated — Director Jeong-seop Yun only blinked at Seong-ho. And then, having stood frozen…