When lunchtime came, Mike led Lucas on a tour of the stores.
"You. Now you can eat for free."
How would you know about the benefits if you never showed them to me?
But Lucas nodded instead of asking a question. He knew he had to use this precious lunch hour entirely for himself.
"Let's just eat two dishes today."
"Two each?"
The reason Lucas was surprised was that a serving in the US is more generous than a serving in Korea.
"Eat whatever you want. Of course, I'm not buying it."
"I guess two is fine. But I need to grow, so I can eat anything?"
'Shouldn't you eat protein-rich foods that can build muscle?' Mike read Lucas's expression and raised the corners of his mouth.
"Are you surprised that I told you to eat anything that isn't protein-based?"
"Uh."
"Humans continue to grow even after becoming adults. Of course, foods like protein are helpful for building muscle right away. But is it tasty if you only eat protein?"
"It doesn't taste good."
"If it doesn't taste good, don't get stressed. Stress is poisonous to growth. So, first, you should eat whatever you want without worrying about it and let your body grow."
"Is stress related to body growth?"
Mike nodded confidently. No. Are you writing a paper on sports or something? Lucas thought. Because Mike was so confident, Lucas didn't ask but didn't choose the menu right away either.
"What? Why aren't you choosing?"
"Choose first."
Mike, who realized Lucas's intention, stopped by the nearest store.
"A cream cheese bagel."
Lucas also chose the same menu as Mike, exchanging the meal coupon for a cream cheese bagel.
"The next menu is…"
Mike took a bite of his bagel and continued to ponder deeply.
"Want to eat Asian food?"
FS High School dreams of being a multi-racial private school.
Of course, now the only people there were Asians, but in any case, in order to make the school worthy of its reputation, it also sold Asian food. The problem was that they only sold a variety of Asian foods in one store, so none of the food was tasty.
'You say you get stressed if it doesn't taste good?' Lucas didn't want to be stressed out during his happy lunch hour.
Mike readily stepped in when Lucas had trouble choosing a menu.
"Then let's just eat chicken steak."
Cream cheese bagel and chicken steak. Anyone can see that it is food that Americans would eat, but Koreans have different tastes than Americans.
'I just picked the menu items that I don't particularly like.'
If this is stress, isn't it stress?
'And didn't he say I could eat anything? Protein?'
"Still, baseball players need to eat protein."
Lucas burst out laughing at Mike's words.
"I don't know which rhythm to follow, though."
"Well, you asked me to, but trust me. I'll make it grow."
As he said, it was none other than Lucas who asked for help. He guessed he should trust his friend. So Lucas silently stuffed himself with the food.
* * *
As soon as school was over, Lucas stopped by the dormitory, changed into comfortable exercise clothes, and went to the indoor practice facility.
Today was the official start of baseball club training, and it was also the day to meet the teammates he would be working with for the next two years.
As Lucas was loitering at the entrance to the indoor practice area, several members who had practiced with him approached him.
"Hey Lucas. I heard you became an official member."
"We're on the same team as Fireballer. Aren't we going to win the league like this?"
Lucas forced a bitter smile.
'To be honest, not only did I not speak properly during the game, but I also didn't even know their names.'
But since they approached him without hesitation as if they were childhood friends, he felt he should at least answer them.
"Please take care of me."
Lucas left a brief greeting and pushed himself fully into the indoor practice room. Then he carefully examined the faces of the members who were already loosening up.
'Hmm. There are quite a few faces I'm not sure about. Who among them is considered one of the best players in California?'
Even if the pitcher was out of the question, the batter was curious.
'If possible, I wish I was a catcher.'
Of course, he didn't show it on the outside or anything. For the time being, his first priority was to build a body that could throw the ball.
If he just spent time with them naturally, he would be able to get to know the players.
But then...
A white man placed his hand on Lucas's shoulder from behind.
"Hey Lucas."
Lucas turned his head and checked his face.
'Huh? Why are you here?'
The white man was none other than Alexander.
Although he was the same age as Lucas and a superstar in school, 'I thought he was famous for American football, not baseball?'
High school superstars are very popular.
To put it a bit exaggeratedly, there are times when they gain as much popularity as Korean idols.
Special athletes like LeBron James in basketball and Bryce Harper in baseball had extraordinary high school careers.
That's why Lucas couldn't help but know him, but it was also surprising that he knew Lucas. It was also surprising that he was here.
"I play both football and baseball."
So that's it. Lucas nodded. It was a common sight in America.
Although not entirely common, many all-round sportsmen choose to play a variety of sports before graduating from high school.
"I missed the baseball practice last week because I was participating in football practice. I heard you were going to throw the ball?"
When Lucas tilted his head, Alexander raised the corners of his mouth.
"How about a light one-out match with me?"
A one-out game, also called a one-at-bat match, determines the win or loss based on the quality of the hit. In the end, it meant that they should have a go at it.
'Look at the confidence.'
It was clear that Alexander was the best hitter in the school and a well-known hitter in California.
'But the manager told me not to go up on the mound for a while.'
But Lucas still wanted to stick with it.
He wanted to experience first-hand what it was like to face the best hitter in the school. Baseball is not a solo sport.
An excellent assistant is a colleague with whom you can work together toward the same goal.
If Alexander is much better than expected...
'I can prepare more leisurely too.'
Even though he got some really solid advice from Joel and the director, he was getting impatient because the time given to him was pressing. But Lucas thought he could be a lot more relaxed if he had a trustworthy colleague.
However, Lucas couldn't answer right away. Then Alexander asked again.
"What's the problem?"
"Is there a problem? There is, but…"
But then, Director Donald showed up and allowed the two to fight.
"Lucas isn't in a good enough shape to throw the ball yet, but it looks like a match where both sides can get something out of it, so I'll allow it."