"How was it? Was it delicious? You probably won't even need water after devouring it like a bulldozer, of course, it was delicious!"
I nodded absentmindedly to Harry's booming voice in the car while my mind wandered elsewhere.
Delicious, my foot.
I stuffed the food into my mouth before I could even taste it because it was so bland. How could French fries be tasteless? If it weren't for the ketchup, I wouldn't have been able to eat it at all.
I distinctly heard that English breakfasts were delicious, but I'd heard from the media that everything was a scam... so why...?
Harry must have lost his sense of taste.
How does he manage to live eating this stuff? Ah, so that's why he was drowning his fries in ketchup? It seemed like he was eating more ketchup than fries... he must be mistaking the taste of ketchup for the flavor of the food! There's no doubt about it.
The only good thing was that the displeased look on Harry's face, caused by me staring at my phone instead of eating, had vanished, replaced by a wide smile.
It seemed like my hurriedly devouring the food Harry bought me had been a success.
"Open the glove box."
I opened the glove box in front of me.
"Turn that on..."
Inside was an iPad. Following Harry's instructions, I powered up the pad and opened an app that displayed several names in a list.
"Tap the fourth one, Sebastián Rodríguez."
The screen showed a photo of Sebastián Rodríguez.
"There's his profile, game videos, hobbies, and a lot more, so take a look. I'll send you the files later."
"Oh... thank you.
Just as I was about to press the first item, I heard Harry's question.
"Have you heard of Sebastián before?"
"Yes, I knew him as S. Rodríguez. He was impressive during the U-20 World Cup."
"You know him?"
It felt strangely rewarding when he asked if I knew something, so each time it happened,
"He's a promising player from Atlético
Madrid's youth team. He's been touted as a highly anticipated talent. He's a typical classic winger like Jesús Navas or Joaquín Sánchez, right? He might lack a bit in physicality, but he has decent pace and individual skills, so I was looking forward to him. I expected to see him dominate the Championship League in the first half of this season and shine in the Premier League next season, but I haven't seen much about him in the news lately, which is disappointing."
I turned into a know-it-all. It was a habit.
Harry was looking at me with a blank expression.
"Harry, watch out, watch out!"
A car nearly veered into our lane but quickly regained its path. Harry glanced at me again and said,
"Are you prepared for this?"
"Well, not really…"
"Then did you know all along?"
I nodded, and Harry smiled broadly.
"I like it; yeah, Sebastián will definitely become an amazing player."
Harry joined in on my conversation. He agreed that Sebastián Rodríguez, although born in 1996 and currently experiencing a slump, could still thrive as a star player in the first division if he could overcome it.
Back in Korea, whenever I started talking about soccer, people would show faces of boredom, so I had to hold back, but Harry welcomed my conversation. He seemed genuinely excited, just like me.
Before I knew it, the discussion shifted from Sebastián to whether Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo was better, and then to who the next Ballon d'Or winner would be, and even predictions for which country would win the World Cup next year.
It was enjoyable.
Then, I suddenly realized that we would soon be arriving in Brighton.
"Harry... as much as I'd like to continue talking, I need to check out Sebastián's materials now."
"Oh, right!"
Harry's face lit up slightly, and he closed his mouth. The atmosphere in the car had become quite warm. I thought that perhaps I could resolve the questions I had about the agency.
Casually, in a way that didn't show too much interest, I dropped the topic.
"By the way... the office seemed strange about me taking on Sebastián; is there some problem with him?"
Harry didn't respond to my question and instead talked about something else.
Until we arrived at the training ground in Brighton where Sebastián would be, Harry didn't answer my question and continued discussing other topics.
As soon as we entered the Brighton dining area, Harry pointed to a corner with his finger.
"That's the problem."
The player I had only seen in pictures was right in front of me. While it wasn't as overwhelming as when I met Aaron Ramsey, I still felt a bit of nostalgia, but that feeling didn't come.
Because Sebastián was sitting alone at a corner table, picking at a salad.
Like a loner.
"He hasn't adapted. He says the climate doesn't suit him, and he hasn't even tried to learn English, so it's been more than half a season, and he hasn't spoken a word to the other players."
I scrutinized Sebastián closely. While the other players were noisily munching away, Sebastián was nibbling at his salad piece by piece.
His eyes were round and innocent-looking, and he appeared even more like a loner due to his small stature. And just as I'd seen in the documents, his face had a hint of Southeast Asian descent.
Sebastián was a biracial child born to a Spanish father and a Filipino mother. He was similar to David Silva, who played for Manchester City.
I heard Harry let out a sigh.
"He said he'll go back to Spain after this season. It's going to be a disaster, starting with compensations for personal sponsors to his trust with the club! Everything will plummet. It's the worst. Ugh... It's so frustrating because he clearly has the talent."
Sebastián didn't finish his plate and got up from the table. After returning his dishes, he seemed to have noticed Harry and walked over.
"Harry."
"Oh, you're here?"
Harry responded in Spanish. Sebastián Rodríguez looked up at me with curiosity.
"Are you the new interpreter?"
"Yeah, I'm Tae Hyunseok. My last name is Tae, and my first name is Hyunseok."
"I'm Tae Hyunseok."
I extended my hand. Sebastián Rodríguez looked at my hand and then hesitated before grabbing it. He quickly let go.
"Can I just call you Mr. Tae? Or just Tae?"
What a strange pronunciation.
"No, it's Tae."
"Tae?"
"I think it's better if you just call me by my name."
"Hyun-seok?"
Damn it.
"Call me however you like. Or, it might be better to use my title. What should I call you?"
"Please call me Sebastian. If it feels too long, you can just say Seba."
Foreigners probably wouldn't understand what "title" means, so as long as I endure it, it'll be fine. Sebastian repeated "title, title, title" a few times and nodded.
Harry said he'd be back after a brief chat and headed towards the drink section of the restaurant. For a moment, Sebastian and I just looked at each other in silence.
It felt awkward.
Then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. At this point, we could consider ourselves acquaintances. Ouch.
"Oh, sorry about that."
I was about to say it was okay, thinking someone had bumped into me by accident, but Sebastian's face had turned pale.
I decided to say I was fine.
"I'm okay."
Behind him was a muscular guy, about Harry's size, with short reddish-brown hair.
"Oh, my, you're scary. Is that how you look at people you don't know in your country?"
"What? This is my natural expression."
The brown-haired guy grinned mischievously.
"Really? You were squinting your eyes, so I thought you were glaring at me."
From his training outfit, he seemed to be an athlete, but I didn't remember him. That meant he probably wasn't a very notable player. Next to him were a Black guy and a blonde guy who were both smirking unpleasantly.
I suddenly recalled the racist jerk from earlier in the restaurant, and my mood plummeted.
"Is it all an act?"
"Did it bother you? I misunderstood, sorry. Are you here as Sebastian's translator?"
I sensed the conversation was going poorly, but since I received an apology, I nodded.
"Yeah? An Asian?"
"...Yes."
This guy was definitely looking for trouble.
I glared at the brown-haired muscle guy, not blinking at all.
"Let's get along from now on; you'll be coming to the training facility too."
After a long staring contest, he smirked and gave my shoulder a pat as he walked by. The two behind him also gave my shoulder a quick tap as they passed.
I felt terrible. Really terrible. But I held it in for now.
I'm just the translator for Sebastian; I can't let anything happen to him.
kept muttering to myself that I had to endure and drew the character for "endurance" in my palm repeatedly.
"What's up? Did you greet them?"
"Oh, yes."
Before I knew it, Harry had come back with a plastic tray filled with drinks. When I looked up, I caught Sebastian staring at my hand, and he quickly glanced away.
Harry grumbled.
"Those guys are still running around like thugs these days. Seba, don't get too friendly with them, okay?"
Sebastian awkwardly smiled.
It felt uncomfortable.
"Excuse me; I need to go to the bathroom for a bit…"
Once inside the bathroom, I quickly turned on my phone.
My phone had been buzzing since Sebastian's handshake and every time the other three players had patted my shoulder. Just like how I guessed Harry's food preferences earlier, there might be something written here.
When the screen lit up, I saw the status bar showing the number +12 and an envelope icon.
When I launched the helper app, a long list appeared.
As I expected, there was a name: Sebastian Rodriguez. The three names below were unfamiliar, but I figured they were likely the three players who had patted my shoulder.
First, let's check Sebastian.
[Sebastian Rodriguez]
Likes superstitions.
Current ability: ★★★★★★
His originally weak mentality has become even weaker due to racism.
I chuckled at the mention of superstitions, admired the fact that his current ability was the same as Aaron Ramsey's, and then, seeing the last line, I muttered, "What the…?"
I quickly clicked on the next player.
[Liam Grant]
Racist
Potential ability: ☆☆☆☆
Dominant foot: Right foot
I had a cold shiver down my spine, just like before.
What is this app?
I rushed out of the bathroom. Sitting back at the table, I asked Sebastian, "Was that player's name Liam Grant?"
Sebastian's eyes widened. He slowly nodded.
My questions weren't over. If I got this one right too, then it really might be true, maybe…?
"Are you experiencing racism?"
Sebastian's face turned pale.
"H-how did you know…?"
"...It's the mystery of the East."
For now, I decided to play it cool.
Upon hearing my words, Harry spat out his drink and glared at Sebastian. But Sebastian kept his mouth shut, staring only at his knees. Occasionally, he would glance at my face, but his focus was entirely on his phone, so he couldn't do anything.
I kept fiddling with my phone in my pocket.
I pulled out my phone again to check the information on the other two players. I asked Sebastian the names of the Black and blonde guys, and they matched.
One of them had their birthdate listed, and it even showed what they had for breakfast. Most importantly, for the blonde guy, Kevin McGregor, it said,
Enjoys tormenting Sebastian during training.What the hell is with these people? Is racism trending in England? What kind of crap is this?
"Hey…"
I went back to the background screen and stared at the app labeled "Helper."
What are you? Is everything written there really true?
"Excuse me!"
I jumped in surprise and looked up.
Sebastian was suddenly beside me, yelling into my ear.
Sebastian and Harry were both staring at me. Harry looked a bit disappointed. I quickly lowered my head.
Why am I acting like this? I need to stop being so dazed. Why am I acting like this on my first day?
"I'm sorry."
"That guy's at it again. Kids these days... Seba, put your phone down too, got it?"
Sebastian nodded and looked at me with shining eyes.
"Would you like to have dinner together?"
He asked me to dinner, even though he hadn't responded to Harry. I nodded without thinking. Harry seemed surprised.
"Are you staying at the same place as the last translator?"
"Uh, yeah, that's right."
Just then, Harry's phone rang. As he answered, his face turned increasingly red.
"Leon? Why?"
Harry yelled loudly, startling everyone in the restaurant. It seemed many wanted to say something to him, but they all were too intimidated by Harry's ferocious demeanor, which resembled a Valhalla warrior.
"I have to rush to London; I'll give you the address and the key. You can find your way there, right? I'll handle the handover after work."
"Yes, that's fine."
"I'll take you there!"
Sebastian said cheerfully. It was nice to see him getting lively, but his intense gaze was a bit overwhelming for me.
Harry handed me the key while making a few requests.
"When you're not translating, try to focus on filming training videos featuring Sebastian. The staff will handle tactical training. Just take this for now."
Harry pulled a camcorder from his bag and handed it over with his ID. He mentioned that my ID would be ready tomorrow, as Katie had already applied for it.
"And if any issues arise, contact Katie. Understood?"
"Uh… Yes."
"I'll be back as soon as I finish! I should be able to come within a few days!"
Harry grabbed his jacket and rushed out of the restaurant.
After Harry left, Sebastian was very kind, bringing me a new drink and personally showing me around the training facility.
There was still an hour and a half until the afternoon training, so we had time to explore the whole facility.
We sat together in the lounge, chatting about trivial things.
Sebastian intentionally avoided discussing the three players and racism. I didn't intend to force the topic, so we ended up talking about soccer.
Before long, I was engrossed in talking about the U-20 Spanish national team.
"Is Asensio really that good?"
He's on a whole different level. His left foot is really…
It's impressive that he's friends with a player from Real Madrid, someone that Korean soccer fans would know well.
Wow, he really is a professional athlete.
Since he looks so gentle, I often forget that.
Even though we hadn't known each other for long, Sebastian was truly a kind and considerate player. However, during this long break, not a single player approached us. Even those who passed by ignored us completely, as if Sebastian didn't exist.
What could be the problem with Sebastian? Or are all the players, not just those jerks from earlier, discriminating against him? Since there were no Asians in Brighton, it's still a possibility.
While listening to Sebastian talk, I fiddled with my phone.
If this app is real, it would help clarify my curiosity significantly. So far, everything has been accurate. If just one more thing turns out to be right, it would eliminate all doubts.
Having made Harry think I'm addicted to my smartphone, I expected at least one favor in return.
As time passed, I went out to the training field with Sebastian. In the center of the field, the three brothers from earlier were grinning wickedly, watching us.
According to the Helper's information, these three were sure to be nothing but trash.