Chapter 7

7

2. Special Applications, Helper (4)

“I should stop watching...”

It’s already two in the morning. Before I knew it, I was watching videos of Chris Allen’s matches.

If he develops properly, he could easily surpass a 100 billion won transfer fee. He has the potential to become a world-class player, which is my goal. These facts were tempting, consuming my thoughts. I slapped my cheeks with both hands and closed my laptop.

“I can’t do this right after starting my job...”

I turned off the lights and quickly got into bed.

Naturally, I couldn’t fall asleep.

Since I was already awake, I turned on my phone and searched for Sebastian Rodriguez.

I felt guilty. I should have been researching the player I was assigned, but instead, I was only looking up other players. I needed to reflect deeply, very deeply.

Unlike Chris, Sebastian’s SNS profile appeared right at the top. As an elite player who had come through the U-20 national team and AT Madrid’s youth system, he had more followers than most first-division league players.

“He used to be so cheerful.”

His photo album was filled with pictures of him smiling brightly.

There was a photo of him joking around with a phone ceremony with AT Madrid’s star, Antoine Griezmann, and another of him hanging on Diego Godin’s back, a world-class defender.

As I scrolled through his posts, I realized something new.

“He’s not just cheerful; he’s a show-off, isn’t he?”

His feed was full of dance videos with Manchester United players like Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, and Eric Bailly. Whenever something became a trend, he would follow it and post it.

The posts were different from what I had seen during the day, and I chuckled as I continued to scroll through the pages.

Then, I found a video from when he arrived at Brighton last August.

It was a promotional video taken in front of an advertisement board filled with sponsor logos.

Reporter: "Why didn’t you stay at AT Madrid? Simeone publicly asked you to stay, saying he would include you in the rotation this season..."

Sebastian: "I love AT Madrid. But I’m a greedy player. I need to play regularly at my age to grow. I came here because I want to play."

Reporter: "I heard you received many good offers from other teams, including first-division teams in major leagues. Why did you choose Brighton & Hove Albion FC, a second-division team? Isn’t it a step down?"

The reporter didn’t seem to be a Brighton fan. There was a bit of commotion in the press conference room. Once the atmosphere calmed down, Sebastian spoke calmly. The interpreter diligently relayed Sebastian’s words to the reporters.

Sebastian: "My mother was a second-generation British immigrant. She told me many good stories about Britain, and I grew up listening to them. I received offers from many countries, but my mother’s influence was significant. I want to make many good memories here."

Reporter: "Can you tell us about your future plans?"

Sebastian: "I will adapt to English football and grow further. I want to contribute to the team’s promotion and become a memorable player for the fans."

Even after the video ended, I couldn’t easily move to the next page.

I slowly scrolled down.

I saw Sebastian holding Brighton’s uniform and smiling brightly. There were many photos of him with fans, and he always looked cheerful.

Another video started playing.

It was a shaky, out-of-focus video, probably not taken by a professional. The background suggested it was after a match. One of the fans nearby asked:

Fan: "Are you enjoying playing for Brighton?"

Sebastian: "Of course!"

Fan: "When do you have the most fun?"

Sebastian: "When I receive the fans’ cheers. The supporters of this team are fantastic. I’m really happy to be here."

After this video, his SNS was inactive for almost four months.

The last post, this video, still had new comments up until yesterday. I read through them carefully.

There were gentle fans asking when he would play again and waiting for him, and there were harsh comments telling him to go back to his country if he was only going to collect a salary.

I read each comment.

And at some point, I fell asleep.

*

“Hey! Good morning.”

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Sebastian finishing up his car wash. He waved at me.

The weather wasn’t good. It was almost 11, but the sky was overcast. Even though we were by the coast, it looked like it might drizzle soon.

As I approached Sebastian, my phone suddenly vibrated.

I thought it was a message or KakaoTalk, but...

“Didn’t you sleep well?”

“Tina?”

Sebastian had already approached me. There were dark circles under his eyes. I touched my own eyes and smiled awkwardly.

Sebastian went to put away his car washing tools, and I took out my phone again, staring at the screen.

Sebastian’s information had been updated.

- Ate chocolate cereal for breakfast.

This was the fourth piece of information. How did it get added? I was pondering this when I saw Sebastian gesturing for me to get in the car.

I got in the passenger seat and first confirmed the authenticity of the information.

“Isn’t chocolate cereal bad for you?”

Sebastian’s face suddenly turned red. If he had been driving, he might have caused an accident. I need to be more careful next time.

Sebastian’s eyes darted around.

“How did you know? Is it another Eastern mystery?”

“There were crumbs around your mouth.”

Sebastian immediately wiped his mouth. There were no crumbs, of course. It was a lie. I didn’t want to keep using the “Eastern mystery” excuse after he seriously asked about his horoscope yesterday.

Sebastian was making excuses.

“Sometimes... I crave it...”

“It’s okay. It happens. No one can be perfect all the time.”

“Really, I only had it after almost a month.”

It’s probably true. I wasn’t disappointed. He must have been under a lot of stress, and maintaining his usual diet for so long is impressive.

“Yeah, yeah. Still, eat chocolate in moderation. I’m not an athlete, but I know it’s bad for body management. Messi said that not eating chocolate is the hardest part.”

“I only had it today.”

Sebastian looked upset. His small mouth didn’t stop moving.

“Eating the same cereal every day gets boring, so I had it once today, after almost a month... I haven’t played for almost a month, so I couldn’t eat this kind of thing...”

Sebastian’s voice started to waver.

I chuckled and decided to change the topic.

“Do you eat cereal every morning?”

Based on his dinner style last night, I thought he would only eat organic health food, but cereal seemed out of place. Cereal isn’t bad, though.

“I’m usually weak in the morning and sleep in. I used to have someone who took care of me, but they quit a month ago.”

“Oh, you said you lived in that house?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I tilted my head.

*

When we arrived at the club, we had lunch at the same restaurant as yesterday and then moved to a room that looked like a university lecture hall. They said it was for a team meeting.

Today is Tuesday.

They had a day off from team training on Sunday, the day after the match (Sebastian said he did individual training), and yesterday was a light training session to loosen up.

So today was the start of the serious training for the league match this week.

Before the team meeting, I turned off my phone’s vibration. It had been vibrating non-stop since we entered the club.

I guessed it was because new information was being added, like with Sebastian. I was curious about how the fourth piece of information was added, but work came first.

Soon, the coach and coaching staff entered.

The coach sat with his arms crossed on the side, and the chief coach and tactical analyst started the briefing.

It was a video analysis of the tactical movements of our next opponent, Wolverhampton Wanderers. The chief coach paused the video at intervals to explain the tactics, and I had to interpret for Sebastian.

He’s really enthusiastic, even though he can’t play in the matches.

I don’t know when he got a notebook, but he was taking notes and even drawing pictures.

His drawings weren’t great, but who cares? It’s nice to see his dedication.

After the team meeting, I parted ways with Sebastian, who said he would quickly change into his training gear, and headed to the training ground.

As soon as I turned the corner of the corridor, I was confronted by a trio.

I quickly looked around and then stared at them straight.

“Waiting for me, interpreter?”

“Sorry about yesterday.”

One of the three turned red. It was Kevin McGregor, who had messed up yesterday.

“I’m really sorry. Yesterday... um, it wasn’t intentional.”

Kevin McGregor’s face looked like it was about to explode, just like yesterday.

As Kevin McGregor was about to shout, Daniel Knight, a black player on the opposite side, interrupted.

“Got something to say, so come with me for a moment.”

“Can we talk here?”

“This guy is really arrogant. This yellow bastard.”

Hey, you shouldn’t be saying that, right?

I frowned, filled with disbelief. My eyes must have reflected Daniel Knight’s dark face.

If we had been in a closed room with these three, it would have been scary, but now the club staff were running around the corridor preparing for training. They would have to go to training soon too.

Believing this, I stood firm and didn’t move.

“Let’s talk here.”

Liam Grant, who seemed to be the leader, spoke.

And then he said something strange.

“I’ll keep it short. If you don’t want to get hurt, stop interpreting for Sebastian.”

What kind of nonsense is this?

“Why?”

The question came out naturally.

Kevin McGregor and Daniel Knight puffed out their chests to look bigger and moved to my sides, surrounding me. They seemed to be trying to intimidate me with their large builds and scary faces.

I asked again.

“Why?”

The three, including Liam Grant, seemed taken aback. They looked like neighborhood thugs trying to intimidate me, but I wasn’t really scared.

What kind of childish act is this? You’re not kids anymore.

Liam Grant smirked, trying to look relaxed.

“I just don’t like seeing him act all cozy.”

“Why? Why don’t you like it?”

Liam Grant hesitated, as if no one had ever asked for a reason. The other two also looked at him.

After hesitating, Liam Grant suddenly laughed like a villain.

“It just makes me feel bad.”

“What?”

“It just makes me feel bad. That’s the reason. It’s natural to feel bad when a monkey is laughing and having fun among people. Monkeys should stay with monkeys. They shouldn’t try to talk to people.”

The other two laughed similarly, and soon the three of them were giggling.

In my mind, I lowered their status from trash to the bottom of the barrel. These guys are nuclear waste-level trash.

Suddenly, I remembered what Sebastian had said yesterday. He had told me to say if I wanted to quit.

“How many have you scared off like this?”

“Five or six.”

“Seven, probably.”

The three were talking about how previous interpreters had been scared off, like war stories. It was disgusting.

“What if I say no?”

“You might start feeling very scared living in Brighton & Hove.”

Liam Grant’s eyes suddenly took on a sinister look.

Do they have some kind of backing?

“I don’t like trouble, but you don’t seem scared. I’ll give you a week to think about it. Try not to cause trouble. Got it? Yellow monkey?”

Liam Grant patted my shoulder, signaling he was done, and walked away with the other two.

I felt a surge of annoyance.

What are they relying on to act like this?

Openly discriminating in a club? In today’s world, if this becomes an issue, they’re guaranteed to be kicked out.

I turned on my phone and started gathering information before taking any action.

The clue might be in the information added to the Helper.

I opened the app and clicked on Liam Grant first.

The added information was as follows:

- His father and older brother are part of Brighton’s hooligans.