Liar and Liar - Chapter 47
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 47
“JESUS CHRIST.”
While waiting for the LA Sharks’ Game 6, students had gathered in small groups in their respective rooms. The sound of commentary from large speakers flowed out through every open door. They were reviewing Game 5.
The hallway was twice as chaotic and noisy due to the loud blue GO SHARKS balloons that had to be pushed aside by hand, Halloween decorations randomly collaborating with LA Sharks pumpkins, and skulls wearing LA Sharks caps.
But for some reason, whenever Danielle Ryu passed by, the surroundings became as quiet as a mouse.
“Who is that? Tryel? Really?”
“Did she get plastic surgery?”
“How could she get plastic surgery in just a few days.”
Danielle Ryu, who had been walking forward holding hands as Frederick led her, turned her head toward the students who only started talking after she had passed.
As soon as the students made eye contact with Danielle Ryu, they shut their mouths tight as if nothing had happened. Danielle Ryu’s head turned forward again. But she clearly heard what one male student said in passing.
“Frederick didn’t date Tryel for no reason. There was a reason.”
Danielle Ryu chewed over those words again and again while leaving the building. When Frederick stopped in front of a car, Danielle Ryu’s cheeks were flushed a soft pink.
Danielle Ryu came to her senses only when she saw the unfamiliar black car.
“…Don’t tell me this car is yours?”
“Yeah. Berlinetta (meaning small salon in Italian). I got it last week and brought it to give my baby her first ride.”
Danielle Ryu’s eyes scanned the car body. It was a black two-seater coupe. The design of the hood extending in long curves was reminiscent of the 1900s.
Danielle Ryu must have seen hundreds, thousands of black car bodies on the street and in parking lots, but this car’s black was distinctly different. The gloss was so strong that it was a deep black that softly reflected the surrounding scenery.
The hood was as long as a bullet, and what felt classic were the rounded double headlights and the wire spoke wheels reminiscent of classic carriages.
It was truly a typical 1960s Italian GT car.
“It’s really… cool. It looks like something people in Monaco would drive.”
“Haha, no way. This one has Italian blood too.”
Frederick naturally opened the passenger door for her.
Danielle Ryu, who got in the car, gazed blankly at the interior design. Including the beige leather seats, the interior was all in beige tones. Just getting in the car felt like traveling to the 1960s.
“So now we’re going to the stadium?”
“No, the hotel.”
“Hotel? What hotel?”
“We need to stop by there. By the way, has the lineup been announced?”
He must have business at the hotel. Danielle Ryu thought that much and moved on. The follow-up story was much more important right now.
Danielle Ryu quickly turned her head toward Frederick who was driving.
“No, not yet. Do you happen to know?”
Danielle Ryu’s interest was naturally focused on one person. However, the LA Sharks had barely any starting lineup changes recently, and Seonwoo Kang hadn’t performed well in his last appearance.
In MLB, it was natural logic that if you couldn’t show performance in a barely returned opportunity, the next opportunity wouldn’t come.
“Yeah. It seems Seonwoo Kang isn’t in today’s starting lineup. That’s too bad.”
“I see… It can’t be helped…”
Danielle Ryu hugged the transparent bag in her arms. Inside was a glove carefully placed. A catching glove for catching flying balls.
“You never know. He might come out as a pinch hitter like in Game 1.”
“Yeah, that would be nice…”
Today is exactly when the full moon rises. What a shame…
Danielle Ryu, who had been lost in thought, looked to the left again.
If you’re a team owner, can you get involved in lineup and pinch hitter selection…?
‘No way.’
Even if he could convey opinions to the manager, that would be Frederick’s father’s authority, not Frederick’s business.
And one more thing.
It wasn’t something a fake girlfriend should be concerned about either.
“Are you excited?”
Only when Frederick spoke did Danielle Ryu realize she had been looking down intently.
“…I’m excited. I really hope they win.”
“Even if the game doesn’t go as planned, it’s okay. Let’s go watch tomorrow too.”
The car entered Beverly Wilshire. People were drinking coffee on the first floor street under purple round awnings decorated like a European cafe.
As they curved into the entrance, a doorman quickly approached and opened the passenger door.
“But what’s the business at the hotel? The traffic is bad so it would be better to go quickly.”
Frederick, who had come around the front of the car, naturally took Danielle Ryu’s hand as if it were obvious.
“Yeah, that’s why we’re not going by car. We’re going by helicopter.”
“…Uh, what did you say?”
I think I just heard some unreasonable word… The kind of word you only use when learning the letter H…
“Going early is fine, but getting out is torture. So our family takes the helicopter.”
“Oh, uh…”
The staff member who approached Frederick didn’t even ask about his identity or business. He just familiarly guided them to an elevator. The golden decorations inside the hotel made Danielle Ryu dizzy.
And when she came to her senses, there really was a helicopter in front of Danielle Ryu’s eyes. On the rooftop they had climbed following the staff’s guidance, the propeller of a gray helicopter preparing for takeoff spun round and round making a loud noise.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud. Danielle Ryu covered one ear with her hand. Her voice got louder.
“This is unbelievable. Really? We’re taking that to the stadium?!”
LA people’s common sense was that if you didn’t like traffic when leaving the stadium, you ‘hurry up early and leave the stadium one beat faster.’ Not ‘take a helicopter.’
It’s not like let them eat cake if there’s no bread-
Reaching the helicopter, Frederick gripped Danielle Ryu’s hand more firmly. As if escorting her.
“Of course, being stuck on the road would be fine if I’m with you, but the coffee here is particularly delicious. I wanted to come back after the game.”
Before Danielle Ryu could react, Frederick brought her hand to his lips and kissed it briefly. She couldn’t avoid his gaze.
“With my honey.”
He smiled sweetly.
Why did our fake relationship suddenly become married life…?
“You can’t get divorced alone, you know?”
What kind of over-immersion is he doing right now?
The confusion was brief, and the moment the helicopter took off after sitting down, Danielle Ryu almost screamed.
Starting with the sensation of her whole body floating, everything she had seen while coming by car became as small as toy miniatures.
Although she had a fear of heights, fortunately being okay when in vehicles seemed to apply to helicopters too. Danielle Ryu stared blankly out the window.
Through the window, Los Angeles stretched out like a checkerboard grid below. The white Hollywood Sign stood tall over brown hills where all the grass had dried.
“Ah…”
Danielle Ryu had looked down at this grid-patterned city in exactly the same way before. As she rewound her memories, Danielle Ryu’s heart churned along with them.
Seven years ago- when she was young and thought everything would work out if she just tried hard enough, when she crossed the Pacific with dreams, she had seen this scenery through an airplane window. When she turned her head to the side, she made eye contact with Frederick sitting next to her.
“Are you scared?”
Danielle Ryu silently shook her head.
The helicopter flew further east with the Hollywood Sign on the left.
-Now you can see the stadium.
The moment she heard the pilot’s words, Danielle Ryu could also see the dense cars on the road and the automobiles filling the stadium parking lot. The stadium seats, which had four floors total, were almost filled.
“Wow…”
The GO SHARKS balloon in the sky that she always had to look up at was visible straight ahead. The helicopter prepared for landing. The rooftop of a parking lot on one side of the stadium was the landing point.
‘This is unbelievable. We really came by helicopter…’
Although they had enjoyed all kinds of conveniences with the help of Sharks staff, in the end her parents had also lamented that they were stuck in traffic for three hours when going home. If you didn’t like that, you had to leave the stadium in the 9th or 8th inning.
“Hey, honey.”
After getting off the helicopter, Danielle Ryu’s gaze, which had been blankly staring at the stadium stands under the blazing sun, was drawn back to Frederick.
“I couldn’t tell you beforehand, but I’d like you to greet my parents before we go to our seats. Would that be okay?”
“Of course I thought we would do that. Strictly speaking, these are tickets my parents gave us too.”
The building was a parking lot exclusively for staff, officials, and players. The Hispanic female staff member who had come out early seemed to know Frederick too. She handed Danielle Ryu and Frederick staff lanyards with their faces printed on them respectively.
For this, Danielle Ryu had to send Frederick her ID photo. She didn’t want to, but…
The Sharks Clubhouse was full of eye-spinning attractions. Golden gloves and silver bats, last year’s championship cup, and belongings of permanently retired number players were on display.
But it seemed like a familiar sight to Frederick, so instead of looking at the items like Danielle Ryu, Frederick spoke to the staff.
“How are the players doing? Everyone must be tired from the last game. They even had to travel.”
Game 5 played in Toronto achieved the longest innings that would remain in World Series history. A total of 19 pitchers from both teams combined appeared during 18 innings, and the game time alone was almost 7 hours.
The walk-off home run of that game came from the LA Sharks, and thanks to that, they could play Game 6 with a definite advantage.
“Since Austin became the save option in the last game, Naoki has to start today. If he can just hold out for exactly 3 innings, we’re looking at it as really good defense, but his expression is terrible. Even though it’s Naoki, I guess he’s reached his physical limit.”
Naoki was currently the star player doing both pitching and batting for the LA Sharks. Danielle Ryu was certain that LA people liked Asians more than before, and the reason was definitely Naoki.
The direction the staff member was guiding them was toward the very center of the Stadium. When they opened a door after scanning their badges, a carpeted VIP section finally spread out before Danielle Ryu’s view.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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