Liar and Liar - Chapter 48

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 48

 

In the middle of the high ceiling, there was a bar with a neatly dressed bartender. Several people were already sitting in front of it, drinking shots.

 

She thought they were almost there, but getting to the suite room where Frederick’s parents would be wasn’t easy. All because her companion was the ‘celebrity’ Frederick Bastia.

 

Frederick followed the staff member down the path, but there were quite a few people who greeted him first. They were VIPs who were similarly using suite rooms.

 

She tried to stay behind, but Frederick introduced Danielle to each person every time.

 

“This is my girlfriend, Danielle Ryu.”

 

Really. Did he really have to?

 

On the way to the suite room where his parents were, Danielle counted exactly how many people had stopped Frederick in his tracks. Eleven people in total. And they probably hadn’t even walked 200 feet.

 

Finally, the staff member stopped in front of a door.

 

“Thanks for the escort, Jules.”

 

“Have a wonderful day!”

 

After the staff member left, Frederick asked with an affectionate face and eyes. You ready?

 

But Danielle belatedly realized that she wasn’t ready at all. Hell no.

 

“W-wait a minute.”

 

“Hm?”

 

Stopping his motion to open the door, Danielle firmly pulled Frederick’s hand.

 

“Take off your Italian filter for a second and come back to your American mindset for 5 seconds.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Tell me honestly. Do I look okay right now? How do you think your parents will see me?”

 

Was this really something to be so flustered and anxious about?

 

‘I’m just greeting them… as a fake girlfriend.’

 

What was there to feel burdened about? But rational reasoning wasn’t helping at all in this moment.

 

Only when Frederick’s hand cupped her cheek did Danielle look up in surprise to face him directly.

 

“Bae, relax. As always, but today’s you is breathtakingly perfect too. Our parents know how to judge people. I guarantee they’ll like you the moment they see you. The moment they see you, they’ll say ‘Che bella bimba.'”

 

Even though she knew what it meant, only strange thoughts filled Danielle’s head.

 

‘Get away from my son?’

 

Before Danielle could ask back, Frederick opened the door without even knocking. Strangely, it was in moments like this that she really felt Frederick was the owner’s son.

 

“Papa, Mamma.”

 

Just moments ago it had been a baseball stadium, but as soon as one door opened, a modern hotel room came into view. Except for the lack of a bed, the 8-person table, TV, and sofas were all top-quality materials you’d find in a 5-star hotel suite room.

 

Three people who had been sitting facing each other on the sofa drinking coffee recognized Frederick and stood up.

 

“Amedeo!”

 

As Frederick approached, a middle-aged woman wearing a white LA Sharks windbreaker smiled brightly and kissed Frederick’s right cheek.

 

Her shoulder-length bob created a sophisticated atmosphere. Next to her, Mari in an orange hoodie smiled silently and waved at Danielle.

 

‘…Isn’t she staying at her parents’ house right now?’

 

It felt like seeing her for the first time in about 10 years…

 

There was no time for other thoughts beyond that. The woman who had kissed Frederick naturally turned her gaze to Danielle.

 

“This is my girlfriend, Danielle Ryu.”

 

Danielle smiled awkwardly.

 

“Buongiorno. È un piacere conoscerla.(Hello. Nice to meet you.)”

 

“Mamma mia! Che bella bimba.(Oh my! What a beautiful girl!)”

 

Giusto, caro? The woman turned her head to the man. There wasn’t even time to be surprised that she really used the phrase ‘Che bella bimba.’

 

That must be Frederick’s father… the Sharks owner…

 

He was exactly as Danielle had found on the internet. Wearing a gray tee with a white zip-up hoodie, a navy Sharks jacket on top, and half-rim glasses, he was a distinguished middle-aged man with completely white hair.

 

Except for wrinkles on his forehead, there were no wrinkles elsewhere, and aside from his slightly darker skin tone, he looked exactly like Frederick.

 

“Haha. Really nice to meet you, Danielle. I’m Sylvester. Would you be able to come to dinner next time when we formally invite you?”

 

“Of course. I’d be happy to visit anytime.”

 

“You said you’re going to the outfield seats? You’d probably see better from here though.”

 

The balcony for watching the game was accessible through glass doors. It was truly premium seating where you could look down at the stadium from the very center.

 

Regardless of how incredibly good the seats were, Danielle was inclined to accept Sylvester’s suggestion. There were many reasons, but mainly because the chances of player Seonwoo Kang pitching in today’s game were remote.

 

But Frederick’s answer was different.

 

“No, we’ll go watch from the outfield.”

 

Danielle had been thinking that bringing a glove and wanting to watch the game from the outfield was excessive. She was even a bit embarrassed about harboring such foolish hopes.

 

However, the moment Frederick’s large hand wrapped around her shoulder, all those thoughts completely evaporated.

 

“The seat my honey chose is my seat for today.”

 

Aaaah.

 

Danielle froze like a stone.

 

“Hoho, how sweet, how sweet~”

 

Frederick’s mother, Marilyn, smiled warmly.

 

“Mm. Which side did you say you’re sitting on? Left field? Right field?”

 

“Right field.”

 

This was also according to Danielle’s wishes. Since player Seonwoo Kang was a right-handed pitcher and left-handed batter, she had thought there was a slightly higher probability that home runs would fly toward right field.

 

Now it was a story that had become useless though.

 

“Alright. Have a good time.”

 

After Danielle and Frederick said goodbye and left the room, Sylvester took out his phone from his jacket pocket. Making eye contact with Marilyn, he also smiled gently.

 

“Danny, I have a favor to ask.”

 

Without hearing the content, Marilyn and Mari, who realized Sylvester’s purpose, burst into laughter, and Sylvester made a gesture of pressing his index finger to his lips.

 

* * *

 

Coming out to the area people used, it was complete chaos. People wearing clothes with the LA Sharks logo each held beer cups in their hands, and the energy was impossible to keep up with.

 

‘This place has changed a lot too. I don’t think it was like this 7 years ago.’

 

Of course, in a good way. The last time Danielle had come here was 7 years ago, and it had remained as wild and savage, something like that. The decisive moment was when a spectator who was completely drunk got into a fistfight with another spectator and was ejected.

 

Walking through the extended shop corridor, she could see menus on the electronic boards. The main menu item was Korean barbecue. This was also surprising.

 

“Wow. They’re selling Korean food? As the main menu too?”

 

Danielle finally realized what the chicken in containers that people were carrying around was.

 

“Want to try some? I think people are really interested in Korea these days. The food is all delicious too.”

 

“Are you hungry? I’m fine.”

 

“I’m just okay right now too. Then let me know later if you feel like it.”

 

No different from at school, Frederick was still drawing women’s gazes even in this situation. They were just staying quiet because he was holding hands with Danielle, but if that weren’t the case, it seemed like they would have rushed over immediately with such blatant stares.

 

Finally, Danielle and Frederick came over to the outfield area. A band was performing under an electronic board that read ‘Blue Heaven on Event.’ The amplifier was booming with synthesizer music.

 

“Wow, it’s dazzling.”

 

Every person passing by had Naoki printed on their back. No matter how hard she looked around, she couldn’t particularly see anyone wearing a Seonwoo Kang jersey.

 

Seeing Frederick take out and put on the sunglasses he had been hanging on his t-shirt, Danielle took out an LA Sharks cap from her bag and put it on. Even this hat had been received along with the jersey.

 

“Want to look around over there?”

 

Since there was no need to hurry, Danielle walked slowly, taking in everything that came into her sight one by one. Behind the band was the stadium. People were taking pictures.

 

“Should we take a picture too, honey.”

 

Danielle quietly responded by nodding her head. Did he think she was reluctantly agreeing when she didn’t want to? But it was Danielle who specifically tried to find an Asian person, preferably Korean, to ask to take their picture.

 

The Sharks team store had an indescribably large crowd, so they gave up on entering from the start and decided to just go to their seats.

 

The outfield was Danielle’s first time too. Instead of sitting in seats, they pushed past people still standing in the entrance where shadows were still falling and entered the outfield area, where the entire stadium came into view.

 

“Ah… wow…”

 

Centered around the green grass, people were packed tightly in seats that were 4 stories high. It was like a house-sized wave standing right in front of them.

 

When sitting in seats close to the bases, she had thought the outfield seats were very far away. But surprisingly, they were close. When she turned her head, she could see the large electronic board. Frederick also raised his head and slowly surveyed the surroundings.

 

“Interesting. So this is what the outfield is like.”

 

“It’s refreshing because it’s the complete opposite direction from what you usually see, right?”

 

Having decided to sit in the outfield, Frederick wanted just one thing: to sit in an aisle seat. Since the outfield seats weren’t individual seats but integrated like church pews, it seemed to be because of his build.

 

Even though the game was about to start, the seats were sparse. People eating food outside were still leisurely and showed no signs of hurrying in. That was actually better.

 

‘This isn’t too bad for me, but I wonder if Frederick will be uncomfortable…’

 

At least there were backrests, but the chairs themselves looked like some kind of construction site temporary chairs.

 

“Our seats are here. Haha.”

 

In the front seats, two boys who looked to be about middle school age were each holding gloves.

 

Danielle, who had entered and sat down first, quietly took out her glove from her bag.

 

“A glove? You brought one separately?”

 

Frederick looked at Danielle’s glove with a surprised expression. He looked like he hadn’t thought of it at all.

 

“You never know when a home run might fly over.”

 

“That’s true. There are so many people with gloves. Should I have brought one too?”

 

Even if it wasn’t a home run, the outfield players would throw balls to the outfield. Getting even one would be a huge success.

 

“It’s okay. Whatever comes, I’ll catch it for you.”

 

“My boyfriend is so reliable.”

 

Frederick leaned his head against Danielle’s like a puppy. At the sudden rush of woody scent, Danielle unconsciously flinched and held her breath.

 

She thought they had arrived with time to spare, but that wasn’t the case. They had only looked around the stadium a bit, but before they knew it, the screen was announcing the start of the game.

 

Every time a player’s image appeared, people cheered with tremendous voices. They wildly waved blue Sharks towels that seemed to have been distributed at the entrance.

 

They sang the national anthem while looking at the American flag, and a legendary LA Sharks player came out for the ceremonial first pitch. The final showdown that would decide the season was now truly beginning.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————