Second Half Chapter 30

Aaron shot back playfully, but everyone at the table fell silent. Jerim, who had started the conversation without much thought, let out a sharp gasp. No one in this room was unaware that Aaron’s arrival had pushed Lehmann—who was originally a starter—to the bench.

The atmosphere grew even colder because the very person who had displaced Lehmann was using a word like “transferring.” Jerim rolled his eyes, subtly checking Lehmann’s expression. However, Lehmann sat with his head bowed, fidgeting with his glass, making it difficult to gauge his mood.

It was Edson who broke the silence that was frozen harder than a north wind in midwinter. Being a guy who naturally overflowed with excitement and enjoyed drinking and dancing, he apparently hated the idea of a rare drinking session being ruined. Lacking his usual large speakers, he turned up a song on his phone instead and began to chatter away.

“By the way, Aaron, didn’t they pester you during this A-match break? There are plenty of Tabarona players in the Spanish national team.”

Edson recited the title of an article he had recently read: Tabarona FC Shedding Tears of Blood. Since it was obvious what the content would be just from the headline, chuckles broke out here and there. As Edson ripped a napkin into long strips and stuck them under his eyes to mimic crying, the chuckles gradually turned into hearty laughter.

Jerim also pretended to laugh loudly and stroked the back of Lehmann’s head. It was a gesture mixed with apology for the tactless mention and encouragement not to be too discouraged. Only then did Lehmann turn his chin slightly to stare at Jerim.

Fortunately, no sign of anger was visible in his blue eyes. Jerim glanced toward Aaron and made a comical, obnoxious face. Only after seeing Lehmann burst out with a “pfft” laugh did Jerim feel relieved and pull his hand away.

“They did. I heard the word ‘traitor’ more than a few times.”

Unaware that the captain and the youngest member were mocking him right next to him, Aaron shook his head slightly, saying the two weeks in his homeland felt like sitting on a bed of needles.

Tabarona wasn’t a small club that would collapse just because Aaron was gone, but the recent atmosphere hadn’t been great. They had to fill Aaron’s vacancy, but because they had sent him away without receiving a single penny in transfer fees, it seemed their financial situation wasn’t exactly abundant.

Strikers were already a position where the market had dried up, and if one was even slightly useful, the price skyrocketed, making them hard to find. Lehmann alone was talented enough that if he said he was going to another club, everyone would welcome him, and he could easily snatch a starting spot. With Aaron’s sudden transfer, Sefton had become a club blessed with two useful strikers.

Furthermore, Tabarona wasn’t looking for just any “decent” forward. To be honest, finding a replacement who could perfectly fill the shoes of the Aaron Reyes was harder than plucking a star from the sky. Though they had rushed to find a replacement just before the transfer market closed, they weren’t yet able to perfectly satisfy the fans, whose tastes had risen to the point of piercing the stratosphere after watching Aaron all those years.

The guy who clearly knew that fact felt disgusted by it, without even thinking about the “sin” he had committed. Well, it was a sin from Tabarona’s perspective, but a godsend from Sefton’s. So Jerim couldn’t openly denounce him as a shameless bastard and just listened to the conversation while narrowing his eyes.

“Whoa, the ‘traitor’ wording is a bit harsh. You heard that to your face and just let it slide? You?”

“I told them it was pitiful to see them struggling so much without that ‘traitor,’ and they shut up.”

“…Aren’t you the Spanish national team captain?”

“So what. They joke, I joke. Give and take.”

Just what kind of mind did the Spanish national team manager have to give a guy like that the captaincy? Jerim’s eyes narrowed even further.

“Even if your teammates are fine, the fans are full of resentment. Among the fans over there, Sefton is treated almost like a traitor for stealing you. I’m already scared that we might go on an away match to Tabarona in the Champions League.”

“Their fans are famous for being rough anyway… If we really go on an away match, a ton of trash will be thrown.”

“Is trash the problem? Aaron will hear curses for all 90 minutes. I can practically see them shaking a model of a wolf’s head with an ‘X’ drawn over the eyes.”

“Wow, imagine if we win there. Aaron, aren’t you scared?”

Realistic concerns followed. They were assigned to a different group from Tabarona in the group stages, but if Sefton advanced to the finals, they would inevitably meet at least once in the tournament. Unless Tabarona, without Aaron, performed so shockingly poorly that they couldn’t even make the tournament.

Jerim, who knew all too well how rough Tabarona’s fans were, joined the parade of worries from the other teammates. At this rate, he might even be subjected to racism for the first time in a while. Even though he had heard it so often he’d grown used to it, racism was something that felt unpleasant every time it happened.

Moreover, unlike the UK, which discriminates in a subtly sarcastic way, Spain tends to criticize in a fairly raw and blunt manner… In his youth, he couldn’t adapt to those filthy insults and would get worked up every time. This reason played a part in why he didn’t have much affection for La Liga. The Premier League is relatively strict regarding racism, but La Liga still only deals with it in a superficial, “closing one’s eyes and pretending to see nothing” way.

‘Still, this guy… never said that kind of thing to me.’

He glanced at the guy he currently wished he could just punch once. Back then, Aaron would get even more excited and go wilder than Jerim, who was the one actually being racially abused. There was even a time he was disciplined for openly striking an opponent’s face and legs right in front of the manager. And that was even before they started dating.

The feeling of seeing him rush in the moment Jerim’s nose bled and stomp on the opponent’s ankle with his soccer cleats. It was a cathartic feeling, as if a ten-year-old clog had been cleared at once.

How did that once commendable and cute guy become like this… Just what happened during those 10 years that he came back with his body covered in tattoos and his mouth full of filth? While Jerim was lamenting the passage of time, Aaron shrugged his shoulders, brushing off all the worries.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s the business of a club I’ve already left, isn’t it?”

“Still, it’s the team you’ve been with since your youth days; don’t you miss it?”

“I guess I have an England-type constitution.”

Bullshit, from a guy who hasn’t even been here that long. Jerim naturally threw a retort.

“Such words coming from the captain of the Invincible Armada.”

“Here, you’re the captain, not me. Shouldn’t you be complimenting me instead? I’m showing perfect team spirit only two months after arriving.”

“Go tell the manager to compliment you. He’ll probably adore you a lot. He might even give you a kiss.”

“Jerim, do you want to pay five hundred pounds? If the two of us pay, it’ll exactly cover today’s alcohol bill.”

“…”

Now he’s using all sorts of ways to threaten me. But it was a truly effective threat. Toward Jerim, who clenched his jaw shut, exclamations flowed in from all around, saying they never imagined the day would come when they’d see him so quiet and unable to utter a single peep.

A pack of bats is scattered everywhere. Instead of shielding the captain, they’re taking the side of this season’s transfer student. Jerim, shivering with a sense of betrayal, stubbornly shook off Aaron’s restraint and gulped down his beer.

The task of regretting that he shouldn’t have done that fell to Jerim the next day, when he discovered Aaron eating cereal in his own house. And with both of them in a semi-naked state.

✲✲✲

“I’m going to walk!”

“Here he goes again. Lehmann, do you want to give him a ride this time too?”

William, who quickly grabbed the neck of Jerim—who had waved brightly and turned around—pressed his hand to his forehead. Except for his flushed face, his speech wasn’t slurred and his eyes were bright, but the fact that he said he would walk meant he was definitely drunk.

Leaving aside the fascination of him getting drunk on just three glasses of beer, sending him home safely was the priority, so William asked Lehmann as he always did. This was because Lehmann, who lived near Jerim, always took him home whenever this happened. Fortunately, Lehmann nodded readily and pulled Jerim toward the car his driver had brought.

“Yeah. Jeri, let’s get in the car.”

“No, I want to walk.”

“It’s raining now and it’s late, so it’s dangerous… Don’t do that and come with me, okay?”

Watching Lehmann struggle, unable to do anything about the captain who stood firmly on the earth with both legs, William furrowed his brow.