A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 267

Chapter 67: My Precious Darling (4)

An unexpected visitor.

Mr. and Mrs. Harrison were bustling about.

Brewing tea, bringing out snacks, wanting to open the windows to air out the place.

“You should have at least called before coming! If I had known you were coming, I would have gone to the market in advance.”

“Oh, Mr. Harrison! When have I ever called before visiting? I just drop by when I think of it.”

“Haha, is that so? Come to think of it, I’m always the one calling, aren’t I?”

“Because of the alligators?”

“That’s right, those damn alligators! They think our swimming pool is theirs!”

Mr. Harrison chuckled as he opened the cupboard to get teacups.

“Wait there for a moment. I happen to have some nice tea.”

“Take your time, take your time! Don’t spill the boiling water like last time!”

John Ramer gave Ji-seop a smile after telling the elderly couple not to worry.

A smile that seemed to say, ‘I’m this close to the Harrison family. So don’t worry about selling the season tickets.’

Ji-seop nodded slightly at his confident expression and got up to look around the living room.

‘Seems like what he said wasn’t wrong.’

The story that the Harrison family was a huge fan of the Tampa Bay Rays seemed to be true.

On the living room wall, there were framed uniforms with the signatures of Tampa Bay players.

Next to it were models of Tropicana Field, cheering tools, and bobbleheads of key players lined up in a row.

And to the right of that, almost filling one entire wall, were photos of the Harrison family.

‘Ah, they said they had grandchildren…….’

The Harrison family seemed to have made good use of the season tickets they purchased.

Most of the photos on the wall were taken at Tampa Bay’s home stadium, Tropicana Field.

The sight of a grandson waving a flag, a granddaughter eating a hot dog with ketchup on her lips, and Mr. and Mrs. Harrison embracing them with beaming smiles.

At this point, he thought selling the season tickets would be easy.

Just as John Ramer said, Mr. Harrison probably just forgot the season ticket payment date.

As he was thinking that and about to turn his head.

“Hmm?”

Several envelopes came into Ji-seop’s view.

The envelopes had ‘To Grandpa and Grandma’ written on them in crooked handwriting.

It was a cute font that made you smile just by looking at it, but the postmark on it was a bit concerning.

‘……New York?’

The grandchildren’s letters came from New York.

What does this mean?

* * *

“Ah, the children?”

Ji-seop’s vague premonition turned out to be true about ten minutes later.

While they were chatting over tea and snacks, John Ramer mentioned that the grandchildren weren’t home too late.

“Didn’t I tell you? The children are in New York now. Their father came and took them last month. He said they would be attending school in New York starting this semester.”

At Mrs. Harrison’s words, John Ramer seemed a little embarrassed.

“New York? Why suddenly? Jacob, that guy, when did he say he was too busy to take care of the kids…….”

“It seems his business has become somewhat stable now. Their mother also has some free time……. Then it’s right to go to New York. We can’t live separately as a family forever.”

The husband also chimed in.

“It’s much better for the kids to go to New York! Children who are growing up should play in bigger waters, shouldn’t they? Here in Florida, it’s all just retired old people.”

The reason why only this house felt so desolate in sunny Florida.

It seemed to be because Mr. Harrison’s grandchildren had left for New York.

Now that the children who used to chatter beside the two elderly people were gone, the already large house could only feel more empty.

“Anyway…….”

Just as Ji-seop was lost in thought, Mr. Harrison put down his teacup and opened his mouth.

“Hey, Ramer! It seems we’ve talked enough about the introduction, wouldn’t you like to get to the point?”

When John Ramer asked back, a faint smile appeared on Mr. Harrison’s wrinkled face.

“It’s an hour’s drive from downtown to here. You’re a busy man, so you wouldn’t have come to this remote place for no reason, would you?”

What, what’s going on?

Mr. Harrison kept asking questions, but John Ramer couldn’t answer easily.

“Ah, that, that is…….”

The reason why this hopeless owner’s son was hesitating was obvious without having to look into his eyes.

The reason why Mr. and Mrs. Harrison had been buying Tampa Bay Rays season tickets was solely to spend enjoyable time with their grandchildren.

But now those grandchildren have left for New York, and only the two elderly people remain in Florida, spending lonely time.

Given John Ramer’s personality, it would have been difficult for him to shamelessly bring up the season ticket story in this situation.

Reaching this point, Ji-seop decided to take the lead instead.

“……It’s about the alligators, Mr. Harrison.”

Ji-seop said.

“Alligators?”

“Yes, isn’t it spring? It’s the season when the alligators that have been crouching all winter start to move……. As a preliminary check, I was looking around the houses that have been dispatched to so far.”

Wow, I’ve gotten a lot better at lying.

Ji-seop continued, inwardly admiring himself.

“I looked around before ringing the doorbell, and there didn’t seem to be any particular problems. But just in case, please always be careful…….”

Slurp.

Ji-seop gulped down the completely cold tea in one go.

“Mr. Taylor, shouldn’t we get up now?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t we have a few more houses to look around today? If we stay here too long, it will be a nuisance to Mr. Harrison.”

If he were a truly skilled salesperson, he might have created some kind of result even in this situation.

However, at this time, Ji-seop didn’t feel the need to cling to Mr. Harrison.

He had already sold 48 season tickets, and there were still about half a dozen candidates left on the customer list.

He judged that it would be better to quickly go and meet other customers rather than continue to bother these nice old people.

Of course, from Mr. and Mrs. Harrison’s point of view, it would have been difficult to just send away a guest who had come after a long time.

“Kim, was it? Hey, don’t be so rigid.”

Mr. Harrison said.

“The sun has already set, where are you going? Now that you’ve come all this way, why don’t you have dinner with us?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Mr. Harrison’s wife also dissuaded him.

“You came all that way to check on our house, I can’t just send you back like this. Don’t do that, just sit down. I’ll quickly prepare something for you.”

“No, I really have to go. Mr. Taylor, isn’t that right?”

Ji-seop thought that John Ramer would move with the situation at this point.

If he visited just one or two more houses, the mission would be cleared, so there was no reason to hesitate here.

If it was difficult to visit customers because the sun had set, it wouldn’t be bad to just take a rest early.

But what, the son of the Tampa Bay owner didn’t give a clear answer easily.

“Mr. Taylor?”

“Ah, yes…….”

Stuttering, hesitating.

John Ramer, unable to get up from his seat, was just looking at Ji-seop.

Ji-seop, staring at his eyes, eventually gave a bitter smile.

‘Ah, this pushover…….’

It seemed that John Ramer was having a hard time refusing Mr. and Mrs. Harrison’s offer.

The story of having dinner together. The story of spending a little more time together.

The desperate proposal of the two people who had been spending lonely time since their grandchildren left.

But if he accepted the proposal unconditionally, he was worried about Ji-seop, who was suffering because of him.

“…….”

He wanted to go back to the accommodation and lie down comfortably, but in the end, Ji-seop was caught up in John Ramer’s pushover act.

“Mr. Taylor, what do you think?”

Ji-seop asked.

“Since the two of you are saying this…… shall we finish the inspection around here today?”

“Oh, really?!”

It was John Ramer’s expression that brightened up at Ji-seop’s words.

“Good! I like it!”

* * *

To put the conclusion first,

It wasn’t a bad choice.

The dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Harrison was surprisingly enjoyable.

“There’s not much to offer, but please eat a lot!”

“Thank you, Mr. Harrison!”

Perhaps because it was a sudden visit, the food on the table itself was very simple.

Just a few slices of thickly sliced bread, stew with plenty of vegetables, and a salad with some chicken breast.

It was a diet that he would have sighed at during his active days, but once he started eating, he couldn’t stop his fork.

‘It sticks to my mouth? Is home-cooked American food really different?!’

It was also good to see Mr. and Mrs. Harrison bursting into laughter while listening to John Ramer’s trivial stories.

They were kind and friendly, but somehow seemed to lack energy, but thanks to the guests who had come after a long time, they seemed to have completely recovered.

“These days, iguanas are more troublesome than alligators. I get a lot of calls to get rid of iguanas.”

“Why iguanas? Aren’t they animals that don’t particularly harm?”

“No, their favorite thing is flowers! They eat all the flowers that the elderly have worked hard to grow…….”

“Oh, then it’s a problem? We can’t leave those iguanas alone, can we?”

“That’s right!”

The food was delicious, and Mr. and Mrs. Harrison’s expressions brightened.

But more than anything, what made Ji-seop’s heart feel good was the atmosphere of the house itself.

A space that was somehow desolate and seemed to feel cold if you stayed still.

When a warm energy filled that space, and even felt warm enough to make a slight sweat on his forehead, the satisfaction it gave was quite large.

“…….”

Thanks to that, by the time he came out to the garden after dinner, a satisfied smile was already blooming on Ji-seop’s face.

‘Well, it’s not bad.’

He was dumbfounded that he had participated in John Ramer’s pushover act, but Ji-seop thought it was okay because it was a surprisingly enjoyable time.

He hadn’t finished selling the season tickets within three days as he had initially promised, but he thought he could finish it in a day or two.

Now all that was left was to say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, who had treated him to a warm dinner.

He was thinking of going back to downtown St. Petersburg when.

“Kim?”

A voice from behind.

Ji-seop, turning his head, identified the owner of the voice and quickly bowed his head lightly.

“Ah, Mr. Harrison. Have you come out?”

“Yes, yes. You don’t have to be so polite…….”

Mr. Harrison’s face was flushed.

He said he couldn’t drink a single glass of alcohol for health reasons, but he seemed to have gotten quite heated up from laughing and chatting with John Ramer.

“Did you like the food? My wife is a bit of a cook, but I don’t know how it tasted to Korean people.”

“Yes, I really enjoyed it. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so full like this.”

When Ji-seop patted his stomach, the corners of Mr. Harrison’s lips slowly went up.

It was right after he showed such a pleased expression that he took out an envelope from his arms.

“Kim, keep this.”

“What…… is this?”

Instead of answering, Mr. Harrison shrugged his shoulders once.

Ji-seop, understanding that he meant to check the contents, took out a piece of paper from the envelope without much thought.

“Th, this is…….”

And the next moment,

Ji-seop couldn’t help but open his eyes wide.

“Isn’t this the Tampa Bay Rays season ticket contract?”