Chapter 706 – Episode 693. Major League Spring Camp. (4)

“Hey, Ji. Don’t worry. “Everyone will be in good shape until the Grapefruit League opens.”

“Grapefruit league?”

“Oh my, I guess you didn’t know? The exhibition league held in Florida is called the Grapefruit League. Is this some kind of exhibition game? And if a pitcher pitches well, it’s a good thing, right?”

“Oh, yes. What. That’s right.”

Judge must have been concerned about what I said during training, so he came to me after training and reassured me not to worry. Maybe it’s because it’s a claim, but maybe it’s a bit vague and broad?

“Oh, and Hyun asked me to take good care of you. If there is anything uncomfortable, please tell me.”

“Hyun?”

“Huh? W-huh. I don’t know? “They say he is more popular than the president in Korea.”

“Oh, are you Seonghyun?”

“Okay. Huh. Anyway, let’s do our best in the future.”

I felt like he paid more attention to me than the other players, perhaps because he heard about me from Seonghyeon, who played with the Yankees for four years. Anyway, most of the players left after leaving telling me to tell them if anything made them uncomfortable, and I was about to head back to the hotel as well.

“Evil!”

I felt a sudden shock on the back of my head.

‘What is it?’

I’ve occasionally been hit on the top of my helmet when I hit a home run, but this was my first time getting hit in the back of the head with my bare skin, so when I couldn’t figure out what was going on, I heard someone’s voice next to me.

“Hey, Ji! How about having a drink together today? Let’s get closer to each other.”

I wasn’t familiar with the face, so I didn’t know who it was, but I definitely knew what the situation was.

This is…

‘Hehe, yes, you have to beat up the monkey babies. Here was a real white man.’

… It was racism. With Mr. Rossby’s certification mark.

Unless it was racial discrimination, you wouldn’t hit someone on the back of the head you met for the first time, and when you asked them to have a drink together, it was clear that they meant to rip off the wallet of an Asian who received a large amount of money.

And there was no reason to tolerate racism when it was so clear.

When I turned my head towards the direction from which the voice came, I saw a guy who looked to be about 184~55 cm tall, looking at me with a shameless smile. How much do you have to ignore Asians before you can hit someone who is about 10 cm taller than you in the back of the head?

‘Okay, I was wondering why there wasn’t one until now. ‘This bastard was caught well.’

This kind of racial discrimination must be stopped at the outset.

“What did you say, motherfucker?”

I immediately cursed in Korean and looked at him. To be honest, I was introduced to him before training, but I don’t know who he was. It was a little familiar, but all white people’s faces were similar, and I didn’t have a hobby of memorizing men’s faces.

“Huh? Sibal? What does it mean?”

“What did you say?”

“Let’s go and have a drink together.”

The guy’s face looks embarrassed. This facial expression tells you that this guy is evil.

How many Asians have they had to hit on the back of their heads to be so embarrassed when I rebel against them? It’s probably the first time in his life. When I think about it, it was clear that Seonghyun senior also suffered racial discrimination from this guy.

Well, I don’t know if we played together, but that wasn’t important. If we had played together, I would have definitely gotten hurt. So, I grabbed him by the collar on behalf of the countless Asians who had suffered racial discrimination from him.

“What, what? Why is my collar suddenly… !”

“Then you thought I would hit you in the back and not feel anything? It may have been that way until now, but not anymore.”

“No, I meant to become friends…”

“Ha, are you hitting me on the back just to become friends? What kind of Asian people think they are real monkeys? . Yes, our culture also had a culture of slapping people you wanted to become friends with.”

“Now, wait a minute.”

Match. The guy’s cheek is wrapped in my hand. The guy’s bewildered expression, as if he didn’t know if the Asian would fight back… As expected, it was extremely scandalous.

Mate!

“Evil!”

“You said you wanted to become friends? This is our culture.”

Mate!

“Hey, you bitch… !”

The guy curses and raises his fist.

“In the end, your true nature comes out. What? Do you want to become friends?”

Because it was something I expected, I shook his collar a few times. When I could feel it in my hand, it seemed like it weighed more than 90 kg, but its body was shaking as if it couldn’t overcome my strength. Taking advantage of the moment the guy’s body collapsed, I caressed his cheek again.

Mate!

“Stop it! Stop it!”

“Alex! Ji!”

“Stop! Stop!”

And then the players run towards me and grab my body. This locker room was a huge place of racism.

I was saddened by that fact and was about to give him another pat on the cheek when I felt a strong force on my wrist.

‘… ‘Huh?’

When I looked at the person holding my arm, I saw that it was a fairly familiar face. One of the few players whose face and name I can match.

‘… Stanton?’

The strength felt at the wrist was definitely no joke. I understand that he is now in his late 30s, but his strength is still amazing.

“Stop it, young friend.”

Well, I could have tried to shake him off, but since Stanton was old, I decided to end it at this point and let go of his grip on his collar. Also, since I come from a Confucian country where people respect their elders, I guess there is nothing I can do about my age.

Still, it was a bit disappointing to end it like this, so I declared against the guys still remaining in the locker room.

“It seems like everyone is gathered, so I’ll speak last. If there is a guy who is racist like this guy right now, I will know that he means to fight right away, so if you want to fight with me, act like this guy. And tell this to the other guys who are off work now. “If you commit racism one more time, I will make you like this guy.”

There is a stir around my declaration.

“Alex? Racism?”

“He’s not that kind of guy…”

Ha, you’ve been pretending to be a nice person in front of your co-workers but being racist behind their backs, right? It was more disgusting.

“Alex, is that guy real? “Did you really commit racism?”

Stanton looks at the guy with an expression that says something is strange and asks.

“Hmph, I guess they’ll say I didn’t do it. Because it’s obvious that they are racist.”

“You sound like a redneck…”

“What? “Who are you just now?”

“…”

“Stop, Ji. Let’s calm down and listen to Alex’s story. It could be a misunderstanding caused by different cultures. Alex, what’s going on?”

“No, I was just saying that we should go out and have a drink… “Zane, I was treated unfairly!”

Anyway, you shamelessly lied…

“Okay? Ji. “Alex is saying it’s unfair?”

“What are you saying? “He hit me in the back and even tried to extort my money.”

“Oh my.”

When the guy’s criminal activities are revealed, the surroundings become agitated again. I can’t lie again in this atmosphere.

… After that thought for a moment, Stanton smiled and opened his mouth to me.

“Ji. “I was just joking around with Alex because I wanted to become friends with him.”

You were joking? Joke? What about stabbing someone in the back? I told them to look at me because they were old, but as expected, these guys were part of the same group. They cowardly surround and oppress Asians.

How many seniors have come to the major leagues and been stabbed in the back by these guys just because it was a joke? When I thought about that, I felt like my eyes were filled with tears. I felt like I needed to eradicate this racist idea for the sake of my juniors who will play in the major leagues in the future.

“So now I can just criticize you and say you’re joking? What nonsense are you talking about? Other Asians might have been easy-going and got along, but I was different. “Be aware of this.”

Of course, I really wouldn’t put down old Stanton. Thirty-seven in American years means that you are older than Suho, but it wasn’t easy for me to be that much older.

“…”

Now that I think about it, he didn’t stop me when I was stabbed in the back, but stopped me when he tried to slap me. Is Stanton also racist?

‘Hehe, it’s surprising that bastards are also racist.’

‘Is Stanton black? She just looks white?’

‘What. If you have even a little bit of blood, you are black. Just by looking at him, he’s a mixed breed.’

Hmm… After listening to the words of a real racist, I didn’t think it was true.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Sorry. Ji. I didn’t know you would overreact like this. If you were offended, I apologize. FYI, again, I’m not the racist you think I am. “If you felt that way, I apologize.”

In the end, he came in with the back of my head bowed.

Racists were obvious. Unless you are a convinced racist like Mr. Rossby, you just enjoy bullying those who are weaker than you. In fact, if the person being attacked was strong, he had no choice but to bend like this.

I wanted to brush out his teeth, so he wouldn’t even be able to eat, but I also had social standing, and he was a colleague I would spend the next few years with, so I decided to end it like this for now.

“Okay. Be careful from now on.”

“Thank you for accepting my apology. “I’m Alex, leave alone.”

The guy who introduced himself as Alex Verdugo held out his hand.

‘For some reason, the face looked a little familiar. Was it Verdugo? Of course, the minor league idiots wouldn’t have hit me on the back of the head when I was the highest paid player on the team.’

Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m being tamed because I’m young, and my salary is high? I heard from seniors Sangju and Jincheol who went to the major leagues that they told me to be careful because if they were my age, they might be able to train rookies like this, and it seems like that was probably it.

‘… So it wasn’t really racism? Hmm… Well, it’s true that I did something that deserved to be beaten.’

“What are you doing? “My arm is going to fall off.”

“Okay. Leave it alone. I am a fierce tiger. His last name is Ji, his first name is Meng Hao. “Call me Ji.”

Well, showing my interpersonal side by accepting the apology was also a way to achieve harmony in the team, so I gladly took his hand.

“Let’s do well in the future. “Friend.”

Friend… It certainly seemed like white people had a hot side, as Mr. Rossby said. A soccer player whose name I can’t remember who I once taught etiquette for, was so upset that he didn’t even say hello to the teacher who taught him etiquette every holiday, but this guy is a friend.

“Okay, buddy.”

“I’ll buy you a drink today as an apology. Are you okay? “I know a good place.”

“Of course.”

I didn’t really want to drink, but I was curious about where major-leaguers knew of good places, so I accepted Verdugo’s offer.

“Alex, eat in moderation. Don’t miss training again.”

However, Stanton, who had been taking Verdugo’s side until now, probably didn’t like the sight of us, and slightly tackled us.

“Haha, Zane, isn’t it better if I get out of Zane? That way, Aaron can see the defense and Zane can step in.”

‘Looking at the way this guy talks, it seems like he just doesn’t have anything to say…’

“Hmph, I take care of my own business.”

Looking at it now, his relationship with Stanton, his position rival, did not seem to be very good. I didn’t think there was any need to be friendly with Stanton, who was almost 10 years older than me, if he had such a habit of talking.

‘But first, a drink is a drink. I’m also curious about the good places that major-leaguers introduce.’

I followed Verdugo with such expectations, but Verdugo was really busy drinking all night, and I decided not to be friendly with Verdugo from now on.