Chapter 801: Dinner with Fujita-san

On the road going back to his flat, Higo was just quiet, not even saying anything else. His eyes were still on the contract in his hand, clutching the paper so tightly it was about to crumble and become unrecognizable.

The negotiation was done, and his new contract was already in his hand, complete with his signature. Still, everything went so fast that the boy himself still couldn’t put everything together in the same place yet. His gaze was still on it, especially at all the astronomical numbers that the boy would usually only find in a mathematical problem, not his fucking reality.

Even though he knew beforehand that this number was a possibility, the boy was still bewildered when everything was on paper already.

"What? Still think that it is a dream?" Fujita-san asked while looking in the rearview mirror with a knowing smile; his hand was still on the steering wheel as he drove the boy back to his flat.

"Yeah, I mean..." Higo sighed, his gaze bored a hole into the paper in his hand. "I know that footballers, the good ones, especially, make a lot of money, but I have never thought that I would be among those names. No wonder so many people want to reach this stage... Getting money sure seems easy once we reach a new height, huh?" He mumbled the last part inwardly.

In return, though, the agent just scoffed lightly at him.

"Bah! Don’t get impressed so easily like that, Ryusuke! What I said in that room was not wrong, you know? You are just the 11th at the rank of the goalkeeper with the highest annual salary! Hell, you even lost against your backup, for fuck’s sake! This should be unacceptable! If only you didn’t rush things up, I could still secure a bigger number, you know? You are getting impatient, Ryusuke, and they take advantage of it!"

Higo just felt the corner of his lips twitching a little, looking away at the scenery outside the window to hide his guilt.

Yeah, he knew that Fujita-san had a plan that would ensure a higher number for him. However, Higo was also in a hurry right now. Somehow, after hearing about his mother’s situation back home, he wanted to get this new contract as quickly as possible, wanting to show his mother that he was wealthy enough to support her.

This was a little bit childish, but after witnessing how hard his mother worked for him, the boy had a deep obsession to retire his mother with dignity, and while this amount of money would still be far from enough, at least the boy started to gain confidence to do that.

Now, all he had in his mind was to call his mother, wanting to tell her that she didn’t have to work hard for whatever promotion that her company offered and that he was enough to support their little family.

Of course, it still had to wait, as right now, Fujita-san decided to have dinner with him first. It had been a long time since they had a proper conversation directly like this, and it was quite strange, since the agent should take care of his player’s daily necessities so that the player could focus on his performance further.

Well, unfortunately, that was what coronavirus did to them, and they couldn’t complain about it.

"Come on, Ryusuke! We have arrived!" Fujita-san suddenly called, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. "Wear your mask and sit first; I will be the one to order. Don’t go anywhere, okay? Social distancing is a must." He warned Higo while putting on his mask.

The boy just rolled his eyes in exasperation before looking at the restaurant in front of him. It was one of the nicest in the town, serving luxurious French cuisine that all the wealthy people would love. Higo himself had never been here, and it would be a lie if he said that he was curious.

Unfortunately, the boy regretted every decision he made to come here. The boy even glared at Fujita-san, knowing that his agent should be laughing his ass off when the man saw him making a fool of himself.

The reason was simple.

The food here was too exquisite for his stomach, and the boy was getting completely overwhelmed here. The heavy taste of Foie Gras, the snail, the pungent cheese... Everything on the table was all kinds of food that Higo would avoid for the rest of his life. It also didn’t help that he couldn’t find anything enjoyable about the puckering bitterness mixed not-so-well with the sourness of the acid that the wine in front of him offered.

"What? Not liking it? This is an expensive wine, you know?" Fujita-san grinned mockingly at Higo. "It seems that you are not accustomed to the taste of wealth. You have to get used to this kind of food for fine dining, you know?"

Higo just looked at him in disgust. Honestly, if it were not considered rude, he would’ve already puked out everything he had just eaten earlier. Honestly, he couldn’t get why so many wealthy people were enjoying this French cuisine at all.

’Maybe they have a wicked sense of humor and enjoy a silent contest of who will suffer first.’ Higo smiled wryly.

Fortunately, in this coronavirus era, the guests in this restaurant weren’t that many and could be counted with two hands, and no one really cared about his current state. Higo couldn’t imagine what the media would say if people took a picture of him like this.

’No, that would be a social death for me.’ He shuddered, getting terrified at his own thought.

They spent the night chatting about everything, mostly Fujita-san asking if he needed anything here. He also asked about the progress of Higo’s injury, as even though the man had heard it so many times on phone calls, it was always reassuring to get the bottom of it directly like this.

When the agent finally got the confirmation that Higo’s situation was getting better, he let out a deep sigh while also leaning his body back against the seat here.

"Well, a new contract and you will be back on the pitch soon enough, two good news at the same time! This is definitely something worth celebrating!" The man raised his glass of wine enthusiastically. "Let’s cheer for our bright future, Ryusuke!"

"Cheers!"