Strange Mechanical Eyes
Yohan checked the message from Haley and gave a wry smile.
[Sorry, sorry. I told you, didn't I? I've been busy studying for my license, adapting to school, and researching college admissions, so I'm really busy.]
He felt a bit let down because she hadn't visited even once, despite saying she'd come often.
[Even if it's during Christmas...]
[But I couldn't go because of the filming.]
[Filming?]
[My aunt is filming a daily reality show, and she asked me to appear in it too.]
[I see.]
[Are you guys on break now? Will you come over?]
[We're planning to. I'll go with Aunt Carrie.]
[Good. Spring break is around then, right? I'll definitely go then.]
[Okay. Are you watching football?]
[No. I'm too busy to keep up with it.]
Football fans think that ordinary people have some interest in football.
Of course, that's true, but only in countries where football fever is very intense.
In the US, football isn't that major.
Although it's becoming popular recently, it still lags behind American football, basketball, baseball, and hockey, and people don't pay much attention to it unless it's a big event like the World Cup.
They don't know their own league or overseas leagues either.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich? Even if you ask in their country, they know the teams, but to people who don't care about football from other countries, it's just city names.
Anyway, Haley, who doesn't like football anyway, didn't know anything about clubs or players even when living in Italy.
She only started showing a tiny bit of interest after Yohan joined the team, otherwise she had no interest at all.
In a country like the US with so much to do, there's no time to follow Rome matches.
Yohan understood her feelings, but he was still a bit disappointed.
They often talked on calls or chats, but what was the point?
He needed to see her face.
Actually, he couldn't say anything to her about this.
Because since last year, he hadn't had time due to participating in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Yet he was thinking about his own position and blaming Haley...
Yohan thought people were really sly.
Still, at this time of year, the Olympic qualifiers would mean the club would have to send him and he'd miss some matches, so they refused, which gave him a bit of time.
So Yohan flew to the US alone to take a break without Caroline, who works in Milan, and met Haley who came to pick him up at the airport.
“Turtle!”
Despite the many people around, without caring, she ran over and hugged Yohan tightly.
Feeling that all the emotions he had felt during the separation vanished, Yohan said.
“How have you been?”
“Not too good.”
“You look like you're doing well when I see your face? How's school?”
“Full of jerks.”
“You said you were adapting well, didn't you?”
“I did adapt. I even made a few friends.”
“What? Language, please.”
“Shut up. Hurry up and follow.”
“Why? Is there something urgent?”
“No. Just hurry up and come.”
“Alright.”
Haley grabbed Yohan's wrist and led him to the parking lot.
And in front of the sophisticated coupe-type SUV parked there.
“Ah, right... You said you got your license, didn't you?”
“Yeah.”
“Is this your car?”
“Yeah.”
“Who bought it for you?”
“My aunt bought it as payment for helping with the filming. I'll upgrade to something else after I graduate high school. For now, I'll use this.”
“Use it? This isn't an expensive car?”
“It doesn't appeal to me.”
To think of this car, which is very famous in Germany, as something to just endure...
Haley's sense of money was beyond me.
Thinking that, Yohan got into the passenger seat with his small suitcase.
After that, Haley leaned her upper body forward and gripped the steering wheel in a turtle-neck posture, making Yohan jump.
“H Haley, you drive well...?”
“No. But what can I do? There's only me driving the car here, so I have to endure even if I can't.”
“.....”
“You're kidding... I was just joking.”
Haley leaned back comfortably against the seat and took her foot off the brake.
The car moved forward smoothly. Seeing her turn corners quite skillfully, Yohan's eyes widened.
“You drive well...?”
“That’s what I said. I thought you only passed the written test and had a hard head, but the rest was mediocre. Completely mediocre.”
“Watch your language.”
“You didn't even curse, why?”
As days passed, Haley's beauty seemed to increase, but her mouth seemed to get more rough in proportion.
'Because she bumps into Chloe often...?'
She said she was staying in LA like living there recently, but I wonder if they're not fighting every day.
After talking with Haley for 30-40 minutes and thinking various things, when Yohan's eyes caught sight of her familiar house, he was happy.
“Everyone's there?”
“Yeah. Ah, but if you go in, you might be surprised a bit.”
“Why?”
“You'll see when you look.”
After parking, Haley and Yohan entered the house.
And Yohan immediately realized why Haley had said he might be surprised a bit.
'What is this...?'
There was a large filming-only camera pointing at the living room.
“Geo!”
Chloe ran over to Yohan, who looked bewildered, and hugged him along with her family.
First, Yohan greeted them with a friendly face and asked.
“What's with the camera? Is this the documentary?”
Chloe laughed and answered.
“It’s not a documentary, it’s a reality.”
“Ah... Yeah, that's it?”
“Yeah. Look over there and say hello.”
“Where...?”
“The camera. Introduce yourself once.”
“What? I don't want to do that...”
“Are you shy? Then I'll do it later?”
Agreeing for now and moving on, Yohan asked when Haley took him to the room.
“Why is the camera filming inside the house?”
“Chloe and Aunt Carrie are in the spotlight. They're showing how rich people live. Probably starting broadcasting from the second half of this year.”
“Are you helping with that?”
“Yeah. It seems pretty fun from the preview, so I film it often too. Why? Not fun?”
Yohan didn't have to comment on what the Chloe family does. He probably talked to the house owners Jamie and Olivia too.
But filming inside the house was a bit much.
Moreover, not only the camera, but several staff members were coming in and out in real time.
Additionally, whenever they had something to say, they would interrupt conversations between people and make various requests, and if someone needed to go outside, they would install a camera in the car.
Yohan really didn't like this.
And there was one more person who thought the same.
“Geo, let's go do a campaign or something. Don't worry about this kind of thing.”
It was Aiden.
Basically introverted, he was burdened by the camera itself, and he was genuinely happy that Yohan came.
With him, he could escape this frustrating place.
“Yeah... Let's do that.”
Yohan naturally accepted Aiden's suggestion.
A house should be comfortable. It should be a place where you can relax anytime.
Feeling like your privacy was disappearing when the camera filmed your home.
So, for the few days Yohan was here, he enjoyed TRPG with Aiden, sometimes staying up late.
“Turtle, come here.”
One day, Haley called Yohan, who was about to go out with Aiden again, to her room.
“Why?”
“Why do you only play board games with Aiden? Don't play with me?”
“You always have a camera following you. I hate that kind of thing.”
“It’s not always, but... it's true that it follows. But if you don't like it, why didn't you say so? You could have told me not to film.”
“Even if I don't film you, the camera is filming the whole house... I'm here to rest, not to film a reality show.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. But it was a bit unexpected.”
“What?”
“Even if Chloe likes being in the spotlight, and you don't like this kind of thing, you adapted well. Are you enjoying filming this?”
“It’s not completely fun, but it's not boring either. I guess you could say there's a thrill in filming.”
“I can't understand. Filming is done by Chloe and Aunt Carrie. If it was filmed at Chloe's house in New York, maybe, but coming all the way here and doing this is a bit...”
After hearing Yohan's words, Haley crossed her arms.
“If that was the case, why didn't you say it earlier? Why are you suffering alone?”
“You seemed to be enjoying it.”
“Changed?”
“It’s not that, but it's a bit unfamiliar.”
“That’s the change, you idiot. Anyway, I didn't know you were thinking that. I thought you'd get used to the camera while playing football, but apparently not.”
“Filming matches and filming inside the house are different.”
“Yeah... A few days later, Emma will come too, and if you say that, she might not like it either. Since her personality is similar. Anyway, you don't like it?”
“It’s not that I don't like everything, just that there are cameras around me...”
“When are you going back?”
“I have to go in three days.”
“Okay. I'll stop it then.”
“Don’t. It seems like I've ruined the filming, sorry. Just don't film me.”
“That’s not possible. The camera always follows Chloe and Aunt Carrie, and since those people like you, you can't avoid being filmed. I'll handle it myself, so from tomorrow, don't play that game. You came all this way, so you should be with me too. Introduce my friends too.”
Haley left the room after saying that to Yohan, who didn't want to hear more, and told the people gathered in the living room.
“From today, filming is suspended. Everyone out.”
“Eh...?”
Confused, Chloe and her family.
Without caring, Haley threw out the filming team like they were at the door.
Seeing that, Yohan pressed his forehead.
It was reassuring, but he was worried that it would affect Haley's image.
What if Haley's personality looked bad on air?
The first thing that came to mind was that worry, but then he shook his head.
If it was a reality show being filmed by the Newman family, the editing would be to their liking.
But he couldn't erase the feeling that he had ruined the fun filming for everyone because of him.
So, Yohan made a promise that even during the rest period after this season, the filming team shouldn't be here. The club situation isn't good, and here it would be awkward to be seen...
It seemed like it would be a very eventful year, Yohan thought.