At the Heinrich house, in front of the television.
"Beautiful!!!"
The whole family was cheering for Jin Hayes's goal. Among them, Anna shouted the loudest. As Jin Hayes shone on screen, celebrating with his teammates in a hero's stance, Anna's blue eyes were also shining. She truly wished she could be there to celebrate with him. She was happy that Borussia Dortmund had won, and Jin Hayes's performance left Anna spellbound.
"How can someone be so handsome!"
Uncle Hans couldn't help but tease her: "I didn't see you this excited when the team scored before. Why are you so hyped now that Jin scored?"
"No way! I cheered before too!" Anna argued with a flushed face.
"Fine, fine, fine, you were just as excited before."
"Stop whining!"
"So annoying!" Anna buried her head in a throw pillow in embarrassed annoyance.
Now, not just her stinky older brother, but even her parents teased her about her relationship with Jin Hayes from time to time. Was it wrong to like watching Jin Hayes play? Was there a problem with cheering for him? It was just being happy for a friend, nothing more than that—
The more Anna thought about it, the less confident she became. Clearly, her eyes couldn't leave Jin Hayes's handsome face on the TV. Every time he appeared on screen, even if it was just a regular shot of him dribbling, it was enough to make Anna's heart race.
If only this guy were a bit more proactive, Anna would have surrendered long ago. Unfortunately, when they were once just one step away, Jin Hayes's attitude suddenly became unpredictable, turning him into a blockhead. Anna's budding feelings experienced uneasy fluctuations.
She worried that Jin Hayes only saw her as a friend; what if she took that step and was rejected by him? Anna, who never liked expressing herself, fell into a state of confusion.
"Tell me, what should I do?" Looking at Jin Hayes on the screen as he walked off to thank the audience, Anna murmured into the distance.
…
"Bravo!! That was wonderful! Jin!"
"You played beautifully yesterday!! Keep it up!"
"Jin, come to my house for a bit, let's have breakfast together!"
"No way, I want to invite Jin over too!"
"Step aside, he's a child of my family!"
"Thank you—cough cough cough—"
After staying a night in a 4-star hotel in Leverkusen, the team took the yellow bus back to the Dortmund Training Base entrance the next day. Klopp announced a day off, and Jin Hayes could finally drive his Lamborghini back to the Heinrich house. Hearing the roar of the V12 engine, the whole street knew the star was back.
The enthusiastic neighbours came out one after another to welcome their hero. Everyone was an acquaintance; they had practically watched Jin Hayes grow from an obscure young player into the core of Borussia Dortmund.
The Heinrichs' neighbours to the left were a middle-aged professor couple who politely invited Jin Hayes for tea. To the right, in a two-story house, lived a young Turkish couple. The wife was a housewife who loved baking and often gave Turkish desserts to the Heinrich house; today, she also warmly invited Jin Hayes to visit.
Opposite them was a family of five; the three boys, aged five to eight, were all wearing cute little Borussia Dortmund jerseys with Jin Hayes's name and number 10 on the back. Sometimes when he was free, Jin Hayes would teach them how to play. The five-year-old was already playing quite well.
As for the corner of the street, it was the Götze family, who had moved from the small Bavarian town of Memmingen. Both of their children played for the Borussia Dortmund youth academy; the eldest son was the same age as Jin Hayes.
Jin Hayes certainly knew this kid. Mario Götze—the key figure who would score the winning goal in a future World Cup final. Mario attended high school at Goethe High School ten kilometres away and usually trained in the youth team training area. Jin Hayes didn't have much interaction with him; they were just nodding acquaintances. In contrast, Nuri Şahin and Marco Reus had a better relationship with Götze; Reus and Götze had fought side-by-side in the youth team for a long time.
Jin Hayes immediately spotted the guy with a bit of baby fat, watching him from afar behind the crowd. The neighbours were too enthusiastic, and Uncle Hans got jealous, quickly whisking Jin Hayes away in a bear hug, nearly strangling him.
"Sorry everyone, Jin just finished a match and needs to go back and rest properly. I'll visit you all another day—"
"Oh, come on!"
Everyone was disappointed, but they could only watch Hans lead Jin Hayes into the house.
Jürgen Götze, who shared the same first name as Klopp, looked at Jin Hayes with envy. As a professor of Electronic and Information Technology at the University of Dortmund and a registered professional agent, Jürgen truly wished he could sign Jin Hayes.
Unfortunately, he was currently only the agent for his two sons, responsible for their football career planning. Relatively speaking, his eldest son Mario had higher football talent. After Şahin and Reus left, Mario had become the soul of the U18 youth team, dominating the German youth leagues. While the Borussia Dortmund first team was making great strides, the U18 youth team was also ranked first.
"Mario, what did Lars say? Do you have a chance to be promoted to the first team?"
"Um—there's not much hope for now, unless the first team is short of people." Mario Götze was a bit dejected. He had clearly worked very hard, yet he still couldn't win the favour of first-team manager Klopp. Youth director Lars Ricken looked after Götze and had recommended this 16-year-old to Klopp many times. But after all, it was very rare for a 16-year-old to shine on the first-team stage. Jin Hayes, who was the same age, was a complete exception. His talent made Götze, who considered himself a genius, feel inferior.
"It's okay, stay focused and train hard; you will naturally be noticed." Jürgen Götze comforted his child. He wasn't in a hurry; with Mario's talent, it was impossible for him to be buried for long; he estimated it would happen within these two years.
"By the way, visit the Heinrich house more often when you're free and learn more from Jin. I believe it will be very good for you."
"I can't learn his technique." Götze gave a bitter smile.
On the pitch, Jin Hayes was already very restrained. Mario had seen Jin Hayes's fancy tricks with his own eyes on the training ground. Even professional street freestyle footballers couldn't perform such fluid movements. The most terrifying thing was that it wasn't just freestyle football—this player could actually use those seemingly flashy moves in actual combat.
Ridiculous.
…
The noisy commotion outside naturally caught Anna's attention. Today was Sunday. She had just gotten up and intended to wash up before heading to her modelling agency for a posture class.
Hearing the engine sound at the door, she knew Jin was back.
Anna quietly peered out the window, watching him being surrounded by enthusiastic neighbours. Seeing her father carrying Jin Hayes's suitcase as the two entered the door, Anna hurriedly left the window. Her bare feet nimbly carried her to the sofa, where she pretended to be calm and picked up a fashion magazine she often read, feigning interest.
"Jin, do you want to sleep for a bit?"
"No, I slept well in the hotel last night."
"Then how about letting Maria make you something delicious?"
"Sure, thanks for the trouble."
"Oh, don't be so polite. You're family."
Jin Hayes had been craving the smoked German sausages Maria made for a long time. The breakfast at the 4-star hotel was far worse than this. Unfortunately, as a professional player, Jin Hayes couldn't eat too much—just enough to satisfy his craving.
Entering with Uncle Hans, he looked up and saw Anna nestled on the sofa reading a book as usual. The single sofa in the corner was like her designated spot: it always seemed to spawn a quiet, forest-style, aloof beauty like a little kitten. When Jin Hayes entered, he happened to catch Anna's eyes as she inadvertently looked up.
The two looked at each other from across the room. Anna just gave a faint nod of greeting, something like: "Yo, you're back."
Jin Hayes also nodded: "Yeah, I'm back."
Pfft.
Uncle Hans almost burst out laughing. He had clearly seen Anna peering out the window just now—don't think he didn't see. Now she was pretending to be calm again; it was a bit comical. But how his daughter handled things was her own choice; Hans was just there to watch the show and had no intention of interfering at all.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'll help you carry your luggage up."
"I'll do it—"
"No need. You're the big hero, just rest." Uncle Hans wouldn't take no for an answer, carrying Jin Hayes's suitcase upstairs.
Jin Hayes could only relax and throw himself onto the soft sofa.
"Ah—comfortable!"
It was practically like his own home. Previously, Nuri Şahin and Mats Hummels had suggested that Jin Hayes should move out on his own. After thinking it over, it was more comfortable here; this was his home. Living alone might be nice, but it would be a bit lonely. Like today, with Uncle Hans welcoming him, Maria making delicious food, and Anna—
"Could it be that the reason I don't want to move is because of her?"
An odd thought flashed through Jin Hayes's mind. Actually, it wasn't that odd. He knew very well that Anna was indeed a special existence. But her being close one moment and distant the next made it hard for him to figure her out. What if she only saw him as family or a friend? If she had no interest in a relationship at all, wouldn't he be in an awkward position?
Most importantly, after sacrificing his flirting for talent, Jin Hayes was a bit worried. Worried that even if a confession was successful and they became boyfriend and girlfriend, without that natural charm, he would have to rack his brains just for dry conversations and interactions.
No romance, no sweet love.
Over time, both of them would get bored, and once the honeymoon phase passed, a breakup would be inevitable. He was sixteen years old with zero dating experience. Even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had seen a pig run. So many love stories in TV and novels told Jin Hayes that for two people to be together, they needed to create heart-fluttering moments from time to time.
Looking at Anna's otherworldly appearance, she certainly wouldn't be romantic. Relying on himself was useless; even if Jin Hayes knew his feelings for Anna, it was hard for him to muster the courage to take that step.
"What are you thinking about?" Anna finally couldn't help herself. She had pretended to read the fashion magazine for a long time. But as soon as Jin Hayes entered the house, he just sat on the sofa with his mind wandering. The entire living room fell into an itchy, unbearable silence. Anna spoke up to break it involuntarily.
I'm thinking about you!
Jin Hayes didn't say the correct answer in his heart; as if under some curse, he blurted out uncontrollably: "The next match is against Essen."
"???"
Anna was stunned. What kind of team was Essen? Was it worth Jin Hayes being so preoccupied?
Racking her brain, Anna finally remembered that Rot-Weiss Essen was Borussia Dortmund's first-round opponent in the German Cup, a team from the 3. Liga. Did this guy use such a clumsy excuse just to avoid talking to her? How hateful!
If it were before, Anna would definitely have ignored Jin Hayes in a huff. But the radiant Jin Hayes from last night lingered in her heart. The person she had been longing for was finally in front of her, so Anna bit the bullet and continued: "Uh—is this Essen team quite strong?"
"Eh?" It was Jin Hayes's turn to be stunned. I don't know either! Who would pay attention to a 3. Liga club?
Dortmund's second team could easily crush them! But since Anna had taken the initiative to talk, Jin Hayes didn't want to let the conversation die. His brain worked at high speed, carefully searching for details of the opponent's data that Klopp had mentioned in the previous tactical meeting.
"They're okay; their wingers are very good at breaking through, so they can't be underestimated."
"Will you be playing?"
"I'll probably be a substitute; the cup is mainly for training the squad."
"Speaking of which, your goal yesterday was really beautiful."
"Thanks. So you watched it."
"Of course! I didn't even think of your backheel shot; I didn't know you could score like that!"
"Hehe, it was a moment of inspiration."
As Uncle Hans hummed a little Borussia Dortmund song and came downstairs, intending to get a cold beer from the fridge, he suddenly discovered Jin and his daughter sitting together in the living room, chatting quite happily.
"They didn't sneak a kiss while I was gone, did they? Damn it, that kid's getting a real bargain!"
Uncle Hans was very conflicted; he still couldn't bear to let his sixteen-year-old daughter be easily whisked away. But he noticed that the usually expressionless Anna only showed such a radiant smile when chatting with Jin. The morning light shone through the window onto the two of them. Hans could only see happiness from their expressions.
"Oh well, let them be."