"Well, at least it wasn't a lie, right?"
"...What lie?"
"No, you were going on about being a football genius and all that. I just thought you were saying that to impress me."
"...Why would I tell a lie like that to impress you."
That startled me.
When I spoke up, feeling needlessly guilty, Ji-woo laughed.
"Of course you should try to impress me. I'm the one who raised you."
"...What are you talking about."
"Anyway. Wow, I didn't expect you to score a goal right after coming on. Our Ji-an, you were this good?"
"I told you. Scoring goals isn't that hard."
Ugh, so annoying... she said, but Ji-woo was grinning for some reason.
Watching her like that, I let out a small laugh too.
After the match ended.
I had met Ji-woo in front of the stadium and was walking home together with her.
'Phew...'
Anyway, what a relief. Really.
I got to play in the match, even if briefly, and I even scored a goal.
Thanks to that, at least for today, my lies weren't exposed.
Honestly... I was lucky.
If today's opponent had been a strong team instead of Sassuolo, or if we hadn't secured an early 3-0 lead.
I probably wouldn't have gotten to play.
But everything just happened to fall into place, and I was able to score a goal, so I was really lucky.
Thanks to that, I managed to extend this soccer genius act by another week...
"There's a match every week, right?"
"Yeah."
"Who are you playing next week?"
"Next week? Napoli, I think."
"Napoli? Are they good?"
At Ji-woo's question, I nodded.
Next week's opponent was SSC Napoli.
I heard they're a good team.
We're currently in third place in the group, and Napoli is in second, I think.
First place is some team from Torino.
Anyway, Napoli is stronger than us.
"Then you'll be starting from the beginning next week?"
"...Huh?"
"Today you said you might not play because the opponent was weak. So next week, you should be playing from the start, right? Since you said they're a good team."
"Uh... right."
Ah... that's right.
I had laid that groundwork.
"Ooh, then I'll look forward to it? You scored one goal in 10 minutes today. So next week, is it nine goals?"
"...You really know nothing about football."
"It's a joke, a joke. But you can at least score more than today, right?"
"Well..."
When I hesitated, Ji-woo stared straight into my eyes.
Those big eyes of hers seemed to pierce right through to my heart.
I was lucky today, but...
Next week is a real crisis.
In a match against Sassuolo, who's in the lower ranks of the group, I only played 10 minutes. Would I actually get to play against Napoli, who's second in the group?
No, I might not even make it onto the bench.
But...
"What? Not confident?"
Looking at Ji-woo's crescent moon eyes, before I knew it, words I didn't even mean were coming out of my mouth.
"Not confident? As if. What's the point of talking about it. You'll see when you see it."
"Ooh. Is this the confidence of a genius?"
Why are my shoulders tensing up again?
I really don't understand myself.
I let out a sigh internally.
Until yesterday, I thought if I just somehow got through today, everything would be resolved.
I was wrong.
Lies just keep growing until you confess them.
Things are snowballing.
At this rate, I might end up saying the Ballon d'Or is nothing special.
"Anyway, I'll be looking forward to it. I wonder what kind of celebration our Ji-an will show next time."
Ji-woo said that while mimicking a salute, giggling away.
...My face is burning.
Ah, seriously.
I shouldn't have done that.
*
"I'm home-"
"Welcome back."
Dad didn't get off work until after dinnertime.
He always does that on weekends, but today he came home early for once.
Sometimes he doesn't get off until past 9.
Maybe because it was a rare on-time departure, Dad's expression looked pretty bright.
"Did you eat? Did you take out what I put in the fridge?"
"Yes. I ate."
"Laundry? Is this all? If you have anything to wash, bring it out. I'll run the machine."
"That's all of it."
Actually, Dad doesn't get much rest even after coming home from work.
As soon as he arrives, he checks if I've eaten, and even before changing clothes, he gathers the laundry.
Since I'm an Academy player, I need to eat well, and I go through piles of laundry.
So Dad is busy with this and that.
Like this, Dad has no time to rest because of me.
He has to work hard outside, and then he has to do housework when he comes home.
That's why when I was struggling to adjust in the early days of studying abroad, I couldn't tell Dad about it.
Dad was also having a hard time because of me, so it felt wrong to whine about something trivial.
But I got in huge trouble later because of that.
I couldn't take it anymore and got into a fight with the kid who had been bullying me, and my face ended up a mess. Somehow, while talking about it, everything came out.
Dad, who asked why I hadn't told him earlier, apparently stormed into the team that very day, said he was terminating the contract, caused a scene, and came back.
Seeing Dad that angry... was the first time since he fought with Mom.
Come to think of it, both were because of me.
Anyway, back then it was almost like we were heading back to Korea, but I said I wanted to stay.
Because I knew Dad hadn't made the decision to come to Italy easily either.
I don't know the details, but his job, our house in Korea, and everything else—he wrapped it all up.
Then he went through all that trouble to find a new job here, and going back because of me right after arriving didn't seem right.
Also, while I hated most things about life in Italy, there was one good thing.
I got to spend more time with Dad
He's crazy busy even now, but actually, Dad was even busier in Korea. Back then, days where we barely saw each other's faces were more common.
There's one memory that's still vivid. It was when I was in fifth grade, maybe?
I was sleeping when Dad quietly opened my door and came in, sat beside me, and murmured quietly to himself.
You've grown so much... he said.
That's how busy Dad was.
So honestly, I only became close with Dad not long ago.
It was after we came to Italy and started spending more time together than before.
I liked that, so I said I'd try one more time.
Fortunately, my current team reached out to me at that point, so I could.
...Come to think of it, really.
I'm such an immature kid.
If this is how it was going to be, I should have gotten my act together and worked hard earlier.
I wish I could just hurry up and make a ton of money.
Now that I think about it, contract discussions with the team are coming up soon too... Time really flies.
"Laundry, is this really all of it?"
"I said it's all of it."
"How did the match go?"
Dad asked in passing as he picked up the laundry basket.
I nodded and answered.
"Good."
"Was it fun? The match."
"It was fun, but I was a bit nervous."
"Nervous? About what?"
"I played in the match."
"...Huh?"
At my words, Dad, who had been putting laundry into the washing machine, turned his head to look at me.
I played it cool and shrugged.
"It was only 10 minutes though."
"You played? In the match?"
"Yes. Well, I scored a goal too..."
"...I see."
Dad nodded, then turned his gaze back to the washing machine.
"You've been working hard lately. It's nice to see."
"I have to work hard."
"Mm. But don't overdo it. No matter what happens, you can't get hurt."
"Okay."
As I answered and snuck a glance at Dad's back, I could see his cheekbones rising even from behind. (Remind me of my Granpa so much)
ㆍㆍㆍ
I thought I could finally relax once the weekend match was over.
But I was still at the training ground with my heart in my throat.
"Huuu..."
I was truly realizing the saying that if you just stay still, you'll get by.
The opponent is weak, so I, the ace, might not play?
Ugh. Why did I say something like that?
The groundwork I had laid just in case was coming back to bite me.
Anyway, for things to make sense, I need to somehow start in this week's match.
But in an important match against the team in second place in the group, would they really put me in the starting lineup?
The odds of even getting subbed in are slim to none.
I guess this is why people should watch what they say. Since I usually keep my mouth shut, it goes off on its own at crucial moments.
This week is really the crisis point.
"Alright..."
Well, worrying won't change anything, so all I can do is focus on training.
Today being Monday, the main squad is doing recovery training while the rest train as usual.
Since I played in yesterday's match, I was enjoying the privilege of doing recovery training with the main squad kids.
It was a bit embarrassing to be laying out a mat and stretching next to kids who were sweating hard, when I had only played 10 minutes.
But what can I do.
Coach-nim told me to do it, so I'm doing it.
...Honestly, it felt kind of cool. Like I was actually a starter or something?
Reality is far from it, though.
Anyway, I was focusing on recovery training when.
"Friends!"
At a familiar voice, everyone turned their heads in unison. When I looked, it was Gino in casual clothes, not training gear.
"I wanted to say goodbye before I go."
"Hey, Gino. So you're leaving."
"Congratulations, Gino!"
Hm... What's this about?
Everyone got up from their spots and started saying a word each to Gino.
From what I could tell, it sounded like some kind of farewell...
Ah, is today the day he's going to the U19 team?
"Do well there too."
"I will."
"Do I need to say goodbye? We'll see each other again soon."
"I don't know about that. By the time you come up, I'll be on the first team."
Gino exchanged farewells with the kids one by one.
Some had grown close enough to pull him into tight hugs, while others exchanged light goodbyes thinking they'd see each other again soon.
Hm... But should I do it too?
I've never had a personal conversation with Gino.
As I stood there debating whether to say goodbye or not, Gino, who had been greeting everyone one by one, came over to me.
Standing in front of me, Gino held out his hand to me too.
"Ji-an."
"Ah, yeah."
When I awkwardly took his hand, Gino smiled and said.
"Too bad we didn't get closer."
"Yeah, true."
"Thanks to you, I'm getting promoted early. See you around."
Gino said that, then patted my shoulder and turned away.
After exchanging one more round of farewells with the kids, Gino left the training ground with Coach-nim.
"Aah, I'm jealous."
"When you think about starting over as the youngest there, not so jealous."
"Then what, you want to stay here until you're too old?"
After Gino left, the kids started stretching again, and I sat down on my mat too.
But... what did he mean?
Thanks to me, he's getting promoted early.
No matter how much I think about it, I don't understand what he meant.
That aside...
This feels like the world is helping me out.
If Gino goes to the U19 team, the only Second Forwards left on our team are me and Andrea.
If I can just beat out Andrea... it might mean I could get a shot at starting.
In that case, I, Lee Ji-an.
Am prepared to give everything I have in this week's training.
Andrea!
I'll face you head-on... actually, no!
Please go easy on me, just this once...!