"Who is he?"
"Hm?"
"I said, who is he."
"What are you talking about?"
"You gonna play dumb? Who is he. Number 20."
After the match ended.
The manager of Napoli's U17 team, Bino Botelli, extended his hand while asking.
Manager Tony, who was close friends with him, shrugged and played coy.
"He's Gino's backup. What about it."
"Are you kidding me? Anyone could see he's a kid you've been nurturing like he's made of gold and jade. Where did he suddenly pop out from?"
Come to think of it, Napoli hadn't participated in that program three years ago.
"I brought him from Juventus. So what."
"Juve? But why have I never seen him? How long has he been at Juve?"
"Three years ago. He couldn't play there."
"Couldn't play? With that skill? Even for Juve, with that level he should have been the ace—why?"
"Don't try to dig too deep, friend."
When Manager Tony cackled, Manager Bino let out a sigh. This sly old fox.
"Anyway, looks like you reeled in quite a catch. He's Korean, right?"
"Yeah."
"That region must be hot these days."
"It is hot. Lots of hidden gems over there."
"Actually, we've been keeping an eye on someone too. Was it Galatasaray or Fenerbahce? I heard there's a monster Korean defender playing there."
"...Turkey? How old?"
"Don't know. Mid-twenties, I think?"
"What the hell, you idiot. That's not even youth level—why are you bringing that up now?"
"I don't know, you idiot. Anyway, prepare well for the next match. It'll be different then."
"Get lost."
"Get lost."
After exchanging such warm farewells, Manager Tony turned around with a smirk.
That bastard does have an eye for talent.
Actually, no.
After seeing Lee Ji-an today, even someone without an eye for talent would have been drooling. Even a girl who knew nothing about football would have seen Lee Ji-an as a genius.
Well, anyway, it felt like a weight had been lifted.
He had been confident, honestly. Even against Napoli, he believed Ji-an would do well.
But since nothing in this business was ever 100% certain, it was also true that he had felt a bit of anxiety.
If the result hadn't been good, the kid might have shrunk back.
But both the process and the result were good.
During the match, he had watched the kid gain confidence in real time. The kid had grown, and he would continue to grow. Once he started stacking up results like this, the team would hurry to prepare a contract.
Manager Tony was heading toward the locker room with a pleased heart when—
"Ah, right."
Manager Bino, who had been walking ahead, stopped and turned around to ask.
"Has that kid signed a professional contract?"
At that question, Manager Tony raised his middle finger without hesitation. He felt extremely unpleasant, as if some old geezer was drooling and asking if his daughter was married.
After all the care and effort he'd put into raising him, finally getting him past his growing pains.
And now this guy had the nerve to set his sights on him.
Are you crazy? He's mine. You bastard.
*
I dragged my exhausted body out of the boisterous locker room.
It had been a really tough match.
But we won. A 2-1 victory.
After beating a tough opponent in a tough match after a tough fight, it was only natural that the locker room was that loud.
"Hoooo..."
As I walked down the hallway with my bag over my shoulder, a sigh escaped me.
My body felt heavy as lead.
The match was definitely on a different level from training.
I hadn't even played the full 90 minutes—just 60—and yet I was already like this.
It was really, really hard...
"..."
But suddenly, I found myself smiling. It was hard, but I felt good.
After the match ended, I had received a lot of praise.
Manager-nim, Coach-nim, even my teammates... Everyone had showered me with compliments.
It was a bit embarrassing, and I didn't let it show on the outside because I wondered whether I really deserved such praise, but.
Still, the truth was that I felt good.
It was nice. A little... a lot.
Come to think of it, this might have been the first time I'd received praise like this since coming to Italy.
In my early days studying abroad... when I was playing soccer in Turin, there was obviously none of that. And even after coming to this team, there was none.
Since I was in Korea, it had been a really long time since— no, wait. Thinking about it again, even when I was in Korea, I don't think I ever received such pure praise like this?
Mm... that's how it was back then.
Even on days when I played much better than today, criticism came before praise. What was lacking, what I needed to work harder on... Those were always the first things I heard.
Wow. This is genuinely the first time I've been praised like today. The occasional comments about having talent or being a genius weren't praise from my perspective.
Right? Telling someone who works hard to make a living that they were born with a silver spoon isn't exactly a compliment.
"Whoa..."
Honestly, I was a bit shocked, so I found myself reflecting on my childhood. Really? You've never been praised?
...Ah, actually, there was.
When I ate well, someone would say I ate well. When I gave a presentation in class, someone would say I did a good job. When I went shopping, someone would say I had a good eye. When I came back from a match, someone would say I worked hard...
All of these were really trivial, things you could barely even call compliments.
But thinking about it, all those compliments came from one person.
It was really true.
The only one who would compliment me no matter what I did...
"Hey!"
"...Ah."
A clear voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
At the stadium entrance, Ji-woo was waving at me. I walked toward her with light steps.
"Ohhh, our Ji-an. You worked hard, didn't you? Wow, how do you run around like that on such a hot day?"
There was Ji-woo, pretending to be the noona again the moment she saw me.
She looked more overheated than I did, though. Her hair was damp and her pale cheeks had turned red.
Even with shade, she had been sitting outside for over 90 minutes on a day like this. It would be strange if she were fine.
When I stared at Ji-woo, she tilted her head curiously and then patted my back
"Hang in there, sir...! You can't collapse here!"
"...Let's go."
"Okay, okay. You must be really tired? Then again, it'd be weird if you weren't. Want me to carry your bag?"
"...My bag?"
I laughed in disbelief.
No matter how tired I looked, what kind of logic was that. Who was offering to carry whose bag.
"This shrimp."
"What? Shrimp? Hey. I was taller than you until elementary school, you know?"
"How old is that story."
"Wow, so unfair. Did Lee Ji-an grow a lot?"
"Grew a lot."
I took the bag she had slung over one shoulder.
Come to think of it, why did she even bother watching the whole match on such a hot day? What was I to her?
"Grew a lot, and now I'm making money too. I'll buy you gelato. Let's go."
When I walked ahead, Ji-woo followed with some incredulous exclamation.
Then she started teasing me about the celebration again, but I ignored it, letting it go in one ear and out the other.
When that made her angry again, I snickered.
Walking along with Ji-woo, who never stopped chattering even for a moment, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
I think I finally understood, a little, why I had found myself lying to Ji-woo without even realizing it.
She was the only one who believed in me, and I had wanted to live up to that belief. I had lied because I didn't want to break that trust.
I wanted to keep doing that.
It wasn't the kind of thing I was saying just because I didn't want to get caught in my lies.
I wanted to make the faith being placed in me into something real.
Yeah.
I was going to become a real genius.
That thought floated around inside my heart.
ㆍㆍㆍ
"Excuse me, Manager?"
"Hm? Ji-an. What's up?"
"Um, I wanted to ask you something."
"By all means. What is it?"
"Is it okay if I do extra training at the training ground after team practice ends?"
"Uh... Individual training, you mean?"
"Yes."
At my question, Manager Tony stroked his chin.
Mm... Was it a presumptuous request? The Manager wasn't giving me an easy answer.
After the match on Sunday.
During yesterday's recovery training on Monday, I realized it clearly. The most urgent issue was my lack of stamina.
Last time, I had only played about 10 minutes, so I felt a bit awkward during recovery training.
But yesterday, I truly understood why recovery training existed. There wasn't a single muscle that didn't ache, and my whole body felt heavy like wet cotton.
I found myself genuinely impressed by the kids who played matches every week.
That's why I wanted to train more.
Of course, it wasn't that team training was easy, but it usually ended in under 2 hours, leaving me with a lot of free time.
I wanted to use that extra time to catch up with the other kids more.
Considering all the time I had wasted since coming to Italy, I was far behind.
"Alright. What do you want to train more on?"
"Ah, um... I think stamina training, dribbling, and shooting practice would be good."
At my words, Manager Tony seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay. Let's do that. I'll have Luca oversee it for you."
"Oh... You don't have to go that far."
"What are you talking about. All training is our responsibility. It needs to be supervised."
"Ah, understood."
Manager Tony patted my shoulder.
"Don't feel burdened. Actually, I was just saying that Luca over there gets paid too much for what he does—works out perfectly."
"Thank you..."
Ugh.
Did I make a mistake volunteering for this? Coach Luca's clock-out time just got pushed back because of me.
Well, still... there's nothing I can do about it. I'm in a position where I need to pay for all the time I've wasted.
Plus, school starts again in a few days, so I wanted to focus even harder before then.
I bowed my head to Manager and went back to preparing for practice.
*
"Ha, honestly. I was so moved I couldn't even get the words out."
"You really put in a lot of effort."
Coach Luca nodded in agreement with Manager Tony's words.
The two had stepped away from the players for a moment to talk about what had just happened.
Good lord.
To think the day would come when Lee Ji-an would seek him out first and say he wanted to train more.
Manager Tony had been so moved that he couldn't answer right away and had nearly choked up.
A day like this is actually coming. This day is really here.
The days he had patiently waited for the kid, holding back, now felt deeply rewarding.
"He must be getting ambitious himself, right?"
"Must be. He's probably gaining confidence. How about it? My keen insight? Wasn't putting him in the starting lineup for the Napoli match a brilliant move?"
"I'm sick of hearing it."
"I listened to all your bragging too."
"Hoo. Yeeees, our brilliant genius Manager Tony Ruzzo!"
"You mocking me?"
Aish, this guy. Manager Tony raised his hand as if to swat him, then smirked.
But then his expression quickly turned melancholic.
"What's wrong?"
"After all the effort I've put into raising him. If he starts training hard on top of everything, he's going to leave soon."
"Anyone listening would think you'd had him for 10 years. It hasn't even been a year."
"Those 8 months felt like 10 years. And I first saw him 3 years ago, you know."
"Either way, if he moves up early, that's a good thing. What's there to be sad about. Actually, Paolo says he's coming to watch the next match."
Paolo was the youth team director
He was also in charge of youth contracts.
"Didn't you send him the footage?"
"I did. But he says he needs to see it with his own eyes. Classic old-school mindset."
"Hm."
Manager Tony pictured Director Paolo's stubborn face.
From his position, he was just doing his job, but that guy really had a habit of lowballing contracts. Always stalling with talk about how salary multiplies several times once you sign a pro contract.
It's not even his money, yet it's always money, money, money.
But...
"Let's prepare well for the match. It could be a game that changes Fiorentina's future."
"Yep."
That guy won't have a choice this time.