Filming Begins
Time flew by.
On weekdays he went to school, sat through classes, and trained with his teammates. On weekends he played for the amateur football club that the two men he'd recently met—Seoul's Maldini and Incheon's Zanetti—had joined.
Over drinks after a match, he'd been a little surprised to learn that both of them were former pros who'd even gone to Italy on football scholarships. Maldini had retired after a knee injury; Zanetti had given it up for family reasons.
Before he knew it, the first day of filming had arrived.
Fortunately the school understood about missing classes for the broadcast shoot, so he was free to throw himself into it properly.
"Ah—you're here."
"Yes. Hello."
A female staff member in casual clothes greeted him as he arrived at the futsal court near the broadcasting station.
Today's shoot was happening here. It was time to meet the other contestants he'd only glimpsed at the first casting.
He swapped into his football boots in seconds and stepped onto the court.
A few players already standing for the cameras looked his way, and the lenses swung toward him as well.
"Hello."
"Hey~"
He shook hands with every player and took a spot on the far left.
"You're Seong Ian from Baekhwa High, right?"
"Ah… yeah. That's me."
"Man… you won this tournament. That was insane…"
"Nah…"
He ducked his head, embarrassed, and they started introducing themselves properly.
Including him, fifteen players were already standing on the court. Production had told them nineteen would take part, so four were still missing.
"Anyone got a favorite team? I'm Man U!"
"Real for me."
At one player's question, the others nodded and named the clubs they supported. Everyone answered in turn until it came to him.
"I'm… Chelsea."
Chelsea FC.
The pride of London—and, at this moment, the strongest side in the city. Roughly a decade earlier, after that "unfortunate business" out of Russia, the club had changed owners, sacked its manager, and suffered through a rough stretch. Under the new ownership, though, with serious investment and the right manager in place, they'd bounced back hard.
They were still trading small talk when the remaining players arrived and all nineteen finally stood together on the court.
He greeted them and shook hands as well—and then the gate opened and a man and a woman walked in.
"Whoa…"
"No way…"
The other kids clearly recognized them. Ian didn't follow celebrities, so he had no idea who either of them was.
"Hello~ I'm actor Go Yunseong."
"Hi! I'm Eunhye, leader of Laplace!"
After a quick greeting with the group, they bowed to the cameras and naturally slotted themselves right into the middle of the nineteen.
"…What's Laplace?"
"You don't know Laplace…? They're the hottest girl group right now…"
Sadly, thanks to his old-fashioned father, Ian's knowledge of female idols stopped at NewJeans and aespa. The red-blooded teenage boys around him, on the other hand, clearly preferred pretty, cute girl idols over even a handsome male actor.
"Alright, everyone. First day of filming—how are you feeling?"
"Great~"
"This is gonna be fun—!"
A few of the kids answered with silly grins. The two MCs smiled back and pressed on with the show.
"Yes… April 2036! The first shoot for our Project X is officially underway!"
"Haha… so, the reason we brought all of you here today is to get a real measure of your ability!"
At Yunseong's words, the players shook out their hands and feet like they'd been expecting this.
"Of course the production team has already dug up and analyzed footage of each of you… but we figured nothing beats seeing it in person."
Go Yunseong went on to explain how they'd evaluate the players—fifty-meter sprints, shooting on goal from set distances, and so on.
…Looks like they're not doing a scrimmage.
That was fine by him. If kids who barely knew each other started passing and tackling, bad blood could form fast.
The players lined up in name order and began timing how many seconds it took each of them to cover fifty meters.
"…Next, Seong Ian!"
"Yes."
He stepped up to the starting line and set himself to run.
"Ready… go!"
Beep—!
At Go Yunseong's call and the blast of Eunhye's whistle, he exploded off the line.
Thud.
He tore through the fifty meters and came back. Go Yunseong stopped the watch and walked over to show him the time.
"Seong Ian… 5.81 seconds!"
"Whoa…"
5.81 seconds for fifty meters.
Considering his body still wasn't fully developed, it wasn't bad. Being fast alone didn't make you a good footballer, after all.
Would Usain Bolt—the fastest man in the world—be great at football? Absolutely not. Football wasn't a sport about covering distance in a straight line. Link-up play with teammates, clean dribbling, the ability to break free under pressure, the decisiveness to finish when the moment demanded it—without those, you couldn't play the game well.
There were plenty of great players who weren't especially quick. Luka Modrić, the Croatian maestro who'd written a legendary career at Real Madrid and led his country to second and third place at the World Cup, had clocked 5.92 seconds over fifty meters. Claudio Marchisio, the Italian midfielder famous for his endless engine and two-way play, had managed only 6.03—hardly blistering.
Still, being fast is better.
For his position—especially as a wing forward—pace was critical. Speed let you beat a defender cleanly, open up attacks, and make the right runs on the counter. A slow winger? High odds of getting shut down by a fullback or having the ball stripped by a tracker coming from behind.
His goal once he hit adulthood was to crack the low 5s over fifty meters, at minimum.
"That's almost… pro-level timing, you know—"
"Right? That's seriously impressive…"
Standing among the other players, Ian caught Eunhye glancing his way. He gave an awkward smile and turned his focus back to the shoot.
"Great work, everyone~"
After roughly three hours of filming, the sky had gone dark. Since it was dinnertime, they decided to celebrate the first shoot with a team dinner.
"To mark the first day of filming… dinner's on me tonight!"
"Whoa! Go Yunseong, you're the man!!"
They piled into a nearby barbecue restaurant, found seats, and started ordering. Between the filming crew, the nineteen players, and the two MCs, there were about forty people in total. They ordered fifty portions of meat—a little more than one each—and got the grills going.
"Eunhye, you're not drinking?"
"Ah… I've got a music-show shoot tomorrow…"
"Got it… then the rest of us will handle it."
Everyone except Eunhye—Go Yunseong and a few of the staff—started pouring drinks and talking. Eunhye, looking a little out of place, scanned the room and eventually drifted over to their side of the table.
"Eat up, kids~"
"Ah… yes."
He nodded with an awkward smile. Then one of the players at the same table spoke up.
"Noona! You should eat with us too!"
"Should I?"
Eunhye slid in between Ian and Baek Namgi. They'd been about to grill the meat themselves, but she declared that she was the adult, grabbed the tongs and scissors, and took over the grill.
She sliced the cooked pieces and, with the tongs, set the first finished strip of meat on Ian's plate.
"Whoa… Ian gets first dibs?"
"What are you talking about~ He was just the closest, okay?"
She laughed off the kid's comment and started plating meat for the others as well. By the time she laid a fresh batch on the grill, her own plate was empty.
"…Noona. Here."
"Ah. Thanks~"
Ian roughly wrapped a ssam and held it out to Eunhye beside him. She took it and popped it straight into her mouth.
"Whoa… noona, you grill meat ridiculously well?"
"Honestly I thought you'd be terrible…"
"Mmm—! Whenever the members go for barbecue, I'm always the one grilling, so I'm used to it~"
The kids who'd tasted her meat all piled on with praise. Eunhye, still chewing the ssam he'd given her, grinned as she answered. Getting complimented clearly put her in a good mood.
After that they talked and laughed like friends, the line between celebrity and ordinary kid completely gone.
"Great work today, everyone~ See you at the next shoot~"
Go Yunseong settled the bill and left. The staff and the other players drifted out one or two at a time until only Ian and Eunhye remained.
There was no more meat to eat, so the two of them stepped outside and stood there.
"Ian, why are you still hanging around?"
"Ah… my parents are coming to pick me up."
The shoot location was a long way from home. Dinner had run late enough that he'd missed the last train, so he'd called his parents in a hurry and arranged a ride.
"Ah, I see…"
"Why haven't you left, noona?"
Earlier he'd overheard that her dorm wasn't far…
"Ah. My manager's coming to get me… so I have to wait."
"Got it…"
They sat a little awkwardly on the chairs out front of the barbecue place, each waiting for their ride.
The first to arrive was the car driven by Laplace's manager—an understated black sedan that didn't draw the eye. The manager opened the door; Eunhye climbed in, then rolled the window down before the car pulled away.
"Ian. Do you do Instagram?"
"No…?"
"Ah… damn. Then can I at least get your number? I completely forgot to ask the other kids too…"
Eunhye swept her brown hair back and held her phone out the window. Ian stepped over, typed his number into her phone, and saved it.
"Thanks~ See you at the next shoot?"
"Yes."
He bowed in farewell. Eunhye smiled and rolled the window up.
The car pulled away. Right behind it, a familiar model of car stopped in front of him.
"Son~ Get in!"
"Sí."
His father was out of the country on a business trip, so his mother had come to pick him up instead. Ian climbed into the passenger seat and they headed home.
The next shoot was the following Monday. The meeting point: Incheon International Airport.
Over dinner tonight they'd been told the first country—the Netherlands.
And the first team they would face was a Dutch powerhouse of tradition.
Ajax.