Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Today Is the Best Bargain - 1
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“Who is that?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking who he is.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Playing dumb? I said, who is he? Number 20.”
After the match.
Vino Botteli, the coach of Napoli’s U17 team, extends his hand and asks.
Toni Lucco, his close friend, shrugs and jokes around.
“He’s a stand-in for Gino. What of it?”
“Don’t give me that. At a glance, he’s clearly a player you’re nurturing with great care. I’m asking where he suddenly came from.”
Now that he mentions it, didn’t Napoli not participate in that program three years ago?
“I brought him from Juventus. Got a problem with that?”
“Juventus? Then why have I never seen him before? When did he join Juventus?”
“Three years ago. He couldn’t play there.”
“Couldn’t play? With that skill level? Even if it is Juventus, a player of that caliber would be the ace. Why?”
“Don’t dig too deep, my friend.”
Toni Lucco chuckled, and Vino Botteli sighed. This sly old fox.
“Anyway, you sure found a good one. He’s Korean, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Seems like that region is hot these days.”
“It is hot. There are a lot of hidden gems there.”
“Come to think of it, we’re keeping an eye on someone too. Was it Galatasaray or Fenerbahce? There’s a Korean monster defender playing there, I heard.”
“...Turkey? How old is he?”
“Don’t know. Mid-twenties, I think?”
“What the hell, man. He’s not a youth player, why bring that up now?”
“I don’t know, you punk. Anyway, get ready for the next match. It’ll be different then.”
“Get lost.”
“Get lost.”
After exchanging friendly farewells and turning away, Toni Lucco snickered.
The kid has a good eye.
No, that’s not it.
If he had seen Lee Ji-an today, even without a good eye, he would have been drooling. Even a girl who knows nothing about soccer would have seen Ji-an as a genius.
Anyway, he felt a sense of relief.
He was confident. Even if the opponent was Napoli, he was sure Ji-an would do well.
But there is nothing 100 percent certain in this world, so he had been a little anxious.
If the result had been poor, the kid could have been discouraged.
But both the process and the result were good.
He saw the kid gaining confidence in real-time during the match. The kid had grown, and he will grow even more. Once he starts stacking up results like this, the team will hurry to prepare a contract.
As Toni Lucco headed for the locker room with a pleased heart.
“Ah, that’s right.”
Vino Botteli, who was walking ahead, stopped and turned to ask.
“Did that friend sign a pro contract?”
At that question, Toni Lucco immediately raised his middle finger. It felt incredibly unpleasant, like an old man drooling and asking if his daughter was getting married.
He had raised the kid like gold and jade, just having seen him through his adolescence.
And now this guy is trying to lay his hands on him.
Are you crazy? He’s my kid. My boy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Dragging his exhausted body, he left the noisy locker room.
It was a really tough match.
But they won. A 2-1 victory.
They had a tough opponent and had to struggle through a hard match to win, so it’s only natural the locker room is this loud.
“Haaaah...”
As he walked down the hallway with his bag on his back, a sigh escaped him.
His body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Matches were truly on a different level from training.
He didn’t even run for the full 90 minutes, only 60, and yet he was this exhausted.
It’s really tough, so, so tough...
“...”
A laugh suddenly bubbled up. It was hard, but he felt good.
He received a lot of praise after the match.
The coach, the assistant coach, and even his teammates... everyone showered him with praise.
It was a bit embarrassing, and I didn't show it on the outside because I wondered if I deserved such praise.
But it felt good. A little... a lot.
Thinking about it, this was the first time I’d received such pure praise since coming to Italy.
In the early days of my study abroad... when I played soccer in Turin, of course, there was none. Even after joining this team, there was none.
It’s been a really long time since I was in Korea... no, wait. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I ever received praise like this even when I was in Korea.
Hmm... I guess it was like that back then.
Even on days I did much better than today, I would get criticism before praise. What was lacking, what I needed to work harder on... that came first.
Wow. Really, today is the first time I’ve received praise like this. The occasional “you have talent” or “you’re a genius” I used to hear weren’t really praise from my perspective.
That’s right. Telling someone who works hard for a living that they’re a silver spoon isn’t praise.
“Wow...”
To be honest, it was a bit of a shock, so I carefully traced back my childhood. Really, never received praise?
...Ah, I did.
If I ate well, they said I ate well. If I spoke up in class, they said I did well. If I went shopping, they said I had good taste. If I came back from a match, they said I worked hard...
These are all praise that are hard to even call praise, insignificant things.
Now that I think about it, they were all from the same person.
Really, it’s true.
The only person who praised me no matter what I did...
“Hey!”
“...Ah.”
A sharp voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
Ji-woo was waving at me at the entrance of the stadium. I walked over to Ji-woo with light steps.
“Oh, our Ji-an. You worked hard? Wow, how did you run so much on such a hot day?”
The moment she saw me, she started acting like my older sister again.
She looks even hotter than me. Her hair is damp, and her pale cheeks are flushed red.
Even with the shade, being outside for over 90 minutes on a day like this. It’s a miracle she’s fine.
As I stared blankly at Ji-woo, she tilted her head and patted my back.
“Pull yourself together, sir...! You can’t collapse here!”
“...Let’s go quickly.”
“Yeah, yeah. You must be really tired? Well, it’d be strange if you weren’t. Should I carry your bag?”
“...My bag?”
I laughed in disbelief.
No matter how tired I look, come on. Who offers to carry someone else’s bag?
“You little squirt.”
“What? Little? Hey. Back in elementary school, I was taller than you.”
“That was ages ago.”
“Wow, this is unfair. Ji-an, you’ve grown a lot, right?”
“I’ve grown a lot.”
I took the bag that Ji-woo was carrying on her shoulder instead.
Now that I think about it, why is she watching my entire match on such a hot day?
“I’ve grown up so much I even make money now. I’ll buy you gelato. Let’s go.”
As I walked ahead, Ji-woo followed, making ridiculous sounds of disbelief.
Then she started teasing me about my celebration again, so I ignored her with one ear in and one ear out.
She got mad again, so I giggled.
Walking with Ji-woo, who chatters non-stop, I suddenly had a thought.
I think I understand a little why I ended up lying to Ji-woo without realizing it.
She’s the only one who believed in me, and I wanted to live up to that belief. I lied because I didn’t want to break that trust.
I want to keep doing that in the future.
This isn’t just me saying it because I don’t want to get caught in a lie.
I want to make the trust I’m receiving a reality.
Yeah.
I will become a real genius.
That thought floated around in my heart.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Uh, Coach?”
“Huh? Ji-an. What is it?”
“Uh, I have something I’d like to ask.”
“Anytime. What is it?”
“Is it okay if I do some extra training on my own after team practice is over?”
“Huh... You mean individual training?”
“Yes.”
At my question, Coach Toni stroked his chin.
Hmm... Was it too much to ask? The coach couldn't answer easily.
After the Sunday match.
Yesterday, during the recovery training, I felt it clearly. The most urgent thing is my lack of stamina.
Last time, I only ran for 10 minutes, so even during recovery training, I felt a bit awkward.
Yesterday, I finally understood why we do recovery training. There wasn’t a single muscle that didn’t ache, and my whole body felt as heavy as a waterlogged sponge.
I respected the kids who play a match every week all over again.
So I wanted to train more.
Of course, it’s not that team training is lax, but it usually ends in less than 2 hours, so I have a lot of time left.
I wanted to use that remaining time to catch up to the other kids.
Considering the time I’ve wasted since coming to Italy, I’m far behind.
“Alright. What do you want to train more?”
“Ah, well... I think stamina training, dribbling, and shooting training would be enough.”
At my words, Coach Toni seemed to think about something for a moment, then nodded.
“Good. Let’s do that. I’ll tell Luca to keep an eye on you.”
“Uh... You don’t have to go that far.”
“What are you talking about. We are responsible for all training. You need to be under supervision.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Coach Toni patted my shoulder.
“You don’t need to feel burdened. It’s actually a good thing. Luca has been complaining that his workload is too much for his pay.”
“Thank you...”
Ugh.
Maybe I shouldn’t have done this. I just made Coach Luca’s clock-out time later.
Well, but... it can’t be helped. I have to pay the price for wasting all that time.
Also, school is starting in a few days, so I want to focus more before it does.
I bowed to the coach and prepared for training again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Hoo, my. I’m so moved I can’t even speak.”
“The coach did work you hard.”
At Toni Lucco’s words, Luca Coach nodded in agreement.
The two were talking away from the kids about what had just happened.
My goodness.
The day would come when Ji-an would come to him first and say he wants to train more.
Toni Lucco was so moved he couldn’t answer right away and felt a lump in his throat.
So this day has come. The day has come.
The days he had waited patiently for the kid felt rewarding at this moment.
“Looks like he’s getting some ambition of his own?”
“I guess so. He must have gained confidence. What do you think, my insight? Wasn’t starting him against Napoli a huge success?”
“I’m sick of hearing it.”
“You got to brag about it too.”
“Hoo. Yes! Our great manager, Toni Lucco!”
“Are you mocking me?”
Ah, you little. Toni Lucco made a gesture as if he was about to raise his hand and chuckled.
But then, his face turned gloomy.
“What is it?”
“How I’ve raised him all this time. If he starts training this hard, he’ll be leaving soon, won’t he?”
“If someone heard, they’d think you’ve had him for 10 years. It hasn’t even been a year.”
“These 8 months felt like 10 years. And, I first saw him 3 years ago.”
“Anyway, it’s a good thing if he moves up early. There’s no reason to be sad. Actually, Paolo is planning to come see him at the next match.”
Paolo is the youth team director.
He also handles the youth contracts.
“Didn’t you send him the video?”
“I did. But he says he needs to see him with his own eyes. As if he’s some old-fashioned man.”
“Hmm.”
Toni Lucco recalled Director Paolo’s stubborn face.
From his perspective, he’s just doing his job, but even so, that guy tends to lowball the contracts too much. He just keeps putting it off, saying, “Do you know how much the salary jumps when you sign a pro contract?”
It’s not even his money, but he’s always talking about money, money, money.
But...
“Let’s get the match ready. It might be a match that changes the future of Fiorentina.”
“Yes, sir.”
That guy won’t have a choice this time either, will he?
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