End of Winter Break: Ronaldo's Respect Crusade
The end of the winter break. ***
After losing the money-bragging battle, the plebeian Ronaldo started approaching me more friendly-like from that day on.
Ronaldo's constant barrage of texts had me thinking about blocking him at first, but the satisfying smack of my comebacks got me hooked.
Look at him now. One little reply, and he's clinging like a madman.
Instead of arguing back, I fired off a message dripping with mockery and slammed my phone shut.
Bzzzzt—!
My phone started vibrating like crazy. Han Gyeowol, watching YouTube next to me, pointed at it.
"Hey, Son Jinho. Isn't that your phone ringing?"
"Ignore it. Just spam."
"Team Leader Kim Miyeong?"
Last time, even my father-in-law went straight for Kim Miyeong Team Leader. Just how famous is she?
With something to say to Ronaldo, I pulled out my smartphone again.
I sent a message to Ronaldo, who was spamming away.
The second I sent it, the 1 vanished, and a reply came right away. Felt like he'd been waiting...
'Nah... coincidence.' I shook my head lightly and typed.
A few days after being named to the Puskas Award and FIFA World Best. ***
Son Jinho successfully won the Bundesliga Player of the Year award.
Congrats poured in from all directions, just like when he was named World Best.
Korean soccer fans lost their minds over congrats from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, hailed as the world's best players.
Of course they did. How could anyone hold back? Messi and Ronaldo, the soccer gods?
The innate K-pride buried in every Korean's heart began to stir, and the media flooded the airwaves all day with stories about Ronaldo, Messi, and Son Jinho.
***
Cristiano Ronaldo demanded payback for publicly airing his respect interview about me.
Honestly, did getting "respected" like this even mean anything?
Whatever. I decided to play along.
"Ronaldo is a great player. His scoring ability and self-management are worth emulating."
In my interview with German media, I unleashed all the sealed respect for Ronaldo from deep in my heart.
Separate from how the "Daykondu" incident trashed his image in Korea, as a soccer player, Ronaldo deserved every bit of respect—he was phenomenal.
'Come to think of it, Korea's Ronaldo, Japan's Neymar, continent's Messi.'
Suddenly, these god-tier players no-showing competitively seemed impressive.
Anyway, was it the sudden Ronaldo praise that threw them off?
"You picked Messi as the better player at the Ballon d'Or ceremony, but has your opinion changed?"
The reporter couldn't hide his bewilderment as he asked.
"No. Messi's still the best. Ronaldo's the solid No. 2 following him. But even so, I respect Ronaldo. He's fun and a riot."
I shook my head in reply. The interview, packed with solid respect for Ronaldo, wrapped up.
The next morning:
The interview spread across Europe in a way totally twisting my intent.
And that evening.
I got hit with another wall of text, 11,400 characters long. ***
While I soothed the pouting Ronaldo, time flew by. The 12/13 season ended, and word came that Pep Guardiola would take Bayern Munich's helm.
Winter break over, players returned to Brackel training ground.
"Gino! Congrats on the award!"
"Little captain! Congrats, and take good care of us in the second half too! Slip me one of those magical passes that go in if you just touch it!"
"Haha, thanks everyone. And vice-captain! You're a goalkeeper!"
Returning to Brackel after so long, I got heartfelt congrats from Dortmund staff and players alike, and thanked them in return.
Hmm. This is what real adults are like.