Diemoney. (2)
“Ha-neul-ah, are you okay?”
Yu-ri's face, which I hadn't seen in a while, was full of worry. The face of someone who should be happy as the first national team representative looked so sad, it tugged at my heart a bit.
Moreover, the reason being something ridiculous made me irritated.
“I'm fine.”
“Yeah, Yuri. Don't worry too much. I already gave a strict warning through FIFA.”
Fortunately, though, I had some connections in FIFA.
“Maria…”
That was really reassuring, having Maria, the legend of legends in football, the elder statesman, and the vice president of FIFA.
“So, even if they say not to worry, Maria will take care of everything. Right, Maria?”
“Yeah. Diena called me and how she flattered me. Apparently, she got a call from Maria too, according to what Maria told me.”
“Wow…. Diena called the president too?”
This was quite surprising. After Diena went on a rampage, Maria's relationship with Diena was terrible, yet she called the president for me….
‘…Is she really a good person?’
“She said so. When Ha-neul returns to Spain, everything will be resolved. Yuri.”
“Eh?”
“So, don't worry and play well for the national team. If a La Masia graduate plays one game and gets kicked from the national team, it won't look good.”
“…Yeah. I'll do my best and come back.”
Yu-ri seemed relieved by Maria's words. After saying goodbye to Maria, we boarded the plane as the flight time to Korea was up.
“Even so, I'm glad Maria is here.”
Honestly, I was grateful to Maria for following me to the airport to reassure me, and I thought it was fortunate to have Maria. Still, this life felt a bit better than the last one, making me proud.
But, seeing Yu-ri's expression in the seat next to me, anger rose again. Yu-ri was still wearing a worried expression. Had she been managing her expression to not worry Maria earlier?
“Are you still worried?”
“Of course. What if you really end up not making it to the Asian Cup? And the next World Cup was in Qatar too, right? What if Qatar also doesn't work out.”
Yu-ri's face was full of real worry.
“I'm fine. It'll be okay.”
But I wasn't worried about that level.
The probability of FIFA backing the Arab side in a conflict in the Arab world, which is a backwater in football circles, was low for someone like me, a world-class football player rising to the top.
In fact, upon checking right after hearing the news, FIFA usually sides with the male side in such conflicts, so I wasn't too worried. Well, there had been cases where they placed sanctions like World Cup participation bans.
Perhaps this was just to appease public opinion for their own citizens.
In the UAE, after showing that we went to this extent to respect Islamic law, when FIFA's warning comes, they'll say 'we have no choice' and allow my participation, a scripted scenario?
Moreover, both the UAE where the Asian Cup is held and Qatar where the World Cup is held aren't extreme Islamic countries like Iran, so the probability of this incident passing without a hitch was even higher.
Well, it wasn't accurate since I looked it up on the internet.
Anyway, it wasn't that Yu-ri needed to worry that much.
“…Still.”
“Yu-ri.”
“Huh?”
“Maria and the president are helping too, so you don't need to worry that much.”
“But…”
“Sigh. If you do that one more time, I'll really get angry.”
“…Okay. Sorry.”
Anyway, the problem is that since becoming a pro, her heart is too weak.
It was nice that she was worried, but if it made her performance worse and we couldn't play together in the national team in the future because of it, that would be worse.
With Yu-ri's skill, she could return to the national team in a few years anyway, but if she didn't show her true ability in the first call-up, it might take longer.
“Wow, but I've never been to Korea during the season.”
Yu-ri, sensing my thoughts, forced a bright voice and changed the subject. Anyway, she's so cute in these things.
“Then, as a senior national team player, I should give you some tips.”
“Huh? What?”
“Here. This isn't it?”
I took an eye mask from my pocket and handed it to Yu-ri.
“Huh?”
From her reaction, it seemed Yu-ri hadn't thought of bringing it. Fortunately, I suggested going together to Incheon, otherwise I might have ruined my condition on the way to Korea.
“The important thing is to sleep on time. Especially, you might wake up in the middle? Then your sleep pattern gets messed up, and you might suffer in Korea, so when you sleep, you must wear the eye mask. Okay?”
“……I've been to Korea a lot too.”
“Sigh. That was for vacation. Now, I'm going to play matches. Listen to the senpai, Yu-ri.”
“Eh, eh. Okay. But, then when do I sleep?”
“I can sleep with you.”
“W-what?”
“Hah? What did you say?”
“No, no.”
…Her voice was small, I didn't hear it properly, but seeing her blush, it seemed Yu-ri had another strange thought. Well, kids of that age are like that.
“Why? What? Why are you blushing?”
“No, it's not like that. It's hot, hot.”
“Yeah? Then shall I turn the AC up? There…”
“No! It's fine, it's fine.”
Yu-ri was the best at taking hits. While teasing her, a beautiful East Asian flight attendant approached, noticing my call. Calling the flight attendant was a real moment, but first class was good after all.
“May I know the reason for your call?”
I called in Spanish, but the question was in Korean, so she seemed Korean.
“Ah, it's fine.”
Even though I said it's fine, the flight attendant stood by my seat and looked at me with a subtle gaze.
“Ah, would you like an autograph?”
“Ah, this isn't something you should do…”
“It's fine. But you're a man, do you like football? Judging by how you know me.”
“If you don't know Ryu Ha-neul from Korea, you're a spy.”
“Yeah? Here. And remember this friend too. Yu-ri, she's playing for Deportivo right now, and she also kicks the ball.”
“Ah…. Is that so? Then, maybe…”
“Ah, me? Of course!”
After sending the flight attendant away, looking back at Yu-ri, she was smiling brightly.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“Smiling brightly, you seem happy? You got an autograph from a cool oppa and it felt good?”
“N-no, that's not it!”
“Yu-ri, I keep saying this, but now is the time to focus on football. Okay? Absolutely no to a 4-year older blonde broad-shouldered oppa?”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking. Really.”
Anyway, teasing is fun.
But if I teased too much, Yu-ri covered the eye mask and turned towards the window. Then, suddenly Yu-ri snorted.
“Sniff…”
Did she not blow her nose? No, I washed it in the laundry… But since it was in my pocket, it might have smelled. I quickly took out my eye mask and sniffed it, but luckily no smell came from my eye mask.
But, it's not easy to smell your own scent with your own nose, so I looked at Yu-ri with suspicion.
“Sigh…”
“Do you smell something?”
This wasn't a question that had become infected with the masculinity of this world. It was just asking out of basic human manners. If a close friend gives something that smells, it's embarrassing, so that's why, it wasn't that I had become weird.
“No? Just something stuck in my nose. The Copa here is a bit… Why? You didn't blow your nose?”
At my words, Yu-ri took off the eye mask and started sniffing.
“Hey! What are you doing? Why are you sniffing that?”
“No, you asked if I smelled something.”
“Hah…. If you don't want to smell, don't say so, brat.”
I couldn't make a big noise in the plane, so I spoke in a quiet voice,
“Eh? Eh…”
Yu-ri seemed to understand my words.
“Give it here.”
“Huh? Then I sleep…”
“Hah…. Don't smell.”
“Eh, okay.”
I really wanted to snatch the eye mask right away, but it was unfortunate that I couldn't because of Yu-ri's condition.
*
“Umm…. It only smells good, maybe because it's a guy? Anyway, she's sensitive to weird things.”
Do I need to ask my father for advice later? It was really something a real guy would know but not know. Well, seeing Ha-neul sleeping, it seemed okay.
Anyway, soon we'll arrive in Korea.
Yu-ri got up from her seat and shook Ha-neul's body to wake him.
“Ah…. Yeah, um. We're arriving already?”
“Yeah. Almost there. The broadcast just came on.”
With the eye mask on his forehead, Ha-neul rubbing his eyes in a dazed expression was still cute. No, should I say even that looks cool? In just a few months, Ha-neul had become a proper man's figure.
Yu-ri, who wanted to confess her feelings right away, knew that if she did, Ha-neul would hate it, so she held back her heart and waited for the plane to land.
Upon arriving at the airport, a strong flash flood came from the exit.
“Ryu Ha-neul player! Ryu Ha-neul player! What do you think about the memorandum sent from the UAE?”
And rows of journalists laid out.
It seemed like it would fill the entire camp, so Yu-ri's heart ached.
A kid who gets nervous over small things like eye masks has to endure such strong pressure.
I wanted to help Ha-neul, but the only thing I could do was help him as much as possible on the field, and that made my heart ache even more. Because of that pressure, sometimes she curses like a woman.
But then.
“Eh, it's Diena coach!”
Diena suddenly appeared like lightning in front of the journalists and shouted loudly. And Diena started speaking boldly as if she had prepared.
“Waaah!!”
“Diena! Diena! Diena!”
After Diena's long speech, the gathered journalists and fans who came to see Ha-neul's arrival scene started chanting Diena's name in unison.
‘Still, it's fortunate. Maria, Diena, there are so many people helping Ha-neul by his side.’
And Yu-ri, seeing this, thought it was fortunate that there were many people helping Ha-neul even if she didn't help, and let out a sigh of relief.
‘What? Why is the coach doing this? Did she eat something bad?’
…Without knowing that Ha-neul was strangely watching Diena's appearance.