A Chance Meeting by the Sea
Diola Ha Sunmoon had already racked up quite a few matches with the B team, and today was no exception. "You played well again today, Sunmoon. It looks like the system is starting to settle in. I'll tweak the tactics soon so you can play a bit more aggressively."
"Yes, sir. Understood."
"Good. Just hang in there a little longer."
Sunmoon nodded and headed home. Having fully adapted to the B team, he was now playing matches almost mechanically. And "mechanically" wasn't meant in a good way. His performances were stable, almost robotic, but it wasn't the environment he truly wanted. What Sunmoon was allowed to do was extremely limited. On defense, he stayed in his designated zone as the left-back and focused solely on zonal marking. During build-up, he only advanced as far as the halfway line before handing the ball over to the attackers. After that, it was their job. Normally he would overlap to stretch the play on the left, but even that more aggressive build-up was being restricted for now. When the team was in full attacking mode, Sunmoon waited slightly deeper than a left winger, circulating the ball or delivering crosses into the box. But after a few failed attempts to pick out teammates inside the penalty area, he had settled for the safer option of simply keeping possession.
Since he was doing more than his share just by maintaining his defensive zone and not disrupting the flow of play, Sunmoon had resigned himself to this level and played on autopilot.
[Phew… There's nothing for me to do. This is boring. The match itself is dull too. This isn't easy.]
With Sunmoon not attempting any difficult attacking moves, Harrison—who usually provided an overhead view—had nothing to do either. Sunmoon felt the same boredom. There were no more crackling dribbles bursting into the opponent's half, no sudden moments of individual brilliance. He was stuck playing the most classic, textbook full-back role, and it simply wasn't fun. The upside was that by not overexerting himself, he could play full ninety minutes as a starter without his stamina running out. But the downside was that this setup didn't seem to be helping him grow. The thrill of breaking through heavy pressure, the satisfaction of threading a pass that left opponents scrambling—those were the experiences he needed, and being denied them left him frustrated.
"How am I supposed to get promoted to the first team…? At least there I wouldn't be limited like this. I'd face all kinds of different situations…"
Sunmoon muttered as he trudged along, and Harrison agreed.
[If you get called up and face teams like Barcelona or Real Madrid, even zonal defending will get torn apart. That's the kind of experience you need to improve… What a shame.]
"You're right. We're here."
Once home, Sunmoon flopped onto his bed. With nothing else to do after matches, his routine had become training followed by rest at home. But that only lasted so long. As the boring days piled up, he couldn't take it anymore.
"This won't do! I'm bored out of my mind."
[Bored? Hmm… Well then… why don't you drop by Raul's restaurant?]
Sunmoon nodded and got up. Whenever he was bored, there was only one place to go.
"Hello, Mr. Raul."
"Sunmoon! What brings you here today?"
It was four in the afternoon, an awkward time for business, but Raul greeted him warmly. "I was just bored, so I thought I'd stop by. How's business going?"
"Of course it's going well! Our 'parrots' keep finding their way here!"
Raul's restaurant was definitely a favorite among Espanyol fans. Even on slow days, he'd never gone into the red. Plus, with Barcelona tourists occasionally dropping in, Raul never had to worry much about the business side of things.
"Sunmoon, you've been coming here more often lately. You must be pretty bored, huh?"
"Yeah. Honestly, even the B-team matches aren't fun anymore. It's a bit… yeah."
"The B-team matches aren't fun?"
"No. This might sound arrogant, but… the tactics they're using in the B team aren't really my style. So it's not fun, and the matches aren't great either."
"Hahahaha."
Raul burst into loud laughter at Sunmoon's words. Sunmoon had no idea why he found it so funny.
"Haa~ That's hilarious. What you're saying is exactly what our Espanyol fans have been saying. They keep complaining that the football this season is boring."
[Didn't I tell you the first team is the same?]
"Is the B team also playing 4-4-2, sitting deep and hitting on the counter?"
"Yes, that's right. But they're still restricting my attacking play, so it's incredibly dull. The matches are boring, and I'm bored right now too."
"Wait… you said you're bored right now?"
"Yeah. All I do is go between home and the training ground. The only change of scenery is stopping by your restaurant every now and then."
Raul looked genuinely surprised at Sunmoon's answer.
"Good grief! You've been living like that in this beautiful city?"
"Yes."
"That's terrible."
"Someone told me that if I live like this, I'll become a great professional footballer someday."
"Felipe must be managing you more strictly than I thought."
[Ahem…]
Harrison coughed awkwardly.
"Ah! Mr. Felipe just told me not to wander around at night. This is someone else."
"I see. Hmm… If you're bored, why don't you visit the Barcelona beach? Go before the weather gets cold. It's a lovely sight and it'll help you relax."
"The beach?"
"Yes. Go have some fun."
"Got it."
* * *
Sunmoon soon arrived at the beach.
"Whoa… It's beautiful."
He began taking in the sea. Walking along the shore brought back memories of Rio de Janeiro, and his heart felt lighter. As he turned around after gazing at the water, he suddenly collided with someone.
Thud.
"Ah! Are you okay?"
A blonde girl around his age had turned at the same moment and fallen after bumping into him.
"I'm fine."
Thanks to the sand, she didn't seem badly hurt. She brushed herself off and stood up.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. Did you come here alone?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Oh… That's interesting. You came here just to look around by yourself?"
Is she ignoring me? Sunmoon tilted his head.
"You're here alone too, aren't you?"
"This is basically my front yard."
"Ah…"
Sunmoon had no comeback to that.
"By the way, are you from Asia? Or mixed?"
"I'm from Korea."
"Aha~. Even more interesting. Your accent has a bit of Portuguese mixed in."
"I lived in Brazil before coming here."
Thump, thump.
Sunmoon felt strangely flustered as the blonde girl stared at him with curious eyes. There was something oddly captivating about her.
"But you really came here alone?"
"Yeah, I did. Is there a problem?"
"Huh? No… It's just rare to see someone our age here by themselves. Usually people come with friends."
"Really? I haven't been here long, so I don't have any close friends yet."
The blonde girl looked a little apologetic.
"Sorry. If you haven't been here long, what brought you?"
"Oh! I'm a footballer."
"Ooh~! A footballer? Which team?"
The girl's expression brightened with interest at the mention of football.
[See, kid? Footballers are popular for a reason!]
"I'm playing for Espanyol's B team."
"Ah~ Espanyol?"
The girl gave him a rather peculiar look at the name.
"I see. Espanyol?"
[This feels ominous…]
Suddenly, the blonde girl's face lit up with alarm.
"Oh no! Sorry! I was just running an errand, so I have to go!"
"Yeah? It was nice meeting you. You're the prettiest girl I've seen recently."
The blonde girl let out a small laugh at Sunmoon's words.
"That's a funny thing to say. What were the other girls like?"
Sunmoon thought of the red-haired girl.
"What was it again… She asked if I even had money for food? Called me ugly. Something like that?"
"Hmm. I don't know about the money, but you don't look ugly to me."
"Hehe~ Really?"
Sunmoon grinned widely before quickly composing his expression.
"Haha. That face just now was funny. Anyway, it was nice meeting you."
"Me too. It was nice meeting you. Um… could I get your contact info?"
"Contact info?"
[Huh? Whoa, kid. You're really going for it? Asking for her number right here?]
The girl looked surprised for a moment, then smiled.
"Haha. You're asking for my number before even doing the most important thing?"
"The most important thing?"
"Your name! What's your name?"
"Ah! My name is Sunmoon."
"Sunmoon? Like sun and moon?"
"Yeah, that's right. Sun-moon."
The blonde girl chuckled again at the unusual name.
"No way. You're joking, right?"
"Absolutely not. That's my real name. If you hear my last name, you'll laugh even harder."
"What's your last name?"
"Ha. H-A. HA."
"Ha? Like the sound of laughter? Seriously? Pfft. Hahaha."
The blonde girl laughed for a long time after hearing his surname.
"Hehe. Haa… I laughed too much. Sorry. I shouldn't laugh at someone's name. Oh no, I'm going to be late. Can I borrow your phone?"
Seeming to find Sunmoon amusing, the girl took his phone, entered her number, and saved her name.
"Here, this is my number, and this is my name. My name is Diola."
"Diola?"
"Yeah. Diola. Well, I really have to go now. That was fun. Seriously."
Sunmoon waved as the girl hurried off to run her errand.
[I shouldn't be doing this. Already getting involved with girls…]