So, Who Are You Having Dinner With?
Two girls had just asked me out on a date. At the same time.
Why the hell were John, Hugo, and Daniel nowhere to be found at such a critical moment? Who was I supposed to choose? Actually, the idea of someone like me even having a choice was ridiculous. Besides, it didn’t seem like either of them actually liked me that way.
Sofia was a hardcore Pericos fan, so maybe she just wanted to get close to me as a friend. Hayun was probably the same. Just a friend who got close because we both loved the same team.
What if they both actually have feelings for me?
Nah. Don’t drink the kimchi soup before it’s even served. I’d already hurt several girls by getting ahead of myself like that in the past. This defensive mechanism had become pure instinct by now.
Armed with every layer of that defense, I spoke up.
“We’re all friends. How could I possibly pick one of you? I think I’m eating with my teammates tonight… Sorry. Sofia, I’ll definitely buy you dinner later to make up for it. I feel bad for canceling on you last minute.”
“…”
“Hayun, you’re really important to me too. Still, canceling on you is my fault, so I’ll treat you to something really good next time.”
Sofia stared at me with a blank expression. Was she… disappointed? Wait, did she actually like me?
No way. There’s no chance a girl this pretty would be into someone like me. She probably just wanted to get close because I was good at soccer. As if to prove my thoughts right, Sofia nodded.
“Fine. Since you put it that way, I’ll let it slide this time. But you have to buy me dinner this week. No excuses.”
“Got it.”
I turned to Hayun next.
“Sorry, Hayun. I’ll buy you dinner too.”
“…Ah, yeah. It’s fine. Wait, no. You bought yesterday, so next time I’ll treat you. Just… eat with me, okay?”
The moment Hayun said that, Sofia’s brows furrowed.
“Hold on. You two had dinner together yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s her name?”
“Her Spanish name is Chloe.”
“Chloe. I’m Sofia.”
Sofia suddenly reached out and shook Hayun’s hand. Neither of them looked particularly happy about it. There was this subtle glare in their eyes. Or maybe I was just imagining it.
Suhyuk definitely caught her eye.
She wasn’t the type to weigh people carefully before making a move. She went all in, every time. The downside was that she usually got bored of people just as quickly.
But what the hell is with this guy?
She crossed her arms, genuinely curious about him.
As a fairly well-known influencer, she was used to guys throwing themselves at her. Some were famous influencers themselves. Others were actual soccer players with name value. Even teenagers playing for La Liga first teams occasionally slid into her DMs.
Suhyuk was different.
First, that cute face. A lean build with visible, refined muscle underneath. And then there was his flashy playing style—like he’d stolen all the spotlight in the world. The way he played soccer better than anyone else was incredibly attractive.
It had been a while since she’d gone after someone this aggressively. At this point, most guys would be begging for a date.
But not Suhyuk.
Not only had he ditched their plans on the same day, but he’d been eating with another girl. And as if that wasn’t enough, he’d said something along the lines of, “I’m sorry, but I can’t have dinner with you tonight. I’ll buy you a meal later to make up for it.” Basically treating her like she wasn’t even a woman.
…And on top of that, he had dinner with this girl yesterday?
Was she the second choice here?
Sofia entertained the thought for a moment before shaking her head. From the start, Suhyuk didn’t seem particularly interested in either her or Hayun. If anything, the girls were the ones being more proactive.
He’s more popular than I thought.
The fact that he didn’t seem interested in her only made him more attractive. Sofia eyed Hayun warily and asked for her name.
Chloe… She’s pretty.
But Sofia didn’t feel like she was losing, either.
While the two of them engaged in their strange battle of nerves, I had no idea what was happening. I just quietly stuffed another piece of kimbap into my mouth.
Whoa, this kimbap is seriously good. Do Hayun’s parents run a Korean restaurant?
If John, Hugo, or Daniel had been here right now, they definitely would’ve called me an idiot.
I told my teammates what had happened during training. They all called me an idiot too.
But these guys were misunderstanding the situation. Neither Sofia nor Hayun seemed to actually like me.
“Why is your self-esteem so low? You’re a pretty decent guy, you know.”
“…If me liking someone can hurt them, how much more damage would I cause by getting my hopes up too early?”
“Ugh, you dumbass.”
“I’m perfectly satisfied just having female friends.”
“Ugh, you pathetic loser.”
The more I listened, the angrier I got. What did they know? They were all born good-looking. They couldn’t possibly understand how I felt! Why didn’t they get it? I was genuinely upset…
“Ah, whatever. I don’t care anymore.”
“So when are you getting dinner with Sofia? She’s really famous, you know.”
“Even one of my friends got rejected immediately after DMing her.”
“She’s famous for being stuck-up. If you don’t make a move, someone else will snatch her up.”
“It’s not like she’ll date me just because I ask. Women aren’t that easy.”
“They become easy if you’re good at soccer.”
I didn’t know. It still felt difficult to me. Maybe I needed to get even better at soccer before it became easy. In that case, I should keep improving.
“…Anyone up for extra training today?”
“There he goes again.”
“This guy’s addicted.”
It was already the seventh day of extra training. Even before the Barcelona Derby, I’d gathered the players for extra sessions. It just felt like I’d made friends, and kicking the ball around with them during extra training was genuinely fun. It reminded me of those pure days back in Korea when I’d play with my friends.
“Ah, I’m sitting this one out today,” Hugo declared.
If the captain skipped, the others would probably follow. I turned to him.
“Hugo.”
“Yeah?”
“I mean, Captain.”
“What the hell, why are you being like this?”
“When you believed in me back then… I was really grateful. I didn’t have any friends here. Back in Korea, everyone played soccer with me, but it wasn’t like that here. I’m a black-haired Asian kid. I was a loner.”
“…Why are you doing this?”
“But you guys approached me. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I was. Thanks to you, I got to eat with Hayun and might even go on a date with Sofia. Of course, I don’t think either of them is actually interested in me, but still. I even scored a hat-trick because of you guys.”
I made the most pitiful face I could muster.
“My greatest joy in life these days was using extra training with the upperclassmen as an excuse to play soccer and eat together. And today I even turned down dates with two beautiful girls just to eat with you guys…”
“Goddamn it.”
“Fine, fine. We’ll do it.”
The players who had been looking for an escape route slowly gathered around me again.
“You son of a bitch. I hate this kind of Korean melodrama.”
“So… you’re not going to play with me?”
“…You bastard.”
“Yeah, we’ll do it! We’ll do it!”
Our next match was against Real Madrid. They were just as strong as Barcelona. If we played well in this game too, we’d have a very high chance of getting invited to train with the reserve team.
“…Yeah, whatever. We do need to practice. We’ll probably use the same tactics again.”
That’s right. We were going to use the exact same tactics against Real Madrid that we’d used against Barcelona. The core of that tactic was me, after all. It was embarrassing to say it myself, but what could I do? It was the truth.
“Who’s coming to watch this time?”
“Sofia and Hayun. Some other friends too.”
“…Now I really have a reason to play well, huh?”
“Exactly.”
When my family came to watch, it only made me feel pressured. But when girls came to watch, a much stronger emotion surged up inside me. The feeling that I had to play well.
And this time…
“Lee, if you do well this time… you might leave my nest.”
Coach Ben had said that directly to me. He was probably giving me a heads-up that the first-team staff would be watching this match closely. I wanted to do even better.
The pressure still weighed on me from time to time, but now I had a motivation strong enough to overcome it. I had tasted women’s attention. There was no way I was going to waste this opportunity just because of some pressure or fear.
“Alright, everyone! Get into your positions!”
There were eighteen players left. We started a 9v9 mini-game. That was more than enough to practice our tactics and chemistry.
“Ben, isn’t training over?”
“The regular session is finished.”
Javier, the manager of Espanyol’s reserve team, asked Ben, the U-18 coach. The two were close friends.
“Regular training is over, but they’re still training on their own.”
“They didn’t used to do this. It started when they all rallied around Lee.”
“So the kid has leadership too.”
“It’s leadership, but a little different.”
“Different how?”
“The youngest player’s pure heart and his violent talent are stimulating the other players.”
“…That could turn into jealousy.”
Ben nodded.
“It was like that at first.”
But now…
“In front of a talent so overwhelming that they can’t even feel jealousy or envy, what can they do? They can only work harder. Look, even that genius is training like this.”
Javier nodded slowly.
“If he plays well against Real Madrid this time, should we bring him up to the reserve team?”
Javier thought for a moment before answering.
“Do we even need to go through us?”
“…What do you mean?”
“The first team has their eyes on Lee.”