00013 Study Abroad ------------------------------------------------------------------------=
"Minjun, you were really great today."
"Keh… Playing soccer with Minjun is the most fun, I tell you!"
"It feels like dying when he's on the opposing team. But when he's on the same team like this—kick—he's the best."
The children who had won today's blue-white match conducted as a mini-game came to Minjun with praise for the exquisite cross he had sent up, creating a perfect scoring chance.
And at this praise, Minjun recalled the cross he had sent up today.
He had sprinted quickly up the touchline and the moment he turned his body to switch direction, he sent the cross right away—despite having enough leeway to briefly trap it and then kick—so Minjun had worried about what if it wasn't accurate.
But really, fortunately, the cross was so good that even he himself thought it was the best, and it dropped right in front of Schmidt, who had come out as a striker today, and the guy simply tapped it with his foot—tap—to make it a goal.
"Actually… that was really a coincidence. I froze in surprise after sending that cross too. I was originally going to trap it and then kick. But without thinking, I kicked it right away. Then Schmidt, you followed up and tapped it in for a goal. Keuh… You have no idea how much I admired that."
"Kik-kik, I saw Minjun diligently running, so I thought I'd get to deliciously scoop it up, which is why I ran like my life depended on it. To catch up to Minjun's speed. Whew."
At the banter between Schmidt, who spoke with a sly expression as if he had struggled, and Minjun, the children all burst into snickering laughter.
Though Schmidt had first approached Minjun out of curiosity because he had come from Korea, their relationship had now become so close that calling them best friends would be insufficient, and Schmidt threw his arm around Minjun's shoulder and spoke.
"So, to commemorate me picking up and eating the ball Minjun gave me today… I'll treat everyone to hot dogs. Hu-hu."
"Ooh! As expected of Schmidt! But you're buying drinks too, right?"
"Eu-eok, th-that! My allowance… k-eugh. Help me! Minjun!"
Schmidt looked at Minjun with desperate eyes, and Minjun let out a scoffing laugh as if he couldn't believe it, then spoke.
"I have to treat drinks too, not just getting treated after giving an assist?"
"Eu-euk! Sharp as expected. Still, help me out. Hot dogs need drinks to go with them!"
"Alright. Just treat the hot dogs. I'll buy the drinks."
At Minjun's words, Schmidt looked at the other two children with a triumphant gaze, and those children clapped for Minjun instead of Schmidt and shouted.
"As expected, a magnanimous man!"
"That's our Minjun."
"Hey! You should be clapping for me!"
To the children making blatant derisive expressions as if saying "not a chance," Schmidt made a pained expression as if a dagger had been stabbed into his chest, then soon leaned against Minjun and sulkily said.
"Give it to me when we change clothes. I'll get changed quickly and go buy them."
"Okay."
"Tch-tch, hot dogs are more expensive. Tch-tch. You could at least clap for me."
Laughing snickeringly at the sulking Schmidt who was grumbling, Minjun and his friends moved toward the locker room to change clothes.
But then…
"Minjun."
Minjun stopped in his tracks heading into the locker room upon hearing the voice of his mother, Yeonhee, and the children who had been chattering noisily also looked at the one who had called Minjun.
An East Asian woman was looking at Minjun with a bright smile, and intuitively realizing she was the mother who had come from Korea, they immediately offered polite greetings.
"Huh? Mother? How did you get here?"
"Mr. Daniel brought me here. He said Minjun should have someone watching. Dad is at home—since the house would be completely empty, so only Mom came."
"Ah… I see."
"But, are these your friends?"
As Yeonhee spoke while looking at the children around her, only then did the children hurry over to offer their greetings.
"Hello!"
"You're Minjun's mom, right! Wow! Hello."
"We're Minjun's friends."
"Minjun and I had a great performance today."
Though they had conveyed their greetings in various respective manners, Yeonhee couldn't speak German at all, and since she could only speak a little English, she sent a signal to Minjun as if asking him to do something about it.
At Yeonhee's reaction, Minjun smiled slightly and told the children that she could only understand if they spoke English, so the children repeated the same words in English. Yeonhee burst into laughter at the fact that these children, just as full of mischief as the kids from Sangbok-ri, were her son's friends.
It was because their personalities seemed quite similar to the children Minjun used to play with.
"Wow, I guess we entertained her."
"I've been told I'm pretty funny. If it weren't for soccer, I would have become a great comedian like Charlie Chaplin."
"Wow… That's really not funny. Just stick to soccer."
"Goodness. I'm suddenly embarrassed."
Watching the children chattering amongst themselves, Yeonhee was at a loss, but Minjun gently nudged her and brought up a topic.
"Did you come to pick me up today?"
"Yes. I suppose I should have come a little earlier."
"No. It's better to rest more at home. You still haven't adjusted to the time difference."
Because Yeonhee had a weak constitution, Minjun believed she had to take good care of herself no matter how much his friend had helped her, and he always told her not to overexert herself whenever they talked on the phone.
"It's fine. This much is enough now. From now on, I'll also come watch on days when Minjun trains. Is that okay?"
"Of course I like that. Today, I created the winning goal in the blue-white match with Schmidt right here. Keu… Too bad. Well, next time you come, I'll show you me scoring a cool goal. Ah! If you come when I'm assigned as a defender… that might be a bit tough. He-he."
As Minjun threw his arm around him and said something in Korean, Schmidt inferred the meaning from common words like "goal" and "Schmidt," broke into a wide smile, and simply shouted, "Okay!"
And looking at Schmidt like that, Minjun gave a snickering smile and then spoke as if he had just remembered something.
"Ah! But today Schmidt was going to treat us to hot dogs… and I was going to treat the drinks."
"Hm? Did you plan to hang out with your friends longer?"
"No. I can't hang out longer. With Mom and Dad at home, where would I go? He-het."
Though he said that, Yeonhee noticed he had seemed ready to play for another hour or two. Feeling slightly sorry for Minjun and his friends, she quickly took out her wallet, pulled out 20 euros, and pressed them into Minjun's hand as she spoke.
"Use this to buy the kids tasty hot dogs and drinks."
"Ah! This is too much money. I have allowance too, so I could buy them enough myself."
"It's fine. Mom saw Minjun's friends and wanted to buy them something."
"Um… okay."
At Yeonhee's words, Minjun didn't argue further. Since the children were looking at them wondering what the money was about, Minjun explained that he was treating them to hot dogs and drinks. The children roughly grasped the situation and cheered with a "hurrah!"
"As expected, cheering for Minjun was the right choice."
"I'm going to eat double! Give me two sausages."
"Me too! I'll take a large drink too!"
"Oh my, did my allowance just freeze up for nothing?"
They chatted noisily like this, but in the end, they conveyed words of thanks in English to Yeonhee. Seeing that Minjun had made such good friends in Germany, she smiled brightly and spoke to him.
"Then Mom will… wait with Mr. Daniel in the parking lot, so eat well and come back."
"Okay. I'll be right there too."
The children stuck close to Minjun, who had secured such a large sum, and expressing their gratitude to Yeonhee once more, they burst into cheerful laughter and entered the locker room.
And watching this Minjun, Yeonhee felt relieved at his appearance of getting along well everywhere, while also feeling a bit worried.
Though she didn't know much about soccer, the first friends Minjun had made since coming to Germany would all likely be in the current soccer league. If he moved up, there would only be older boys, not peers his own age, and it would be no different from having to make friends all over again. She wondered if that wouldn't be too heavy a burden for Minjun, who had come to study abroad.
Since it had only been a mere six months since he came to study abroad… she thought that it would be sufficient to look at the bigger picture and decide Minjun's path.
'I'll have to talk about this… as the main point.'
While it might be good to have his talent recognized and move up to a higher league quickly as a soccer player, Yeonhee was not looking at her son as a soccer player but with the heart of a mother worrying about her son who had only been studying abroad for six months, and since she would continue to do so, she hoped Minjun would continue playing soccer as happily as possible, and moved toward the parking lot.
"Clapping for Minjun was a divine move."
---------------------------= Author's Afterword ---------------------------=
Um, um… *nodding off*