00018 Drawing Attention ------------------------------------------------------------------------=
After dinner,
While Gyeongsuk had gone to cut fruit, Daniel carefully broached the dilemma he had been agonizing over alone to Minjun.
"Minjun. What do you think about Bayern Munich? No, before that, can you tell me which clubs in the Bundesliga you like?"
"Huh? What do you mean, all of a sudden?"
"Nothing, I'm just curious. All our conversations about soccer have only been about your training. I mean that we should broaden the scope a bit now."
At Daniel's additional explanation, Minjun finally showed signs of nodding, then made a slightly thoughtful expression and answered.
"Actually…."
"Actually?"
"Honestly, I don't really know."
At Minjun's admission that he didn't know, Daniel fell silent, thinking 'As expected,' but without showing his emotions, he posed a counter-question so that Minjun's next words could come out.
"Why? You must have a favorite team, a team you're interested in, don't you?"
"Hmm… If I had to name a favorite team, Frankfurt is the best right now. I have friends there, and the manager, the coaches, the staff… They all make it possible for me to play soccer happily."
"Hmm, is that so?"
"Yes. But honestly, I don't know much about football clubs. I know the team names and whatnot, but I don't have enough knowledge to talk about how this team is like this or that team is like that. I was busy learning German and English, and keeping up with school lessons… and practicing what I learned at football class again… I didn't have time, so I'm embarrassed to say, but I was just listening to people talk here and there and going 'Ah, I see~'."
Watching Minjun scratch his head as if awkward, Daniel clearly realized what that 'something missing' was that he had occasionally felt while talking with Minjun.
Minjun's dream is to be a soccer player.
But he had never revealed specifically at which club he wanted to play and how he wanted to live out his football.
Simply put, his dream was to be a soccer player, and because of Daniel, he had come to Frankfurt to learn football and was active as a youth player—nothing more.
Just as deep emotional bonds form in Korea, here too, while learning about soccer, getting to know the place, and forming relationships, he merely held favorable feelings—positive sentiment—toward Frankfurt, which fell short of being called true affection.
And he reproached himself for his own foolishness in noticing this so late.
Despite knowing how reserved and thoughtful Minjun was, he had failed to properly look into this aspect.
Because Minjun was mature, Daniel had let him make many choices when decisions needed to be made, and this situation had resulted from that.
'I have no face to show my nephew and his wife.'
Shaking his head, Daniel let out a small sigh and spoke to Minjun.
"Have you ever thought about playing as what kind of player for what kind of team?"
"Uh… I have. Like, it'd be nice to play for Frankfurt. Something like that? Wanting to play alongside Ralf Weber sometime?"
It wasn't to the extent of calling him an idol, but since he had thought about wanting to play with him at least once, Minjun spoke of this lightly, and a shadow of gravity settled over Daniel's face.
"Hmm… What made you think that?"
"Hmm… I didn't really think about it deeply. In the match against Fortuna, there was a dramatic comeback goal, and after watching that game, the kids and I thought that way. It was an electrifying match no matter how many times you watched it."
"Then what other electrifying matches were there? Even if they weren't Frankfurt matches, I mean."
With this condition added, Minjun thought very deeply this time before beginning to talk fluently.
"The match between Dortmund and Bayern Munich was the most fun. Leverkusen going against Hannover was also krrr~ great. The match against Kaiserslautern was incredibly fun too. I was amazed because Ballack played so well. The kids all said he completely dominated the midfield—whew, krrr."
Watching Minjun mention various teams and various players, Daniel could once again sense that Minjun simply liked soccer and had come to Germany to become a soccer player, but had little interest in which team he debuted for and in what manner.
Simply put, because he was in Frankfurt now, he was thinking about becoming a Frankfurt player.
Of course, for the current Minjun to debut as a pro, it would take several more years at the very least, and if he stayed at Frankfurt during that time, he might develop genuine affection for the team.
But there was a doubt: was that really because of Minjun's own emotions?
The thought that perhaps Minjun had become that way because Daniel himself and everyone around him had been singing Frankfurt's praises.
Since the question of what would have happened if Minjun had visited the place he originally intended to take a trial for also existed, Daniel spoke very seriously.
"Minjun. I hope you take these words very seriously."
"Huh? What words?"
"Your dream is to be a soccer player. But I don't think you've ever thought about at which club you'd like to be that soccer player. Frankfurt is a good club, but it has its limits. The more your talent blossoms, the smaller this place will inevitably become."
"......."
Since it was the first time Daniel had spoken negatively about Frankfurt to him, Minjun listened to those words very quietly and chewed them over. To understand what Daniel was trying to say.
"There are countless soccer clubs in Germany. So think about where and how you'd like to play. It doesn't even have to be Germany—any league is fine."
"Hmm… I understand. Now that I hear it, I think you're right. I've never seriously thought about belonging to a certain team and playing for them. Honestly, I just thought of it like school lessons—learning and playing soccer together."
At this answer from Minjun, Daniel smiled in deep satisfaction, and seeing Daniel like this, Minjun felt that he was truly looking out for him, which made him happy.
And he recalled Bayern Munich, which Daniel had first mentioned.
'Could I really play soccer in a place crowded with such superstars?'
It would be nice to receive some kind of guidance…
But honestly, if he tried to squeeze in between those superstars and run onto the pitch, he felt no small amount of helplessness.
He still had so much growing to do, while they were already near the very top.
Because of today's conversation, Minjun changed his future goal from 'wanting to become a soccer player' to 'what kind of player he would become at what kind of club,' and while continuously thinking about the 'what kind,' he poured more effort into soccer than before.
Thinking of his future goal, he carried the thought that his competitiveness was still lacking.
* * *
After having a fairly serious conversation with Daniel,
Minjun grew from a boy who merely liked soccer into a proper soccer player who pictured his own future.
He realized that while loyalty and relationships with teammates and the team were important, he needed to make cold, calculated judgments for his own development.
Perhaps because of that, when he occasionally talked with his friends about such topics, he realized he was quite different from them.
His friends were born in Frankfurt, Germany, grew up as long-time fans of Frankfurt following their parents, nurtured their dreams of becoming soccer players while watching Frankfurt, and wanted to become players here.
But he was different.
Talking with his friends, he could understand what Daniel had been trying to tell him, and he felt truly grateful to Daniel.
He didn't know Korean soccer well, nor German soccer.
It was only thanks to a special friend that he had become good at soccer, which had once been vague, and that becoming a soccer player had become his dream. In other words, he hadn't played soccer admiring any particular team or player; he only had respect for outstanding individuals, and becoming a soccer player blindly because of his promise and goal had been no different from living a mechanical life.
Having thus come to perfectly realize this about himself, Minjun spent one, then two more years in Frankfurt, and when talk of the B League came up… he had to make an important decision.
Even now, after two years had passed, Frankfurt had no players capable of tutoring him, and he felt that the time had come when he could no longer postpone his decision.
---------------------------= Author's Afterword ---------------------------=
Munich...
It's nice.
My friend is playing the soccer game as Munich..
Gives you the chills, right?
I'm just lazing around with Hannover... and Leverkusen for my debut.