102. Nothing Is Easy -1
“Fantastico, estroso, incredibile, pazzesco, meraviglioso, splendido······”
I perk up my ears at the sudden vocabulary test.
When I furrow my brow, reminded of class for a moment, the reporter who had been spraying spit laughs good-naturedly and apologizes.
“Sorry. They all mean the same thing, so you won’t need to memorize them. A fantastic, truly amazing comeback match. Leading Fiorentina to the finals!”
“···Thank you.”
I smile slightly and nod at the reporter speaking with a clenched fist.
I want to hurry back to the locker room and share the joy with my teammates, but today, too, I have ended up being dragged in front of the cameras.
“First of all, your physical condition was perfect. How was it? There weren’t any problems, right?”
“Yes. There weren’t. If something had been wrong, I wouldn’t have come out for the match.”
I answer as though I’ve been waiting for the reporter’s well-timed question.
“I recovered perfectly during the break, and I would like to express my gratitude to the doctor and trainer who helped me so much.”
What I was most grateful for today was my calf, which had stayed quiet until the end of the match, and the doctors who had made that possible.
It was my first time realizing that being able to run in good condition could be this enjoyable.
So I expressed my gratitude to them first.
The reporter puts on an inexplicably proud expression and continues.
“Well, it was something we could tell even without asking. Because your performance was perfect. What can I say, today··· it was like watching Messi!”
Um··· that’s a bit much.
At a name that shouldn’t be mentioned lightly, my mouth pops open before I know it.
And then they’ll go around calling me the second so-and-so, the Korean so-and-so.
Even though I didn’t say a word.
“Especially the first goal. It was such an amazing goal that it reminded one of that famous scoring scene Messi produced in El Clásico. What were you thinking at that moment? Could we hear it directly?”
The first goal.
It felt as though it was already something from the distant past, so I had to search my memory for a moment before answering.
I must have fought fiercely for those 90 minutes.
Seeing how it feels like something from the distant past already.
“If you ask what I was thinking··· I’m not sure. I just moved the way my body led me.”
“Ooh, just the way your body led you?”
I nod, then thinking this could be misunderstood again, I quickly add an explanation.
“It’s impossible to calculate and do everything.”
“So it was literally instinct. Isn’t that an answer only a genius could give?”
Hmm.
Why does it have to turn out like that.
“Then what about the second goal? That looked like perfect calculation. You knew Saponara was rushing in from behind, right?”
That··· I nod.
Then the reporter continues excitedly.
“It won’t be counted as an assist, but anyone would say that more than 90 percent of the scoring credit belongs to you. You spoon-fed it so all he had to do was put it in his mouth, didn’t you?”
···I was taught that prejudice is definitely not a good thing, but the more interviews I do, the more I feel my prejudice against reporters deepening.
Of course, since I’m the one standing in front of them, I understand their intention to say things I would want to hear··· but since I don’t actually like hearing it, their method is wrong.
It’s not in my nature to try to correct someone even when they’re wrong, but in situations like this, you have to set the record straight before moving on.
“That’s not it. Romero, who won the contest against the opponent and sent in the cross, is the one who assisted, and Saponara, who calmly finished in a difficult situation, is the scorer. I didn’t create the whole situation··· it was just team play.”
It’s not a welcome thing to have the spotlight turn to me when I didn’t even score, and didn’t even record an assist.
It’s not only embarrassing in front of my teammates··· I’m scared that later they’ll say we won thanks to me even when I’m sitting on the bench.
Being overhyped is a terrible thing.
“To think you’re such a humble genius. I think I know why everyone loves you.”
···See.
It’s terrible.
“Then finally. Say a word to the fans who spent the past month waiting only for your return. To those fans cheering like that over there.”
Ahem.
At the words “last question,” I clear my throat and answer.
“The fans may have waited for me, but I waited a great deal too. For the day I could stand here again. You don’t know how much until you’ve been absent··· how good it feels to receive this kind of support···”
It might be a bit cringeworthy, but I keep speaking from the heart.
“Throughout the match, I never felt like we would lose. Thanks to the fans’ voices. I kept thinking that if I were playing here as the away team, I would be truly terrified. We won thanks to the fans.”
That I could score, that our team could beat Milan, it’s all thanks to someone’s support.
I know that well.
“Grazie mille.”
So I was nothing but grateful.
ㆍㆍㆍ
“That over there is the kids’ room. Well, nothing special, right? We got this place in a hurry.”
“It’s much better than my house.”
“Hey, you could get a much better place if you really wanted.”
Senior Saponara makes a sly expression and rubs the back of my neck.
“Anyway, I should’ve gotten a bigger house. With two kids, it’s not easy to make space. When you get married later, make sure to get a big house.”
“···I don’t even know if I’ll get married yet.”
When I furrow my brow at the sudden remark, Senior Saponara tilts his head.
“Why? Your girlfriend doesn’t want to get married?”
“···What are you talking about?”
“What, don’t tell me you’re still insisting you’re nothing? You’ll regret it later. You have to grab her while you can.”
“···I’m going home.”
“Okay, okay.”
My face grows hot as I speak curtly, and my senior laughs heartily, kneading my shoulder.
What is it.
Why does he keep massaging me like this.
“Let’s go down. I think it’s done now—I can smell something delicious.”
“···Don’t say weird things during the meal.”
“I won’t. I won’t.”
Though I feel quite uneasy, I’m led by my senior’s hand and go down the stairs to the first floor.
This is Senior Saponara’s house, and the reason I was looking around my senior’s house, which I wasn’t particularly curious about, was that I had been invited to dinner.
It was rather sudden, but he said he really wanted to feed me at least once.
“My love! How’s it going?”
When we go down to the first floor, a delicious smell wafts through the air, and in the kitchen, the backs of two women are visible.
One of them raises her thumb, and that person is my senior’s wife, so··· what do you call it.
I don’t know.
He said her name was Andrea, so I’ll just call her Andrea.
Anyway, Andrea is cooking, and beside her, Jiu is watching over her shoulder.
For some reason, she looks extremely excited.
“Sit, sit. Today my love and I will treat you properly.”
Since dishes were being moved onto the table, I thought about helping with something, but my senior forced me into a chair, so I sat helplessly.
Soon Jiu was also dragged over and sat side by side next to me, and we began looking around somewhat awkwardly.
Because Senior Saponara··· dared to engage in embarrassing displays of affection in front of minors.
“My love, sorry for making you work hard.”
“Not at all.”
I’m too embarrassed to describe it in detail, but suffice it to know that smooching sounds were heard in succession.
···I don’t know why someone would interrupt a person quietly cooking.
Ahem.
“Here, thanks for waiting.”
Anyway, splendid plates fill the table one after another.
And in the glasses placed before me and Jiu, fruit juice considerate of minors was poured.
Then my senior fills his own glass with something else··· but no matter how you look at it, that’s wine.
In the moment I’m debating whether to tell the coach about this, the table is somehow complete and everyone sits around it.
“Now, everyone raise your glasses!”
Following my senior, who raised his glass first, I raise mine.
Then, for some reason, Jiu also raises her glass with a bright smile, and my senior spoke.
“I’ve wanted to have a meal together all this time, and now the dream has finally come true. To the treasure of our team, my benefactor, and to his love. Salute!”
The sound of glasses lightly clinking echoes.
It’s not a toast to my liking, but lacking the courage to ruin the good atmosphere, I glare at my senior and gulp down my juice.
Just try saying one more weird thing.
I’ll tell the coach that you’re drinking wine.
“Hurry up and try the food too. I guarantee it’ll be amazing. Because my love made it.”
Whether I glare at him or not, my senior recommends the food to us and makes more smooching sounds.
At that, I lower my head deeply and take a spoonful of food.
Then Jiu and I exclaim at the same time.
“It’s delicious.”
“It’s really delicious!”
Perhaps it was quite a good reaction, because Andrea said with a broad smile.
“I should have invited you sooner. Sorry.”
“Ah, no.”
“This guy talked about it so much. That he can still stay on this team all thanks to Jian.”
···What kind of talk is that.
I look at my senior, and he nods and smiles.
“You don’t know that he cried after yesterday’s match, do you?”
“···Who?”
“This guy.”
“Do you really need to say that?”
“It’s not untrue. He was bawling watching the interview yesterday. This guy.”
He cried watching the interview··· why?
Not understanding at all, I look at my senior again, and his large eyes begin to glisten.
···What kind of person is he?
Andrea shrugs her shoulders and says.
“Honestly, I teared up a bit too. From what I saw, he was yielding so that the shot would go in every time.”
Hmm.
Wondering what she meant, I realize it’s that story.
“I’m grateful enough just for that, but to be acknowledged in the interview too, it was touching. This guy cried like a child. It was so funny but made me tear up too.”
My senior makes an expression as though he might cry again at any moment and rests his head on Andrea’s shoulder.
Then Andrea caresses his face, and once again an uncomfortable scene unfolds.
···This really is uncomfortable in many ways.
I shake my head, correcting the misunderstanding out of discomfort.
“What do I mean by looking after someone. I only stated the facts.”
If anyone looked after anyone, it was my seniors who looked after me; how could I have looked after my seniors.
I’m too busy looking after myself.
“But it’s true that you created easy scoring opportunities.”
However, at Andrea’s persistence, I shake my head, certain that she has never played soccer.
“If it looked easy, that’s not thanks to me, but thanks to my senior training hard.”
It might look easy from afar, but up close, nothing is easy.
Even a 1-on-1 situation with the goalkeeper is like that.
“It was difficult. The fact that something difficult looked easy means that much effort was put in.”
For players to score easily in that situation, it’s because they trained until it looked easy.
I only said something obvious, but···
“My love···!”
“Who are you talking about? Me, or Jian?”
“Bo··· both···”
Senior Saponara nestles into Andrea’s embrace again, beginning to sob as though he might cry at any moment···
And I felt uncomfortable again.
Jiu, giggling quietly beside me, was getting on my nerves.