Today Is No Joke -2
"Wow, congratulations!"
"Congrats, Bruno!"
"I’m jealous, bro."
"Thanks, guys."
"Then you gotta treat us now, right?"
"Of course I will. I’ll properly treat you this Friday."
We were getting ready for training, but the atmosphere was unusually rowdy today.
As soon as Bruno, our team’s starting winger, arrived, the kids crowded around to congratulate him.
Wondering what was going on, I pricked up my ears and gathered that Bruno had signed a professional contract.
"So... how much are you getting now?"
"How much did you ask for?"
The voices had been loud, but suddenly dropped to a whisper, so while feigning nonchalance, I crept closer.
Ahem. As expected, secret conversations are the most fun.
Bruno glanced around briefly and said,
"Roughly about ten times as much. They said they’ll give me around two thousand euros now."
"Wow, damn!"
"Two thousand euros a week..."
"Even if we pool two months of our wages together, it still wouldn’t be enough."
"Bruno is a god..."
Exclamations of awe burst out among the kids.
I, too, had to suppress my own exclamation.
So signing a pro contract makes your weekly wage jump tenfold.
No wonder the kids were jealous...
"Wow, it takes all ten of us combined to match one Bruno now?"
"I’m jealous... What are you going to do with your weekly pay?"
"Well, I’m thinking of buying some cleats. The new ones that just came out."
"Wow, you’re loaded!"
Cleats. It was about time I bought new cleats too. I was a bit jealous that he could buy the latest model without a second thought.
Well, it wasn’t like I was exactly strapped for cash right now. My weekly wage was about 200 euros, so I was practically earning over 200,000 won a week.
That amounted to almost 1,000,000 won a month.
I wasn’t even an adult. At this age, 1,000,000 won was enough to get by. The cost of living here was a bit steep, so it wasn’t enough to blow on whatever I wanted, though.
Still, I couldn’t help but envy Bruno.
Ten times that amount. That meant 2,000,000 won a week. 8,000,000 won a month.
The taxes and whatnot would change since the amount was bigger, but anyway, it’d be roughly around that.
Jealous. So jealous.
If, just if, I signed a pro contract like Bruno... if I earned 8,000,000 won a month, what would I do first?
First, I’d pay our apartment rent that Dad covers.
I’d cover the food expenses too. Get our half-broken washing machine fixed. Buy a bigger refrigerator.
Buy Jiu something tasty and show off a little.
...Would I still have money left after all that?
Save up for a few months and I could even buy Dad a car. Wow, thinking about it like this, it really was a jackpot.
"Bruno is a god..."
My thoughts reached that point, and I muttered without realizing. Bruno is a god... a god...
"Gather up, gather up! Let’s start training!"
I’m jealous.
I hope I get good results at my next contract renewal too. Is that too shameless a thought?
Well, for the past few months I’d done nothing but be a wage thief. I guess I’m a piece of scum for expecting anything.
"Congrats, Bruno."
"Huh? Ah, thanks. Jian, you make time this Friday too. I’ll buy you a meal."
"Ah, yeah. I’ll try to make time."
Seeing Bruno’s bright face, my mood lifted for no reason too.
*
"Good, good! Let’s go one more time!"
"Hoo, yes sir."
After catching my breath for a moment, I pushed off the ground again and dribbled the ball forward.
Soon, encountering Coach Luca, who was waiting in a low stance—
Tat-tat-!
I mixed upper-body fakes with my steps, attempting feints.
I’d flick my upper body as if going right, and move my feet as if going left.
But Coach was unmoved.
He didn’t fall for it easily. So he won’t be fooled twice, huh. I’d already used the move where I feint with my upper body and quickly break through earlier.
Then what should I try?
Just trying to sprint past him wouldn’t be enough to beat Coach. I had no choice but to deceive him and steal the timing... How about this?
Swoosh—
Shifting my weight to the right while whipping out a dummy step,
Pow-!
Using the recoil, I quickly burst in the opposite direction.
Tat-tat-tat-!
I saw Coach falter and lose his timing at my dummy step.
I got past him, this time.
"Nice, nice! With this, I can’t even move an inch?"
"Ah, haha..."
At the coach’s praise, I came back with the ball and scratched my head sheepishly.
He’s praising me too much. It’s embarrassing.
Even though he’s deliberately letting me win.
"Good, good. Shall we go again?"
"Yes sir. I’ll try."
After team training ended.
I stayed behind at the training ground to do individual training.
Thankfully, Coach Luca was watching over me personally. He stayed because I might get injured training alone, and because my training volume needed to be controlled.
Beyond simply watching, he was training alongside me like a personal trainer.
During dribbling drills like now, he’d play the defender; during shooting practice, he’d even put on gloves and play goalkeeper.
At first, I felt more burdened than grateful. I wondered if there was any need for him to stay behind and go this far just for one person like me...
Still, Coach showed not the slightest hint of annoyance, and even helped me train with more enthusiasm.
Thanks to that, I could devote myself to training with a grateful heart.
I thought I’d have to do something for him later if I got the chance.
"Now then, shall we put you through hell?"
"I’ll take it gladly."
Once skill training ended, we wrapped up with conditioning. Coach had personally designed a customized interval program for me, so all I had to do was work myself to death without thinking.
I did quick feet—tap-tap-tap—back and forth through the agility ladder; held my ground against Coach pushing me; played nonstop tag in a cramped space.
"Huff... huffff..."
It was already hot out, and the intense physical training on top of that was pure hell. After a while, there came a point where I’d just black out. My mind went completely blank.
It was agony on a level where "hard" didn’t begin to describe it—like it might actually kill a person.
It was a secret from Coach, but throughout the training, all sorts of Korean curses I’d never usually say flew out of my mouth.
"Here, drink."
"Ah... thank you..."
But even though it was so hard while doing it.
After finishing it, physical training was also what gave me the most satisfaction.
How should I put it? It gave me a sense of accomplishment, like I’d won a battle against myself. And sometimes, when pushed to the limit, maybe my mind went crazy, but I’d feel incredibly good.
More than anything, I couldn’t help but feel proud because I was certain that tomorrow’s me would be better after training like this.
If I repeated this tens, hundreds of times.
Couldn’t I become a real soccer genius someday, at least to someone?
That was what I thought.
"Ggrroah..."
"Haha."
I chugged the sports drink Coach handed me and let out a groan like an old man, and Coach Luca laughed at the sight.
After coming to my senses a bit, I sat up and bowed my head deeply to Coach.
"Thank you for today as well."
"What’s there to thank me for?"
"Because you’re training with me like this."
"Training the kids is my job. When you step up and say you’ll work hard first, I’m the one who’s grateful."
"Still, thank you. I’ll find a way to repay you later."
At my words, Coach looked at me and let out a hearty laugh.
"Repay, you say. Then play well in this weekend’s match. There’s no better repayment for a coach than that."
"Ah, this weekend’s match..."
"Well, I’m not trying to pressure you. Claim the reward you deserve, that’s all. If you’ve sweated bullets on a hot day like this, shouldn’t you do well if only to not let it go to waste?"
When I nodded, Coach nodded too.
"I’ve played professionally, so I know—there’s no such thing as coincidence on the pitch. Even, say, a goal that deflects off a defender? Is that just coincidence? No. You take hundreds of shots in training for that one shot. Nothing happens by chance."
Coach put his hand on my shoulder and continued.
"In the end, I’m telling you to believe in yourself more. Then others will recognize your worth too. Got it?"
"Yes. I understand."
"Good. Let’s get up. Go rest. Make sure to go to the massage parlor I told you about and get one."
"Yes sir."
Believe in myself more...
I stored those words deep in my heart and finished training.
I thought I’d have to run my heart out in the next match.
⋅⋅⋅
On an afternoon of clear, blazing sunlight.
At the Montebello Youth Soccer Stadium in Empoli, Tuscany.
On the pitch, Fiorentina players in white kits and Empoli players in blue kits were preparing for the match.
"Dear me... dear me... let’s see here..."
An elderly man sitting in a corner of the stands, sorting through documents, clicked his tongue and muttered.
He was Paolo Rossi, the Fiorentina youth team director. He had come today to watch the players whose contracts were due for renewal.
"Holes here too... holes there too... Money is leaking out. Leaking away."
There were so many of them. Players to sign.
The funds from above were limited, but there were countless places to spend. It was a massive headache.
Especially this time, the timing had overlapped badly. The U17 team had more members than ever. As a result, the players hoping for pro contracts had all rushed in at once.
Handling it all at once required a huge lump sum, so Director Paolo had been particularly on edge lately.
"And on top of that... what is this one now..."
The director’s irritated gaze fixed on a page in the documents. A player profile page.
Age 16, Jian.
A kid brought in from Juventus early this year... a player who hadn’t played a single match in the past few months.
Even if the weekly wages of youth contract players weren’t much, it was a profile that Director Paolo couldn’t look upon kindly.
In truth, not having played wasn’t that big a problem. He had only recently turned sixteen, so he wasn’t particularly old. It was something that could happen.
But the problem was that he had shown no development whatsoever during those months.
At first, Head Coach Tony had urged him so much to believe and wait, so he’d gone along with it. But no matter how long he waited, there was absolutely no response. Whenever asked how things were lately, Tony would only say he needed more time.
Well, there had to be visible development for them to invest money in nurturing him. A pro team wasn’t a charity, after all.
But, was it the week before last?
He finally seemed to be showing changes. Training hard, displaying the form he used to have. Head Coach Tony had been making a fuss about it.
He’d been put in a match based on his training performance and even scored there.
And last week, he’d been fielded as a starter.
He’d played 60 minutes and scored two goals, against Napoli. He hadn’t seen the match live, only on video, but there was definitely something there.
"Yes, good... this is good..."
It was welcome news. They occasionally clashed due to their positions, but Director Paolo fundamentally acknowledged Head Coach Tony’s ability.
If such a man had marked this kid, and the kid had started producing results, what wasn’t there to be happy about?
"But what’s with the fuss over just two matches..."
However, Head Coach Tony’s fuss was incomprehensible. Insisting they rush the contract just because the kid had started playing matches recently. Wasn’t he only sixteen—what was the rush?
Well... anyway.
Money was being saved to be spent where it was needed. If he was worth it, there was no reason to delay the contract. If they dragged their feet and the hyenas poached him, that would be an even bigger headache.
That was why he’d come here himself.
To see. Whether the kid was truly worth it.
Just what was so special that Head Coach Tony was making such a commotion.
"Let’s see... let’s have a look..."
Director Paolo watched the pitch with sharp, critical eyes.
On the field, the match between Fiorentina and Empoli had begun.
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