It’s normal to get angry when you’re left speechless.
But when it goes past a certain point, it seems you can’t even get angry.
No, maybe she’s so furious that she’s like that.
“···”
Head hung low with a sulky expression, Jiu nibbled at her food.
That girl, who was usually so talkative, was sitting there without a word.
It was a prank I’d pulled expecting her to get angry and ask what nonsense I was spouting.
But since it wasn’t the reaction I’d expected, I was even more flustered.
She should just get angry.
Her sitting there quietly is scarier.
This must be why they say you shouldn’t do things you don’t usually do.
I should’ve just taken it quietly like I always do.
I tried to one-up her for no reason, doing something I never do, and only made things awkward.
“···”
Because it’s so awkward, I can barely swallow my food.
If Dad were here, it would’ve been fine, but he went out for a bit.
Anyway, I should wolf it down quickly and get up.
It was right when I was shoving food into my mouth with that thought—
“···Hey.”
“···Y-Yeah?”
Startled by Jiu’s voice breaking the silence, I answered without thinking, hunching my shoulders.
I couldn’t bring myself to raise my head, so I only lifted my eyes to glance at her, and Jiu spoke, still staring down at her bowl.
“···It was hot.”
“Huh···?”
“I said it was hot. You know too. How hard the fans cheered.”
It was a bit out of nowhere, so I didn’t really get what she was saying, but I nodded for now.
Then Jiu nodded too and continued.
“Right. I-It was really hot. I cheered hard too. So I was in a super hot state, and my body was giving off heat. So what happens?”
“···”
“S-So of course your face turns red. It’s obvious, right? It’s only natural for your face to turn red when it’s hot. That’s just how our bodies are structured.”
···Is it still hot?
Jiu was rambling incoherently, which wasn’t like her, and her face was bright red like a tomato again.
I guess she really was utterly speechless.
Seeing her explain something so obvious with that heated, stammering demeanor...
Jiu suddenly raised her head and pointed the fork in her hand at me.
“Th-That’s right, isn’t it?”
“···What is?”
“If you get immersed in the game and cheer, you get hot, right?”
···I nodded.
Then Jiu nodded vigorously too.
“And when you get hot, your face turns red. This too. Right?”
I nodded again.
Jiu nodded even harder.
Then she bit her lip and spoke.
“Th-That’s enough now. So don’t get any weird ideas on your own, okay? I··· Ah, no. Anyway, got it?”
“···”
“···Why aren’t you answering? I said, got it?”
···Of course I get it.
It’s so obvious that I’m rather flustered.
In the first place, I’d only pinned a ridiculous false accusation on her about being shy and her face turning red just to tease her.
Her explaining it so seriously, as if defending herself, makes it feel even weirder.
“Got it?”
“Y-Yeah, I got it···”
“You got it, so what?”
“No, it was obviously a joke··· You didn’t have to explain it so seriously···”
“···Huh?”
Did I say it too seriously?
Now it was my turn to explain myself.
“So, I was talking nonsense to get a rise out of you··· Did you really think I meant it···”
My face starts burning again; this is a pretty miserable feeling.
Having to explain why my joke was a joke and what reaction I was trying to get.
A joke that needs an explanation is a failed joke, isn’t it?
They say you only know how to eat meat after you’ve eaten it before.
I guess you only know how to pull a prank after you’ve done it before.
“In the first place, there’s no way you’d be like that···”
As I explained that it was a joke with such a wretched heart, Jiu looked at me with wide eyes.
Then··· soon.
“···Ah.”
Her face starts turning red again.
Then after a moment.
She suddenly bursts out laughing, and though for some reason that smile feels a bit unnatural, Jiu pointed at me and laughed.
“H-Haha! H-Hey. Did you really think I didn’t know that, you idiot? I-I was joking too!”
“···A joke?”
“Yeah, a joke! Puhaha! Look at your face. I was deliberately keeping a straight face, you idiot.”
“···Ah.”
Was that it?
“Hey, then did you really think I was, what, flustered or something?”
“···”
“Oh, please. Did you think you could get one over on me? Cute, so cute. You’re no match for me. Got it? So don’t get cocky.”
···So annoying.
In the end, I’m the only one who ended up looking like a weirdo.
Well, I did think something was off.
I tried to tease her for no reason and ended up getting teased twice as hard.
“Totally fell for it, didn’t you? I acted all flustered and kept a straight face, so you were groaning about how to explain it, weren’t you?”
“···Shut up.”
“Ah, delicious. So tasty. This is why I can’t stop teasing you.”
“···”
Hmm.
It might be three times as bad, not two.
Why am I so dense?
Leaving Jiu giggling loudly behind me, I hung my head low and shoved food down my throat.
Then suddenly.
I attempt one final, timid act of resistance.
“···Hey. Then why were you wearing a scarf?”
“Huh? A scarf?”
“Earlier. You said it was hot, but you had your scarf and everything on.”
Of course it won’t work.
“Because I wanted to. Why, do you want me to be blushing because of you? Don’t tell me you’re imagining that every girl gets shy just standing in front of you?”
“···Not at all.”
“Busted. You do, don’t you? You imagine stuff like that before bed, don’t you? Scoring a cool goal in a match, female fans gazing at you with hearts in their eyes, and you acting cool in front of them. Right? Huh?”
Stop···
“Or maybe···”
Please, stop······.
...
“It’s been flipped. As of yesterday.”
“What?”
“I Jian and Bellingham. Their estimated market values. Until yesterday, Bellingham was on top, but after yesterday’s match was reflected, it flipped in a single day. Look.”
The office of Paolo Rossini, Fiorentina’s Football Director.
When a junior subordinate pushed his laptop screen forward, Director Paolo scrunched up his face, perching his glasses on his forehead.
On the screen was a table of player market values from around the world provided by a site called ‘Transfermarkt.’
The search criteria were players under 20 playing in Europe’s top four leagues.
By that standard, the one ranked first until yesterday had been Jude Bellingham of England.
At 19 years old and playing for Dortmund, Bellingham was the most closely watched prospect.
Excellent physicality and a mature skill set unbefitting his young age.
The player called Bellingham was already receiving advances from every big club—Real Madrid, Liverpool, Man City, and more—alongside evaluations that he was already a finished product.
It was only natural that his estimated market value was so high as to create a tremendous gap even with the other players in the same Top 10.
But that stronghold had been broken as of yesterday.
The one who had surpassed Jude Bellingham, who boasted an estimated market value of over 200 million euros, to claim the top spot was I Jian.
“Take that, Bellingham! Ah, I kept wondering when we’d overtake him, and we finally did it. Haha!”
“You’re so flippant. You’re too loud, brat.”
The Fiorentina emblem plastered at the very top of the search results.
Unable to hide his pride while drunk on the buzz, the subordinate was chided by Director Paolo, clicking his tongue.
“You brat. You’re working for a pro team’s front office, yet you’re sitting there staring at some site with questionable credibility? Pathetic.”
“But everyone looks at this these days.”
“You ought to be out there moving your legs to get living, breathing information. Just staring at a computer, click, click. Kids these days···”
“No, old man. So are you denying that Jian is now standing above Bellingham?”
At the words of the green, young subordinate who didn’t shrink back even after being scolded, Director Paolo sighed and wiped his face with his hand.
Marco, whom he’d had with him when he was a director in the youth team, was unrivaled in insolence himself.
For some reason, it felt like only guys with even looser screws were joining the team lately.
If it had been just ten years ago, he’d have kicked their butts then and there.
Now he’d become nothing but an old man in the back room.
Feeling the relentlessness of time, Director Paolo took his hand from his face and spoke.
“I’m not denying it, you brat. I’m asking if it’s something to make such a fuss about.”
“Isn’t it? It’s essentially official recognition that he’s the greatest talent in the world.”
“You work in the scouting team··· Ugh. Let’s not even talk. I knew it would turn out like this from the start, so what’s there to fuss about now?”
“Well, sure, but··· anyway, old man, you just don’t know how to enjoy things.”
“Ugh, you dimwit.”
Director Paolo looked at the grumbling subordinate with pity, clicking his tongue.
But, well, words aside.
Director Paolo was in a good mood on the inside as well.
Of course, the site called Transfermarkt or whatever was nothing more than a gossip site he checked for fun by Paolo’s standards.
But it was also true that it was the most influential among them.
The team’s treasure, whom he wouldn’t even feel pain putting in his eye, having his name at the very top couldn’t possibly feel bad.
It’s just that he’d known for a long time that it would turn out this way someday, so there was nothing surprising about it.
After all, who was he?
The one who recognized the kid’s talent in just one match and stamped the contract despite everyone’s objections that it seemed a bit excessive.
Well, anyway.
Director Paolo, who had been shaking his head, placed the glasses perched on his forehead onto the desk and smiled faintly.
Just then, the subordinate threw out a well-timed question.
“I heard from Senior Marco that you said to wait just one more year?”
“At the end of last year?”
“Yes. Even back then, several places were offering incredible amounts, but you said if we waited just one more year, it would be several times that.”
At those words, Director Paolo forced the corners of his mouth down and shrugged.
“Isn’t it obvious? You have to show him playing in the Champions League for his value to skyrocket.”
“Well, sure. But you didn’t know he’d do this well, did you?”
“You brat. Just what do you take me for? Do you think I’m just some neighborhood grandpa?”
“Well, you’re not just some neighborhood old man.”
“···”
Thinking he’d have to call up Marco, the scout in the youth team, to give him an earful soon, Director Paolo sighed and spoke.
“Yeah, well. Of course I didn’t know at the time. How would I know how the future would unfold? We are people who predict the future, not prophets. Jumping to conclusions is dangerous. Having conviction about the future isn’t scouting, it’s gambling.”
“Yeees.”
“I expected he would do well, which is why I said to wait. But if you’re asking if I was certain he’d do this well··· that wasn’t the case.”
The group stage matches against Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla, and others.
And the Round of 16, the first and second legs against Manchester City.
As if recalling I Jian’s performances in those matches, Director Paolo shuddered and let out a deep sigh once more.
That’s right.
He didn’t know.
That it would come to this.
No, honestly, who could have predicted it?
That he’d put five goals past Manchester City across two matches.
And even that wasn’t all.
Considering there weren’t many chances due to the difference in team strength, honestly, in terms of pure skill alone, he was the most noticeable player on either team.
In short, I Jian had proven himself while the whole world watched.
Proving just how large the talent he possessed was.
The result, well.
As that site certified.
He had become the hottest commodity in Europe.
“Well, you must feel full without even eating. The stock you bought at the bottom has broken unprecedented highs.”
“Even if it hadn’t been me, everyone would have seen it.”
“Come on. Anyway, we’re in trouble. I suppose that means no vacation this summer?”
“Obviously.”
Director Paolo was an extremely practical man.
He knew better than anyone just how absolute a force money was in this capital market.
Therefore, he felt the time approaching.
That’s why he was also preparing for what would be the busiest summer yet.
Phones, emails, faxes—nothing would be spared from blowing up. The dimmer ones would surely call even at dawn and cause a fuss.
But this was a crossroads he might never see again in his lifetime, so he was prepared to endure that much.
“···”
But on the other hand.
His heart felt a little conflicted.
If there was an occupational hazard for Director Paolo, it was viewing players as money.
He couldn’t remember players’ jersey numbers, but he remembered all their salaries.
You could call him a money-grubber, and you’d be right.
He worked at a so-called selling club, which had no choice but to rely on selling players as a means to make big money, so it was inevitable.
But··· for some reason.
When it came to the boy who could bring in more money than ever before··· he instead found himself thinking that money wasn’t the priority.
Even for Director Paolo, it was a strange feeling.