Episode 182: Repaying Kindness with Enmity -1
“Yo, what’s this?”
“···?”
“Your lunch box got even fancier? I’m jealous, so jealous. This is why you gotta marry well.”
After finishing my morning classes and arriving at the training ground, I was eating my lunch when Bonaventura, who had sat down beside me at some point, stole a glance at my lunch box and spoke up.
I have no idea what random nonsense he’s spouting starting from lunchtime.
But I couldn’t help nodding at the comment that my lunch box had gotten fancier.
Because today, in particular, the composition of the lunch box Jiu had packed for me had become abundant enough to catch the eye.
Earlier, I’d been startled the moment I opened the lid.
Just what was so fancy about it.
For something that was merely meant to fill a single meal, it felt almost like something sold at a restaurant.
No wonder.
She had been working hard making something in our kitchen until late last night.
I don’t know why her passion for cooking suddenly exploded like that, but she made me a lunch box so elaborate I felt sorry just eating it.
“Ahh, I want to eat a lunch box full of love too. She used to treat me well back in the day.”
“What kind of childish nonsense are you spouting? Ah, you’re still newlyweds, right? You’ll understand in a few years. Eating out is the best.”
“Is that so. But look at Maknae’s lunch box. If someone took care of me like that, I wouldn’t eat outside.”
“What. That’s not store-bought but homemade? Hey, Maknae. What the hell kind of gift did you buy to get a lunch box like that?”
Needless to say, Senior Saponara couldn’t be left out of the nonsense parade.
My senior looks at my lunch box with eyes wide open and asks, but I more or less ignore him and focus on shoveling rice into my mouth.
Afraid he might ask for a bite for no reason, I subtly pull the lunch box toward me and cover it with my left arm.
Since she made it after perfectly calculating the nutrients, she told me to eat every single grain without missing any.
It’s not because it was made by Jiu and I’m reluctant to give it away.
“Hey, hey. I’m not gonna steal it, man. You eat up.”
“If it’s that kind of lunch box, you must’ve bought her a luxury bag or something.”
“Newlyweds really are different. If it were me, I’d have to buy her a car at least.”
Anyway.
These two could have competed for first and second place in the Ballon d’Or with their nonsense.
Well, it had already been almost two years since Jiu started her studies abroad.
She must be learning more and more advanced cooking at school.
Thanks to that, only I, the practice subject, get to enjoy it.
By the way, I wonder if this even counts as a diet.
It tastes so good it’s like a cheat day meal you could only enjoy occasionally.
It even makes me feel a little guilty.
At this rate, the day might come soon when I have to cut weight rather than bulk up.
Anyway, while I was finishing my meal quickly thanks to that,
seniors who began filling the table one after another started talking about yesterday’s match.
“Yesterday was a shame. The kids all played well.”
“Right. If only the kids had a bit more experience, they would have won. That Roderick kid, he needs to cool his temper.”
“Didn’t they say he’s eighteen? He’s young, so it can’t be helped. Everyone’s blood boils at that age.”
“But getting to the quarterfinals with a mix of youth players, the future looks promising. Right? Starting with our maknae, the other friends will make waves soon too.”
“Is this the emergence of a golden generation? Soon there won’t be any seats left for us old fogies in the back room.”
It was a shame that the Coppa Italia journey ended in the quarterfinals,
but the seniors said that considering the result was produced not by the starters, but by the non-starters and youth players, it was rather a dazzling result.
Yesterday, I also got to see Bruno.
A friend I used to play with on the U17 team.
I was so glad to see him at the stadium.
I felt the day we’d play together in the first team wouldn’t be far off.
“Anyway, elimination is elimination. We have to focus more too.”
“We have to. We only have the league left. Wouldn’t it be too regrettable to end without lifting a single trophy?”
“It would. Absolutely, absolutely have to lift at least one.”
Anyway, since we had been eliminated from both cup competitions,
only the league remained, and I couldn’t help but nod at the talk of trying to lift the trophy in that league.
However…
“We have to lift one somehow. Because this might practically be our last chance…”
I tilted my head at the captain’s following words.
What did he mean by saying this might practically be our last chance?
Of course, it was true that we had been doing well enough to have better results than last year.
It was true that we had accumulated points so well that I wondered if we could do better even if we turned back time and started over, but…
that didn’t mean it was our last chance, did it?
“Yeah. When would we get to compete for the title like this again? Us.”
“It might not come again until I retire.”
“Let’s stake our lives on it.”
Yet it felt strange that everyone nodded as if they agreed.
Well, maybe it was just talk about working hard with that much desperation.
If so, I could understand, but…
I’m prepared to work even harder next year, and the year after that.
“Hey, so. Is it about two months away now?”
“Which one?”
“The Napoli match.”
“Yeah, it’s exactly 10 rounds away. But the schedule is tight, so there should be a little less than two months left.”
“Phew. It’s a 3-point gap, so we absolutely have to win that match.”
“Before that, let’s just think about winning this week’s match first.”
“That’s right.”
Anyway, I nod quietly.
Napoli is currently running first in the league.
We are in 2nd place, 3 points short of Napoli.
Thanks to that, losing the last head-to-head becomes even more regrettable, but the league isn’t a single-elimination match.
We face each other twice in one season.
So there’s still a chance.
If we win the next head-to-head, we gain 3 points, and Napoli can’t gain any points.
We can make our points equal.
Of course, that doesn’t mean only the match against Napoli is important.
Since Napoli is a strong team, they will steadily accumulate points in the remaining matches.
So there’s no guarantee that the point gap between us will stay at 3 points.
That gap could decrease, but future plans must always be prepared starting from the worst-case scenario.
If we assume Napoli wins every match, we must also win every match and then meet Napoli.
Seen this way, it’s truly not easy.
But winning the title couldn’t be easy from the start, so it’s only natural.
Because it’s not easy, it’s that much more valuable, and because it’s valuable, I want to obtain it.
Well, it was always like that.
From now on, I really have to approach every match with the mindset that I can’t lose.
A solemn resolve comes over me naturally, and even the motion of putting away my lunch box feels grave.
But that attempt to set the mood… was completely shattered by Romero, who appeared holding his tray one step late.
“Hey! You!”
Out of nowhere.
Romero, sitting in an empty seat nearby, shouts while pointing his finger at me.
I frown and look at him, and Romero speaks as if he’s suffered some injustice.
“Yesterday! Who was that yesterday! Huh?”
“···Could you lower your voice with the seniors all here.”
“Don’t change the subject! Who was that yesterday?”
“What are you talking about? Say it so I can understand.”
“I saw everything! I saw you watching the match with two super-class beauties yesterday! Did you think I wouldn’t know just because you wore a hat!”
“···”
…Hmm.
So it’s about yesterday.
It seems Romero came to watch the match too, and saw me.
But I don’t know what he means by two super-class beauties.
Leaving aside his middle-aged-man word choice, there was only one person worth calling super-class.
“What’s this about now?”
“Maknae watched the match with women on both sides?”
“Wow, they say the quiet ones are the scariest. Is it true?”
At Romero’s nonsense, all attention instantly focuses on me.
…Why are they all like this.
“We did watch together. But ‘sandwiched between’—what do you mean…”
“Right! I saw it all! You sat in the middle, and the beauties sat on both sides!”
“Wow, look at Maknae.”
“Look at this punk. Hey, speak before we all get disappointed. One of them was your friend, right?”
An atmosphere like being dragged to a police station and investigated out of nowhere.
When I nod, the seniors sigh as if relieved for now.
I don’t know exactly why, but it feels like I need to explain something.
“Then, who was the other one?”
“···A friend’s friend.”
“What. Then why is he making such a fuss?”
“She was super pretty! Super pretty, I tell you!”
“···So?”
“The atmosphere was weird! Honey was practically dripping from her eyes! Even from far away, a sweet, pink smell was wafting! Hey, be honest. What kind of relationship is it!”
What is he saying.
“I told you. A friend.”
“Then what about the way she looked at you! Huh? That was not just a friend!”
…I sigh and shake my head.
“Actually, we’re not friends.”
“Ah, I knew it. Then… are you two going out…?”
“What nonsense. I only saw her for the first time yesterday. She’s just a friend’s friend, and when she asked if I could watch together, I just sat next to her. So we’re not even friends.”
“B-but still! You must have at least exchanged contact info. You must have asked her to eat together later!”
“···I didn’t.”
I answer while looking at Romero with strange eyes, and Romero looks back at me with strange eyes, dumbfounded.
Why are you dumbfounded, why.
“You didn’t? You didn’t get her number?”
“Yeah.”
“Why…?”
“What do you mean why. Do you go around giving your number to just anyone?”
“···Wait. Giving it? Don’t tell me, she asked first and you didn’t give it to her?”
“···Yeah.”
“Th-this punk? A beauty like that asked for your number first, and not only that, you didn’t give it?”
When I nod, Romero suddenly clutches his stomach in agony.
Oh, come on.
If your stomach hurts, you should go to the bathroom, not the cafeteria.
“Wait. So, you met your friend and your friend’s friend together. That friend’s friend asked for your number, and you didn’t give it?”
Bonaventura, who loves to butt in, organizes the facts and asks, so I nod.
Then he strokes his chin with his hand and nods.
“Now I get it. Why your lunch box got upgraded.”
“···?”
“As expected of you. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have passed. You passed a difficult test.”
…Good grief.
When Romero and Bonaventura are together, only incomprehensible nonsense runs rampant.
What test is he even talking about.
“I’ll get up first…”
If I stay here any longer, I feel like I’ll be strangely tainted too, so I need to get up quickly.
As I get up like that, Romero suddenly grabs my hand.
“W-wait. If that’s the case…!”
“···?”
“Th-that girl. Can’t you introduce her to me?”
“···Why would I?”
“We’re friends! We’re comrades-in-arms who’ve shared blood!”
When did we ever share blood.
I shake my head and try to just leave, but a fun thought suddenly crosses my mind and I stop walking.
And I said to Romero.
“If I do.”
“···Huh?”
“If I do, what are you going to do for me?”
“I’ll do anything! Anything you ask!”
“···Really? Anything?”
What the hell is all this for.
Romero nods intensely.
Hmm.
Then…
“From now on, call me Hyung-nim.”
“T-that’s…!”
Romero puts on a very troubled expression.
“Calling my rival Hyung-nim. C-can’t it be something else…?”
“If you don’t want to, it can’t be helped.”
Well, I have nothing to lose.
Leaving the hesitating Romero behind, I turn around without hesitation, and soon an earnest voice is heard.
“Ah, okay. Hyung-nim!”
Laughter bursts out here and there.
It was funny to hear such words from Romero’s mouth, with no regard for seniority or anything.
“I’ll think about it more depending on how you act from now on.”
“Ah, okay. Hyung-nim…”
Holding back laughter at the sight of Romero prostrating himself flat, I leave the cafeteria.
Well, of course… I had absolutely no intention of doing that troublesome favor for Romero.
∙∙∙
—[League Round 20] Fiorentina 2 : 0 Udinese
—[League Round 21] Fiorentina, riding on Jian Ri’s 2 goals and 1 assist, continues its winning streak in the Derby dell’Appennino… Fiorentina 3 : 0 Bologna FC
—‘Monster’ Kim, highest rating of 8.5 in both teams… Napoli defeats Juventus 1-0
—‘Osimhen scores 14th and 15th league goals’ Napoli maintains league lead by defeating Atalanta
—[League Round 26] Fiorentina defeats Inter at home… MOTM Jian Ri maintains top spot in scoring
—League leaders Napoli, clash with 2nd place Fiorentina at home this weekend… effectively a ‘Scudetto decider’
—National teammate Kim, “Lee is a difficult opponent, but we can stop him”
—Jian Ri, “Kim is a monster… But there will be no second defeat”
—[Photo] Fiorentina squad enters Maradona Stadium! Ready for the decisive battle for the Scudetto!
—‘The Scudetto is ours’ Napoli and Fiorentina kick off today at 6 PM