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My heart was pounding like crazy, and my face was so hot it felt like it would burst.
Wow, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment.
To think I had to do ‘that ceremony’ in front of so many spectators.
With everyone staring at me like that, just walking up there was embarrassing enough, but having to do a ceremony on top of it made me want to hide in a mouse hole.
But… I felt like Jiwoo would scold me if I didn’t do it.
So I just squeezed my eyes shut and got it over with.
Embarrassment only lasts a moment, but Jiwoo’s nagging lasts a whole week…!
“Hoo—”
Anyway.
Back on the field, waiting for the match to resume, I suddenly wondered what was even going on.
A match in front of that many spectators.
When I went over earlier and looked closely, most of them were kids my age who looked vaguely familiar, so I wondered if they were school friends.
Guess their promise to cheer for us wasn’t just empty words.
I can’t believe they actually came all the way to the stadium.
Well, anyway.
I was a bit flustered at first, but once I got into the match, I didn’t particularly feel any pressure just because there was a crowd.
If anything… it felt like I had more energy?
I’ve really changed a lot.
“Beep—!”
Anyway, now is the time to focus on the match.
We scored the opening goal within ten minutes and the mood was high, but the real challenge starts now.
“Push up!”
“Stick to them! Don’t dodge!”
After the match resumed.
Looking around the field, I could feel the atmosphere was unusual. How should I put it—the expressions on the opposing kids had completely changed. It was almost like fire was about to shoot from their eyes.
In that moment, I was reminded that today’s match wasn’t just any match, but a rivalry derby.
Even someone like me, who had no particular feelings about it, couldn’t help but feel that I shouldn’t back down easily after seeing those gazes.
Giving up the momentum here would be worse than just playing to a 0-0 draw. That’s because the side that equalizes inevitably gains more momentum.
So now is the time to confront them head-on.
“Don’t get pushed back!”
“Coming from behind! Watch out!”
“Take ’em on!”
Sharp shouts and rough words flew past my ears like bullets from all directions.
The opponent seemed desperate to equalize as quickly as possible, and as a result, they started playing rough.
Smack—!
“Ugh!”
There were guys who approached late and bumped into me after the pass had already gone, then turned away.
“Kuh!”
And even guys who went for the player before the ball during aerial duels.
“Ref—!!”
“He used his elbow! Elbow!”
Our kids appealed because they couldn’t stand it anymore, but today’s referee seemed to be very lenient. He just turned away as if this much was no problem.
Is it because the kids here develop faster? It’s my understanding that youth matches are usually very strict about rough play.
Anyway, if the referee says so, it is what it is. Quickly grasping the referee’s tendencies and adjusting your play accordingly is quite an important part of the game too.
The more it happens, the calmer I need to be.
Because nothing makes an angry opponent angrier than staying calm.
“Stay calm! Don’t get dragged in!”
At the captain’s shout, who was thinking the same thing, I nodded and focused on my surroundings.
Narrowly: my front, back, left, and right.
Broadly: quickly scanning the opponent’s territory to find weak spots.
The opponent was pushing their line up and applying strong pressure from the front. In the process, they were engaging in quite rough physical battles, preventing us from easily turning forward.
The problem is, it’s working.
I could see the kids gradually becoming more passive.
For example,
“Take it slow!”
Even though the pressure was late, they’d play a back pass without checking if someone was rushing from behind.
“Don’t drop too deep!”
Or the keeper having to handle the ball more often because of frequent back passes.
Overall, we were constantly being pushed back.
“…”
What do we need at a time like this?
Two things come to mind.
One is responding with rough play ourselves. If we come out even more aggressively, the opponent will inevitably flinch.
But this is a bit difficult for me to do.
Partly because I’m on the lighter side physically, but more because I don’t want to do that by nature.
No matter how big a derby it is, I don’t want to get into an emotional fight with kids I just met today.
We’re playing soccer for the future, not fighting just for today.
This is absolutely not me rationalizing because I’m scared.
Anyway.
Then there’s only one other way: somehow turning with the ball when I receive it.
If we retreat because we’re scared of their rough charges, the opponent will only get rougher.
I know this very well.
When someone bullies me, if I show fear, the opponent becomes even more vicious from that point on. Whether it’s a person or something else, it’s the same. In the end, you have to face it head-on.
The fact that they’re preventing us from turning means, in other words, that they fear us turning and quickly launching an attack the most.
To win the match, we have to do what the opponent fears.
Fortunately, this was something I could do.
“Here!”
I shouted for the ball while dropping down below the halfway line along the left half-space.
For a moment, our defender who had the ball looked at me, and I could see him hesitate.
Probably because of the guy quickly closing in behind me.
“Give it!!”
But I shouted strongly once more, and only then did the pass come my way.
Tat-tat-tat—!
I could feel the momentum of the guy rushing at me from behind. If I stood still to receive the ball, I’d get slammed into.
So instead of waiting for the ball, I sprinted forward.
And after trapping the ball with the sole of my foot to stop it,
Tat-tat—!
I quickly turned to face the guy head-on.
The guy didn’t stop and kept charging.
Rather than focusing on him, I checked the positions of my teammates visible behind him and calculated my next play.
Because getting past a defender rushing in emotionally like this wasn’t that difficult.
Ta-at—!
The guy stuck his foot out toward the ball.
An extremely obvious tackle.
Thanks to that, avoiding it was easy.
Whoosh—
I scraped the ball with my sole to evade the tackle,
Tat-tat-tat—!
Then kicked it diagonally with my opposite foot to get away.
And after quickly dribbling away and putting distance between us,
Ba-a-ang—!
I threaded a forward pass and ran.
Enzo, the center forward, had already started running toward the box the moment he sensed a counterattack, and Bruno, the left winger, was moving centrally to cover my position.
My pass was directed at Bruno, and I started running toward the left, which had been Bruno’s position.
Tat-tat-tat—!
While I ran, Bruno held onto the ball in the center. He turned his head left and right, looking for someone to pass to.
To help Bruno make a quick decision, I ran as fast as I could down the left touchline.
And when my speed reached its peak,
Ba-a-ang—!
Bruno threaded a through pass.
The direction was ahead of me on the left.
The ball started rolling toward the open space, and now a footrace began between me and the opposing fullback.
Tat-tat-tat—!
Truthfully, my top speed isn’t that fast. My quick agility is decent, but you could say I lack explosive power for running long distances at high speed.
But running alongside the defender, I could feel that this guy wasn’t particularly fast either.
Maybe that’s why.
He didn’t seem to want a fair race.
Thud—!
I felt an impact on my shoulder.
He had bumped into me.
He hadn’t pushed me that hard.
But I was sprinting at full speed.
Vulnerable to force from the side, I staggered for a moment and my vision started tilting.
Falling…
“Don’t—!”
“Run—!!”
…I can’t.
The voices coming from the stands snapped me back to my senses, and I quickly regained my balance.
I don’t want to show a wobbly appearance.
Even if it’s true.
Tat-tat-tat—!
I gritted my teeth and ran, shoulder to shoulder with him again.
When I caught up, I could feel him glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. As if to drop me for good this time, he hunched his shoulder.
He was going to bump into me harder.
The moment I sensed that, I stomped hard on the ground and slowed down.
Tat-tat—!
Is this what they mean by softness overcoming strength?
The guy who threw a shoulder charge at empty air staggered, and I gently pushed him aside before running again.
Now the obstacle was gone.
I glanced into the box and rushed toward the unclaimed ball,
Booooom—!
And sent in a low cross right away.
A cross aimed at the space between the keeper and the defenders. Enzo rushed toward that cross.
Just like in training.
Shaaa—
Enzo slid and stretched out his foot,
Ba-a-ang—!
And as Enzo and my cross met at one point,
Swish—!!
The net rippled.
“Yeeeaaah!”
“Nice—!!”
The kids, including Enzo who scored, shouted in joy and ran toward me.
D-don’t run at me so excitedly, it’s scar—
“Ugh!”
“Nice pass—!!”
“Great turn!”
“Great counter!!”
The kids swarming me in an instant took my breath away. Multiple hands ruffled my head wildly.
I felt like a puppy surrounded by children.
After being petted like that for a while, this time I was pulled in front of the stands with my arms around their shoulders.
“Yeeeaaah—!”
“Forza—!!”
The kids shouted toward the stands.
I was squeezed in between them, looking at the cheering spectators. They all looked happier than us.
“…”
Watching that, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Those people cheer for us, and they gain joy when we do well. In other words, I can make them happy.
But… what I feel is the opposite.
Watching people happy because of us, I feel like I gain more strength instead.
This feeling was quite nice.
I felt proud too.
Being cheered for is truly something to be grateful for.
I hope I can continue to repay that gratitude like this.
Especially to the person I’m most grateful to…
Hmm?
What’s with that smug smile?
…
“Feeling good?”
“Huh?”
“I said, are you feeling good?”
“…What?”
I looked at Jiwoo as if asking what that sudden question was about.
But instead of answering, Jiwoo made a sullen expression.
“Ah, you mean because we won? Of course I’m happy.”
After thinking for a moment, I answered brightly, and this time Jiwoo let out a sigh.
…Why is she like this?
After a moment, Jiwoo spoke.
“Our Jian, you’re quite popular, huh?”
“Huh?”
“It was total chaos. Every time you touched the ball, the girls were all screaming, you know?”
“…No way.”
“It’s true. They said you’re so cute. Like an idol. Hearts were practically shooting out of their eyes, seriously.”
“…Really?”
The girls said that?
For a moment, the corners of my mouth started to rise without me realizing, but Jiwoo glared at me sharply, so I quickly pulled them down.
I didn’t know why, but I felt like something bad would happen if I smiled.
“Ugh, so you like it. I saw earlier, trying to look cool doing that ceremony and all?”
“No, that was…”
“That was what?”
“I wasn’t trying to look cool. I did it for you.”
“…What.”
This time, I looked at Jiwoo.
Then Jiwoo turned her head to the other side…
“If it’s funny, just laugh. Don’t let your cheek muscles twitch.”
“You wanna die? Are you crazy? Have you lost it? Feeling alive?”
Jiwoo suddenly started hitting me thump thump.
Ah, it hurts.
It had been a while since I got hit, but her old touch was exactly the same. But somehow, even while getting hit like that, I felt like laughing, so I laughed. Then Jiwoo burst out laughing too.
“Argh, seriously, Lee Jian. You’re so annoying.”
Walking along laughing without even knowing why, I suddenly felt something odd and asked Jiwoo.
“But are you angry because of that?”
“Because of what?”
“No, that… that the girls were cheering for me.”
“So? Why would I be angry about that? Why would I?”
Jiwoo expressed disbelief as if dumbfounded.
“Well… yeah. You have no reason to be angry.”
“Right. Of course not.”
“Anyway, I’m glad.”
“About what?”
“The kids cheering for me. I’m happy about it. Especially…”
“Especially what, what? Are you happy? You like it?”
“Ah, why are you hitting me again?”
“Wipe that grin off your face and focus on soccer, okay?”
Ah, I got it, so stop hitting me.
Sorry. I’m sorry.
This time it actually hurt, so I apologized quickly.
But wait, what did I do wrong?
Sigh… This is hard, so hard…
…
Sunday, after the match against Bologna.
Since today was Monday and we only had recovery training, I came home early.
Dad… isn’t here.
Did he go out?
Hmm.
I sat on the sofa for a moment, thinking about what to do today.
“Oh, Dad?”
“Oh, yeah. You’re up?”
The front door opened and Dad came in.
“I thought you went to work?”
“No. No work today. I went to the bank.”
“The bank?”
“Yeah. I made a bankbook and a card.”
What bankbook and card?
As I tilted my head, Dad spoke in a cheerful voice.
“Your weekly salary bankbook. It got deposited the day before yesterday. But the amount is quite substantial now, so it didn’t feel right for me to hold onto all of it. It’s your money, so you should manage it.”
“…Ah.”
Saying that, Dad fumbled in his inner pocket and took out a real bankbook and card, handing them to me.
“Manage it well from now on. You need to learn to handle money on your own too.”
“Ah… yes.”
I took the card somewhat dazedly.
Uh……
What should I do first?
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