Episode 207: We Are Destined to Meet Someday – 2
Near home, if you walk along the park where the streetlamps cast a lovely glow, a low hill soon comes into view.
Though it is a dark night, the streetlights and moonlight keep the darkness at bay, and the scent of lilies drifting from all around sets the heart at ease.
It is pleasant to walk without a care, following that fragrance.
“···”
Walk like that, and before you know it, you arrive at the hilltop.
It is not so very high as to be called a summit, yet it is enough to overlook the cityscape.
There are no tall buildings or mountains like in Korea, so even a hill of this height usually affords a view of the city.
“Phew.”
I sit on a suitable bench nearby and let out a sigh.
Whoever installed this bench here clearly knew what they were doing.
Once seated, the cityscape stretches out in full view—exactly as it should be.
“···.”
A cool breeze blows, and before my eyes unfolds a cityscape embroidered with orange lights here and there.
Over there, I can see a church hundreds of years old.
Over there stands a bell tower that told the city’s people the time for centuries.
And there, the Arno River flows proudly, adorning the city.
Behind them, relatively modern buildings stand in a row.
The night view of Florence is quite spectacular.
“···.”
Suddenly, I am struck by curiosity: why does a night view give such a special feeling?
Well... On one hand, I think it is special simply because it is beautiful. But on the other hand, I also wonder what this inexplicable sense of serenity, separate from beauty, could be.
Hmm... I do not know.
I suppose it is because humans ultimately can do nothing in pitch-black places.
Is that not so?
Darkness is, in essence, fear.
It is only natural to feel afraid when you cannot see ahead.
The night is frightening because it is dark, and darkness feels frightening because you cannot see ahead.
There is nothing as terrifying as being unable to see ahead.
“···.”
In the end, those lights are traces of humans who strove to overcome fear.
If the night were not frightening, people would not have tried to brighten it, and this beautiful nightscape would not exist.
Ironically, the night was able to become beautiful precisely because it was something to be feared.
“···.”
Staring at the fruits of that effort, somehow, each and every light seems to speak to me.
Just as you can see, striving to overcome fear is such a beautiful thing.
Enjoy to your heart’s content how beautiful the fruits of effort can be.
“···.”
In answer, I enjoy the night view of Florence to my heart’s content.
I take in not only the great lights but also the small ones, the lights left alone in the darkness, savoring them all without reserve.
Then, suddenly.
At the hot sensation flowing from my cheekbones down my cheeks and beneath my jaw, I wipe my face with my sleeve. ...Have I been staring at the lights too long?
Perhaps because my eyes have grown stiff, tears begin to stream down.
I wipe them away each time they flow, and wipe again, yet the tears show no sign of stopping.
Did someone leave a faucet running?
The tears that had been trickling soon begin to pour out in buckets.
“H-hic...”
For goodness’ sake.
If someone heard only the sounds, they would think I was secretly eating udon by myself.
With the tears bursting forth, my dear friend snot joins in too, making delicious slurping noises.
Why on earth is this happening?
There is no reason for me to cry like this, so why am I blubbering with tears and snot...
“...Sniff.”
I try to hold it back, but it is impossible; giving up and letting it all out calms me down a little.
Even though no one is watching, I feel pointlessly embarrassed and quickly wipe my face, sniffling and rubbing my nose.
And I look again at the city’s night view, which had blurred like a watercolor, now clear once more.
If you ask why the tears came.
I think it is because this city felt as if it were praising me, telling me I had done well all this time.
When I first came here, it was as if I had become a pitch-black night—I could not see ahead.
Every direction was darkness, and there was not a single light to brighten it even a little.
So I was afraid.
I was so frightened I could not take a single step, only crouching in place.
I could not even think of moving forward.
But then one day.
The sound of wolves howling began to be heard behind me, and I had no choice but to move forward.
I was scared, but I summoned courage and took one step at a time.
It felt as if my feet would be sucked into the darkness at any moment, but I gritted my teeth and kept stepping forward.
Then, amazingly, a single light turned on in the distance.
It was a small light, seeming to be incredibly far away at a glance, yet strangely, that light looked very bright.
Thanks to that light, I found my direction.
With that alone, courage welled up to keep walking.
Just knowing where I had to go, which direction, made the fear disappear.
As I kept walking, something amazing happened.
Feeling as if my surroundings had brightened, I turned around to see that the path I had walked was illuminated.
There were also lights walking alongside me.
Not just one or two, but a great many.
Before I knew it, I was walking with a crowd of lights.
Thus, I no longer felt fear moving forward.
However, at some point, the lights that had been with me stopped in their tracks.
And one by one, the lights went out, until soon they said they could no longer come with me.
The road to that first light, which allowed me to find my direction, was still long.
They said I now had to walk that path alone again.
The fear I had thought I no longer felt crept back in.
Without the light that walked with me, I hesitated to take another step.
But the brightest light said it would follow me.
So I could muster courage.
“···.”
And now, I am trying to take another step once more.
Though I am still not entirely free of fear, looking back left me with no choice but to go forward.
Not because wolves were chasing me like before, but because the path I had come from looked bright and beautiful.
I want to brighten the path ahead so it is as bright and beautiful as the path I came from.
And for the light that said it would stay with me, I must keep moving forward without stopping.
So someday, I must meet that light which became my guiding signpost.
Parting with the lights that guided and accompanied me is a sad thing.
I do not want to leave alone.
But I think the reason I can find the courage to leave is that it does not feel like we will be apart forever.
Somehow, it feels that way.
Parting is parting, but it does not feel like an eternal farewell.
Once I hold that light in my hand someday... I will return.
I definitely will.
How can I be sure? Because I have already experienced it once.
If it is a fated bond, even if apart for a while, we are destined to meet again someday.
“···.”
I stare blankly at the city night view for a moment longer, then soon dust off my seat and stand.
I will come back.
And then, I will return as a bright light myself.
Until then... it is only a brief farewell.
♡ 3,865,743 likes
fabrizorom ☎ HERE WE GO!: Manchester City, personal agreement completed with Jian Lee.
-As the agreement between the clubs has already been completed, the transfer appears to be finalized once he passes the medical tests.
-Therefore, the specific transfer fee and salary have not yet been disclosed, but it is clear that it will be an astronomical amount.
-Considering that Real Madrid joined the transfer war but ended up signing Jude Bellingham, his transfer fee could exceed that.
-However, compared to the transfer fee, the salary may not be that high. It is known that the personal agreement was completed much faster than the agreement between the clubs.
One day before June was nearly over.
A bombshell was posted on the social media of a soccer journalist with twenty million followers.
I Jian to Manchester City, Here we go.
It was not yet a fact disclosed to the media, but the words “here we go” coming from this journalist were a story with enough credibility to be considered practically official.
Soccer fans showed tremendous interest, and Manchester City fans cheered and flooded the comment section.
blueswe_are: We got him! The news we’ve been waiting for is finally here!
21_dsilva: I’m sure there aren’t any, but if there is anyone who doesn’t know this guy, search YouTube and watch an eighteen-minute highlight video. David Silva, De Bruyne, and Agüero will be playing in a single body.
Man_is_blue: Sorry, but it’s impossible for a Man City fan not to know. The fear I felt in last season’s Champions League Round of 16 is still etched in my bones.
Alli_tarabzr: The most reliable ally was once the most terrifying enemy.
Cityzen_for94: Let’s go! We’re one step closer to back-to-back Trebles!
James_dicario: Haaland up top. Grealish and Silva on the left and right. Rodri holding down the midfield, with De Bruyne and Lee above him. Just imagining it makes me wet.
fioneer: Landyblues♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Kimseunghoon_04: I Jian (18, Manchester City) is insane, ddd.
luben_ISAAC: We’re now a squad where winning the Champions League is just breaking even. Let’s go, Blues!
Usually, when news of a player signing breaks, various opinions are rife.
No matter how highly rated a player is, it is impossible for only good things to be said.
According to the logic of the capital market, the better the player, the more expensive they inevitably are, and so much enormous money changes hands that there is talk of a strange bubble forming in the soccer world lately.
With such an enormous amount of money at stake, people cannot help but have cold, calculating gazes.
But not a single person voiced a critical opinion.
Even if there were any, if you went into their accounts, they were fans of other teams.
Not a single comment expressing a negative opinion could be found on a Man City fan’s account.
It was only natural.
It was Manchester City that had won the club’s first Champions League title last season.
If asked to pick the biggest crisis in the journey from the qualifiers to the championship, it was not the quarterfinals against Bayern Munich, the semifinals against Real Madrid, or the final against Inter.
It was the Round of 16 against Fiorentina.
Because Manchester City, which had crushed Munich with an aggregate score of 4–1 and Real with 5–1, had earned a hard-fought, one-point victory against Fiorentina.
And the one at the center of it was I Jian.
To Man City fans, him standing opposite them in a purple jersey looked only frightening.
Even though they clearly knew they were much stronger, that number 10 on his back sometimes sent chills down their spines and even made them clutch their heads.
The very one who had pushed the dominant team to the edge of a cliff.
But to have made that player an ally—this was practically worth several times the transfer fee.
Because they had gained the most reliable ally and eliminated the most terrifying enemy at the same time.
Thanks to this, vitality circulated even in Manchester, which has a gloomy image.
Even when rain fell from the gray sky, people walked the streets smiling as they were hit by it.
It had already been quite a long time since Manchester City, backed by massive capital, became an influential club.
During that time, many star players came and went, and there had already been several blockbuster signings at astronomical prices.
Yet, a new vitality was circulating.
People who would not twitch their lips at ordinary stimuli were beaming with huge smiles.
Amidst all this.
LIA08 ROM
–MAN 12:25 At a time just past noon, a flight from Rome arrived at Manchester International Airport.
And from that plane, a black-haired boy quietly disembarked and set foot on Manchester soil.