That’s Not Me -2
“Yes, and with this, Sampdoria has fallen into the quagmire of consecutive defeats, while Fiorentina continues their winning streak, completely riding the momentum……”
The caster’s voice drifts from the television boasting crisp picture quality.
It was a TV bought not long ago.
And in front of it…
“Hoo, ha…”
“Ugehehe…”
Gim Jiu and I Wonhun lay sprawled out like slime.
“Why are *we* the ones more exhausted……”
“That’s what I’m saying……”
The two had been watching I Jian’s match on TV, yet the moment the game ended, both were completely drained.
Watching Jian’s matches had never been easy, but today was harder than usual.
Because the match had been so brutal.
“Wow, that was seriously terrifying……”
“Right? Those unruly bastards were fighting like they were going to die…… ugh.”
It had definitely been a match they could watch comfortably up until the first half.
But after Jian went in, the genre switched from soccer to thriller.
The players on both teams fought so fiercely.
The two had watched the entire forty-five minutes with their hearts in their mouths, terrified that Jian might get caught up in it.
“Why does it have to get so brutal the moment Jian steps in?”
“Exactly. Did these punks think our son looked easy?”
“Well, it’s not exactly wrong, but……”
When Jian really did get fouled the instant he touched the ball, their hearts sank. They thought he was hurt.
As a result, an innocent sofa cushion took a severe beating—at the hands of Gim Jiu’s soft, cottony fists.
“Anyway, thank goodness. It ended well.”
“Right. Hoooo……”
Anyway, they were relieved nothing happened.
He hadn’t been hurt, and they had won the match.
It was while Gim Jiu and I Wonhun were finally catching their breath.
“Now let’s meet today’s man of the match. Fiorentina’s number 20, Jian I!”
“Huh? Huh? It’s Jian!”
“Uh—huh?”
At the sound coming from the TV, Gim Jiu shouted in a half-hoarse voice.
At that, I Wonhun, who had been slumped over, also straightened up and fixed his gaze on the TV.
“A…… hello.”
It really was Jian.
Jian filled the entire screen.
What’s he doing? An interview?
They weren’t sure of the details, but at the sight of his welcomed face, Gim Jiu and I Wonhun both opened their eyes wide and smiled broadly at the same time.
But…… soon both tilted their heads.
Before long, their expressions turned worried.
“Why…… why does his face look like that?”
“Is he sick somewhere?”
Jian’s face was strange.
How to put it…… a face like he had seen a ghost.
His face was deathly pale and his pupils were unfocused.
Why…… is he like that?
In any case, the interview continued.
“Congratulations on today’s victory. First, if you could share a brief word of your thoughts?”
“Uh…… yes. It’s good. Because we won.”
“Shall we talk about the match? It was a rather early substitution—right at the start of the second half. When you entered the pitch, were there any specific instructions given to you?”
“Ah, um…… tha……”
“You can answer slowly.”
“……Yes. I think I was instructed to attack aggressively. The half-spaces. So I tried. To do that. As much as possible.”
“‘Attack the half-spaces aggressively.’ That worked perfectly around the ten-minute mark of the second half, didn’t it? After showing a wonderful escape from pressure in the left half-space, you created a perfect chance for Vlahovic.”
“Ah, that…… was it somewhat okay?”
“Excuse me? Haha! I think it was a very good play.”
“Thank you……!”
Watching Jian stumble over his words and ramble, yet still answer diligently, smiles spread across Gim Jiu and I Wonhun’s lips.
“He must be really nervous. Look at him rambling.”
“Why is he like that. So cute.”
As they watched the interview, they thought they understood why his face had been so pale.
He must have been extremely nervous in front of the camera.
He was usually on the quieter side, but he wasn’t one to ramble.
The way that boy who was so composed on the soccer field was flustered in front of the camera was inevitably funny.
But that didn’t mean he looked ridiculous.
After all, it was amazing in itself that he was doing an interview alone without an interpreter.
Though he stumbled a bit, the sight of Jian doing his best to continue the interview was admirable and, in a way, cute.
Cool.
“Very good. Now then, moving on to the next question……”
Anyway, the interview flowed relatively smoothly. The atmosphere was amicable, and Jian, who had been frozen solid, seemed to be getting used to it as his complexion gradually returned. His answers were becoming calmer as well.
But that was the moment the interviewer brought up the opening of the next question.
“Now then, I’d like to ask some questions outside of the match as well. I understand that Fiorentina fans already have high expectations for you.”
As he listened, I Wonhun’s brows began to furrow slightly.
“Naturally. A sixteen-year-old player debuted with the first team, scored a debut goal in his debut match, and put on a good performance in today’s match as well. The reaction that a real genius has appeared is tremendous. It’s not strange. All of Florence must be watching you.”
The interviewer hadn’t brought up anything strange.
Rather, it was high praise.
But the more he heard it, the more I Wonhun’s face hardened.
That kind of thing…… wasn’t something Jian would feel good hearing.
For an ordinary sixteen-year-old boy brimming with self-esteem, it would be praise enough to make him puff up with pride, but Jian wasn’t an ordinary personality.
It would be incredibly burdensome.
I Wonhun looked at his son on the TV as if sitting on pins and needles.
However, the son on the screen merely listened calmly.
“Would you say a word to those fans? To the fans who are sending you expectations and support.”
At the interviewer’s question, I Jian seemed to fall into thought for a moment.
Then, I Jian, who had been looking at the interviewer while speaking the whole time, turned to the camera.
The eyes of I Jian on that screen met the eyes of Gim Jiu and I Wonhun.
I Jian spoke.
“A real genius…… that’s right. Me. So please keep expecting things from me in the future too. Because I’ll show you……”
“Uh…… can you say it in Italian too?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I said I’ll work hard.”
“Haha, very good.”
“……”
At his son’s answer, I Wonhun hesitated for a moment, then soon put on a complicated, subtle smile. And he glanced at Gim Jiu, who was nodding with her neck craned as if she might crawl inside the TV.
The punk. A man is a man, after all.
“Now, this is the last one. In a happy moment like this, there must be someone who comes to mind first. Could you pick just one?”
“Uh…… the person who comes to mind first?”
At the interviewer’s last question, I Jian scratched his head. And the moment he was about to open his mouth, a murmuring noise from outside the camera was caught by the speaker.
“I’m sorry, what?”
The interviewer caught that sound, looked outside the camera, and asked. As the camera turned halfway to capture that side, the Fiorentina players appeared on screen with their arms crossed, watching the interview with pleased expressions.
They were all saying in unison, “Girlfriend, girlfriend.”
“So you have a girlfriend? That’s sad news for your female fans.”
“Ah, no. That’s not it……”
“Then, a word to your girlfriend would be perfect.”
“No, ah……”
With a troubled expression, I Jian turned red.
A voice saying “Tell her you love her!” came from outside the camera.
I Jian glanced over there once, then spoke as if resigned.
“I…… I guess, thank you for always supporting me……”
Having said that, I Jian escaped from the camera as if fleeing. The interviewer looked at that retreating figure fondly and continued with the closing remarks.
“What did he say?”
When Gim Jiu asked, I Wonhun pondered for a moment.
What should he do with this. Should he protect his son as a fellow man?
But arbitrarily paraphrasing the interpretation wasn’t the right thing to do either.
Hmm……
Son, sorry.
“He was asked to say a word to his girlfriend, and he said thank you for always supporting me. I guess he’s talking to you.”
“……Huh?”
At I Wonhun’s words, Gim Jiu let out a strange sound as if something had broken.
* * *
“Why are you going around saying weird things?”
“……What.”
“Oho. Playing dumb?”
“No, what……”
Jiu, arms crossed, looked at me with an inscrutable smile, staring intently.
When I turned my head away for no reason, feigning ignorance to avoid that gaze, Jiu persistently followed and peered into my eyes.
“You did an interview after yesterday’s match, right?”
……My heart sank.
Ah. I was hoping she hadn’t seen it.
So she saw it. The interview.
Jiu watched that damned interview that I couldn’t even remember what state of mind I was babbling in.
God has abandoned me.
“Oho, so you finally remember?”
When I flinched, Jiu spoke with a mischievous smile, as if she’d caught her prey.
My face burned like crazy.
Still, I tried to play dumb one more time.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about……?”
“Really? Then why is your face so red? Your face is going to burst.”
……Is this what it feels like to be utterly miserable?
At Jiu’s giggling laughter, my eyes squeezed shut involuntarily.
“What did that interviewer say at the end again? Did he ask you to say something to your girlfriend?”
……I resent them.
The camera that filmed me, the reporter who interviewed me, and my team seniors, all of them.
No, the one I resent most is yesterday’s me.
What was I thinking? No matter how out of it I was.
Why did I answer so readily when asked to say something to my girlfriend? I should have clearly said I don’t have a girlfriend even though I have a friend who is a girl……
Thanks to that, another strange misunderstanding was born……
“……”
When I hung my head and said nothing, Jiu spoke with a bright smile.
“Our Jian, did you like your Noona that much? Enough to boast to people that she’s your girlfriend?”
“W-what…… I never did that.”
“Really? Then why did your hyungs on the same team talk about a girlfriend? Ah, did you get a girlfriend without me knowing? Hmm? Who is she?”
“……I don’t have anything like that.”
“Then who could it be. Thank you for always supporting me……”
“W-wait a minute.”
I reached out my hand, unable to bear hearing the rest of those words spoken aloud.
Then Jiu smiled brilliantly and tilted her head.
Think, I Jian.
She’s telling me to rack my brains like I’m on the field and come up with a decent excuse.
But no answer came out.
As if one would. It was true that I had said that.
In the end…… what popped out of my mouth was absurd even to me.
“I don’t know what you saw, but that’s not me.”
“……Excuse me?”
“I’m saying the one in the interview isn’t me.”
“Then who is it?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, it’s not me.”
That’s not me.
Anyway, it’s not me.
After forcing such a ridiculous denial, I fled to the bathroom, and from behind, Jiu’s laughter loud enough to raise the roof rang out.
From now on, when doing interviews, I should think twice or thrice before speaking.
Please……
But…… she’s not mad.
Should I count that as a relief……?
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