Wholehearted Devotion -1
“Great work, great work!”
“That’s insane! Our youngest!”
“You showed them what the youngest can do!”
“Different class, different class.”
I exchange high fives with the seniors and sit on the bench.
Fuuuuh.
I came off the pitch after being swapped with Martinez, a defender.
Since it’s the twentieth minute of the second half, that means I’d played about sixty-five minutes today.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap—
The roar of applause from the spectators leaves my ears ringing.
The applause that began when I left the pitch is still continuing even now.
The seniors sitting next to me raise their thumbs, indicating the applause is for me… I guess so.
Well, for sure… I think I played better than last match. I ran a bit longer too, and I’d scored two goals.
Even if one of them was lucky.
“Huuuuh.”
I chug a sports drink and feel the electrolytes seeping into every corner of my body, coursing through my veins.
It’s only after sitting on the bench that I feel it belatedly.
That I was more tired than I’d thought.
Last match, I’d asked to be subbed off first, but not today. I’d been so focused on the match that I hadn’t paid attention to my stamina, so I didn’t even know I was struggling.
I think it’s probably because there were unusually many situations today where I received the ball. The opponent pushed their line up and pressed high, so I had to drop deep often, and whenever I did, the seniors sent the ball to me.
Well, the seniors usually pass to me quite a bit anyway… but today, it was to the point where if they so much as touched the ball, they looked for me first.
Maybe it’s because my condition had been quite good in training.
Anyway, since I had the ball at my feet for so long, I didn’t even have the luxury to worry about my stamina.
I simply devoted all my concentration to how to protect this ball and how to continue the next play.
Come to think of it, the seniors have the composure to crack jokes and mess around even on the field. To me, it’s just fascinating.
Right now, I’m too busy just doing my job, but if I build up experience, will I be able to have that kind of composure too?
“Phew.”
Anyway, being able to focus solely on the match is a good thing. In that sense, I was grateful to the opponent today.
Especially a certain someone—that hyung who’s a whopping three months older than me. I’m grateful to that venerable hyung.
I’d been really worried that Ji-u might realize there was a real genius out there after all.
So I focused incredibly hard, and thanks to that, the result was good.
At least for today, I must have looked more like a genius, right?
When I imagine Ji-u cheering for someone other than me… it’s strange. Why am I angry?
It’s not like Ji-u is mine or anything.
Anyway, because I hated that thought, I gave more than two hundred percent effort.
By the way… if there are so many geniuses here in Italy, I can’t even imagine how many geniuses are swarming beyond Italy.
In France right next door, in Spain beside it, in Germany above, and in England across the sea.
Countless real geniuses are probably kicking the ball even today.
Fortunately, I don’t have to face them now, but I might next year.
Because if we get good results in the league, we have to go out to something called European competition.
In the league, you face strong teams and weak teams, but in European competition, you inevitably only meet strong teams.
Because European competition is a tournament that only gathers teams with good results from each country.
Thanks to that, to be honest, I’m anxious too.
If I keep winning like this, I’ll have to meet stronger and stronger opponents…
There are obviously many geniuses in this wide world far better than me, and to begin with, I’m not a genius but just an ordinary person struggling to look like one, but…
I don’t particularly want Ji-u to know that.
But to do that, I have to win matches again.
And the more I win, the stronger opponents I meet.
Life is that complicated.
“Take ’em down!”
“Get a grip! Your concentration’s dropping!”
“Ugh, does the game fall apart just because our youngest is off?”
…Hmm.
Watching our team face a crisis and seeing my palms start to sweat…
Still, I think winning is better than losing.
*
There was one crisis, but anyway, we won the match.
After I was subbed off, the momentum somehow shifted to the opponent and we got pummeled for about ten minutes, conceding a goal.
Fortunately, Vlahović scored soon after, quelling the uneasy atmosphere.
3–1. Our victory.
Seeing the home fans happy made me feel relieved, but I wasn’t even given the chance to let out a sigh of relief.
“Hello!”
“Hello.”
I bow my head slightly and answer the reporter greeting me in a lively voice.
That damned interview time had come again.
Moreover, today there seem to be even more cameras, and the reporter interviewing me is a woman, no less.
In many ways, it was a situation that demanded I get my act together.
“First, congratulations on the victory, and you scored a whopping two goals today! How do you feel?”
“Uh… first, a lot of fans came to the stadium today, and I think it’s a relief that I could show them a winning match.”
“I expected it to be quite a tough match, since Lazio isn’t an easy opponent. How did it feel facing them directly?”
“Yes… they were a really strong opponent. So I had no choice but to focus even more, and I think that’s why we had a good result.”
Fortunately, the questions were safe, so I answered safely as well.
But perhaps because they were too safe, slightly more difficult questions began to come up.
“Today’s match also drew attention as a showdown of sixteen-year-old geniuses. Did you see the interview player Romero gave before the match?”
When I shake my head, the reporter smirks.
“He said he would show who the real genius is. In your opinion, who was the ‘real’ one today?”
Hmm…
Do I really have to say this myself?
If it weren’t for Ji-u, I would have acted humble… but I’d already come too far to turn back.
“A pupil of Coach Luca.”
“Coach Luca…?”
“Our U-17 coach.”
“Ahh! What a wonderful answer!”
At this level, I think I’ve dodged it pretty well.
I can almost see Coach grinning from ear to ear, and I find myself smiling before I know it.
“Well then, I think we should wrap this up soon. According to what the club announced, the team’s jersey sales have recently surged tremendously. Especially, the purchase rate among female fans has risen greatly, and they say most of them are buying your jersey?”
“What do you think is your charm point that makes such popularity possible?”
……What in the world kind of question is this?
I thought I’d cleared one hurdle well, but a bigger obstacle is blocking my way.
Asking what my charm point is?
It’s something I’ve never thought about even once in my life, so my mind goes blank.
Is there even such a thing?
I scratch my head for quite a while and finally squeeze out an answer.
“…Wholehearted devotion?”
“Huh, what does that mean?”
“Ah, I mean… an unchanging heart? I guess you could call it something like that…”
“Ahh, so you’re the type who only looks at one person? That’s so romantic!”
…No matter how much I think about it, that’s all I could come up with.
“Thank you for the interview! Good work!”
“Good work to you too.”
Phew.
Still, I don’t think I made any particular slip-ups at this level, so I was able to finish the interview with a smile.
…
“Was it good?”
“What?”
“Did you like interviewing with a pretty unnie?”
“…What are you talking about, again.”
“You looked like you were struggling so hard to hold back your smile. In the end, you couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.”
…This is really absurd.
“I smiled because we won the match, that’s all.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Hmph. Then I’ll let it slide just this once.”
“…”
Seeing Ji-u acting like she’s letting me off the hook when I haven’t even done anything wrong is absurd, but even more absurd is that such a Ji-u somehow… looks cute.
So I asked slyly.
“But, am I not allowed to smile?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if I’m not allowed to smile in front of pretty women.”
“…Wow, are you seriously asking because you don’t know?”
Ji-u shoots me a fierce glare as if I’m absurd.
But today, for some reason, I don’t want to lose either, so I answer without backing down.
“I’m asking because I don’t know.”
“Of course it’s not allowed, is it?”
“Why not?”
“Well, because of course! Of course… uh…”
Ji-u, who had been about to speak as if the answer were obvious, suddenly trails off.
Of course what?
Ji-u puffs out her chest like a child, trying to speak and stopping several times, before finally opening her eyes wide and saying,
“Of course… because it’s not time for that yet!”
“…What do you mean, it’s not time for that?”
“Right now, you don’t have enough time even focusing solely on soccer. Right? Where do you have time to look elsewhere? Isn’t that right?”
“…That’s right.”
“Right. Yeah, that’s right. You just play soccer, only soccer.”
Hmm.
It’s not wrong, but somehow it feels like an answer full of holes.
“So don’t get distracted, and don’t grin stupidly in front of pretty women. Promise me.”
“…I have to promise?”
“Of course. Why? You don’t think you can keep it?”
“…I never grinned stupidly in the first place. Anyway, fine.”
Only when I say I’ll promise does Ji-u finally nod.
“By the way, there’s been a huge fuss because of you.”
“What fuss?”
“Look at this. This article just went up and it already has hundreds of comments?”
Ji-u holds the laptop screen out in front of me.
As she said, it was an article about me, and there really were an enormous number of comments.
My heart sank, but I couldn’t show it, so I cautiously read through them…
Fortunately, they were all praise.
Especially, there were many comments about the interview I did after the match.
└Wholehearted devotion!! To this guy, there’s only Fiorentina! Isn’t that so cool?
└Completely different from those who joined the thieves entirely for money
└And different from that someone refusing to renew their contract right now
└This kid knows his roots
└Tell everyone else to leave. We’re fine as long as we have Ri
└From today, my life motto is Wholehearted Devotion
└I like Ri and Ri loves Fiorentina♥ Together forever, won’t send him anywhere on earth♥
Everyone seems fixated on the phrase “wholehearted devotion.”
They seem to have interpreted it as meaning I’ll keep playing for Fiorentina from now on…
Hmm.
Honestly, that’s not really what I meant when I said it.
Anyway… well, it’s not bad that they’re thinking of it positively.
And my thoughts aren’t that different either.
I still can’t quite imagine playing for another team.
I like the present, and I like this place.
As I’m nodding my head, Ji-u asks.
“What’s with your expression?”
“Huh?”
“There are only comments praising you, so why’s your expression so serious? Smile a little.”
At her telling me to smile, I look at Ji-u as if she’s absurd.
…Is she an idiot?
I just promised not to grin stupidly in front of pretty women.
I guess she’s already forgotten.
…
Monday, the day after the match, is always a day for recovery training.
I stretch longer and more carefully than usual.
A few simple core exercises, jogging, and cycling.
That’s all there is to recovery training.
It’s so simple it’s almost embarrassing to call it training.
So when it’s time to head home after training, I sometimes feel uneasy, as if I shouldn’t really be allowed to go home like this.
But even if I feel that way, I shouldn’t be greedy. Because resting well is also a form of training.
Recovery is that important.
But… and so I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.
Because as I was about to head home after recovery training, I saw Captain Biraghi training alone at the training ground.
The captain seemed to be in the middle of one-on-one training with a coach.
“What’s the captain doing that for?”
When I ask, Bonaventura, a midfielder on our team who’d been leaving with me, answers.
“Sigh. I guess he’s doing that because of this week’s match.”
“The next match?”
“Yeah. It’s Inter, after all.”
When I still tilt my head in confusion, the senior continues.
“Our captain is from Inter’s youth academy. Inter was his first love, so to speak. And that was ages ago, but he still can’t forget. Last year he even went there on loan. To a team that had already discarded him once.”
“Ah…”
“I heard there was even an option for a full transfer if he did well. But he came back in the end, so it’s like he got dumped again. That’s why he’s grinding his teeth. I’d want to prove myself too if I were him.”
I finally nodded.
Hmm.
I understand how he feels, but I still think he might be overdoing it.
Well, it’s a bit funny for me, the youngest, to worry about the captain.
Anyway, hearing that story made me think I should do even better in the next match.
It’s not the same, but isn’t it similar to how I absolutely want to beat Juventus?
Then we have to win. For sure.
Whether it was when I first came up to the first team or now.
Since the captain has looked out for me better than anyone, I just feel all the more that I want to win.
Inter.
We’re definitely going to beat you.
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