“Uh, it turned out a bit strange today. Just mix it up and eat it however…”
“Huh? What do you mean it’s weird?”
“The plating didn’t turn out so well…”
“It’s not weird.”
Jiwoo held out the bowl, and Dad and I tilted our heads at the same time.
She said it didn’t turn out well, but I had no idea what she meant.
It just looked delicious.
Well, I don’t know the first thing about cooking, so if Jiwoo says so, then I guess it is. I mean, it’s like when we win a match but still feel unsatisfied, right?
“As long as it tastes good.”
“It’s delicious.”
Dad and I, having taken a bite, spoke at the same time.
Jiwoo still seemed somewhat dissatisfied, but the taste was great.
Everything Jiwoo makes is delicious. The real genius isn’t me; it’s Jiwoo.
Dad and I scarfed down the food made by the cooking genius.
I’d done something completely out of character, so I was starving.
“Phew…”
As soon as the shoot ended, I washed my hair and scrubbed the makeup off my face.
I changed back into comfortable clothes, and as if returning to my original self, my mind felt at ease.
And sitting in the house, quiet again like this, eating together as three, my heart grew even more peaceful.
Sponsorships and all that are fine, but there’s nothing as good as this moment. Not even scoring a goal or winning a match. Nothing can beat this moment right now.
Because all of that exists for moments like this anyway.
Right. That’s true, but…
“…”
Still, something felt a bit off.
I thought about what was strange, and realized it was too quiet.
Usually, our meals are quite noisy.
Neither Dad nor I say anything while eating, but Jiwoo is different.
Jiwoo always talked about everything that happened that day without missing a thing every evening, and we ate while listening.
Thanks to that, there was never a quiet moment.
But… today Jiwoo was quiet.
“…”
“…!”
I was staring at Jiwoo because it felt strange, and perhaps sensing my gaze, our eyes met.
But Jiwoo averted her eyes.
Then she suddenly got up and went to get water.
Whoa… what the heck?
“…Kuh, kuh!”
Yikes.
Now she was even coughing while drinking water.
Thanks to that, her face turned bright red.
…Did I do something wrong?
*
“…”
“…”
On the way home after finishing the meal and walking Jiwoo to her house.
Both of us were walking wordlessly, so our surroundings were quiet. I wondered how long it had been since we walked this quietly.
Today really was strange.
Well, to be honest, I was the same as always.
I’ve never been much of a talker, but when I’m with Jiwoo, I become even quieter.
It’s because I don’t have the chance to talk. Just listening to Jiwoo is overwhelming.
That’s how much Jiwoo likes to talk.
Even talking nonstop the entire walk from our house to hers isn’t enough for her; she’s the kind of kid who says we should message the rest of the details when we arrive.
But with Jiwoo being quiet today, it was silent.
It had really been strange since earlier.
Hmm. Well… I mean.
Even Jiwoo wouldn’t want to talk all the time.
Some days are like this, others like that.
There must be days when even Jiwoo is too tired to speak.
I understood that, but what I was curious about, I was still curious about.
“…Is something wrong?”
“U-uh?”
When I broke the silence and spoke, Jiwoo jumped, her eyes going round as she looked at me before turning her head away again.
…That wasn’t like Jiwoo either.
“No, it’s just. You’ve been so quiet today.”
“Ah, haha. Was I?”
“Did you have some tough classes at school today or something?”
At my question, Jiwoo nodded.
“Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. Today was a bit hard.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, it was. It was hard.”
“Then you should rest. Why’d you cook dinner and everything? We could’ve eaten out.”
“It’s fine. That’s not hard.”
Jiwoo smiled sheepishly and scratched her head.
I tried to continue the conversation there, but took a short breath and just walked.
Hmm.
Leading a conversation was harder than I thought.
I’m the type who only speaks when I really have something to say, so at times like this, I don’t know what to talk about.
Come to think of it, how had Jiwoo been able to carry on a conversation so tirelessly like that?
And with me of all people, the most boring conversational partner in the world.
Seeing the roles reversed like this, Jiwoo suddenly seemed amazing.
All this time, Jiwoo had said she gets tired talking to chatty people and that I’m more comfortable because I just quietly listen.
The truth is, maybe she had been making a lot of effort.
A conversation is between two people after all.
It’s kind of like a pass.
No matter how well one person passes, if the other can’t receive the ball properly and pass it back, it can’t continue.
Thinking about it, that’s right.
Even if Jiwoo is an energetic kid, there must have been hard days like today.
No, probably a lot. She’s only human.
But Jiwoo was always full of energy.
Maybe it was only in front of me. Because I lacked energy.
I’m already gloomy enough; maybe she was afraid it would get even darker if she acted down too. Maybe Jiwoo had tried not to show it even on hard days.
“…”
Just… maybe.
It was nothing special, but walking quietly like this today made me think such thoughts.
Usually, she’d yap away calling me nuna this and nuna that, so I never had time to think about anything else.
Well… whenever Jiwoo called me nuna, I always more or less ignored her, reacting like it was absurd.
Deep down, I think I had acknowledged it to some extent. Because I had been relying on Jiwoo without knowing it.
With those thoughts crossing my mind, and because the still-quiet Jiwoo felt awkward, I cracked a joke.
It was the best joke I could manage.
“Tell me if something’s bothering you. B-because oppa will listen.”
A joke like this should be delivered with some playfulness, but trying to do something I’d never do made me stumble over my words.
Maybe that’s why.
Jiwoo also opened her eyes wide and stared at me.
“…Oppa?”
Seeing Jiwoo look at me so seriously, I suddenly wanted to die.
You have to deliver a joke like a joke for the other person to know it’s a joke; I guess I said it too seriously.
No… I was using the thing Jiwoo always says, telling me if something’s hard to tell her all about it.
So I expected a reaction like when I used to snap at her, asking who she thought she was calling nuna.
But Jiwoo looked at me like I was talking nonsense, and it couldn’t have been more embarrassing.
I couldn’t exactly explain every detail either.
I felt my face burning up.
If someone took my temperature right now, I might get dragged to the ER.
As expected, a good pass isn’t some outlandish pass; it’s one that’s given so the receiver can receive it well.
“…It’s a joke. A joke. Go on in.”
Jiwoo’s house, which we’d arrived at with perfect timing, felt like salvation. I gestured for her to go in, then quickly turned away.
And walked off with quick steps.
I thought I had no more dark history left in my life, damn it. Damn it…
Bzzzt-
As I was walking quickly, my phone buzzed.
When I took it out, Jiwoo was spamming messages.
Jiwoo: You said to tell you if something’s bothering me
Jiwoo: Then why’d you run away!!
Jiwoo: Actually, I had a lot to talk about today
Jiwoo: Um, but I couldn’t because my throat hurt!!
Jiwoo: So message me when you get home
Jiwoo: I’m not going to sleep early today
Jiwoo: Got it??
Jiwoo: O. pp a.
Jiwoo: ^^?
“…”
My face grew hot again.
I felt dizzy thinking about how much I’d suffer from one thoughtless joke from now on.
Jiwoo is the type to grab hold of something and use it until she’s sick of it…
“…”
But… seeing Jiwoo return to the talkative self I knew, a small laugh escaped me.
* * *
Fiorentina’s home stadium, Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Today was the season’s 22nd round match between 3rd place Fiorentina and 11th place Torino FC.
“The atmosphere is great.”
“The stadium is beautiful. Haha!”
Brightly smiling people could be seen looking around the stadium where match preparations were in full swing.
They were the Puma officials.
Having beaten the top two companies in the industry and snagged the contract, everyone couldn’t help but be in high spirits.
“Hmm…”
However, one person looked at a tablet PC, deep in thought.
Nina Trisennada, head of marketing.
“I think it would be good to put up a video ad too…”
When Nina muttered as if to herself, the employee sitting next to her quickly responded.
“Shall we gather some ideas?”
“Yes. Let’s all put our heads together.”
“Understood.”
Nina nodded.
Securing the contract was great, and the photos taken for the print ads had turned out quite well too.
But something felt slightly lacking.
She wished there was at least one more video ad, even if it was short. And if possible, not a clichéd feeling, but a sophisticated one.
“Hmm.”
While she was mulling it over, the match began.
Nina decided to watch the match and think it over more, turning her eyes to the field.
“…”
Looking at I Jian, the player who could become Puma’s next main model, a satisfied smile formed at her lips.
In fact, there had been voices inside questioning if this was the right move. Opinions on whether it was reasonable to offer a partnership of this scale to a prospect who had only just begun to show his potential.
However, no one could deny that the performance, popularity, and buzz I Jian was showing now were not at the level of a rookie who hadn’t even completed one season.
That’s why they could push it through.
Thanks to that, they were able to beat Nike and Adidas and secure the contract.
Well, even so, one could still say it was excessive if it was excessive.
From the perspective of a marketing director, Nina was convinced without a doubt that I Jian would become a bigger star than he was now.
She was confident that when that time came, no one would be able to say this contract was excessive.
So, she thought there was no harm in treating him a bit excessively in advance.
Rather, if they were going to do it, they should go even more over the top.
They should make one hell of a video commercial and attach it when launching a new line later.
Uwaaaaah—
In an instant, the moderately noisy stadium drowned in exclamations.
It was the moment I Jian received the ball.
Talk about becoming a bigger star in the future—he was already a star.
What else would you call a player who draws out cheers like this just by receiving a pass in an ordinary position?
“Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri!”
As soon as he caught the ball, everyone started shouting “Ri,”
“Ri! Ri! Ri!”
and the officials including Nina also followed the fans, shouting “Ri” and gazing at I Jian with pleased eyes.
Tatatat—!
I Jian starts dribbling the ball up.
Then, with a fluid dribble, he lightly bypasses one defender.
Pa-aang—!
And sends a light pass to the left.
The pass connects with not an inch of error.
Tatatat—!
In the meantime, I Jian had already approached near the box. A pass comes back toward him…
From there, something magical happened.
Twooong—
A pass coming at an awkward height is received by I Jian with his chest, his back to the defender.
Then,
Pa-aang—!
He kicks the falling ball high with his instep while turning his body. Ball trapping that clears not only his own head but the head of the defender behind him.
Shuuung—
The ball draws a beautiful parabola, and that moment seems to move in slow motion.
At the same time, every spectator rises from their seats one by one.
Shuuung—
And just before the ball hits the ground,
I Jian, who had moved a beat faster than the defender, reappears as if rushing in from off-screen.
As if processed with CG, the ball falls slowly while I Jian moves like lightning.
Ppeo-eo-eo-eo-ung—!
And a thunderous impact.
I Jian struck the shot as is.
It was a volley.
The screen that had been in slow motion just moments ago seems to fast-forward as the ball rockets away.
Shuuuuung—
And very accurately—
Swish—!!
The goal net trembles.
The ball was sucked precisely into the top corner of the goal. It was the ideal volley that no goalkeeper could have stopped.
Everyone stared at I Jian with their mouths open.
However, I Jian merely puts on a faint smile and runs to the teammate who gave him the pass.
As if it were nothing…!
“Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri!”
Cheers rain down on I Jian loud enough to hurt the ears, and the next moment, an even more heartwarming scene unfolds.
The player who made the pass drops to one knee and forcibly lifts I Jian’s foot, placing it on his own knee.
And makes a gesture as if polishing a shoe.
It was a celebration seen from time to time.
Fans gaze at the sight with warm eyes, but the Puma officials looked on with eyes that went beyond warmth to pure rapture.
Not for others perhaps, but to the Puma officials’ eyes, the cleats I Jian was wearing came into view all too clearly.
“The ad… came out…”
Nina muttered with a half-dazed expression.
No brilliant idea could possibly be more perfect than this.