Soccer Genius Wants to Get Noticed - Chapter 123



Only Krnovel

Episode 123 Difference in Perspectives

In the middle of Incheon Airport.

Bam!

I look down at the kimchi container while countless eyes are focused on me, and a man hired by the agency opens the lid for me.

You might wonder what I’m doing on an expedition to the UAE… … but I had my reasons.

“Well, what should I do with this… … .”

“… … You can’t take it?”

“I think I could check it in as luggage, but it’s difficult as it is. According to flight regulations, it has to be separated into small pieces and sealed.”

In fact, the one who responded to the statement that it was difficult to bring it in was my grandmother. My paternal grandmother who lives in Seoul.

“Oh my, what should I do with this?”

What should I say in response to that bewildered voice?

You want me to just take it and say I ate it?

There are many things I haven’t paid attention to.

On the day of the game, I belatedly remembered that I had never properly looked at my phone. The phone, which had been on silent mode (I had changed it so as not to disturb my rest), finally woke up from its dormant state.

92 missed calls, 40 text messages alone.

More than half of the calls were from my grandmother or relatives, but there were also quite a few numbers with international calling numbers.

After that, it was obviously my turn to get scolded.

A midnight phone call from Cologne, Germany, starting with my brother’s comment calling me a ‘retard’ and then quickly leading to a barrage of nagging from my mother.

‘No matter how excited I am, do you know how worried my mom was? She even called my agent several times to ask if I was okay.’

‘I’m sorry. The long-haul flight was harder than I thought. I switched the phone to silent mode while I was sleeping, and I didn’t think to contact you after that.’

‘… Are you feeling okay? I heard you played in the game.’

‘Oh, yes. No problem at all.’

‘From next time… … .’

But honestly, I felt a little wronged.

I didn’t come to Korea alone to play, but because of the national team call-up. From a broader perspective, it was because of my heart for the Republic of Korea.

Of course, if I look at it from a narrow perspective, it was because I was overly excited when I was first called up to the Korean national team… … . Anyway, I came here to fulfill my duty, so I could have forgotten!

Unfortunately, the grumbling ended there.

‘Is it that hard to make time?’

‘Yes. I’m leaving tomorrow. If I were going alone, it wouldn’t matter, but I think I’ll take the team bus and go straight to the airport.’

‘Then grandma will go.’

‘……yes?’

‘What time are you leaving?’

okay.

That was the problem.

How can one stop an old man who has made up his mind?

My persuasion that she didn’t have to force herself to come and that I would come see her at the next meeting didn’t work at all. I was reunited with my grandmother in the middle of the crowd of people seeing her off.

‘Oh heaven, holy heaven!’

The long-awaited meeting… was not a very desirable outcome.

It was fortunate that our eyes met in a place where hundreds of people were gathered, but more than that, my eyes were drawn to ‘what’ the grandmother was dragging.

What did they call that?

The lower part had two wheels on a square, angular base, and a long handle rose from the top.

Why, there is something like that. A carrier that is perfect for grandmas to use as a shopping basket? No. It is definitely not a carrier. It would be better to express it as a handcart.

And on top of that cart, there was a red kimchi container tied tightly.

That would be about it.

The moment I realized that there was definitely a problem.

Since it is a team sport, whether it is FC Köln or the Korean national team, the players who were ahead of them quickly left for the departure gate.

As I slowed my steps and hesitated, the coaching staff approached me and asked me a question.

‘Do you know him?’

‘This is my grandmother.’

‘Grandma? Your grandmother?’

‘Yes. Do you have a minute? I’ll talk to you about that later.’

‘Uh… … Let me ask you something. Wait here.’

So what can I do?

I just had to answer honestly and walk to the break room in the corner to talk to the old lady.

However, what I didn’t expect was that the huge kimchi container contained a real bunch of kimchi, and the upper bag was also filled with japchae and various jeon.

* * *

Anyway, things turned out that way, and I was crouching on the ground, staring into those bright-eyed faces.

Click, click, click!

There were fans surrounding where I was sitting, but the real pressure came from the national team players.

That is to say, veteran players on the team, such as Kim Min-je, Lee Jae-seon, and Kwon Chang-jun, came up to me and looked at me like I was a strange beast.

“Is it tasty?”

“… … Yes?”

“Okay, just focus on eating. You even brought grilled fish. The youngest is born with the fortune to eat.”

As I was picking up the japchae with the wooden chopsticks I had received, a laughter-filled voice tickled my ears.

Are you here to tease me?

They say that even dogs don’t touch food when they’re eating, but I think that’s a bit too much.

“Players, please eat some too. Our Haneul, please take good care of him. He may be immature, but he actually has a gentle personality.”

“Oh, can we have some too? Then let’s try it without hesitation.”

it serves him right.

They’re going to eat it too.

“But can I take all of this?”

“I also take a little bit of kimchi with me… … but it’s too much. It’s probably over 10 kilos. I should divide it into 500 grams or less. The packaging is also a problem.”

“I can’t find it here, right?”

“It’s the airport. I don’t have time to go shopping.”

Then suddenly, a helping hand comes from somewhere nearby.

“I have a spare bag. Should I give it to you?”

“Oh, we have sealable containers here too!”

People who were watching with interest began to take out the packaging containers from their bags and hand them over. Some said it was a good idea to wrap them two or three times and handed them over the outer container, and some even volunteered to gather the donation items in one place.

On the one hand, I felt grateful, but on the other hand, I thought it was a nuisance, so I quickly got up and asked the man from the agency where the convenience store was.

“Why the convenience store? Are you going to buy things there?”

“No. I was just wondering if you had some food.”

“……rice?”

And after a while, I warm up some instant rice and pick up a piece of kimchi.

Since my grandmother brought me the food with all her heart, I thought I should show her how to eat it properly.

Of course, someone gave me a very mysterious look.

“This kid is a total piece of shit. How can you eat when ten thousand people are watching you?”

“… … It’s delicious, but why?”

“… … No. Enjoy your meal. People who drink German water are different. That’s amazing. I’m truly impressed.”

“I play in Germany too?”

“Hey, my brother is already old and gone!”

“… … .”

I said I’d eat it, what?

Why are you saying that?

* * *

Inside the plane heading to UAE, leaving behind a small commotion.

Lee Jae-seon and Kim Min-je sit side by side in the middle of the seats and talk to each other.

“… … I thought he would be picky because he looks like a total prince, but I guess that’s not the case.”

“No, Ham (hyung), what are you, a nobleman? A nobleman. Stop acting so old.”

“What’s wrong with you, Prince? You’re just like the heavens.”

“What did you say?”

The main topic of conversation is related to Seong Ha-neul, and he occasionally asks questions to the defender sitting right next to him, Lee Jae-young.

“But is he always like that? Actually, when he collapsed on the floor at the airport earlier, I was quite flustered.”

“Uh, I’m still not very good at it… … .”

“You’re my roommate. I always call you hyung.”

“That’s right, doesn’t everyone else call you hyung, besides me?”

“Minje was called ‘Player Kim Minje’ on the first day of the call-up. He went into a rage when he heard that. He’s not even a senior, so how can he be called a player?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right.”

“uh…….”

Because they departed in the evening, only soft lights were on in the cabin, and the two people’s gazes naturally turned to Jaeyoung Lee’s cell phone.

The news article on the screen contained a photo taken at the airport.

“Huh? The article is out already?”

“I think the photo was uploaded on SNS a while ago. It seems like Haneul is getting a lot of attention.”

“You know, right? I’m talking about our Kimchi Warrior.”

“… … What kind of strange word is that?”

“It’s the youngest’s nickname. I made it up.”

Lee Jae-young snorts at the other person’s playful tone and then shakes his head.

“… … He didn’t seem to like it very much.”

“Really? That’s surprising. It seems like they really care about the fans at the stadium.”

“That’s true. But it seems like they don’t care about online reactions. I heard they don’t even use social media.”

“You don’t use social media? You’re seventeen?”

“Yes. And, well, there’s nothing to be happy about today… … I heard that Coach Federico scolded you. He said that you were supposed to be a national team player and manage your diet thoroughly, but why did you eat whatever you wanted?”

“That’s true too. That’s why I only ate one piece.”

Despite the exaggerated gestures, he continues to talk stubbornly. If you get caught up in his unique playfulness, you will be in for a long time.

“I heard that you got scolded by your parents, but you didn’t seem to be very excited.”

“Cool, very cool. As expected from Seventeen. Even the German Seventeen.”

“what.”

Lee Jae-seon, who plays for Mainz in Germany and has faced Sung Ha-neul in the league, criticizes him with a look of bewilderment.

Suddenly, a voice expresses agreement from the front seat.

“Dude, it’s true that he’s cool.”

“huh?”

Hwang Hee-cheol, who plays for Wolverhampton in England, raises his finger with a small smile after checking the puzzled expression of his opponent.

“Over there in front.”

As I followed the direction the finger was pointing, I saw a relatively bright light coming out from the front seat.

“What is that?”

“Can’t you hear me?”

“… … ?”

When I stopped talking and listened, a slightly agitated voice flowed in.

[… … No, no. Isn’t it right to just apply strong pressure here? Why does it go up vaguely and then stop?]

[#@$… … .]

[The coach said that while pressure is important, it is also important to maintain space between the 2nd and 3rd lines.]

[Really? But this is a situation where the ball is stolen. In this case, you step back to maintain the distance? Then what about the ball? Who gets the ball for free?]

[uh…….]

The former was the voice of the Holy Spirit, the latter was mixed with Portuguese, and the one who looked embarrassed was clearly the interpreter.

“… … Is he arguing with the coach right now?”

“Hmm, no way. It wouldn’t be a fight, would it? It would be a constructive discussion. That kind of thing happens a lot in Germany. The players tend to have clear opinions. Isn’t it similar in Turkey?”

“Turkey is similar. But Korean players don’t usually do that. Do you do that too?”

“……no.”

“So, am I right? Our youngest is really cool.”

The answer comes out at the end of the conversation from Hwang Hee-chul, who is sitting right in front of us.

“Hey, Jae-seon is right. He said he didn’t understand the tactics earlier and went to ask the coach.”

That was when.

[The same goes for here. It would have been more efficient to pass the ball to Hwang Hee-cheol on the right side… … .]

[Well. This is an area where it’s okay to lose the ball while attacking. The penalty box is right in front, so I think it was worth trying to break through. I respect the coach’s… … tactical insight? Or his intentions or demands, but even if I asked HD, he would have said the same thing. Aren’t you being too pessimistic because he failed to dribble?]

[Uh… … um… … The coach asked, ‘You keep saying ‘HD, HD’, who is that?’]

[Harness doll.]

[… … So who the hell is that person?]

[Analyst for FC Köln.]

“But it’s so damn cool. I could freeze if I’m not careful.”

A heartfelt exclamation was a bonus.