The Little Prince of the Field - Chapter 27

November 19, Tuesday, Las Palmas. 

The advantage of away games is that you can miss school for a day. 

For Saturday games we departed by plane on Friday afternoon, and after the end of the game, we returned on Monday morning. 

So today, Tuesday, I have no energy to even move my limbs. 

Wandering around the beach with a banana in my hand, yesterday afternoon seemed to be a pretty stupid choice. 

Still, It was nice to walk in the sea breeze. 

In the midst of fatigue, belated regrets rushed in.

“Can you sign me? I bought a uniform.” 

“Si.” 

On the way to the school cafeteria, some children asked for my autograph. 

I wrote my name in Korean under the letters marked KIM on the yellow uniform. 

I have never signed unless it was a Las Palmas uniform or a club product such as a scarf.  

“Thank you. I saw you when you scored a goal in the last game. It was a great match.” 

“I see.” 

“Wow, I’m so nervous that I can’t believe that I’m talking to you in person.” 

I snorted inwardly. 

The boy who was making a fuss is a kid whom I had met several times in the school cafeteria since last year. 

I placed the textbook in my personal locker and took out a heavy lunch box. 

After the bibimbap disaster, an aunt from a restaurant near the house was preparing my lunch according to the requirements of Juan Naranjo, the fitness coach. 

After the end of the away game, it was necessary to prevent weight loss, so it was like a magic box that was filled with overly luxurious contents. 

“Well.” 

I think I told the restaurant lady to make as little as possible after returning from the expedition to Zaragoza, but the weight gain that comes up through her food was formidable. 

I had doubts about whether Coach Juan had paid extra money to the restaurant lady. 

As I entered the Cafeteria, a huge, decorated blackboard greeted me. 

It was like Michelangelo’s mural reinterpreted in a very hideous way. 

As long as my brain isn’t seriously damaged, I think it wasn’t like this last week.

What kind of idiot’s idea was it to draw monsters on the blackboard facing the entrance?

Fortunately, at the corner seat near the window where the sunlight was coming, a stupid but kind friend who could solve my doubts was waving her hand. 

Of course, she is also one of the prime suspects. 

“Hey, Freckles.” 

“My name is Stella.” 

“What is that? It wasn’t there last week.” 

“Didn’t you know that we were going to volunteer service during the weekend?” 

“I think the service you mean is different from the service I think.” 

I heard the sound of giggling and a row of laughter could be overheard from the people around me, and Stella, no Freckles, turned a little red, quickly explained. 

“On Monday, Mr. Wagner asked me to decorate the blackboard of the Cafeteria, and I just did it because no one objected.” 

It wasn’t such a convincing explanation, but I wasn’t too interested in detail, so I just nodded and sat down. 

The four-tiered lunch box fell heavily. 

Fortunately, there was no shortage of space on the table because there was only one untouched plastic bowl in front of Freckles.

“Look at this.” 

I soon started to unpack the lunch box and weighed the contents inside layer by layer, at the same time Freckles also pulled out a bundle of newspapers and magazines that I didn’t know where she had stored. 

“I brought it for you to read.”

“What is this?” 

“It’s scrap.” 

I slipped my fingers on a bunch of papers and found a picture of me shooting a goal against Mirandes.

“There are a lot of them? How much trouble did you go through to collect them all?” 

“I didn’t suffer much.” 

Freckles stuck out her snout and stared at it, but I desperately looked at the grandeur of the lunch box. 

From meat to fish, the amount of food in the middle of the compartment was out of bounds. 

“Who would eat all of this……” 

“Why, it looks delicious.” 

“Uh, then you eat. Good idea.” 

A piece of heavy fish crosses over to the plate of Freckles. 

It was really a very good idea. 

It’s not that I am giving anything away, I’m just going to feed the team analyst freckle daughter! Who would dare say it was my fault! 

“Eat some meat, too.”

“No… I’m fine.” 

“You’ve been stealing food in the cafe before, so why are you refusing when I’m giving.” 

“No, It wasn’t stolen. It was you who said I could eat it.” 

She looked around and protested in a small voice.  

The heaviest lunch box transformed into a more comfortable one. 

The nutritionist who was sitting in a corner of the Cafeteria laughed when he saw a huge piece of fish that had covered the food bowl of Freckles.

“Well, do it as you please, and now listen to me. The more you read this, the more fun it gets, right?” 

Freckles read the first page of a notebook covered with magazine and newspaper articles about me. 

I can’t stop her actions as she starts stuffing her mouth with the roasted eggplant and red onions. 

I just want to empty my lunchbox quickly and leave for the training ground. 

“According to ‘The Guardian’, a Manchester City official who watched a Las Palmas game over the weekend was fascinated by Kim’s style of play. Having received the report, Pep Guardiola wants Kim to join the team as early as January next year and does not want to lose him to Barcelona.” 

“Radio media ‘Cadena COPE’ reported that Real Madrid officials had contacted Kim’s agent last week. Madrid recognizes the reality that a professional contract is not legally possible, and is approaching it in a way that guarantees participation in the first team.” 

“Okay..” 

“Listen to this too. It’s an article from ‘Mundo Deportivo’, Barcelona has fallen behind in the competition for young talent! Manchester City is using their strength of a professional contract to entice Kim, and AT Madrid and Real Madrid have offered bold first-team guarantees to please Kim’s agent. Despite maintaining a positive connection with UD Las Palmas owner through last year’s move, Barcelona is clearly behind the competition, and… Next is the magazine review!” 

The chatterbox’s words flow out to everyone’s ear. 

The press reports narration by Freckles didn’t stop until a feeling of satiety tapped her throat. 

I don’t know when she is going to eat her own meal because the piece of fish I gave her earlier was still covering her entire bowl. 

“This is from ‘El Confidencial’, and it’s a really interesting article, so I really wanted to read it to you.”

“UD Las Palmas’s owner, Miguel Ramirez Alonso, has denied rumors saying that he and Kim’s agent were on bad terms. Renewal talks are going well, he said. But despite his words, Las Palmas coaches are worried about Kim’s departure. A close associate from the club said, ‘Miguel yelled at Kim’s agent,’ and refuted Miguel’s words saying that the contract renewal was not going smoothly.” 

“…… ”  

“What do you think about it?” 

“You are close to the club’s officials, right?” 

Freckles smiled brightly as I grabbed the important point. 

“It’s you, right? Did you report it?” 

“no. It was my dad.” 

“Flores?” 

why? 

Unless the team analyst has gone crazy, there is no reason for him to go against the owner. 

It was a relationship where even the word “fighting” doesn’t fit because of different positions on the team.

“That day my dad drank a lot of alcohol and talked to me, he said that the atmosphere in the club these days is not usual. The owner called the manager and brought up your contract issue. He said it is important to receive a transfer fee or renew a contract by the end of this winter. Then he secretly asked him, if he were to find that you seemed to have no intention of renewing your contract or transferring, then he told the manager not to let you go into the game!” 

“If you don’t get to play, then they’ll be able to transfer you somehow. Fortunately, when the Manager heard this he refused right away, but anyway, after hearing this story, my father’s colleagues agreed to put pressure on the owner. According to my dad, it won’t mean much though.”

I stopped eating my lunch for a while. 

I wasn’t as angry as I thought I would be. 

Was it because I already had bad feeling towards the owner? 

Rather, it felt good, that I somehow felt confused. 

The fact that Pepe refused, and that the people at the club value me so much, made me feel the gap in my heart filled with warmth from their love.

“Manager is in trouble, too. I’ll just say I’ll do it.” 

I was half-serious because if I hadn’t been able to play for no good reason, it would have been easier for me to make the decision to transfer. 

“You can’t say that!”

Freckles made a loud voice, soon she became more startled than I was, then she glanced around and gave a puzzled look, and the fading voice came back again. 

“I even risked something for you.” 

“You? For me?” 

“Yeah, even though my dad wrote it down, I mean, this was reported under my name.” 

“Well, maybe you did this not for me, but for your dad.” 

“Uh, you can see it that way too… Anyway, for you, ‘I made a report’ that’s all you need to understand ” 

“Okay, let’s just eat. Here, eat my fruit.” 

As we were talking, the lunch box started to show its bottom. 

Freckles who picked up the cherry tomatoes showed her palms and thanked me, and even while eating, she did not stop speaking.

“From now on, things will be a little lacking in terms of credibility. Director Sanllehi of Barcelona wants a youngster from Gran Canaria who has scored a hat-trick. Although Arsenal’s offensive line is saturated, the 16-year-old will be very attractive to a London-based club.” 

“Speak after you finish your meal. It’s dirty.”

“sorry.” 

“It splattered again.”

She puts her hands together to make an apology and swallows the remaining tomato in one breath. 

My brain did not seem to accept the premise of ‘talking while eating’. 

Either her manners are very awful, or simply she’s stupid. 

“Listen a little more. You’re going to run away when you finish that lunch, right?”

“Yes.” 

“……It’s an article from AS yesterday.’”

.

.

.

.

That was a pretty sharp point. 

I will leave the Cafeteria as soon as the lunch box gets emptied. 

It was fun to hear the news, but it wasn’t my top priority. 

If I don’t have the skills, the world’s interest in me will leave as quickly as it came. 

A longing for training spreads through my heart. 

As the speed of my fork increases, so does the speed of Freckles, who pours out her words like a machine gun. It was an odd picture. 

“[He can go anywhere,] said Kim’s agent. He also said that courtship from prestigious clubs is attractive, but the person concerned doesn’t really care…”