CS 04

 Chapter 4

Something More Important Than Money (3)

Somehow, about a month passed.

Naturally, I hadn’t spent that time sitting around doing nothing. I absolutely hated wasting time without purpose.

Play properly when it’s time to play, and work properly when it’s time to work.

That was my motto.

Over the past month, I had diligently worked toward my future.

Thanks to that—or perhaps despite it—I had completely adapted to my smaller body.

I was currently 168 centimeters tall. That was quite a difference from the 176 centimeters I had been during my professional career. Fortunately, I would start growing again next year, so there was no need to worry too much.

Still, if possible, I wanted to grow taller than 176 centimeters, so I was putting in some effort.

Sleeping well, eating well, and stretching consistently.

Compared to other sports, height wasn’t all that emphasized in soccer. Even though 176 centimeters wasn’t particularly tall, it had never caused me any major problems making a living as a professional.

But that didn’t mean I had never struggled against tall center-backs with good physicality because of my height.

If I had been even a little taller, I probably could have gotten past them more easily.

I hadn’t wanted this, but since I had unexpectedly been given a second chance, I might as well make the most of everything I could.

Anyway.

Perhaps because it was November, the weather was beginning to turn chilly.

And at last, the day of reckoning was only one day away.

“Yeah, are you all prepared?”

The director looked quite worried when he summoned me to his office.

Just like my middle-school soccer coach, the director was a good person. Raising children wasn’t something just anyone could do, after all.

“You checked your transportation, right? And you checked what time you need to be there tomorrow? Did you pack all your equipment properly?”

He fired off question after question like a mother looking after her child before their first field trip.

Making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, or misunderstood something.

I wouldn’t know what that was like, since I didn’t have a mother.

Still, being worried about by someone wasn’t such a bad feeling.

I smiled and told him not to worry.

“I’m just going to Cheonan to kick a ball around. What’s there to worry about?”

“Hmm, but it’s your first time going all the way to Cheonan. If you get lost, call me immediately.”

“Yes.”

Since the project was being run by the Korea Football Association, the player selection for this overseas study program would take place at the Cheonan Football Center, where the association was based.

The facilities weren’t bad, and there were plenty of pitches. The national team used this place whenever they trained domestically.

In other words, I had already been here dozens of times.

Maybe even hundreds.

I normally drove myself, so this would be my first time taking a bus here, but there was no reason to worry about getting lost.

I’d spent years with the national team, after all.

More importantly, my legs were itching at the thought of playing soccer on proper grass for the first time in ages.

I wonder how good the kids these days are.

As if it had ever been otherwise, sports and money were inseparable.

Spectators bought tickets to watch matches, broadcasting companies purchased broadcasting rights to air games on television, and fans bought jerseys to support their teams.

In the end, it all came down to money.

Money, money.

Even though it got tiresome, the fact remained that in this capitalist society, money was ultimately the universal language spoken everywhere in the world.

The reason the Korea Football Association had moved its headquarters from Paju to Cheonan was the same.

Originally, the city of Paju had agreed to lease the training center to the association free of charge for a certain period in exchange for the association covering part of the construction costs of the training center that was to be built there.

But when the contract expired and they tried to negotiate an extension, they couldn’t agree on the money, so the association ended up putting down new roots in Cheonan—

Well, that was just one of those adult matters.

Regardless, the association left Paju and established a new home in Cheonan.

The Cheonan Football Center had cost a whopping 400 billion won to build. The facility covered 470,000 square meters and contained more than ten grass pitches, along with state-of-the-art facilities.

Of course, I had no way of knowing whether all 400 billion won had actually been invested into construction.

Still, the facilities themselves were genuinely impressive.

The well-maintained green grass, the shiny buildings…

Everything was so well-kept that merely looking at it put me in a good mood.

You could practically smell the money that had been poured into the place.

Or perhaps it was because I could sense the familiar fragrance of perfume.

Even if it didn’t look like it, I had devoted more than a decade of my life to serving my country.

I’d even joined the Century Club, so considering that this place also served as the national team’s training ground, it was practically my home turf.

The food here was really good, too.

“Student, can I help you?”

As soon as I entered the building’s lobby, a burly association employee approached after noticing me.

“I’m here to take the test for the overseas study program.”

“Oh, your name?”

“Kang Do-in.”

“One moment. Let’s see…”

Kang Do-in. Kang Do-in.

The man repeated my name as he stared at his phone for quite some time, apparently checking whether it was on the list.

Then he smiled brightly.

“There will be a brief ceremonial event in the auditorium on the second floor shortly, followed by a showcase. Please check this pamphlet for the detailed schedule.”

“Thank you.”

I read the pamphlet the association employee had handed me as I headed toward the auditorium on the second floor.

From what I could tell, association officials would give a few brief speeches in the auditorium, after which we’d train and play a practice match in front of representatives from the Spanish clubs.

“Whoa.”

I’d expected it, but there were quite a lot of people in the auditorium.

Just counting the players, there were around thirty.

A few of them were familiar faces.

Some would go on to play alongside me on the national team in the future, while I’d meet others several times on age-group national teams.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had any intention of greeting them first.

Why?

Because there was no money in it.

Not a single person here would eventually earn more than I did.

That was why, even during my national-team days, I hadn’t particularly made friends with the other players.

Every guy who seemed a little too eager to get close eventually asked me to lend him some money.

Some wanted to start a business together. Others asked if I was interested in investing.

Looking back, it was ridiculous.

Anyway, there wasn’t anyone here who would go on to make a particularly big name for himself.

So financially and mentally, it would be more beneficial to ignore them and go about my own business.

“Por qué estás sentado solo?”

I had deliberately taken a seat at the very back of the auditorium in case any of the other players tried to talk to me.

But this time, a foreigner approached and spoke to me in Spanish.

Why was I sitting alone?

I might have been forty years old on the inside, but on the outside, I was still a fifteen-year-old middle-school student.

And yet this guy had casually spoken to me in Spanish without the slightest consideration.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

When in Korea, speak Korean.

If this guy hadn’t been a scout from one of the Spanish clubs, I would have been seriously furious.

But considering that he was one of the people who would be evaluating me, I could let it slide this once.

“No tengo amigos.”

I didn’t feel like explaining the complicated reasons, so I simply answered in Spanish that I had no friends.

Back in Saudi Arabia, there wasn’t much to do besides spend money, so I’d spent my spare time studying other languages.

I could have spoken to him politely, but he looked like he was only in his thirties, so I decided to pretend to be a foreigner who wasn’t very good at Spanish.

Still, wouldn’t it be a little weird to use honorifics with someone younger than me?

Apparently, he hadn’t expected me to know Spanish, because the foreigner in front of me looked quite surprised.

Then why had he asked me in Spanish in the first place?

“You speak Spanish?”

“I learned a little a long time ago. What’s up?”

“I just saw you sitting alone, so I thought I’d talk to you. What position do you play?”

Asking about my position right away.

Who could possibly doubt that he was a scout?

There was no reason for me to hide it, so I answered honestly.

“Forward. Center-forward.”

“Good. How old are you?”

“Fifteen. Which team are you from?”

“What? You knew I was a scout?”

He grinned and unzipped his padded jacket, revealing the bat-shaped club emblem on his shirt.

Valencia?

“Oh, the interpreter’s here.”

“Shouldn’t you go?”

“Yeah, I guess I should. It was nice talking to you. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you play.”

He grinned before moving toward the VIP seating area near the stage together with the interpreter who had just returned to the auditorium.

Hmm.

He said he was looking forward to my performance.

I didn’t know what level that man expected from an ordinary Korean prospect.

But then again…

I wasn’t an ordinary prospect.

After the boring and pretentious speeches from the association president and other officials were finally over, the players changed clothes and headed out to the pitch to begin training.

We warmed up with stretching and some light running, followed by several simple training sessions.

I felt a little guilty about the fact that a hairy middle-aged man was mixed in among all these young, supple teenagers.

But sometimes, if you wanted to make a living, you had to learn to be shameless.

More importantly, if you didn’t get caught, it wasn’t a crime.

Besides, there wasn’t anyone who could prove that I was forty years old.

Let’s not forget.

Conscience doesn’t make money.

“Isn’t that Real Madrid?”

“Wow, this is insane…! Can we really go to Real Madrid?”

“The Valencia scout talked to me earlier.”

“Huh? You too?”

Meanwhile, even though they were about to begin serious training, the players kept stealing glances outside the training ground and chatting among themselves.

The reason was simple.

Scouts were evaluating the players from outside the training ground.

Apparently, three clubs had sent scouts: Valencia, Mallorca, and even Real Madrid.

The scout sent by Valencia was obviously the foreigner I’d spoken with earlier.

Honestly, I was a little surprised by how impressive the clubs were.

I’d expected at least one or two decent second-division clubs to be mixed in, but every single one of them belonged to La Liga.

Especially Real Madrid.

I never thought a club of that caliber would come all the way to Korea just to take a look at some youth players.

There was no way they had come because they were genuinely interested in Korean prospects, so I suspected the association had spent quite a bit of money to bring them here.

“We’ll begin the practice match now. Those whose names I call, put on a bib.”

In the meantime, the age-group national team coach in charge of the training checked the roster and divided the players into teams.

I was assigned to the bib team.

My position was right winger in a 4-3-3 formation.

I was more accustomed to and comfortable with playing through the middle, but I wasn’t exactly in a position to choose my own position right now.

What could I do?

If they told me to do something, I did it.

“Hi.”

As I was tying my soccer cleats and preparing for the match, a dark-skinned boy wearing the same-colored bib approached me with a bright smile.

I didn’t recognize him.

“We’re on the same team. Let’s work well together.”

“Yeah.”

“If there’s a particular area you want the ball when you receive a pass, just tell me right away. I’ll try my best to accommodate you.”

From the way he spoke, he seemed to be one of our midfielders.

I quietly continued tying my cleats before asking him in a low voice.

“What’s your name?”

“Huh? I’m Park Min-hyuk, and—”

“Good, Min-hyuk.”

I finished tying the knot in my shoelaces.

We weren’t going to know each other for long anyway, so there was no reason to drag out the conversation.

“When you get the ball, don’t hesitate. Pass it to me.”

It was a proper match for the first time in a long while.

Since I’d already thrown away my conscience, I intended to show them what I could really do.