Second Half Chapter 23

Unlike me, who runs for such common reasons, Aaron held a reason that was incredibly simple yet fundamental. Fun. The problem was that the “reason”—the fun—had disappeared. This was certainly a big deal. It was also a mystery why he had bothered to transfer to Sefton now, having lost his motivation to keep running.

Jerim softened his tone as much as possible and asked.

“But if it’s like that, you should be getting mental care, so why a transfer to Sefton…”

“Because seeing you during the last final reminded me. Of an achievement I haven’t fulfilled.”

Jerim’s eyes narrowed slightly at the cryptic words. It was because he couldn’t guess at all what the identity of that unfulfilled achievement was—something Aaron would think of just by looking at him. At best, a Treble? But to achieve that goal, it would have been better to stay at Taborona.

Could those words he mumbled about the team’s jinx of having no luck with the Copa del Rey have been sincere? Transferring to another club just to break that jinx? But that was an idea one could come up with without necessarily looking at him. To Jerim, who wore a face that suggested he hadn’t a clue, Aaron kindly threw a hint.

“I realized I hadn’t kept the promise I made to you.”

The moment he heard the word “promise,” a fragment of an old memory flashed through his mind.

‘We lift the Big Ear together. And wouldn’t it be romantic enough to remember for a lifetime if we kiss against a background of falling confetti and fireworks?’

‘So you’re saying we should spread the rumor to the whole world that the two of us are dating right now?’

‘I don’t think it’ll become that much of a hot topic. If you’re okay with it, I really don’t mind starting rumors, though.’

‘I hate rumors. But that sounds nice, lifting the Big Ear together.’

What promise couldn’t one make when they were young? Especially when it was a time when they were both head over heels for each other. Even if they couldn’t promise to pluck the stars or the moon from the sky, they could make a promise as simple as lifting the Big Ear together as much as they wanted. Even if it meant they had to make unrealistic future plans to play for the same club forever.

Back then, Jerim liked the boy who laid out words like a dream while wearing an equally dreamy face. Because the way he begged for a promise while looking at him with eyes more sparkling than the stars in the sky they were watching together was just so lovely, Jerim had snapped up the offer without even thinking about the future.

However, to keep that promise now… wasn’t it a bit of a stretch? Since they ended up playing for the same team, they could “win the Champions League together,” but they were no longer in a relationship where they could kiss while holding the trophy.

Besides, how long had it been since they broke up, and he transferred just to keep a single promise made in their youth? And that too, for the reason of trying to lift the Big Ear—which he himself had won as easily as eating a meal—this time with someone else? There were many points that stuck out in various ways for him to just accept it and move on.

“…No way, you mean lifting the Big Ear together?”

When Jerim asked with a reluctant face, Aaron’s expression also became subtle. Every time Aaron’s eyes crinkled like that, Jerim felt his heart drop, wondering what this bastard’s nerves were twisted about this time and what crazy thing he was planning to do.

Fortunately, Aaron only muttered a small curse and didn’t do anything else. The way he sighed as if he were appalled while messing up his hair made it seem like he was being hit by a massive sense of futility. His neatly swept-back bangs fell in strands over his forehead with just a few strokes of Aaron’s hand.

With his hair down like that, he seemed to show a bit of his old self. Just as Jerim’s eyes inadvertently drifted toward Aaron’s face, Aaron jerked his head up and their gazes met head-on. He replied in a somewhat dejected voice.

“…That was one of the promises, too.”

“Lifting the Big Ear and kissing… it probably isn’t that. What else is there?”

What is with this bastard’s reaction. Because he looked so despondent, Jerim felt a wave of unnecessary guilt despite having committed no crime. Since the only promise that came to mind no matter how much he racked his brain was “lifting the Big Ear together,” it was all the more a mystery. Words in a heavily sarcastic tone flew at Jerim.

“Right, I figured you would have forgotten. You’ve always been so indifferent. I’m utterly honored that you at least managed to remember the part about lifting the Big Ear together.”

“Don’t be sarcastic. Then just tell me what it is.”

“No. You’re the one who said it, so you figure it out.”

“No, I’m telling you I can’t think of anything! It’s frustrating, so just tell me.”

Just how great a promise is it that he’s hiding it. Whether he had amazingly overheard the grumbling to himself, a vein popped on Aaron’s forehead.

“Captain, you haven’t already come down with dementia, have you? That would be troublesome. How would I win the Champions League while playing with a midfielder who has dementia?”

“You have such a beautiful way with words. I’ll make sure not to remember just to thank you.”

“…I really want to kill you.”

“Yeah, same here. Endure it.”

The sound of huffing breaths as they glared at each other echoed. It was Jerim who regained his reason first. His sense of responsibility, derived from the fact that he was the hyung—having a birthday about half a year earlier than Aaron—and his position as captain, woke him up.

Seeing as he was protesting with his mouth shut tight, it seemed he wouldn’t tell him what the other promise was even if he died, so Jerim gave up on prying for now. Instead, he brought up the doubt he had held from the beginning.

“Anyway, that promise to lift the Big Ear together played a part, right? But did you really transfer for just such a reason?”

“What do you mean ‘just’. For me, it’s a next goal I barely managed to find. Other than that, there really isn’t anything I haven’t achieved.”

“You said you didn’t achieve the Treble, you arrogant prick. Why didn’t you try for the Treble at Taborona?”

“Why bother? I can aim for the Treble at Sefton well enough.”

That was true. After only seeing Taborona fans, whose feelings had soured due to Aaron’s transfer, curse at Sefton as a shitty club every day, hearing words of recognition for Sefton from the mouth of the man who was actually Taborona’s ace made his heart feel a bit more lenient.

“The conclusion is, you were going crazy because soccer became boring, then you realized the promise you made with me was your only unfulfilled goal and came here to achieve it? And while you’re at it, aim for a Treble at a new club too?”

As Jerim summarized what he understood, Aaron nodded readily.

“Right. Conveniently, you’re currently struggling without having lifted the Big Ear even once. I thought if I came and made Sefton win the championship, that would be fun in its own way.”

To interpret it nicely, it meant that since there was a promise made in the past, he came to challenge himself to break his own mannerism while also handing Jerim a trophy. And it seemed there was one more promise that Jerim couldn’t remember.

Despite it being something he should be quite moved by, Jerim just bit his lip as the mood was completely ruined. It’s a talent if it’s a talent to say the same thing so annoyingly. So, instead of saying thank you, he used the opportunity to keep prying about the things he was curious about.

“Then why were you delaying and not renewing your contract?”

“Because I was also considering retiring. And my relationship with the club… had already soured.”

Since a guy who was on good terms with his club wouldn’t pull a free agency run, the rest of the sentence fell within an expected range. However, the fact that he had even considered retirement was unexpected, so Jerim suppressed his surprised heart and replied as if grumbling.

“…You should have just done that.”

From the answer just now, he came to fully understand how skeptical Aaron had felt about his professional life before choosing the radical step of a transfer. But since it was awkward to comfort him now after fighting the whole time, he only threw a reproach. Aaron chuckled out loud again at the trivial joke.

Jerim, who was watching that scene quietly, realized anew. He had thought that all the elements that made up Aaron had naturally changed as the long years passed, but they hadn’t. That one laughing face was identical to the afterimage left in his memory.

The corners of the mouth curling up coolly, the slender eyes crinkling softly, and the bridge of the nose wrinkling slightly. Even the way his characteristic decadent impression transformed like a mischievous boy.

It was a face he had truly liked. Because it was so much the same that it inadvertently brought back old memories as he kept looking, Jerim turned his gaze away as if he weren’t interested.

“For a guy who says everything is boring, you sure laugh damn well.”

“I told you. Because you’re fun. Ah, I’m proud of myself for choosing the option of transferring to Sefton instead of retiring. If I hadn’t, when would I have been able to laugh like this again?”

“Whatever. Laugh all you want, and let’s set some rules.”