Second Half Chapter 42

From Gabriela’s perspective, Aaron and Ban Jerim were polar opposites in their basic dispositions. An extreme idealist and an extreme realist. It seemed so unlikely that they would get along at all that it felt almost miraculous they had bickered and stewed together for over a year as a couple. She wondered if it was only possible because they had both been so young.

To put it another way, now that they were both older and more seasoned, there seemed to be no hope for her sibling. However, she knew he would get frighteningly serious if she said such a thing, so she tactfully kept her mouth shut. Aaron nodded with an expression as if he had chewed on a bitter persimmon.

“Right now, he’s even indifferent.”

“It’s been years since you broke up, so of course that’s… Wait, are you saying you got jealous and fought, so you intentionally snatched those shoes away?”

Did time stop ten years ago for him alone? As Gabriela looked on in horror, Aaron avoided her gaze—perhaps realizing himself how childish it was—and spoke brusquely.

“…I didn’t transfer just to see the traces of someone other than me left with Jerim. I especially didn’t transfer to just quietly sit by and watch some brat much younger than me hit on him.”

That level of nonsense was a disease. Gabriela clutched her throbbing forehead, feeling she had to say this much even if nothing else got through.

“…Normally, ten years is enough time to have five different relationships and still have time left over. You’re the one who’s peculiar. Get a grip. How long are you going to live with your soul sucked out because of him?”

“Gabi, you should have said that before I decided to transfer.”

“I did say it back then! But you didn’t listen to a word of it and just flew off. Even Mom asked me if you were having some kind of change of heart.”

At the time Aaron announced his transfer, she had been in the US, so she regretted not being able to personally smack him upside the head and ask if he’d lost his mind. She had only heard about it afterward, but the rest of the family, including their biological father, had reportedly tried to dissuade Aaron as well.

It made sense; Garcia, who had served as a manager for a long time and was currently elected as the club’s chairman, was a friend of their biological father, and the company their father ran was one of the regional sponsors for Tabarona FC. From the family’s perspective and the sponsor’s perspective, it was a transfer they were bound to stop. It was to the point that even her mother, who rarely mentioned Aaron and his mother, had been so shocked by the news that she brought it up first.

But Aaron acted like a person who had only picked out the word “Mom” from Gabriela’s long speech.

“Ah, give Ines my regards. Tell her I’m doing well without any trouble.”

“…What about your mother? Are you two in touch?”

“She did contact me when the transfer announcement went out. Was it after five years, or six…”

Gabriela asked cautiously toward Aaron, who was muttering apathetically.

“Did she say she’s doing well? I heard she went back to Finland and remarried.”

“I think she has three kids there, too. Seriously, between the half-siblings and the siblings with different fathers, there are so many of them that I’m at the point where I’m confused about which child I am among how many siblings.”

Their circumstances differed slightly, but the loneliness brought about by the existence of family had long occupied the largest share among the many commonalities shared by her and Aaron. Especially the fact that despite being surrounded by a swarm of people designated as family, they were both actually no different from solitary outsiders.

That was why occasionally, Gabriela felt like Aaron was her own twin. A twin with a birthday about a month earlier. She hugged her sibling as she always did and lightly stroked his back.

“Whatever. We’re the only siblings we have, my alter ego. That’s enough.”

“Right. As long as I have you, Gabi, that’s all the family I need.”

“And as for a lover, you only need your Sky?”

“Yeah.”

There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in that answer. Meeting eyes filled with such conviction, Gabriela cleanly gave up on her plan to nag him further.

“…Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re hanging your life on him like that. But I get annoyed whenever you interfere in my love life, so I won’t say any more.”

“Good thinking. I wasn’t planning on listening any further anyway.”

If you want to make something happen, you’d better fix that obnoxious way of speaking—and stop acting so childish. Such advice rose to the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it intentionally. It was because she couldn’t shake the thought that, in the long run, it might be better for Aaron to be properly dumped this time and give up.

Even if things somehow worked out and they met again, she was worried whether the future of two people who were polar opposites would truly be bright, or if Aaron would fall apart irrecoverably this time if they were to break up again. While there is no relationship where one side only gives wounds and the other only receives them, as family, she couldn’t help but worry more about Aaron.

Having seen Aaron live in a slump for a while after Ban Jerim transferred to Newham, she seemed even more uneasy. Back then, everyone understood and moved on, saying it was just a temporary failure to adapt that young players often experience when transitioning from youth to pro, but now that he was in his late twenties, no one would apply such a lenient standard.

She knew better than anyone how much Aaron loved soccer. Even if his passion had cooled now due to burnout… she at least wanted him to avoid being pushed out and quitting because of a slump brought on by external reasons. That’s why, despite saying she wouldn’t interfere anymore, she cautiously added a few words.

“But you know, if it doesn’t work this time either, it’s really not meant to be. Give up cleanly then and focus only on soccer.”

Aaron, frowning as if he didn’t care for that advice, suddenly brought up something unexpected.

“…Back in my youth days, whenever I’d collapse because I couldn’t endure the training, Manager Luis used to scream at me every day to remind myself of the reason I had to keep running.”

Gabriela listened quietly, wondering what he was talking about all of a sudden. And at the words that followed, she was overcome with the feeling of having swallowed a whole potato that had been boiled in plain water without any seasoning.

“For me, that reason is Jerim. That’s the only thing I’ve realized while being separated from him for the past ten years.”

“You really…”

The question of whether he was a total idiot with no pride rose to the tip of her tongue, but she held it back. She couldn’t ask because she knew Aaron had also tried to forget Ban Jerim. It meant that despite those long, arduous efforts, this was the conclusion he had reached.

She was about to pour out a string of curses at the rising frustration, but when she thoughtfully kept her mouth shut, Aaron laid out even more frustrating words.

“Even soccer, which used to be so fun, became no fun because Jerim wasn’t there.”

“So? Now that you’re playing together again, is it getting fun again?”

“Would it just be fun? Every day is new. There are many times I’m angry and annoyed, but only now does my daily life feel vibrant. …Why is he still so fucking lovely? Even I find it a bit strange at this point.”

It was hard to listen to any more. Gabriela made a grand show of pretending to gag. Looking at his sister, Aaron wore a beaming smile—whether he was laughing at her or if the smile just came out naturally because he was thinking of Ban Jerim, she didn’t know. Judging by the physiological repulsion she felt, it was likely the latter.

She was patting her chest to soothe her nauseated stomach when she blurted out a sudden curiosity.

“By the way, what does he say about what happened ten years ago? Why did he do that to you? To start again, you have to resolve that first.”

“He asked me what else he was supposed to do after seeing those photos. And he said it’s all in the past now, so we shouldn’t mention it to each other.”

“Mmm, it really sounds like he has no intention of trying anything with you again… just like back then.”

Ten years ago, he had ignored every single contact, saying he had no intention of believing Aaron’s explanation, and it seemed he was maintaining a consistent attitude even now. If he had seen with his own eyes what state Aaron was in back then, he wouldn’t be able to act this heartlessly now or then.

Aaron had even escaped from the pre-season training site to go see Ban Jerim in person, only to get caught. As a fellow soccer player, he would know best how crazy an act that was. As Gabriela clicked her tongue, Aaron replied in a cold voice.

“From the looks of it, he seems to have lived without looking at a single bit of news about me all this time. Even if an article saying I’m having an arranged marriage with an alien appeared on the BBC main page, he probably wouldn’t know.”

“…He’d know that much.”

At the infinitely self-deprecating joke, Gabriela couldn’t even laugh heartily and only showed sympathy. Though her answer was meant as a form of consolation, Aaron actually snorted.