Romantic on the Field

13.

“Lee right? Hey, I never thought I’d meet Lee here!”

It was a very happy voice.

Jamie turned his head to see if he knew someone.

“uh······?”

And Jamie’s eyes widened.

“···who?”

It was the first face I had ever seen.

No matter how much I tried to remember, a face I had never seen before.

“hahahaha. Eddie! look here It’s Lee you like.”

“lee? Jamie Lee?”

Jamie found out why he didn’t recognize him.

Because he was a real stranger.

“lee! The goal today was crazy.”

“The assist was good too.”

“right. Oh, this is not it. Could you give me an autograph?”

In an instant, Jamie was surrounded by four or five people.

“I don’t have a pen right now…”

Being surrounded by fans was a familiar situation.

But now it’s time to move to Stoke City.

I couldn’t help but be embarrassed because I never thought that this would happen in a movie theater, not a stadium or training ground.

“The pen is here.”

At that time, between the swarthy men, a white, sharp arm came out of nowhere.

“Hurry up and sign it. Take a picture too.”

“···yes.”

The owner of the arm was Hannah.

Seeing him surrounded, it seems that he borrowed a pen from a movie theater attendant before he knew it.

“Are you going to be selected for the next match?”

“Can’t you come out because you’re running full time today?”

“is it? Anyway, I look forward to next time.”

“ah! Say something to Charlie Adam. If you use Lee as a third midfielder one more time, I will kill you.”

After a while, the fans who received autographs left with a smile.

“Whiyu.”

Jamie let out a sigh mixed with laughter.

“sorry. Are you surprised? I came to see a movie and it was because of me.”

He then apologized to Hannah.

“What, why are you apologizing? ha ha ha. I like to see myself being loved by the fans, right?”

Hannah smiled and crossed her arms.

“I feel better. I wish something like this would happen more often.”

“hahahaha······.”

“Ah, next time something like this happens again, you have to sign well. got it?”

“yes?”

“Professional players shouldn’t skimp on fan service.”

Jamie nodded. He knew that too. No matter how good a soccer player is, if there are no fans, it’s just one good ball player.

“Let’s see and go home. I’ll give you a prize for signing well when I get home.”

“···Prize?”

Jamie tilted her head at Hannah’s words that followed. But Hannah didn’t give a clear answer, only pulling her folded arms closer.

**

Peterborough United FC is an ordinary League One club.

Occasionally they were promoted to the Championship, but most did not last more than two seasons before returning straight away.

Alex Ferguson’s son, Darren Ferguson, once made headlines as the director, but that was all. Whether it was a player or a manager, there were no particular notable figures.

“Lee, you worked hard in the last game. I don’t mean to put any pressure on you, but as you know you have a huge role in the current Stoke attack.”

The day before the game, coach Charlie called Jamie and said.

“But the club has to think about the future as well. You can’t overdo it with a promising player who just transferred. So, for the next game, I’m going to take you off the list and give you some rest, okay?”

As he said, I wondered if it was necessary to say this to a ‘prospect who just transferred’. Jamie suppressed a laugh and replied that he knew.

In fact, Jamie was also feeling that he was gaining strength.

The point before the stamina is yet complete.

As soon as he joined the team, he started playing in the league, and even played in the Papa John’s Pizza Cup and League Cup matches.

It was understandable even if I took a break not only before Peterborough United but also until the next game.

But······.

[ Peterborough United 3-0 win]

ㄴ [Stoke showing powerlessness against Peterborough]

[ 3-0 rout. Supporters angry at the selection of an incomprehensible player]

ㄴ [Director Charlie, is it okay as it is? Criticism on and off the field]

lost.

Stoke City had the worst game and suffered a complete defeat.

There could be many reasons for this, but the biggest was that Jamie didn’t participate.

Read from noble mtl dot com

Looking at this alone, it may be a bit unfair to director Charlie, who is currently being criticized, but the problem is that this is not the end.

He appointed striker Mikel as the left wide target man, excluding Brian and central midfielder Harry Harris as a central defender as if caught in a ‘master general-mistaking himself to be a master commander and making an irrational number’.

“Dad knew too.”

“Well?”

Two days after the game, Jamie was eating with Hanna at the restaurant ‘The Rifleman’ where he proposed.

“Curning director Charlie.”

“What do you say?”

“Because he is also a club legend, and he is the manager who succeeded in remaining without being relegated last year…. I don’t think you have any plans to cut right now?”

Jamie nodded. Well, there wasn’t enough justification for hardening right away.

“How is the team atmosphere?”

“Well, not bad.”

Yesterday’s defeat dropped Stoke City to 16th in the standings.

With a total of 24 clubs participating in League One, it was still in the mid-table. There was no particular reason why the atmosphere was not good.

“Do you remember what we promised back then?”

“Appointment?”

“Look at you pretending not to know. shocking. If we don’t get promoted in the first season, we decided to transfer.”

Ahh. Jamie nodded again. Of course I remembered.

Promotion to the Championship this year, and then directly to the Premier League, was Jamie’s condition.

“There is still plenty of time. that’s enough. Promoting all the way to the Premier League, I am.”

“The condition is to win the Premier League.”

“…was it?”

Jamie shut his mouth for a moment. Looking at Stoke City now, winning the Premier League seemed very far away.

“Still, I’m glad the next match was a bit easier.”

“yes?”

“The next game is easy. Oxford United and Cambridge United.”

Both Oxford United and Cambridge United were teams based in cities famous for their universities. And both were mediocre teams hovering in the lower half of the third division.

“Well. It’s fine as long as I come out…”

“what the. If you come out, you win unconditionally, right?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

Jamie touched Hannah’s cheek with the back of her hand.

“Let’s finish eating and go to the museum.”

“Why is the museum suddenly?”

“There is such a thing.”

After eating, the two got into the car.

Our destination is the Wedgewood Museum.

Wedgewood is a global porcelain brand. Even the British royal family uses the brand’s products.

As a city famous for its pottery, Wedgewood’s headquarters were also located in Stoke-on-Trent.

“They say you can try making pottery yourself.”

“Five. really?”

There were not a few Wedgewood products in the newlyweds’ house, but Hannah’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as if it was her first time going to the headquarters.

“Wow······.”

It was quite a distance, but when I arrived, I felt good about coming.

Founder Josiah was able to see not only the biography of Wedgewood and the brand’s founding story, but also various collections.

As it boasts a history of nearly 300 years, it was fun to visit the museum as the name suggests, rather than simply promoting its products.

“babe. Let’s go over there quickly. It is a pottery making experience center. Crazy.”

“hahahaha. You said I was there.”

Most of all, it was nice to see Hannah having fun.

Since becoming an adult, I have rarely seen her smile.

It was all about football. Even after the game was over, even on non-game days, it was hard to see the face itself, let alone a smile, as he was busy with soccer-related schedules.

“babe.”

“yes?”

“oh my god. i love it.”

Growing up in Stoke-on-Trent, he thought he would have grown tired of pottery, but Jamie was mistaken.

Even though she is a ‘soccer otaku’ who likes soccer, Hannah is basically someone who likes pretty things.

I admired the porcelain that was neither too flashy nor too plain, yet created a luxurious atmosphere.

“I guess I don’t have dexterity.”

Although his face darkened as he looked at the pottery he had made.

“Did you know that now?”

“Ugh.”

On the way home, the sky darkened before I knew it. More than the year or face I saw my pottery.

“what. Did you know?”

“hahahaha. I did not know. That’s just what I said.”

Jamie touched Hannah’s nose with her fingertips and started the car.

“ah. I’ll go see the next game.”

“Well?”

“I asked the doctor, and he said you can go and see it.”

Stoke City’s home stadium, Bet 777 Stadium, at this point had a pretty major remodel two years ago.

Among them, there is also a power analysis room, where scouts watch the game together with power analysis officers.

“Good. Instead, don’t get too excited if I score a goal.”

“Oh? I’m not excited enough to score a goal now. I don’t know if I can do a hat trick.”

Jamie smiled at Hannah’s words.

“Then I’ll just have to score two goals.”

**

A few days later, at the Bet 777 Stadium against Oxford United.

Hannah was waiting for the kickoff with the power analysts.

“Are you nervous?”

Kim Tae-wan, a new power analyst, asked her while handing her a drink. Along with Hannah, he was the only Korean coaching staff in Scott City.

“hahahaha. What is there to be nervous about? It’s just a normal league game.”

“Yes? I am trembling.”

click. Taewan laughed and opened his own drink.

“Peterborough was completely defeated.”

“Today will be different.”

Hannah pointed at the arena with her chin.

“Is Lee coming out?”

Taewan asked with a smile.

“Yes.”

“hahahaha. That’s right. still······.”

Then he lowered his voice sharply.

“It comes in three lines. No, until when will the coach be used in the third line?”

“well. It’s not something a scout would ask.”

The two laughed lightly.

“do.”

After a while, the match started. Hanna crossed her palms as if in prayer and looked out over the field.

“yes?”

After a while, he untied his folded hands and furrowed his brows.

“Didn’t you play as a central midfielder today?”

“Iknow, right. I knew that too…”

Jamie was not just a central midfielder, but almost a defensive midfielder position.

‘That guy…’

Hanna glared at Coach Charlie, who was sitting on the bench.

“Oh, go up.”

At that time, Hanna quickly looked away at Tae-wan’s words.

As he said, Jamie, who caught the ball near the Stoke penalty box, was advancing.

“Are you going to score a goal by yourself again?”

Seeing this, Taewan murmured.

But this time it was different. He passed to right wing Troy and himself crossed the half line without the ball.

Troy peeled off the opposing defense that was pressuring him with his rugged skills.

“Five.”

It was a pretty big achievement for Troy, who usually struggled with 0.5 servings, let alone one serving.

As if he knew that fact, he gave the ball back to Jamie in the center without being greedy.

Jamie wanted to look around, then slammed forward.

At this time, Brian comes up from the left.

Recently, Brian has been showing good form by scoring consecutive goals. Perhaps because of that, unlike usual, the defenders were not driven by Jamie and attached to Brian.

Thanks to this, there is space in the front.

Jamie didn’t hesitate.

Even though it was a long distance of 25 meters, maybe close to 30 meters, he boldly fired a mid-range shot.

And the shot flew at a very high speed, as if it had been doubled, and hit the upper left corner of the goal.

“Hey-yah!”

“aaa!”

The power analysis room was instantly engulfed with excitement.

“Liyi! Jamie Leeyy!”

“hahahaha! Even if I play as a defensive midfielder, I score goals!”

hahahaha. Hannah gasped, trying not to get too excited.

By the way······.

“uh? Are you coming this way?”

Jamie was running towards the glass wall of the power analysis room.

“Come to Hannah!”

“Choi, choy!”

The power analysts and scouts, including Tae-wan, burst out laughing while looking at Jamie and Hannah alternately.

On the other hand, Hannah, the person involved, stared blankly at Jamie, who was running towards her.

Jamie crossed his thumb and forefinger at her with a smile on his face.

“Me-what is that?”

“ah. It’s called K-Heart. It’s a popular hand gesture in Korea.”

The others were puzzled, and Tae-wan, a Korean, explained.

“…”

Hanna seemed hesitant, then raised her hand slightly and crossed her thumb and forefinger as if it were barely visible.

“what. Why are you so shy!”

“ha ha ha. I guess this will be an article.”

Unlike the people around her who were happy, Hannah’s ears were red from embarrassment.