5 — The First Goal

Life went on as usual. It had become a routine for me. Wake up, eat breakfast, practice football, come home, eat lunch, practice football, eat dinner, practice football, and go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. The rest of my time was spent studying and reading books. Occasionally, I'd play with Mia and Su Ah, though the former was less than cooperative.

I was seven years old now. A lot more independent, but not quite at the stage where I could freely make my own choices. My parents had decided that I should join a private school, which didn't bother me at all. In fact, I preferred it. Public schools tended to have more distractions, whereas I found that private institutions offered more structure and discipline.

I was a few inches taller, and my body had matured a bit. I had the physique of a young child athlete. My face was still the same, though; soft and delicate, which I hated. I didn't like the fact that I looked cute, but I was sure that genetics would kick in the moment I hit puberty.

Hopefully, I won't end up resembling a flower boy. I couldn't imagine myself as one of those K-pop idols with their perfect hair and makeup.

As expected, my parents spared no expense on my education. The school I attended was one of the most prestigious in the area, and it showed. The facilities were state-of-the-art, the teachers were well-educated professionals, and the students were from affluent families. It was like a small community of privileged children.

From the favelas of Rio to the private schools of Seoul.

It's like I was meant to experience a complete turnaround in social status from the get go. After all, I only ever reached front page popularity when my career peaked. As for my football practices, I joined a grassroot club. They were decent enough, and the trainers were pretty good.

Though I was aiming higher, and so was my father.

He knew important people—and some of these people knew the right ones to call when the opportunity arises.

An opportunity to enter the Youth League.

Yeong Gu wanted to enroll me in one of the country's top football schools. Unfortunately, the open tryouts would only be held during summer holidays. Still a couple of months left.

In the meanwhile, I was preparing myself for my first official game. It was a friendly match between schools. There was nothing exciting about it; the only spectators were parents, siblings and relatives. Just enough of a crowd to make it seem like a real event.

Our school, Suryong Private School, was facing off against another private institution. Both teams consisted of U-10 players. In my case, I was the only 7 years old in our team. As I stared at my teammates warming up, I felt second hand embarrassment. Some were goofing around, others were joking and laughing, while some were simply sitting on the sidelines and chatting with their friends.

It didn't matter if it was a friendly match, I couldn't stand this lackadaisical attitude.

"Hey, guys!" I called out to them. They turned towards me, confused. "We're about to play a match, shouldn't we be focusing on getting ready?"

My teammates exchanged glances, before one of them, a boy with a square jaw and a crew cut, spoke up. "We're only playing a bunch of noobs, why bother? We'll just beat them anyway."

"Even if the team you're facing is bad, you shouldn't underestimate your opponents." I argued. "You should always treat every match as if it were the championship."

The rest of the team snickered and laughed. "Alright, alright, we'll do what the baby wants." The boy said, rolling his eyes.

I frowned, not liking the condescending tone he used. "Fine, whatever." I replied, turning away from them.

I knew they weren't taking me seriously, but that was fine by me. If they wanted to slack off, then I wouldn't waste my energy trying to change their minds.

Honestly, imparting wisdom onto them would be as useful as trying to teach a dog how to speak. They were, at most, just kids. I didn't want to act like a know-it-all either, not unless I could prove it on the pitch.

Against not even 10 year old kids?

Ah, how the mighty have fallen.

xXx

Eun Has's POV:

Yeong Gu, Eun Ha, and their two daughters sat among the other parents and siblings who were waiting for the game to start. Yeong Gu was wearing a black suit and tie, while Eun Ha wore a simple dress. The latter garnered a lot of attention due to her beauty, which only widened the satisfied smile on the former.

Su Ah wore a bored frown, clearly not caring about the event. She had come along to support Jae-il, but her attention was focused elsewhere. Mia wasn't particularly interested either, too busy playing on her dad's phone.

When the whistle blew, signaling the beginning of the match, both teams took their positions.

On one side, there was a group of kids wearing blue uniforms with red stripes running down the sides, while on the other side were a group of kids in white shirts with blue shorts.

"Our Jae-il looks so cute!" Eun Ha squealed happily as she watched her son jog towards the center of the field, taking his position in the midfield. He was wearing the blue uniform, with the number 9 on his back.

Yeong Gu chuckled at his wife's enthusiasm. "I'm looking forward to seeing him play." He said, smiling fondly. "I've seen him play a couple of times. The coach's told me he's a prodigy."

Su Ah glanced at her father, her expression unchanging. "Is he really that good?" There was a trace of good-natured skepticism.

"Of course he is!" Eun Ha exclaimed proudly. "My little angel is amazing at everything he does!"

Mia, however, remained silent throughout the conversation, her eyes still glued to the phone.

The match began with a kick-off from the blue team. A short, chubby kid received the ball and dribbled towards the opposition's half. He was immediately surrounded by two opponents, and he lost possession of the ball. The white team quickly advanced forward with a counterattack, their forwards sprinting past the midfielders.

Jae-il's teammates were barely keeping up. They were disorganized and lacked coordination.

The chubby boy who lost the ball had returned to the defensive line, trying to help out his teammates.

"Defense! Defense!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

But his cries fell on deaf ears as the white team broke through the defensive line and fired a shot at the goal.

"Goal!" One of the parents rose up to clap as the ball sailed past the goalkeeper's outstretched hands and into the net.

The crowd cheered loudly, while the players celebrated the first goal.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the field, the blue team looked dejected. Some of them were visibly frustrated, while others looked bored or apathetic. The only exception to the rule was the little 7 year old, whose face was set in an indifferent expression.

The chubby boy, whose name was Joo Won, shrunk in embarrassment. While the taken goal was the whole team's mistake, he was the one to provide the opponents with the opportunity. "S-Sorry..." Shit—his parents had been watching too.

"Don't worry about it." Jae-il patted the boy's shoulder as he walked by, his stride unhurried. "We've got a lot of time to catch up."

Joo Won nodded, and quickly got back into position as the match restarted. His teammates, on the other hand, didn't seem to share the same optimism. They were clearly demoralized, and they were already showing signs of giving up. Then again, what could Jae-il expect from a bunch of kids? They were not even from a legit football club.

The match resumed with a kick-off from the blue team.

Eun Ha's enthusiasm took a little of a blow when, not even a couple of minutes into the game, her son's team was already at a disadvantage. "Oh no! Our baby is losing!" She cried out.

Yeong Gu patted her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry. They still have time to turn it around." His voice was full of confidence.

Eun Ha looked at him hopefully, nodding. "I hope so." She turned back to the field, and continued silently cheering for her son.

The whistle blew. This time, the ball was tapped back from the center spot to one of Suryong's midfielders, a lanky kid who immediately looked panicked as two white-shirted players converged on him. He hoofed it forward aimlessly.

Jae-il, positioned slightly ahead, watched the clumsy pass sail towards the opposing defenders. Amateurs, he thought, a familiar sigh echoing in his mind. 'Fine. If you won't play properly, I will.'

He didn't sprint. Instead, he glided, his tiny legs a blur of controlled motion, intercepting the hopeful clearance from an opposing defender who had misjudged the high, awkward ball. It landed softly at Jae-il's feet, as if magnetically drawn there.

Immediately, two opponents from the white team swarmed him, their bigger frames attempting to box him in. The boy with the square jaw from his own team shouted, "Pass it, Jae-il! Pass!"

Jae-il ignored him. He wasn't being arrogant; he was being efficient. A pass to any of his current teammates was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

With a subtle feint to his left, a mere dip of his shoulder, he sent one defender stumbling. The other lunged, but Jae-il was already gone, the ball an extension of his foot as he performed a quick la croqueta, shifting it from his right to his left foot in a movement so fluid it was almost invisible, slipping through the narrow gap between them.

The small crowd murmured. Yeong Gu leaned forward, a knowing glint in his eyes.

Now in open space, Jae-il surveyed the field. His teammates were still jogging, some looking surprised he'd even kept possession. The opponents' defensive line was high, overconfident.

He saw his striker, the same square-jawed boy, making a half-hearted run, more out of obligation than genuine anticipation. Jae-il could have threaded a perfect through-ball, but he doubted the boy's ability to control it, let alone finish.

No. This one's mine.

He accelerated, his small frame belying the explosive power in his legs. The ball seemed glued to his cleats as he weaved past another midfielder who tried a desperate slide tackle.

Jae-il simply hopped over the outstretched leg, the ball lifted momentarily with the outside of his boot before settling back into his stride. It was the kind of effortless grace that spoke of countless hours, no, a lifetime of practice.

The last defender, a tall, slightly gangly kid, stood between him and the goalkeeper.

The defender looked nervous, his eyes wide. Jae-il approached, then, with a sudden burst of speed, faked a shot with his right foot. The defender flinched, committing his weight. Jae-il dragged the ball back with the sole of his boot, pirouetted around the now off-balance boy, and found himself face-to-face with the goalkeeper.

The keeper, brave but outmatched, rushed out. Jae-il didn't panic. He didn't blast it. With a delicate chip, almost casual, he lofted the ball over the keeper's desperate dive. It floated, as if in slow motion, before nestling gently into the back of the net.

Silence.

Then, Eun Ha’s shriek of pure joy pierced the air. "JAE-IL! MY ANGEL!"

Yeong Gu was clapping, a broad, proud smile on his face. Su Ah, for the first time, actually looked up from her phone, an eyebrow slightly raised. Mia, surprisingly, had also paused her game, her small eyes fixed on her younger brother.

On the field, Jae-il’s teammates stared, mouths agape. The square-jawed boy who had told him to pass looked particularly stunned. Joo Won, the chubby defender, was beaming.

The opposing team looked bewildered. They had been undone not by a team, but by a single, tiny seven-year-old who moved like a seasoned professional.

Even the adults were floored by what they were seeing—especially the more football-savvy ones.

“Who is that kid?”

“Did you just see what he did?”

“Must’ve been a fluke, right?”

“......”

Jae-il simply turned and jogged back to the center circle, his expression unchanged, though a flicker of grim satisfaction warmed him internally. There wasn’t really any glory to destroying a bunch of kids in a profession he lived and died for, but what was he supposed to do?

Hold back like an idiot?

The game restarted. The white team, now wary, tried to mark Jae-il with two, sometimes three players. It didn't matter.

The moment the ball came near him, he’d invariably secure it. If they pressed him too hard, he’d use their aggression against them, a quick turn, a sudden burst of pace, and he’d be free. His passes, when he chose to make them, were precise, weighted perfectly, though they often went begging as his teammates struggled to anticipate or control them.

So, he scored again.

This time, he picked up the ball deep in his own half after another sloppy pass from his team. He didn't sprint immediately. He dribbled, head up, drawing opponents towards him like moths to a flame.

As three converged, he executed a perfect elastico, the ball seeming to defy physics as it snaked around a defender's legs.

He then threaded a pass between two more, ran onto his own pass as it ricocheted favorably (or perhaps he'd planned it that way) off a stunned teammate’s shin, and, from twenty yards out, unleashed a shot.

It wasn't a powerhouse strike, not with his seven-year-old physique. But it was perfectly placed, curling into the top corner, far beyond the goalkeeper’s limited reach.

2-1.

"Did you see that? Did you see my son?!" Eun Ha was practically bouncing in her seat, grabbing Yeong Gu's arm.

"He's... not bad." Su Ah conceded, actually surprised.

Jae-il’s teammates were now looking at him with a mixture of awe and fear. The square-jawed boy, during a brief pause as the ball went out of play, jogged over.

"H-hey, Jae-il…" He stammered, his earlier condescension gone. "That was... incredible. How do you do that?"

Jae-il just looked at him. "Focus on your positioning. When I have the ball, make a smart run."

He didn't wait for a reply, already moving to take the throw-in.

The first half continued in a similar vein. The opposition, frustrated and demoralized, started making mistakes. Their coach was yelling from the sidelines, but his instructions were useless against Jae-il’s almost supernatural talent.

Jae-il scored a third goal, a mazy dribble that started near the halfway line, where he slalomed past four bewildered defenders before slotting the ball coolly past the keeper.

Then, for his fourth, he actually used a teammate. He drew the entire defense to himself before laying off a simple square pass to Joo Won, who had surprisingly lumbered forward into an open position. Joo Won, shocked to receive the ball with an open goal gaping, managed to scuff it into the net.

Joo Won looked like he might cry from happiness, mobbed by Jae-il who gave him a quick, professional pat on the head. Even that small gesture seemed to galvanize the chubby boy.

The score was 4-1 when the whistle blew for halftime. Jae-il had scored three and assisted one.

As he walked off the pitch, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, he saw his family.

Eun Ha was waving frantically. Yeong Gu gave him a thumbs up and a proud nod. Su Ah was actually smiling, a small, genuine smile. Even Mia offered a tiny, almost imperceptible wave.

His teammates followed him, no longer joking or goofing around. They were quiet, occasionally stealing glances at the small boy who had single-handedly turned the game on its head.

The square-jawed boy trotted beside him. "Jae-il… you're insane."

Jae-il only shrugged. They had no idea. This was nothing to him, almost a game. Fun fact, it indeed was. Still, it was a start. Just a tiny step toward the deafening roar of the crowd, the rush of true competition, and the glory he meant to reclaim—and, this time—surpass.

For now, dismantling a U-10 school team would have to do.