𝟑 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐒 | 𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐒𝐇𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐄 {✔}

019

"To be honest, I'd rather die."

Y/N, who was just outside the room, listening to the conversation, pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "This brat!"

Sae continued, "Rather than play football in this country... I'd much rather be with Germany's college students."

The interviewer gave an awkward laugh, trying not to sound rude to the player sitting in front of him. "Okay... Itoshi, you were chosen by PIFA to be part of their youth World XI team... and on top of that, you're a very promising midfielder many teams would love to have in their lineup... While you're all but certain to be the player to lead Japan's national team and represent the country, I must ask... what are your thoughts and expectations regarding that?"

Sae got up from his seat and walked over to the door, giving a firm reply, "I have no interest in it whatsoever. Not only could I ever expect to win a championship with such a squad, it's not my dream to begin with. That would be winning the Champions League."

He tilted the door handle down, looking at the interviewer, and shared his last statement, "There is no forward in this country worthy of receiving one of the passes. I was simply born in the wrong country."

The man chuckled, saying, "Oh... thank you for your time..."

"You too... my manager can handle the rest," Sae said and exited the room, only to see Y/N glaring at him like she wanted to kill him. But before she could knock some sense into him, she walked into the room and apologized for Sae's behavior.

"He just lacks sense. Sorry for it."

"Oh? Yeah... right. It's fine," the interviewer said. The moment Y/N raised her head, their eyes met, and it didn't take even a second for them to recognize each other.

"OH! Y/N?"

"Nihei uncle..."

"You are his manager...?" he asked, and she rubbed the back of her neck, saying, "Well... it's a long story. I'm just a temporary manager."

"Ah... I see. So, um, did you really quit?" he asked, and Y/N passed a weak smile at him, saying, "Yeah," before exiting the room. Nihei had known Y/N since she was a child, being her dad's friend, so he understood her situation well.

"Sae!" Y/N called out in the hallway, and he stopped in his tracks to look at her. "Do you want the media to hate you or something?!" she scolded, smacking his head from behind. He groaned and rubbed the back of his head while his attention switched to the room they were passing by. "Isn't this hotel pretty crowded?" he asked, noticing the huge crowd inside.

Y/N popped up next to him, looking at the view and nodding. "Looks like they're having a press conference at the event hall..."

The two of them stood and watched the intriguing conference about a project called 'Blue Lock' that aimed to gather 300 strikers, both male and female, and select the one who could survive amongst everyone to lead Japan's national team in the World Cup.

All of it sounded really stupid to Y/N because she couldn't imagine other players losing their dreams. But when she glanced over at Sae, he looked fascinated by the project.

"Sae, we need to leave. There's not much time before the flight to Spain," Y/N mentioned.

"Cancel it."

"Oh, come on, don't do this!"

"I will judge the forward born in this new Japan... with my own eyes."

---

"Oh, I see... so that's what happened," Girolain sighed after hearing the news that Y/N broke to him. "He stayed behind for that stupid project."

"Well, we can't do anything if he doesn't want to go back. I'll rearrange his schedule, so don't stress too much. You have been taking good care of him," Girolain reassured, and the two quickly put an end to their conversation.