Chapter 9: 9 — MVP

Cha Mia's POV:

There was a time, not too long ago, when Mia genuinely believed her goofy step-brother, Dae Ho, would have a hard time keeping himself afloat in the adult world. This concern stemmed from his seemingly lack of talent or interest in any particular field. It was a highly competitive world out there, and he was not prepared for it.

Her expectations, however, didn't match reality.

'This… what is this?'

Mia couldn't help but gawk as she stared at that goofy brother of hers, except that he wasn't goofy anymore. He took one preparatory step back, the grass crunching under his shoes.

He squared his shoulders, did a little jog on the spot, and then bolted his left foot forward, at the side of the ball, and with his right one, he shot. Mia's breath came out in an incredulous, rattling exhale.

The ball rocketed out, drawing a beautiful overhead arch, before it slammed into the crossbar of the post. Mia could almost feel the vibration spreading through the white-painted aluminum and into her heart.

An ignorant passerby might have thought that Dae Ho had missed the shot, even though the goalpost was empty, and, technically, scoring shouldn't have required particular focus or skill.

That same ignorant passerby would also not know that Dae Ho was currently doing a crossbar challenge, and that was his sixth, perfect crossbar hit in a row.

But Mia knew.

Dae Ho never once missed. There was no hesitation, no wavering in his eyes. Each shot was thrown with such proficiency that even a random group of kids occupying the other half of the pitch stopped playing to watch him.

Hitting the crossbar once could have been considered luck. Twice a coincidence.

What about three times? Four times? Five times?

Six fucking times?

"W-Why did you stop?" Mia couldn't help but ask once she caught up with him, a glistening pearl of sweat making a beeline for the valley of her cleavage.

Dae Ho shrugged, eyes distant. "Six is a symbolic number for me." He said wistfully.

"Huh?"

That serious, gloomy expression melted off his face, leaving the shadow of a smile in its place. He tilted his head to look at her. "Why don't you try as well?" He suggested, tapping the ball under his foot.

It went rolling towards her. Mia stopped it with the sole of her right foot. "I don't know… I've never done it before."

"It's fine. I'll teach you, it's not hard."

Those words didn't exactly boost her confidence, but she was not the type of girl that'd give up without trying, at least. Besides, they had come here for a 'reason'.

A bit of pink came over to her cheeks.

"And if you suck, I promise that I won't laugh." Dae Ho smiled at her.

Mia stared at the hand behind his back and narrowed her eyes. "You're crossing your fingers, aren't you?"

His smile turned into a smirk reminiscent of hers. "I would never."

"Alright, alright…" She raised her hands in surrender. "So, what do I have to do to hit a shot like yours?"

"Baby steps, Mia Noona." Dae Ho said, prompting her to step back. "So, what you want to do is to use a specific part of your foot to hit the ball."

"What? Is it that complicated?" Mia griped.

"It's not. It might sound a bit daunting at first, but once you get the gist of it and practice it regularly, it'll come as second nature." Dae Ho explained patiently. At her unamused stare, he continued. "Typically, you should use the laces of your shoes to hit the ball. I say typically, because there are different techniques, but we're not going over them. We just want you to properly shoot the ball."

She took a few steps back, mimicking his earlier positioning. "Now what?"

"Now you do a little sprint to pick up power, and shoot. Simple as that." He reminded her. "Don't forget to use the laces of your shoe, and not the tip."

Mia eyed the ball in front of her as if it were her enemy. "Alright. I got this!" She did his funny pre-shooting jog, planted her left foot forward, and with her dominant one, she struck the ball. She didn't know if she hit it correctly, though considering that the ball missed the mark by an absurdly wide margin, it was safe to assume that she failed.

'Oh well…'

It was not like she was planning to become a professional player. To her, it was just a sport. What was the appeal of running after a ball anyway?

"It was not… bad." Dae Ho reassured.

Mia sighed. "No, it's not for me. I'd rather watch you play."

He tilted his head. "What about the bet?"

"Tch." Mia turned away, flipping her sweat-slicked hair to the side. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Why would I?"

"Shut up and play some more. I'll watch you from the side. Besides, my toes are killing me."

With that, she proceeded to plop herself down outside the pitch, arms wrapped around her raised knees. 'Stupid bet.' She thought to herself, already dreading the humiliating request Dae Ho would no doubt remind her of. 'Whatever. It's just a massage.'

Mia heaved a deep sigh as she watched Dae Ho's dominance over the ball. It was glued to his feet, no matter what it did. Even the way he ran around, dribbling invisible opponents, and swirling the ball around himself in a dazzling display of pure skill and talent. It was incredibly pleasing to watch.

He made it look so easy too.

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She kind of wanted to see him play against real opponents, though.

There must have been a God out there who had the same thought as her, for a couple of kids dislodged themselves from their group of 7, and approached Dae Ho.

She blinked. "Hoh?"

Dae Ho stopped juggling the ball and stared at them. One of the boys smiled and striked a conversation, though, from her distance, she couldn't hear what they could possibly be talking about.

Her little brother nodded along to whatever the boy was saying, and some sort of agreement was made. Dae Ho was invited to join them over the other half of the pitch.

The group of now eight guys converged. More discussion ensued, before a round of nods from each of them decided the result.

Mia leaned back on her elbows, draping one leg over the other.

The group, along with Dae Ho, spread out over the entirety of the pitch. Four players on one side, and four on the other. 'Ohh, are they going to play?' Mia shuffled, now sitting cross-legged. Her eyes were locked on Dae Ho, who didn't seem either nervous or excited.

The captains of each team tossed a coin up in the air to determine who'd start the kickoff. In a stroke of fortune, Dae Ho's team was chosen for the opening.

Usually, a whistle would be the green light for the match to start, but since there was no referee, a silent consensus was all they needed. One of the boys gently tapped the ball at the center of the pitch. Dae Ho received it and passed it back.

The pitch was quite big for only 4 players per team, but it was doable.

Mia watched the match disinterestedly… until Dae Ho got the ball.

One of the opponents was immediately on him, but Dae Ho's composure was steady. The wind brushed his hair, ruffling it, as he slid the outer side of his right foot over the ball, curving it, and bringing it to the inside of his boot in one swift movement.

His elastico left the opponent dumbstruck.

Dae Ho sped past him.

Mia balled her hands into fists. 'Amazing…'

It was too soon to celebrate. Another player hastened to close in on Dae Ho, but the latter solved him with a perfectly executed rainbow flick. Mia didn't see exactly how he did it, but the ball had suddenly soared up from behind him, and vaulted over the defender, before Dae Ho reclaimed it with an impeccable stop from his foot.

All three players scurried like rodents after Dae Ho.

The goalkeeper realized the threat he posed and retreated. Unfortunately for him, the striker encroaching into the penalty spot at a fast speed was a brilliant finisher.

Left foot forward. Right foot loaded back.

And then Dae Ho slammed his instep into the sphere.

The ball was not packed with a lot of force. Actually, there was very little of it. Accuracy over power. Dae Ho had added a sidespin to the ball, and that resulted in a beautiful curve that left the goalkeeper motionless and helpless.

It socketed itself into the top right corner of the net.

Mia never thought of football as a particularly exciting sport, but Dae Ho's sudden show of absolute dominance made her heart thrum.

She couldn't tear her gaze off him.

He didn't celebrate the stunning goal he scored. He just smiled and waved at his cheering teammates. 'Why isn't he proud of what he just did?' She bit her bottom lip.

The game eventually resumed with a new kickoff, this time in favor of the opposite team. Mia heard the chattering of people and looked around, only to notice that a small audience of spectators was paying attention to the ongoing match.

Mia could hardly believe that a game between some random kids had the potential to draw in viewers. Was it the love for the sport or because of Dae Ho? She shook that thought off and focused on the game.

The opposite team had lost the ball right before they could exploit an opening and score. Now the ball lay under the defender's foot. Mia couldn't help but scream in her head. 'Come on, pass it to him! Pass it to him! Please!'

The defender also saw the logic behind that thought and thus kicked the ball in Dae Ho's direction. An enemy defender immediately sprinted to intercept the pass, but he didn't run fast enough.

Dae Ho balanced the ball on his foot, slid the sphere a bit forward, and kicked it. The ball crossed through the air before it gently eased in on his teammate's awaiting foot.

Mia was surprised by the sheer precision of that pass. And so was Dae Ho's teammate. There was quite a bit of distance between them after all, and it was easy to miscalculate the power or the trajectory, especially when pressed by a defender.

But the ball was like a magnet, a missile locking onto its target.

'Why did you pass it?' Mia lamented. She really wanted to see him make a fool of the enemy team.

Fortunately, the teammate realized that too, and after failing to dribble past an opponent, decided to pass it back to him.

Mia hastily pulled her phone out and started recording.

That day, she ended up recording an unprecedented one-sided slaughter, all at the hands — or in this case, feet — of one player.

The final score? 16 - 2. And out of those 16 goals, Dae Ho scored 13.

…

Mia would go on to rewatch that video again and again in the privacy of her room.

What both of them didn't know, however, was that someone else was recording the match as well.

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