CS 08

Chapter 8

Something More Important Than Money (7)

Orphanage.

A place that takes in, raises, and educates children who have no parents or guardians. It was originally called an orphanage under a different term, but these days, everyone simply refers to it as a child-care facility in an effort to improve the public perception of such institutions.

And the children who could enter an orphanage weren’t limited to those whose parents had died. In special circumstances, such as financial hardship, abuse or neglect, or running away from home, children could also qualify for admission.

I was the latter.

Explaining it would be complicated, but if I had to explain it anyway—

A couple had a child and divorced not long afterward. During the divorce, the mother obtained custody, and the two people who had severed their relationship each went their separate ways after remarrying.

However, the mother, who had custody, eventually divorced again, and during that process, both she and my stepfather gave up custody.

All of this happened within less than four years after I was born, so it was only natural that I, who had been a newborn at the time, had no memories of it.

Then how did I know all of this?

Because I heard it directly from my biological parents.

It happened when I was twenty-four.

When a person becomes famous and wealthy, bugs naturally start swarming around them.

The names of those bugs are relatives or siblings, friends or acquaintances.

The bug that came swarming toward me was my biological mother.

That summer, when I was twenty-four in my previous life, I had completely established myself in Saudi Arabia and was called up to the national team, where I helped South Korea reach the Round of 16 at the World Cup.

I scored three goals in the World Cup, and my performance spread throughout South Korea. There was hardly anyone in the country who didn’t know the name Kang Do-in.

Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate, the name eventually reached the ears of my biological mother.

She claimed to be Kang Do-in’s biological mother and wanted to meet me. Looking at the legal documents she presented as proof, it wasn’t a lie.

So, with the rather casual thought that I should at least see the face of the woman who had given birth to me once, I agreed.

Thanks to that, immediately after the World Cup ended, she and I finally met.

My biological mother was quite an interesting woman.

She said that, even if it was only from then on, she wanted to live with me and take on the role of a mother.

When I refused, she asked me to pay her for raising me all those years.

I couldn’t deny that her shamelessness was actually an admirable attitude that I ought to emulate when negotiating contracts and salaries with clubs.

From what I heard, she had been living in fairly difficult financial circumstances.

Considering that she had gone through two divorces, perhaps it was only natural.

Anyway, after finishing my meeting with my mother, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Then where was my biological father?

It didn’t take long to satisfy that sudden curiosity. Before the season began, I was able to reunite with my biological father as well.

He had been running a taekwondo academy in Spain for more than ten years. He had remarried and had a child of his own.

And unlike my biological mother, he was a rather boring person.

—“Min-seok, I’m sorry…! I should have looked for you sooner…!”

—“I know that no matter what I say, it won’t comfort you. It’s all my fault…!”

—“I won’t even dare to ask you to forgive me.”

The man in his late forties apologized to me while shedding tears. He openly displayed his emotions and poured out every one of his regrets.

He apologized for his mistakes and pleaded that although he had wanted to meet me sooner, he hadn’t had the face to meet a son who was already living well on his own.

He acted like a reasonable, ordinary person, gave me his contact information, and told me to contact him anytime if I ever needed anything.

For some reason, I think I felt a little angry at that point.

You could have come to see me before I became an adult.

If you really wanted to find me, you wouldn’t have remarried and had another child.

The fact that you’re pretending to be a normal person now is so disgusting that I can barely suppress the urge to gag.

The words of condemnation rose all the way to my throat, but I stopped myself, wondering what good getting angry here would do.

Instead, I told him I didn’t need anything and advised him to take good care of himself.

Then I drew another line between us, telling him that Min-seok wasn’t my name, so he should call me Kang Do-in.

And that was the end of it.

I never met either of my biological parents again.

Naturally, I never contacted them either.

Even when I heard in my mid-thirties that my mother had died alone and my father had died of cancer, I didn’t attend either funeral.

So… why am I telling this story?

It’s simple.

There is an important clue here for securing my contract.

Namely, the fact that my biological father lived and worked in Spain.

FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football, had created regulations prohibiting professional clubs from recruiting youth players under the age of eighteen, citing concerns about minors becoming socially isolated or leaving their home environments.

There was, however, an exception.

That exception applied when a player’s parents had moved to the relevant country for reasons unrelated to football.

That was why, after returning to the age of fifteen, I contacted a number that had remained faintly in one corner of my memories.

“Hello. Is this the contact information for Mr. Kang Yoo-seok?”

—“Ah, yes… But who is this?”

“My name is Kang Do-in. I’m your son. Ah, or should I say Kang Min-seok?”

That had happened one month ago.

To be precise, it was when I decided to study abroad in Spain.

As I explained earlier, children eligible to enter an orphanage weren’t limited to those whose parents had died. As long as certain conditions were met, a child could enter an orphanage even if both parents were alive and well.

And in the latter case, if both the child and parents wished it, the child could return to their original family.

In my case, since my biological parents were divorced, I could return to either parent’s household.

Of course, that was assuming that either my biological father or mother agreed.

Therefore, I explained my current situation to my biological father in detail over the phone.

I wanted to sign a contract with a Spanish football team, and for that reason, I wanted to return to the household of my father, who was currently living in Spain.

I also added that all I wanted was the legal status of being a family member and that he didn’t need to provide me with financial support or a place to live.

I considered pretending to be pitiful and appealing to his emotions, but since he had already remarried and had a family of his own, I thought appealing to his emotions would probably have the opposite effect.

Fortunately, my prediction wasn’t wrong.

—“…You want to talk face-to-face. Could you tell me where the orphanage is?”

I gave him the orphanage’s location, and a week later, he came all the way from Spain to meet me in person.

When I met Kang Yoo-seok again, he looked about ten years younger than he had in my memories.

The moment he saw me, he cried and apologized again.

Considering that he had cried the moment he saw me in my previous life as well, perhaps he was simply a man who cried easily.

Well.

Putting aside the apology routine I’d already heard once before—

To give you the result first, he accepted my proposal.

He had already received permission from his remarried family and said he would immediately inform the orphanage and begin preparing the necessary procedures.

For me, it was a good outcome.

If he had refused, things would have become quite troublesome.

First of all, under Korean law, the adoption procedure becomes complicated for children aged thirteen or older, while international adoption is even more complicated.

Something about the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

I was told that merely going through all those procedures could take several years.

In that case, Real Madrid’s proposal to simply extend my student visa and sign a contract as soon as I turned eighteen would actually have been more reasonable.

In that sense, my biological father’s decision was the first time he had ever been of help to me.

Season 1, Hit No. 1.

“Anyway, that’s what happened.”

And now, having finished explaining everything that had happened over the past month, I calmly wet my throat.

Naturally, I left out my regression and everything that had happened between me and my biological parents in my previous life.

Even so, Tony, sitting across from me, had his mouth hanging open, perhaps because of the sheer amount of information I’d given him.

His eyes were unfocused.

“Are you okay? That was a pretty long story, wasn’t it?”

“Um, no. It’s just… how should I put this… Ugh, damn it. I don’t know how to say this….”

“Well, it isn’t exactly a happy family history. Sorry if I put you in an awkward position.”

He waved his hands and immediately denied that was the case.

“That’s not it. It’s not that… I just don’t know what words of comfort I should offer you.”

“Comfort? Why?”

“Because, from what you’ve told me, it doesn’t exactly sound like you want to live with your father.”

That…

was true.

After all, didn’t he already have a new family?

For the old me, forcing my way into someone else’s family that was already living happily together would have been something I would never have done.

But the current me wasn’t in a position to be picky.

“Look at it that way, you’re pretty amazing too.”

“Me?”

“You forgave the father who abandoned you and reached out to him first. That couldn’t have been an easy decision. I think that’s really mature of you. At least you’re more of an adult than some guy like me who’s merely gotten older.”

Even as he praised me, he looked at me with concern.

To me, that gaze was rather unpleasant.

“So, honestly, I am worried too. I know this might be none of my business considering we haven’t known each other for very long, but… well….”

“…….”

“Are you really okay?”

Was I okay?

His question was surprisingly difficult to answer.

Was he asking if I was okay with reuniting with my father?

Or if I was okay with living with my new family?

Or if I was okay with simply forgetting about my mother?

I had no idea which part he was actually asking me about.

But it didn’t really matter.

I smiled brightly.

“I’m okay.”

Pride doesn’t put money in your pocket.

There was nothing more important to me than money.

I’d lived my entire life that way.

“I’m really okay.”

Time passed quickly.

And along with it, many things changed.

The cold autumn, when chilly winds blew and maple leaves fell,

passed through the snowy winter

and turned into spring, when grass and flowers were beginning to emerge.

Mallorca, Valencia, and Real Madrid had finalized the prospects they would bring into their clubs.

Three players per team, for a total of nine, including me.

I decided not to attend high school in Korea.

After all, my contract with a Spanish club was practically guaranteed.

Unlike the other players, who would return to Korea a year later, my circumstances allowed me to make that decision.

Instead, though it was hardly much of a substitute, I decided to attend high school in Spain.

Apparently, even professional clubs in Spain placed great importance on the academic performance of their youth players.

Since I could simply drop out once I was called up to the senior team anyway, I agreed.

And then, one day in January, when heavy snow was falling—

I celebrated my sixteenth birthday.

Three days later, I received a residence visa from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a birthday present.

It was the result of being granted permission by both countries to return to the household of my biological father after several months of legal procedures.

At that point, I had officially become someone who could sign a contract with a Spanish club without violating FIFA regulations.

A week later—

I modified several options in the contract, underwent a medical examination at a hospital in Seoul, formally signed the contract, and began preparing to leave for Spain.

And then March arrived.

Two Korean international students, including me, boarded an airplane.

It was a long-haul flight of more than fifteen hours from Incheon International Airport.

No matter who I was, there was no way I wouldn’t feel bored.

[Passengers, our aircraft will be landing shortly.]

[For your safety, please check once again that your seat belt is fastened—]

Under those circumstances, the landing announcement coming from the ceiling speakers and the illuminated no-smoking sign were naturally a welcome sight.

I rested my head against the window and glanced down at the scenery beneath the sky.

“Man, I’ve really come a long way around…”

The sight of vast green land giving way to densely packed city buildings lined up one after another was quite impressive.

Madrid.

The capital of Spain, a city that led the country in politics, culture, and the arts.

The city where I would be living from now on.