Lele blog

It was an open training day, and anyone could come watch Barcelona players' morning exercises at the open neighborhood stadium. Luckily for you, your father had connections that got him seats for the two of you in the very front row, right in front of the players, close enough to see everything clearly. Since the stadium was open there were no barriers between the pitch and the stands, and they were very close to each other. The place wasn't really crowded either — just people from the neighborhood and acquaintances of the players.

You sat there swinging your leg with boredom on your seat. Your father had disappeared with an acquaintance he'd run into by chance, and you hadn't really been interested in coming — but your father had insisted. You watched the players taking turns lining up toward the goal, each one taking his shot.

Finally it came to the last person's turn, after which the training would finally end. He had tan skin and curly hair with blonde highlights, and a clean fade that looked like it had been cut yesterday. You remembered seeing him before — Lamine Yamal or something like that.

The boy approached the ball, and despite the high confidence radiating from his body suggesting he never missed, he completely botched what was a totally easy shot.

"Even I would've scored that." you said sarcastically — before stopping when you noticed him turning toward you.

Did he hear you...?

You were very close to the pitch but Seriously

He went and took the ball from the goalkeeper, and instead of heading to the substitutes' bench, he was walking toward you. Something about what was happening felt off-script — why on earth was he coming toward you?

"Would you?" he said when he got close in front of you, his height blocking the sunlight from you. You could see the thickness of his eyebrows from this proximity.

"What..."

He surprised you by throwing the ball against your chest and gesturing for you to come with him, heading toward the front of the goal.

"He's not serious..." When you noticed that everyone had already been looking at you the whole time, you got up from your seat and went to him.

He took the ball from your arms and placed it on the ground. You looked at the goalkeeper during that, who also seemed confused, not knowing whether to take his position or not.

When you looked back at him he was already looking at you, pointing at the ball. "Kick."

"Like — a goal?"

"Yes, a goal."

His expression was completely neutral. The whole thing was strange — bizarre — but if kicking the ball would get you out of all this, you'd do it.

Or so you thought.

Your shot was a failure. The goalkeeper caught it with zero effort. Some of the crowd clapped for you — maybe to honor your attempt despite it being a complete failure, or for the sake of this strange little performance.

He stood there watching your sorry ball roll away, hands on his hips, before you heard him mutter sarcastically: "Even I would've scored that.."

Questions started piling up in your head. Seriously? He did all that because of what you said?

"Isn't it better for players to have some sportsmanship?"

He finally turned toward you and looked more natural now — he was being completely sarcastic, and it suited his face in a strange way that felt more natural than neutrality. Had your failed shot made him happy? "Sportsmanship? I don't really care about labels like that."

"Do you take revenge on every fan who annoys you? You seem sensitive," you mocked.

Your words seemed to hit a nerve but he pretended otherwise, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's your name?"

You'd wanted to tease him a little more, but you told him your name. He moved his lips slightly pronouncing it, then said: "Since you have a long tongue, I suggest we give you another chance — how about a challenge between us? Three goals. If you win, I'll give you three signed jerseys. If you lose, you'll come to all this week's training sessions and collect the balls for me."

You couldn't stop your laugh from escaping "And what do I want with signed jerseys? I'd rather not participate."

He smiled at that. "You don't want to know how much those signed jerseys could make you if you sold them."

That hit home. Damn — you really did want to make some money to buy the things you liked… and he was genuinely very famous as you remembered. What was the harm in participating? His shot was as bad as yours… there might actually be a chance you could win.

When he noticed you getting lost in your thoughts, he interrupted. "So — yes or no?"

"Fine."

---

The coach agreed to the challenge and was even pleased by it. Everyone thought this challenge would give them a nice break for a light activity. Word had even reached the crowd — including your father, who was completely shocked to find you inside the pitch.

"Alright, three goal each."

True, your playing was terrible, but you had at least some basics from years of watching — like the fact that you needed to decide the direction of your shot before kicking, and not stare at the goal too long so the goalkeeper wouldn't anticipate where it was going.

You took a breath, hands on your hips. Even though you weren't wearing anything athletic today, you suddenly felt confident.

You ran, intending to shoot right, and —

Boom.

Goal!

You ran happily and jumped celebrating in front of the crowd and your father, who applauded you with genuine admiration — and right in front of Lamine specifically. You'd wanted to annoy him, but even while doing so, you couldn't believe you'd actually scored!

---

Lamine stood there hands on his hips with irritation, watching you celebrate in front of him. What an annoying girl. His turn came after your little festival was over and he placed the ball in front of the goal. He shoots and —

The goalkeeper saves it!

What a shock. The small crowd was already buzzing from what was happening. You were jumping with joy at the unbelievable turn of events, while Lamine spat on the ground in frustration.

"Don't celebrate too early."

He came beside you and gave you a condescending look. "You don't know who I am."

"Oh, I think there's no need for me to know."

A vein in his head snapped. Damn, this girl was completely insufferable!

"We'll see."

Now it was your turn to shoot. You noticed the crowd's noise — they seemed completely excited for you now. Unlike the first time, they hadn't expected anything from you. You felt anxiety prickling your heart and a drop of sweat fall from your forehead. Why had this suddenly become serious?

Focus. Just do what you did before — pick your target and kick.

And —

The goalkeeper saves it!

Disappointment slid from the top of your head down to the soles of your feet. You covered your face and sighed. "Damn." You didn't want to look at his face, but you did without control and saw him smiling a provocative smile at you.

He took the ball the goalkeeper threw toward him and came beside you. He was sweating now, just like you, and you envied him his athletic clothes.

"So, ambitions have already dropped, have they?"

You huffed. "What are you talking about — mind your own business, or you'll miss this kick too."

"We'll see."

Lamine set up the ball, stood in position, and kicked.

Goal!

Lamine ran to the crowd with a wide smile showing his braces, doing his signature 304 celebration.

"It's just a challenge, why is he so proud," you muttered, biting your lip. You were tied now. The last attempt would decide the winner.

"Do you regret it?"

"Regret what."

"What you said in the stands."

It was starting to seem like he genuinely wanted you to apologize for what you'd said, but now that things had gone this far, you were never going to give him the satisfaction.

"No."

He studied you for a moment then said: "You're stubborn, aren't you?"

"And you're arrogant."

"I'm not — on the contrary, I proved your words wrong from the very first time, but you still haven't changed your opinion."

"Whatever."

He smiled at that — it seemed he'd gotten under your skin, and that pleased him.

---

The third and final attempt. You stood at the goal, more nervous than ever before — and this was truly the worst scenario to happen. When you went to shoot, in reckless fear, you kicked the ball wide, far outside the goal.

You exhaled a heavy sigh, covering your face with your hands in frustration. Damn, damn — the excitement had gotten to you when you accepted this challenge. You were waiting for a laugh or sarcastic remark to come your way when you heard footsteps behind you.

"Hey."

You said with irritation: "What — did you come to mock me?"

"You still haven't lost, you know," he said calmly.

"I'm going to lose. You'll definitely score this goal. Look — I was wrong, okay? You're a skilled player. It was a mistake for me to get into a challenge with you."

"I didn't expect you to admit it this early."

"Happy now?"

"No — you still haven't taken back what you said in the stands."

You bit your lip. "But I wasn't actually lying! It was an easy shot… at least from a spectator's point of view."

"Is that how you want to play this?"

"It's not like you'll cancel the challenge if I take it back anyway."

Your words seemed to make your final position clear to him, so he smiled, then went and got the ball and set it in place, and the goalkeeper took his position too.

"Watch."

And Lamine ran and scored in front of you the easiest goal you'd ever seen in your life.

Damn.

He'd completely destroyed you.

Lamine jumped in front of the crowd as he celebrated and said loudly: "Everyone here is a witness to the result of this challenge, aren't they?"

The crowd responded enthusiastically with yes. Damn — you'd genuinely been the entertainment for these people today.

While Lamine was celebrating with his teammates, you headed to the edge of the pitch intending to go back up to your previous seat in the stands, before a hand on your arm stopped you.

"Hold on — drink some water."

You looked at that annoying curly hair, those thick eyebrows, and those gleaming eyes. That had completely ruined your day. Completely. You took the water from his hand in anger and started drinking it.

"Easy."

You swallowed the water hard and breathed. "I am never taking back what I said — it doesn't matter that I lost, or that I'll be running after you collecting balls. Dream on if you think I'll take it back, Lamine Yamal."

Lamine laughed and grabbed your shoulders in a sudden move. "Even though you're annoying — I'm starting to like you."

Red flooded your cheeks but you quickly pushed his hands away and said: "And you're annoying! So incredibly annoying, damn." You ran back to your spot and heard Lamine say behind you with laughter:

"Don't forget to come on Sunday!"

It was a beautiful day like any other. Barcelona had won, as usual. You fanned yourself with a paper fan from the stands, feeling a bit dizzy — it was hot, and you hadn't eaten or drunk properly because you'd been anxious about today. Despite your firm confidence in Barcelona, you couldn't stop yourself from worrying about the team and about Lamine.

How could you and the guy make such bold statements before his match, and instead of training the day before, play video games with Keney and sleep late? But you were also excited, because as you expected, Barcelona and Lamine always amazed you and made up for all your worry and anticipation.

When you went down with everyone else to celebrate, you couldn't manage to meet Lamine — he was busy with post-match interviews, and there were people asking for photos or autographs, along with the other players. You wiped the sweat off your forehead and sat down on the bench. A few players were there, including Pedri, whom you went over to congratulate on the win with a tired smile.

Pedri immediately noticed something was off with you, so he asked right away if you were okay. You answered that you were fine, just anxious. Though he was worried, he let it go when you told him you wanted to go check on Lamine again.

When you finally found Lamine alone, you rushed over to him with a wide smile, which he met with a big smile of his own, hugging you. When his arms wrapped around you, he felt the strange lightness of your body, so he pulled back a little and looked at your face. "Baby, are you tired?"

You smiled and shook your head no. "The match was amazing, Lamine... you played incredibly, I'm so proud of you." You smiled, visibly pale this time.

Before you even realized it, you felt your voice growing heavy with every word, the light gradually fading, and the last thing you saw was Lamine's panicked face.

---

"My girl— my girlfriend fainted!" Lamine ran, carrying you in his arms, panicked. A crowd had already gathered, asking what was wrong. Lamine ran inside with you, lost, not knowing where to go.

Javi pulled his arm to snap him out of his daze and told him to come to the club clinic. He took you both in and brought you to the doctor, who laid you on the bed. The doctor checked your pulse, breathing, and blood pressure, and reassured them you were fine, then began asking Lamine questions.

"Was she okay yesterday?"

"I remember she was fine, yeah." Lamine stammered as he spoke, his breathing still rapid from running and panic.

"It looks like she's dehydrated, and her blood pressure is low. She probably hasn't eaten or had anything to drink in a while."

Lamine took in the information, stunned. Javi looked at him and asked, "Maybe she just got busy? She definitely didn't mean to."

Lamine clenched his fists helplessly. "I don't know..."

The doctor reassured them again, telling them it would just be a few hours before you woke up, and they set up an IV drip to make up for the nutritional deficiency. Later, Pedri came and told them he'd noticed you looking tired earlier, which made Lamine's state even worse.

Lamine paced back and forth in the room, running his hands through his hair over and over, wiping his face, sitting down on the chair — he couldn't believe it. While he'd been having fun, celebrating, you had been there, exhausted to a dangerous degree, and he hadn't even known.

---

You opened your eyes wearily, as if they'd been forced shut. You felt the soft blanket over you and the bed beneath you. You turned your head to look around the room and saw Lamine sitting beside you on the chair, his head down, before he noticed your movement and lifted his head to look at you. His expression was dark before his face completely softened and his eyes glistened. "Oh my god!"

He came closer and hugged you tightly. Before you could even process it, you felt his head against your cheek. "God, I was so worried about you, I was so scared."

"Lamine? I'm fine, don't worry." He shook his head no. "I completely panicked when you fainted, I didn't know what to do." His voice behind your ear was frightened.

He broke the hug and looked at you, hands on your shoulders. You laughed, a little embarrassed. "Lamine, I'm fine, it's just exhaustion, nothing serious... I'm really sorry for ruining your day, I didn't want that."

He looked completely taken aback by what you said, even a flash of disapproval crossing his face. "Are you serious right now? You fainted from exhaustion and that's what you're saying?"

"It's really nothing..."

He got completely angry at your words. "It's not nothing, my god! When I saw your face that pale, it was terrifying. It is never nothing."

"Lamine..."

"Why didn't you tell me you weren't okay? The doctor told me you hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in a while! Why did you wait until you fainted? Why don't you take care of yourself like this?!"

"It's not that I don't care, I was just busy with you — the preparations, the match."

"None of that matters to me at all. Nothing matters more to me than you."

"I just really wanted everything to be perfect for you..."

"I never want that at the cost of your health! You were completely worn out and I didn't even notice." He looked utterly broken saying it.

"And you didn't even try to tell me."

Lamine was completely panicked as he spoke to you. You tried to keep up with the conversation but couldn't — he was fully angry and upset with you.

"I just can't believe it, how could you neglect yourself like that." He wiped his face, sighing, and sat like that for a few seconds. When he looked at you again, he noticed the distress showing on your face.

He seemed to start calming down a little once he registered that he'd snapped at you. You'd gone completely quiet, staring at your hands in distress, before he took them and looked at you. "I'm sorry, I was just scared for you."

"I know..."

He sighed, sounding truly sorry this time. "What matters is how you're feeling right now. Do you want me to call the nurse?"

"I don't feel bad, we can already head home."

"Okay. I'll call the nurse to take the IV out."

After the nurse came, checked your vitals, and removed the IV, she confirmed you were fine.

When you moved to pull off the sheets to get up from the bed, Lamine surprised you by scooping you up into his arms.

"Ah, Lamine, there's no need for that!"

"There is." He carried you out of the room, through the hallway, until you reached the parking lot and the car. He opened the door with one hand while holding you, and set you down in the passenger seat.

"Are you comfortable here, or do you want the back seat?"

"No, this is fine." Once he made sure you were comfortable, he gave you one last look, closed the door, and went around to the driver's seat.

---

After that incident, Lamine never stopped fussing over you — checking whether you'd eaten or not, whether you felt dizzy or not, when your period was due, when you'd last had water. It became clear to you that he didn't fully trust you to take care of yourself anymore; the whole situation seemed to have thoroughly shaken him.

In fact, on the night of the incident, once you got home, he stayed up all night just to make sure you were okay.

---

You were watching TV when Lamine came in carrying a glass of water and a light snack, setting them down on the table. "Eat."

"I'm already full, Lamine."

"No, no, no — I already saw you get distracted from eating again. Come on, eat!"

As you started eating, a little annoyed, Lamine broke into a wide smile, sat down beside you, and kissed your temple. "That's my girl."

You had made him thoroughly worried about you — and it wasn't like you didn't actually want that.

"I was enchanted to meet you

Please don't be in love with someone else

Please don't have somebody waiting on"

—Taylor Swift

Lamine Yamal had fallen in love with you. No — "falling in love" doesn't really capture what he felt. His heart belonged to you completely. He felt like his heart wasn't in his chest anymore, but in your hands. And the strange thing was, he had never confessed it to you.

He'd been enchanted by you from the very first moment you were introduced to him when you were transferred to work at the club. And the more he got to know you, the more he fell for you, disappointing the part of his mind that had insisted it was just a crush. He kept feeling this way for a long time, and dated plenty of girls in the meantime, but none of them ever satisfied that emotional longing. There was no one like you. Not really.

Lamine was packing his things into his bag in the locker room, getting ready to head out. His teammates had already left, and he was the only one left, finished changing into his casual clothes. The sound of the door opening pulled him from his thoughts, and he looked toward whoever had opened it.

"You're late," you said, your work badge still on your chest, even though your shift had ended a while ago.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm coming." He grabbed his bag, slung it on, and followed you out. As you walked, he stole several glances at you.

"It's nice when the team goes out together every once in a while, don't you think?"

He didn't answer right away, as if he wanted to hear every word you said, even its echo in the hallway. "Yeah, I love these nights."

He was always calm when he was with you, unlike with everyone else — with them, he couldn't stop yelling and laughing and talking, but with you, everything inside him settled, even his heartbeat slowed down. As for you, you didn't mind the quiet, so you walked in silence until you finally reached the team bus, where everyone was already waiting.

"You're late!" Javi shouted, while Pedri banged on the side of the bus from the window.

"Come on, everyone's here," said the coach.

You laughed and looked at Lamine, who was already looking at you. "I guess we took our time walking."

"Yeah... it was kind of slow..."

Every moment with you passed in slow motion for him, even your laugh — he thought something was seriously wrong with him. He kept looking at you before realizing you'd already started walking toward the bus. Then he followed.

When he got on, he scanned the seats with his eyes — they were mostly full, except for two seats in the back on the left, one of which someone was about to take from you.

Heat rushed through his chest as he lowered his head and walked to the seat. You took the window seat, so he sat in the regular one. He rested his arm on the armrest, and his elbow bumped into yours; he spread his legs apart nervously, fixed his hair, and looked away.

Was he blushing right now? Because he was pretty sure that if he looked in a mirror, he would be — all just from sitting next to the person he loved. How pathetic.

The bus started moving, and while everyone else got busy with their own conversations, he stole a glance at you. You were looking out the window, lost in thought.

"Why didn't you sit with the staff, up front?"

"Hm? I like sitting in the back more, so I told them to save me this seat."

Right? Was there a chance you'd also told them to leave the seat beside you empty, for him to sit in?

Of course not... he was completely delusional when it came to you. You would never fall for someone as young as him — that much was clear to him, at least.

He didn't know your exact age, but you were several years older than him. It didn't matter, though — what he knew more about you was that you were amazing, smart, beautiful, kind.

Basically, everything.

He would really do anything just to get a chance with you.

He shifted his arm slightly on the armrest, his fingers lightly brushing yours.

---

Lamine broke your moment of gazing out the window by calling your name. You turned to him with a smile. "Yes?"

He was wearing one earbud, holding the other one out to you. "Want to listen to music together?"

You smiled, surprised by his sweet gesture, and nodded quickly. "Of course."

You took the earbud, your fingers brushing slightly — you saw him look away. You put the earbud in your right ear and relaxed back into your seat.

"This night is sparkling, don't you let it go

I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you"

You closed your eyes as the music slipped into your ears, and you smiled immediately, recognizing the song. You listened for a few seconds, then said, "Taylor Swift? I really wasn't expecting that!"

You saw Lamine look at you a little shyly, pressing his lips together. Then you said, "I expected you to put on one of your Latin songs."

"I like this one."

"Oh really? I like it too."

You noticed his eyes widen slightly with happiness, and he pressed his hands together. "Really? Everyone around me doesn't like it."

"The team? Well, no one can relate to a song if they don't feel its emotions." You laughed. Then you saw him blink, as if he didn't understand you. "I mean, why do you listen to it?"

"Uh..." He looked confused.

"Okay, what's your favorite part?"

Lamine went quiet for a moment, then said softly, looking into your eyes — for a second you felt like he was looking into your soul. "I was enchanted to meet you."

The moment stretched out sweetly and slowly; you waited until he finished pronouncing the last word. "That's really the most beautiful line."

---

Lamine felt like he'd just confessed something without meaning to, before nervously looking away and saying, "It's just a beautiful song."

You sat in silence, listening to the rest of the song, while Lamine noticed you were enjoying yourself, gazing outside — he felt like he could jump out the window from how hard his heart was pounding.

"Do... you love someone?" The words came out before he could stop them, and Lamine immediately prayed hard that his question didn't sound strange, especially since the song was about love anyway. He thanked God when you answered without showing any reaction.

"Not really."

"Oh."

"What about you?"

"I..." He stumbled over the sudden question, fidgeting with his hair. "I... I think..."

He looked at you, watching you wait for his answer, getting lost in the moment without catching himself. "I..."

"You?"

His heart raced impossibly fast — what had he gotten himself into? He felt the heat rise from his neck to his face, looked away in a panic, not knowing how to act.

"It's fine if you don't want to say."

"No, I'm fine." He said, then continued slowly: "I love someone."

You smiled and put your hand over your mouth in shock. "Seriously?"

"Yeah... really."

"And who's the lucky girl?"

"It doesn't really matter who!" He waved his hands in the air and adjusted his collar. The coach interrupted you, walking to the middle of the bus.

"Guys, we changed the destination! We're going to the beach!"

Shouts of excitement and some of protest followed, and when a few asked why the change, the coach said this was Baldi's request today, since he'd had the best performance in training — so as a reward, they were heading to the beach.

"The beach? That'll be nice, even though it's already night," you said to Lamine.

---

Going to the beach with you? While he could sit with you, alone, away from everyone else, running your feet through the sand and gazing at the night sky? He'd kiss Baldi's head tomorrow for giving him this chance.

It was chaos — some people had already jumped into the sea even though it was pitch black, others sat along the boardwalk overlooking the water, while a group had already started building sandcastles on the beach.

As soon as you got close to the shore, you took off your shoes and pressed your feet into the sand, sighing in relief. " its cooold."

When you glanced beside you, you saw that Lamine had already followed and copied you. He looked at you, laughing. "It's amazing."

You sat down near the shore, wrapping your arms around your legs while Lamine sat cross-legged beside you.

"You know, Lamine, you're the closest person to me out of everyone here." You looked at him, your head resting on your knees.

He answered only with complete silence.

"Lamine?"

He was looking away — he'd been doing that all day, as if he didn't want you to see his face. You leaned in and gently turned his face toward you. "Lamine."

His face startled you when it came into view — completely red, like he was about to explode, his eyes wide open, his eyebrows furrowed. He pulled your hand away and quickly covered his face.

"Lamine? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, just—"

He stood up quickly, heading toward the bus before you could react.

---

"Damn, what's wrong with me today! I almost gave everything away." Lamine poured water from his bottle over his face, then shuddered. His head was hot, his body was hot. He tore off his jacket quickly and threw it onto his seat. "How am I supposed to face her now." He sat down on the seat, collapsed, before one of the guys called him to come join them outside — which he flatly refused, before they dragged him out by force.

---

You sat alone on the beach, completely silent, before a spontaneous laugh escaped you. "Oh my god, he's so cute." You played with the sand around you. "He really thinks I don't know about his feelings for me."

You thought to yourself — should you let him go and work through it, or go after him? It might make things worse; from what you'd learned about Lamine so far, he was completely hopeless at handling intense pressure. And it was funny that his feelings for you were what caused him so much of it.

You heard someone call your name, and there was Javi walking toward you. "What are you doing by yourself? Come on, we're grilling some corn!" You went with Javi to the gathering everyone else had made — they'd formed a circle sitting around a fire in the middle. "Where'd you guys get corn from?"

"Oh, Baldi brought it. Seems like he came pretty prepared for tonight."

As you got closer to sit with them, you noticed Lamine was already there, and the moment your eyes met, he looked away immediately. So cute.

"Come sit here!" Javi called out, pointing to the spot next to him — which happened to be next to Lamine too.

"Sure."

Javi scooted over to make room, and when you sat down, you saw Lamine trying to put a little distance between you, but the circle was already complete. Your shoulder bumped Javi's on the left and Lamine's on the right. You felt him flinch slightly.

You looked at him, at his face turned away, then said with a smile, "Lamine, want me to grill you some corn?"

It took a long moment before you saw his lips move, without actually saying anything, as if hesitant. "No need."

"Hmm, I don't want to if you don't want it either." Your response seemed to surprise him, and he finally turned his face toward you. "Why?"

"Just because."

The night continued normally after that — though Lamine avoided you at first, once he noticed you never brought up what happened, he acted as if nothing had. Time passed, the bonfire ended, and it was time to head back. You took the same seat as before, and Lamine sat beside you.

"I'm so tired." You sat down in your seat and closed your eyes in exhaustion. Lamine followed and sat quietly beside you. When you opened your eyes, you saw him pulling out his earbuds again.

"Can I listen with you too again?" Your question seemed to catch him off guard, but he handed you one earbud and put the other in himself. He played Taylor Swift again, and the melody carried you away as you closed your eyes, before letting your head rest on his shoulder.

He was startled by the touch, but composed himself immediately and didn't move.

"Relax." You said, noticing him tense up.

Though he stayed tense for a few minutes, it gradually faded, and he stayed silent, longing so much to see his face right now — but you were tired, and the music was already pulling you toward sleep.

The murmurs and snoring of the guys filled the bus, whispers among those still awake, cut through by a word spoken above your head — "I love you."

But you... were already in the world of dreams.

---

Lamine already believes he's taken a step forward now, and that's what matters.

Mynotes: Common in our coastal towns we have corn grills at the beach, but I don't know if this is happening worldwide