Chapter 64: Gay to the extreme?

Alonso is a person with extremely high emotional intelligence; he can make anyone feel comfortable and at ease, if he wants to.

Fino is also someone who never embarrasses anyone.

They had so many topics to discuss, their conversations were boundless and unrestrained, extending far beyond football. Anything could become a starting point for a discussion, which could then escalate to multiple minutes without feeling like the conversation was ending.

Sometimes, when two people share the same viewpoint, they will smile at each other.

Before they knew it, it was almost midnight. The beach at the foot of the mountain was deserted. The night wind was getting stronger, and Fino felt a chill in the air.

He raised his wrist and looked at his watch; the hour hand was pointing to 1 o'clock.

So Fino said goodbye to Alonso.

"It's 1 o'clock, Long Suo, it's time to rest."

Alonso was somewhat surprised; he hadn't really felt the passage of time.

Fino was just right for Alonso; his inner self was the complete opposite of his arrogant and aloof exterior.

Even though Fino was not yet 20 years old and there was a 7-year age difference between them, Fino's personality was more mature and tolerant than his age. Alonso did not feel any generation gap, and they got along very well.

Last season, he was frustrated and unfulfilled. Although he won the European Championship, he was a substitute in the national team, which left Alonso feeling quite resentful.

Such relaxed and unbiased exchanges, devoid of any vested interests, had not occurred in his life for a long time, and he was somewhat reluctant to end them.

“Do you have plans for tomorrow, Finnie? Perhaps we could have coffee together, or do something you'd like to do together,” he invited Finnie.

“Well, of course I welcome you to join us, but I need to consult with my companions first.” Fino smiled and patted Alonso on the shoulder. “I came with Andrea, Andrea Pirlo. You two have clashed before.”

Hearing Pirlo's name made Alonso feel a little unhappy. He didn't dislike Pirlo himself, but he disliked his opponent, with whom he had faced off twice in the Champions League final.

“Since you have a partner, let’s meet again next time. We might have more opportunities to meet next season,” Alonso hinted.

Fino smiled and nodded. He understood Alonso's implication. The transfer rumors between Alonso and Juventus had spread like wildfire, and he had certainly heard about them.

However, the transfer is not yet finalized, and Alonso cannot make any definitive statements.

"I have a good relationship with Buffon, and we might have dinner together sometime." He also gave a hint.

"Shall we exchange contact information?" Alonso asked Fino again.

Fino nodded, and the two exchanged phone numbers.

Most of the time, Alonso is reserved, but tonight, he was in such a good mood that he behaved in a way that was unusual for him.

After getting Fino's consent, he put his arm around Fino's shoulder, took a picture of them together with his phone, posted it on his social media account, and followed and tagged Fino.

[Meeting a new friend on a journey feels like reuniting with an old friend – perhaps this is the destiny between two people born on the 14th. It's a pleasure to meet you, @FinoCabrini.]

Fino followed him back, retweeted his post, and added a heart emoji.

He then said goodnight to Alonso, hugged him, and went back to his room to rest.

Alonso spent some more time alone in the evening breeze before returning to his room in high spirits.

...

The next morning, Fino was woken up by Mendes' phone call. He glanced at the time and it was only 7 a.m.

"Good morning, Jorge." Fino yawned softly.

"What's going on between you and Alonso? Weren't you on vacation with Pirlo? Why are you staying up all night with Alonso?" Mendes spoke very quickly, firing off three questions in quick succession like a machine gun.

"Well, we bumped into each other by chance, exchanged greetings, and since we got along well, we naturally became friends," Fino said absentmindedly. "What, is the media spreading rumors again? Are they saying I'm transferring to Liverpool, or that Alonso is transferring to Milan?"

“Neither,” Mendes said calmly. “I’m saying you were cheating on Pirlo with Alonso by having an affair.”

Fino immediately regained consciousness.

Goodness, the media is becoming increasingly shameless in its reporting. They'll stop at nothing for clicks, saying all sorts of outrageous things.

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Fino asked, somewhat embarrassed.

"Of course not, I'm not stupid. You Italians are gay all the time, I'm used to it," Mendes said. "It's just that Alonso is involved this time, and I'm worried about rumors about a transfer, so I have to control it beforehand. He didn't try to get you to transfer to Juventus with him, did he?"

"No, we hardly talked about football, let alone transfers."

"Okay, goodbye, you can go back to sleep!" Mendes hung up the phone immediately after getting the information he wanted, without wasting a second.

Hearing the busy tone on her phone, Fino remarked that such busy people were truly energetic and efficient.

By this time, he had been sobered up by the media's shocking interpretation that he couldn't fall back asleep. So he sat up and played on his phone, checking out the information on social media platforms.

The information on social media is indeed quite interesting. The outrageous claim that he "had an affair with Alonso behind Pirlo's back" came from The Sun's social media, which was probably a forced distortion based on Alonso's social media posts.

This was the first time Fino had witnessed the power of British tabloids. Compared to The Sun, newspapers like Corriere dello Sport and Gazzetta dello Sport were utterly insignificant.

Seeing the barrage of jokes in his comment section, Fino smiled helplessly; he was already used to it.

At that moment, Pirlo sent him a message asking if he was awake yet. Fino immediately replied that he would meet at 8 o'clock to have breakfast together, and then went to wash up.

Pirlo sat silently in the hotel's restaurant with a view, scrolling through his phone.

He spent the entire day with Fino yesterday, only parting ways around 10 p.m. Unexpectedly, Xabi Alonso was also vacationing here, staying at the same hotel, and even encountered Fino, who was alone.

He was certain that Fino and Alonso had no prior connection. In other words, in less than three hours, they quickly became acquainted, followed each other on social media, and even took a photo together and posted it on social media…

This isn't Fino's style. While he's easy to like in conversation, he's not so quick to open up. Alonso also seemed reserved, not like someone who's naturally outgoing.

So how did they manage to become familiar with it so quickly?

At that moment, Fino walked over and greeted Pirlo with a "Good morning."

"Did you run into Xabi Alonso last night?" Pirlo pushed the coffee he had ordered for Fino over, casually mentioning it.

“Yes, I didn’t expect to run into him here, what a coincidence.” Fino glanced at the menu casually.

"Do we get along well?"

“Yes, that’s right.” Fino’s attention was still on the menu. “You midfielders are all very likable.”

He finally made his choice, handed the menu to the waiter standing beside him, and then looked at Pirlo, asking, "Do you two know each other? Want to hang out together?"

Pirlo immediately rejected the idea; he had no intention of playing with Liverpool players.

Seeing the displeasure on Pirlo's face, Fino burst out laughing. Sure enough, the aftereffects of the Istanbul night were hard to shake off.

Pirlo poked his forehead helplessly: "You little rascal, be careful you don't get scolded when you get back to the team."

"But Alonso is really nice, I think you two will definitely get along."

"Go drink your coffee, you little rascal."

After breakfast, the two decided that today's activity would be to hike along the "Path of the Gods" towards Pomerano, a path built along the side of a cliff, which is said to have breathtaking scenery along the way.

They didn't make any plans to reach the destination. As the saying goes, a vacation is a vacation; it's all about relaxing and having fun. If they don't want to go any further, they can turn back at any time.

The scenery along the way was truly stunning, making Fino feel that the trip was worthwhile.

This is Fino and Pirlo's last day on the Amalfi Coast; they will return to Milan early tomorrow morning.

That day, Fino took a lot of landscape photos, just like every day of this vacation. If she could, Fino really wanted to record all the scenery with photos so she could savor it later when she returned to Milan.

On this day, Pirlo, who doesn't usually take photos, took an unusually large number of pictures, including many with Fino.

When they returned to the hotel after a long day, Pirlo carefully selected many of the photos he had taken and posted them on his social media account.

[Day 17 of my vacation with @FinoCabrini. Tomorrow I have to go home, and I'm already feeling a little sad.]

The photos Pirlo released were almost all portraits, with almost none of them being purely landscapes. In fact, there were more photos of Fino than Pirlo himself.

There are photos of Fino playing with cats, photos of Fino spacing out, photos of Fino pointing his finger at the Leaning Tower of Pisa in a misaligned tourist pose, photos of two people leaning against the railing of the Genoa port with a stunning sunset in the background... There's even a photo of Fino feeding Pirlo ice cream—yes, Pirlo downloaded this photo from the social media of La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Pirlo's post caused a huge uproar online, leading to a heated debate among some fan groups.

Has Pirlo gone mad...? The photos he posted are terrifying...

[His photos are practically all about Cabrini; it's blatant displays of affection. He even downloaded the photo of him feeding her ice cream, as if he wanted everyone to read *La Gazzetta dello Sport* and miss out on their "beautiful love story," right?]

Why did he suddenly go crazy? He seems completely unconcerned about how others interpret it.

[Sigh, this is typical behavior for Italian stars. Popovich loves Pippo, Buffon kisses everyone he meets... it's nothing new.]

But this is Pirlo! Pirlo has never been this crazy!

Perhaps it's because of the news that "Cabrini cheated on Pirlo with Alonso in a hotel room"? Is he asserting his dominance?

Wow, that makes perfect sense!

[Hilarious! Your Milan team is really... incredibly gay, even Pirlo has caught it.]

[Pirlo has always had on-screen partners, like Nesta and Gattuso, but they've never been this blatantly affectionate.]

...

Pirlo calmly browsed the online comments, which greatly overshadowed the news about Fino and Alonso.

The more open and aboveboard he is, the less people will believe it's true, which allows him to better conceal his true feelings.

At that moment, he received a message from Inzaghi, who only sent a question mark.

Pirlo didn't reply. He tossed his phone onto the bed and went to take a shower and rest.