Chapter 201
Cristiano returned to the bus. He grabbed the handrails on both sides and hopped up the stairs on one foot, as nimble as a deer.
Ramos stared at the side without saying a word.
Each of them knew very well how difficult this game was. In fact, it was he who made the game even more difficult and put Real Madrid on the edge of the cliff. But Cristiano pulled Real Madrid back from the cliff.
If it weren't for that penalty, perhaps Cristiano wouldn't have had to play so hard.
Ramos took a deep breath. He knew very well in his heart that as a player, he didn't need these ineffective and useless thoughts, which would make everything complicated.
They are teammates and partners. The only reason for all of them to get together is to lift the trophy, not for some college fraternity.
——There is nothing that we need to be responsible for each other, and there is no need for such an apologetic feeling.
This is what Florentino told them on his first day in charge of the club.
He told them all that the club was not a place to make friends, that there were only two kinds of relationships between players: either teammates or opponents, and there was no need for a third kind. What he wanted was those who could bring glory to the club, and apart from that, he would clean up.
Ramos agreed with this deeply, but more importantly, he realized that people cannot completely separate rationality and emotion, and he inevitably feels sad and sorry.
He was lost in thought and unconsciously slowed down his pace.
But then, he had to notice Kaka - because when he was about to get on the bus, Kaka squeezed in faster than him. Maybe it was because he was distracted and slowed down by half a beat, but no matter what, he felt the force of being pushed away, and he had to fall behind -
He noticed that Kaka was following closely behind Cristiano, with his arms slightly outstretched, as if the Brazilian would rush over to catch Cristiano if he showed any discomfort or imbalance.
Ramos touched his nose and thought, well, considering that he saw with his own eyes how shocking Cristiano's injury was, he thought Kaka's performance was not exaggerated.
After Cristiano jumped onto the steps of the bus, he turned around and sat in the third row of seats. He turned around and saw Kaka's actions. He grinned and whispered jokingly: "You look like a mother hen protecting her cubs."
"Then you are the troublesome little chicken." Kaka said, staring at Cristiano's bandaged foot, frowning slightly and sighing unconsciously, "If only I could score earlier."
Hearing this, Cristiano moved closer to Kaka, sat up a little straighter, and reached out to touch Kaka's frowning brows: "Goal scoring is the responsibility of everyone on the team, not just you. You can't put all the blame on yourself. Besides, you don't need to compare goals."
"You should say the first half of the sentence to yourself." Ramos said suddenly.
Cristiano was startled: "Why are you here?"
"I've always been here. You just didn't see me," Ramos said.
He looked at Cristiano. Scoring a goal was the whole team's business. Cristiano understood this, but he only used it to comfort others.
But Cristiano himself will double the pressure of scoring goals on himself. But I am the one who caused this. Ramos thought this in his mind, and he didn't notice that he had spoken out what he was thinking.
"I didn't do that," Cristiano retorted. "I wasn't that... This is corny, Sergio, but listen, I was out there just because I wanted to, I wanted to play, score goals, win games, it was my choice."
“Besides, I just thought you went back to talk to reporters later,” he said.
Ramos curled his lips and looked at the ground. What personal choice? If the team had not been one goal ahead, if they had scored a goal first, would the personal choice still be the same?
He doesn't believe it.
"I didn't. I didn't want to go." He didn't need to go to know what the reporters wanted to ask, or the only consolation was that they won, Cristiano's goal, and, this was bad, but it was true, and Cristiano's injury would divert the reporters' attention and vision away from the fact that he gave away a penalty.
Maybe not so many reports would mention him, after all, they have more explosive content to write about.
Ramos sat dejectedly on the other side of the aisle next to Cristiano. He lowered his head and looked at Cristiano's exposed ankle wrapped in gauze.
Fortunately, it was just a flesh wound. It was so thin and fragile here, and that kind of force was too dangerous. Plus, the constant friction from running was fucking terrifying. He could feel similar pain just thinking about it.
He lowered his hand, just enough to touch it if he got a little closer, but as soon as his fingers touched the gauze, they quickly curled back as if they would burn him.
Ramos didn't make any more movements, just buried his head deeply between his arms and sniffed heavily.
Cristiano paused when he saw this, and he looked at Kaka, but Kaka was also paying attention to his ankle. No emotion could be seen in his dark pupils, but it was obvious that he didn't have the energy to pay attention to him at the moment.
Cristiano pinched his nose helplessly and sighed softly. He didn't want to be the one to talk to. The Sergio he knew didn't need to talk to him about these things, but the young Sergio in front of him?
He couldn't remain indifferent and pretend that the opponent could digest today's game well.
This game was not easy for anyone, not even him, not even Kaka, not to mention Ramos who was only in his early twenties.
Cristiano bent down and moved closer. He scratched Ramos' neck and motioned Ramos to look up at him.
But it is obvious that the young, immature defender is not as shameless as he will be in the future and cannot show his frustration in front of Cristiano.
Cristiano had to say: "Okay, Sergio, I know what you are thinking, but look, this is football, this is the beauty of football, you are not playing this competitive game alone."
"It doesn't matter if you make mistakes, because you still have teammates and me. We will cover you and make up for the mistakes. Although this may not always happen, even if we lose, there is nothing to be afraid of. Losing a game is normal and we will not die. We will review the game, learn lessons, and then we will get it back in the next round."
"Sergio, this is a football." Cristiano repeated in a low voice.
His voice was low and serious, and his round eyes flashed with a gentle light as if he was talking about a lover. He said softly, "This is the beauty of it. We are partners, teammates, and friends who fight side by side. I will watch you, and you will not be alone on the court."
Kaka looked at Cristiano. The Portuguese in his eyes was obviously wearing a bandage in a ridiculous way, and even his hair was messily sticking up and spreading because the hairspray was soaked by sweat. He looked a little pitiful and embarrassed, but also surprisingly shiny, so vigorous and energetic, with a power that made people couldn't help but be infected and convinced.
Ramos raised his head and said in a low voice: "Cristiano, do you really think so?"
"Of course," the Portuguese replied without hesitation.
Ramos didn't say anything else. They were partners, teammates, fighting side by side... friends. certainly.
Cristiano looked at Ramos and asked, "So everything is fine?"
Ramos responded vaguely. He was not a child who needed endless comfort and company. He could digest all this slowly by himself.
Seeing this, Cristiano said nothing more. He slowly moved his feet. He deserved a quiet rest now.
He closed his eyes, and soon he felt a more comfortable and warm "pillow" moving closer to his side. Cristiano curled the corners of his mouth slightly and tilted his head towards it.
Ramos suddenly remembered something. He suddenly raised his head and said, "Why don't you say sese again? Uh, Chris..."
Kaka looked over, raised his index finger to Ramos, and whispered, "He is too tired, let him sleep for a while."
Ramos fell silent. He scratched the back of his head and saw that Cristiano indeed had his eyes closed, his breathing was slow and relaxed, and he was like a child, curled up slightly in his seat, facing his seatmate and leaning against Kaka.
Ramos nodded slightly upon seeing this.
He turned and looked out the car window.
When his teammates finished their post-match interviews and returned to the parking lot one after another, he opened the car window and gestured to his teammates to be quiet.
Modric was the first one to jog into the car. He glanced inside the car and saw Cristiano asleep. He raised his eyebrows, looked at Ramos, then looked at Chris who was sleeping on Kaka's shoulder. He said nothing and sat quietly in the back seat.
The other teammates also got on the car one after another. Seeing this, they all tacitly lowered their voices and walking noises. No one intended to wake up the hero of the night.
Cristiano had only intended to pretend to sleep for a while - Ramos's question was so weird and speechless that he wanted to get away with it - but the fact was that he did fall asleep, and slept so soundly that he didn't notice that they had arrived at the hotel until Kaka woke him up.
"How do you feel? Can you walk?" Kaka asked Cristiano in a low voice. He knew that the effect of the spray was only short-lived. It was okay when sleeping, but after waking up, the pain would come back like a shadow.
Cristiano sat up straighter, his feet stiffened slightly after touching the bottom, and then nodded imperceptibly: "Are we there? It seems that everyone has gone down, so let's go."
He looked around and found that he and Kaka were the only ones left in the bus.
Kaka responded, he grabbed Cristiano's arm and put it on his shoulder. When Cristiano looked over, he shook his head slightly, not allowing any refusal: "Behave Cris, I know how bad your situation is."
"It's not that bad... the team doctor said it didn't affect anything, it's just a flesh wound." Cristiano muttered.
Kaka didn't say anything. Cristiano touched his nose and didn't refute anything. He dared to say that the Brazilian's silence at this moment would definitely scare Luca to tears.
The two returned to the room, and Kaka took Cristiano to the bed and put him down. As soon as the Portuguese sat on the soft mattress, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh, relaxed his shoulders, and slightly lifted his calves.
He took back his previous words. Even if it was just a flesh wound, it hurt badly.
"I'll go get some hot water," Kaka said, glancing at Cristiano. "Stay here and don't move."
"But I have to take a shower?" Cristiano paused, "Isn't it hot water for me?"
Kaka didn't answer, just got up and went to the bathroom.
Cristiano had no choice but to lie on the quilt with his head back.
He listened to the sound of water coming from the bathroom and closed his eyes lazily again. He was really tired today, and dealing with the pain was more exhausting than the game itself.
I don't know how long I waited for Kaka, but Cristiano suddenly felt the soles of his feet being covered by something warm and soft. He opened his eyes and saw Kaka squatting beside him, holding a white towel from the hotel and applying hot compress to the soles of his feet.
He moved his toes and sighed softly in comfort. The soft towel carefully wiped the soles and insteps of his feet, while the gauze-wrapped ankles were carefully avoided.
Cristiano lowered his head to look at the top of his lover's head. He slightly bent his eyes and reached out to smooth away the other's slightly long bangs: "Hey Kaka, I can do it myself. You don't need to do this..."
Before he finished speaking, a soft and warm kiss fell on the gauze, and he heard Kaka whispered: "Cristiano, do you know what I was thinking when I was in the car?"
Cristiano slightly tensed his instep, and his sensitive soles were held tightly in his lover's slightly calloused hands. Kaka's breath sprayed on his skin, making it almost impossible for him to concentrate on what the other person was saying.
Watch
"What?"
"I'm thinking, there are too many scars on this leg, Cristiano." Kaka lowered his eyes, biting his lover's name, the syllables swirling gently on the tip of his tongue, his lips gently pressed against the scars, some shallow and some deep.
"We all have a lot of scars, Kaka, this is normal." Cristiano shrank back slightly ticklishly, he smiled softly, held Kaka's face with both hands, and looked into the other's dark eyes, "Kaka, this is not what you want to say, right?"
"...No." Kaka paused. He was a little caught off guard, but after a few seconds of silence, he chose to be honest, "I was thinking about Ramos, what you said to him, and what we went through in the past. And you still chose to be tolerant of him, right?"
"He just needs to grow. As for the rest, that's what I learned from Luis, I have a good role model," Cristiano said.
Whenever he sees these young people, he always thinks of what Figo had done and said to him. He was wrapped, nourished and grew up in love, and now he is generously willing to give the same to those young people.
He looked at Kaka. Kaka didn't say anything else. He just raised his body slightly and leaned over to kiss him.
This is Cristiano. Kaka knows that this is the person he loves. He grows up in colorful love, extremely fresh and pure, and is generous in giving love and care. It doesn't matter who the object is, but he does it when he wants to.
Kaka actually thought of something else. When he saw Ramos wanted to touch Cristiano's wound but pulled back, he thought to himself that only he could go back to the hotel room and check Cristiano's ankle as a matter of course, kiss his calf and knee, while some people did not even have the courage to touch it, because that person knew very well what caused this terrible injury.
He tried his best to control his anger. When Cristiano fell to the ground injured in front of him and curled up on the grass, he was still powerless. It was terrible, and he could only hope to score a goal to make Mourinho willing to let Cristiano leave the field early to rest.
But the goal came late in the game, almost over, and it was even brought to him by Cristiano. After Cristiano saw his urgency and determination, he gave him all his trust and handed over the stadium and the penalty spot to him.
Kaka held the back of Cristiano's head and deepened the kiss. He carefully avoided the boy's feet and pressed his body on him until Cristiano completely relaxed on the bed sheets, letting out a soft hum.
He pecked and kissed Chris's eyelids, which were pink and wet, and made his heart soften.
He couldn't blame Cristiano for insisting on playing despite being injured, because Mourinho only believed that the Portuguese could bring a turning point.
This may be what Ancelotti once said to him. As long as Cristiano appears on the court, he can feel at ease because the score will often be one to zero. Now, this may be the same idea in Mourinho's heart.
"Cris, you will spoil those people, make them get used to you, depend on you, and lean on you. When they have tasted victory more often, victory will become commonplace, as if it is within their grasp." Kaka said in a low voice after an unknown amount of time. "And when you leave, when they have to face a suddenly different record and situation, when they have tasted how disgusting it is to lose so often, they will miss you, blame you, and hate you... This is who they are."
"But you don't care about them, not at all, right?" Kaka asked in a hoarse voice, staring into Cristiano's eyes.
“…” Cristiano breathed quietly, and after a few seconds he spoke, “Kaka, that’s nine years.”
"You know, one sentence or two sentences can't offset those nine years, but nine years will make those words more piercing and sharper." He smiled, "But, it's only nine years. I have had many companionships that lasted longer than nine years. So, no, I care, but not that much."
Kaka paused after hearing this, and then realized that the reason why Cristiano could provide help and concern so calmly was because he cared but not too much, and everything he gave was insignificant in his eyes. He is generous and stingy, and perhaps some people will never get an ounce of the real Cristiano's full trust again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
