Chapter 15 Fourteen Noodles, Tangerines, and First Love

"Well...the boss made a mistake, can you help me eat this bowl?" The girl brought me the hot noodles. The location is a restaurant near the school. It is a place where students from the surrounding area gather. After our team has practiced, it is a common practice to go to that restaurant to eat together.It was the fall of my second year of junior high school, and I had just become the captain of the baseball team, and it was the season when my appetite was strong. "Oh? Is it okay? Then I'll eat it!" I gasped with gratitude. The weather started to get cold a few days ago, and the bowl of warm noodles has been warming my heart, not to mention, the bowl of noodles was served by a beautiful girl.

This innocent girl, who looks a lot like Sayuri Yoshinaga, is a basketball player at the nearby private high school.Our baseball players at Seongnam Middle School admired her who was older than us, called her Jiyoung behind our backs, and always looked at her with adoring eyes like the Virgin Mary. Not only that time, but every time we meet in the future, that "Jin Yong" will treat me to eat.Moreover, every time she would say "the boss made a mistake", or "I ordered this, but I'm full from eating other things", or "I have a stomachache", etc. I can't refuse the reason, please I help her eat.

My teammates said Jillong was interested in me. In fact, I always have no money. When everyone enjoys "big bowl of noodles with shaved ice" or "big bowl of noodles with hot milk", I just eat shaved ice on the sidelines. Everyone thinks that Yoshinaga, who is in love with me, must have invited me on purpose. At that time, I only had baseball in my heart, so I thought it would be nice to be admired by the beautiful Yoshinaga. Gradually, I began to have the earnest intention of "what should I give Yoshinaga in return". But I don't even have money for noodles.What should we do?I thought about it day and night, and the season turned to winter.

That day I was worrying about "Can't I give her something in return?" As I was walking, the oranges hanging on the crooked branches suddenly jumped into my eyes.Several trees bearing huge oranges were planted in that mansion, and there were hundreds of oranges hanging from the trees. "This is it!" I think this is really a gift from God.So he invited two good teammates, and at night they secretly climbed up the fence of the mansion to steal oranges. I brought the oranges home, peeled one, and the refreshing citrus scent filled the house. "Well, it's really the scent of first love!"

I put it in my mouth, and my mouth was full of sour and sweet juice. "Yoshinaga will definitely like it." I can't wait for the evening to come the next day. After practice, which felt longer than usual, I went to the restaurant, but I didn't see Yoshinaga.The evil friend who went to steal oranges together yesterday lightly poked my big bag of oranges and said sarcastically: "Senior, what is this?" "Nonsense! It's nothing!" I became angry and scolded my junior who pretended to ask me naively. The poor junior was downcast. Time passed slowly.

"Jiyoung won't come today, will he?" As usual, I was sipping warm milk next to my teammates who were chomping on noodles, thinking what to do with these oranges, when the door of the restaurant opened with a clatter, and a bunch of chattering girls came in—Jiyong’s basketball team. Amidst the teasing laughter of my teammates, I walked to Jiyong with the bag of oranges. "Uh... this is not a good thing, I give it to you." "What is it?" "Oranges from my yard." "Wow, thanks, oranges are my favorite." "Oh really?" "real."

"Then, I'll bring it back tomorrow." That night, and the next night, my teammates and I went to the mansion to steal oranges and graciously gave them to Jillon. "thanks." "are you happy?" "Is it okay to take it every day? I'm very happy." It feels like every time I give Yoshinaga an orange, the distance between us gets shorter. I stole oranges for four or five days in a row amid the threats from my teammates, "If you succeed, we will be your lifelong benefactors, and you will never forget us." But one evening, when I passed the big house and thought about whether to steal oranges, a familiar laughter came from inside the fence.

"Ouch, Beach, can you stop? Mom, come on!" I climbed up to the wall to peek, and it was Jillong who was playing with the little white dog in the yard and calling out to the house for his mother. That picture, as beautiful as a painting, told me that my first love was over. I stole oranges from Yoshinaga's house and gave them to her graciously. Does Yoshinaga know? Even if she doesn't know, I have no face to see her again. Later, I used the authority of the captain to change the team's meeting place to another restaurant.The teammates, with different thoughts, remembered this matter for a lifetime.