"Uuuuuuuuu…"
A girl of about sixteen or seventeen was crying softly in the woods.
The scene made it hard not to imagine something bad.
But her clothes were intact, her hair wasn't messy, and there were no signs of a struggle. Kai let out a quiet breath of relief.
At least it wasn't the worst-case scenario he had feared.
"Um… are you in some kind of trouble?" Kai asked in English. Czech is the main language in the Czech Republic, but most young people can communicate in English.
"Ah!"
The girl quickly wiped her tears and turned around, looking at him cautiously.
But when she realized he was actually younger than her, she relaxed a little and replied in fluent American English, "Thank you for your concern. I'm fine."
Kai nodded. "I saw you have black hair, so I thought you might be Asian. I just wanted to check if you needed help."
The girl noticed his jersey and the football bag on his back. Her eyes lit up.
"You… you're a football player? You can really play?"
"Of course." Kai didn't expect the world to recognize him as the Youth Champions League MVP.
Still, he felt like she looked strangely familiar.
"Then… could you teach me?" she asked quickly, then corrected herself. "Not long-term! Just some short-term guidance."
"I'm filming a movie right now. There are scenes where I have to play football, baseball, and basketball."
"This is my first film, and I want every shot to be as perfect as possible."
"The reason I was crying…" she hesitated, "is because I feel like my acting isn't good enough. I'm slowing down the whole crew. I thought someone from the staff came to find me, so I panicked and wiped my tears."
Kai glanced at her slightly smudged makeup and understood.
Except for people pretending to be pitiful for attention, no one wants to show weakness at work.
Working this hard at such a young age…
Wait.
Actress?
"You… you are…" Kai finally recognized her.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself." She smiled brightly. "My name is Anne Hathaway."
So it really was her.
That meant she was filming The Princess Diaries — her breakout role. The fictional country "Genovia" in the movie was loosely inspired by Andorra, and parts of the production had indeed been shot in Prague.
"I can teach you some simple football moves," Kai said. "I don't have anything urgent right now. My name is Kai. I play in Sporting CP's youth academy."
He took out his ball and began guiding her through basic touches.
"That's right…"
"Good, keep your balance…"
"Yes, like that…"
"Very nice!"
"Beautiful control."
Kai deliberately avoided using professional youth training standards to judge her. For an ordinary person, Anne was quite athletic and coordinated.
But she remembered every word of encouragement.
She felt clumsy while dribbling and awkward when stopping the ball, yet Kai never criticized her once.
Almost an hour later, both of them were sweating.
Anne looked at Kai — more than half a head shorter than her — teaching seriously with a focused expression.
For some reason, she found it a little charming.
"You're a great teacher," she said sincerely. "If my acting coach taught me the way you do, I might even win Best Actress one day."
Kai smiled. "Why 'even'? I think you can win it."
She froze, staring at him. His eyes were completely sincere.
"Really?" she asked softly, almost in disbelief.
"Of course. Some people respond well to pressure. Others grow with encouragement." Kai shrugged. "And some people are just born to lead. Like me."
He grinned.
"I have a teammate who's stubborn as hell. He sets insanely high standards for himself — and forces everyone else to meet them too."
"If you met him today, you'd probably hate football."
Anne covered her mouth, laughing. "Then he sounds unbearable."
Kai nodded seriously. "Exactly. He's meant to be a role model, not a leader. But I do admire his work ethic."
She brushed back her slightly messy hair. "I believe you'll become an amazing player one day. If I get the chance, I'll follow your matches. You said you play for… Benfica, right?"
Kai blinked.
"…Sporting CP."
"Benfica is our mortal enemy in the same city."
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she laughed nervously. "Then I'll support Sporting from now on."
Kai waved it off. "Youth players aren't exactly famous. It's because I haven't reached high enough yet."
He smirked mischievously. "But I'll definitely follow your movies in the future, Scarlett Johansson."
Anne's eyes widened.
"Hmph! That's annoying! My name is Anne Hathaway! And Scarlett Johansson is way hotter than me! You're doing that on purpose!"
Kai just laughed.
Soon, crew members found Anne.
"It's my scene. I have to go," she said, biting her lip.
She hesitated for a moment, then gathered her courage.
"You're not leaving Prague today, right? As thanks for teaching me… could I invite you to dinner?"
Kai nodded. "Sure. I'll stay here a while. But starting tomorrow, I enter closed training. I won't be able to go out easily."
"Then tonight!" she declared happily and ran off before he could answer properly.
The crew was surprised to see her smiling so brightly.
Recently, Anne had been criticized several times during filming. Her condition had been unstable, and everyone was worried.
"Hathaway," a staff member said, "the crew will have a short break soon. We're planning to watch a European Junior Championship match to feel the atmosphere. Want to come? There are several exciting young stars this year, especially Cristiano Ronaldo and—"
"No," she interrupted. "That name is too long and boring. And I'm not interested in other people's football right now."
The staff member blinked.
Too long?
If he'd known, he would've just said "Kai."
Wait.
Why would that matter?
That afternoon, Kai returned to Prague with his parents.
On the way back, Cristiano Ronaldo called him.
"Dinner tonight?" Ronaldo hinted that the invitation came from Ricardo Quaresma, and all the Sporting youth players would be there.
"Sorry," Kai said. "I already have plans tonight. Drink a few extra glasses for me. I'll treat everyone next time."
Ronaldo's face twisted like he'd just swallowed something bitter.
Why should I drink extra because you're not coming?
That night, the usually arrogant Ronaldo did something rare.
He humbly apologized to everyone while holding his glass.
"Kai's mom isn't feeling well. He needs to stay with her."
"Kai's dad's toe injury flared up again. He had to go to the hospital."
"Kai still has university assignments to finish. He's pulling an all-nighter."
After several rounds of this, everyone's impression of Kai remained neutral.
But their impression of Ronaldo improved significantly.
Wasn't he supposed to be arrogant and hard to get along with?
He seemed… surprisingly considerate.
Only one question remained in everyone's mind:
Did Kai really have such a ridiculously shitty day?
Everything hit at once?
That's some cursed, cut-cock level bad luck.
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