Chapter 22: Something I Have To Beat

After trying to recall which one it was for a while with no success, Axel gave up and decided to check what the internet had to say about it.

"Oh, so it was butter." He muttered before proceeding to add a little bit of butter to the pan.

He turned on the gas cooker and allowed it to melt before pouring in the egg mix, and right at that moment, he heard the door move.

"Huh?"

He quickly turned around and made his way to the living room to see Ryan entering the house.

"Hey, I didn't know the door was going to be open." His blonde friend said before closing the door.

"It's okay, I just thought it was someone else. Anyway, I have to get back to the kitchen now." He said before quickly rushing back to the kitchen.

"Oh, you're making breakfast yourself?" Ryan said in amusement before following him.

"Yeah, I have to at least make my breakfast myself or I'm just going to starve." He replied before picking up the spatula to give his scrambled eggs a little nudge.

"And I'm guessing it must be quite the hassle for you." 

"You can say that again," Axel said before turning his gaze to him.

Ryan was about to reply to that when he smelt something and moved closer to see that it was just what he thought.

"Umm…the egg is burning."

"Huh?" A gasp escaped from his mouth as he quickly turned his gaze back to the pan. "When did that even happen."

"I think you turned up the heat higher than it's supposed to be for something like this," Ryan said before proceeding to turn down the heat a bit.

"Oh."

After that he proceeded to help Axel make breakfast or to be precise, he took over the whole thing while Axel just watched from behind.

Since he was already there, Axel told him to make enough for the both of them and although he turned him down at first, his persuasion led him to do it at last.

Once everything was done, the two sat down to eat together and Axel had a couple of things to talk about because he now had a newfound respect for his friend.

"I had no idea you could cook, Ryan." He said before taking a bite from his toast.

"It's not a big deal, to be honest, you just never gave any thought to it since you spend most of your day training," Ryan replied. "It's okay though, cooking just doesn't seem to be your forte."

"Yeah, you're right about that, even if I get good at it, if it comes down to making a choice, I'd rather have someone else do it for me."

"And let me guess, you want me to start coming over to do it for you?"

"Not really but if you can do it, then I don't see any problem and it's not like you have to come over every day, I'll go eat outside if it comes to it."

Ryan didn't reply to that immediately and poured some of the milk in the glass sitting in front of him into his mouth first.

"Well, you of all people should know why that can't work." He said before dropping the glass back on the table.

"Yeah, you have training and matches to play." He sighed.

"I'm not sure about breakfast but I know someone who can drop by every day after school and help you with lunch and dinner."

"No, not going to happen," Axel replied abruptly before shaking his head.

"I knew you were going to say that." Ryan sighed. "But give it some thought, it's either that or you make your own food. There's also eating outside all the time or hiring a chef."

"Eating outside or hiring a chef." The young midfielder muttered. 

"Anyway, your next match is against Everton, right?" This was Ryan's attempt to change the topic.

"Yeah, and unlike the last match, I'm fit enough to be part of it," Axel said with a confident smile on his face. "I was even fit enough for the match against Brentford, but I guess they didn't need me either way." 

"Yeah, that match was too easy for them."

"Exactly, it was the perfect match to farm assists."

"Farm assist? If you're really after farming stats that much, Axel then maybe you should think of joining Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, things will be way easier for you there. You have the talent so it won't take long before they notice you." The sly look on his face as he said that was an indication that it was meant to upset Axel. 

"Oh wow, you just assumed that I'm one of those footballers who want everything easy."

Axel could tell from his face that he was trying really hard to hold in his laughter.

"I'm going to work hard but farming against weak teams every now and then isn't bad."

"Yeah, you're not wrong, I mean I did score five goals against Liverpool the other day," Ryan revealed.

"Seriously?" 

"Mhm." He responded with a nod. "And In case you're wondering, we won the match eight goals to three."

"Wow, you guys trashed them, the life of a winger, too bad it wasn't a professional match." Axel sighed.

"I don't think Manchester City can do something like that to Liverpool in a professional match."

"Yeah, you're right but you seem to have gotten better, Ryan, pulling off five goals in a match is no small feat." He uttered with a bright smile on his face. 

"Yeah, I've been training a lot lately but still, it's nothing compared to what you can do."

"Maybe but boy, I can't wait for the day we get to play together."

"Me too, buddy," Ryan responded with a smile.

The two spoke about a couple of other things before Ryan had to leave to go join his teammates at the academy for their training session.

Axel had a couple of hours left before he had to leave for training so he decided to use the time he had left to do something useful. 

"So, who's it going to be today?" He muttered before he sat down on the couch and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

He used 'cast' to share his phone screen with the television and after that, he made his way to YouTube.

'I think now will be the best time to watch that Andres Iniesta video.' He said subconsciously before moving to his library to find the video.

It didn't take long before he found it, and without hesitation, he clicked it.

It was a video showing some of Iniesta's best moments as a Barcelona midfielder.

Highlights of the midfield maestro's career.

He watched the video with great attention and with every through pass he saw, a smile would find its way to his face.

"I really like Kevin De Brunye as a great midfielder and club legend but when it comes down to preference, I adore Iniesta's style of play, he's something else."

Neat touch, flawless dribbling, and accurate passes even from miles away. That's something I have to beat.'

******

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