For the first leg of the match against Real Sociedad, the Unique FC squad flew over to San Sebastian, Spain on the afternoon of the day before the match day to get themselves properly situated.
They headed to the hotel they had booked ahead of their flight as soon as their plane landed on Spanish soil two hours after their departure.
As always, Dave was sharing a room with his brother-in-law and at the moment, the two were busy settling down and unpacking their luggage.
Getting that done didn't take long for the two, and as soon as they were done, Dave let out a sigh before crashing down on the bed.
"We're finally here." He uttered, a smile of satisfaction on his face.
"Yes, we are." Mateo nodded.
"You know, thinking back to the first day of this competition, I never thought we would be able to make it this far."
"Well, we did almost lose that playoff against FC Basel," Mateo remarked as he picked up a book he had dropped on his bed earlier. "But after that, we surprisingly ended up cruising through the group stage."
"Yeah, and we were supposed to be the weakest in that group."
"Mhm."
Mateo was about to open the book in his hand when his phone suddenly began to vibrate in his pocket.
"Who could be...."
He wasn't able to finish that statement as he pulled out his phone from his pocket to find out that it wasn't exactly someone within the realm of his expectations but the subtle smile on his face was enough to tell that he was happy to see that name.
"Who is it?" Dave asked before sitting up on the bed.
"Oh, it's Sofia, I suppose she knew we were coming to Spain." He responded. "I forgot to tell her." He whispered before sliding up to accept the call.
"Oh," Dave muttered with a nod.
He was left alone in the room soon afterwards as Mateo shifted to the restroom to have his phone conversation.
The goalkeeper stared at the bathroom door for a few seconds before crashing down on the bed once again.
"She's definitely one of the reasons he's going to Atletico next season." He muttered.
<They'll still be cities apart though, Madrid and Barcelona aren't exactly close>
'Yeah, but I know Mateo, he probably has things figured out.'
The winger made his way out of the bathroom soon after that, heading straight for the door.
"Where are you going?" Dave rose to ask just as he pulled the door open.
"To buy something." He answered abruptly before exiting the room, shutting the door quickly.
The midfielder got acquainted with Dave during their last face-off, and that was mostly because he was one of the few players in their squad who could properly speak English.
"Oh, it's you, Dave." The midfielder said as soon as he got close enough to see his face.
"It's good to see you too." Dave smiled.
"Mhm." Merino nodded. "Your teammates didn't come with you?"
"No, I snuck out to take a walk."
"We're here for the same reason then."
"Oh, you're also out for a walk?"
"Yes." The midfielder nodded. "Whenever I need to clear my head at night, I come here to take a walk."
"Oh."
"Something on your mind?" Dave asked before continuing his walk with the midfielder sticking close behind.
"Yes, but it's not anything I can't take care of, so don't worry."
"Oh, that's good to know."
"On the other hand, though, we have a game against one of the most in-form teams this season tomorrow." The midfielder remarked.
"Looks like we're in a similar situation." Dave retorted sarcastically.
The two burst into a feat of laughter afterwards but they couldn't hold their laugh for more than thirty seconds.
"I hope you go easy on me tomorrow," Dave uttered playfully.
"We'll see." Merino shrugged. "The last time, I was only able to get an assist; I'll try to go for a goal this time."
"And I was hoping...."
[ Match quest received ]
[ Prevent Merino Lopez from scoring ]
[ Quest rewards ]
[ 1000 exp ]
[ 10 stat points ]
[ 50 skill upgrade points ]
'Why do I feel like someone or something got hurt by those words?'