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Lance felt almost numb, finally finishing a morning of medical examinations.
"Don't worry, your ankle is perfectly fine, and your legs and knees are also intact. There are no hidden injury risks. You're as strong as an ox."
The University Hospital of Cologne, recognising Lance's public profile, attached great importance to him.
They specifically arranged for Professor Michael Meyer, Chefarzt (Chief Physician) of the Sports Medicine Department and Vice Dean, to personally conduct a thorough risk assessment for Lance.
"Even though I'm a Cologne fan, I still hope you maintain a healthy body. After all, we'll be relying on you in the Champions League. Those Bayern guys are completely unreliable."
Professor Michael was very happy and even joked with Lance.
"Thank you very much for today, goodbye, Professor Michael."
"I hope I never have to see you in the hospital again. However..."
Professor Michael's expression became a little more serious.
"Your body is still growing, after all. Is your training volume and match intensity a bit too high? I'm concerned it might increase the risk of injury."
"So, for the long-term consideration of your professional career, it's best to discuss it with the club and appropriately reduce your training load."
Lance's usual training and extra sessions were almost at the limit of the coaching staff's assigned tasks.
Coupled with the dense schedule in the second half of the season, Lance had indeed been pushing himself hard.
The team's medical staff and fitness coaches had previously reported this situation, but Lance hadn't taken it seriously.
Having finally seized the opportunity in professional football, Lance didn't want to waste it.
Things like the Golden Finger were, after all, ethereal; he only felt secure when he became stronger himself.
After hearing the advice from the sports medicine expert, Lance felt it was time for him to relax a bit.
"Lance? Are you alright?"
As the two were chatting, Lance suddenly heard a familiar soft, sweet voice behind him.
"Chloe?"
The girl's appearance surprised him.
The last time they messaged each other was a while ago; for some reason, they hadn't been in contact for a long time.
But seeing this Barbie doll-like sweet girl, Lance was quite happy.
"I saw the news about your injury and was a little worried, so I came to check on you."
Professor Michael, seeing the golden couple chatting, discreetly took his leave.
"I have things to do, so I won't disturb you two."
Watching Professor Michael, with an aunt-like smile, look back and forth between him and Lance, Chloe's face turned red.
Her mother's colleague naturally knew her, and he would definitely gossip to her mother later.
Even though there was nothing between them, this made it harder to explain.
But Chloe's thoughts were entirely on Lance's injury, she couldn't care less about anything else.
"How did you know I was injured?"
"I always watch your games. Yesterday, when I saw you fall to the ground, I..."
"It's okay, I just got checked, I'm fine."
"That's great!"
Chloe finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had been worrying about Lance, but was afraid of disturbing him and didn't dare to text him.
Worry makes one confused; the more one cares, the more cautious one becomes.
"You care about me that much?"
Lance's mouth curved into a playful smile as he blurted out the words, but then quickly regretted it.
Why did it feel like he was flirting with his female fan?
What if she was just concerned about the team's performance?
"We're friends, it's normal to care about friends, right?"
"Of course."
As a professional player, Lance had developed keen observational skills.
On the pitch, he needed to judge the opponent's defensive intentions by the movements and eye details of the defensive players, and make quick decisions.
At this moment, Lance suddenly realised that Chloe seemed to be more than just a simple fan!
Did she have a crush on him?
Lance had never been in a relationship; when he was studying in Genk and Munich, he basically didn't socialise with his classmates.
Even if some girls had a crush on him, Lance was always busy practising football and kept his distance from girls.
The pretty young girl in front of him inevitably caused a ripple in Lance's heart.
"Do you have any plans today?"
"No plans."
Chloe's bright, sparkling eyes met Lance's gaze, her face a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
"Then, shall we... find a place to eat something, and walk around?"
"Yes, yes! You probably haven't explored Cologne yet, have you? I know it pretty well, so I can be your guide."
"That's great!"
Lance quickly texted Hanna and the driver, telling them to return to the club first.
"Do you need a car? I'll have the driver stay."
"No, I have my own plans. Thank you for your hard work today."
Upon seeing the message, Hanna Mouller was confused.
However, Lance was on leave, and she couldn't control where he went, so she could only return to Bayer Leverkusen with the driver.
It wasn't until they were about to drive out of the hospital car park, Hanna noticed Lance walking side-by-side with a beautiful young girl, chatting and laughing.
"Oh, that boy!!"
Hanna felt inexplicably uneasy, and the driver next to her was still being talkative.
"Hanna, is it really okay for us to leave Lance like this?"
"Stop talking nonsense, drive your car! Go straight back to the club."
Enrique, the driver and bodyguard for the Bayer Leverkusen club, felt very wronged.
Who did I offend? Why are you being so fierce with me?
That night, Lance returned to his flat.
After showering, he picked up his phone and found a long-awaited message from Chloe.
"I'm home! I had a great time today."
"I had a great time too, and by the way, the chocolate was quite sweet."
Ah!
Seeing this message, Chloe wished she could bury her face in her pillow and roll around on the bed.
Today, Chloe drove her Porsche and took Lance around Cologne city.
Rhine Park, Cologne Cathedral, the Cologne Chocolate Museum...
Compared to their previous roles as fan and player, they chatted a lot without realising it.
Walking on the narrow cobblestone streets of Cologne's Altstadt (Old Town), feeling the surrounding mediaeval architecture, and listening to the accordion music of a street artist next to St Martin's Church.
They were just talking about ordinary daily things, some past experiences they shared, it felt like the rhythm of the "Before Sunrise" trilogy.
Especially in the Chocolate Museum, Chloe was tasting different chocolates, suddenly, she found one that was exceptionally delicious and instinctively offered it to Lance's mouth.
He... he actually opened his mouth and ate it directly!
Little did she know, Lance was also constantly replaying that scene in his mind.
The moment he touched Chloe's small hand, Lance felt a jolt throughout his body.
"Next time, let's go out again, I feel like there are still many places in Cologne we haven't been to."
"Absolutely, I, as your guide, must be diligent and responsible."
"Just a guide?"
Chloe's pretty face turned completely red when she saw Lance ask that.
Her clean, smooth little feet quickly stepped into her slippers, and she pattered to the restaurant, opened the refrigerator, grabbed a can of coke, chugged a few sips, trying to calm herself down.
Lance had training tomorrow, needing to prepare for the German Cup quarter-final against Bayern Munich in two days.
The lack of a response after that one sentence made Lance a little puzzled.
"Fell asleep? Or... was that question inappropriate?"
"What is she doing?"
It was already 11 PM, and Lance originally intended to put down his phone and go straight to sleep.
But after turning off the light, he couldn't sleep.
He picked up his phone, typed some words, then quickly deleted them.
On the other side, Chloe had chugged a few sips of ice-cold coke and finally calmed down a bit.
But she didn't expect her father, Oliver Haus, to be sitting on the balcony next to the dining room, holding a glass of bourbon with ice, looking at her with a half-smile.
"You're still awake?"
"Your face is so red, do you have a fever?"
"No, no, I'm going back to my room."
Chloe scurried away like a little rabbit again.
Oliver Haus's eyes twinkled as he looked at her retreating figure with suspicion, then chuckled softly.
Back in her bedroom, Chloe lay on the bed, her little feet habitually tilt up and swinging.
She picked up her phone, typed for a long time, then quickly deleted it again.
Finally, she couldn't resist typing a sentence and, gritting her teeth, clicked send.
"Oh no!! What's wrong with me!"
Chloe quickly threw her phone away, not daring to see how Lance would reply, even regretting sending those messages.
Ding—
Lance idly scrolled through Twitter for a while, seeing Bayern fans commenting on Twitter that they would thrash Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals.
Fans from both sides were constantly bickering.
Chloe's message appeared, making Lance's heart skip two beats.
"Was today... a date?"
"Of course."
The next day, Bayer Leverkusen training ground.
Son Heung-min and De Bruyne stood on the pitch, looking at each other.
"What's up with Lance today? He seems really excited."
"He's probably excited about playing against Bayern," De Bruyne speculated, stroking his chin.
"Really?" Son Heung-min scratched his head, feeling like something wasn't quite right.