June 10th 2025.

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the curtains of Joanna’s room, warming the bed where she sat with her legs crossed beneath her. Her laptop rested on a small foldable stand over her thighs, and a PDF document filled the screen in front of her.

At first, she had opened the email with excitement. Nervous excitement, sure, but still excitement. She had spent the better part of the last week checking her inbox constantly, refreshing university portals every few hours even when she knew decisions wouldn’t magically appear faster because of it.

Now, though, the excitement had completely faded from her face.

Her eyes moved slowly across the words on the screen.

"Dear Miss Joanna Maria Jimenez,

Thank you for your application to the University of Manchester for the Bachelor of Science programme in Biochemistry..."

Her lips pressed together slightly as she kept reading.

"...we regret to inform you..."

That was enough already.

Still, she finished the rest of the letter anyway, reading through the usual polite university wording about high competition, limited spaces, and wishing her success in future academic pursuits.

When she finally reached the bottom of the page, she leaned back against the headboard and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds.

Then she muttered quietly, "Well... that sucks."

She clicked away from the PDF and opened another tab.

This one looked much friendlier.

Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Accepted.

She had gotten into Madrid without any problems. The programme was good too. Very good, actually. A respected school, close to home, familiar environment, familiar language, familiar culture.

Objectively, it should have made the decision easy.

But instead, it somehow made things harder.

Joanna rested her chin against her hand as she stared at the acceptance letter again.

Because Lukas was almost certainly going to Manchester City.

At this point, everybody around him knew it. The way he talked about Pep Guardiola after their meeting made it obvious enough already. Even when he tried to sound reasonable about it, there was still this excitement in his voice he couldn’t completely hide.

And now she was sitting here staring at a rejection letter from Manchester.

Her phone buzzed beside her pillow.

She picked it up absentmindedly and saw another football notification.

"Manchester City increasingly confident of reaching agreement for German wonderkid Lukas Brandt."

Joanna sighed and dropped the phone back onto the bed.

"Yeah," she muttered quietly. "No surprise there."

She closed the laptop halfway and sat there thinking.

If Lukas moved to England and she stayed in Madrid, things would obviously change. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. Different countries, different schedules, different lives.

And for the first time since she started thinking about college, the university that had seemed like the obvious choice suddenly didn’t feel quite so obvious anymore.

* * *

Around the same time at a hotel suite in Frankfurt.

The discussion had lasted nearly two hours.

Mostly lawyers talking.

Clauses. Bonuses. Image rights. Taxes. Percentages.

Lukas had barely spoken during the last twenty minutes. Marco handled most of it while the Manchester City side went back and forth with their own legal team.

Marco scrolled through the final draft of the agreement while the room stayed mostly quiet apart from the occasional movement of paper and glasses against the table.

After a brief read, he raised his head and gave a nod.

Then the lead negotiator looked toward Lukas.

"There is one more thing," she said. "The shirt number you requested."

Lukas looked up immediately.

The woman gave a small nod.

"I’ve already informed the club about it. We still need final confirmation on availability, but if the number is free, we’ll reserve it for you before your presentation."

Lukas nodded slowly.

"And if it isn’t available?"

"Then we’ll discuss alternatives when you arrive in Manchester in two days."

"Yeah, sure," Lukas replied. "That’s fine."

Marco finally closed the contract folder beside him.

"Then I think we’re done here."

The negotiator smiled slightly and stood from her chair.

"I believe we are."

The room finally relaxed.

Chairs shifted back. Papers were gathered. People started standing.

Marco stood first and offered his hand across the table.

"Then we have an agreement."

The woman shook it firmly.

"We do."

She turned to Lukas next.

"Congratulations, Lukas."

He shook her hand.

"Thank you."

Even saying it still felt strange.

Manchester City.

Actually happening.

Javi stood beside him while the rest of the lawyers exchanged handshakes and quiet goodbyes around the room.

The negotiator looked toward Marco again.

"The private jet will be at the airport in two days."

Marco nodded.

"Perfect."

"We’ll finalize the travel schedule tomorrow. He will complete the medical and sign the contract then fly to the United States afterward to join the team."

Lukas heard it clearly this time.

Not negotiations anymore.

Plans.

Actual plans as a City player.

Marco smiled politely.

"Thank you for your time."

"See you in Manchester," the negotiator replied.

A few more handshakes followed before Lukas, Marco, and Javi finally stepped out of the private dining room and headed downstairs.

The moment they got into the car, Lukas’ phone exploded.

Bzzzzz.

Bzzzzz.

He frowned and pulled it out.

"...What the hell?"

Marco looked over.

"What happened?"

Lukas opened the Eintracht Frankfurt group chat.

Complete chaos.

BROOOOO 😭

You’re actually leaving???

Snake.

Good luck brother ❤️

You better come say goodbye first.

Why am I hearing this from Fabrizio???

LUKAS ANSWER YOUR PHONE.

Lukas blinked.

"...How do they already know?"

Someone had sent a link into the chat.

He clicked it.

Fabrizio Romano.

Posted three minutes ago.

Lukas stared at the screen in disbelief.

"No way."

The video started playing.

"Lukas Brandt to Manchester City, HERE WE GO! Deal agreed between Manchester City and Eintracht Frankfurt for a package worth around 90 million euros including add-ons. Five-year contract agreed with the player. Lukas Brandt expected in Manchester in two days for medical tests before joining the squad for the FIFA Club World Cup."

Marco laughed immediately.

"We literally just left the table."

Javi shook his head.

"The clubs probably told him already."

"He has to have microphones in the walls," Lukas muttered.

Marco laughed again.

"Honestly, I wouldn’t even be surprised."

The phone kept vibrating nonstop.

Instagram notifications.

Calls.

Messages from teammates.

Friends.

Even old academy coaches.

Lukas leaned back into the seat and looked out the window for a second.

Manchester City.

Premier League.

Everything had changed in one afternoon.

Javi turned slightly from the front seat.

"So..."

Lukas looked up.

"So my son is really going to Manchester."

Lukas looked back down at his phone.

"...Yeah."

"It’s too late to turn back now."

Javi nodded.

"No problem. Whatever you wanna do, you have my full support."

Lukas gave a small smile.

Then Javi added carefully,

"But... you know Manchester is where she lives."

The smile faded slightly.

"...Yeah. I know."

Marco suddenly became very interested in the view outside his window.

Lukas rubbed the back of his neck.

"I thought about it too."

Silence filled the car for a moment.

"But Manchester’s big," Lukas said eventually. "If I don’t want to run into her, I probably never will."

Javi looked at him for a second, then nodded slowly.

"I’m proud of you."

Lukas looked away toward the window again.

Then his phone started ringing.