Chapter 10

Saturday. On this evening of the third week, the staff gathered at my house. We gathered every week with the same topic, and this time it was the same, but the atmosphere was completely different. It was because there was one more member of the group.

“Tomorrow, you must never lose tomorrow!!!”

The chairman of the early soccer club Organics shouted strongly. Me, Chungyeon, and Jiyong just nodded like criminals.

“Do you know who tomorrow’s opponent will be? That unlucky delivery truck operator is the ‘King of Fuel Efficiency’! You all know how disdainfully those bastards look at you when you lose in soccer, even when making deliveries, right? Huh?!”

know. Don't know. So, more than ever, I wanted to win tomorrow’s game. However, the problem was that even if I died or woke up, I could not participate in the match that started at 7 in the morning.

“Hey, Heechan. You can’t come out again tomorrow?”

The chairman, who knew me because he had seen me working in the market since I was in high school, called my name and urged me.

“Siba, are you just leaving like this because your uncle hasn’t been working lately? Huh?”

“No, I really want to compete too.”

“Then you should come out! You can run, right?”

“Oh, that’s…”

I wanted to beat my chest in frustration.

“What is that? You’ve recovered from the car accident. Shiba, I know you’re fine, right? Huh?”

“The body looks fine, but it’s actually… there’s a problem inside…”

“So what’s the problem? Is there a bigger problem than winning the fuel efficiency title?!”

To be honest, there is none. I want to win the fuel economy title no matter what happens. So, how terrible must I feel if I can’t do it?

“As I said before, I had trouble sleeping due to the aftereffects of the accident…”

“I said I would wake you up!!”

The Chairman seemed ready to wake up the deceased sleeping in the basement. I swallowed bloody tears and made up false excuses.

“I’m anemic. The doctor says I shouldn’t do any strenuous exercise.”

“Anemia is freezing! Are you having your period? That makes sense. So if you’re anemic, you can’t come out and cheer? Why can’t you even remove your nose?”

I couldn't see it, but I went to every game and watched it!... Of course, in the body of a high school student. It was unfair. Is there anyone else in the world who is more unfair than me? Suddenly, the chairman's voice became serious.

“Heechan, tell me honestly. There is another reason.”

“Yes? Oh, no.”

I looked at the two employees in confusion. I guess that's not what you said? The two quickly shook their heads.

“There is another reason. Rumors have already spread.”

“Rumors? What?”

“You’re living a double life.”

Startle! I looked at the two again. You really didn't say anything, right? They both also shook their heads in astonishment. And the Chairman's eyes narrowed at the sight of the three of us like this.

“It was true as expected. It’s true, right? You, White Chan!”

“Wait a minute! Living a double life means... I have no choice...”

“Does it mean that you had no choice but to secretly join another team?!”

Another team? While I stopped talking, the chairman burst into anger and vomited blood.

“Are you joining ‘FC Kimjang’, the cabbage merchants’ association that is your strongest rival?! Are you a human?!”

what is this sound?! I jumped up from my seat in anger.

“Ah! What do you think of me? Why am I joining FC Kimjang?! I’ve buried my bones in organic farming!”

"Really?"

“Then it’s true!”

When I got angry, the chairman finally stopped being suspicious.

“If you betray me, I won’t let you go.”

“Because it’s not.”

“Then why aren’t you coming to the game? When will you be showing up?”

I closed my mouth again and went into a guilty state. He then placed his hand on the shoulder of Chungyeon, who was sitting next to him.

“Jeong Chung-yeon is leaving for me for the time being, so I’ll stay a little longer.”

“Yes. I will play hard.”

The Chairman looked at Chungyeon gently.

“No, you can stop running so hard.”

"!"

Chungyeon stumbled as if she was shocked. But there was no time to comfort him. I pointed to Jiyong sitting next to him.

“Then even Jiyong…”

“That guy is more useless.”

“Huh? Why me? I have much better physical strength than you guys!”

When Jiyong protested, the chairman looked at him intently again.

“Your skills are worse than that of an elementary school student.”

There was no answer. The four of us were immersed in a black quagmire, unable to see what was ahead and despairing. After a while, the chairman muttered helplessly.

“Tomorrow’s King of Fuel Economy, a member’s son will appear as a pinch hitter, and damn it… he’s from Cha Bum-geun’s soccer class.”

"!"

"!"

"!"

It's ridiculous, such a talented person...!

“Isn’t that foul? You’re an ordinary person, right?”

Jiyong protested in a hurry, so my explanation immediately crushed him.

“It’s a wild card.”

“Oh, that’s right. We can use one person at a time. Then we can also use wild cards.”

The three eyes turned to Jiyong. He said with his eyes. You idiot, you don’t use it because you don’t know? At that time, Chungyeon asked as if she remembered him.

“By the way. One of President Kwon’s friends is a fitness trainer. Can’t you ask him to come?”

“Namsu? He’s only built up muscles, but he’s really bad at sports with a ball. He’s probably worse than Jiyong.”

There was silence again. No matter how much I thought about it, there was no talent around me that could surpass Cha Bum-geun's soccer class. Strangely enough, none of my friends were good at soccer. The Chairman’s sigh became deeper.

“I can’t. Heechan, just play at least the first half...”

Ding dong~ The doorbell rang. Only then did I look at the clock. Is it already 8 o'clock? We had already told those gathered that we had an appointment, so everyone stood up. I said to the chairman as I went to open the gate.

“Chairman, I really can’t play soccer tomorrow. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t play sports…”

My horse opened the gate and stopped. As expected, Woo Min-jae was standing there. The president's eyes lit up like lightning when he saw him. I could see that he was scanning Woo Min-jae's body in an instant. A tall, muscular athlete.

"who...?"

“This is my high school classmate. He can’t exercise due to an injury.”

Didn’t I hit the player in advance and ask Woo Min-jae? I asked back. He looked strangely at the four of us who had piled out from inside, then slowly looked back at me.

“No. I’m going to go exercise with you now.”

hey! If you say that... but it's already too late. Someone's rough, fat hand had already grabbed the back of my neck.

“Kwon Hee-chan. Kwon.hee.chan. Kwon!hee!chan!”

I barely escaped home, but I had forgotten the power of civilization. The entire time we were traveling in Woo Min-jae's car, the chairman was pecking at me on the phone. I became a rare traitor who abandoned the team, and my mind became as sloppy as a rag. Who doesn't want to run? More than anyone else, I wanted to go to the game and score a goal.

“Kwon Hee-chan.”

"why?"

"get off."

Are you all there? He raised his frustrated body into a melting position in his chair. The car was stopped in front of a building. There was a sign, but it looked like a bar.

“You said you were working out?”

“Yes. This is also a sport.”

What? As I followed him out, the valet came and took his keys. Woo Min-jae seemed to come here often as he nodded and asked, “Are you here?” As I followed him inside, I had one thought. It must be fucking expensive here. I checked the list at the entrance and called for a bar/café/PC room/billiards room on the first basement floor and the first and second above ground floors. People sat on comfortable sofas, worked on laptops or pads on the table, or drank alcohol. There were people playing various darts and shooting games on one side, and there were people in front of an old arcade game machine. I could play all day in a place like this. I followed Woo Min-jae up to the second floor. There was a pool table next to each seat. About half of the people played games or sat down to drink, and there were a few people who recognized Woo Min-jae and said hello. He just raised his hand and took me to a place.

"What would you like to drink?"

I looked at the menu on the touch screen on the table. A bottle of beer cost several tens of thousands of won. Can I have gold beer? then...

“Two bottles of beer.”

“Two bottles?”

“Why? Can’t I drink two bottles at once?”

Woo Min-jae looked at me for a moment and said, “It’s okay,” and finished ordering on the touch screen.

“Did you bring me here to play pool?”

“Not really, but do you want to play?”

No? I frowned. Of course I thought we were playing billiards so I ordered two beers. What kind of bullshit are you talking about?

“What were you going to do if you didn’t hit it?”

“There is only one.”

“What are you doing?”

“You’re making me laugh.”

“If I’m going to make you cry, I think I can succeed right away.”

He looked at me with an expressionless expression for a moment.

“I think you’ll cry first. You already cried in the car.”

“I didn’t cry.”

He was furious, but shook his head as he accepted the beer the employee brought.

“You were in tears when you got the call from Jogi Soccer’s president.”

“Hey, that’s just…”

​

 

I was shocked and burst out laughing. Haha, by the way, I...

“Do you have good eyes?”

“If we lose tomorrow, it’ll be our 5th loss in a row?”

“Four straight losses.”

I corrected myself in tears.

“If you go in, can you win?”

“The match I missed was Argentina without Messi. If I go in alone, of course I will win. But my body is like this. Damn, I’m not even sick, but I can’t play the match with a healthy body. Do you know how unfair it is?”

“I know a little bit.”

He took a sip of beer. As I was grabbing a beer with him, I realized that he had been kicked out of the team due to injury. It's an injury that allows you to carry out daily activities, but prevents you from competing, right?

“Are you okay? You got hurt and stopped exercising.”

"are you okay."

“Where are you hurt?”

“Shoulder. I had surgery once because it was a habitual dislocation, but the injury was so severe that I can’t compete anymore.”

The voice was calm. It seemed like he had already overcome it. I felt fortunate and asked what I was most curious about.

“What exercise did you do?”

The guy stopped moving. It looks like the area under my eyes is twitching.

“You know about my scandal in Canada, but you don’t know that?”

“It’s not necessary to know. You don’t know what sports I’m good at either.”

"baseball."

"..."

How did know? Of course I thought the answer would be soccer.

“Right? You were on the baseball team in middle school.”

“How do you know that?”

“I heard this from someone who went to the same middle school as you when I was in high school.”

Are you from the same middle school as me? Who is it? I frowned and thought, but no one came to mind. I stopped playing baseball when I entered my third year of middle school. At that time, I was hanging out with my friends, and it was also a time when my father's problems were revealed. The reason he joined the baseball team in the first place was because his father liked baseball. By the way, does this kid still remember anything like that?

“You also have a good memory.”

“You are so bad.”

Woo Min-jae coldly exhaled. I was angry, but then I realized that he didn't hear my question a little while ago. What kind of sport did this guy do?

“Why didn’t you exercise? I remember from gym class that you were good at sports other than baseball.”

Good job. The school soccer team also made a fuss every year to get in.

“At that time, I wanted to make money right away. Fortunately, there was a job that hired me as a high school student, so becoming an athlete didn’t cross my mind. And you don’t have to do sports as a job, right? If you like sports, you can just do it.”

“You want to work harder because you like it. I want to be first there.”

“I’m working hard. I put a lot of effort into organic farming. Of course, you don’t understand because the importance in life is different from you, for whom exercise is everything. Being satisfied with this much may seem like a cowardly compromise with reality. But then, How are you feeling?"

I put one of the potato chips that came as a snack into my mouth and asked.

"What's the point of living with this level of compromise and not just coming in first place? What if it's the satisfaction of self-delusion that prevents you from moving forward because you're afraid of failure? Anyway, I'm living a comfortable and leisurely life."

"..."

"why?'

“I thought it was strange that a guy who was last in class used the word ‘self-deception and satisfaction.’”

“Is there a law preventing you from saying things like you can’t study?”

“Who heard it from?”

“...Jeong Chung-yeon.”

Well then. He said it with the guy's face. Oh my...

“Because it’s the same as my thoughts, if I write it, it makes sense. And the reason I got last place is because I fell asleep during the test.”

“But don’t sleep next week either.”

Next next week? why? When I asked, the guy frowned.

“Final exams start next week.”

“Really? Hey, if it’s a test, it’ll be over early, right? Oh, it’ll give me some breathing room.”

When I got excited, his face hardened.

“I don’t know about you, but Taekin is the one responsible for your grades falling to the bottom…”

The guy who was about to say something looked behind me and suddenly closed his mouth. Why do you do that? As I was about to turn his head, he shouted lowly.

“Don’t look.”

Stop. He stopped turning and looked at the guy. He looked behind me a little longer and then turned his eyes to me. But those eyes were strange. Those were the eyes that were staring at the phone call he didn't answer yesterday.

“There is another purpose for bringing you here.”

"What?"

“You said you heard about what happened to me in Canada? How much do you know?”

I told you everything I know. He listened calmly and opened his mouth with sunken eyes.

“As you know, I had a problem with my teammate because of my lover. That’s why I got hurt. Of course, I broke things off with that lover before coming to Korea. I even gave him my blessings for the best of luck for the two of us.”

“You two were having an affair and you prayed for it to work out?”

He looked at the table for a moment and couldn't answer.

“Maybe the wind was me.”

"what?"

“It was my teammate who first introduced me to my lover. I knew him only as a friend of my teammate for 3 years and then we started dating, but it turned out that the two of us had been sexual partners for a long time.”

Sex partner? What kind of dog fart is this?

“They said they only slept together when each other wasn’t around. But they broke that only once.”

“When I’m dating you?”

"huh."

“They are crazy people.”

Something like a bitter smile flowed from his mouth. But I didn't want to laugh at this.

“My teammate said that I was involved in the matter. He said he had always liked my lover.”

“Then, tell the two dirty guys to continue liking each other. You said you’ve sorted things out? Are there just one or two women? You can meet again.”

“No, I can’t meet women.”

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll introduce you to a good girl…”

“It’s a man.”

what? I asked back, not knowing what he was talking about. Woo Min-jae looked straight into my eyes and explained.

“My lover was a man.”

"..."

“And now I’m here.”

I had no idea Woo Min-jae had the talent to surprise people with his repeated hits.

“Here? Why?”

“He says he still loves me.”

​

 

The voice was calm. His eyes did not waver either. Maybe that's why I was even more annoyed.

“Tell me not to fuck you.”

“I said the same thing. But he still loves me. That’s why I told him. I have someone I’m interested in right now. I thought he would go back if I said that, but no.”

“Leave it alone. If you ignore it, it will get tired and go away on its own.”

“He’s not like that. The only reason I dated a dog was because I got a dash for three years.”

"3 years?"

“Yes. He was a fan of mine. He had a crush on me for three years.”

“...It’s tough.”

I asked, taking a sip of beer.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“To show that there actually is someone I care about.”

"who?"

"you."

Wow! The beer I was drinking was an example. I chuckled and looked at Woo Min-jae.

“Are you crazy?”

"well."

His exclusive patent has been published. He said expressionlessly, looking at my frowning face.

“Anyway, you owe me something for yesterday. And you can’t even be funny. Just stay like a doll.”

Like a doll... I picked up the beer bottle and took a sip. Then he got up from his seat and looked around inside. Whether Woo Min-jae's eyes were frowning or not, he looked at the people one by one and his eyes stopped on one person. Someone was looking at me with a surprised face and blinking. Although he is our age, he looks somewhat like a boy. When I grinned at him, he widened his eyes in surprise and smiled shyly. As he sat down, he thought something surprising.

“Hey, you seem innocent and kind.”

that's right. Minjae Woo coldly exhaled and added,

“But I won’t let it go this time.”

“Then make sure to take it off. Is it okay to show my face once?”

Minjae Woo looked at me strangely.

“Are you saying you’ll help me next time?”

“Are you crazy? Why am I helping you?”

Hey, was this how it felt when Woo Min-jae was being mean to me? I suggested it to the guy, feeling a bit of pleasure.

“Next time, I’ll put a face stamp on that person, so you can put a face stamp on mine too.”

"where?"

Where? I clenched my fist and exhaled strongly.

“King of fuel efficiency.”