A Perfect Away Day
Kim Hanbin kicked off the ground with every ounce of strength he had, hurling his body forward toward the exact spot where the incoming ball would drop.
Get there...!
And then — the unmistakable feel of the football against his forehead.
THWACK—!
Got it! I caught it flush!
The ball, flicked skyward off Hanbin's brow, sailed clean over the Ulsan keeper who had charged off his line, arced in a graceful parabola, and was sucked inside the goal.
CRASH—!
The net shuddered violently.
WAAAAAAAH—!!!!!
A roar erupted from the Suwon Blue Sky away supporters packing the visitors' stand at Ulsan Football Stadium.
The chants and waving flags of the Ulsan fans, who had been whipping themselves into a frenzy mere moments before, cut off dead the instant Hanbin's goal hit the net. Defeat was written across every face in the home stands.
The moment Hanbin confirmed the goal, he sprang to his feet and fired a ferocious uppercut celebration toward the Suwon supporters.
These fans came all this way, from Suwon clear out here to Ulsan — I can't let them down!
The first to come sprinting toward him was Enzo. He threw himself at Hanbin, wrapping him in a crushing bear hug as he shouted in Spanish.
"¡Mi asistente! (My assist!)"
For all the complaint in his voice, Enzo's face was split by an enormous grin.
"Me aseguraré de cuidarlo la próxima vez, Enzo! (I'll take care of it next time, Enzo!)"
Kim Hanbin answered with a laugh.
"¡Promesa! (It's a promise!)"
One by one the other teammates swarmed in, slapping Hanbin's back and ruffling his hair into a mess.
Then the veteran senior who'd played him the pass came over — no, Go Hyunseung — and pulled him into a firm hug.
"Hey! You serious...? You turned that into a goal?! Are you out of your damn mind?!"
Hanbin flashed his senior a thumbs-up.
"That was a perfect assist, sunbae-nim!"
Go Hyunseung let out a helpless laugh, then thumped him on the shoulder.
"Oi, kid. What's with the 'sunbae-nim' stuff, so stiff? Just call me Go Sunbae. Keep it easy."
"Yes, Go Sunbae!"
Hanbin replied with a grin. And with that, the Suwon players walked off laughing toward the halfway line.
Second Half, 31' — Suwon Blue Sky 2 : 1 Ulsan Dolphins
Roughly fifteen minutes of second-half time remained. Suwon fought for their lives to protect the one-goal lead.
The defense, anchored by Cha Kangmin, threw their bodies into a desperate rearguard action to shut down Ulsan's attacks, while the midfielders ran themselves into the ground plugging every gap.
Hanbin and Enzo pressed hard from the front, disrupting Ulsan's build-up play at every turn.
As the clock ticked on, anxiety grew plain on the faces of the Ulsan players.
In the eyes of the Suwon players, by contrast, conviction took deeper and deeper root.
And then, at last—
Peeeeep— Peeeeep— PEEP—!
The referee's whistle sounded the end of the match.
The Suwon Blue Sky away supporters filling the visitors' stand at Ulsan Football Stadium rose as one and let out a thunderous cheer.
"WAAAAAAAH—!!"
And as if on cue, Suwon's club anthem began to ring out.
Ohhh~ We love you! My love! My Suwon!
Ohhh~ We love you! We love you and you alone!
Thousands of voices joined into one, and the anthem echoed through the away ground of Ulsan Football Stadium.
The Suwon players and coaching staff lined up and bowed deeply toward the fans who had traveled all this way to Ulsan to cheer them on with such passion. The fans answered with unreserved applause.
The Suwon players returned to the locker room to a festival atmosphere.
"YAAAAAH!!!" they howled, shouting nonsense, singing off-key, savoring every drop of the victory.
Suwon — a relegation-zone team — had just gone to Ulsan and taken down the Dolphins, one of the strongest sides in the league. If someone had said so a few weeks ago, even the Suwon players themselves wouldn't have believed it.
Just as the locker room was at its rowdiest, Manager Kim Seongcheol walked in with his coaching staff, applauding.
Every player's gaze swung toward him at once.
"Alright, alright, quiet down, everyone! Today you all... you really worked hard out there!"
Kim's voice was thick with overwhelming emotion.
"The performance, the result — today's match was, quite simply, perfect in every way. Beating Ulsan like this, on their own ground — I could not be prouder of you all!"
At their manager's heartfelt, unfiltered praise, the players erupted in another round of cheers.
Kim Seongcheol watched them warmly for a moment, then pointed to Kim Hanbin, sitting off to one side.
"And now! For the man of today's victory — let's give Hanbin here another hot round of applause!"
At Kim's words, applause and whistles came pouring down on Kim Hanbin from every player in the room.
"Maknae! You were absolutely insane today!"
"Woo! Kim Hanbin! You're our ace — THE ace!"
"Two goals and an assist in just two matches!"
Under his teammates' passionate praise and cheering, Hanbin could only scratch his face awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do with himself.
Time passed; the players finished their individual recovery routines, grabbed their bags, and filed out of the locker room to board the shuttle bus.
Along the path to the team bus, several dozen Suwon supporters had gathered, refusing to leave even after the final whistle, waiting for the squad. The moment the Suwon players came into view, the supporters burst into yet another round of hot cheering and applause.
Some fans were already standing there with marker pens and jerseys in hand.
The players obliged every request, signing autographs and posing for photos.
Kim Hanbin, still a little awkward but giving each signature his full care, suddenly heard a familiar voice in his ear.
"Player Kim Hanbin!"
He turned — and there, smiling, stood the student fan from the fan signing event at the club house days earlier. The boy who had bought the very first jersey with Hanbin's name on the back.
Warmed by the sight, Hanbin broke into a bright smile and walked over.
"Oh! How did you get all the way here from Suwon?"
The student answered with a proud expression.
"I took the KTX with my mom and dad! I really wanted to see today's match in person!"
"Ah!"
Only then did Hanbin notice the middle-aged couple standing beside the boy — clearly his parents — and greeted them as well. The couple smiled back warmly.
"Our boy begged and begged us that he simply had to see Hanbin play in person, so we steeled ourselves and came all the way out here. Haha."
"It was worth the trip. This is our first time watching a match live, and it was so much fun."
The student fan, buzzing with excitement, jumped back in.
"Hyung! I bought Hanbin jerseys for my mom and dad too!"
At that, the parents pulled their coats open a little to reveal the Suwon Blue Sky uniforms underneath — each with the marking [50 KIM HANBIN] emblazoned crisply across the back.
"Whoa... really? Are you sure? Did you spend too much because of me?"
The student answered, chest puffed out.
"Come on, hyung! This is how fans spread the faith! Our whole family is a Hanbin-hyung fan household now!"
Kim Hanbin burst into an easy laugh at that, then turned to the parents.
"Um... if it's not too much trouble for you both, would you allow me to sign these jerseys?"
"Oh my! If anything, the honor would be ours!"
The couple gladly held out their jerseys.
Hanbin signed them with the same care he'd given the very first fan's, adding his usual line beneath the signature: Always be happy ^^
And he didn't forget a short word of thanks either.
"Thank you so much for cheering for me!"
A little distance away, Manager Kim Seongcheol, on his way to board the team bus, watched the scene with a contented smile.
Hanbin, that kid... he's still so young. When he suddenly started getting all this attention, I quietly worried he might turn arrogant or start looking down on the fans like some of those kids do... but seeing him smile like this, I worried over nothing.
With a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth, Kim Seongcheol boarded the bus.
Hanbin, too, bid farewell to the fan family and climbed aboard the club bus with the rest of the players.
Inside the KTX heading from Ulsan back to Suwon.
The student fan — autograph safely in hand — opened the Suwon Blue Sky Gallery on his phone.
Wow, I couldn't check the gallery at all watching the match. Guess the place has been on fire all game.
Just as he'd suspected, the Suwon Blue Sky Gallery was in full meltdown over today's match.
The student fan chuckled to himself as he scrolled back through the Suwon Blue Sky Gallery threads.
Today's match really was something else... Alright, I should write a post too.
He typed out a post for the Suwon Blue Sky Gallery on his phone.
The moment the student fan's post went up, it was flooded with comments and upvotes, rocketing onto the hot list.