Chapter 51
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Park Si-hyun Changes the Future
-----------------------------------------------------------------
.
As soon as Hiddink's words fell, the training ground erupted like a stormy sea.
But the one most shocked wasn't the players.
It was Hong Myung-bo.
"Coach... I must have misheard you."
His voice was trembling.
He had bet everything to reclaim the captain's armband, only to be exiled from the national team.
But Hiddink's gaze didn't waver.
"No, you heard right. You're off the national team."
"You're... kicking me off the national team?"
Hong Myung-bo's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Not just stepping down as captain, but outright dropped... What will the Korean people say when they hear this!"
Yet Hiddink's gaze didn't even flicker.
"Hong Myung-bo. Did you really think I wouldn't know?"
Caught off guard, Hong Myung-bo hurriedly averted his eyes and stammered.
"Know... what do you mean?"
Hiddink's voice rang low and heavy.
"Let me tell you something. I said I was removing you as captain... but no one else knows that yet. Just you and me. So how did the reporters find out?"
In that instant, the players who had been watching the two tensed up.
"Wait... so Hyung-nim really did...?"
Lee Chun-soo muttered, but Ahn Jung-hwan smacked the back of his head with a sharp hand chop.
"Hey, that doesn't make sense. They took all our phones—how could it leak?"
Hong Myung-bo's frantic voice burst out.
"Yes! Jung-hwan's right! I don't have my phone either! How could I talk to reporters!"
Hiddink slowly shook his head.
"Tch... how disappointing."
Hiddink's gaze struck like lightning.
"I thought you'd mull over what I said, find the answer yourself, and reclaim the captaincy. Tomorrow, the day after... whenever you brought it back, I was ready to give it to you. But—"
His razor-sharp voice choked Hong Myung-bo's breath.
"You dare drag the media in to pressure me? You're poison to this team."
Only then did Hong Myung-bo realize.
Hiddink's words weren't a threat or a warning.
It was an irrevocable verdict.
"The Korean people... they won't accept this decision!"
Hong Myung-bo raised his voice, clinging to his last hope.
All he had left was the public's support.
But Hiddink severed even that hope decisively.
"You know better than anyone how little the media or public opinion sways me."
Hong Myung-bo's face twisted as hope crumbled.
"If you'd shown me even a shred more respect, this wouldn't have happened! You think the team will do well without me? You'll flop in qualifiers, and all the nation's blame will fall on you and... that cocky punk!"
His finger shot toward Park Si-hyun like lightning.
In that moment, the training ground air froze.
Once revered by all as captain, now he was just ugly desperation.
Not a single player dared breathe loudly.
"Respect...?"
Hiddink sneered, twisting his lips even at the outburst.
"Do you know how much I respected you? Every other player roomed two to a room. But you alone got a single. I knew from the start you smuggled in your phone. I let it slide anyway. Why? Because you were captain. Because I trusted you."
Hong Myung-bo's face grew more distorted.
Hiddink stepped closer, raising his voice.
"But what you showed wasn't sacrifice as captain, but greed. Not responsibility, but excuses! My only mistake was trusting trash like you as captain!"
Hong Myung-bo's face drained of color, turning ghostly pale.
Hiddink drew the final line firmly.
"Now get out. This is the national team's training ground, not a place for outsiders. Coach, remove him from my sight immediately."
Once Hong Myung-bo left, the training ground fell into heavy silence.
The captain they'd seen as a pillar just yesterday was nothing but an ugly, greedy fraud. The players couldn't hide their shock.
The younger ones looked especially conflicted.
'Is that... really the Myung-bo hyung I knew?'
'The guy we trusted and followed... his true face is that...'
In the heavy air, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
'If you're leaving, go quietly. Even as a former captain, no blessings for your future—just shitting on us on the way out. All that's left for the team is wounds.'
The mood was frozen; no way we could even warm up properly, let alone train.
Then—
"Focus."
Hiddink's low but firm voice cut through the training ground.
A single word, yet every eye snapped to him.
His flushed face and unwavering gaze held everyone's spirits firm.
"You're shocked. Your captain vanished in an instant. But we can't stop."
Hiddink continued.
"From today, Sun-hong is captain."
"Yes."
Hwang Sun-hong's voice was steady.
Second only to Hong Myung-bo in influence and respected by all, no one questioned his appointment.
Relief even rippled through the group.
Hiddink caught his breath, then spoke again.
"And... Park Si-hyun, step forward."
I nodded and walked up.
All eyes turned to me.
Some indifferent, some friendly.
But a few held clear hostility.
Hiddink's voice rumbled low.
"You can't check the media yourselves right now. But public opinion isn't kind to Si-hyun. Even so—"
His eyes swept over the players.
"Don't let it shake you. Everyone here is someone I brought for the national team roster. No matter what the public or media says, we're one. We're teammates, comrades."
Silence fell briefly.
Then Lee Chun-soo shrugged and grinned wide.
"Psh, obviously. We love the maknae. I'll take best care of him."
His joking remark drew faint laughs from the tense players.
The frozen air began to thaw.
New captain Hwang Sun-hong added calmly.
"Don't worry. I'll look after him."
His words sealed the mood like a stamp.
Players nodded one by one, exchanging glances.
Hiddink nodded and turned to me.
"Good. Park Si-hyun, say something."
I took a slow breath and met their eyes head-on.
"My personality might seem a bit off by Korean standards. But I won't harm the team. I'll prove my place here my way, with my skills."
What I did best: prove it.
A faint smile touched Hiddink's lips.
"Good. Trust each other, rely on each other, build your skills. That's what players do."
His voice boomed heavy across the ground.
"Don't worry about the gap Hong Myung-bo left. That's for me, the coach, to fill. I didn't bring over 60 players for nothing. I've prepared backups, contingencies."
Hiddink's eyes gleamed fiercely.
"So you just play soccer. I'll handle everything else."
The training ground brimmed with sweat and shouts.
Thud, smack—
The ball's impacts mixed with players' ragged breaths over the grass.
"Push the line up! Move faster!"
The defensive coach's bellow brought rhythmic thuds from cleats.
This was Seongnam Ilhwa's training ground, boasting the K League's top defense and last season's championship.
Famed for ironclad teamwork, not a moment of slack was allowed.
Players threw themselves like it was a real match, their shouts and cleats pounding the turf like massive waves shaking the field.
At the center, coach Cha Kyung-bok watched arms crossed in silence.
"Sung-min. Come here."
The called player, Lee Sung-min, rushed over without even wiping his sweat.
"Yes, coach."
Cha Kyung-bok stared piercingly for a moment, then dropped a heavy line.
"Don't come to training tomorrow."
"...Pardon?"
Lee Sung-min's eyes shook wide.
His chest chilled before his sweat even cooled.
But a subtle smile curved Cha Kyung-bok's lips.
"The country's calling you."
"...Me... to the national team?"
"Yes."
The coach's voice softened warmly.
"You're finally achieving your dream. Congratulations."
"Ah..."
A trembling breath escaped Lee Sung-min.
How long he'd yearned for this.
He'd run to prove himself, gritted his teeth for recognition—
Finally, his country called.
And there was the man who'd first recognized him.
'Finally... on the same stage.'
"Thank you, coach!!"
"Good. Do well out there."