Friendly Match Against the Olympic National Team (1)
Friendly Match Against the Olympic National Team (1)
035
Lately, the reactions around me have been unusual.
There were people who recognized me here and there from school newspaper or women's magazine interviews, but they were mostly just students or local residents.
It was only because I was the 'ace of the school soccer team that's been doing well lately,' not to the point where I'd be recognized in the city.
But recently, the number of people recognizing me has increased.
"Sunbae. I think my popularity has gone up. I went downtown the other day, and a few people recognized me."
"Cut the bullshit."
Hmm. Even Yoon-hyeok Sunbae is jealous.
As expected, being too successful is a problem.
Thinking, 'Well, good things are good, I guess I'm just getting famous because I have both skill and looks~', I was resting after finishing sex with Ha-yeon Noona for the first time in a while.
"Ugh... You beast. I feel like I'm going to die from exhaustion after doing it with you. My stamina is truly drained."
"Already? I still want to do more."
"Ah, no. If we do any more here, I really won't be able to do anything tomorrow."
"That's why you should've come with Ji-gyeong Noona."
"Do you think I'm a beast like you? Why would I do it together? I don't like it unless it's just the two of us."
Ha-yeon Noona panted heavily and lay face down on the bed.
Seeing her snow-white back glistening with sweat under the soft lighting of the motel, my son, who was half-erect, stiffened up again.
As I sneakily fondled her butt, Ha-yeon Noona, who had been whining that she couldn't, suddenly opened her mouth as if she had remembered something.
"Oh, right! You've been doing well lately, haven't you?"
A classic deflection.
"Of course. I'm the soccer team's ace."
"Who cares if you're running or flying around in college soccer."
"Geez."
For someone who says they don't care, she sure asks a lot of prying questions.
At first, I thought it was just to make sex more enjoyable.
Because while having sex, she kept asking what I liked, and the questions were things like, "Do you like it when I lick the glans? Suck it? Scratch it lightly with my front teeth? Rub it with my lips?"
But at some point, the scope of her questions went beyond sex to personal matters, and now she's even digging into my family relationships.
At first, I thought, 'What is this? Does this Noona want to marry me or something?' but her attitude was too casual for that. So I asked her directly. And only then did I realize the reason for Ha-yeon Noona's attitude and the identity of the Mysterious Masked Woman who kept lurking in the stands at every game.
It was unsettling once I knew, but that was only for a moment. Since she was just watching from afar, I didn't know what to say, so I'm just ignoring it now.
"If I were just a college league player, sure. But I'm different, right? Can't you tell by looking at my face?"
"...Anyway, you've got a slick face."
Ha-yeon Noona, who reflexively scanned my face, pouted, unable to refute it.
"That's not it, I mean on the internet. You're super hot right now."
"...The internet? What's with the internet all of a sudden?"
"You don't know?"
At my answer, Ha-yeon Noona tapped away on her phone and played a video.
"Oh? This is me."
"Then who else would it be?"
I thought it was just a collection of play videos, but it was an edited compilation of my performance. Like, a player's highlight reel?
"Oh... This is Ji-hak University. This is the game against Ho-song University. And this is Ugyeol University."
My image, showing off flashy footwork and dazzling dribbling, breaking through again and again, continued.
I knew it to some extent, but watching the video from a third-party perspective... I'm fucking awesome.
"Did you make this, Noona?"
"Are you crazy? It's hard enough preparing for employment, why would I follow you around, film videos, and edit them?"
"Then who is it?"
"FootBall In Love, was it? It seems they upload it on that channel."
Following Noona's words, I entered the channel called FootBall In Love and saw a picture of a pretty woman.
Huh? She looks familiar...
"Ah! It's this person."
"What? Do you know her?"
"Hmm... How should I put it? If I know her, I know her..."
I don't know when it started, but for the last few games, there was one woman who came every time, regardless of whether it was home or away, and filmed the games.
If you're wondering how I knew there was just one extra spectator... well, it's because there are no spectators in the college league.
No. Strictly speaking, there were spectators.
It's just that those spectators were only a group of female college students who flocked in, screaming and calling themselves my personal fan club, and the Mysterious Masked Woman (according to the seniors' explanation) who secretly watched from the corner every time.
To begin with, no matter how well I'm doing, it's just a college soccer team.
How many fans could there be, and how many spectators could there be? The few fans that exist are all just parents, relatives, or girlfriends of the soccer team members.
So it was natural for the stands to be empty every game... but since I joined, spectators have quietly started to appear. The group of female college students following me around, screaming, and the Mysterious Masked Woman.
The Masked Woman just watches from the corner alone and leaves, while the fan club kids are overwhelming in their presence, as expected of kids who are desperate to get my attention while flocking around.
In this situation, the sight of a woman sitting alone in the stands filming every game is bound to stand out.
"Looking at it, the video is edited around you, so she seems like a personal fan. Why don't you send her a DM to thank her? You like women, don't you?"
"What do you take me for, Noona?"
"What else? A beast crazy about sex."
"Oh~ So you keep provoking me, huh? Then should I show you what a real beast is like?"
"Eek! Ah, crazy, I'm really tired~ No, ah... Ah, no, no, it won't, hng, it won't... Haaang!"
Even if it wasn't for Ha-yeon Noona's words, I was grateful for the effort, so I sent a thank-you message to the email address written on YouTube.
She followed me all the way to this countryside where transportation is poor, and even for home and away games, she filmed them herself and uploaded videos edited around me, so wouldn't it be proper etiquette to at least send a thank-you email?
After sending a 3-minute email filled with my gratitude, a reply came back a few hours later.
"Oh. Why is the reply... so long?"
I get dizzy at the long text, which is the length of several web novel chapters.
I held back and read it, and it was packed with praise for my technique, regrets about my tactical movements, and advice on how to improve... Truly, the insight lived up to the channel name, FootBall In Love.
I was admiring that this is what a true soccer geek is, when at the end, she mentioned in passing that she was near Hansu University, where the next away game was.
I was grateful, so I offered to buy her coffee as a thank you, and the meeting was arranged.
"Ah, hello, Player Hong Min-jun! It's an honor to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you."
What's with the "honor" thing.
Her hands were trembling when we shook hands.
"I really, really wanted to meet you, and it's a real, real honor to meet you like this!"
"Ahaha. I'm not even a famous player."
"No! Player Hong Min-jun will definitely become famous! And a lot!!"
"Thank you for saying that."
I thought it was just a polite remark and expressed my thanks, but this woman's eyes were unusual.
"It's not lip service, it's for real! Could you take a look at this?"
Saying that, she unfolded a laptop on the cafe table,
"Here, this scene! Did you anticipate this, or did you make a split-second decision?"
She played a part of the game footage.
The match against Ji-hak University the other day.
It's a game I still remember vividly.
It's an unforgettable memory because I pulled off plays that surprised even myself, and my hidden stat, Genius, went up after the game.
"Ah. At that time, there was no time to think or anything. This first touch part was just... a gut feeling? I just thought, 'I have to do it like this,' and that was it."
"I see! Then what about here?"
"At this time, I did think about the direction of the next play. I was somewhat confident, too."
After that, she kept playing my plays that she had filmed herself and asked about detailed parts... This wasn't the kind of fan meeting I had in mind. Is this what a fan meeting with a hardcore soccer geek is like?
The tension from when we first met disappeared, and seeing her purely happy expression made me happy too.
It's also fun to watch the video collecting my highlights.
"As expected. Player Min-jun's play has a flash of brilliance. Instinctive movement rather than precise calculation?"
"Even I don't think I'm the type to play intelligently. I'm the type to move according to my gut or instincts at the moment?"
"Exactly!! In that sense, you have great chemistry with the player with jersey number 13 here."
"Ah. Yoon-hyeok Sunbae?"
"Yes! This person's off-the-ball movement is really~ super good, so he balances the tactics and creates space for Player Min-jun to move."
The woman pulled up MS Paint on the screen and explained it passionately.
"Look. At this moment, Player Min-jun penetrates, right? If you look here, player number 13 is drawing all the aggro."
Certainly... I didn't know it then, but seeing it on video, it's clearly visible.
"The problem is when player number 13 isn't there. In this game, when player number 13 was out due to rotation, Player Min-jun's destructive power dropped sharply."
It's the game against Ho-song University.
Certainly... I didn't think they were a difficult team to face, but it was strangely tough. It's not like my condition was bad, or the opponent's strength was superior, but I remember the game just not working out particularly well.
By the way, this woman... what is she?
At first, I thought she had good tactical insight like a true soccer geek... but she's much better than I expected.
I only understood it after hearing the coach's explanation, but even if she runs a soccer-specialized channel, to grasp even such microscopic parts...
"So, for Player Min-jun to perform well, a combination with a player who has excellent off-the-ball ability is essential. For Player Min-jun to make it into the starting lineup for the national team, he needs to improve his movement to find space—"
"Huh? Wait a minute. National team?"
"...Ah."