Variety Show Appearance (4)
Variety Show Appearance (4)
086
Hmm... well, it should be fine.
"But that wasn't the case. It wasn't long after Min-jun joined, and I had stopped by the school after training on my way home because I'd left something behind. But there was this kid training all by himself. I checked to see who it was, and it was Min-jun."
"Wow. So he stayed behind to train alone!"
"Right. And it wasn't just for a day or two. I was shocked when I saw that. I thought, 'If a kid with this much talent is trying this desperately, what am I doing without any talent? Have I been too complacent all this time?' Something like that. So I went straight to Min-jun, asked if I could train with him, and we've been training together ever since."
A story as cliché as it gets.
It's a story about an athlete that's absolutely drenched in clichés, but there's a reason why clichés are clichés.
A story of human triumph, where an unknown collegiate leaguer suddenly makes the final Olympic roster, silences all controversy with their skill, and finally even wins a medal.
If you add a behind-the-scenes story of grueling training and bone-grinding effort, not just talent, it's exactly the kind of story the public loves... or so Yoon Da-ye said.
"So that's why Hojin University produced two national team players!"
"Well, this did wake me up, but that's just indirect gratitude. The direct part is that he actively helped me during training. Min-jun has such great technique, right? That was my weakness, and he passed on all his know-how to me. Every player has their own secrets, but he really taught me with all his heart, so I learned a lot. He also kept going one-on-one with me, showing me how to defend in tricky situations, so I learned how to defend against technicians. I probably prevented a few goals in this Olympics thanks to him!"
Oh, as expected of Yoon-hyeok-sunbae.
As expected of a smart guy, is he steering the conversation so smoothly?
Hmm, hmm, I was nodding along when Su-geun said with a dissatisfied look.
"Ayy~ It's not fun if it's only praise. Then, the bad points! Aren't there any downsides?"
"There are!"
Yoon-hyeok-sunbae, who had been telling the story with a serious expression until now, suddenly raised his tension and started speaking excitedly.
"There's a really huge downside. Anyone want to guess? If you get this right, I'll give you a gift."
As soon as Yoon-hyeok-sunbae finished speaking, Kyung-hoon raised his hand sharply.
"Answer!"
"Yes, Kyung-hoon!"
"Ah~ Can I say this?"
"What is it??"
Kyung-hoon, pretending to be troubled for no reason, giggled to himself.
"Since you're an athlete, you must do a lot of training camps, right?"
"Right. We do training camps every year."
"Then you share rooms too, right?"
"Right?"
"When Min-jun goes into the bathroom, he takes a massive dump. Like, it clogs the toilet completely."
"Damn it! I knew it, I was wondering why you wouldn't bring up poop."
Yoon-hyeok-sunbae approached Kyung-hoon, who was grinning despite the scolding from the Knowing Bros members, and lightly hit him with a toy hammer.
"Wrong! It's not something dirty like that. He's just so arrogant."
"Ah~ Sunbae! No, Hyeok! What kind of nonsense accusation is this again? How am I arrogant! Wow~ You're really repaying kindness with enmity."
"I really admit this too! Min-jun is really arrogant. Sometimes he's so annoying I could die."
Oh Pyo-sik-sunbae, who had been frozen, thawed out properly for this moment and kept blabbering, bringing up episodes that didn't even exist in memory.
"Min-jun is totally mean."
"Wow~ Really? Does he really do that?"
The hearing only ended after I had suffered countless slanders and accusations.
Phew, I'm exhausted.
"Alright! Lastly, Min-jun! Name! Hong Min-jun. Age, born in June 2013. You're exactly 20 years old now."
The filming site was already 5 hours in.
There had been breaks in between, but by now I was completely drained, though perhaps because the end of the filming was in sight, Su-geun read the application form energetically.
Even the veteran Knowing Bros members seemed tired from the long shoot, and unlike their initial energy, they were continuing with the scripted Q&A when suddenly Kyung-hoon raised his hand.
"But I'm curious about this."
"What is it?"
"I looked it up, and it said you were doing great in middle school but then fell into a slump in high school. They said you had a really bad slump for 3 years, so what's the reason you suddenly overcame it after coming to college?"
Ah, that.
The reason for overcoming the slump is really nothing special.
Status Window.
Nothing more, nothing less, just this.
It's 'Status Window' from start to finish. The end.
However, the cause of the slump during high school...
I scratched my chin and suddenly made eye contact with Yoon Da-ye, who was watching from the corner.
Hmm...
"This is something I'm revealing for the first time here..."
"Ayy~ You're lying, right? We know everything!"
"No. Seriously. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone."
"Ohh~ Really?"
"Actually, I had a childhood friend I'd been close with since I was very young. Neither my family nor my friend's family was well-off, so our parents were busy working, and we used to play together every day even before we started school."
The Knowing Bros members watched with interest at the story, which was unrelated to the script.
"I'm still like this now, but I was even more immature when I was young. Childish and simple. But that friend was very mature. In the way they thought and acted. Plus, they were incredibly smart and reliable, like someone who could do anything. Thinking about it now, I think I admired them. Because they were better than me in every way."
Everyone seemed focused on my unexpectedly serious tone.
Actually, I didn't care what reaction the people in front of me showed. Because all my attention was focused on Yoon Da-ye right now.
She also seemed to know that this was our story, as her eyes were wide open.
"That friend was my first love. And I was somewhat confident, you know? Like that feeling that they liked me back. So I confessed during winter break of my second year of middle school... and got rejected. They rejected me so cleanly, saying they liked capable men. At the time, soccer was the only thing I was good at. So I trained like crazy, got into a prestigious high school famous for soccer, and was going to confess again... but they transferred to a special-purpose high school with a dormitory far away."
It's quite embarrassing to tell an intimate story I've been hiding from others.
I touched my reddening ears and continued the story, pretending to be nonchalant.
"I thought, since we were childhood friends and they had feelings for me, they just set conditions because they were shy. But they left without a word—well, I did avoid them a bit, but anyway, they just left. I was quite shocked back then. So when I went to high school, I lost my motivation for soccer, it wasn't fun... and that's why I was in a slump."
"Min-jun was more of a romanticist than I thought."
"That's right. I thought he was a 'bad boy' style just by looking at his face."
How did they know?
The past me might have been a romanticist, but the current me is definitely a 'bad boy'.
...No, wait.
I'm not hiding or deceiving anyone, and I told them everything, and they all agreed they liked it, right? Then doesn't that mean I'm not a 'bad boy'?
"So? So what happened with that first love?"
At Kyung-hoon's question, I unconsciously glanced at Yoon Da-ye.
She was pretending to be calm, but she was staring right at me with a flushed face.
"It didn't work out."
"Ah~ That's a shame. You haven't been in touch since then?"
"Yeah. Both me and them... we know each other's contact info, but it was hard to reach out first."
"In that case, how about a video message?"
"Ayy~ What video message."
The person in question is watching right here, what video message.
"Why! What's wrong with a video message! You never know, maybe your first love is watching our program, sees Min-jun, and goes! 'Huh? That's Min-jun!' and while watching, the video message pops up!"
"That's too much."
"No, there's surprisingly a chance. Who knows, this could be the catalyst for you to get back in touch."
I kept waving my hands to refuse, but they showed no sign of letting it go.
Pushed by that momentum, I ended up filming a video message I had no business doing.
"Hmm. Ahem. Ahem."
After clearing my throat repeatedly out of embarrassment for a moment.
"Um... Hello, friend. It's been a while. I'm sorry I haven't reached out all this time. Avoiding you back then wasn't because I disliked you. I think I was just being pointlessly stubborn. Thinking about it now, it was stupid."
Filming a video message while the person in question is watching is killing me with embarrassment.
I tried to ignore Yoon Da-ye's gaze, who was looking at me with wide eyes, and said what I had wanted to say all this time.
"I really wanted to say thank you. Thank you for accepting me when I was immature. And I'm sorry for acting so immaturely."
On the way home after filming.
After promising to meet up again with the Knowing Bros members I filmed with, as well as the seniors, I got into the car, and Yoon Da-ye stared straight at me.
"...Why?"
I asked bluntly out of embarrassment,
"That... is it true?"
She mumbled with her lips, wearing an expression I'd never seen before in my life.
"What words?"
"...About being your first love."
At the sight of Yoon Da-ye asking in a small voice, avoiding my gaze shyly with a flushed face,
"...Yeah."
I couldn't help but blurt out the truth as if possessed.
A strange silence.
As that subtle atmosphere continued where neither could easily speak first,
"Oops. Sorry I'm late. I had to use the restroom... Uh, huh? Did something happen?"
The driver Oh Ha-rin had hired for me appeared late.
"...No. Nothing."