Ties (2)
It's a complicated feeling.
After reincarnating, I'd deliberately shut out any interest in my old connections from my previous life. I was scared to know what they thought of my death. And even if I did care, there was nothing I could do since I wasn't Yoon Jongmun anymore.
But hearing stories from Heemun and Dosik now, I regret that decision. If I'd paid attention just a little earlier, Heemun might have joined the team sooner, and Dosik might not have become a wreck.
Why, just why did Dosik end up like that?
I'd wondered why he wasn't on the bench during the Cheonan match. I'd assumed he'd switched to power analysis because he hated coaching anyway.
Was it because of my death? Did I cause Dosik to turn out that way?
Guilt surges over me.
Dosik and I had been neighborhood friends since childhood. He and his family were the ones who helped me when I was practically living alone. Our backgrounds and personalities were worlds apart, but one thing set us apart above all else: talent.
We were on the same soccer team through middle school, but to put it bluntly, Dosik had no talent as a player. I kept playing soccer, while he blossomed into something else—a coach.
By the time I joined Cheonan, Dosik had already become the youngest coach there. But right after debuting, frequent injuries wrecked my mentality, so I barely talked to him.
Even so, Dosik consistently coached me.
"Your problem is you keep trying to dribble past everyone. Drop the pride. You can't do it in your condition! Focus on passing! With your talent, that'll be enough."
"Ha... how the hell do you tear a muscle just stepping over the damn threshold?"
"Please tell me it's not another injury? Didn't you just come back yesterday?"
It might look more like desperate cries, laments, and scoldings than proper coaching.
But without him saying it like that, I really would have collapsed.
And yet, Dosik became a wreck? I still can't believe it. The soccer-obsessed weirdo, broken by my death?
Was I that precious to him? It's still hard to imagine.
The guilt is overshadowed by a numb haze.
I don't even know how I drove here. My thoughts are still tangled, unsorted.
But the car is already parked in front of Dosik's place, and my feet are carrying me to the address Heemun gave me.
Ding-dong!
No answer.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
Still nothing, even after several more tries.
Is he not home? The thought crosses my mind, but the Kang Dosik I know hates going outside. Unless it's soccer-related.
So he's probably passed out drunk, too wasted to even hear the bell.
I flip open the door lock cover and stare at it for a while.
What could his password be? His parents' birthdays? His own? Maybe mine?
Beep... beep... beep. Damn, no way.
Wrong guesses forever. After five tries, it locks me out for five minutes.
1234? Beep-beep-boop! You've got to be kidding. It's so stupid, but so very Dosik.
The soccer maniac hasn't changed a bit.
Stepping into my friend's house after so long, the stench of booze hits me hard—stale alcohol and stuffy, unventilated air stabbing my nose.
Following the source, I find Dosik face-down on his bed. Empty bottles litter the room. He must have drunk them all and crashed.
"Hello?"
I shake him gently, but only his breathing hitches slightly—nothing else.
Whoosh! I yank open the curtains and start the exorcism.
Why exorcism? Because...
"Ugh... Mom..."
Demons mumble like that.
He clings to the blanket, refusing to emerge, so I resort to the nuclear option. I flip the covers and...
Splash! Cold water from a cup.
"Guh, ack-ptoo!"
The demon hiding from the sunlight is finally exorcised.
"Feeling better now?"
I ask politely, and only then does Dosik look at me.
"Wha... what? How'd you get in here? I'm calling the cops! Wha... stay back! I said stay back! Aaaah!"
I pin him easily as he fumbles for his phone to call the police and explain everything.
"Heemun said he was worried about you, so I came. And I need a personal trainer too. Yoon Jongmun told me a lot about you."
That's right. The real reason I sought out wreck-of-a-man Kang Dosik.
Main goal: snap my old friend out of it. Plus, I've been feeling the need for a personal trainer lately.
Yoon Jongmun's technique and Leo Olmunt's physicality are both exceptional. But smashing them together recklessly won't work.
What if Yoon Jongmun's weak body gets Olmunt's skills? Or vice versa? Domestically, maybe it'll slide, but overseas? In Europe? Would this half-baked combo hold up?
That's why I need the craziest soccer analyst I know. No one beats Kang Dosik—at least, not that I know of.
"Yoon Jongmun? How do you know him? Oh, you're Leo Olmunt. The guy Jongmun injured right before he died."
Yeah, that's me. Dog born, get your shit together! I want to yell, but I hold back the anger.
"You know him well. We got close while I visited him in the hospital. He said you're a genius."
"Bullshit. That's how he always was—did his own thing, died on his own terms. Now he's out of soccer, so whatever. Get out before I really call the cops."
As he grabs his phone to kick me out, I shout desperately.
"Yoon Jongmun wouldn't have wanted you living like this!"
"What?"
Dosik freezes, then rage twists his face. He grabs my collar, forgetting our size difference.
"What do you know? What do you know about me and him... You... you..."
Grabbing my collar, venting his fury, Dosik suddenly slumps and starts sobbing.
We'd eaten, slept, laughed, and cried together... but seeing him this broken doesn't sit right. Feels like it backfired.
He sobs for a long time, then finally calms and flops onto the bed.
"Ha... fine, a foreigner speaks fluent Korean, so you must've worked hard. But I'm done with soccer. Ever since that guy died, I can't touch it. Like he said, I'm the soccer-crazed freak."
Dosik chuckles wryly and continues.
"So what? Doesn't matter now. You're with Cheonan Skies, right? Still Coach Lee Jungwoo? He'll use you plenty. But you got no talent. Guys like Yoon Jongmun have talent. Give up. Good physique is enough. You won't improve much anyway."
Unlike before, he speaks calmly but cuttingly.
"Now get out."
"Still..."
"Out. Now."
"I'm not giving up!"
His small but firm voice forces me out.
I sigh softly outside the door.
I never knew he thought of me that way. Maybe Dosik valued Yoon Jongmun the most?
That makes me feel even worse. And more determined to pull him out of this.
I hadn't expected to convince him in one go anyway, but failing stings. So I checked his eyes.
To see if he'd truly let go—or if a faint attachment lingered.
Dosik's eyes were the latter. Amid the dead gaze of total surrender, they faintly lit up when soccer came up.
I'll believe in that spark. Plenty of chances ahead. I have his address now.
**
The training ground is buzzing the next day after that resolve and a night's sleep. Kim Heemun's tryout is underway.
I didn't know, but after our talk, he must've rushed to call the coach and set it up.
Beep!
As training starts, a scrimmage kicks off on one side of the field. I sit it out; mostly second-string and prospects play. Heemun, steeling himself, is naturally in the mix.
"Thought you got a girlfriend, but you brought a player instead. Confident? You recommended him."
Lee Eunsang asks slyly, but I don't answer. I've seen the coach's eyes sparkle watching the game.
Fullback position, and Heemun's limits mean he won't shatter the match. But for a headache over U22 quotas, he looks pretty good, right? He's at least human.
I'll trust him. If you shit the bed in this scrimmage, what happens to me? I don't wanna die to the coach.
I keep sneaking glances despite training.
Unable to focus, the coach snaps.
"You wouldn't watch your own son like that!"
"S...son?"
"SON, man, SON!"
"Ah, SONNY!"
The coach shakes his head at my fantastic selective foreigner cosplay and flees.
"You're a real lunatic."
I don't even want to hear that from Donghan hyung.
"What foreigner recommends a domestic prospect to the coach?"
"Rec...ommend?"
"Argh."
Probably the first in Korean soccer history. A foreigner pushing a local talent? Unheard of.
Word spreads among the players, unleashing a barrage of nagging—especially from the vets.
I regret not hiding my Korean fluency for a sec. Full blast K-nagging fest. Long time no see, but not missed.
Amid sloppy training, I steal glances at the scrimmage. He's doing decent. Should pass smoothly.
A human prospect joins our team. Nice.
"Oh, that's the new guy? Hyung Mont recommended him."
"Huh?"
Yoo Minsu approaches, fired up. Thank god I only thought it.
"Eh, he's better than expected."
Why's he acting like this? We trained together this morning. Pretending it's our first meet?
Quota rivalry, maybe? I try to understand. Fine, grow, Minsu. Please grow.
"Can't lose like this. I'm Hyung Mont's number one dongsaeng."
Some twisted fire, but whatever.
And so, Heemun joins the team. No big fuss, but quiet celebration.
Gimpo Green UTD's transfer window wraps up chaotically. Tons of trials, but good results. Stronger now.
Just need to rebound. I'm prepping too.
Ring-ring-ring-ring... ring... ring...
"Get out!"
Ah, he changed the password. Smartass.