The Tryout Offer
The score was 21 to 14.
The first team had 21; the second team had 14.
Oh, the second team? One might have blinked at that, but the score itself was nothing out of the ordinary.
Except for the fact that all 14 of those points had been scored single-handedly by a mercenary they'd scraped together at the last minute.
"Hey, you said you're from the track team? You really are fast. I tried to stay with you to cover you and I flat-out couldn't keep up."
"Football's your first time? You've got some nerve. Those giants come charging at you and you didn't flinch once. Unbelievable."
"Don't even joke. We've lived and breathed football our whole lives, and..."
Tyrone stood there clenching his fist as he watched the second-team offensive players come trotting back, chattering away.
So it hadn't been his imagination.
That East Asian boy had talent.
The audacity of a mind unburdened by the rules.
Retreating backward was a move only someone with nerves of steel could pull off. Anyone could think of it; actually executing it was another matter entirely.
One mistake and you handed your opponent the score just like that—and by running the opposite direction, you forced the defenders who'd been flowing with you to accelerate after you.
And in football, acceleration meant a threatening tackle, plain and simple.
Did he really not know that?
Kim Jaehyuk was a track athlete.
Even without knowing football's rules, surely he understood basic physics well enough.
But beyond all that, what truly astonished was that raw athleticism of his.
Wichita North High School might not carry the reputation it once did, but its football players were a different breed of physical specimen from ordinary people.
Despite being high schoolers, they could already toy with grown adults one-handed and sneer while doing it.
And most of those kids have been playing football since elementary school.
Monstrous physical ability backed by years of experience.
In the sport of football, they were the kind of kids who could flatten even an Olympic track athlete who wandered onto the field.
And yet Jaehyuk had blown right past them and put points on the board—by his strength alone.
Was today's Jaehyuk faster than an Olympic sprinter, then? That was debatable.
Which left only one conclusion...
"Straight-line speed matters, but football demands top-tier athleticism across the board. That movement just now proved every bit of it."
To carve through defenders swarming in from every angle, a running back couldn't simply be fast.
The agility to twist and change direction in an instant, the rock-solid balance to survive the contact, and on top of that, wide vision and sharp judgment.
That kid—Kim Jaehyuk—had the Gift.
"Good work."
When the approaching Jaehyuk was praised, he grumbled with the expression of a man who had merely done what was obvious.
"If you'd just hand me the ball every play, I'd have scored more. Tsk."
There he went with that attitude again.
But Tyrone, already thoroughly smitten with a boy who'd backed up his mouth with skill, just laughed it off.
If anything, even that swagger felt like the natural equipment of a top-class athlete.
Ahem! 'Top-class' might be going a bit far.
Still, Tyrone couldn't help thinking it.
If Jaehyuk started learning football properly from now on and joined the team as a full member, this forgotten football powerhouse might just stir up a brand-new storm this season.
...He could do it!
Tyrone was coaching at a high school now, but he had once played at the professional level.
He was a man who had sprinted for all he was worth, desperate to stand out on a football stage crawling with monsters who transcended the human species.
It felt as though a passion gone cold was being reignited by Jaehyuk.
I was a cornerback—a defensive player, but...
Since it was essentially the defensive counterpart to the running back position, he could read Jaehyuk's performance with unusual objectivity.
And that was exactly why the greed took hold.
"Kim."
"Kim Jaehyuk."
"Right, Kim Jaehyuk. How would you feel about taking a tryout?"
"A tryout?"
At Coach Tyrone's words, Jaehyuk tilted his head. Not because the offer puzzled him—he genuinely just didn't know the word.
"The entrance test. For joining the team."
"Joining what? The football team?"
"That's right. I'll set aside special time to teach you myself."
Tyrone nodded with a face full of confidence.
The man standing here had once played on a genuine professional football stage.
He felt awkward even saying it, but among everyone who played football, only a vanishingly small fraction ever made it to the pros.
He was one of the few who had broken through that wall. Any student dreaming of becoming a football player would weep with gratitude at an offer like this...
"Not interested."
"Right, so tomorrow we'll run the tryout right aw—huh?"
"Why would I?"
Jaehyuk said it flat, then walked off toward the quarterback. Tyrone stared blankly after him as he struck up a conversation, then let out a hollow laugh and chased after him.
"Hey, kid! At least hear me out before you decide!"
**
The game ended in a first-team victory.
The second team couldn't put another point on the board after Jaehyuk's 14.
With the game already deep into the fourth quarter, there simply wasn't enough time to close the gap.
"Hey, hey. Who is that guy?"
"Right? First time I've ever seen him..."
"Oh, I heard the starter, Ronnie, got hurt and is sitting out. Must be the replacement they brought in for the second team."
That's a replacement? His skills were insane!"
"Never seen an Asian kid before, so a replacement makes sense. But seriously, what has he been doing all this time?"
Even though they weren't a strong team, the football players were objects of envy for the rest of the student body.
Which was why crowds of students gathered whenever the occasional practice game between the first and second teams rolled around. And among them was one girl whose jaw hung open, completely dumbstruck.
"Eunbi, what's wrong? You okay?"
"Th-th-th-th..."
"Th...?"
"Why is HE over there!"
Every head in the crowd turned toward Kim Eunbi.
Then, catching sight of Jaehyuk on the field bench stripping off his protective gear, they confirmed the two knew each other.
"Whoa! Eunbi, don't tell me you know that guy?"
"...Yeah."
"What?"
"He's my older brother."
She'd been wearing a helmet, and she'd only just arrived in time to catch the last play—Kim Eunbi had never in her wildest dreams imagined her own brother was out there on the field.
"Guys, that guy is Eunbi's older brother!"
"For real?"
"What did he used to do? I've been watching him and he runs like crazy!"
Swarmed by sudden attention, Eunbi waved her hands in flustered protest.
"I don't know! All I knew was that he was on the track team..."
"Track! No wonder he runs like that!"
She couldn't understand why so much attention was converging on this—she hadn't seen the game from the start.
But judging by the students' reactions, she could tell Jaehyuk had done something.
He plays football? My brother?
Jaehyuk never showed the slightest interest even when the family watched the Super Bowl together. So what on earth was he doing out there?
And yet, no matter how she looked at him, the man on that field was unmistakably her brother, Jaehyuk.
"Does your brother have a girlfriend?"
"Don't think so. He doesn't care about stuff like that anyway."
"Ooh, not bad."
"...What exactly is good about that?"
If she was being honest with herself.
Jaehyuk was an oddball. Even within his own family, he was... something of an uncomfortable presence, you could say.
Not that she disliked him. It was just the aura he constantly gave off.
"Whoa, here he comes!"
"Kyaa! Mark! Great game out there!"
"Booyah! Another game-clinching catch, Willie!"
The crowd's attention snapped instantly to the football players. As the team members wrapped up a hasty cleanup and headed for the locker room, the students swarmed after them in a rush.
Eunbi didn't stand still either. She started walking too.
Toward where Jaehyuk was still peeling off his gear.
"Hey."
"..."
"Hey, Kim Jaehyuk!"
At the familiar Korean pronunciation, Jaehyuk turned around.
"Oh. Hey, little sis."
"What are you doing here?"
"Ran a little test."
"A test?"
After spouting nonsense she couldn't begin to parse, Jaehyuk broke into a grin.
"Tested my potential."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, honored brother. What about the track team?"
"Just filling in today. Who knows if I'll do it again."
Just then James, who'd been helping him out of his equipment beside them, clapped Jaehyuk on the back.
"Haha! You've gotta take that tryout tomorrow!"
"A tryout?!"
Eunbi clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
For a girl who fancied herself something of a football fan, the idea that her brother—whom she'd always written off as a lone weirdo—might join the football team, the exclusive domain of the in-crowd's in-crowd, was beyond imagining.
"Are you serious?"
"I agreed to take the test. Whether I actually join is still up in the—"
"Unbelievable."
It couldn't have been a lie.
This was James, after all—even if second-string, a player locked in a fierce battle for the starting center job.
Even though it had nothing to do with her, Eunbi felt her head spinning with anticipation and excitement.
Wichita North High School competed in the upper echelon of Kansas high school football: the 6A classification.
In other words, it belonged to the highest league of the six, from 1A to 6A.
And her brother was going to join such an elite football team! Granted, Wichita North currently sat at the very bottom of 6A, but enormous crowds packed the stands for every game, year after year.
"Let me say it again—I'm only taking the test. Joining is something I'll have to think about."
"Why? No, seriously, why?"
"Why are you so worked up? I might not join at all, so what's with the reaction?"
"Football?! You could actually join the team?!"
Jaehyuk's memory dredged up a fact he'd forgotten, thanks to Eunbi's reaction.
Eunbi might claim she only liked football a little, but in Jaehyuk's eyes she was a pretty devoted fan.
Her reaction was only natural, really.
"Come on, Jaehyuk! Joining the football team is an honor! Don't be so cold about it!"
"Hurry up and help me get this stuff off. I'm dying in here."
"Did you see those kids crowding around? They all came to watch our game. A few of them are still waiting over there. They're probably my fans. Or yours."
"Fans?"
Jaehyuk looked up from pulling off his ankle braces.
Just as James had said, a handful of students were watching from a distance.
The moment their eyes met, they cheered and waved. Jaehyuk had never experienced anything like it, and he could only stare, baffled.
Fans? I never had fans even when I set records or won medals in track.
And all he'd done was play a practice game? A practice game between the first and second teams of his own school, at that?
"Heh heh. Nice, right?"
"...Ahem. I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm out of here."
"Hey! What you took off, you carry!"
Jaehyuk vanished at a brisk pace, showing yet another unexpected side of himself. Watching him go, Kim Eunbi and James traded villainous grins.
"Heh heh. Almost there. Just a little more..."
"Heh heh, so even my brother is only human after all."
Their thoughts aligned perfectly; they looked at each other and bumped fists.
Two wills collided head-on, united in a single heart and mind: get Jaehyuk onto that team, no matter what.
My brother, a football player! He WILL join the team!
That kid is a must-have! This year's dark horse is going to be our school!
**
"Tyrone, coaching all the way out here. Fate stranger than any coincidence."
After school.
At an hour when every student had already gone home, someone paid a visit to Wichita North High School.
A man who had come quietly, noticed by no one.
At a glance he seemed perfectly ordinary, but look closer and you could see that his entire frame was built of dense, solid muscle.
"Hm?"
Tyrone, who had just finished preparing for Jaehyuk's tryout the next day and was heading out, spotted the man. Sunglasses and a hat, sure—but Tyrone recognized him in an instant.
"S-Senior Sanders? Is that really you?"
"How long has it been? Sorry I couldn't manage a single call, even living so close by."
Barry Sanders.
The legendary running back ranked 27th among the greatest players in NFL history by The Athletic—a man whose records and heroics remain etched into the memories of countless NFL fans to this day.
Now a legend in his fifties, the man laughed heartily and shook Tyrone's hand.
"I should have come to see you first..."
"We've both been busy. Can't be helped. So—you're coaching football here?"
"I am. Head coach and everything. Who would've thought I'd end up coaching football at my senior's alma mater. Haha."
The two fell into conversation and strolled naturally out onto the field.
The field they arrived at wasn't bad—but to Sanders's eyes it looked shabby.
"I hear the results have been rough lately. A real shame."
"I can only apologize, Senior."
"Apologize for what? You've only been here two months, haven't you? Now that you've arrived, the results will start climbing."
"I'll do my best. As it happens, I've found a few talented kids. Raised right, I think they could be a lot of fun."
As he spoke, Tyrone suddenly remembered the day's events.
"Oh! And Senior—I found a truly remarkable kid today."
"A remarkable kid?"
"An East Asian kid from the track team."
"What's so remarkable about him?"
"The team's second-string running back was injured and out for today's practice game. They scraped up that Asian kid as a last-minute substitute, and he didn't know the first thing about football."
"And yet here you are singing his praises. He must have pulled off something, hm?"
Sanders's interest was quietly piqued by the words running back. Otherwise, he wouldn't have spared a moment's attention for a mere high schooler—an Asian track kid who knew nothing about football.
"The boys froze him out at first. He touched the ball exactly twice in four quarters. Both times, only at the very end."
"Happens. Most kids who play football are rough characters."
"...And he finished both of those touches with touchdowns. A complete outsider who doesn't even know the rules of the game."
"Oh ho."
It was certainly a strange tale.
No matter how weak Wichita North might be in 6A, the notion of an ordinary person running plays among those players was absurd on its face.
And this ruleless rookie hadn't just grinded out a few yards—he'd ended every single touch in the end zone?
"Junior year, I'm told. Football for the very first time. His track career best is 10.21 in the hundred meters."
"Fast."
But speed alone was never the whole answer in football. That was the judgment of Sanders, a man who'd become a legend inside the NFL—a league where monsters from every corner of the globe gathered.
"I asked him to take a tryout tomorrow. He's a proud one—he brushed me off several times, but in the end he said yes."
"Personality: pass. You need that kind of edge to survive in this game. But you went so far as to personally ask him?"
"I agonized over it the whole game. Honestly, it's far too late in life to be starting football. But the moment I saw that second touchdown, I couldn't let it go."
"If a man who's actually played at the pro level feels that strongly..."
Sanders recalled that, as it happened, he had nothing on his schedule the following day. And with a smile, he murmured:
"Maybe I'll drop by and have a look."