The Early Signing Period

The state championship game brought the 2026 regular season to a close.

And at the same time, the most important stretch of my life came slamming in through the front door.

The Early Signing Period.

Essentially a shortened, earlier version of National Signing Day — the official window when recruits sign with the college they'll attend.

It ran for a total of three days, falling in mid-December.

Which meant roughly one week after the state championship.

If National Signing Day already exists, why bother with early signing at all? There was a perfectly good reason.

First, you got a head start experiencing the college team's training programs and playbook.

You could also stay in constant contact with the college coaching staff, which gave you time to start adjusting to the team before you ever set foot on campus.

Granted, simply exchanging messages with a coach doesn't exactly count as "adapting," but it beat sitting around doing nothing.

And finally — the most important part.

Signing early in December meant you could enroll early in January.

Of course, that was only possible if you'd completed every required high school credit. And as luck would have it, I happened to be Korean.

Huh? What does being Korean have to do with anything?

So this is where our infamous passion for education pays off.

Not every Korean household, sure.

But compared to the average American family, ours took academics pretty seriously.

Back when we first immigrated, the language barrier was the biggest problem, so I'd had English tutoring, and I took online courses for the rest of my required subjects too.

Once I got to high school, the tutoring stopped — "figure it out yourself" — but the habit stuck, and I kept up my preparations and reviews religiously.

As a result, even while pouring myself into football, my grades were at a level where early graduation was on the table for most subjects.

Straight B's with a few A-minuses sprinkled in.

That made me a solid honor student by any measure.

And with both of my younger siblings fighting for the top spot in their grades, our household had nothing to be ashamed of academically anywhere we went.

"Wonderful! This is excellent!"

And here she was.

Cheryl Sanders, glowing as she marveled over my transcript.

"You didn't just focus on athletics — you kept up with your studies too! I can't believe you'd already earned all your credits on your own initiative! Were you planning on early enrollment?"

"No, ma'am. It just sort of happened."

It wasn't as if I'd ever imagined I'd go to college on a football scholarship.

Although — fine.

It was true that starting last year, just in case, I'd grinded through my credits with early enrollment in the back of my mind.

Coach Sanders had smoothed things over with the school as well, so the plan proceeded without a hitch.

Fortunately, I'd always had good grades, so I was able to finish my preparations without a single problem.

"Your NCAA Eligibility Center registration is done. All that's left is submitting your transcript and completing your amateurism certification. But before that..."

Cheryl's expression turned serious.

"You have to choose a school. What are you thinking?"

"Hmm..."

Over sixty schools had reached out to me.

Of those, around a dozen were fully committed.

All of them offered great conditions — and with the state championship win on top, the offers had gotten even stronger.

Ten schools had guaranteed me a starting job outright.

But when the terms were all roughly the same, there was one school that kept pulling at me.

The one that had wanted me from the very beginning.

The one that had even run a skill camp just for me.

"What about Alabama?"

"Ahh, Alabama, huh..."

But when it came down to it, Cheryl hesitated.

And I knew exactly why.

"Alabama is in absolute turmoil right now. Like I mentioned before, their record's been bad, and players are transferring out in droves."

On top of last year's lackluster season, Alabama had failed to produce decent results this year too.

Nine wins and four losses last season.

Nine and four again this year. A dismal No. 18 in the national rankings.

Two straight years falling short of ten wins, and the mood in Tuscaloosa was a complete mess.

Not that I'd seen it myself, but according to Cheryl, the fanbase looked ready to set the stadium on fire at any moment.

Must be a fanbase with some serious passion.

But honestly, the worse it got, the better it suited me.

Nothing in the world is more thrilling than dragging a losing team to the throne.

If anything, this was exactly the kind of situation that lit a fire under my competitive streak.

"The atmosphere is rotten. There's a real chance the backlash spills onto you too, Jaehyuk. And a team with bad results means its players have a lower chance of making the NFL."

"Then where would you recommend, Cheryl?"

"The offers are all more or less identical. But by my standards, Notre Dame or Georgia look strong. Texas and Tennessee too."

I held out the tablet for Cheryl, and she quickly walked me through the recent records, rosters, training programs, and coaching staffs of the schools she'd named.

"Honestly, if you strip away their current record and situation, Alabama isn't a place that deserves to be undervalued like this. There's a reason they're called a dynasty. But that's exactly why the present situation stings so badly."

She turned to me, watching me study the tablet, and drove the point home.

"Jaehyuk, you're a special player. You may not feel it yourself, but there are universities out there who believe you could change the history of the sport. That's how heated things are right now."

"It's that serious?"

"People outside the industry might not feel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it yet. But every scout at every program — and the general managers above them — rate you extremely highly."

So even though it hadn't been made public, the word among the people who mattered was already out there in full force.

But you know what?

No matter how I turned it over in my head, my decision had been made from the start.

"Please contact Alabama."

"Are you serious?"

At the worry in Cheryl's voice, I answered with a smile.

"Thank you for worrying about me. But sometimes — sometimes the body has to move before the head does. And I think this is one of those times."

"Hmm."

"I want to be the best. But I don't want to become the best the boring, easy way. Given everything this program has invested in me, it's only right that I'm the one who puts Alabama back on the throne."

Cheryl's eyes widened slightly at my words.

Then her expression melted, softening into a smile.

"You're far younger than me, and yet you're someone I could learn a thing or two from."

"Far younger? It's only six years."

"Six years is plenty. Anyway — understood. I'll respect your decision. And honestly, it's a convincing one. Alabama put in the work for you, so ignoring that would be poor manners. Sometimes romance matters too."

Having said her piece, Cheryl added one more thing.

"Have you told your parents?"

News of my early enrollment spread fast.

Naturally, the school and the football program descended into chaos.

The players' impassioned begging, in particular, was impossible to ignore no matter how hard I tried.

"Captain! Where do you think you're going, abandoning us?!"

"No, seriously, who decides something like that without even saying anything?!"

"Hnnnggg!"

Complete pandemonium.

On the flip side, plenty of people came to congratulate me too, which meant I got hounded from every direction, all day long.

"Where you headed?"

"So it's your turn now, huh."

Somehow, Mateo had been strangely quiet.

He'd crept up on me without so much as a rustle, and at his question I just shrugged.

"Alabama?"

"Probably."

"Oh."

A verbal sound of acknowledgement with all the enthusiasm of a wet sock. Then he tilted his head.

"Why?"

"Why Alabama?"

"Yeah."

"Their head scout's been following me for over a year. Figured I owed them at least that much sincerity."

"College is a different level."

Mateo suddenly came out with something completely out of left field. I gave him a look that said what's that supposed to mean, and he answered, dead serious.

"College players are on another level. Think carefully before you choose."

"Well, well. Are you worried about me right now?"

"Damn right."

Mateo puffed out his chest and nodded with sudden pride. He'd deigned to worry about me, so consider it an honor, apparently.

This guy is hilarious.

"Worry about yourself. What's your plan for next season without me?"

"I. Am. Mateo."

He pointed at himself and declared it with utmost confidence.

Fair enough — who worries about an S+ Rank quarterback?

For all I know there might be a rank above that, but among high school quarterbacks alive today, this guy was the strongest, period.

Tch.

Why did that annoy me so much?

Right as I clicked my tongue once,

Coach Tyrone came looking for me.

"Jaehyuk, got a minute?"

"Ah, yup."

"And, uh... Jaehyuk."

"Yup?"

Tyrone scratched his head awkwardly.

"Don't forget about us once you're gone."

"There's still a whole month left, Coach. I haven't even signed yet."

"You're about to, though, aren't you."

At Tyrone's stiff face and clumsy words, I just waved a hand and told him to get out of here already.

Today was finally the day of the signing.

Inside the school, officials and reporters were already packed in like sardines. I got tidied up and headed out, where Coach Sanders was waiting for me — sunglasses on, even indoors, as always.

"Shall we?"

"Yes, sir."

Sanders didn't say much of anything.

He simply walked ahead, showing me his broad, dependable back.

Then, as we made our quiet way toward the prepared venue, he asked:

"Any regrets?"

"None at all."

"Good enough. Work hard up there too."

Regrets? What would I even have to regret?

For the record, the terms Alabama put on the table were nothing short of extraordinary.

Setting aside the now-tedious guarantees of a starting job and scholarship funding—

A dedicated coordinator would be assigned to manage my path to the NFL with hands-on care, starting from early enrollment.

Alabama's top-tier academic support program would be offered to me as first priority. If needed, dedicated staff would even be assigned to help me and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my family adjust quickly to campus life.

And on top of all that — money, in the form of a guaranteed NIL package.

Alabama reportedly boasted one of the biggest NIL markets in the country, backed by a powerful collective.

Which meant they'd promised to secure me a minimum of $80,000 a year in NIL deals from the moment I enrolled.

Insane.

A college student, already set to earn more than a typical salaried worker.

And finally — one last thing.

This one I hadn't quite expected.

As it happened, precisely because of two straight years of poor results, the team was planning a massive overhaul.

A complete redesign of their playbook, to be implemented before next season.

And if I proved myself in scrimmages and various training drills before then, I was told the entire scheme could be built around me.

In other words — a true freshman becoming the franchise player of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

That last condition wasn't a promise, though.

It depended entirely on how well I performed.

And as always — I was confident.

Squeeeak—.

"He's here!"

"Player Kim Jaehyuk!"

Click!

Click click click!!

The signing was held in the school's main auditorium.

The school had gone out of its way to accommodate me.

As I stepped onto the stage under a deluge of camera flashes, the principal, vice principal, and board members of Wichita North were waiting there.

"You all got here first."

My parents had arrived ahead of time too.

When did they even get here?

They waved when I looked over. And now that I noticed, Cheryl was sitting with them.

"You can take a seat over there."

A table and chairs had been set up at the center of the stage. Resting on the table were caps bearing the logos of various colleges.

Only now did I realize the backdrop installed behind the stage was plastered with Nike and Under Armour logos too.

Heh. They really went all out.

"You can sit here."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Sanders showed me to my seat and ducked away quickly.

Then my parents settled into the seats on either side of me.

I'd been given the rough rundown of the proceedings.

The result had long since been decided, but this whole production existed for a little extra drama.

On the table in front of my chair sat the caps bearing the logos of several universities.

The moment I put one on —

it was official.

And then, after a short while.

The cue sign dropped.

The early signing broadcast, streamed live on YouTube, had begun.

"Hello, viewers! This is Emily from 248Sports, bringing you live coverage of the nation's top prospects signing with their future schools!"

"I'm Cooper Herden."

"And I'm Elliot."

And right at that moment—

Emily took over the broadcast.

"Now, I know you're all dying to know who our first player is. Let's roll the video."

DOOM!

The screen abruptly changed.

A player highlight reel began to roll.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The clips flashed past one after another.

But every single one of them was a staggering, once-in-a-lifetime play you'd almost never see in an ordinary high school game.

And at last, this year's heroics rolled by as well.

The highlight compilation ran a full five minutes, and it sent chills down the spines of everyone watching.

Then the screen switched, and Jaehyuk's records and stats appeared.

Current No. 2 ranked running back in the national high school rankings.

No overall ranking listed, due to his short career.

178 centimeters tall. 73 kilograms.

A build that looked a touch on the small side.

But the numbers that followed threw both the chat and the broadcast booth into absolute chaos.

It wasn't just the chat — the broadcast booth had erupted into a heated free-for-all, and only Emily, the sole person who knew the truth, was struggling to keep the explanation going.

"No player in the history of American high school football has ever posted numbers like these."

"I assumed they were wrong at first too, and I dug through everything before coming to the studio today. But every single one of these stats is real!"

"Jaehyuk started out in track and only entered football last year. His career is astonishingly short — and yet in that brief span, he's rewritten the record books!"

And then, at last, everyone understood.

The player with these monstrous stats was about to choose his college. Right here. Right now.

The chat was a total warzone.

And then the screen cut — and there he was.

Jaehyuk himself.

.

.

.

.

It was the moment the chat window detonated.