The Interview
About a month earlier.
Lee Sang-hak, a reporter for tn Sports, a small-time Korean cable channel, happened to be watching a YouTube video.
“A Korean?”
The video was about American football, of all things.
Tn Sports was such a tiny cable station that it mostly covered niche sports news like this, but even so, he never expected to stumble across a Korean-related story in American football.
“Let's see here...”
The channel Sang-hak had landed on mainly reviewed college football, and it had a healthy subscriber count of around 150,000. The most recent upload was a feature special on a single player.
The astonishing part was that the player was Korean.
“Kim Jaehyuk?”
He pressed play. Highlights from the recently concluded season opener filled the screen, showcasing one player's jaw-dropping performance.
“Whoa...”
Number 21, wearing a visor.
He toyed with the opposing defense at will, and his blistering speed made him nearly impossible to bring down. Sometimes he plunged through on fearless, aggressive lanes; sometimes he slipped along routes no one could have predicted, leaving everyone grasping at air.
Five touchdowns. All by himself.
Sang-hak wasn't completely ignorant of football, and he watched that incredible scoring barrage with his mouth hanging open.
Then the screen cut to a proper shot of Jaehyuk.
“What? He's a freshman?!”
Reading the English subtitles, Sang-hak could hardly believe his eyes and checked again.
True Freshman.
He knew a little about college football culture, so he understood exactly how staggering that was. And when he saw which school Kim Jaehyuk belonged to, it became even harder to believe.
The Alabama Crimson Tide.
A program that had built a dynasty in college football. Alongside its imposing prestige came a fan base with fanatical fervor, a place where a freshman cracking the starting lineup was almost unheard of.
And yet here was a Korean at Alabama — a freshman starting player, who'd recorded five touchdowns in his debut?!
“This is insane...”
The video continued with Jaehyuk's life story: when he'd come to America as a child, what he'd been doing all that time, when he'd first touched a football. Amazingly, every detail played out like a movie.
“He started playing football in his second year of high school?”
He was a college freshman now, which meant he was only in his third year of the sport.
Three years of football experience — and he was already putting up a performance like this.
Did that even make sense?
A Korean? In American football?
He wondered if the kid might be mixed-race, but no — he was pure Korean.
Enough.
He needed to pitch this as a story right now and land an interview.
A player of this caliber was a lock for the NFL. By the time that happened, most Koreans would already know who he was — he had to get ahead of the curve.
“Section Chief! I want to pitch this story — what do you think?!!”
Three days before the Week 6 game, I received some unexpected visitors.
“Mr. Kim Jaehyuk? Ah! It's wonderful to meet you! I'm Lee Sang-hak, a reporter with tn Sports.”
“I'm Kim Jaehyuk.”
Korean, after so long. Since it was a language I only ever used with my family — and lately it had been nothing but English — the words felt strangely awkward in my mouth.
But then...
“There are quite a few people here?”
“Ah, these are fans of yours we brought along for the interview.”
My fans?
Cheryl had contacted me about the interview a few days earlier. Broadcast requests had come in often enough that I'd done a few shoots, but this was my first time with a Korean network, so I'd said yes.
“It's a kind of planned interview. Each of the fans has prepared a question — would that be all right with you?”
Wide, sparkling eyes.
Where on earth did all these people come from?
Men and women, young and old, every kind of person imaginable. All of them Korean. And every single one was wearing my jersey, which was... a little awkward, honestly.
“Shall we begin?”
“Yes, please.”
What followed was the usual round of ceremonial interview questions. But since it was a Korean network, there were noticeably more Korea-related questions than usual.
“Do you have a favorite Korean food?”
“I like whatever stew my mother makes. Kimchi stew, soybean paste stew — I don't discriminate.”
“Hoo! Your mother must be an excellent cook!”
Then came how I'd stumbled into football in the first place, how I viewed my own standing in the sport, what I thought about football being such an unfamiliar sport in Korea, and so on.
Once I'd gotten through the safe answers, the fans' questions began.
Did they really travel all this way just to ask one question?
America is enormous. Even coming from the next town over usually means a couple of hours of travel. Honestly, I didn't know where each of them had come from, but it felt like a bit of a waste to travel all that way for a single question.
“Ah, hello!”
“Hello.”
The first questioner was a young woman who looked like a student. Middle schooler? High schooler? Probably not college.
“May I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
When I nodded, she swallowed nervously.
“Th-this regular season! How far do you expect to go?!”
I tilted my head for a moment before catching her meaning.
“The championship.”
“Th-the championship?!”
Was my answer really that shocking? Everyone plays to win it all, don't they?
“The conference championship?!”
“Ah — questioner, one question per person, please.”
The reporter cut in, but I answered anyway.
“The conference title goes without saying. We have to win the National Championship too.”
At my matter-of-fact reply, everyone stared at me blankly. Then they erupted in cheers.
“That's our Jaehyuk!”
“Hoo, that confidence comes straight from ability! Love to see it!”
“Show them the power of Korea!”
I appreciated the enthusiasm, but was it really worth cheering that hard? Winning was a given. In fact, I wasn't aiming for just any championship — I was aiming for an undefeated one.
Not a single loss.
Of course, I knew football wasn't exactly easy. The game splits into offense and defense, so no matter how well you attack, it means nothing if your defense gets carved up. But in that case, you simply score more. And if things got really ugly, I could just play both ways — offense and defense — on Gift-enhanced stamina.
“All right, next questioner, please.”
“Mr. Kim Jaehyuk! Given that you're now considered the ace of the Alabama Crimson Tide — are you also setting your sights on the Heisman Trophy?”
“I believe it'll follow naturally if we win the championship.”
“But won't your being Asian become a problem? You'll have to watch out for racism!”
“Okay, okay — let's move to the next questioner.”
If that's how it's going to be, why not just give people two questions each? We had plenty of time.
“I'll put up numbers so overwhelming that not even racism will be able to touch me. Without leaving a shred of doubt.”
“HOOOOH!! KIM! JAE! HYUK! KIM! JAE! HYUK!”
A middle-aged man celebrating my answer. That one seemed like a genuine Alabama fan?
Laughing a little at his comical cheering, I moved on to the next question. I fielded questions from roughly twenty people, so time inevitably slipped by, and when I started glancing at the clock, Reporter Lee asked with mild concern,
“Do you have somewhere to be?”
“I was planning to do some individual training.”
“Ah, of course. Then let's wrap up quickly.”
Hmm. I felt a little bad about sending them off just like that.
I asked for a moment's indulgence and made a quick call.
“Yes, Coach. Are you busy by any chance? I was wondering if I could request a quick tour.”
Once I'd gotten the OK, I turned to the group.
“Do you happen to have some free time?”
“Huh? Well, we were actually planning to just sleep here tonight.”
“Then would you like a tour of the Crimson Tide?”
“Whaaaat!!”
The crowd was stunned. A few of them asked again, as if they couldn't believe it.
“A-a tour? Of Alabama?”
“Yes. I just got the approval.”
Approval like that normally wouldn't come easily. And we were in the middle of the regular season — a highly sensitive stretch for a team that hated tipping its hand strategically. The fact that the coach had granted my request anyway meant only one thing.
They can't treat me lightly.
In a sense, I'd pulled rank to get the approval. But I didn't feel particularly guilty about it. Wasn't this kind of treatment just deserved? The best running back in the country was asking — of course they should accommodate him. As long as I kept delivering victories, what wouldn't they allow?
“Shall we go?”
“Whoaaa...”
I led the astonished visitors toward the Crimson Tide facilities. The tour had come together on the spur of the moment, but just as Luke had done for me on my first day, I gave them a rough tour of the inside.
“Yo! Guests?”
That was when we ran into Ryan. Beaming brightly, he came over to check out the crowd.
“Oh, reporters from Korea, and Korean fans.”
“Hoo! Hello, everyone! I'm Ryan Williams! Fourth-year wide receiver!”
“Oh my gosh! It's Ryan! So nice to meet you! We're huge fans!”
Some of the fans were somehow more thrilled to see him than they'd been with me. Hmm. That stung a little.
After that, Ryan apparently had nothing better to do, so he tagged along and gave even more detailed explanations. Being a fourth-year, I supposed — he explained things far better than I had.
“By the way, Ryan, are you close with Mr. Jaehyuk?”
“Jaehyuk? Jaehyuk's my best friend!”
Ryan looked back at me, his eyes twinkling. If I'd said no here, he'd have gone sullen in a heartbeat, so I forced a nod.
“He's one of the guys I spend the most time with on the team.”
The crowd murmured in admiration — but Ryan's eyes narrowed, apparently unsatisfied.
“Best friend, right?!”
“...Yeah.”
Only after hearing the answer he wanted did Ryan break into a sheepish grin.
Then we made a quick change in the locker room, and I put on a little fan service in the indoor field where I do my individual training.
Thwip!
“Whoaaa!”
“Amazing!”
“That vertical — that's not human, is it?”
“How did a Korean athlete like this even happen...”
The tour lasted about an hour. Everyone said they'd had a wonderful time, so we exchanged autographs and took photos before parting ways. For the record, they also collected signatures from every player we ran into — can't blame them for that.
“We didn't think that through, huh.”
It was Jayden Roberts, who'd bumped into us the way Ryan had. For the record, he'd been hard at work lifting in the gym today, too.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jaehyuk, you're Korean. Practically the only one here.”
“I am.”
When I nodded, Jayden gave my shoulder a pat.
“Must've been lonely. I mean, most of us are Black, so it's all like brothers looking out for each other. We lean on each other, you know?”
“Weaklings. Why lean on anyone? If you're strong yourself, you never have those weak thoughts.”
“...”
Jayden gave me a look of utter disbelief, and Ryan beside him finally burst out laughing.
“That's our Jaehyuk! Honestly, that's one of the things I love about you!”
“Ahem. Anyway — still, everyone needs something to lean on now and then, right? I think of you like a brother, Jaehyuk, so if you've got any troubles, tell me anytime.”
“Oh, now that you mention it, I do have one.”
“Ohh! What is it? Ask me!”
Facing Jayden's brimming expectations, I asked with a perfectly serious face.
“My shoulder muscles haven't been growing lately. What should I change — the weight? Or the reps?”
“...”
“What? Why aren't you answering? You said to tell you my troubles.”
And so we went back to the gym and hit the weights hard.
The day of the Week 6 game dawned.
The tension hanging over the city was thick enough to notice at a glance — an air of solemn vigilance everywhere.
Today's opponent: the Tennessee Volunteers.
A rivalry game steeped in history and tradition.
How many rivals does this school have, exactly?
Honestly, I didn't know much about the school's history or culture. I was just one of the players — all I had to do was seize the win.
Still, I got the distinct feeling that the Alabama Crimson Tide had stacked up a whole lot of karma with people over the years.
Either way — today's game needed a win too.
“Those mother****ers brought their flag onto OUR field!!”
So much for that going smoothly.
At someone's furious shout, the whole team surged to its feet. When I asked what was going on, it turned out the visiting team had brought a flag to plant right in the middle of our field logo.
“Those sons of—!!”
“Kill 'em!!”
“Forget the game! Just stomp them!”
Chaos. As I watched the spectacle with disdain, Luke suddenly sprinted over and yelled,
“Jaehyuk!!”
“What.”
“Today's game!! We MUST!! WIN!!!”
“You're stating the obvious.”
At my flat response, everyone's attention snapped to me.
“No! No! That's not it — you have to win hard!!”
“Jaehyuk! We're counting on you! Just winning isn't enough! CRUSH them — absolutely bury them!”
“Bomb them with touchdowns until they can't even catch their breath, okay?!”
At reactions that seemed genuinely half-insane, I sighed and stood up.
“Just hand me the ball, you idiots.”
“GRAAAAH!!”
“Let's go! Redline's taking the field!!”
“Roll Redline! Roll Tide!!”