An Incomprehensible Team? Spring (2)

"No, a love triangle… actually, leave me out of it — it's more like a love square, you know? Is that going to be okay?"

Chae Hojin's head was spinning, but he managed to claw his way back to reason.

The first thing he needed to ask about was Ha Jeong-uk's current state.

If Jin Gyeo-wool really had been charming all four of them, it wouldn't make any sense for Ha Jeong-uk to be perfectly fine.

"Uh… Jeong-uk, why are you the one left out?"

"I was never interested in girls as pretty as Gyeo-wool in the first place. She's way out of my league, so I never even thought about it."

So he was so ruthlessly objective that he hadn't even bothered to care.

A beam of light shot through Chae Hojin's mind.

"Does Gyeo-wool… treat all of you well, by any chance?"

"Uh… it's not like she goes out of her way to dote on us or anything, but she is pretty easygoing with us? She does a lot of physical stuff too, like she's just hanging out with the guys. The vibe is more like older and younger brothers who've known each other forever."

In that instant, the conversations Chae Hojin had just had with the other three assembled themselves in his head of their own accord — and spat out a bizarre conclusion.

Choi Do-yun likes Jin Gyeo-wool. He's under the delusion that she likes him back.

Gong Je-hyeon likes Jin Gyeo-wool. He's circling her like a shark, angling to make her his girlfriend.

Yu Min-jae likes Jin Gyeo-wool. What had sounded like some grave matter turned out to just be him trying to raise his game skill above hers before this year's Korean Cup ends, so he can somehow impress her.

Sure. Jin Gyeo-wool was pretty, and she was charming — that much was true.

But unless they were complete idiots, how could three people like the same girl at the same time? And without any of them noticing each other, no less.

Ah. So that was it. This team was a carefully tended fishing pond built by a beautiful girl — no, a nine-tailed fox — named Jin Gyeo-wool.

Right…. Four guys and one girl, and the team's still peaceful? That doesn't make any sense.

Then again, you could also say Jin Gyeo-wool was impressive in her own right.

Keeping a pack of boys in their prime from tearing each other apart was a skill, if you wanted to call it one.

A brainy top-laner, they'd said — and she wasn't just wrangling her teammates inside the game. She was wrangling them outside of it too.

So… what am I supposed to do about this….

Chae Hojin's worries deepened.

In theory, there were plenty of ways to handle it.

He could force them to stop being so physical and close, cutting off any further progress on the love square.

Or he could pull Jin Gyeo-wool aside during her counseling session and tell her privately. Boys that age had no immunity to girls, so staying this close was overstimulating and not good for anyone.

The problem was that Chae Hojin simply did not have the courage to put any of those ideas into practice.

"So… the four people in this love square haven't fought, have they?"

"No. Now that you mention it, that is pretty weird."

"I see. Hmm…."

They hadn't fought. Maybe it really was best to just leave things alone?

Besides, Chae Hojin was only staying with this team until the end of the year — half a year, tops.

If he could just muddle through for six months, plugging whatever crises cropped up with whatever was at hand… wouldn't that be enough?

This team had more than enough potential. If he rode that, he might easily rack up results and land a spot on a bigger team.

…Yeah. Let's hear what Gyeo-wool has to say first, then decide.

Chae Hojin made up his mind and wrapped up the session with Ha Jeong-uk.

"I'll check on that part when I talk to Gyeo-wool."

"Yes, sir. Honestly, I don't think you need to worry too much. I only brought it up because it was on my mind — the team's actually really harmonious."

If it was so harmonious, maybe he shouldn't have brought it up at all.

Heat flared up the back of Chae Hojin's neck, but he forced a smile and endured it.

About thirty seconds after Ha Jeong-uk left, Jin Gyeo-wool drifted into the soundproof room at a leisurely pace.

The air conditioning had been running the whole time, so the air inside was crisp and clean — but the moment she stepped in, a sweet scent began to fill the space.

No makeup, nothing. Just the smell of shampoo and lotion, and somehow the whole room smelled like flowers. A pure, unadorned beautiful girl really was something else.

Jin Gyeo-wool entered the soundproof room and gave a small, expressionless bow.

"Ah. Come sit here."

"Okay."

There were plenty of questions he needed to ask her.

But the second ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he saw her face, the words jammed in his throat.

Why? He turned it over in his mind, but he couldn't quite put his finger on the reason.

It was all because of the impression Jin Gyeo-wool gave off.

Ordinarily, she faced the world with calm, gentle eyes.

And that girl was supposed to be swishing her tails around like a nine-tailed fox? There was no way.

Maybe Gyeo-wool hadn't wanted a love square at all.

Maybe she was stuck in a genuinely uncomfortable situation, and she was doing everything she could to keep the team from falling apart.

Thinking that, Chae Hojin ultimately took two steps back and started with the common questions instead.

"Uh… right. I asked the other kids this too — is there anything weighing on you? Anything you'd like to talk about?"

"Hmm…."

Jin Gyeo-wool made a thoughtful sound, clasped her hands together, and fidgeted as she sank into thought.

The way her cute, delicate hands moved was strangely captivating.

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to ask something like this."

As if she'd made up her mind, her gaze — which had been lowered — lifted to meet Chae Hojin's.

"Do you believe in the afterlife?"

Boom. The thought process Chae Hojin had barely pieced back together detonated all over again.

His mind became a battlefield mid-bombardment, pure chaos.

Fragments of thought scattered everywhere and started spitting out ideas at random.

And right in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠middle of that mess, the anxiety Yu Min-jae's earlier story had planted in him shoved its way in.

The afterlife? Death? Thinking about dying? Suicide? No way—

"W-why are you suddenly bringing that up? You're not unhappy with your life, or… h-h-hurting yourself or anything, are you? Right?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Self-harm?"

"Then why are you suddenly bringing up something like that?"

Jin Gyeo-wool was flustered. She'd only asked out of idle curiosity, and now Chae Hojin was panicking like he didn't know what to do with himself.

Really, that was all it was. She had nothing else on her mind, so she'd tossed out a philosophical question just to have something to talk about.

But the big man sitting in front of her had his eyes blown wide open, hands trembling, clearly thrown into complete confusion.

Why on earth?

"No, it was just… a philosophical question. Doesn't everyone think about that kind of thing…?"

"Ah… ah? Is that so?"

"Yes. I mean, humans aren't immortal, right?"

"…Uh. Right."

Jin Gyeo-wool soothed him gently, and only then did Chae Hojin's thinking return to normal.

What on earth had he been thinking on his own to make a conversation veer off like that?

He looked so solid and manly on the outside that she'd figured she wouldn't have to worry much — but contrary to appearances, he seemed timid and easily spooked.

Faced with a coach who was nothing like what she'd expected, Jin Gyeo-wool sighed and pressed on.

"I guess I asked a weird question."

"No. No, it's fine. Yeah… that's the kind of thing anyone your age might think about."

No, it wasn't. How many kids her age were sitting around contemplating life and death?

Worrying about which champion to pick in League of Concealment tomorrow, sure. That she could buy.

Jin Gyeo-wool chose silence over picking at the point.

The silence stretched.

She found the awkward quiet uncomfortable, but no matter how hard she thought, she genuinely had nothing to counsel about.

Saying the team was already solid enough that they didn't really need a coach… that would be a bit much, wouldn't it?

Sooner or later, Coach Chae Hojin would realize the players were growing on their own through feedback with Jin Gyeo-wool — and then his job would vanish completely.

He was someone drawing a paycheck, a promising talent who'd joined this team hoping to advance his career.

She couldn't exactly tell a guy like that, "Coach, feel free to just hang out and relax."

"So… never mind what I just said. Um…."

Jin Gyeo-wool wondered what she could bring up that might get him more enthusiastically involved in managing the team.

After all, if he poured his energy into team management, she could focus more on her own play instead of constantly giving the other players feedback.

Controlling the players in-game and firing off short orders was already more tedious and exhausting than people realized.

Doing the same thing outside the game on top of that? Of course it was a pain.

But the four players were already so thoroughly dependent on her that peeling them off wasn't easy.

Even if she told them to go talk to the coach, they'd be right back at her side in no time.

They were guys, after all — of course they'd rather cling to a beautiful girl like Jin Gyeo-wool than sit through counseling with a burly male coach.

Unable to find a decent topic, the hands inside Jin Gyeo-wool's mind rummaged through the clouds of thought — and snagged on something.

"Um… would relationship advice be okay too?"

As the silence dragged on, Chae Hojin's shattered mental state had almost fully recovered.

And now she wanted relationship advice? Perfect timing.

His expression brightened as he turned to Jin Gyeo-wool.

His entire romantic résumé consisted of half a year spent being dragged around by a willful girlfriend back in high school — but hey, that still counted for something.

"Anytime. What's on your mind?"

"Well… so."

What kind of story was she about to tell?

That she wanted to look after every player on the team, but the more she did, the stronger their feelings got, and she didn't know how to act?

That there was someone on the team she genuinely liked, but she was worried about what the other players would think?

"There's someone I like. But right now, it's a little hard to see them."

"…Really? So there's someone you like?"

Jin Gyeo-wool had someone she liked — someone else entirely.

Meanwhile, Choi Do-yun had been gulping down gallons of premature celebration soup, and Gong Je-hyeon and Yu Min-jae were hacking away at an unyielding titanium alloy utility pole with a copper axe.

All three of them had roughly a zero percent chance of ending up with Jin Gyeo-wool.

Chae Hojin considered this an enormous relief.

"So… where is this person?"

Of course, even he had no idea that the person Jin Gyeo-wool liked was dead — a ghost.

"Well… close, in a way. Far, in another…?"

They were both ghosts, so if she could just find the incense candle, she might be able to meet her. But whether she'd ever find that candle, no one could say.

That was why she'd put it that way. Even Jin Gyeo-wool herself wasn't sure.

"I see. Hmm…. Anyway, so you're not interested in your teammates, is that it?"

Jin Gyeo-wool smiled as she answered — and added something she really didn't need to add.

"Of course not. They're coworkers. Why would I have romantic feelings for them? If anything, I like Ga-eul and Yeo-reum more."

She'd only meant to emphasize that she didn't regard men in a romantic light.

But to Chae Hojin, it landed very differently.

It was because of the second item he'd jotted down in his notes on Jin Gyeo-wool.

Just as Ha Jeong-uk had said, Jin Gyeo-wool got along with the male players like friends.

But that was all it was — like friends.

She threw arms over shoulders, high-fived, bumped fists. All of it was the kind of camaraderie you commonly saw among guys.

But even that Jin Gyeo-wool changed in front of Cha Ga-eul and Han Yeo-reum.

A shy smile she never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠showed otherwise. A flush rising in her cheeks.

When Han Yeo-reum hugged her, the corners of her mouth would lift in what looked like flustered pleasure.

Yes — almost exactly like the way the other players reacted when Jin Gyeo-wool threw an arm over their shoulders.

…No way.

No. It couldn't be. It wasn't that.

Chae Hojin denied it furiously inside — and still couldn't stop himself from asking the question.

His timid nature wouldn't let him ask outright if she liked girls, so he angled it slightly differently.

"So… this person you like — have you known them a long time, by any chance?"

Jin Gyeo-wool, who happened to be thinking of Lee Bom at that exact moment, answered without a second thought.

Her already large eyes went even wider, as if she were genuinely astonished.

"…Wow. How did you know?"

Chae Hojin screamed internally.

This team really did have far too many problems.