She Who Cannot Become Just Another
Chirp, chirp!
The sound of birds singing outside the window.
I woke up in the hotel bed.
The national team players in third year and above got single rooms, so it was just me in the room.
"……."
I brought my finger to my lips.
Recalling yesterday's memory.
Kissing Olivia while gazing at the Tower Bridge nightscape.
It felt so unreal, but it was real.
Which made it all the more regrettable.
'Seong-muk, would you like to come to my place now…?'
Olivia, her face flushed, slyly avoiding my eyes, twirling her hair around her index finger.
An unmistakable signal.
What man could resist that?
I wanted to accept on the spot, but…
'Fuck, my Solar Divine Vein!!'
With the Solar Divine Vein deactivated and no sensation down there, following her home would have been a total disaster.
So I chose to bluff my way out.
Saying something insincere like, 'I'll protect you.'
'Seong-muk….'
Olivia seemed genuinely touched.
That's how I escorted her home and trudged back to the hotel to sleep it off.
And so morning arrived.
As I kicked off the covers, I could see it.
Buuulge!
"………???"
My lower half standing tall again.
Soon, a status window message appeared.
Reactivated!
"What the fuck."
The timing was artistic.
Asleep when I needed it, popping up right after everything's over.
But what can you do?
The bus has already left.
"Tsk, nothing to be done…."
To be fair, it's not this guy's fault in the order of things. Thanks to what happened with Olivia yesterday, the stimulated Solar Divine Vein woke up early.
"Hmm, so what are Olivia and I now?"
We're too far gone to say 'we're just friends' like before. Who mixes tongues with a friend?
But calling us a couple feels off too.
Like she said, I don't have the luxury right now.
No telling when I'll return to reality.
"Sigh, whatever. It'll work itself out."
I flopped back onto the bed.
Suddenly, a chilling thought hit me.
"Uh, hold on…?"
Of all places, we did it in such an open spot.
Someone seeing us wouldn't be weird. You could even say it's normal for a couple on a riverside walk.
But…
Olivia's a huge celebrity in the UK.
Daughter of Gordon Ramsay, the pinnacle of the culinary world.
That's enough for massive recognition in the UK.
Meanwhile, I'm gaining notoriety for the wrong reasons.
The madman who knocked out the host nation Britain and taunted the crowd. Me, locking lips with Olivia in public at night?
Reporters would cream themselves over that scoop.
It'd spark a massive controversy.
I hurriedly pulled out my phone and searched for articles.
"Huh, nothing."
Nothing in Korea or the UK.
False alarm, maybe.
"Phew, no one saw. Lucky."
Relieved, I lay back down.
But I had no idea.
Someone had watched the whole scene.
The day before,
[Wembley Diamond]
"…Hoo, I never thought I'd end up here."
Seo Ye-bin sighed in front of the stadium.
She'd ended up buying a ticket to the Korea vs. Britain game.
Perfect timing, I was bored anyway. Just watch the game and leave. Just the game….
With that resolve, she entered.
Worried Geum Seong-muk might spot her, she took a seat in the third-level zone, far from the field.
The game flowed tensely.
As always, the clutch hero was Geum Seong-muk.
Crack!
"Woooaaah………!!"
Cheers from the few Korean fans.
Ye-bin found Seong-muk blasting home runs unfamiliar.
He used to be a flailing fan hoping for luck….
Now mastering all five tools—it was astonishing.
Even how he treated teammates.
Back then, he only hung with friend Hwang Tae-gang, scorning the rest. Now he joked around with everyone.
But not all changed.
"What're you doing, you punks…! Hit harder! Come on!"
Seong-muk wildly waving his arms, taunting British fans. Still charging in when pissed.
"Pfft…."
Amid trash and bottles flying, she burst into fond laughter.
The game ended in Korea's victory.
Ye-bin resolved.
…Let's meet, Seong-muk.
A year and a half apart.
She needed to confirm.
If those words she'd hurled were truly sincere.
If not, if he still had feelings for her.
She had to know.
But reality loomed.
Seeing a player from the stands was easy with a ticket. Meeting privately after? Tough.
But when Seo Ye-bin decided, meeting Seong-muk wasn't hard.
"From Yujin Press."
"Ah, a Korean reporter. Go ahead."
As heir to a media giant, she always carried press credentials.
Flashing her pass, she entered the staff area.
Waiting here, she'd run into players heading to the team bus.
Thump, thump!
Her heart raced.
What would Seong-muk say after so long? Fear and excitement made it pound wildly.
"Seo Ye-bin?"
"……!"
A familiar face appeared.
The problem: familiar, but not the one she wanted.
"Damn, it really is Seo Ye-bin."
"…Sigh, long time no see. Tae-gang."
Both sighing.
She'd run into the national team's starting catcher, her childhood friend Hwang Tae-gang. The same guy who'd played matchmaker between her and Seong-muk before.
But he deeply regretted it and wasn't thrilled to see her now.
"You here for Geum Seong-muk, right?"
"Nah? Just bored with study abroad, came to watch the game."
"If you're lying, lie properly. Why's a 'game watcher' in the staff zone?"
"…Tch, you've gotten smarter. Used to be ape-level."
"Hey, it wasn't that bad!!"
Hwang Tae-gang snapped.
He soon turned serious, advising her.
"Anyway, don't meet that guy Geum Seong-muk."
"Why, no chance?"
"Not that, uh…."
He scratched his head.
Explaining Seong-muk's 'that' was tricky.
"…Hard to explain. But have you ever known me to bullshit? Listen to me this time—for your own good."
"No, explain why so I can understand…!!"
As they bickered,
Seong-muk passed by in the distance.
"Uh, huh?"
Ye-bin froze.
Chase now? But her body stiffened.
Hesitating, Seong-muk stopped at a car. A Rolls-Royce worth hundreds of millions, clearly.
He boarded after a British woman inside, and they drove off.
"………!?"
Both eyes wide.
Hwang Tae-gang blurted in shock.
"Uh, isn't that the woman who gave Seong-muk lunch at the airport…?"
"What?"
Ye-bin whipped around, glaring where the car vanished, eyes fierce.
"That's why you said not to meet? Too busy playing white knight?"
"No, it's not…!"
Shoving Hwang Tae-gang aside, Ye-bin ran.
She headed to the main road, jumping into a waiting taxi.
"Hey, hey! Seo Ye-bin!!"
He called, but she didn't hear. The light hadn't changed; the Rolls was still in sight.
"Follow that car."
"…Yes, sir!"
They tailed it.
To an unexpected place.
"This is…?"
"Ramsay Manor. Home of Britain's famous chef Gordon Ramsay."
"…………!!"
Ye-bin whipped out her phone.
Using her info-gathering specialty, she scoured data. Then bit her lip.
"Kuh, I missed this…."
She hadn't ignored Seong-muk's news, but focused on 'bad rumors'.
Like him being a thug in Busan, dating multiple women.
Now famous, the silence in media and communities? Her doing.
She sicced personal lawyers on posters for defamation and false info.
Her way of protecting him from the shadows.
"…Sigh, my fault for being dumb."
High school's top two celebs, same grade—natural overlap.
Meeting in Korea and UK? Something there, clearly.
Waiting at Ramsay Manor, hours later, she saw Seong-muk again.
"Eut…."
Seong-muk running, hand in hand with Olivia.
Her face soured.
She asked the driver to tail again, soon getting out by the Thames riverside path.
What're they talking about?
Watching from afar to stay hidden.
But the vibe shifted ominously.
Growing unease.
Then disaster struck.
"…………!!!"
Olivia approaching Seong-muk, kissing him.
Ye-bin's hands trembled.
It's okay, it's okay….
Seong-muk seemed caught off-guard too.
She clung to hope.
Maybe push away next?
Vain hope.
"Ah, aaah…."
Seong-muk embracing her back, deep kiss intensifying. Ye-bin's mind blanked; she stood frozen, watching.
Then suddenly.
"……!"
"……!?"
Olivia and Ye-bin's eyes met.
Olivia startled someone watched, then realized.
That sky-blue straight hair—definitely Seong-muk's ex….
Chased him here? For Seong-muk's sake, or to eliminate rivalry, she amped it up.
"Seong-muk…."
Arms around his neck now.
Closer, deeper tangle.
Devastating to Ye-bin. Olivia's 'he's mine' vibe broke her.
Snapping to, she fled running.
"Hah, huff, hah…."
Stopped only when she couldn't run more, collapsing.
"Sob, hic, sob… That bitch, waaah…."
Tears poured.
Chest tore apart.
When things were rocky, she'd seen him cheat plenty.
Rationalized then.
Those one-night flings were disposable; she was truly loved.
But now? Different.
Their kiss brimmed with pent-up passion exploding.
As she sobbed endlessly,
Her phone buzzed.
Vrrr!
"Sniff, what…."
A text message.
From Hwang Tae-gang, whom she'd seen today.
She wiped tears, read.
Her pupils shook wildly.
It detailed Seong-muk's memory loss.
"Wha, what…?"
The Seong-muk she knew was gone.
Her hand went limp; the phone slipped.
Crack!
Screen shattered.
Her last hope, shattered too.