My Penance Coin — The Coach Who Buried Brazil and Wiped Out the Controversy with Nothing But Skill
I had just blocked that final penalty kick and secured Korea’s victory.
Honestly, I got lucky.
If the ball had been even a fraction slower, it would have sailed straight in without a problem. It was thanks to Gabriel Mendes’ lightning-fast shot that I managed to save it at all.
And the cheers from the Brazilian players and the crowd after I saved it… that was thrilling.
Look at this. The moment I played well, all the people who had been mocking and criticizing the national team disappeared, replaced by pure excitement as everyone shouted for us for beating the mighty Brazil.
Of course, I had to stay calm.
Next game and the press will flip it again.
Even if they’re praising me now, the moment I mess up the next match, they’ll turn around and bash us again.
So then…
“Everyone just shut up for a second.”
Lee Tae-yang was rolling around on his bed, laughing hysterically while scrolling through the national team gallery, kicking his legs in the air.
“Hee-hee, Tae-woo, check this out! People are finally starting to recognize how awesome I, Lee Tae-yang, really am.”
The screen on his phone showed the comment thread I was mentioned in.
[Lee Tae-yang’s grit is insane]
- I’ll admit it. Lee Tae-yang is crazy for his willpower. He’s nowhere near as good-looking as me or Yoo Hee-sung, and he can’t even score goals, but that one thing — his grit — is on another level.
Is this supposed to be a compliment?
Honestly, this “praise” looked more like a savage roast. Saying I’m ugly and can’t score but have insane grit? That’s just calling me ugly and calling out the fact that I can’t score, isn’t it?
Of course I teased Lee Tae-yang nonstop, but he wasn’t actually ugly. He was more handsome than not. Standing next to me and Yoo Hee-sung, he just looked like a squid.
“Yeah, you’re pretty great…” I replied. “I checked the gallery too, and the comments were all about me and Hee-sung, not you.”
“Hah, what can I do? I had to sit out because of tactics. But next time I’m definitely—”
“No, no. There was a chance I could’ve scored, but it was saved~”
“Hey, that was always going to be me who missed!”
“No, that’s not true~”
I watched him fidget and fire off one last heavy shot.
“When you’re fidgeting like that, you just look even uglier. You can’t score at all. I scrolled through the entire gallery page five times before I even found your name.”
Lee Tae-yang’s face turned beet red in an instant.
“Hey! Jung Tae-woo! You—”
He snatched a pillow from the bed and hurled it at me, but I dodged with lightning speed and couldn’t hold back my laughter.
“I don’t know! You two were lucky! Next game I’m scoring for sure!”
“No, that’s not true. Park Seo-joon hyung will score next time.”
I dashed to the bed and threw a pillow back at him.
“This— quack!”
Lee Tae-yang caught the pillow right in the face and crashed off the bed with a pig squeal.
“Puhahaha! Why are you making pig sounds?”
“Die, you bastard!”
Lee Tae-yang scrambled up, grabbed the pillow, and raised his right leg like a baseball pitcher about to throw. He hurled it with full power.
Surprisingly fast.
I was ready to dodge, but this crazy guy actually put some serious strength into it.
I dodged easily, still teasing him for missing, when I heard a sound I definitely shouldn’t have.
“Thud!”
I turned around. The TV was shaking. The pillow had hit it and tilted it forward.
We both froze, staring at the TV. Then, after a second, we snapped out of it and sprinted over. The TV slowly tipped, then—
“Crash!”
The screen smashed against the floor with a final crash, and the room fell into dead silence.
Lee Tae-yang and I stared at each other, speechless. Our eyes were wide, faces drained of color as we processed what had just happened.
“Hey Tae-woo, we’re in big trouble, right?”
Kyuk.
“Tae-yang, think about it. You were the one who threw it first, and I was the one who caught it.”
“Hey, you’re not serious!”
“So it’s your fault.”
“No way! It’s not my fault! You dodged and I caught it!”
Well, don’t throw it at full power then.
Of course, even a full-power throw with a fluffy pillow wouldn’t hurt, but I threw it lightly while he went all out. That’s just unfair.
I covered my ears and said,
“Aaaah! You were the one who threw it, so you’re the one at fault!”
“Hey, how are you—”
Before Lee Tae-yang could finish, a knock echoed from outside. The voice of the last person we wanted to hear spoke up.
“Kids, the noise brought me here. What’s going on?”
“Hey, Tae-woo… is that maybe the voice of Coach Joo Eun-gyeom?”
Lee Tae-yang didn’t even need to answer. He already knew the truth.
Sweat broke out on my back.
“Who’s going to go?”
We both looked at each other and stayed silent. Neither of us wanted to volunteer first.
“Kids, just open the door already.”
What am I going to do? If Coach Joo Eun-gyeom sees this, I’m dead.
Just imagining it made my stomach drop.
“Tae-woo, move the TV to the spot where it won’t be seen when the door opens.”
Yeah. If he only peeks through the doorway and doesn’t come in, we’ll be fine.
“Hurry!”
We grabbed the TV and rushed toward the bathroom—
Click.
“Kids, why—”
The door swung open. We froze, half-raising the broken TV. Coach Joo Eun-gyeom’s gaze moved from us to the TV, then back to us.
The entire room plunged into silence. Lee Tae-yang’s face turned ghostly pale. I just stood there with my mouth open, unable to speak.
Coach Joo Eun-gyeom smiled.
“Jung Tae-woo, Lee Tae-yang. Let’s continue this discussion in my office.”
His lips curved upward, but that smile was scarier than any horror movie.
Behind the gentle expression, his eyes pierced straight through us.
We exchanged glances, nodded silently, and carefully set the broken TV down on the floor.
“Yes… Coach.”
Our voices trembled in unison.
Coach Joo Eun-gyeom tilted his head slightly toward the hallway.
“Shall we go?”
We stepped out of the room like condemned prisoners with heavy footsteps. As we walked down the corridor, Lee Tae-yang whispered in my ear.
“Hey, what do we do? Are we finished?”
I bit my lip and answered.
“I don’t know… We just have to tell him the truth.”
When we reached Coach Joo Eun-gyeom’s office door, he opened it and gestured for us to follow. The moment we stepped inside, we knew our fates were sealed. But one thing was certain.
It was going to be a very long and terrifying night.
* * *
Today was light training and recovery after yesterday’s match. Tomorrow we also had tactical analysis and drills prepared for the match against Denmark, a European powerhouse.
So at the crack of dawn, the players started trickling out to the training ground.
“Hey, so you know…”
“Eh? That’s Tae-woo and Tae-yang!”
“Whoa, the new superstars are the most diligent ones showing up first.”
Shouts of surprise came from the players. Jung Tae-woo and Lee Tae-yang had arrived at the training ground earlier than usual. But something was different about them.
They stood there with dazed expressions, like their souls had been ripped out. Tae-woo stared blankly at one spot. Tae-yang kept sighing into thin air.
Yoo Hee-sung walked over and waved at them.
“Hey, you guys okay? You look like zombies.”
I slowly turned my head toward Yoo Hee-sung.
“Eh? Oh… we’re fine.”
Lee Tae-yang finally snapped back.
“Just… tired.”
Park Seo-joon asked with a puzzled look.
“What happened? You two look like zombies.”
“It’s because of last night’s events.”
“What could’ve happened to make our confident Tae-yang shake like this?”
“Hyung, just thinking about it is terrifying. It was like… like—”
“Haha, why are you guys like this, Hee-sung?”
At that moment, Coach Joo Eun-gyeom entered the training ground. When he saw us, he smiled.
“Oh, our TV-destroying duo is already here. It’s good to see you working so hard.”
Every player’s eyes turned toward us.
“Haha, well… these lively young guys—”
The players who heard the rest of Coach Joo Eun-gyeom’s sentence burst out laughing.
“Puhahaha! Even Tae-yang can be excused, but Tae-woo too!”
“Hahaha, you guys are basically brothers.”
“Brothers really do start looking alike.”
Even when he said we looked like Lee Tae-yang right now, I couldn’t say anything. The demon from last night was still burned into my mind.
When I become successful and write my autobiography, I’m definitely putting this in. How terrifying it was…
“Alright, enough chit-chat. Let’s focus on training. Tomorrow’s match against Denmark is important.”
Park Seo-joon’s captain’s voice rang out. Manager Cheon Moo-seok clapped and added,
“That’s right, Seo-joon. Let’s finish talking and get serious about training. Denmark match is crucial. Gather up!”
At the coach’s words, everyone gathered in one spot. The laughter died down and the training ground instantly grew serious.
The coaches and manager surrounded us. All eyes turned toward them. For now, we could set the TV incident aside. It was time to focus every bit of our attention on the tactics and strategy for the match against Denmark.