Hot Interest

Of course, this kind of massive victory had never happened for us in the Olympics before. At first our Korean players were frozen with tension, but after the first goal in the first half at minute twelve, they came alive. Park Seo-jun scored twice, Yoo Hee-sung one, Lee Tae-yang one, and Yoon Jae-hoon one, giving an absolutely incredible performance.

After scoring that one goal, our Korean team's play looked like watching a strong team like Real Madrid. Every attack was powerful and their defense was flawless.

So I lowered my phone a bit to enjoy the Korean praise articles, and suddenly an unbelievable article caught my eye.

Already? I thought it was too fast.

Just then, Lee Tae-yang, who seemed to be reading the same article as me, asked with curiosity.

"Hey Tae-woo, where are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you going?"

"Me? If I can, Man City."

"Eh? You weren't just kidding about being a Man City fan?"

"I'm really a Man City fan."

"Of course I knew you were a Man City fan because Da-min is. I thought you were just saying it in front. I really am a fan. As for me, where am I going? Wherever I go, I'll do well anyway."

"My thoughts are different?"

I pretended to cry and imitated Tae-yang's voice.

"This time... barely scoring one goal... ughhh... I finally scored a goal... I finally proved it..."

"Hey, stop it."

Lee Tae-yang bit his lip while I continued my act louder.

"Ughhh~ I'm a world-class player!"

"Crazy bastard."

"Hey, the photo came out great. Look."

Lee Tae-yang suddenly rushed toward me and wrapped his arms around my neck. I struggled to pull his arms off, but his strength was no joke. We pushed and pulled at each other in a wrestling match.

"Hey, wait! Surrender! Surrender! Stop it! I'll break you if you keep going."

I shouted with a laugh, but Tae-yang gripped me even harder.

Finally we lost balance and fell to the ground. Lying on the floor, we glared at each other for a moment and then burst into laughter at the same time.

At this moment, an indescribable friendship and joy filled the space between us. The pressure of the Olympics was forgotten for a moment, and our appearance as ordinary teenage boys playing around and laughing was right there.

When Lee Tae-yang got up and sat, he suddenly remembered something and spoke.

"Oh right. Da-min and your sister are debuting together this time, right?"

I also knew this news from my sister. It seemed they were practicing incredibly hard for the ambitious four-member girl group Queendom at GY Entertainment.

'Will I really not be able to watch the Olympic match?'

I had not exchanged any calls or Kakaotalk with Da-min since the meeting in front of my house, and I had heard the debut news from my sister, so I felt a little disappointed with Da-min.

'Hm? But how did Lee Tae-yang find out?'

"Hey, how did you know that? I heard it from my sister."

"Me? Of course I heard it from Da-min."

"What? Why only you? You didn't call me."

I wondered if I had missed something and checked my call records, but there was no record of Da-min calling me.

"Aigoo, it's because you have a sister."

'A little disappointed...' Wait, why am I disappointed? I knew she would hear it from my sister, and since training is hard, that's why she didn't call.

I tried to rationalize it, but something still lingered in my mind.

'No. Still, we're childhood friends who've known each other for years. Shouldn't she call me first instead of Tae-yang?'

As these thoughts kept intertwining, my face must have shown disappointment. Lee Tae-yang looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Hey Jung Tae-woo. Why is your expression like that? Did your childhood friend call you first and make you sulk?"

'What the heck? Why is this guy so sharp out of nowhere?'

I quickly controlled my expression.

"Hey, what nonsense. I'm Jung Tae-woo."

But Tae-yang didn't easily let it go, like he was taking revenge for the earlier teasing.

"Hmm~ From my point of view, you seem extremely disappointed. No way!"

"N-no way..."

I stuttered without realizing.

"No way... you and Da-min..."

Gulp. I swallowed hard and waited for the next words from Tae-yang.

"...fought?"

'Eh?'

"Sigh, just apologize first. You fought and waited until she called. Why?"

I was momentarily stunned, but then I breathed a sigh of relief and replied.

"Hahaha, yeah, that makes sense. That would be good."

Thanks to Tae-yang's ridiculous guess, I managed to avoid the crisis, but a strange emotion still lingered in a corner of my heart.

"I'll go out and call her."

"Sigh~ Even though it's so obvious that you both like each other, why can't you two realize it? Really, it's so annoying."

Lee Tae-yang shook his head exaggeratedly as if he was tired, but I didn't see his expression.

***

In the GY Entertainment practice room, the members of Queendom, who were about to debut, were training passionately with sweat pouring down. The four girls standing in front of the mirrors repeated the choreography without any sign of fatigue.

"Okay, again from the beginning! One, two, three, four!"

With the choreography teacher's count, the music flowed again. The members, including Da-min, exchanged glances and quickly moved to their positions.

"Make the turn sharper! Yeah, that's it!"

"Good, now the expressions! Brighter, more confident!"

Under the teacher's guidance, the members focused even more and refined their movements. The sweaty practice clothes, heavy breathing, and passionate eyes filled the practice room. Even with endless repetition and corrections, the girls' faces were full of unwavering passion.

"You guys worked hard. You really did well today. See you tomorrow."

After the choreography teacher's words, the members let out sighs of relief and sat on the floor.

"Haha~ It was really hard."

"Ji-min unni needs to practice more."

"Hee, Yuna's always saying something to me."

Lim Ji-min pouted at Choi Yu-na's words. As the eldest member of Queendom, she often received teasing from her younger members for her cute mistakes.

"Unni, don't be sulky."

Choi Yu-na, who was one year younger than Ji-min at eighteen, took charge of Queendom as leader with a calmer and more adult-like personality than the eldest.

"By the way, Mina, Jung Tae-woo said your brother is him, right?"

At Lim Ji-min's words, the tired Mina, who was lying down, peeked her face up.

"That's right. These days he's been doing well... Ah, right. Da-min unni didn't tell you that her brother is going to debut in a girl group soon, right? I called to tell you, but you seemed not to know?"

Since the night before the Olympics, after meeting Tae-woo in front of his house, the strange feeling had gotten worse, so I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't make a call. If I called and heard his voice... it felt like I wouldn't concentrate on training.

"No, there's no need to tell him. He might be secretly upset."

'Tae-woo is upset...'

Imagining Tae-woo's upset face for a moment, a small smile naturally appeared at the corner of my mouth.

"Eeeek, what is this expression? Why is our cool Da-min's face like a princess thinking about a prince?"

At Ji-min unni's words, I was startled and came to my senses.

"Unni, stop saying weird things!"

I replied, feeling my face heat up.

"I know romance novels really well because I'm a romance novel maniac. Da-min, your expression is clearly the heroine's face thinking about the male lead."

Ji-min unni said excitedly.

"This unni can help Da-min keep it secret from the company if she and Jung Tae-woo unni are dating. Jung Tae-woo is so handsome."

"What the—"

At that moment, Choi Yu-na, who had only been listening, bluntly spat out a word.

"No, Yu-na. You saw it on TV too, right? He's really handsome."

"She has a crush on her younger brother who's two years younger than her? That's low."

"Hah, no. I'm still in my third year of high school. And Da-min's boyfriend is a pass, not that I like him! That's what you should say!"

Ji-min unni used her whole body to show her innocence, but it didn't work on Yu-na unni.

"Low."

"Hehehehe, Ji-min unni, want me to tell our oppa a little?"

"Even the maknae Mina... I still have to be the eldest here..."

I chatted and ran to the bathroom, dodging my playful teammates.

"Hoo~"

I let out a deep sigh and looked at my reflection in the mirror.

My cheeks were slightly red.

Just thinking about Jung Tae-woo made my face this red...

I put my hand on my chest and felt my heart beating rapidly. He had always been by my side since childhood, but when did he become so special?

I could no longer deny this feeling. I wanted to see Tae-woo, be with him, hear his voice. I wanted to hold his hand and laugh with him. All these emotions were exploding inside me.

"I... I like Tae-woo."