A Quiet Sleep, a Surprise Video, and Viral Chaos

"Nngh..."

I stretched and climbed out of bed, feeling unusually clear-headed and refreshed this morning. Maybe it was because I'd finally set down that heavy weight I'd been carrying in my chest. Body and mind both felt a shade lighter.

The bedroom door slammed open so hard I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Who is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it?"

"Tae-woo, get out here! Now!"

Mina's voice, urgent and sharp.

"What? It's first thing in the morning—"

"I said get out here already."

I was barely on my feet when she grabbed my arm and hauled me out. She dragged me into the living room, where Da-min was already sitting on the sofa.

"Sleep well, Tae-woo?"

"Y-yeah... I slept fine. You—"

"This is not the time for greetings, unnie. I cooked up a genius plan. Tae-woo, you listen too."

"Hey, Jung Mi-na. What 'genius plan' at this hour?"

"I've been thinking about it all night."

Mina's eyes were sparkling.

"Instead of just posting it on social media, we reveal who you are by dancing the highlight of First Crown together. It'll explode. Group dance challenges are huge right now."

...Did I hear that wrong?

"Wait. What? What are you even—"

"Come on, you know how hot First Crown is right now! And a Manchester City goalkeeper turning out to be siblings with a Queendom member... this is going to be massive."

Da-min watched the two of us from the sofa, a small smile on her lips.

"Even so, first thing in the morning... I haven't even washed my face."

"Tae-woo! Do you have any idea how good this is? Doing it like this — unguarded, no styling, no polish — hits way harder than some caption on Instagram."

"Says the girl who clearly got dressed up—"

My eyes went to my sister's face. One of those classic lies girls tell — I didn't even put on makeup today — flickered through my mind as I studied her. That too-even complexion. She'd definitely put on base.

Catching my suspicious look, Mina grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes, and pressed on.

"And... be honest. This isn't even about me. You just want to date Da-min unnie without sneaking around, don't you?"

Da-min's face went faintly pink, and she ducked her head.

This... this brat. How does she know exactly what's in my head...

Mina's words left a sudden silence in the room.

"No, that's... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I mean..."

While I stammered, Mina put on a smile of pure victory.

"See? You can't even talk. Completely busted. So you're doing it, right?"

This... this rotten little— she's blackmailing her older brother? My authority as—

"...Fine."

"You should've just said that from the start."

The grin she flashed as she said it was genuinely demonic. If Guerrero and Sanchez had seen that smile, they would have nodded in perfect understanding. Yep. That's Tae-woo's sister, all right.

"Haah... so what am I actually supposed to do?"

"Have you even listened to our song?"

"I've heard it, okay? But how am I supposed to memorize all of that? I'm not a dancer—"

"Aigoo. I have to teach you from one to ten, don't I."

Mina sighed, wearing the face of someone who had already given up on me.

"We only have to do the highlight, so just watch first."

Their song spilled out of her phone.

Personally, this was the part I loved. Hearing those lyrics, a picture formed on its own — the moment I win a World Cup final and Korea writes a new history. The whole world remembering the name Jung Tae-woo, and that brilliant future where Mina and I live without a single worry. It was as if the song were prophesying the future I wanted most.

But that was that.

"How am I supposed to dance to that?"

Queendom's First Crown was a song about four girls racing toward the top. It opened with elegant, delicate choreography, grew more powerful as it went, and in the highlight — the moment they claimed the summit — a fierce charisma exploded off the stage. The dancing matched the concept: high-difficulty, full-power movement all the way through.

"Look, the public doesn't expect a soccer player to dance well anyway. Just enough to look like you're doing it is fine."

That was how it started. Practice hell. It had definitely begun as "just enough to look the part." Their idea of "looking the part," it turned out, sat at a punishingly high bar.

"Tae-woo! That's not how you do it~ Fold your hands more — like you're setting a crown on your head!"

"This is actually driving me insane. Why is an athlete's body this stiff?"

"And when you turn here, make it smoother! Right now it's too mechanical."

Mina's corrections just kept coming. I'd always been confident in how I used my body as a soccer player, but a keeper's split-second reflexes and a dancer's fluid movement lived in completely different worlds.

Da-min sat on the sofa watching us, holding back a little laugh.

"Tae-woo, that's not how you do it..."

And so began an hour of "that's not how you do it."

At last, we were ready to film.

Haah... how far are you two planning to drag a man's pride.

"Alright! We're really starting now, so lock in that pose. I'll set up the camera — you get ready!"

Mina started propping her phone in front of the living-room sofa. While she shuffled around hunting for the right angle, Da-min came over and stood beside me.

"You've got this..."

She whispered it right against my ear. Nngh... ordinarily, anyone whispering in my ear would have met my fist first. Da-min's voice was like a spring breeze.

I put an arm around her, lightly, and whispered the same thing back.

"You've got this too, Da-min."

The truth was, I'd liked her all this time and still hadn't been able to close the distance. Something had always been sitting on my heart. The moment that weight lifted, every seal holding me back came undone.

"What's with all the whispering? You two are so close~"

Mina's voice cut in, razor-sharp, and we sprang apart. I caught the faint color in Da-min's cheeks.

"Ready, Tae-woo? Unnie?"

"Y-yeah. Ready."

"Then I'll start. One, two, three!"

Mina hit play, and the familiar highlight melody of First Crown filled the room.

I started moving the way we'd practiced. It was awkward at first — and then I saw Mina and Da-min dancing on either side of me, and a little confidence crept in.

"Our real oppa and the First Crown dance challenge — please love it lots! Bye!!"

Mina's closing line brought the video to an end.

"Tae-woo, I guarantee it. The only people in Korea who won't see this video are the ones who don't use a computer."

"Just say everyone will see it. Who doesn't use a computer and the internet these days? You walk down the street and even kindergarteners are carrying smartphones."

Regret hit me out of nowhere. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The teasing I'd get from the guys if they saw this...

They wouldn't actually watch it, right? No way...

"I'm posting it today! Once the agency signs off..."

Mina was muttering to herself. I thought no way — and it was still no way.

How would the guys in Europe even see it. They probably don't even know who Queendom is...

The First Crown challenge video with Jung Mi-na and Da-min racked up explosive views in no time. Outlets raced one another to dump out related articles, and just as Mina had promised, anyone who used the internet at all couldn't possibly have missed it. We were standing dead in the center of the storm.

"Blech."

"Hey, Tae-woo, you okay? Did the car shake that hard?"

The break was over, and we were in the car heading to the training ground. I'd been looking at my phone and a gag had slipped out of me before I could stop it.

"I'm fine, Chan-kyu. Just... saw a pretty disgusting comment."

"I told you not to look at hate comments. No matter what you do, people like that are going to leave them."

"That wasn't even a hate comment, really... it was something genuinely horrific."

"How bad was it? Hand it over. That kind of thing you sue for. If you just take it, they start thinking they run the place."

Chan-kyu had the wrong idea, but I didn't bother correcting him. To me, it had been worse than any hate comment.

Little sister, hnngh... ugh.

Just thinking about it turned my stomach.

And the video's reach was way stronger than I'd expected...

"Hyung... the City guys didn't see this video, right?"

"Come on, no way~ Not a single article came out in Europe, so don't worry about it."

Right. There's no way they saw it...

"But Tae-woo, would it even be that bad if they did? You danced pretty well~ First Crown, First Crown~"

"...Hyung."

"Hahaha! Okay, okay, I get it. I won't."

We arrived at the training ground, and the moment we walked in, something was off. My teammates all looked like they were fighting not to laugh. Nobody actually said anything, though, so I didn't let myself think they'd seen the video.

Then, unusually, we were told tactical meeting came first today, so I headed for the video room.

"Right. Today I'll start by showing you the most important footage."

The manager finished speaking, and what filled the giant screen was, of course, the video of me dancing.

"...Ah, damn it."

The curse slipped out in Korean before I could catch it. My teammates' energy, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠watching that screen, was at an all-time high.

"Ooooh! Tae-woo, why are your hips that good?"

"Hahaha! You've had that kind of flair in you? And here I thought you were just a kid who acted like an old man!"

"I could watch it again — Tae-woo's sexiness is punching straight through the screen!"

"I love you, Oppa!!"

I had my head buried when Guerrero came over and dropped a line on me.

"Bro~ it's fine~ your sexy appeal was perfect!"

How do you get up on the roof again...