Chapter 11
Translator 8uhl
Chapter 11
Chapter Title Family Pride and National CallUp
Me Haha, Mom, Dad, I went and got a hattrick
Mom Wow, our son is so cool.
Dad Hattrick?
Me Yeah, Dad haha.
Dad Did you really have to do that?
Me Haha, the Suwon kids were worse than I thought.
Dad Whoa.
Dad
Dad frustrated emoticon
Dad My son my son playing for Nanji too
Mom Taeyangs dad, come on!!
Mom Cut it out already? _
Mom Our son won, and you cant even congratulate him? Ugh.
Mom angry emoticon
Dad But Ive got Suwons blue blood flowing through me
Dad Suwon Daeseong blue emoticon
Mom You and your dad are both from Seoul, so whered you get transfused with Suwons blue blood?
Me Dad, why do you like Suwon so much anyway? Their first teams even worse than the youth squad.
Dad No, son, Suwon will soar again!
Mom Yeah, right
Dad What do you know!!
Mom They keep losing funding, got relegated three years ago, and this year theyre like sixth place or something, right?
Dad They made it to the ACL last year, though
It feels like just yesterday I scored a hattrick against Suwon and teased Mom and Dad, but before I knew it, Friday had rolled around again.
It was a rare weekend with no game, so wed decided to head home.
Mom was coming to pick me up, so I was rushing to pack my stuff when Jin Yujun caught my eye.
Hey, whatre you gonna do? Yeosus far away.
Not only was it far, but Yujuns parents ran a business and couldnt make it to see their son on weekends.
Hed said the opener was the first time in nearly five years theyd closed shop to come watch.
Me? Im uh
Were going to my place.
Gong Sehwan had appeared out of nowhere and slung his arm over Jin Yujuns shoulder, who was a head taller.
Cool. Wont it be a hassle?
Our house has tons of rooms, so its fine. Or we can share my room. Ive got an extra bed in the lounge area.
I got the part about lots of rooms, but what was this about a lounge in his bedroom?
Did houses like that even exist in our country?
I knew he was loaded, but I had no clue just how loaded.
We were close on the national team before my regression, but he never went into detail about his parents wealth.
Maybe I should ask now.
Hey, what do your parents do anyway?
Huh? My mom and dad? They play around?
Play around?
Yeah, from what I see, theyre always goofing off. Except when they go look at land or check on buildings sometimes.
Go look at buildings? And land?
So, basically a landlord with a bunch of real estate?
Theyve got a lot of buildings, huh?
I dont know how many my mom and dad own.
Your mom and dads?
Yeah, and Ive got some too. Everything registered as Sehwan Building is mine.
From the sound of it, Sehwan Building wasnt just one place, but several.
He was rich beyond imagination.
No wonder he spent more than his player salary all season and still built the biggest soccer center in the country
Youre a friend for life, Sehwan.
Go have fun at Sehwans with Yujun.
Whats with you? So cheesy.
Just hit me suddenly? Like, thanks to you guys, I can play my best or whatever?
Right? Took you long enough. Im stealing balls from behind, Yujuns blocking shots, thats why youre flying around out there.
Yeah, yeah.
Treat us right from now on.
You bet.
When I got home, both grandfathers were there.
The whole family together for once.
The table wasnt big enough for everyone, so we set up in the living room for a samgyeopsal party.
Dad was grilling the meat like crazy while Maternal Grandfather smilingly placed a perfectly cooked piece on my rice bowl.
Eat up, my eldest grandson.
Yes, Maternal Grandfather.
When did the Yoon familys eldest become the Kim familys?
Hey, come on. Nitpicking over nothing.
Paternal Grandfather, sitting across from him, grumbled, and Maternal Grandfathers face immediately soured.
You, with your one only daughter and nothing but grandsons from her sidegonna be petty about that?
Petty? Whos the petty one here? You skipped out on me because you were too cheap for gas money when we were supposed to go together. That human?
Gas money? Who made me wait outside for 30 minutes when I told you to come out? You, thats who?
I said wait, I was late getting the meat!
You couldve said that sooner!
The two had been friends for 50 years.
After 50 years together, youd think theyd be thick as thieves, but they bickered every time they met.
Aigoo, you two, enough already. The grandkids are watching.
Fed up, Dad piped up, and Paternal Grandfather said with a displeased look.
And youre always whining nonstop, from what I hear. Not even your hometown in Chungcheongwhy you always yapping about Suwon every day?
He started it?
Nah, Gaeul did.
Dad shot Gaeul a look like shed gone too far, but she was too busy stuffing her face with samgyeopsal.
Anyway, what a weirdo, what a weirdo.
Wheres that new soninlaw of yours been singing the praises of soccer? Not like its new.
Thats whats weird about it. Dragged him to baseball stadiums that much, howd he end up hooked on soccer?
Who watches baseball that loses every day?
In Chungcheong, they say baseballs what Buddha watches.
But Suwon wasnt exactly
Son, when I got into soccer, Suwon was crushing it.
When was Suwon last crushing it? Decades ago?
Seouls gonna be better from now on.
Not because I was getting attached to Seoul while aiming for Europein my past life, Seoul did briefly rule K League at the top for a short stint.
Son, dont say thatlets go to Europe?
If Dad knew English, Id think about it
I said it wistfully, and Dad flinched.
Our dad was a physical guy, far from books.
Argh, tsk. Shouldve studied when you were young, like I said. Getting schooled by your own son over Englishimpressive, real impressive.
You dont know English either, Dad.
My time and yours the same? Huh?
Turned out European clubs dont pay kids stipends, but for promising foreign prospects, they hook up parents with jobs and even find housing.
Problem was, language.
Anyway, with the two grandfathers and siblings, Europe wasnt on the table right now.
By the way, Taeyangs that good at soccer?
At Maternal Grandfathers question, Mom said.
Yeah, Dad. My son, but hes insanely good. Gonna be on the national team someday, I swear.
Even Yoon, the soccer expert, thinks so?
Dont get me started, fatherinlaw. Seoul babies him like crazy.
Is that right? Whew, gotta live long enough to see our grandson on the national team.
Maternal Grandfather, dont talk like that already. You gotta live long.
Yeah, the eldest grandsons right. A guy who just hit sixty talking about dyingwhat bad luck.
You never know with life.
Eey, true that.
True enough.
Both had lost their wives early, so maybe thats why they thought that way.
And so, a quiet moment of just eating meat arrived.
Hm? Honey, think your phones ringing?
Yeah? Bring it over and put it on speaker?
Okay. Unknown number?
Probably an inquiry call.
Mom brought Dads phone, switched it to speaker, and Dad kept grilling without missing a beat.
Yes, Yoon Jiseong speaking.
Hello, this is Lee Changbon, agent from the Korea Football Association.
Yes? Where? The KFA?
What would the KFA want with Dad?
Everyone stopped eating and stared at Dads smartphone.
Yes, thats right.
Uh no, what brings the KFA to me?
Yes, sir, is your son Yoon Taeyang?
Yes, Im Taeyangs dad.
Ah, just calling because Yoon Taeyang has been selected for the U15 youth national team for the upcoming JapanKorea youth exchange match.
Ah, the JapanKorea exchange Yes? Nnational team?!
So, Id made the U15 national team?
It was just the JapanKorea exchange, a oneoff, but nothing to sneeze at.
Shine here, and I could make the Project 2038 lineupfuture national team material.
Since hes a minor, we need parental consent. You consent right?
Yes, of course.
Then there are some preparations youll need to make.
Dad jumped up, scrambled for a notepad, and dove into the call properly.
Leaving Dad behind, Paternal Grandfather looked at Mom and said.
Dear, whatd they say? Our eldest grandson made the national team?
Ththats what it sounds like?
Heh heh
Cheolhan, you said you had to see the national team before you dielooks like you will.
Indeed.
Son! Hahaha! Aigo, my boy! My boy on the national team! Dad, fatherinlaw! Hear that? Our son, the Yoon family eldest, made the national team! National team!
Mom, whats the national team?
Oppa, does that mean youll be on TV?
Who knows? Honey, TV appearance?
Uh too young for sure, but maybe on the soccer channels.
Wow!
I stroked a shocked Gaeuls head as Mom patted my shoulder.
Man, we really did good having our eldest son.
Thanks for having me.
I meant it from the heart to Mom.
There was a time I resented being born, but now I was just grateful.
Lee Junghoo had scouted me, so I figured a national team callup wouldnt be far off, but it came faster than expected.
I was stepping onto the elite soccer path I could only dream of in my past life.
Of course, I had to perform in the JapanKorea exchange.
But the exchange was scaling up a bitquite a bit.
JapanKorea Exchange A Festival Gauging East Asia Soccers Future, China Expresses Interest in Participating.
China Proposes Including North Korea in East Asia Exchange.
Taiwan, Hong Kong Request to Join Exchange.
Korea, Japan Warmly Accept.
1st East Asia Youth U15 Exchange Tournament to Be Held.
Venue Fukuoka.
In real time, it ballooned from JapanKorea to full East Asia.
Still, itd boil down to Korea, China, Japan as the cores.
Maybe North Korea as a dark horse?
Youth soccer, especially U15, no guarantees on wins, but catching a country thats steadily built its youth system isnt easy.
China, after pausing their soccer push, shifted from club cash floods to youth development and was inching forwardjust a tiny bit, really.
North Koreas stuck in oldschool elite sports, statedriven, so kids drilled solely in soccer from young are a risk.
The real issue Japan.
Japan, who kicked off the 100 overseas players era in the 2020s, now had 150 abroad, with youth studying overseas in multiples of that.
Even top youth clubs always had at least one or two Japanese prospects.
Korea, meanwhile?
Our agegroup 1516 year oldsthe ones who should be leaderswere in a generational valley.
Our only hope middle school firstyears like me, the 14yearolds.
And sure enough.
No way, U15 but its all 14yearolds?
Lee Junghoo, that crazy coach, had excluded all 15 and 16yearolds and summoned only 14yearolds.
Typical soccer nutway too extreme.