Chapter 4
Translator 8uhl
Chapter 4
Chapter Title The Eldest Son Yearns for Soccer
Thanks to the K Leagues youth system linked to schools, Seoul UTD had a youth pipeline running from Oseong Middle School to Oseong High School.
In the past, it hadnt achieved much glory for a team based in Seoul, but after the inaugural youth directorwho had played professionally in Germanytook over and established a systematic youth training program, they began producing talents and yielding meaningful results.
Now, they had firmly established themselves as one of the prestigious youth academies alongside Suwon.
But in the last three years, they hadnt produced any notable achievements.
It was an unfitting situation for a club with an enormous talent pool from South Koreas capital.
Honestly, it didnt make sense, did it?
With onefifth of the nations population living in Seoul, how could they barely produce even one competitive K League player, let alone a national team member?
After three years of darkness, our youth team finally has a talent who can save face.
At the youth directors words, the coaches began to murmur.
Among them, the calm ones were Jeong Hanyul and U15 coach Jo Bongsu, who had his shoulders tensed up.
The director looked at Coach Jo Bongsu and asked,
Coach Jo Bongsu, can you play that players video?
Heh heh, of course. Hanyul, play the video.
Yes, Coach.
At Jo Bongsus instruction, U12 coach Jeong Hanyul connected his smartphone to the conference rooms smart TV and promptly played a video.
Smallstatured kids were frantically chasing the ball.
Was there a good kid in the academy?
If its a new entrant, theyre barely elementary school age, right?
As the video from Dream of Seoulwhat was internally still called the academy or kids soccer class by its old nameplayed, everyone started whispering.
Shh, quiet.
The commotion settled with a single word from Coach Jo Bongsu.
He might be seen as relegated to the backwater U15 team now, but Jo Bongsu was actually a renowned figure in the K League, famous as a senior coach.
If he hadnt stepped down in his later years to focus on nurturing the next generation, he might have risen beyond senior coach.
No coach in the room would dare not quiet down when he said to be silent.
No, it was the same anywhere. Even the current senior team coach was a player he had coached, which said it all.
Focus on the video.
At Jo Bongsus words, all eyes returned to the screen.
Soon, amid the little kids, one child stood out remarkably.
No, he was unparalleled.
Hes fast.
Hes keeping speed even while dribbling.
Nice dribbling too.
Ball control is art... Whoa, whats that? The kids doing a Free Flap that cleanly?
Like a shaman dancing with knives in a trance on the ritual ground, one kid was joyfully bounding across the field.
With the childs light upperbody feints, opponents tumbled on their butts or suffered humiliating nutmegs left and right, and later on, they were too scared to even approach when he had the ball.
After the roughly 10minute video ended, Jeong Hanyul said,
This is from the last 10 minutes of the match.
How many goals did he score in that game?
He scored six all by himself.
Huh... How long are elementary school matches? 50 minutes? Six goals in 50 minutes?
Even if it wasnt an official youth team, six goals in 50 minutes was nothing to dismiss.
How long has that kid been playing soccer?
At the U18 coachs question, Jeong Hanyul replied,
According to the parents, this was his first time.
Does that even make sense?
The room buzzed again.
But soon, everyone nodded in agreement.
These days, many elementary schools skipped ball sports in PE due to injury risks or only taught the basics.
Thats too good for a total beginner.
The kid says he watched European soccer matches religiously and copied them. He watched a lot of YouTube skill videos too. Maybe thats whyhe never passed once during the game.
Kids that age always want to beat players with skills and score themselves. Passes dont even register.
If he learned from videos and got that good, hes a genius. A genius.
Genius.
Yes, whether the kids words were true or not, there was no explaining a sixthgrader showing that level of play other than calling him a genius.
You couldnt just leave a genius alone.
The youth director looked at Coach Jo Bongsu and asked,
What do you think, Coach Jo? Hes just in sixth grade nowshould we push for enrollment at Oseong Middle School?
Ugh, thats obvious.
The director nodded at Jo Bongsus response and clasped his hands while gazing at the paused video, where a delicatelooking boy stood indifferently holding the ball.
Im looking forward to itthe day that kid grows steadily in our youth system and joins Seouls first team.
Just imagining it was exciting.
With my enrollment at Oseong Middle School and joining the Seoul UTD youth team confirmed, Dad was overjoyed yet devastated.
My son, a Nanji player... My son, a traitor...
...Anyone hearing that would think I was the traitor.
Is that what you say in front of the kid!
Mom, unable to stand it, smacked Dad on the back.
Normally, Dad would overact dramatically to amuse the kids, but in his slumped state, he didnt budge.
It seemed like a huge shock for a father with pure Suwon blue blood to have a son with redandblack blood.
Dad, why didnt you settle in Seoul instead of Suwon...
I wanted to live in Suwon.
He seemed sincere.
No, how did someone born and raised in Seoul become a Suwon fan? I couldnt understand it.
Mom, bro, not going to Daesin Middle?
Daesin Middle was our neighborhood school.
The middle school Id have gone to if I hadnt played soccer.
Yeah, Im going to a place called Oseong Middle for soccer.
Then are we moving?
Gaeuls pupils shook wildly.
The sevenyearold Gaeul had no plans for moving in her life yet.
She was probably envisioning graduating from Daesin Elementarys attached kindergarten, going to Daesin Elementary, then Daesin Middle, and Daesin High.
If there was a Daesin University, shed go there too, but since there isnt and she lives in Seoul, shed just go to Seoul Universityeasy thinking for her age.
So moving wasnt a big worry for a kid that age.
Except shed have to leave her friends.
I stroked Gaeuls head and said,
No, Gaeul. Once I enter Oseong Middle, Ill live in the dorms. Were not moving.
Dorms? Bro living alone?
Huh? Leaving? Me too!
Yeoreum, who had been playing with toys with the youngest Gyeoul, shot his hand up.
A mischievous glint flashed across Moms face.
Mom said with a serious expression,
Yeoreum, Gyeouls all grown up now and will leave to live on his own. Once he becomes a middle schooler, he wont live with you anymore. Hes leaving.
Gyeoul leaving? Why? Not living with Yeoreum? Gyeoul hate?
Its no use asking him. Your bros really leaving, I tell you.
Nooo! Mom! Waaah!
As Yeoreum burst into tears, Mom clutched her stomach laughing.
Mom, stop teasing Yeoreum. Hes gonna become a crybaby.
Yeoreum not crybaby!
Yeoreum yelled at my words and forcibly swallowed his tears.
Yeah, our Yeoreums a real man.
Real man? Whats that?
Just a man tougher than other men.
Yeah! Yeoreum real man!
Real man trait crybaby.
Then is Dad a real man too?
As I silently looked at Dad, Mom answered for him.
Dads a loser man.
Dad loser man!!
Loser man trait lets his kid join the rival team and despairs.
Dad loser man!
Dada loser!
While Yeoreum and Gyeoul enthusiastically chanted loser man, Dad lay sprawled on the floor in losermanlike despondency.
But my joining the Seoul youth team didnt change.
Time passed, Gaeuls birthday in October came and went, Gyeouls in December too, and the new year dawned.
And the one missing name in our family, Spring, finally arrived.
How do I look?
I stood before my siblings in my full school uniformthe kind you rarely wear except for entrance and graduation ceremonies since we had gym clothesand they all thumbsupped me at once.
Not bad.
Gyeoul cool!
Overkill, but pretty!
Gyeoul, pretty to your bro?
Cant you say handsome?
Anyway, as I grinned at my siblings admiring gazes, Mom opened the door and came in.
Wow, our eldest son looks pretty in his uniform?
Pretty...
What can you do? He takes after me. Shouldve taken after Dad.
Taking after Mom and being delicate was bad enough, but taking after Dad was even...
Shall we go now?
After dropping the siblings at school and kindergarten, we headed to Oseong Middle School.
Youll stay at Maternal Grandfathers for a bit before dorm lifeokay with that?
Yes.
Mom seemed worried about me living away from home, but I didnt mind much.
In my previous life, Id lived like family with nonfamily from age six.
Compared to that, soccer team dorms were nothing.
The kids there wanted to be pros, so they endured, but orphanage friends not all, but somelived without a tomorrow or a future.
Thats why my knees got wrecked.
We arrived at Oseong Middle School amid such thoughts.
Here we are... Want me to come in with you, Mom?
Mom asked worriedly, but I firmly shook my head.
I didnt want to look childish dragging my mom around at my age.
Mom, who brings their parents to enrollment?
Lots over there?
Thats why kids these days cant fend for themselves.
Oh dear, fine, go on in, you old kid. Ill be at Maternal Grandfathers.
Yes, see you later, Mom.
After sending Mom off, I entered the school and had the entrance ceremony in my assigned class.
Having done it all before, I had zero interest in school life.
Jjammin or middle school cafeteriasame kid stuff to me.
No way itd be fun hanging out.
What I needed to focus on was soccer, period.
Seoul United here was just a stepping stone for soccer.
The reason I agreed to join Seoul United without protest was that it was one of the few places in Korea with a systematic youth training system.
Shine here, get national attention, go to Europe.
That was my rough future plan.
So this is the first step.
I entered the dedicated Seoul U15 building.
Floors 2 and 3 were dorms for kids far from home, and the first floor had locker rooms and a cafeteria.
It was like a youth team clubhouse.
Compared to the orphanage or the middle school from my past life, the facilities were heavenly.
This was basically a hotel.
As I was satisfied,
What? Newbie?
Huh?
Huh your halfassed talk, punk. You see a senior, you greet first, got it, punk.
A guy with a face fierce enough to question if he was really a middle schooler approached me.
What?
Not some rural middle schoolthis was mighty Seoul United youth team, and they had hazing?
No greeting, punk?
Seems like it.
But weirdly, I kept wanting to laugh.
Why?
Because their antics were so damn predictable.