The Surge of Fame

The Philippines raised the white flag right from the start of the fourth quarter, pulling their starters. The gap in score only widened.

Final score: 105-76. We crushed the Philippines by 29 points and secured our spot in the semifinals.

The crowd’s excitement still hadn’t died down. They kept roaring with passionate cheers.

Most of all, since my on-court interview was still left, the majority of fans stayed in their seats.

‘But who am I supposed to do the interview with?’

Last time with Su-bin, it seemed like a single NTBC sports announcer had handled the court interview alone. Today, though, the three networks’ announcers were still hovering around, eyeing each other because they couldn’t reach an agreement. The PDs were busy talking among themselves.

In the end, all three announcers lined up and took turns asking questions. Having three beautiful women filling my field of vision felt almost like a scene from a movie.

She then began listing my stats in detail.

In 31 minutes of play. For me, these were infuriating numbers.

‘I’m not Shaquille O’Neal, for crying out loud.’

The shattered free-throw percentage. The technical adjustment issues were one thing, but the constant misses had made me mentally impatient.

‘If I’d made all my free throws, I would’ve had 50 points.’

I wasn’t the type to obsess over personal stats, but I tended to beat myself up hard over any part I knew I could have done better.

Honestly, I wanted to answer, “It was a game I’m not satisfied with.” But of course I didn’t show any of that.

“I think the support from all the citizens who came to the arena gave me strength. I was so focused on playing because of how loud the cheers were that I didn’t even feel the fatigue. It feels like the stats just came naturally.”

But as if violating the agreement, the NTBC announcer cut in.

“Yes… Coach Lee Jae-hak was kind enough to ask if I wanted to keep playing in the fourth. But I declined. For one thing, I don’t really care about those kinds of records. This is a national team game. Team success is far more important than my personal stats, isn’t it?”

“It is different from when I played for Mega Vizura. Back then, my role wasn’t leading the offense. Players like Jokic and Micic handled the playmaking, and I focused on receiving passes and attacking. But today, I took the initiative in leading alongside Su-bin, so I think that’s why it felt that way.”

Listening to them, it seemed some commentators hadn’t liked my play. I could understand that.

‘My leading role is still immature. There were definitely smarter ways to run things.’

This was something I had to keep polishing. Micic had told me that no matter how hard you worked, plenty of players never mastered this role.

“Sure…”

I thought for a moment about how to introduce them, and something came to me naturally. It would be easiest for people to understand if I compared them to characters from Slam Dunk.

‘First, Korver…’

His image was really similar to Hae-nam’s three-point shooter, Shin Jun-seob. But since that character wasn’t that well-known, I had no choice but to attach a more popular one.

“If we compare to Slam Dunk, Kyle Korver is like Jeong Dae-man. He’s the best three-point shooter and a fiery player.”

“Horford…”

Horford was tricky. A versatile undersized big man who compensated for his lack of athleticism with high basketball IQ.

‘There wasn’t really a center like that in Slam Dunk, was there?’

Shin Hyeon-cheol came to mind, but he was a player whose strength was athleticism. So I decided to just give a safe answer.

“Horford is like Chae Chi-soo. He’s the pillar of the team.”

A witty answer. At the time, I had no idea this would evolve into a meme symbolizing Atlanta.

.

.

.

After finishing the court interview, I headed down the corridor toward the locker room. Su-bin was waiting for me. He greeted me with a bitter smile.

“How are you so good at talking? No matter how much I practice, I don’t think I’ll ever be like you, hyung.”

“Well, some things are just natural talent. Anyway, what did the coach say?”

“The starters get a rest tomorrow since we’ve already clinched the semifinals. They’re going to use mostly bench players. So tomorrow we only have a short recovery session in the morning and that’s it.”

“That’s a relief. I need to practice free throws tomorrow.”

When we returned to the locker room, the players who had already showered were getting ready to head back to the dorm. The atmosphere had changed a bit; everyone seemed to have taken something away from the game.

Some players, including Choi Ju-seong, started talking to me warmly. Even those who hadn’t liked me before seemed to have shifted to the mindset of, ‘We won’t be seeing each other that long anyway, so let’s just ride the bus and end it on a good note.’

Coach Lee Jae-hak was the same. After we blew out the Philippines—the team everyone thought would be a major obstacle on the road to gold—by 29 points, he stopped trying to micromanage me and focused only on managing the schedule.

“Alright, those playing tomorrow, keep your mindset sharp. Those who aren’t, refresh yourselves for the semifinal. But don’t get too loose. Dismissed!”

The players headed toward the bus.

Because of the interview, we were late getting showered and only left ten minutes later. Then, in the outdoor tunnel leading to the bus—

“Lee Seo-juuuun!”

“Please sign something for our kid!”

“Su-bin, I love you──!”

“Marry me, oppa!!”

About 800 fans had camped out waiting. Ever since Su-bin had risen as the national team’s star, there had been a lot of fans, but today there were easily three times as many. The staff were struggling to control the crowd even with barricades in place.

‘This is…’

It was my first time experiencing something like this. Of course, fans camping around the team bus wasn’t rare in Europe, but there was a clear difference in temperature.

In Europe, fans swarming the bus usually happened when the team lost an important game. In those cases, all kinds of curses flew alongside beer cans smashing into the bus. There were fans who came when the team won, but they usually just clapped and said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠“good game” or asked for simple autographs. It never reached this level.

‘So this is what being a real sports star feels like?’

My domestic recognition had always felt about two percent short because the superstar senior playing for Tottenham had swept up all the attention. Now I was finally feeling the difference.

The number of reporters waiting at the airport had been one thing, but in every way, new all-time highs kept being updated.

Anyway.

“It looks like we’ll take a while! We’ll join the dorm separately, so why don’t you all head out first!?”

At my shout, a national team staff member nodded and had the bus leave. Left behind, we started signing autographs with the help of the event staff.

I took the left side, Su-bin the right. The fans split accordingly. Young female fans moved toward Su-bin, while male fans and parents with children came to me.

“Please write that our Kang-hoon will grow tall and become a basketball player!”

“Got it. Kang-hoon, let’s grow really tall, okay?”

When I patted the little boy’s head as a fan service, he looked annoyed and stayed expressionless, but his parents went wild.

“Pat our Su-hyeon’s head too!”

“Ours too! Do-jun!”

While I kept signing and granting the parents’ requests, a young female fan appeared in front of me.

“Please sign for me too! The name is Lee Seo-eun.”

Seo-eun was beaming. I signed slowly and teased her.

“Aren’t you going to get Shin Su-bin’s autograph, Miss Seo-eun?”

“My friends went over there, but I’m fine.”

“You don’t like Shin Su-bin?”

Then Seo-eun gave an unexpected answer.

“No, I like him too. But I especially like that he’s always with Lee Seo-jun!”

“Why’s that?”

“Because Shin Su-bin takes all the female fans away!”

Meaning she was glad there were fewer women paying attention to me.

“Anyway… Here you go.”

“Ah…!”

Seo-eun saw the little heart I drew at the end of the signature, smiled brightly, hugged the paper tightly, and returned to her friends.

After about forty minutes, the staff urged us to stop, saying we couldn’t continue. The fans protested, but we apologized on their behalf and finally managed to slip away.

Shin Won-hyung had prepared a car for us.

“You two, get in quick!”

Only after getting in the car could we finally breathe.

Mom, sitting in the passenger seat, handed us water.

“You both must be tired. Drink up.”

Vroooom! The van sped up. Since tomorrow’s game was in Hwaseong instead of Incheon, we had to head there.

I was about to zone out when Mom spoke in an excited voice.

“Seo-jun, Seo-jun. Have you seen the articles?”

“What articles?”

“These!”

What Mom was focusing on was Su-bin’s point guard role.

“I heard you talked to the coach about putting Su-bin at point guard. Is that true?”

“…?”

It seemed there was a misunderstanding. Su-bin playing point guard today had simply been so I could play more comfortably.

“…………Of course!”

Well, good is good.

“I knew it! Then he’ll definitely be able to play point guard right away once we’re back in Seoul. That’s why you said something, right?”

“…………Something like that!”

“Ah…! Thank you so much, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seo-jun…! Really…!”

Mom’s eyes welled up with tears. Dad must have felt emotional too; he turned on the emergency flashers and pulled the car over to the shoulder for a moment.

Inside the stopped van, a tsunami of emotion washed over us. Even Su-bin’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t realized that had been the intention.

The only one who saw through it was Su-ryeon noona.

“Wasn’t it just that you set everything up around Seo-jun, so Su-bin had to play point guard?”

She got a smack on the back from Mom for that comment.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠national team also won their third quarterfinal game against Qatar, which was played mostly with bench players, finishing the quarterfinals undefeated and advancing to the semifinals.

Seo-jun, who hadn’t been scheduled to play, appeared for about seven minutes for the Hwaseong fans and scored 8 points, including two threes, contributing to the team’s 79-70 victory.

And at around the same time, good news came from the other bracket.

The semifinal against Japan went exactly as expected.

Unlike the previous game, Seo-jun focused on the perimeter. Japan, having studied the Philippines game, were determined to protect the paint at all costs. Even though Seo-jun could have forced his way through, he chose not to. Since he could dominate them on defense anyway, running the offense from outside was more than enough.

With the national team’s three-pointers raining down one after another, the game was already in another galaxy by the second quarter.

It was a completely one-sided game. Seo-jun played only 20 minutes and 21 seconds, scored 29 points, and returned to the bench.

Seo-jun’s recognition and popularity were skyrocketing like a stock on fire. Soon, an event that perfectly reflected this surge in his stock price occurred.

It was during the one day of rest given before the final against Iran.

“What should I do about this… What should I do…”

Shin Won-hyung paced restlessly in front of the national team’s gymnasium. Having opened his agency just two weeks ago, he was swamped with work. Offers were flooding in like waves.

Documentaries, interviews, variety shows, commercials, events—proposals poured in for both Su-bin and Seo-jun.

Still, he hadn’t shown any of them to the boys yet. Since everything would have to wait until after the Asian Games anyway, he wanted them to focus solely on the games until then.

But the offer that came in this morning was different. If it had been an ordinary proposal, he would have ignored it, but…

“No choice, I guess.”

Shin Won-hyung eventually made a call ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and pulled Seo-jun out during a short break in training.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, it’s nothing else. You know LSG Electronics, right? They want you as their American advertising model.”

“Ah… If it’s about that, let’s talk after the tournament.”

“I was going to, but they said they need an answer by today.”

“What kind of offer did they make that gives them the nerve to push like this?”

“This.”

When Seo-jun saw the offer, he furrowed his brow slightly.

“120 million won per year for five years…?”

A total 600 million won offer.

Seo-jun recalled the commercials he had done in the past. During his prime at Everton, he had earned 60 million won in one year as the model for a chicken brand. That had been the highest commercial fee he had ever received.

Yet this offer was double that annual amount and came with a five-year contract. It was only natural to doubt his eyes.

‘All for playing just three games for the national team!?’

Seo-jun wondered if the rookie agent Shin Won-hyung was being scammed.

“Is this for real?”

“Yes. The electronics industry is desperate for American marketing right now. Daesung Electronics is the same, but LSG is especially thirsty for it. They probably think that once you start playing in the NBA, your value will jump several times higher than it is now. So they’re throwing out a strong number and trying to lock you in with a multi-year deal early.”

Shin Won-hyung continued calmly.

“If you want to take this contract, you can. But in my opinion, it would be better to wait until next year. If you perform well in the NBA, you could easily get at least double this amount. Advertising models who can appeal to the American market are extremely rare in Korea. Extremely! And on top of that, you can appeal to the domestic market at the highest level too.”

“Yes… I understand. Please handle it that way.”

“Alright, I’ll turn it down. Sorry for calling you out so suddenly!”

Shin Won-hyung hurried off, phone already to his ear.

Seo-jun blinked, dazed. Another all-time high had been updated.

‘If it’s already at this level, just how high will it go if I succeed in the NBA?’

He couldn’t even begin to guess.