Home Call. (2)
With Ryu Ha-neul leading by one goal after his first goal, the first half ends.
Ha-neul arrived, and the coach's words began.
“Since Ha-neul is here, I'll explain the second half tactics now. The Bianconeri guys are trying to follow our tempo......”
‘Is this how it starts? Completely naked?’
And in that situation, Valentina was feeling confused. Even though Ha-neul, the male, had arrived, among the players who had played in the first half, no one except goalkeeper Maximilena was properly dressed.
Everyone except Maximilena was wearing just panties, with a towel slung over their shoulders, and as they moved, something would show, and the locker room was filled with skin tones because almost everyone was cooling off in just their panties, and if they were wearing an EPTS wearable device, it would look even more revealing.
Of course, Valentina also knew that as a starter from Athletic, she would feel very hot and tired after the first half ends. But in Athletic, they would dress to welcome Ha-neul, taking care of him. But for the first team, there was none of that.
Moreover, Ha-neul seemed familiar with this situation, sitting down and dipping his legs in ice water. Fortunately, Ha-neul had showered and come, so he was in his uniform, but in a space filled with skin tones, a man almost completely naked massaging his thighs with ice...
‘Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous…’
His legs, with muscles smoothly removed like marble sculpture, were visible. Unlike women who don't gain much muscle even with exercise, Ha-neul's pumped and split muscles were beautiful, showing how hard he had been training all this time.
But perhaps because the surrounding space was filled with skin tones, today something added to that beauty and I couldn't take my eyes off it.
“Ha-neul, got it? Instead of going directly to Lautaro, keep circling to both sides like in the first half. Lautaro! You pass high passes that might be for Ha-neul......”
But unlike himself, Ha-neul didn't seem interested in women at all, only concentrating on the coach's words. Seeing that, Valentina felt guilty again and turned her head to the sides, and saw her teammates glancing at Ha-neul like her.
‘This bastard…’
Seeing that, Valentina's anger boiled inside, but since she couldn't say anything, she held back the anger.
‘…dangerous.’
When I saw Ha-neul entering the locker room, I felt my heart was dangerous, and now all the women in this space with Ha-neul looked dangerous.
‘……I have to change it so I can't take off my clothes in the locker room later. No, before that, I have to sit next to Ha-neul next time. Then I can give him the towel. So I can't go down to the first team.’
Ha-neul had been familiar with living with girls since childhood, so he didn't know what it was like to be naked in a place with so many girls now. So I had to help with that part, having watched from the side for over 10 years.
Fortunately, the good thing was that Ha-neul's head was pure except for football. With so many naked girls around, he didn't even turn his eyes and focused on the coach's tactical instructions.
No matter how different men and women are, if I was surrounded by naked men, I would at least glance sideways, so Ha-neul was even more amazing. And because of that, I wanted to cherish such a pure friend.
So, Valentina held back her rising desire and turned her eyes from Ha-neul's thighs to the tactical board where the coach was explaining passionately. Because to cherish him, I had to take action first.
Of course, even while doing that, I wanted to pluck the eyes of other teammates who were glancing at Ha-neul.
Anyway, while Valentina was fighting her inner desire, the half-time ended and the second half started.
And at that moment, Yasmine, the Juventus midfielder who had been marking Ha-neul like a stalker from the first half, rushed in.
And at that moment, Ha-neul lightly passed the ball to Lucia with a one-touch, and even though the ball was no longer on Ha-neul's body, Yasmine's shoulder didn't stop.
‘That bastard has been doing this since earlier…!’
He must have known the ball had left his foot...!
Even young players from La Masia who weren't professionals yet would have known it was too late to take the ball from him, but he kept pushing his shoulder. If this was just once, maybe, but the way Yasmine had been coming at Ha-neul with rough body contact since the first half made Valentina's brows furrow.
And when Ha-neul grabbed Yasmine's hand and got up, the anger grew even stronger.
The way Yasmine deliberately tripped Ha-neul and then helped him up even though she could have stopped, it resembled those guys who used to make fun of young Ha-neul with racist remarks and enjoyed his reaction. It was only natural that Valentina felt that emotion.
Of course, at that time Valentina had already handled it before Ha-neul heard, so he didn't have to see Ha-neul looking sad. But now it was different.
Unlike back then, Ha-neul had been rolling on the ground and hurting after bumping into that girl several times. And unlike back then, he had nothing to help him.
Valentina was so angry at that helplessness.
And even though she had watched Ha-neul suffer since the first half, she was even angrier at herself for stealing glances at his thighs.
‘Valentina, you worthless bitch. Ha-neul is trying hard for his dreams while enduring pain, but you, a so-called friend... who likes Ha-neul...!’
The only way to atone for her bad feelings was, as always, to protect Ha-neul.
But she couldn't get inside that. All she could do was watch Ha-neul and cheer for him from the inside.
While Valentina was cheering for Ha-neul inside and suppressing her anger, Ha-neul kept rolling on the ground after bumping into opponents. Even while doing that, Ha-neul's ability to connect passes without losing possession once was amazing, but knowing that behind that greatness there was effort made her even sadder.
So, when Ha-neul's second goal made with his determination hit, Valentina couldn't just be happy. When he passed to Aboudasha and fell, even though it must have hurt, the way he quickly got up and ran to the goal with his limping leg was enough to stimulate Valentina's tear ducts.
“Valentina.”
But those tears wouldn't fall. It was Diana, the coach, who called Valentina while she was watching the ceremony.
“Prepare. Substitution for Lautaro.”
And the words Valentina had been waiting for came out of Diana's mouth.
Yes. Now she could protect Ha-neul on the ground. Valentina clenched her fists and stood up from the bench to loosen her body. This match would be her first-team debut stage, but right now all Valentina could think about was Ha-neul, so that didn't matter.
And a few minutes later, Valentina was brought onto the pitch.
Valentina's command from Diana was simple. Focus more on defense than build-up and clear aerial balls.
Since the match was almost over, Juventus seemed to be aiming for goals with crosses rather than precise build-up. Bringing in tall Valentina was a really good substitution.
And while faithfully carrying out the coach's orders, Valentina fully demonstrated her strengths.
While Juventus continued their attack and Valentina ran around here and there, Valentina didn't find it difficult at all, but rather found it enjoyable that Ha-neul no longer had to roll on the ground as long as Juventus attacked.
So as Juventus pushed and Barcelona defended, time flew by quickly, and when about 10 minutes remained, the ball Valentina cleared with a header again connected to Ha-neul.
Currently Juventus had their line fully pushed up while attacking.
Near the center line there was only Ha-neul, Yasmine, and one Juventus center-back.
On the rare counterattack opportunity, Ha-neul moved his foot to lightly bypass those two,
“Aaaah!”
A male scream that didn't fit the ground echoed. It was Yasmine's foot that had swept Ha-neul's shin.
No matter how much home advantage there was, this was clearly a foul to stop the counterattack. The referee blew the whistle and reached for the card while running to Yasmine.
And faster than the referee, the player who ran there was.
“Ha-neul!”
That player was, of course, Valentina, who had been suppressing her anger since before the substitution.
‘That bastard really…!’
Where did she have the right to hit that weak one! When Ha-neul fell after getting hit on the shin, to Valentina this place was no longer the pitch. To Valentina, this place was the school from her childhood when she protected Ha-neul.
So, Valentina momentarily forgot that she was a professional player on the pitch,
Thud!
What Valentina could feel with her lost reason was only the heavy impact rising through her fist.