Senior National Team. (2)
Ha... the atmosphere here is fucking awful.
The atmosphere of the South Korean senior national football team was, in one word, fucking terrible.
As a football player who had gone through everything in my previous life, I knew exactly what caused such a shitty atmosphere.
The cause of the shitty atmosphere was none other than factions.
As soon as I arrived, I could feel that subtle undercurrent, and when I entered the restaurant, seeing the players divided into two groups made it clear this was a faction issue.
At first glance, it looked like players who were close sat together, but players who had never seen each other's faces before would cluster together at other tables to form big groups, while the small group of players whose faces were somewhat familiar would eat at a distance from that group.
And since the familiar-faced players were all those who played in Europe, it seemed the European and non-European factions were quite intense.
Well, I could guess the reason to some extent.
Europe was close enough that you could travel everywhere within a day, so when living in unfamiliar places, you naturally met and got close with people from the same region often. That camaraderie probably carried over to the national team. If talented players from Europe stuck together, it was natural for jealousy to arise among players.
And going to Europe from Korea meant having better talent than those who didn't, so there was no risk of being dropped from the national team, meaning that for players who had to compete among themselves, the European players would seem arrogant.
Adding to that, decisively, Yoon Seo-hee, the player with the best career in the national team, didn't seem to care much about the players. The cold beauty Yoon Seo-hee, whether it was for her face value or not, since arriving yesterday and entering her room, no one had seen her face, so she didn't care about the players.
Well, it wasn't that I didn't understand Yoon Seo-hee's feelings. Since there was no player at her level, the national team wasn't interesting to her. I had been through that time too.
That said, it wasn't like she was close with the European players either, but anyway, since the representative of the European faction, Yoon Seo-hee, had that stance, it was only natural that the gap between European and non-European factions would deepen.
Sigh, if I had known this would happen, I should have gone to Spain. Ah, fuck, I need to eat something. ...But where should I sit?
Well, since I'm playing in Europe, should I sit with the European side? But I didn't want to piss off the majority of the national team, who are non-European players. If I went to the European players' place and then returned to Korea, the players who went back might spread weird rumors in the football world, which would be troublesome.
Then, for now, let's go to the place with many people and make a mark...
When I was about to head to the crowded side to make a good impression, I felt someone looking at me. ...With a slightly sinister gaze.
That bastard... it's the same guy from the training camp.
Was his name Seo Hye-won? The player who marked me when I faced off against the K League All-Stars, but his gaze was creepy, so I didn't want to go that way. I was about to turn towards the overseas players, but since being spotted by the main group of the national team was out of the question, my only choice was...
...Just eat alone. Fuck.
If someone asks later why I ate alone, I can say it was because eating with women was awkward.
Just as I was eating alone at a table away from the other players, someone entered the restaurant. And that face was quite familiar to me too.
It was Yoon Seo-hee, who was called the best talent in Korea until before I debuted.
And that Yoon Seo-hee, after looking around the restaurant, started coming towards my table with her tray.
What the fuck, why are you coming this way?
Just like when I was scouting teammates' positions on the field, I quickly looked around, and the domestic players' gazes towards me started to turn hostile. No, not towards me? It seemed like the gazes were towards Yoon Seo-hee.
I couldn't tell whose gaze it was, but one thing was clear. If I got close to Yoon Seo-hee, I would definitely be isolated in the national team. And unlike Yoon Seo-hee, who this World Cup would be her last, I had to play in the national team for another 20 years.
It wouldn't matter when I became a senior, but receiving such uncomfortable attention as the youngest was really out of the question.
I desperately signaled with my eyes for Yoon Seo-hee not to sit at my table.
Don't come, don't come. ...Fuck.
But since she didn't receive my desperate signal, Yoon Seo-hee ended up sitting in front of me.
...She's pretty. No, wait, this isn't it. Sigh, should I really go to Spain? What were the FIFA regulations? Was it national team call-up? Or did I have to play one game? I need to find out after going back to the room.
*
As I entered the restaurant, a cold gaze pierced me.
Yoon Seo-hee, who was the best Korean football star until before Ryu Ha-neul debuted on the 1st team and showed his skills, knew what those cold gazes towards her meant.
Now her age was 34. For an ordinary person, it would be the time to actively engage in social activities, but as a football player, it was an age where preparing for retirement after this wasn't strange.
And the cold gazes towards such an elder carried the meaning of 'don't block the path of young juniors, just retire.'
If someone heard Yoon Seo-hee think that, they might think, 'But she was the best sports star in Korea, how could juniors think such a thing?' In fact, looking at Yoon Seo-hee's career, it was a career that even most juniors and seniors couldn't reach.
Yoon Seo-hee, who debuted in the K League at 18 years old (man age 18) in her third year of high school, scoring 8 goals in 18 games and winning Rookie of the Year, was a player with special talent. At that time, most high school players debuted in the K League after entering or graduating from university, but considering that Yoon Seo-hee joined a pro team and debuted before graduating high school in the rigid Korean society, it wasn't necessary to say how special her talent was.
Moreover, the following year, the historic Korea-Japan World Cup was held, and the Korea Football Association, who knew of Yoon Seo-hee's specialness, pushed the young player who had just become an adult into the national team.
The legendary German coach who was the national team coach at the time, also recognized Yoon Seo-hee's specialness and readily accepted the association's proposal.
And that choice became a legendary event that would be remembered in Korean football history. Because Yoon Seo-hee played 4 games in the World Cup and scored 2 goals. If Ryu Ji-hye, the 1st place contributor who scored 5 goals in 7 games and won the Bronze Ball, allowing Korea to reach the World Cup semifinals, was the 2nd place contributor with 2 goals in 4 games, Yoon Seo-hee's performance at 19 years old was so amazing that no one could deny it.
The performance shown at the World Cup and her somewhat good appearance despite the cold look were enough to continue Ryu Ji-hye's popularity after she suddenly announced her retirement after the World Cup, and the Korean public was in a Yoon Seo-hee syndrome, so to speak.
How big was that popularity? When the coach who led Korea to the semifinals, Lorca, returned to his hometown team Schalke and requested an invitation for Yoon Seo-hee, the Korean Football Association opposed the Schalke transfer of Yoon Seo-hee at the national level for the sake of Korean football's popularity.
So, after the 2002 World Cup, after spending 1.5 seasons in Korea, in the summer of 2004, she transferred to Schalke, where her mentor Lorca was, in the transfer market.
After that, Yoon Seo-hee accumulated a career that surpassed that of any overseas football player: in Schalke for 3 years, 75 league games 19 goals and total 91 games 26 goals in the league, and in Arsenal, a team always in the Premier League title race, 7 years, 186 league games 46 goals and total 224 games 61 goals, and before the 14-15 season, she transferred to Liverpool, a mid-table team at the time, and has played 94 league games 19 goals and total 108 games 26 goals until now.
In this season, due to her declining physical condition, she only played 7 games in March as the season was approaching its end, but the career she had built was one that other juniors couldn't reach, receiving cold gazes from juniors.
But, like most players who became superstars at a young age, Yoon Seo-hee was a player with quite problematic personality. And Yoon Seo-hee had problems with her personality in a quite unusual way.
Should I run away? But to train, I have to eat...
Yoon Seo-hee was an extremely shy personality.
From childhood, having lived a super star life, there were many people approaching her, and most of them were people interested in her money and status.
"Seo-hee-ya, we're friends. I have a really good investment opportunity for you.... Hey! Can't you do a few CFs? You don't have much, do you? ...Lend it? As I thought. Thanks, friend."
Fraud by those who believed she was a friend,
"Yoon Seo-hee? She's just playing with her. I only have a sister, you know? You know, that girl has a lot of money."
Betrayal by those who believed she was a lover,
"That arrogant bastard Yoon Seo-hee, I saw her ignoring us because she went to Germany with the coach. What good is playing football? You have to become a human first."
And jealousy from those who believed they were colleagues.
Several instances of fraud and betrayal were enough to wound the young Yoon Seo-hee, and to heal those wounds, Yoon Seo-hee became a foreigner even in the places she stayed.
Realizing that the wounds hurt, Yoon Seo-hee built a wall firmly, and over time, Yoon Seo-hee became a junior who was not sociable with seniors, a cold senior with juniors, and an arrogant individualist who didn't talk to anyone as a whole.
And when her football skills no longer protected her, she was receiving cold gazes from other colleagues.
Eh, what should I do?
Yoon Seo-hee shifted her gaze to avoid the cold gazes towards her. As she shifted her gaze, she noticed the exotic appearance of someone eating alone in a corner of the restaurant.
There were some with dyed hair, but among the players mostly with black hair, the blonde hair and brown eyes, and short hair stood out.
Yoon Seo-hee didn't need to think deeply to know who the owner of that exotic appearance was. It was Ryu Ha-neul, the son of her respected senior, Ryu Ji-hye.
Should I greet him?
The shy Yoon Seo-hee originally wasn't the type to greet someone first, but Ryu Ha-neul was Ryu Ji-hye's son.
To Yoon Seo-hee, Ryu Ji-hye was her idol in childhood, and the most respected senior who created unforgettable memories for her at the time of 2002, which was the most glorious time before she built walls after receiving wounds and the time she most wanted to return to.
Moreover, since Ryu Ha-neul was born during a time when national team members were staying together for training camp, she had attended his first birthday party, and since Ryu Ha-neul was the player she learned the most from recently, there was internal closeness.
So, Yoon Seo-hee gathered her courage, sat at the table, and greeted.
"Hello?"
Opening her mouth for the first time in a long time, grateful that she didn't stutter, she waited for Ryu Ha-neul's reply.
What? Yoon Seo-hee greeted first? She never greeted us first before. ...Well, now that a player at her level has come. Ha, how ridiculous. She still thinks she's that Yoon Seo-hee. On top of not being able to play, she's a has-been...
With such a figure of Yoon Seo-hee, the misunderstanding deepened among players who wouldn't have good feelings towards Yoon Seo-hee.
"Yes, hello."
"Is your mother well?"
"Yes."
"......"
"......"
And the awkward atmosphere flowed between the originally shy Yoon Seo-hee, who was acting out a quiet and honest personality that girls would like, and Ryu Ha-neul who didn't want to be associated with the retiring Yoon Seo-hee from the national team, and didn't talk much except when necessary, outside of friends.
Did I make a mistake? I only greeted... Ah, maybe bad relationship with senior Ji-hye...
"Um... you play football well."
"Thank you."
"......"
"......"
In that awkward atmosphere, Yoon Seo-hee, regretting doing something she didn't usually do, felt like she wanted to cry.