Fan Service Done Right
The whistle blew.
Barcelona had poured everything into attack through the final scraps of time, desperate for a winner, but the match was over soon enough.
"What a shame."
I swept my fluttering hair back with a touch of regret. Still, having scored the equalizer at the death, I hadn't lost my smile.
If I'd played better, would we have won?
If I'd created more chances. If I'd beaten more of them.
What-ifs meant nothing in sports — but that didn't make the disappointment any smaller.
As I sat on the grass, Wright came over to console me, and I was naturally led along to thank the Arsenal fans as well. That greeting stretched on in a line even outside the stadium.
"…Is it still not over?"
In the middle of all that, my own round of greetings finished relatively quickly, so I sat down on a nearby bench for a moment.
There were more than I expected.
The fans who'd come to welcome me were far more numerous than I'd imagined.
I was catching my breath and sipping a canned coffee when a child suddenly approached.
"Are you… Yujin?"
An Arsenal kit. Trembling eyes, as if hoping it was really me. A young fan of mine, by the look of it.
"Yeah. I'm Yujin. Are you a fan?"
"Yes! I'm a fan! Oh — can I call you hyung?"
"Go ahead."
Hearing anything other than hyung from a kid who didn't look that much younger than me would have felt stranger, honestly.
"Wow! Hyung! Can you sign this for me?"
"Sure. Want a photo too?"
"Yes please!"
I'd been resting a bit, but I wasn't so drained that I couldn't give a fan a photo and an autograph. With my usual smile, I took the picture and signed his jersey.
Since I had time to spare, I chatted with the young boy fan — Luis.
"Hyung, but why didn't you get a hat-trick today?"
"…Huh?"
"You did it last time."
"…"
When he asked why I hadn't managed a hat-trick today, I was thoroughly flustered.
Being good from the start isn't always a good thing.
Just look at Luis — he already thought of me as a player who scored hat-tricks like it was nothing.
"I'll make sure to get a hat-trick in the next Champions League match."
"That's a promise!"
"Yeah."
As we chatted briefly as fan and player, Luis brought up something unexpected.
"Hyung. I like Arsenal, and I like you."
"Why?"
"Because you're kind of like me. My dad liked Arsenal."
"…Ah."
Like him. Liked — past tense. That meant this boy had already lost his father at this age.
…He seems so composed.
He was probably just putting on a brave face. A strong kid who didn't want to show his sadness. I hoped this child would grow up hearing bright stories rather than sad ones.
"Are you coming to the second leg too?"
"Yes! I live in London! Today Mom said we should go first, so we came!"
His mother had noticed her child brightening up and brought him first. I'd seen this somewhere before. It was so familiar that I wanted to give this boy an unforgettable memory.
"Is there a celebration you'd like to see?"
"Ah, I…"
Luis whispered quietly into my ear, and when I heard what celebration it was, my expression turned awkward.
"I like this one. Is that okay?"
"…Why?"
"Because it's cool."
"…Is it?"
"You don't like it?"
"No. Look forward to it."
I couldn't bring myself to say no. Right. For this young fan, couldn't I do at least that much?
"Luis! What were you doing over here?"
"Mom!"
This peculiar first meeting was inevitably cut short by his mother.
After the Champions League first leg, Arsenal suffered a bitter defeat in the FA Cup that followed.
The biggest reason, if you had to pick one: Baek Yujin's injury. Early in the match, a rough challenge while he was trapping the ball twisted his ankle.
He'd always known something like this would come eventually — but of all games, it had to be this one. It left a bitter taste.
Fortunately it was a minor sprain that would heal in three days, and he came on as a substitute in the next match. In the league fixtures that followed, though, his role swung irregularly between starting and coming off the bench.
Once Alexandro put out his position, the press fretted over whether to criticize him or not — and eventually swung toward supporting Yujin instead.
Even so, the league results came in at two wins and two draws. Not bad at all.
And for the Champions League second leg against Barcelona, he started.
Seventieth minute of the second half.
Baek Yujin beat his man with a solo dribble, sold the defender with a dazzling touch, and finished.
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal looked like a different side entirely, leading 2–0.
Baek Yujin stepped over the ball, used body feints, and slipped out between two pressing defenders. He drove his body into the challenge, the ball rolling toward the defender.
The defender swung to clear. Baek Yujin timed the lift of his foot perfectly, absorbing the power of the kick as if trapping it.
He laid the dropped ball off in one touch to Hong Seoin, who had arrived behind him, then burst into the box. The ball found Davies at the perfect moment, and the cross came in with pinpoint timing.
The goalkeeper dived to punch it clear — but Baek Yujin, a full step ahead of him, redirected it with a header and finished.
Baek Yujin sprinted toward the corner flag. Nothing unusual about the run itself. The crowd only realized what celebration he was about to do once he arrived.
Baek Yujin, who had been jogging over, took a big stride, jumped, spun a full hundred and eighty degrees — and shouted.
No. Everyone except Baek Yujin shouted it, Arsenal fans roaring it as one.
"SIUUUUUU!!"
That move everyone knew. The celebration that had been famous for more than twenty years had just appeared at the Emirates Stadium.
It was the celebration Luis had asked for.
…Fan service has to be done right.
He hadn't managed the shout — but the form was perfect. He only hoped that this alone would leave Luis with a bright, deeply meaningful memory.
Promise kept.