NOVEL NEXT chapter 110
110 – The Unyielding Person
110
“Koo…”
Tiring—! Tiring—!
“Ah! Today’s the day of the Joo-ji match!”
Jo Ye-rin, who was startled awake by the loud alarm sound, turned off the noisy alarm clock with a familiar hand.
Although the old alarm clock made a small cracking sound due to her vigorous hand movement, which startled her,
“Phew. It didn’t break. What a relief.”
The old alarm clock, which Joo-ji had given her 10 years ago, was still working properly.
Before getting out of bed, Jo Ye-rin checked her smartphone.
2 am.
“It’s the perfect time to watch football.”
Since it was bright outside, her parents must have already woken up.
Mini ＞ And crazy Kang Ji-hwan is watching?!
Mini ＞ Kang Ji-hwan’s beauty is crazy
Hae-yeon ＞ Stop watching dramas
Hee-gu-ring ＞ Don’t upload screenshots
Mini ＞ Why only one?
Mini ＞ (Kang Ji-hwan’s screenshot)
Mini ＞ My eyes are tired from staring at him, I can’t breathe.
Higuring ＞ Just die.
Haeunhaeun ＞ Ah, 30-somethings are so uninteresting.
Haeunhaeun ＞ My oppa is way better.
As I entered the non-stop notifications on the screen, I saw that my closest friends had gathered in [Ogongju Bang].
“Are you guys still not sleeping?”
It’s done.
Jo Yeoshin quickly opened her photo album and entered ＜Namchini＞.
Piles of Joo Ji-tae’s photos. While scrolling down, a photo caught my eye.
＞ (Joo Ji-tae’s national representative photo)
＞ Haha.
Haeunhaeun ＞ Ah, crazy.
Haeunhaeun ＞ You’re really going to make Jo Yeoshin go crazy again.
Higuring ＞ Stop posting Joo Ji-tae’s photos.
＞ Today is the Juventus match.
＞ Come on, Korea, fighting!
Haeunhaeun ＞ Ah, it’s so annoying.
Haeunhaeun ＞ Look at what you’re saying, it’s like a joke.
Higuring ＞ Haeun, look at what you’re saying, lol.
Higuring ＞ But seriously, did Jo Yeoshin film a public service announcement, lol?
Mini ＞ (Kang Ji-hwan’s photo)
Mini ＞ Does it look like a drama?
Mini ＞ Then I’ll watch the match too.
Sujeong ＞ Let’s sleep a bit, damn it.
Sujeong ＞ Stop bragging about your boyfriend.
Haeunhaeun ＞ Honestly, it’s not just once or twice, it’s getting old.
“Huh.”
As Jo Yeoshin saw her friends burning with jealousy, one corner of her mouth curled up.
They were all pretty and couldn’t be defeated, but they just couldn’t compare to me.
Whether it was their looks, their body, or their boyfriend.
With a satisfied smile, I walked out into the living room, but to my surprise, my dad was already sitting in front of the TV.
“What’s going on? Has it started already? Is it the Juventus match?”
“Yes, oppa, take care of it too.”
Ignoring my mom’s scolding, I sat down next to my dad, and luckily, it was still preparation time.
“Mom, I’ll get the apples.”
“I’ve already prepared them.”
“Ah, hurry up, hurry up!”
“Okay, okay. You’re sending an old mom like me to run errands. You’ve raised your daughter wrong.”
“Ah, mom, you’re not old! Okay, I’ll peel them nicely for you.”
“It’s okay. Eat the oranges first.”
As I boasted about my boyfriend to my friends and received a bunch of oranges from my dad, I was enjoying the sweet taste.
[The 2034 FIFA World Cup Round of 8 is taking place in Seville, Spain, between South Korea and Brazil! This is the home stadium of Seville FC, Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. I’m commentator Kim Hyung-tae. How do you think today’s game will go?]
[Our players have been doing really well so far, but our opponent is the football empire, Brazil. Although they may not be as strong as they used to be, Brazil is still Brazil. We can’t take them lightly.]
[That’s right. We’ll need to make some adjustments against Brazil. Our coach, Marizio, has been preparing a lot for this game. There are some changes in the starting lineup, right? Let’s take a look at the starting lineup.]
＜ FIFA World Cup United 2034 Round of 8 ＞
South Korea: Brazil
Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Andalusia, Spain
[South Korea 4-4-2]
FW: Jo Jae-sin / Oh Seung-hwan
MF: Park In-hyuk / Kim Soo-han / Noh Han-ho / Kim Sung-ho
DF: Kim Tae-jin / Joo Ji-tae / Jung Chae-geun / Go Tae-ho
GK: Choi Gyu-hwan
[Brazil 4-3-3]
FW: Adi / Gabriel Nascimento / Eder Fabian
MF: Jo Malcom / Alles Fred / Emerson
DF: Bruno Santos / Danilo Barbosa / Rafael / Fernando Henrique
GK: Lucas Pom
As I was gazing at the Brazilian players’ photos on the TV screen, I asked my dad.
“Dad, why are they mixed with white and black people?”
“What? The Brazilian players?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah, that’s a long story. To explain it, we’d have to go way back in history… Brazil was originally a Spanish colony—”
My dad, who was drinking beer, started explaining as if he had been waiting for the question, but my attention had already returned to the TV.
[Unlike our usual 4-5-1, we’re starting with a 4-4-2 formation today. However, if we look at the attacking formation, it’s similar to our usual one.]
“That’s right. When Joo Ji-tae moves up like a regista, our fullback Kim Tae-jin fills in the gap, and on the other side, Go Tae-ho moves up high.]
[Unlike a typical regista who plays as a defensive midfielder between the centerbacks, our centerback moves like a defensive midfielder, which is unique.]
“That’s right. The weakness of the regista is that when they’re too far from the defense, the passing route is limited. Usually, we use underlapping to bring the fullback inside or drop a midfielder to increase the passing route. But in our case, Joo Ji-tae is so good at breaking through pressure that we can make a smooth transition without adding extra players.]
“So, Brazil— Ah, never mind. Since Joo Ji-tae is good at breaking through pressure and passing, we can add one more player to the attack.”
My dad nodded as if he knew everything, but I didn’t understand what he was saying.
What’s a regista, and what’s underlapping?
But it was okay that I didn’t understand.
I’d eventually figure it out.
I was used to watching football while not understanding the commentary.
As long as I could see Joo Ji-tae playing well, that was enough.
[South Korea’s movement is so smooth! They’re changing from 2-3 to 3-2 to 3-3 in an instant, following Joo Ji-tae’s movement. The wide midfielders are moving up like wingers, but they’re narrowing in towards the center, while the central midfielders are moving out to the sides, causing confusion for the opponent.]
[They’re moving so dynamically, which shows how well our national team players are working together!]
“Dad, why is that good?”
“Ah, that’s because… originally, teamwork is—”
“Ah, okay. I get it.”
My dad, looking disappointed, took a sip of beer.
Joh Yeoshin couldn’t understand why her dad was so enthusiastic.
What’s so fun about this?
Coming from a family of soccer enthusiasts, with an older brother who’s a soccer player, Joh Yeoshin actually had no interest in soccer… or sports, for that matter.
She only watched games where Joo Jitae appeared.
As a result, her experience in watching soccer was considerable, but her knowledge about the sport was still at a beginner’s level.
[Is Brazil’s movement a bit slow in the early stages of the game?]
[Their condition isn’t good, and they’re making a lot of mistakes.]
[Our players mustn’t miss this opportunity! The opponent is Brazil, the king of soccer! We mustn’t let them get away with it, especially when they’re making mistakes like this!!]
However, not knowing which team was doing well or which player was outstanding wasn’t a problem.
You could tell just by watching.
And so far, that had been enough.
Joo Jitae had always performed exceptionally well, to the point where you could tell just by watching.
Like now.
[Malcolm’s trapping was long— oh, wow!? Joo Jitae suddenly appears and steals the ball! He’s going straight ahead! It’s a Korean counterattack!!]
[Oh Seunghwan receives the pass and returns it! Good combination! Kim Soohan is going up, and— Joo Jitae! When did you get here?]
“Wow, Jitae is doing well again.”
“Is Jitae doing well?”
“Yeah. Just now, Jitae blocked Brazil’s attack and started a counterattack. He’s amazing.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
To Joh Yeoshin, it looked like Jitae was just messing around, taking the ball away and passing it, but since her dad said he was doing well, he must be doing well.
Todok—tododok—
Joh Yeoshin’s fingers, which had suddenly become excited, danced on her smartphone screen.
[Joo Jitae, pass it quickly! What are you doing?! Ah, he’s surrounded— oh, he’s passing it to No Hanho!]
[No Hanho shoots from mid-range!! Oh, wow!?]
[What’s this!! It’s an own goal! It’s an own goal!! Korea is taking the lead in the 8th minute with Brazil’s own goal!!]
“Wow!!”
Joh Yeoshin’s head jerked up in surprise at her dad’s cheer, and she saw the celebrating Korean players on the screen.
“What’s going on? Did we score? Who did it?”
“Ha! No Hanho did it!! It’s an own goal!”
“Oh, what’s going on. It’s an own goal.”
Joh Yeoshin, who had quickly lost interest, started snacking on an apple and entered the [Oh Gongju] chat room.
Since Joo Jitae didn’t score a goal or get an assist, she might as well brag to her friends.
She was in the middle of boasting to her friends about her boyfriend when…
“Uh… this… the atmosphere is bad.”
Suddenly, her dad’s lament and her mom’s fussing…
“Oh no, dear, this isn’t good, is it?”
Joh Yeoshin finally turned her attention back to the TV.
19th minute.
Joo Jitae, who had blocked Brazil’s attack, was shown on screen, looking like he was saying “it’s nothing” with his hand gesture.
“It’s okay. Brazil is gaining momentum, but we’re still leading by one goal. And we have Jitae, so what’s the problem?”
“Will it be okay? With Ji Tae, we’ll be fine. Our Jae Shin also needs to score quickly.”
As he watched his parents chatting and laughing while drinking beer, Jo Yeoshin puckered up his lips.
“No way… It’s really tough, isn’t it?”