5 – Just as Bad as Each Other

Aaron swept back his bangs and buried his face deep between Je-rim’s legs. Unlike before, when he had just toyed with the glans, the shaft was thrust halfway into his mouth in an instant. He could feel the glans poking deep into the tender mucosa of the roof of the mouth, just before the throat.

The thick shaft pressed down on the soft tongue, screaming to push further inside. Je-rim almost moved his hips instinctively but barely managed to endure by clawing at the leather of the sofa. This was because a sliver of reason still remained, calculating that the moment he started thrusting into Aaron’s mouth out of pleasure, his future would become complicated in many ways.

However, as the reason he was struggling to hold onto gradually faded, his patience scattered along with it.

The hot temperature, the squelchy and soft sensation of the mucosa and tongue, the hot breath that came from beyond the throat to wrap around the glans, and the pressure that tightly squeezed the entire cock took Je-rim’s soul away. Moreover, the fact that the guy kneeling between his legs and sucking his cock was none other than Aaron Reyes made Je-rim hotter than anything else.

Half-closed eyes, a sharp bridge of the nose even when looking down, and lips that were wide open and wet from sucking the cock. Since this was the sight he saw just by rolling his eyes, there was no way he could hold onto his reason. Je-rim threw away all stray thoughts and immersed himself in the given stimulation.

“Kh, ugh…! Haah….”

Every time Je-rim groaned while rummaging through Aaron’s hair, a purring laugh was transmitted through the cock thrust into the throat. When breath hit the glans bobbing in the narrow passage, the urethral opening flared wildly, pouring out pre-cum. Aaron’s Adam’s apple bobbed repeatedly, as if he were swallowing all that dirty fluid.

Aaron hugged Je-rim’s right leg, which was twitching, and spread it wider, digging deeper between them. In that state, as he wrapped his other arm around Je-rim’s waist, Je-rim naturally wrapped his right leg around Aaron’s back.

Panting breaths, belonging to either or both, filled the living room. The game screen announcing Aaron’s victory didn’t even enter his sight. There was only the desire to enjoy this nerve-shredding pleasure, which had come after a long time, for as long as possible.

Je-rim shifted his hips back and forth, pulling Aaron’s head. Still, Aaron was busy sucking Je-rim’s cock like a starving man, without any complaint of pain. Rather, as he swallowed the cock deep into his throat, he even covered the hand Je-rim had used to grab his hair, as if telling him to grip tighter. Je-rim didn’t decline; he grabbed the back of Aaron’s head and pressed him closer between his legs.

“…Kugh!”

The moment of ejaculation arrived in the blink of an eye. In reality, he had been sucked for quite a while, but to Je-rim, it felt instantaneous. That’s why it was so regrettable. Because of that, he forgot to even notify Aaron that he was about to come and just shot it all into the cozy mouth.

The cock twitched violently as it sprayed semen. Feeling the semen filling his mouth, Aaron’s movements stopped. Seeing this, Je-rim quickly pulled his waist back so that the semen wouldn’t go down the throat. He had probably already swallowed some, but for the sake of decency….

However, Aaron did not let go of the cock until the end. Even if he had gotten angry and bared his teeth, the one who had shot inside without permission should have been the one begging for forgiveness, but Aaron continued to suck the glans softly, as if granting an afterglow while the ejaculation continued. Whenever the hole spraying semen was blocked by the tongue and licked deeply, Je-rim’s waist trembled.

Eventually, when Je-rim’s ejaculation ended, Aaron finally spat out the cock and grabbed his own jaw, twisting it left and right repeatedly. He had a frown on his face. Since he had opened his mouth wide enough to stretch the corners of his lips, it was natural for his jaw joint to hurt. Overwhelmed by lethargy, Je-rim leaned his back against the sofa head and muttered weakly.

“Ah… sorry. Just spit it on the floor.”

I’ll wipe the floor later. Later…. Now, completely soaked in exhaustion, everything was a bother. Even the simple action of pulling up his pants caused his uncoordinated breath to be exhaled haphazardly. Just as he was taking a deep breath and about to close his flickering eyes—

Right before closing them, Je-rim saw Aaron’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, and he shouted in horror.

“Why are you swallowing it? Are you crazy?”

His body, which had been buried in the sofa, sprang up like a coil. As he grabbed and shook Aaron’s jaw like someone disciplining a dog that had eaten something off the floor, the guy wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue with a ‘blegh’ sound.

“It’s bitter.”

“Of course it’s bitter, you crazy bastard! Do you think it’s sweet? You know that already, so why…!”

“Still, it’s better than that fluid you fed me earlier.”

Comparing human semen to red ginseng extract was absurd, but he couldn’t bring himself to say a word. It was because a sudden explosion of shame and guilt hit him as he belatedly noticed the white semen sparsely clinging to his bright red tongue. Je-rim-ssi crawled back to the sofa and pressed his face hard into a cushion.

Chapter

“…My life is over.”

“Your dick is still very much alive, though?”

Even though he had finished ejaculating, Aaron began playing around again, groping over Je-rim’s pants where the outline of his half-erect penis was still visible. Je-rim coldly brushed the hand away.

“I don’t even have the strength to argue with you right now…. Just go….”

“You enjoyed it so much, so why are you acting like this? Besides, even if I wanted to go, I can’t.”

“…You want me to suck yours too?”

Je-rim wasn’t unaware that Aaron’s dick had also been erect for a while. No matter how hard he tried not to look, it was impossible to miss the monster-sized cock—so huge it was almost sinister—standing stiff and pushing against the shower gown. Since he had received, it was only right to give back, but Je-rim looked displeased.

For one… unlike his own dick, which could at least be forced into his mouth, Aaron’s was of such size and girth that just taking the glans in would likely tear the corners of his mouth. Furthermore, unlike Aaron, he had no experience sucking. Nor did he particularly want to.

Fortunately, Aaron snorted and denied Je-rim’s question.

“If I asked, would you actually do it? I’m not expecting that. You hate giving blowjobs. Even though you love receiving them.”

As he spoke, Aaron pulled out his member and began to stroke it slowly. The dark red dick pushed past the snow-white shower gown, bulging out and leaking cowper’s fluid from the hole at the center of the glans. Watching the sight of him masturbating with practiced ease, his large hand tightly gripping the bumpy shaft riddled with grotesque veins and tendons, Je-rim pulled a cushion up to his forehead.

Aside from the embarrassment, he felt a secret sense of relief seeing that Aaron intended to handle it himself. He felt like trash for thinking that, but he didn’t let it show.

Honestly, he hadn’t expected Aaron to just help him and leave. He thought he’d have to at least give him a handjob. It was true that he felt suspicious of Aaron asking for nothing, so after some hesitation, Je-rim asked.

“…Knowing I wouldn’t do it, why did you suddenly offer to help?”

“Huu…. Seeing you get an erection and not knowing what to do with yourself, kh… it’s been a while, so it turned me on.”

“Why?”

“And you… haa, why did you suddenly get turned on just because I was being compliant?”

“…Because it’s been a while for me too.”

The conclusion was that both of them had a sudden explosion of sexual desire triggered by sights that reminded them of the past, and they had failed to exercise restraint. Je-rim waited until Aaron let out a low moan, his Adam’s apple bobbing, before tossing him some tissues and muttering.

“…Ah, this is fucking bullshit. We’re not animals….”

“We are animals, why act surprised now?”

Right. One guy had his dick sucked by a colleague and came in his mouth, and the other guy masturbated and came right in front of a colleague. They were absolute animals. Overwhelmed by a wave of self-loathing, Je-rim turned over and thumped his forehead against the back of the sofa.

“I have no intention of acting like an animal anymore, so just leave. Get your clothes out of the dryer.”

“I don’t have my shoes.”

“I’ll lend you a car, so just go barefoot. I’ll either wash your shoes and give them back later or pay you for them.”

“Are you kidding? You want me to drive barefoot? No way.”

“Then just wear my slippers. They’re open-toed, so they should roughly fit.”

Whether the alternative of borrowing slippers satisfied his picky standards or not, Aaron finally left. As soon as he was alone, Je-rim writhed, kicking the innocent cushion and sofa.

I must be crazy. Out of my mind. No matter how starved I’ve been lately, of all people, with that bastard…. Still, considering we both lost our minds, it’s a relief we didn’t go all the way and settled it relatively wholesomely. But how the hell am I supposed to look at his face now? The Champions League group stage starts next week. We even have to travel to Italy for an away game.

This was his first time causing an accident by succumbing to a momentary surge of lust, and the future looked bleak. To think he had come in the mouth of an ex-boyfriend from way back. The only time he had ever felt sexual arousal toward a man was when he dated Aaron; there had been nothing like it since. He wondered why he had been so easily swayed and turned on.

However, Je-rim’s regret gradually faded as he recalled Aaron’s skillful fellatio and his playful behavior immediately after the act.

‘It seems like that bastard is planning to just brush this off as a happening….’

He had said himself he had no intention of going all the way, he didn’t make any other demands, and judging by the way he did it, he was damn experienced.

Since Je-rim had consciously avoided news about Aaron, he had no way of knowing who he had been dating, aside from an actor involved in a scandal ten years ago. But seeing how well he sucked a man’s dick and how slyly he handled a massive accident caused by being swept up in the mood, it was obvious he was used to these situations. Once his thoughts reached that point, something hot surged up inside Je-rim, and he bolted upright.

‘For fuck’s sake, did I ask him to suck me? Why am I the only one walking on eggshells?’

I’ll act confident, like someone who’s been through this a hundred times. Like I don’t even care about this kind of thing. We’ll just go back to being colleagues who bicker normally. Instead of sweating through overthinking it alone, I just need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

What can you do about an accident that’s already happened? The present is more important than the past, and the future more important than the present. Recalling the team’s grand goal of winning the Champions League, Je-rim stood up vigorously. Just then, Aaron, having washed up and changed, came out into the living room with his things.

Seeing Je-rim, who had been lying there like wilted spinach, suddenly regain his energy and even give him a bright smile, Aaron instinctively stepped backward. Je-rim grabbed him and personally guided him to the entrance.

At the entrance lay Aaron’s white sneakers, grimy and covered in muddy water. The way they were placed neatly, more so than the other shoes around them, suggested that the lesson he’d been taught—that it’s polite to take off your shoes and set them neatly when visiting someone’s home in Korea—was still in his head.

It was somewhat admirable, but regardless, those wouldn’t be fixed by washing. He’d have to check the market price later and either pay him back or get him new ones. Je-rim clicked his tongue inwardly and opened the shoe rack, rummaging through the wall where the car keys were hung.

“Any specific car you want?”

“Forget the shoe money; give me the most expensive car instead.”

“You’re really trying to bleed me dry….”

Though grumbling, Je-rim tossed him the key to the most expensive car. Aaron caught the small object with ease and smiled, saying, “Oh, a Bugatti,” as he stepped closer to pick out some slippers. As soon as Je-rim looked into the shoe rack with him, a barrage of curses rained down on his head.

“…Ha, fuck. Je-rim, are you actually a slut?”

“What now?”

What could possibly happen while looking for slippers that would lead to being called a slut? Flustered by the sudden condemnation, Je-rim turned around. Aaron then slammed down a pair of shoes he had pulled from the far corner of the top shelf. They were light blue slippers. The heel was 3cm, and the size was about a 6. Upon identifying the object, Je-rim let out a gasp and picked up the slippers.

They were likely shoes left behind by an ex-girlfriend who had once slapped him; he hadn’t even known they were there for two years. It made sense—how could he possibly find them shoved in the furthest corner of a shoe rack that was taller than he was and filled two entire walls of the entrance?

He actually found these. Je-rim’s face filled with admiration, as if he were looking at a narcotics detection dog. Aaron pointed a finger at Je-rim and demanded an explanation.

“Where do you get the nerve to bring an ex-boyfriend into a house where a girlfriend used to come and go? And on top of that, you take a blowjob in the living room?”

“They’re both ‘exes,’ so what’s the problem? And did I ask you to do it? You just dove right in.”

“You really…!”

“Just pick something and get out. I’ve opened the garage door.”

Getting bored, Je-rim pushed Aaron’s back. After huffing for a while, Aaron suddenly gestured toward the floor of the entrance and said resolutely.

“I’m wearing these.”

“What?”

“The slippers. I’m wearing these. Since they belong to an ex, you can just throw them away anyway, right?”

Aaron insisted on wearing the light blue women’s slippers he had just slammed down.

Did that red ginseng I fed him earlier mess with his head? The expiration date was definitely still valid. More bewildered than when he was suddenly called a slut, Je-rim blinked his eyes, distorted by confusion.

“I mean, sure… but will those even fit your feet?”

“No problem.”

“Just wear something else. I won’t ask for them back, so pick any pair you like.”

“I like these the most. I’m taking them.”

Aaron forced his foot into the slippers that were the size of Je-rim’s palm. Naturally, his heel, which couldn’t fit entirely, protruded from the back. Rrip—the sound of the stitching tearing was like the death rattle of a dying slipper.

The only saving grace was that the fabric covering the instep was made of an elastic material, so it didn’t tear completely. Judging by the pitifully dangling state of them, they would likely meet their end soon. Instead of mentioning that, Je-rim covered his mouth and muttered.

“…If an article comes out saying you’re a cross-dresser, don’t come crying to me.”

“You’re not even interested anyway, right?”

That was true… but still…. If an article came out saying a teammate enjoys wearing women’s shoes… what would happen?

Since he had never experienced such a thing, there was a limit to his imagination. He had witnessed countless bizarre incidents caused by teammates’ deviations—drunken brawls with pedestrians, affairs, assaulting opposing players, neighbor disputes over noise, exposing genitals while filming TikToks in the locker room—but this was different.

However, he didn’t need to imagine to know that this would be a far bigger topic than any of the incidents he’d experienced. The fact that Aaron Reyes, who is ranked number one every time the world’s most handsome and sexy football players are chosen, walks around in women’s slippers the size of a palm in private.

Honestly, if such an article had come out before the transfer, even Je-rim, who had been avoiding news of Aaron, wouldn’t have been able to resist curiosity and would have looked into it. Exercising a shred of camaraderie, Je-rim tried to stop Aaron.

“Hey, I’ll keep your taste a secret, so just wear my shoes today….”

It was then. At the sound of a vibration from somewhere, Je-rim stopped talking and looked around. As soon as he confirmed it wasn’t his phone, Aaron pulled out the phone from his back pocket. As soon as he pressed the accept button, a woman’s voice shouted loud enough to ring through the entrance. Her tone sounded angry.

-Ari! Where are you? You said you were coming to pick me up today.

“…Hold on.”

At the sound of Spanish and the familiar name ‘Ari,’ Je-rim’s eyes narrowed. There was no way he couldn’t recognize it. It was a nickname he had given. A nickname they had promised to use only for each other.

Look at this. Je-rim crossed his arms and leaned his upper body diagonally against the wall. He calls someone a slut just because they had some slippers they didn’t even know were in the house, yet he lets his current partner use a nickname given by an old lover? More importantly, was that bastard seeing someone?

Recalling that Aaron came from a massive family of six siblings, the thought crossed his mind that it could be a younger sibling or an older sister. But then he remembered Aaron saying he didn’t get along with his family, so there was no way he’d use nicknames.

Aaron whispered softly to Je-rim, who was standing crookedly and staring toward the entrance.

“I’ll take you up on the car. I’m off then.”

Then he hurriedly opened the door and replied to the person on the phone. His voice sounded as if he were soothing her.

“I’m outside right now. I sent a driver instead, didn’t you meet them?”

He couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation because the front door closed.

Even after Aaron left, Je-rim stood blankly with his arms crossed for a while. Until he reached the rational conclusion that whether Aaron shared an old nickname with a new lover or not was none of his business.

But he couldn’t help feeling disgusted. He shook his hands in annoyance and muttered lowly.

“…If I’m a slut, you’re the water used to wash that slut, you piece of shit.”

Even after cursing at the person who had already left, he strangely didn’t feel relieved. Only after grandly kicking the sneakers Aaron had left behind into the trash can did Je-rim leave the entrance. They were useless now anyway, so it was fine to throw them away.

Returning to the spacious living room, the hollow scenery of the house, which had suddenly become silent, entered his sight. Je-rim quickly turned on the TV, cranked up the volume, and tidied up the living room. The things scattered messily on the floor were mostly traces left by Aaron. A cup used for coffee, two controllers, sofa cushions out of place.

If he had any conscience, he seemed to have thrown away the used tissues himself. Despite that, he felt somehow unclean, and by the time he finished showering and came out, it was still bright outside.

He considered going for a walk, but thinking it would be a waste of his shower, he just flopped down. With the TV on even though he wasn’t watching it, Je-rim stared at his phone in a trance. He checked SNS, explored YouTube, and searched his own name on the internet to read a few articles. Fortunately, since his recent performance had been good, there were no bad articles. Except for the embarrassing titles.

“Who is this reporter?”

Filled with rage, Je-rim didn’t even read the content of the article and scrolled down to the bottom where the reporter’s name and contact information were listed. After searing the reporter’s three-letter name into his mind, he looked at the comments, which were filled with content even more infuriating than the title.

-This is why ‘hateful affection’ is scary. They fight for 10 years and then suddenly get married.

⤷ If they were going to reconcile this easily, why on earth 10 years ago ㅠ

⤷ What the hell happened back then? I didn’t watch the World Cup so I don’t know.

⤷ In the match that decided South Korea’s advancement to the round of 16, Ban Je-rim shit the bed lol. They just needed a draw, but they lost because of Ban Je-rim. And of course, the opponent was Spain… Aaron took the ball Ban Je-rim spilled and scored lol. And then the two of them

SNS

Unfollow

⤷ OMG

⤷ Wow, it’s more of a disaster than I thought?

✲ ✲ ✲

-Who unfollowed first back then?

⤷ Jjer-i~

⤷ I didn’t think Je-rim hyung was like that, but he’s so p- petty. Is it like ‘Why did you take advantage of my mistake?’

⤷ Fuck, if you put it that way, Reyes, who unfollowed back within a minute, is also damn petty. No camaraderie at all.

⤷ What camaraderie lol. Ban Je-rim had already transferred to Newum by then. Besides, camaraderie toward the opposing team in a national match? Does he want to be a traitor?

⤷ Jerry showed camaraderie though ㅠㅠ He gave the ball to Aaron in the World Cup.

⤷ Is it normal to be mocked like this until now for one passing mistake made 10 years ago? Je-rim was a high school senior back then,, stop it already.

FR, if these people were told to play for the national team in the World Cup as high school seniors, they’d piss themselves

✲ ✲ ✲

-Were the two that close back then? To the point where rumors of discord were fried for 10 years?

⤷ Yes yes yes, nobody can deny this..ㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ No lie, they’re always together in every video and photo. They were always stuck to each other.

⤷ There’s a documentary filmed when Je-rim was young, watch that ㅎㅎ When asked to name the friend he’s closest to and relies on most, he picked Aaron without hesitation.

⤷⤷ True true, that’s why Yeo-bin got sulky after seeing that ㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ If you look at Aaron’s interview when he first got called up to the first team, he was totally excited that he was called up with Je-rim. Ha.. ㅜㅜ

⤷ No, they were that close and they fell out because of the World Cup? Wow;;;ㅋㅋㅋ

✲ ✲ ✲

-Sefton’s league win and Champions win are confirmed, right?

⤷ We don’t know yet. They haven’t even played ten league games ㅋㅋㅋ And the Champions group stage hasn’t even started.

⤷ It always ends in disaster when people hype it up like this.

⤷ Coldly speaking, the chemistry between Ban Je-rim and Aaron isn’t perfect yet ㅎㅎ The defensive line is shaky and the midfield, except for Ban Je-rim, isn’t that great…? They rely too much on Aaron, so the wingers on both sides can’t even score properly. I don’t know about the league, but isn’t a Champions win a bit much?

⤷ Are the people in the comments above using their heads as decoration? It’s obvious this was written to bring them down.

⤷ Yeah, Sefton is going for the Treble. Your Tavarona is just group stage fodder~~ㅎㅎㅎ

⤷ Why suddenly grab Tavarona by the hair;; Anyway, typical Sefton level.

⤷ Since Je-rim and Aaron reconciled, Sefton and Tavarona should reconcile too.

⤷ Honestly, isn’t it more likely they’re Molden fans lol. Anyway, let’s fight IRL.

✲ ✲ ✲

-It would be hilarious if Aaron makes Sefton runners-up in the Champions and then does a free transfer to challenge again.

⤷ If he just comes to our team on a free transfer, I’ll take everyone else’s weekly wages and give them to Aaron. FR FR.

⤷ Come to Molden this time. Molden FC is waiting for you.

⤷ If Aaron does two consecutive free transfers from Sefton to Molden, he’ll be murdered ㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ We still got runners-up without Aaron, so what lol. Molden, who got knocked out in the quarterfinals, are you crying??

⤷ We don’t ask for much. Just give us Reman.

⤷ This is not a place to make wishes.

⤷ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ To be serious, the contract is 3 years + alpha, so he can’t do a free transfer for at least 3 years.

⤷ A guy with no loyalty like that is better off gone. A home-grown youth, tsk.

✲ ✲ ✲

-Someone like Aaron doesn’t need loyalty. Fuck, in reality, people with neither skill nor loyalty are running rampant~

lol This is right.

⤷ Ah, what is this, is it talking about our team?ㅋ

⤷ If he’s a wage thief, wouldn’t it be better for him to just leave on his own? lol Please leave, please!

⤷ I absolutely want to sell him for a transfer fee hahaha. You thieves should at least give some money back to the team for all the wages you’ve sucked dry.

✲ ✲ ✲

But for them to have reunited, neither of them follows the other. Is it just for show?

⤷ Ah, they’re only a couple when they’re playing matches~ Real lovers have to be posted on socials~

⤷ Don’t they both not have partners??

⤷ It seems like Je-rim-ssi definitely broke up with that model he was dating before, but I’m not sure about Aaron.

⤷ Aaron probably doesn’t have one either? For someone who looks like that, he has sooooo few scandals. Maybe he dates quietly.

✲ ✲ ✲

It’s actually surprising that Aaron’s relationship with women is so clean… It’s weird that he hasn’t married or gone public with any WAGs at his age.

⤷ Didn’t Aaron and Delgado break up and get back together all the time? That’s what I know.

⤷ To call it “breaking up and getting back together,” the timing is just too… lol. The rumors always pop up only when Delgado or Aaron has some other controversy.

⤷⤷ True. That’s why so many people suspect it’s just business.

⤷ In a Spanish tabloid I saw, there was a rumor that Aaron is impotent…

⤷ Eh? Can an impotent person be a Football Saint??

“…Pfft.”

Impotent, my ass. A strained sound escaped Je-rim’s lips, having just seen the man’s parts functioning perfectly. The shock of the phrase ‘Aaron’s impotence rumor’ was so significant that the anger he felt from the previous comments vanished like melting snow.

What on earth had happened over the last ten years—during which he had intentionally avoided Aaron’s news—for such a rumor to emerge? Je-rim found himself unable to contain a sudden surge of curiosity. It was a hypothesis far more interesting and shocking than the theory that Aaron was a cross-dresser.

And he was also slightly curious if the person on the phone earlier was actually a lover, as he had guessed…

Considering the use of a pet name and the uncharacteristically obedient tone, there was a 90% probability they were lovers, but still. Would a man who openly had a partner actually engage in such promiscuous acts with the team captain? Well, given his history of cheating, it was entirely possible.

‘Wow, what a pathetic loser.’

Je-rim fought a fierce battle with a rising sense of self-loathing before he finally searched for Aaron’s SNS account. Comforting himself with the thought that as someone whose cock had just been sucked, he deserved this much confirmation, he barely managed to skim through the feed. However, after scrolling down a few times, he hit last year’s posts, and even then, there wasn’t a trace of a partner.

Aaron’s SNS feed consisted only of brief reflections occasionally posted after big matches, posts left as the captain of the Spanish National Team, obligatory advertisements for sponsored products, and transfer news. The longest post on his SNS was a farewell message expressing apology and gratitude for leaving Tavarona, the club he had been with since he was young.

If he was capable of writing such a long, heartfelt post, he should have just endured it and signed a short-term contract renewal with Tavarona, even if things weren’t great. Je-rim now realized that Aaron’s mannerism had reached a serious level, but if he had signed for even one more year at the point he changed his mind from retirement to a transfer, he wouldn’t be getting cursed at this much.

Despite hating him, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity as a fellow player. Pushing those unnecessary emotions aside, he had no choice but to hit the internet search. He combined various keywords—Aaron Reyes dating, scandal, dating rumors, partner, WAGs, etc.—and found the results he wanted. They were mostly these kinds of tabloids.

“God damn it.”

Not a single article was from a credible source. Looking through them, the only name consistently linked to Aaron was Gabriela Delgado. …The actress he had a scandal with ten years ago. In other words, the person he cheated with.

Moreover, the article about Delgado being spotted at a British airport was fresh news that had just broken today. If this were true, it explained Aaron’s behavior—apologizing for sending an article instead of picking her up himself. If they had spent ten years breaking up and reuniting, and were now actually preparing for a wedding in England.

“What a complete piece of shit…”

He broke a promise to pick up his fiancée because he was busy sucking a man’s dick? He almost felt sorry for Delgado. If he ever got invited to the wedding, he’d make sure to tell her that the man about to become her husband is a shameless piece of human trash and a pervert who enjoys wearing women’s shoes. And that a man who cheats once will do it again. No, if he dared to send him a wedding invitation, he’d kill him then and there.

For some reason, the more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled. He had clearly decided to act as if his past with Aaron never happened, and they had mutually agreed to do so. But from the moment Aaron let his lust blind him and caused an accident—more accurately, from the moment he heard someone else being called ‘Ari’—he felt… like shit.

He was even more confused because he couldn’t figure out what emotion this anger stemmed from. It wasn’t that he expected anything from Aaron, nor did he have any lingering feelings, nor had he officially claimed exclusive rights to the nickname ‘Ari’ through a notarized document, so why?

‘It’s embarrassing if only I’m called Bunny, so you be Ari too.’

‘I don’t care what it is, as long as you’re the one who named it. Call me whatever you want. But only you.’

‘Of course only I’ll call you that. I like it, a rabbit and a chick.’

‘A chick? Does Ari mean chick in Korea?’

‘That’s how it sounds. It has a very cute nuance. And your eye color happens to resemble a chick’s down.’

‘…If that’s how it looks to your eyes. I’d rather be a chick than a wolf.’

‘Don’t act cute. You’re already cute, do you really want to become a chick?’

‘I think being a chick with this build is a bit of a stretch. But if you tell me to be one, I’ll try. Anyway, you’re probably the only one who calls me cute.’

‘And you’re the only one who tells me I’m like the sky. Wow, we’re both hopeless.’

“…Utterly hopeless.”

At the sudden rush of old memories, Je-rim shook his head violently and muttered aloud on purpose. Even back then, Aaron was over 6’2″, and he called a guy like that a chick… Furthermore, Aaron’s eyes were a deep amber, which was a far cry from the soft yellow of a chick. If he saw that as the color of a chick’s down, he must have been truly insane.

No, more than that, he was the one who told him to be the only one to call him that.

“…….”

In that moment, Je-rim knelt down and slammed his head into the sofa like a man in despair. He prayed fervently that the childish spite flashing through his mind wasn’t entirely his own.

‘I’m just going crazy because I’m staying home alone doing nothing on a holiday.’

Even if it was a holiday, he couldn’t just lounge around. When a person becomes lazy and lonely, all sorts of strange, random thoughts start to creep in.

Je-rim sprang up, scrambled to put on his clothes, and pulled down his hat. He intended to go for a jog. Since he was heading out anyway, he thought it might be good to call some fellow singles like Marshall or Craig to have dinner together. William never came out on holiday evenings since he got married.

Planning for a meal out, he opened his wallet to check how much money he had. Je-rim realized that the ugly talisman sewn into the inside of his wallet had disappeared, so he flipped the wallet over and shook it. Still, nothing came out.

‘Did it tear because it was hanji paper?’

He had been caught in the rain a few times recently, and since he wasn’t the type to treat his belongings with great care, it seemed the water-soaked paper had torn and fallen out on its own while he carried the wallet haphazardly.

Looking around, Je-rim adjusted his hat and packed his wallet. His mother had said she paid a lot of money to get that talisman, but honestly, he hated carrying it, so he figured this was for the best. Prevent a bad fate from the past, my foot. He had just been subjected to an unspeakable act by that very bad fate, so the talisman’s effect could be considered zero…

‘Wait. When did I lose this?’

The thought followed late that to discuss the talisman’s efficacy, he had to determine when it had left his possession.

If the extreme situation of a fellatio in the living room in broad daylight was a result of the talisman disappearing… If that talisman had been preventing him from losing his mind to Aaron’s tricks, and he had lost it without even knowing its value?

“…No way.”

Je-rim let out a short laugh. He didn’t believe in folk beliefs like that, but perhaps because today had been so exhausting, he had unconsciously wanted something to lean on. Understanding anew the psychology of people who rely on superstition, he tightened his sneaker laces firmly. He needed to run until he was out of breath to clear his dizzy head.

Superstition has no substance, but exercise is an excellent psychological remedy with proven effects in many areas. Je-rim had benefited greatly from it. No matter how depressing or sluggish a day was, if he worked out until his body was exhausted, the random thoughts would vanish. Because of this constitution, he had been able to continue playing the boring sport of football for so long.

Hoping for the same result this time, Je-rim left the house.

✲✲✲

Gabriela shuddered as she looked at the cars parked as if surrounding the wall in front of Aaron’s house. Beyond the windows, which weren’t even properly tinted, were faces packed with cameras that looked like cannons. Some bold individuals had their windows rolled down, resting their camera lenses on the gap and clicking away.

“Take your pictures, go ahead. You leeches.”

Toward the crowd that had not only followed her from the airport but had been waiting in advance as if they knew she would get off in front of Aaron’s house, she provided the ultimate fan service. Pretending to push up her sunglasses, she flipped them the middle finger, and the atmosphere heated up. This was why both she and Aaron loathed reporters.

Taking advantage of the noisy shutter sounds, she ran inside the gate and slammed the door. The driver who had escorted her instead of Aaron left immediately, as if his job ended there. Gabriela sprawled out on the sofa, stretching her feet without even taking off her shoes, and waited for the homeowner to arrive.

What on earth was he doing, calling her all the way to this distant land of England only to do this? After calling Aaron and intentionally using a pet name he hated to express her annoyance, and spending about ten minutes killing time by braiding her long blonde hair that draped over the sofa, her appointment finally appeared. She sneered without hesitation.

“Just how urgent was your business that you forgot your promise to me and went out? Ari.”

“Unless you want to be kicked out the moment you arrive, never call me Ari again. I believe I’ve warned you several times.”

Even though it was a face she had seen since childhood, her shoulders flinched when he made that stern expression. Unlike her gentle impression, Aaron’s impression could not be called good, even as a white lie. While they shared many similarities in personality, the two siblings were starkly different in appearance.

To begin with, it was already a problem that half-siblings were the same age, and if they had looked alike, it would have been very uncomfortable for their respective mothers to look at their own children. In fact, Aaron’s wise mother had divorced and cut ties with her own son the moment she learned of the existence of an illegitimate child the same age as her son.

Regardless, knowing that Aaron would never actually kick her out into the street where paparazzi were lined up, Gabriela acted brazenly.

“How stingy. I’m just calling you by a pet name, and you won’t allow it? You call me by a pet name.”

“No, not even you. Think of another pet name besides Ari.”

Honestly, her desire to provoke Aaron was greater than her desire to use a pet name, so she quietly shut her mouth.

She had already asked several times why a nickname given by some Je-rim or He-rim was so precious that he wouldn’t let anyone else utter it. Each time, the answer was, ‘Because we promised to only call each other that.’ Since the same answer was bound to return if she asked again, she didn’t bother this time.

Both she and Aaron had a severe tendency to obsess over one thing and ignore everything else… but even considering Aaron as an extension of herself, she couldn’t understand why he was so obsessed with a first love. The affection Aaron poured into football was in line with her own love for acting, so there was nothing to understand or not.

The boy Aaron had fallen in love with in his teens was the only existence that occasionally made Aaron—the only sibling Gabriela acknowledged—feel like a stranger. The only one since they first met and learned of each other’s existence at age four.

In that sense, the Asian boy with the surname Ban (now a young man) was a figure of quite special meaning to Gabriela as well, but she simply could not like him.

‘What a pushover.’

Does he still like him after all that shit? After being ghosted and then dumped in the worst possible way at the end. I really can’t understand it. She looked with disgusted eyes at her flesh and blood, who had thrown away his pride, honor, and career for a mere first love. Aaron likely read the hidden meaning in that gaze but ignored it nonchalantly.

“Anyway, you’re early. How was the trip?”

“How was it? It was fucking awful. I don’t know how they knew I was coming to England, but they were already positioned. So I gave them some pretty pictures to use as the main story.”

Whenever she and Aaron interacted, scandals would pour out, but that was actually what they wanted. Both she and Aaron had many truths that could be covered up by those trivial dating rumors.

Since both siblings had professions that required a certain amount of publicity, fake scandals did more good than harm. The romance between the most high-valued, young, handsome football player and a Hollywood actress—it was a subject that the public of all nationalities would go wild for.

In truth, not only were they half-siblings, but one was an illegitimate child born of an affair, so they couldn’t openly reveal it. It was better to use whatever they could. It was also amusing to see the man they called a father foam at the mouth whenever articles linking the two appeared.

‘And yet he tries to image-make himself as a family man, pretending to have a harmonious large family.’

The Reyes family has operated a family business producing handmade luxury furniture for generations. They were an established prominent family in Tavarona. With a catchphrase like ‘For a harmonious and cozy home,’ and since local residents had been their primary customers since old times, a family-friendly image was important to sell well.

Aaron and Gabriela’s biological father didn’t play his dick in a family-friendly way at all, but he was a man who knew the importance of corporate image very well. Divorce and remarriage were so common that they weren’t big problems in maintaining that image, but the existence of an illegitimate child born from an affair during marriage had to be kept strictly confidential according to the doctrine.

Yet, he was a man who would moan that he couldn’t bear to see his children in dating rumors. Every time, Gabriela wanted to rip her biological father’s mouth wide open. In the first place, it was because of him that they couldn’t deny the first dating rumor ten years ago, leading to this situation. Aaron seemed to be thinking something similar, as he chuckled softly.

“Aha, another flood of novels using full imagination will pour out. Father’s going to faint again.”

“Just faint? It would be better if he just died this time.”

“If he dies, it gets annoying because of inheritance issues. It’s better if he lives a long time while being moderately sick.”

I’m relieved that he seems to be fucking around less these days because he’s a bit ill. If he produces any more offspring, the will will be longer than the mansion’s hallway. At her sibling’s pointed joke, Gabriela burst out laughing and sat up from her lying position.

“Setting aside screwing over Father. It’s more convenient for you to have regular scandals with me if you want to bury the impotence and gay rumors… Wait, what are those shoes?”

As she sat up, Aaron’s feet came directly into view. Some light blue women’s slippers were pitifully clinging to Aaron’s feet, dying in real-time. Even for open-toed shoes, it was a wonder how he had crammed his feet into that small space.

Did he get a new hobby in the few months she hadn’t seen him? Was there now another incomprehensible point about Aaron besides the existence of Ban Je-rim? But while obsessing over a first love could be packaged as pure love at best, a hobby like that… Gabriela’s face was on the verge of distorting miserably.

“Ah, these?”

Aaron nonchalantly took off the shoes and picked them up. Then, he shrugged and tossed them straight into the trash can.

“Trash.”

“No, why women’s shoes… Are you crazy?”

“Watch your mouth with your older brother. I just wore them to throw them away for someone.”

“Speak clearly. Who the hell did you meet that you stood me up and wore such beggar-like shoes…”

“Who else could it be?”

The corners of Aaron’s mouth curled up into a broad smile. The sharp, piercing gaze that had been radiating a dangerous aura softened in an instant. There was only one person who could make him make that face just by thinking of them. From the perspective of a sibling, seeing such an expression was physiologically somewhat repulsive. Gabriela looked up at him and asked.

“You’re meeting that person again? Already?”

“No, we’re too busy fighting the moment our eyes meet. We just fought a moment ago.”

“What? I thought you transferred specifically to put up with all that abuse just to try and make things work again?”

She had naturally assumed as much when he suddenly abandoned the team he’d been with since his youth days to transfer to the team where Ban Je-rim was. At his sister’s naive question, Aaron gestured with his chin toward the trash can. A deep sigh, as if he found the situation absurd, followed.

“Those shoes belong to Je-rim’s ex. He still has them even though they broke up. He didn’t even realize they were in his house.”

“Well, I mean, he was a bit… oblivious even when he was dating you.”

The guy who used to get hurt by every single instance of that obliviousness was now acting like this.

Aaron could still vividly remember the time Je-rim had called him one day in a dying voice, asking, ‘What is the psychology behind saying that even if we aren’t fighting, we might break up someday and become people who barely see each other’s faces during matches?’ It was the first time Aaron had ever sought advice while sounding so weak over a complete stranger.

In Gabriela’s eyes, Aaron and Ban Je-rim were polar opposites in temperament. An extreme idealist and an extreme realist. It was a wonder they had managed to date for over a year, bickering and clashing, for the sole reason that they loved each other. She wondered if it was only possible because they were both young at the time.

To put it another way, now that they were both well into adulthood, she didn’t see much hope for them. However, knowing he would get terrifyingly serious if she said that, she kept her mouth shut. Aaron nodded, his expression looking as if he had chewed on an unripe persimmon.

“Now he’s even indifferent.”

“You broke up years ago, so of course… Wait, did you fight out of jealousy and intentionally snatch those shoes away?”

Had time stopped for him ten years ago? As Gabriela looked on in horror, Aaron, seemingly aware of how childish he was being, avoided her gaze and spoke bluntly.

“…I didn’t transfer just to see traces of someone else remaining on Je-rim besides me. And I certainly didn’t transfer to quietly watch some brat much younger than me hitting on him.”

If bullshit were a disease, he’d be terminal. Gabriela clutched her throbbing forehead, feeling that if there was one thing she had to tell him, it was this.

“…Normally, ten years is enough time to have five other relationships. You’re the weird one. Get a grip. How long are you going to live your life completely infatuated with him?”

“Gabi, you should have said that before I decided to transfer.”

“I did! But you didn’t listen to a word I said and just flew off. Even Mom asked me if you’d had some kind of change of heart.”

Since she had been in the US when Aaron announced his transfer, her only regret was that she couldn’t personally smack him in the head and ask if he was crazy. Though she had only heard about it, she knew that other family members, including their biological father, had tried to talk him out of it.

And for good reason; Garcia, who had served as a manager for many years and was now the club chairman, was a friend of their biological father, and the company their father ran was one of Tavarona FC’s regional sponsors. From the family’s perspective and the sponsor’s perspective, it was a transfer that naturally had to be discouraged. It was so bad that even their mother, who rarely mentioned Aaron’s father, had been shocked enough by the news to bring it up first.

However, Aaron acted as if he had only picked up the word ‘Mom’ from Gabriela’s long explanation.

“Ah, give my regards to Ines. Tell her I’m doing fine.”

“…And your mother? Are you still in touch?”

“I got a call when the transfer announcement went out. Was it five or six years ago…?”

As Aaron muttered indifferently, Gabriela asked cautiously.

“Is she doing well? I heard she went back to Finland and remarried.”

“She probably has three kids there. Honestly, with half-siblings and siblings from different fathers crawling everywhere, I’m at the point where I’m confused about which child I am in the lineup.”

Their circumstances were slightly different, but the loneliness brought about by the existence of ‘family’ had long been one of the largest commonalities shared between her and Aaron. Specifically, the fact that despite being surrounded by people they could call family, they were both essentially lonely outsiders.

Because of that, Gabriela sometimes felt that Aaron was like her twin. A twin born about a month earlier. As she always did, she hugged her brother and lightly patted his back.

“Whatever. We only have each other as siblings, my other half. That’s enough.”

“Right. For me, Gabi, you’re the only family I need.”

“And for a lover, you only need your ‘sky’?”

“Yeah.”

There wasn’t a shred of hesitation in that answer. Meeting those eyes full of conviction, Gabriela completely gave up on her plan to nag him further.

“…Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re so obsessed. But since I get annoyed whenever you interfere in my love life, I won’t say any more.”

“Good call. I didn’t intend to listen to any more anyway.”

If you want things to work out, you should start by fixing that obnoxious way of speaking, and stop acting so childishly. This advice reached the tip of her tongue, but she intentionally swallowed it. She couldn’t shake the thought that, in the long run, it might be better for Aaron to be properly rejected this time and let go.

Even if things somehow worked out and they got back together, Gabriela worried whether the future of two such incompatible people would truly be bright, and whether Aaron would completely and irreversibly collapse if they broke up again. While no relationship is perfectly balanced—one side always gives more or hurts more—as his family, she couldn’t help but worry about him.

She seemed even more anxious because she had seen Aaron fall into a slump for a while after Ban Je-rim transferred to Newum. At the time, everyone understood and brushed it off as the temporary adjustment struggle typical of young players transitioning from youth to pro, but now that he was in his late twenties, no one would apply such a lenient standard.

She knew better than anyone how much Aaron loved football. Even if he had cooled off now due to boredom… she at least hoped he wouldn’t be pushed into quitting because of a slump caused by external reasons. So, despite saying she wouldn’t interfere, she carefully added one more thing.

“Still, if it doesn’t work this time, it’s really not meant to be. When that happens, give up cleanly and just focus on football.”

Aaron frowned as if that advice wasn’t to his liking, and suddenly brought up something random.

“…Back in youth, whenever I collapsed because I couldn’t handle the training, Coach Louis used to scream at me every day to remember the reason why I had to keep running.”

Wondering what on earth he was talking about, Gabriela listened quietly. And at his following words, she felt as if she had swallowed a whole potato boiled in plain water without any seasoning.

“For me, that reason is Je-rim. That’s the only thing I’ve realized while being apart from him for the last ten years.”

“You really are…”

The question of whether he was a brainless idiot with no pride reached the tip of her tongue, but she held it back. She couldn’t ask because she knew Aaron had also tried to forget Ban Je-rim. It meant that this was the conclusion he reached despite those grueling efforts.

Just as she was about to unleash a torrent of curses out of frustration, she had been considerate enough to stay silent, only for Aaron to spout even more frustrating words.

“Even football, which used to be so fun, became boring without Je-rim.”

“So? Is it becoming fun again now that you’re playing together?”

“Is it just fun? Every day is new. There are many times when I’m angry and annoyed, but only now do I feel a sense of vitality in my daily life. …Why is he still so fucking lovely? Even I’m starting to find it amazing at this point.”

She couldn’t listen anymore. Gabriela made a grand gesture of gagging. Whether he was smiling at his sister or smiling because he was thinking of Ban Je-rim, Aaron wore a beaming grin. Judging by the physiological repulsion surging through her, it was likely the latter.

She patted her chest to soothe her nauseous stomach and then blurted out a sudden curiosity.

“But what does he say about what happened ten years ago? Why did he do that to you? You have to resolve that first if you want to start over.”

“He asked what more he was supposed to do after seeing that photo. And he said it’s all over now, so we shouldn’t mention it.”

“Hmm, it really seems like he has absolutely no intention of trying anything with you again… then or now.”

Ten years ago, he had ignored every single attempt at contact, stating he had no intention of believing Aaron’s explanation, and it seemed he was maintaining a consistent attitude even now. If he had seen with his own eyes what state Aaron had been in back then, he wouldn’t have been able to act so cold then or now.

Aaron had even escaped from a training camp to go see Ban Je-rim in person, only to be caught. As a fellow football player, he would know best how insane that was. As Gabriela clicked her tongue, Aaron replied in a cold voice.

“Apparently, he’s lived without hearing a single piece of news about me. Even if a headline appeared on the BBC main page saying I was in an arranged marriage with an alien, he probably wouldn’t know.”

“…He’d know at that point.”

At the infinitely self-deprecating joke, Gabriela couldn’t bring herself to laugh and instead showed only sympathy. Though her answer was meant as comfort, Aaron merely scoffed.

“Even if he knew, he’d probably just curse and say, ‘Then what about your football? Are you going to play on that planet? If you’re transferring, at least have the conscience to spit back your signing bonus.’ I guarantee it.”

Seeing him improvise a reaction devoid of even a speck of affection, it seemed he had been through a lot. Thanks to that, Gabriela fully grasped that her brother’s love life was not going well. And that he was incredibly twisted because of it. She shook her head.

“If there was no other way, I was going to suggest you try to trigger his jealousy with the dating rumors that are about to break, but that won’t work at all.”

“Jealousy? As if. I told you, he won’t even know. He’s not the type to look up every little piece of tabloid gossip.”

“Then what are you going to do? He doesn’t believe you, he’s not interested… there’s nothing you can even try.”

It takes two to tango. As she looked at Aaron with a gaze mixed with half-pity and half-disdain, he muttered sullenly.

“That’s why I’m trying now. To make him interested again. I just came back from trying. If I keep at it, a chance to talk again will come eventually.”

“Do you think he’ll believe you now when he didn’t ten years ago? You kept trying to explain back then, but he ignored you. He ghosted all your messages… Plus, looking at the dating rumors that have popped up since, wouldn’t he believe you even less?”

“That’s why I asked you to bring those documents.”

At those words, Gabriela took an envelope out of the bag she had held close to her chest the entire way, refusing to entrust it to anyone else. They were copies of materials kept only in physical form in the safe at her home in the US, for fear that they might be hacked if stored as digital files.

If it weren’t for Aaron’s request, she would rarely have had a reason to take them out of the safe. Evidence she had been gathering bit by bit for a long time—proof that she was Gabriela Reyes, not Gabriela Delgado. For example, things like the results of a DNA test conducted behind her biological father’s back.

She had created this evidence thinking she needed at least one weapon to throw at her biological father—who always tried to hide her existence—if things ever went south, but she never imagined it would be used for this purpose. To think it would be used to explain that the two of them were indeed siblings… She had guessed as much when he asked her to bring them, but hearing the confirmation made her taste bitter.

“Be careful not to leak them. I don’t want to be blackmailed again. Just show them to Ban and burn them immediately.”

She cautioned him as she tossed the envelope. Even if she wanted to give it nicely, she couldn’t find a nice heart within her. Watching Aaron’s desperate efforts, it was true that she felt a fundamental skepticism about whether he really needed to go to such lengths to get back together. Aaron, perhaps feeling similarly to some extent, let out a hollow laugh.

“…Well, Je-rim will probably just say, ‘So what? We already agreed to act like it never happened and ended it. More importantly, is it okay to show this to me? We’re nothing to each other now.’”

“You’re the biggest idiot for continuing to like him even though you know that!”

Even after hearing his sister’s angry outburst, Aaron didn’t show much of a reaction. He simply nodded slightly, showing a sign of resignation. Yet, seeing him respond with a smile still on his face, Gabriela lost all motivation.

“What can I do. Je-rim made me an idiot.”

✲✲✲

The first group stage opponent in the Champions League was Italy’s AS Vessina, a traditional powerhouse in Serie A. Between the first match being assigned to a remote city without an airport and the overall strength of AS Vessina, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy.

The Sefton players, including Je-rim, headed to Italy on the club’s chartered plane the day before match day. The schedule was tight because to get into Vessina, they first had to land in another nearby city and then take a bus.

During the roughly three-hour flight, Je-rim wore the frog-eye mask that Aaron had once hated and desperately ignored Aaron, who was sitting next to him.

It was because whenever he saw Aaron’s face, the events of the last holiday flashed before him like a panorama, making his face flush, and eventually, he couldn’t control a pathetic curiosity like, ‘Was that woman really a Delgado? Is he really preparing for marriage?’

He thought about just asking him outright, but knowing how out-of-the-blue the question would be from Aaron’s perspective, he couldn’t bring himself to speak. Moreover, he felt it would be better to just hang himself than to announce his own patheticness by saying, ‘After you took that call and left, I searched for your dating rumors, and there was an article saying you and Delgado are getting married soon. Is it true?’

‘Why the hell did this guy have to sit in the seat next to me….’

With no way to vent his frustrated feelings, his resentment shifted toward an innocent target. Even though he knew they had simply sat down in the order they boarded the plane, the mere fact that Aaron was sitting next to him was annoying. He didn’t understand why Aaron made him feel this way even in such trivial matters.

Furthermore, he couldn’t sleep because the loud-mouthed group, including Aaron, William, Edson, and Jesus, chattered throughout the flight. The conversation mainly consisted of a serious debate over what shape William should change his beard into. As the debate dragged on, even the usually quiet guys like Reman and Craig joined in, continuing the heated discussion.

“If you really want to change the style… how about braiding it? Like a Viking.”

“Reman, high five. See, William. I gave the same advice as Reman last time.”

“Hmm…. But braiding it, Bella’s reaction might be….”

“Then instead of asking us, why don’t you just do the style your wife wants?”

“Because you guys hate my beard too much. Especially Jerry. He tries to pluck it every time he sees it, it’s scary.”

If you know they hate it, just shave it off! Why are you all collectively worrying about something like that right before the Champions? Is your head a flower garden?

He suppressed the urge to scream that while pretending to sleep. Since he himself was harboring useless worries before a match, he didn’t have the right to shout it out loud.

How long had he endured in that uncomfortable position, arms crossed and frowning? Finally, the plane landed on Italian soil, and they transferred to a bus. And just as he was rejoicing at being liberated from that noisy flower garden, the second round of debate began.

He had been determined to say something this time, but during the long bus ride to Vessina, Je-rim actually fell fast asleep due to motion sickness.

“…Rim, Je-rim! Wake up. We’ve arrived.”

He snapped his eyes open at the touch shaking his shoulder, and his vision was blurry. Blinking his eyes, which kept trying to close, he barely managed to look around. Outside the bus window, the open scenery of the Mediterranean was visible, along with the imposing, classical exterior of the hotel building where the squad would be staying.

‘It really looks like a resort.’

Just as he was admiring the scenery outside the window and about to stretch his neck, which had become stiff from nodding off the whole time, he felt something unusual. Noticing that his neck felt surprisingly comfortable, he lifted his head to find Aaron’s chin right in front of his nose. Only then did Je-rim realize he had traveled all this way sleeping on Aaron’s shoulder, and he quickly straightened his posture.

Wow, fuck. I didn’t drool, did I? Anxious, I glanced at Aaron’s shoulder, which I had been using as a pillow until a moment ago. I wiped my chin with the back of my hand. Just as I was feeling relieved that there were no dirty traces to be seen or felt, Aaron slid a water bottle toward me. It seemed he wanted me to drink some cold water and clear my head.

“…Thanks.”

I cleared my throat, my voice raspy and cracked, as I took the bottle. I opened the cap and drank slowly, and my consciousness gradually returned. As I stretched while holding the half-empty bottle, Aaron immediately spoke up. For a moment, I thought he was surprisingly letting it slide without teasing me.

“You were fast asleep.”

“…You should have just pushed me toward the window.”

“I wondered if you were sleeping like a sick chicken because you hadn’t recovered your stamina from the last holiday.”

“What do you mean, my stamina… You crazy bastard, shut up, will you?”

Only while speaking did Je-rim realize what was being mentioned, and he hurriedly whispered. The accident that happened during the last holiday. Right now, he was irritated because his head was a mess due to that incident, but Aaron, the other party involved in the accident, seemed perfectly fine—enough to throw jokes around. That only added fuel to his irritation.

“It’s a joke. If you still feel nauseous after drinking the water, tell the medical team right away.”

Aaron responded calmly, as if he were now used to Je-rim’s temper, and stood up first. Left alone, Je-rim aimlessly shook the half-full bottle and scratched his head awkwardly. He had realized that Aaron remembered he suffered from motion sickness and had given him the water to soothe his stomach.

He shoved the water bottle into his bag and got off the bus. The teammates who had disembarked first weren’t heading straight into the hotel; instead, they were looking around the area, pouring out constant exclamations of admiration.

“Oh, the scenery is great. This would be a good place for the next vacation.”

“I knew it; towns by the Mediterranean are always pretty.”

“Man, a place like this is where you should come with a darling, not with a bunch of guys. Right, Aaron?”

As Jesus joked while poking Aaron in the ribs, Je-rim and Aaron’s eyes met. Aaron shrugged, his eyes curving slightly.

“Well, I’m happy right now.”

“You’re from Tavarona, so you’re not that impressed by this kind of scenery, are you?”

“That’s true. Still, it’s definitely been a while since I’ve seen a white sandy beach like this.”

Aaron gazed at the vast white beach stretching out right in front of the hotel. Unlike his eyes, which looked pleased, his gaze was calmly sunken and somewhat mysterious, causing Je-rim to reflexively follow Aaron’s line of sight. However, due to the coach’s order to assemble that arrived just in time, he entered the hotel haphazardly without finding the reason for that mysterious look.

After unpacking their luggage in their rooms, the players gathered in the seminar room and steeled their resolve while listening to Coach Verdi’s enthusiastic tactical explanation. Then, without a moment to breathe, they finished a tour of the opponent’s stadium and a short training session. By the time they returned to the hotel, it was dinner time again.

Je-rim intentionally ate a light dinner and went out to the beach. He tended to try and keep his body as light as possible the day before a match. He figured he could just walk slowly until his hunger faded, then shower and go to sleep.

It was annoying how his feet sank deep into the sand with every step, but he didn’t take off his shoes for fear of stepping on a seashell. As he felt the sea breeze, he saw a figure in the distance who he presumed to be Aaron. He had wondered why Aaron had stood up and left so quickly after eating; it seemed he had come out first to stroll along the beach.

‘Should I just go back in?’

It’s awkward when it’s just the two of us…. Hadn’t he desperately pretended to sleep on the plane for the sole reason that it was uncomfortable to face him? But while Je-rim was debating whether to leave or stay, Aaron was already approaching him.

If he turned around and bolted toward the hotel now, it would be no different from advertising that he was running away because he didn’t want to be alone with him. Left with no choice, Je-rim stood there with a sour expression, but upon spotting Aaron’s bare feet, he suddenly shouted.

“Hey, put your shoes on! The match is tomorrow; what if you hurt your foot!”

“…True. I didn’t think of that.”

Aaron stopped in his tracks and hurriedly put on the slippers he was holding. Wondering if they were women’s shoes again, Je-rim looked closely at Aaron’s footwear. Fortunately, they were normal men’s slippers. Once he had them on, Aaron approached him closely and asked.

“Why did you come out?”

“A walk. What about you?”

“Me too. Doesn’t this beach feel a bit similar to the beaches in Tavarona?”

“The ocean is pretty much the same everywhere.”

Since both Tavarona and Besina were on the Mediterranean, it was natural for them to feel similar. Je-rim answered indifferently and looked at the sky beyond the horizon. At the edge of the sky near the horizon, traces of the orange sunset still flickered, but the boundary was being dyed in a deep purple.

Just as Je-rim was thinking that it would soon be completely dark, a completely random question reached his ears.

“…You didn’t read a single literary novel when you were a kid, did you?”

“Why are you picking a fight again? If I didn’t read a single one, what, are you going to tease me for being a dummy?”

Even though it was a simple question, it was taken as a provocation because it hit a factual point. When Je-rim flared up, Aaron chuckled, finding something amusing again.

“No, objectively, you’re not the stupid type. I just asked because it seems like your sensibilities are dried up…. You didn’t read a single one? Really?”

“…I didn’t have time. Because of training. Training in Korea was incomparably tougher than in Spain.”

The training intensity of the Tavarona youth team was also quite high, but they were required to attend school classes on weekdays, and weekends were guaranteed as complete free time except for match days. Weekday training was also conducted at a level that would not hinder growth during adolescence.

In contrast, in Korea, he had almost no memory of properly attending school classes since elementary school. He had entered schools with soccer teams for elementary, middle, and high school, and as is typical for schools that pour effort into sports teams, the teachers did not force the athletes to participate in class.

He would go to school and train, then go to an academy after school to kick the ball or play practice matches again. Since he spent all day exercising, he would fall asleep in class, exhausted. He would only snap awake during lunch to devour his meal before heading back out to the field. In the little time he had left, he was busy with English tutoring. So there was no way he had time to read books. Je-rim had never even finished a textbook.

When he briefly explained the Korean training system, Aaron frowned.

“Isn’t that practically abuse?”

“It’s probably changed a bit these days. My time was a long time ago.”

Still, Aaron’s expression didn’t soften. If he told him about getting hit with a wooden bat by seniors or coaches under the guise of discipline, he’d probably faint. While there was some hierarchy in European sports, it was nothing compared to Korea.

Was it 5th grade of elementary school? A distant memory surfaced of skipping training with Yeo-bin to eat a 300-won slushie sold only after school, and both of them getting hit with the bat. Along with the memory of returning home with a bruised backside and turning the house upside down, claiming he didn’t want to play soccer anymore. To that Je-rim, Aaron suddenly asked.

“Je-rim, why did you become a soccer player?”

“Because soccer was what I was best at.”

Je-rim answered bluntly. It was the phrase his mother had repeated while hugging him and crying on the day he returned home after getting hit on the backside and causing a scene.

That he was the best at soccer, so he absolutely had to follow this path. If he did, a wonderful life, incomparable to others, would unfold before him. That his mother and father were sacrificing this much for him, so how could he quit now.

At the time, Je-rim didn’t know what a ‘wonderful life’ was, but because he hated seeing his mother cry, he reluctantly answered that he would work hard. Now that he was this age, he could roughly understand how his mother felt. He still didn’t know if it was a wonderful life, but it was certain that things had worked out miraculously and he was living a life without worrying about money, so he was in no position to complain.

Even as he thought this, a surge of irritation rose at Aaron’s following words.

“What a simplistic reason.”

“Don’t make it sound so easy. People like you, who can make it their profession just because they like it, are the blessed ones.”

“Blessed? Me?”

“How likely do you think it is for someone to be good at something they actually like?”

“That was only when I was young. Unfortunately, I don’t actually like soccer that much anymore either.”

“Regardless, the fact that you could start for a reason like that is a blessing in itself.”

Moreover, his nationality was Spanish, his physique was Northern European mixed, his family had close ties with Tavarona FC—called one of the most prestigious clubs—and he was a rich boy who wouldn’t have to worry about making a living even if he didn’t play soccer. His talent for soccer was so overflowing that the word ‘blessing’ was insufficient.

It wasn’t that he envied Aaron’s innate conditions, but he couldn’t help but get heated by the words tossed out carelessly by someone born and raised in such a heavenly environment. However, he also knew that he shouldn’t express this formless anger toward Aaron.

It was a thought and emotion he could sufficiently contain on his own, but the moment he revealed it, he would be no different from those pathetic people who leave malicious comments intoxicated by their own inferiority complex. He didn’t want to fight with a teammate right before tomorrow’s match. Je-rim struggled to refine his language, which was about to turn harsh.

As the atmosphere that had almost overheated gradually cooled, Aaron spoke again. He also seemed to be paying more attention to his tone than before.

“Then how did you start? You wouldn’t have decided from the beginning, ‘Ah, I think I’ll be good at soccer, so I should do it,’ right?”

“Me? The trigger itself was simple, just as you said. My parents sent me to a soccer academy without much thought, and since everyone around me kept saying I had talent until their mouths went dry, I started in earnest.”

“Did you not like soccer back then either, and your parents forced you?”

“No. When I was really young, I didn’t know anything, so I think I liked it because it was fun… maybe. I don’t know. It was so long ago.”

He felt like they had a similar conversation when Aaron first transferred. Back then, he had approached it seriously to look after the transfer student as the captain, but now that he was the protagonist of such a conversation, his whole body felt itchy. It wasn’t like he was interviewing a teammate.

Je-rim intentionally glossed over his words and changed the subject.

“But why are you suddenly asking this? Did seeing the ocean make you want to have a sentimental conversation?”

“That’s part of it. I’ve been curious for a long time.”

Aaron hesitated for a beat before speaking.

“What kind of mindset do you have while continuing to play? …You said you’d retire early without regrets once you achieved a certain goal.”

✲✲✲

He remembered it being shortly after he started dating Aaron. For Aaron, who almost never returned home even on weekends, Je-rim had given up on going home as well, and they would spend time together in the empty dormitory.

Je-rim would abandon his own perfectly fine room and barge into Aaron’s room next door from the morning, rolling around all day. At that time, they hadn’t made much progress with physical intimacy, so they played quite wholesomely even while alone. They played games, read comic books, and went on dates disguised as exploring the neighborhood. Honestly, except for the dates, it was no different from hanging out normally with a peer.

After returning to the dormitory after dinner, a documentary about the life of a soccer player happened to be airing. He was once one of the best players in the world, a name everyone knew, but as he aged, his skills dropped sharply at some point. Despite that, he didn’t retire or transfer, staying with the team until the end, and in his final years, he was called a nuisance.

Je-rim, watching the player—who was then in his early to mid-thirties—sitting on the bench blankly watching the match, murmured unconsciously.

‘Was that person happy in their final years?’

‘Even if they weren’t happy, it must have had meaning for them. Because they loved soccer, didn’t they want to play as long as possible even knowing their body couldn’t keep up?’

Je-rim tilted his head at Aaron’s answer. Was it meaningful to just watch players much younger than himself play while chewing over past glories? Wasn’t it rather torture? Why seek out such self-loathing? People around him must have mocked him, calling him a nuisance and a wage thief.

After much contemplation, Je-rim disagreed with Aaron’s words.

‘I don’t know. Maybe they just couldn’t quit for some reason even if they wanted to. I don’t want to become like that.’

‘Then? What is the ending you want?’

‘…I want to decide for myself when to step down. Once I achieve a certain goal, I’ll retire early before the aging curve hits. If possible, before thirty.’

The age of thirty was an abstract concept. It was around that age when most soccer players were told their aging curve had arrived. Even without using thirty as a benchmark, he planned to retire without regret if he suffered a major injury or felt that his body wasn’t what it used to be.

Je-rim didn’t want to show others the sight of him falling due to external factors he couldn’t control. He didn’t love soccer enough to stubbornly cling to his active career to that extent.

That said, having come all the way to Spain to play soccer, it was unacceptable to quit without achieving any results. To himself, and in the eyes of those around him. Above all, he didn’t have the face to look at his mother, who had followed him all the way here for his sake.

So, if he achieved a result that anyone would acknowledge—for example, a huge goal like winning the Champions League—then that would be… the perfect time that fits the phrase ‘leave while they’re still applauding.’

Of course, there are far more players who retire without ever achieving such a goal in their entire lives. Just as he was worrying if he had set too big a goal for someone who wanted to retire early, Je-rim turned toward Aaron at the sound of a sulky voice.

‘Why? I want to… play with you for a long time. I think soccer won’t be fun anymore without you.’

Aaron, with a somewhat surprised expression, subtly took Je-rim’s hand. Je-rim knew well how much Aaron staked his life on soccer, and despite that, the fact that he said such weak words with that build was just cute, so Je-rim simply laughed.

‘Stop exaggerating. Hey, what if one of us transfers?’

‘…Can’t you just play soccer with me for a long, long time?’

‘I want to, but isn’t that realistically impossible? We’re both too young. We’re not even pros; we’re youth players.’

The percentage of youth players who transition to pros and settle in their original club is tiny. Young players who don’t make it into that tiny percentage transfer to other clubs, go on loan, or quit soccer as they become adults.

Furthermore, in La Liga, there is a non-EU regulation that effectively forces a squad of 25 to include only 3 non-European players, so Je-rim was in a precarious position, unsure if he could even rise to the first team here. No matter how well he played, if a spot didn’t open up in the squad, he would have no choice but to transfer. Recalling that fact, Je-rim muttered helplessly to himself.

‘Someday we might part ways and only see each other’s faces during matches….’

‘…….’

He had just blurted it out, and only after seeing Aaron’s expression distort did he gasp. He realized too late that this wasn’t a conversation to have between fresh lovers who had only been dating for a few weeks. Je-rim quickly tried to fix his words.

‘I just mean as a possibility! I’m saying let’s not make too many unrealistic assumptions. It’s sadder if things don’t happen the way you thought.’

After that conversation, Aaron began consciously making suggestions to design their future together. The promise to lift the Big Ear together was the result of Je-rim finally yielding after about a year of persuasion and brainwashing.

…But to think he still remembered and was curious about the wish to ‘retire early’ that had been mentioned in passing. Je-rim traced his lips listlessly.

“…You really remember everything.”

“Because it was impressive. It’s not common for someone to want to retire early, is it?”

“I heard you considered retiring last season too.”

“I just thought about adding some variation because life was boring, but aren’t you seriously considering it?”

To that, Je-rim nodded.

“That’s right, I’m going to retire early. As soon as my contract ends, provided I lift the Big Ear.”

When he was young, he worried if the Big Ear was too big a goal, but not anymore. To exaggerate slightly, it was at a level where it was shimmering before his eyes. It wouldn’t suit his temperament to give up and retire when he could achieve it by running just a bit more. Besides, his body was still performing its functions reasonably well.

Toward Je-rim, who readily affirmed, Aaron narrowed his eyes again as if dissatisfied.

“What?”

“You’ve earned enough, and there’s that saying about leaving while they’re still applauding. You’ve already given your parents more than enough….”

After joining the Tavarona youth academy with all sorts of support from the club, the need for large sums of money vanished, but that didn’t mean the efforts of his parents, who had struggled until then, were erased. Thus, from the moment Je-rim started receiving a high weekly wage, he focused on paying them back. While he couldn’t sacrifice himself in the same way they had, he could proudly claim that he had paid them back several hundred times over the amount they had spent on him.

Therefore, there was a calculation embedded in his mind that if he had done this much, they wouldn’t be able to stop him even if he quit now. His father had been opposed to his son moving to Spain at a young age, but since he tended to respect his son’s decisions relatively more, he wouldn’t fuss even if Je-rim retired early. But his mother…

‘Will she cry and wail until she faints again?’

His head throbbed at the thought that her reaction might be even more extreme than when he was pelted with eggs at the airport. Because she was naturally frail and had undergone heart surgery, she had become weak both physically and mentally. Fearing she might be shocked, Je-rim found himself unable to even bring up the word “retirement,” even now that his retirement plans had become quite concrete.

He loved his mother beyond measure, but occasionally, she felt so burdensome that he sometimes wished she weren’t there. This usually happened when he imagined the near future, around the time he would quit football. And then, he would feel guilt just for harboring such thoughts, and his mood would plummet to rock bottom.

This time, having plummeted along the same route, his mood was lower than usual. It was likely because of Aaron, who continued to bring up an unpleasant topic despite the precarious atmosphere that felt like it could explode at any moment. It was just as Je-rim’s temper, which he had barely managed to control, was about to flare up again.

“Even at your age, your parents are a consideration in planning your life?”

A single sentence spoken in an irresponsible tone, as if he were asking out of genuine curiosity, finally made Je-rim explode.

“I’ve never understood it. You care too much about your mother specifically—”

“Shut up. You bastard who knows nothing.”

Je-rim no longer had any desire to politely answer the idle questions of a man who had everything. When he cut him off with an unkind, short response, irritation seeped into Aaron’s voice.

“How am I supposed to know if you won’t tell me?”

“Normal people, you see, can usually tell when someone doesn’t want to talk about something if they keep refusing to say it, and they just let it go. They don’t pry incessantly like you.”

“…….”

Brushing back his hair, which had become a mess in the sea breeze, Je-rim exhaled a hot breath. The beach, now blanketed in complete darkness, was quiet and eerie. The sound of the crashing waves felt like the crack of a whip.

It was so dark that he couldn’t even see properly what was at his feet. He couldn’t tell if taking one more step would lead him into the water or if the wide sandy beach still stretched out before him.

Nevertheless, Je-rim took a step forward to put distance between himself and Aaron. He felt it would be better to get his feet wet than to stand there bickering with that guy. As he turned his back to walk away, unable to contain his anger, he spat out a few more words. He simply couldn’t understand why Aaron was curious about such things, especially since he wasn’t exactly lacking in tact.

“Don’t overstep, Aaron Reyes. We aren’t close enough for me to open up about my life plans to you. And we’re certainly not in a position to discuss family matters.”

Did Aaron think that because he had crossed the line once a few days ago, it was okay to interfere this much? If so, Je-rim wanted to make it clear that he was mistaken. He really shouldn’t have made a mistake by being captivated by that face and atmosphere back then. Swallowing his primary regret, he turned away, leaving Aaron alone.

“…Do you remember saying something similar a long time ago?”

The tone was a question, but in reality, it was closer to a monologue. The low murmur coming from behind him caught Je-rim’s footsteps. It wasn’t something worth listening to, yet it possessed a strange power that seemed to pull one into a quagmire.

Aaron, who had stopped Je-rim by grabbing his arm to make him look at him again, threw his arm away. Even though they were standing face-to-face at close range, his expression was invisible.

“You really know exactly how to make a person feel like total shit. That’s why sometimes, really…”

Stopping mid-sentence, he brushed past Je-rim and muttered as if spitting the words out.

“Fuck, it all just feels like a waste of time.”

✲✲✲

Just before the match started, as always, the teammates gathered in a circle to steel their resolve. In the stands, fans who had followed them all the way to Italy were already singing cheering songs at the top of their lungs, even before the game had begun.

Witness the moment a legend is born. Looking only at the lyrics, one would think this match was a semi-final rather than the first game of the Champions League group stage. Listening to the song that heightened his Competitive Spirit, Je-rim took a deep breath. With his arms around the shoulders of his teammates on either side, he looked up and spoke softly.

“Be careful not to get injured. You all know our upcoming schedule is brutal, right? Let’s make sure Sefton FC doesn’t have to change its name to Saint Sefton Ward.”

If an injury occurred in the starting squad from the very first group stage match, they wouldn’t be able to handle the onslaught of the match schedule. No matter how careful they were, most teams turned into hospitals disguised as football clubs by mid-season, but it was still better to warn them to protect their bodies.

After a few reminders, Je-rim made eye contact with each teammate one by one. He passed the guy who nodded with a solemn expression, the one who gave a bright smile, and the one who stomped his foot as if to say ‘trust me,’ and finally gazed at Aaron. Standing expressionless, Aaron simply stared back into Je-rim’s eyes.

“…Let’s win. Just as we’ve done all season.”

Je-rim naturally pretended to brush off the blank gaze whose meaning was unclear and looked away. His final and most important reminder came out in a voice that was, unlike usual, slightly lacking in confidence. Fortunately, the teammates didn’t seem to notice the dissonance and dispersed, answering in their own ways. Except for William.

As soon as the group scattered, William scurried over to Je-rim and whispered softly. He seemed to be suppressing his voice as much as possible, fearing the opposing team might overhear.

“What’s up with you two?”

“What is.”

Even though William had used the vague term ‘you two,’ Je-rim didn’t ask who he meant. Since he and Aaron hadn’t exchanged a single word, let alone bickered, since the locker room, it must have looked very strange to William, who had even bet a fine on their arguing.

“The atmosphere… did something happen?”

“Nothing.”

William looked like he wanted to ask more, but Je-rim pushed him toward the goal. When William nagged him, asking what a Center Back was doing instead of taking his position, he had no choice but to run. As soon as William stood in his place, the whistle signaling the start of the match blew, and a ball kicked by someone soared high.

From then on, it was a time of fierce competition. There was no room for stray thoughts. There had to be none. He had to think only about scanning the pitch, where the ball would land, how to send a pass through the swarming opposing players, and where to penetrate to secure a good position.

Whether he had overreacted during yesterday’s conversation with Aaron, whether the captain had unnecessarily created trouble by fighting with a teammate the day before the match… and whether he really shouldn’t have added those final words. He had to set these thoughts aside while playing the match.

However, the very fact that he was trying not to think of other things while running relentlessly was proof that he wasn’t focusing on the game. Since the body inevitably follows the mind, he naturally felt heavy. Unwilling to admit that, Je-rim pushed his legs even harder.

Like he said, they were nothing to each other, so why be affected by a mere fight? Suffering over such a problem was enough for his immature teenage years. The only thing he needed to reflect on was that he hadn’t acted maturely as a captain. Regardless, reflection could come later. Now was the time to run to achieve a good result.

However, the match began to flow contrary to Je-rim’s expectations.

“Ah, fuck!”

Edson, who hit the goalpost again, screamed while kicking the innocent grass. He could see Coach Verdi standing on the bench, shaking his head in disbelief. A defender from Bessina quickly intercepted the rebounding ball and launched a long ball, starting a counterattack.

The ball, crossing the halfway line, landed in a perfect position for Bessina’s attackers to convert into a goal. Seeing this, Sefton’s defense rushed desperately to stop it, but the timing was too late.

Not only did they concede a goal with the goalpost practically being an open door, but William received a yellow card because the tackle he made while trying to steal the ball was judged to be too deep. Robin protested vehemently, clearly dissatisfied with the decision. His frustration with the referee, who had been strict only toward Sefton from the start, finally erupted.

“Why is this a card, huh? He only touched the ball!”

“Robin, come here.”

“The other side should have gotten the card! Anyone can see that was a dive!”

“Robin!”

Recalling that this referee was not the type to tolerate protests, Je-rim hurriedly pulled Robin away. But the referee had already pulled out the yellow card again. While pushing the agitated Robin behind him, Je-rim pleaded that this was too much, but a card already issued was never retracted.

‘Fuck that goddamn octopus-headed bastard.’

Swallowing the curses surging up, Je-rim ordered Robin to return to his position, along with a warning not to make any more useless protests. As a grim-faced Robin muttered a small apology, William patted his back and led him back.

When the two starting Center Backs received cards side-by-side within the first ten minutes of the first half and conceded the opening goal, Sefton’s momentum sank. Bessina took advantage of this gap and began firing shots relentlessly. Since they already had one card each, there was a limit to how aggressively they could defend or break the play with fouls. Two cards meant an ejection.

When they conceded another goal five minutes before the end of the first half, Je-rim’s irritation boiled over. Normally, he would have done something to refresh the atmosphere, but today was not his day in many ways.

An unfair referee, a game not going as planned, a lack of chemistry with Aaron as if advertising that they had fought the day before, a generally depressed atmosphere, and the feeling of his body being heavy—he needed to prioritize steadying his own mental state first.

Ending the first half two goals down is a very bad omen. It means they have to score at least three goals in the second half to overturn the lead, which is nearly impossible given their current performance.

‘Please, let’s just score one goal before it ends.’

As if fearing his prayer for long stoppage time, an awkward four minutes were given. The irritation boiling inside him reached its peak when a goal, successfully made through a pass to Aaron just before the end of the first half, was canceled due to offside.

As soon as the score on the scoreboard went up, the flag was raised, and the number changed back to 0. Aaron, cursing in annoyance, requested a VAR review from the referee, but the result did not change.

Hearing the ruling that the goal was offside, Je-rim sighed repeatedly. That bastard was usually amazing at line-breaking; why was he like this today? He thought they could at least enter halftime with one goal.

A mixture of emptiness, worry, irritation over the particularly clunky chemistry with Aaron today, and his poor condition created an explosive synergy. Even though he knew goals being canceled for offside happened often, complaints forced their way out of Je-rim’s mouth.

“Aaron! Why do you keep running a step ahead?”

At that, Aaron also protested, spreading his arms in disbelief.

“You’re the one! Why do you keep delaying the pass by a beat? It doesn’t match!”

“Why blame others when you’re the one running without even looking at the line?”

“You’re the one not looking. The defense over there raises the line like ghosts whenever I try to run, and because you give the pass late…!”

As the shouting between teammates began, the referee approached. Seeing this, both Aaron and Je-rim quickly shut their mouths. Taking advantage of the gap, their teammates separated them and whispered.

“Stop it! What are you guys doing with your teammates on the field?”

“Whoa, whoa, both of you calm down. You’ll get a card.”

“I think we’re just generally not in sync today. There are days like that.”

With the argument between Je-rim and Aaron, the first half came to a close. As soon as he trudged into the tunnel and saw Coach Verdi’s expression, Je-rim bit his lip. We’re going to get ripped apart. His guess was correct.

“Everyone is so pathetic that I don’t even know where to start. The opposing team’s fans are already celebrating loudly; I hope you all feel the weight of this.”

The teammates, including Je-rim, bowed their heads like sinners. The coach, letting out a sigh for them to hear, began to tear them down one by one.

“Edson, is it hard to understand the instruction to finish calmly? Taking a breath right before kicking would be easier than continuing to hit the goalpost over and over.”

“I’m sorry.”

“William, Robin. Do not commit unnecessary fouls and play intelligently. Unless you want to show the fans who came all the way for this away game a unique match played by nine men without Center Backs.”

“We will be careful.”

“And Jerry, Aaron.”

Sensing he was destined to be reprimanded more severely than anyone else here, Je-rim answered “Yes” and lifted his chin. Aaron did the same. Coach Verdi, glancing between the two, sneered.

“You two should be ashamed. What was that disgraceful display on the field earlier? For a moment, I thought I had become a kindergarten nanny rather than the coach of a club competing for rankings in the Premier League.”

“…I’m sorry.”

The same words flowed from both their mouths simultaneously. Even with ten mouths, they had nothing else to say. Because, as he said, it was a disgraceful display, nothing more and nothing less.

“I’ll say it again, I don’t give special treatment just because someone is a star player. If you’re going to show that kind of disgrace in the second half, tell me now. I’ll have to tell Reman and Iraz to warm up.”

“No. If you give us one more chance, we will prove ourselves.”

When Aaron answered resolutely, the coach stared intently into Aaron’s eyes for a moment as if verifying his sincerity. Eventually, the coach patted Aaron’s shoulder.

“Fine, I’ll trust you this once. And Jerry.”

“Yes.”

“You are the captain. Please do not betray my trust.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

It was a sentence heavier than any other. After hearing the explanation for the changed tactics on how to play the second half, Je-rim asked for permission and headed to the restroom.

After washing his face with ice-cold water, he stared silently into the mirror; a pathetic face stained with irritation was dripping water. Seeing his own expression with his own eyes, his head cooled down more than ever.

The objective judgment that the criticism he poured onto Aaron just before the end of the first half was nothing more than venting his anger slowly seeped into the gaps of his cooled brain. And that the reason he had snapped during yesterday’s conversation with Aaron was, in the end, because that fucking inferiority complex had played a small part.

‘Pathetic bastard.’

If he had thought about it a bit more calmly, he would have understood why Aaron questioned the excessive attachment to his mother. From a young age, the existence of a mother was practically non-existent in Aaron’s life, and even if she were, the universal mindset among them was to graduate from their parents’ embrace sharply upon becoming an adult.

To a man on the verge of thirty, deciding his career path while still worrying about his parents must have seemed bizarre. Even by Korean standards, it was a bit excessive. So, he could have just dismissed it as a conflict arising from a simple cultural difference, but the reason he added emotional remarks at the end was likely because he thought Aaron was a spoiled brat.

‘Though that bastard wasn’t doing anything right either, prying incessantly while knowing full well I was displeased.’

Regardless, Aaron’s fault was Aaron’s, and his fault was his. Since the aftermath of the fight had ruined today’s match, it was only right for him, as the captain, to reflect a hundred times. It was just as he plunged his head into the cold water again to cool his brain. At the sound of the restroom door opening, he looked up to see Aaron’s reflection in the mirror, leaning against the doorframe.

“…….”

“…….”

The two faced each other through the mirror for a while. Aaron was the first to speak. He tossed over a sports towel he had brought and murmured lowly.

“Sorry.”

“…….”

“I was rash to mention your parents yesterday. I’m sorry.”

“…Yeah, I’m sorry for overreacting too.”

A simple apology and a thin towel were all it took for the toxicity to melt away. I should have just ended it like this yesterday. If he had, today’s match might have been completely different. Chewing over his belated regrets, Je-rim wiped his face with the towel Aaron had tossed him. Standing before him, Aaron crossed his arms, looking troubled.

“The passing… we definitely weren’t in sync today, so I don’t know what to do.”

“When we’re out of sync, we’re out of sync. It can’t be helped. For now, let’s at least agree on some hand signals. Raise your hand when you want a pass. I’ll signal you when I’m giving one. And…”

Je-rim struggled to pull away from the lips that were trying to cling to his once again.

“Thanks for apologizing first.”

If Aaron hadn’t, Je-rim might have reflected on it, but since they were both at fault, his pride would have likely made him drag things out. Thanks to Aaron’s apology, Je-rim was able to resolve the situation easily. In response, Aaron merely curled the corner of his mouth into a smirk, as if Je-rim were saying something absurd.

“We have to do well in the second half. We can’t let the first match of the group stage be a crushing defeat because of the two of us. Why do you think I transferred?”

“…….”

The moment he heard the word ‘transfer,’ a hypothesis flashed through Je-rim’s mind like a bolt of lightning. He had been inwardly curious why Aaron had changed his mind from retirement to transferring, and why he had fought so hard to transfer without even signing a short-term contract renewal with Tavarona. Could it be…?

“Did you transfer this season on purpose? Because you thought I might retire before I turn thirty?”

Since Aaron was the type to remember a conversation they had only once as children, Je-rim was certain he remembered the ‘before thirty’ clue. Currently, Je-rim was 28 years old; by the time of next year’s Champions League final, he would be exactly 29. The timing fit perfectly.

“My goal is to lift the Big Ear with you, and I can’t do that if you’re not there.”

Aaron shrugged and spoke casually. Though he didn’t explicitly say ‘yes,’ it was as good as an admission, and Je-rim’s eyes widened.

No matter how severe his mannerism had been, he really betrayed the team he’d been with for nearly twenty years—enduring labels as the most ungrateful ‘pure-blood’ youth product to ever leave on a free transfer—just for that reason? Because of a single passing comment from their childhood? Stunned, Je-rim muttered, unconsciously pointing a finger at him.

“Hey, even so, to go all the way to England while taking all that heat… especially when you’re about to get married.”

“Married? Who?”

Ah, fuck. Realizing his slip of the tongue, Je-rim clamped his mouth shut, but the water was already spilled. Aaron’s eyes grew even wider than Je-rim’s as he pressed him repeatedly.

“Wait, me? I’m getting married? To whom?”

The sight of him pointing to himself and asking who he was marrying was utterly absurd. Je-rim desperately avoided his gaze. He could never admit that after overhearing a phone call where someone called Aaron ‘Ari,’ he had become slightly curious and searched for Aaron’s scandals using every possible keyword.

However, because Aaron was hounding him, he had no choice but to confess.

“Did you… by any chance see the rumors about you and Gabi… Delgado?”

Look at them, using nicknames for each other? He didn’t know about the marriage, but it was clear they hadn’t been ‘ordinary’ for ten years. And yet this bastard is sucking my cock… Pushing aside the sudden surge of nameless, petty jealousy, Je-rim mumbled.

“…I didn’t look for it on purpose, it just happened.”

“How does that ‘just happen’? I had all those speculative rumors taken down that day because they were writing some third-rate porn novel about us meeting at a house.”

“…I saw those ‘hearsay’ rumors before they were taken down! You got a problem with that?”

No wonder the articles were all deleted when he checked the next day, and why it had been so quiet even though Delgado had come to England. While blaming his own reckless mouth for digging his own grave, Je-rim acted brazenly on the surface.

In this global era where you can see news from the other side of the planet in a second with a flick of a finger, it’s perfectly normal to see an article faster than others. Besides, why meet at a house without considering their own fame? Serve them right. It’s all your karma.

Forgetting the fact that he was the one who had been alone in a house doing things like a third-rate porn movie before parting ways, Je-rim puffed out his chest proudly. Aaron practically collapsed, scratching his head vigorously.

“I do have a problem. You probably believed that, didn’t you? Wow, so you thought I was some human waste who sucks his ex’s cock and then immediately goes to see his fiancée?”

“…Well, you do have a track record.”

“Track record my ass! There’s no such thing!”

The man who had been crouching miserably like a scientist whose experiment had failed suddenly stood up and began spewing all sorts of curses in Spanish. Flustered, Je-rim didn’t back down and fired back with curses of his own.

“This bastard! Hey, I get that I was mistaken about the marriage, but you had a scandal with Delgado ten years ago too. Who are you to shout?”

At that moment, the voices of their teammates called out from outside: “Jerry, Aaron! You guys aren’t fighting again, are you? Stop it and come out. We need to prepare for entry.” Je-rim’s pupils shook violently as he glanced at the firmly closed bathroom door.

We were speaking softly, so the sound shouldn’t have leaked… right? Judging by how the teammates’ voices echoed faintly, they hadn’t come right up to the bathroom but were calling from the locker room. Just in case, Je-rim blocked Aaron, who was about to say something, and gestured for him to be quiet.

Aaron then whispered, his lips barely moving.

“Why the hell does this topic come up in the bathroom right before the second half starts? Last time it was Reman interfering. Why is the timing always so shitty?”

“If you have something to say, say it quickly and drop it. Let’s go.”

Je-rim’s lips also fluttered like a goldfish. If we don’t hurry, they really will come looking for us in the bathroom. As Je-rim urged him, pointing toward the door, Aaron answered after a brief hesitation.

“…Later. I don’t want to distract you by saying something unbelievable right before the match, and this isn’t something that can be settled in a few words anyway. So, after this match, talk to me. …Definitely.”

Aaron grabbed the arm of Je-rim, who looked ready to bolt out the door. Je-rim pulled Aaron toward him instead, urging him on.

“Fine. Let’s just get out, quickly. I don’t want to be substituted the moment the second half starts. You feel the same, right?”

“Of course. I’d die of shame if that happened.”

“Don’t die. Your specialty is pushing hard in the second half, especially when the match is going south. Do well, okay?”

“…Right. That is my specialty.”

If Je-rim’s specialty was delivering the decisive blow in big matches, Aaron’s was to run relentlessly and overturn the situation in the second half, no matter how low the team’s morale was. Upon mentioning this, the anxiety on Aaron’s face finally vanished, replaced by his usual composure.

Though he hated to admit it, seeing Aaron smile like that made Je-rim’s guilt and irritation—stemming from the fact that he’d ruined the first half—completely disappear.

I don’t think we’ll lose.

He had that feeling without any particular evidence. Just a moment ago, he thought they’d inevitably have to give up the first match of the group stage. Was this the kind of security only a team with the world’s best striker could feel? In that sense, Aaron Reyes really was a godsend.

…And he was grateful that this godsend of a man remembered a promise from way back and came to Sefton, even while enduring all sorts of mockery and curses. There was certainly a goal of breaking his mannerism, but still.

The emotion that had been hidden by shock finally took shape. Just as Je-rim was about to step out of the bathroom, rubbing his chest which had grown inexplicably tight.

“Je-rim, just one thing.”

Aaron, standing a step behind, leaned forward and pressed his lips to Je-rim’s ear.

“Then and now, I’ve never done anything in front of you that I couldn’t be honest about.”

After whispering like a declaration, he swung the door open and walked out first. Je-rim tapped his tingling ear, tossed the towel at Aaron’s broad back, and quickly matched his stride toward the pitch. Compared to when the first half had ended, his steps felt light as air.

Je-rim flicked the captain’s armband on his left arm and took a deep breath. Only now did the vast landscape of the stadium and the packed stands slowly enter his vision. Je-rim gave Aaron’s forearm a light punch and leaped onto the green pitch.

The second half had begun.

Returning after a fifteen-minute break didn’t mean a drastic change for either team. Vecina, who had dominated the first half, still held the momentum; the referee was watching the Sefton players’ fouls with hawk-like intensity; and Sefton was struggling desperately to recover even a single goal. The only thing that had changed slightly was Je-rim’s own condition.

The anxiety, irritation, and anger that had simmered throughout the first half vanished the moment the whistle signaling the start of the second half blew. Of course, the pressure to score existed, but that was true for every match. Je-rim silently chased the ball, doing his best based on his split-second judgments.

The long-awaited scoring opportunity came seven minutes into the second half. Je-rim and a Vecina player rushed simultaneously toward a ball crossed by the left full-back, Marshall. As Je-rim touched the ball first, the Vecina player immediately closed in to steal it.

Je-rim instantly pulled the ball toward his left foot, turned his body, and shielded it with his back. Then, taking advantage of the opponent’s confusion, he quickly turned back with the ball and sprinted forward.

≪Oh, Ban Je-rim! He breaks through with individual skill. Syner has completely lost track of Ban Je-rim’s movement!≫

≪Perhaps it’s because he’s from the Tavarona youth system; although he doesn’t show it often, his individual skill is excellent. Not to mention his footwork.≫

≪He is the pride of South Korea, truly the pride!≫

Cheers and boos poured from the stands following a perfect Marseille Turn. He didn’t usually attempt individual skills, but in a situation where they were being pushed back, nothing lifted the atmosphere like a flashy move. Feeling inwardly relieved that it worked since it had been a while, Je-rim dribbled near the penalty area and scanned his surroundings.

Edson was on the left, but his finishing was poor today, and Liam on the right was being tightly marked by a defender, leaving no space. Passing to Aaron was an option, but he was still worried about their lack of chemistry…

‘Should I shoot myself?’

It was at that moment. Aaron, who had started running the moment he saw Je-rim driving toward the goal, sprinted past Je-rim and entered the penalty area. It was a movement that clearly showed he intended to receive a pass and slam it into the goal.

Consequently, three Vecina defenders immediately followed Aaron. Since he was a man who fired effective shots like cannons the moment he got the ball, blocking him in front of the goal was the obvious decision. Especially when the ball was at the feet of Sefton’s playmaker, Je-rim.

Je-rim quickly scanned Aaron’s hand. There was no signal that he wanted the pass. Except for the one defender marking him, all the opposing defenders had followed Aaron, leaving the left flank wide open.

In this case, I have to shoot. I have no choice. That guy Aaron thoughtfully set the table for me.

All those judgments happened in less than three seconds. Je-rim fired the shot without hesitation. The ball, launched from the edge of the penalty area, pierced accurately into the left corner of the goal.

The Sefton fans, who had looked miserable throughout the first half, stood up simultaneously and let out a roar as if nothing had happened. Je-rim raised his left index finger and curled his right thumb and index finger into a circle, placing it at the bottom. It was his signature Ceremony, creating the initial ‘b’ of his surname.

After a brief pose as a sign of gratitude to the supporting fans, he immediately started running again. He brushed off the teammates rushing to congratulate him. Even with one goal, it was 1-2. In a losing situation, long celebrations were a luxury.

“Don’t come here! Keep running! We’ll celebrate when we make it a draw!”

As Je-rim waved them off, his teammates scattered with determined faces. From then on, the flow of the match began to shift. Vecina, consumed by anxiety, saw their formation crumble, and mistakes began to pop up here and there. This was because they knew Sefton was not an opponent to be underestimated just because of a one-goal lead.

Conversely, the trailing Sefton pursued the lead with composure. Je-rim, in particular, did not let a single mistake by the Vecina players slip by. Aaron’s diligent high pressing also played a huge part in the opponent’s string of errors.

‘Seriously, is his stamina some kind of endless spring…?’

Je-rim shook his head as he watched the face of a Vecina player, who had made a pass error due to Aaron’s pressure, turn with bewilderment. Immediately after, the goal that would bring Sefton to a draw went in effortlessly. Edson, who had been hitting only the goalposts all game, finally scored after receiving a ball sent by a Vecina mistake.

“Waaaaagh!”

The Sefton players surrounded the roaring Edson, offering rough celebrations. Je-rim joined the fray this time, patting Edson’s short curly hair.

With the equalizing goal, the tide turned completely. Just as he thought it would be difficult to do anything more due to the short remaining time, Aaron sprinted toward the goal again. This time, with his index finger raised.

Seeing this, Je-rim without hesitation threaded a pass into the empty space slightly ahead of the direction Aaron was running. The lofted ball sailed over the Vecina defenders and dropped sharply. Aaron, reaching that spot like a ghost exactly as the ball dropped, easily scored.

The moment he kicked the ball, Aaron didn’t even look at the goal; he turned around and ran toward Je-rim. Before Je-rim could say “uh,” Aaron roughly wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his lips on his head. While aggressively kissing him and messing up his black hair, Aaron murmured something in a highly excited tone.

“¡Eres el puto amo!”

Immediately after, he lifted his head and thrust a clenched fist toward the stands. It was a Ceremony that showcased his confidence, showing he didn’t even need to check if the ball had gone in.

At the rough praise—which roughly translates to ‘You’re the fucking boss’—and the skinship, Je-rim burst into a giggle as if he couldn’t help it, and performed his signature Ceremony pose once more.

Cheers and boos poured from the stands simultaneously. Since it was Vecina’s home, the number of Vecina fans was overwhelmingly higher, but the Sefton fans filling one corner drowned out the boos with loud cheers and chants.

≪What is this! Sefton succeeds in a comeback!≫

≪Honestly, I expected today to be very difficult for Sefton. Wow, I’m speechless. It’s simply a miracle! Sefton is writing a legend, just like their chant!≫

≪The protagonists of the comeback goal are Aaron Reyes and Ban Je-rim, Sefton’s number 9 and 10! The saviors from Tavarona!≫

It was a perfect comeback goal and a true ‘theater’ goal.

* * *

[Did they all get beaten with bats during the break or something;;]

[Did Je-rim-ssi hit them?]

⤷ [Je-rim-ssi’s performance in the first half was a ‘get beaten with a bat’ level of play lol. The manager probably did it.]

⤷ [God-Verdi, please continue to give them plenty of ‘love taps’ in the future.]

⤷ [I should send him a backscratcher.]

[They really got scolded at halftime.]

[Je-rim’s interview is out lol. He said he and Aaron got scolded together and snapped out of it.]

⤷ [Yeah, they deserved it. They were fighting like they were about to grab each other by the collar, I was the only one feeling awkward as hell.]

⤷ [I was terrified alone in my room at dawn too. Aaron always looks scary, but Jerry is terrifying when he’s angry too ㄷㄷ]

[Are the people saying Jerry is scary when he’s angry not watching national team matches??]

[When Ban Je-rim gets pissed, Song Yeo-bin, Kim Hosoo, and Park Hee-jun usually cling to him to stop him lol]

[It’s just that he’s usually so loose that he’s imprinted as an easy target, but he was always like that when he got angry ㅇㅇ]

⤷ [Didn’t he get disciplined once for openly beating up a team that was doing ‘bed football’ (time-wasting) long ago? lol He’s been holding back since then.]

⤷⤷ [He didn’t openly beat them, he just gently stepped on the guy who was lying down,,]

⤷⤷ [True, our Rat-hyung’s fouls are so subtle that he doesn’t even get cards.]

⤷⤷⤷ [Is it possible to ‘gently step’ with cleats on…?]

⤷⤷ [That’s why he got disciplined ㅎ!]

[Q. How do you feel about the comeback? A. This actually worked….]

[Je-rim lollll please interview with some dignity befitting a captain lollll]

⤷ [He’s the one who gave the assist and he’s like ‘this actually worked’ lol]

⤷ [Jerry had 1 goal and 1 assist today, right? Form is insane.]

⤷ [Please freeze Jerry and Aaronㅜ Only thaw them out for important matches, then freeze them again.]

⤷ [Why make the players into frozen pollack…]

⤷ [If you repeat freezing and thawing, muscle damage occurs and form drops.]

[Aaron is just a crazy bastard.]

Honestly, wasn’t it Aaron who completed Je-rim’s goal? This guy is just insane in everything—on the ball, off the ball, and even his football IQ. There’s no other all-rounder striker like him in this era.

⤷ Agreed. That last goal was so cool I hugged my monitor and cried.

⤷ Thank you for coming, seriously… and for free, too… what a blessing! We’ll never see another one.

⤷ Why was Je-rim’s goal thanks to Aaron? Hmm. Then was the last goal thanks to Je-rim?

⤷ The last goal was thanks to Je-rim, obviously. They’re teammates helping each other out, why are you taking this so seriously…

⤷ If you’re not a team fan, please just get lost ㅠㅠㅠ This is the Sefton board. There’s a separate Ban Je-rim board.

Ban Je-rim: Aaron’s share in my goal this time? About 3%?

Aaron: Not even 30%, just 3%? Try being a bit nicer.

These two are just bantering in the mixed zone lol. It’s good to see.

⤷ Wow, they were fighting like crazy in the first half… As they say, a couple’s fight is like cutting water with a knife…

⤷ Aaron’s tone sounds like he’s mocking him, so why is he looking at him with honey in his eyes? Hmm, suspicious, very suspicious.

⤷ He’s petting his hair while saying “You’ll go bald if you keep that up,” but why is he so tender;; It’s confusing.

⤷ ㅋㅋㅋ Je-rim got grumpy and told him not to butt into his interview, so Aaron just shrugged and disappeared lol. Surprisingly, he listens to the captain well?

Edson scored a goal today too, and although Liam couldn’t build up any fear, he ran hard.

Reman is showing good form every time he comes on as a sub, and Aaron goes without saying… The entire attacking line is alive + we have Ban Je-rim, we might actually win the Champions…

⤷ Wi…

⤷ Why can’t you just say “win”?

⤷ If you say it, fans of other teams will rush in and curse us. Mostly from places like Molx Tavarona haha.

The derby match between Molden and Compfshire is in October, right?

I’m looking forward to it.

⤷ Don’t look forward to it ㅜ October is Molden’s home game, so it’ll be tough. We’ll probably record our first league loss. They’re also undefeated.

⤷ The guy above is throwing cold water on it before it even happens. Looking at his way of speaking, he probably has no friends.

⤷ Seeing how he’s raining on the parade, he seems like a fan of another team. Please don’t interfere in Compfshire matters.

⤷ ⤷ Fuck, I feel the dopamine rushing, let me interfere a bit.

The team that wins takes Compfshire.

Let’s just have one of them get lost cleanly ㅇㅇ

⤷ Dong-i

⤷ Dong-sam

⤷ We must fill Molden

Breaking News!! Jerry and Aaron finally followed each other back.

After 10 years!! Finally!!

⤷ They must be freaking excited after the comeback ㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ “I’m in a good mood, so let’s follow each other now. What was your ID again? @Tododok…” Are they really doing this on the bus? Two grown men?

⤷ Edson, please start a live stream.

⤷ Je-ron couple, please don’t fight anymore and live happily ever after in Sefton. Please.

Calling up players from the reserve team to the first team. Usually done when a starting player is injured and there are no usable substitutes on the bench, or to give promising youth players experience. If they play in a first-team match, whether as a sub or a starter, it is called their first-team debut.

Wives and Girlfriends. Refers to the wives and girlfriends of football players.

Signing bonus received during a transfer.

Italy’s top professional football league.

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

A turn technique where a player rotates their body with the ball while dribbling to beat an opponent.

Mixed Zone. An area where interviews with players can be conducted after a match.