#1

*Puck Drop: The act of dropping the puck onto the ice to start or resume play in ice hockey.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…….

As the countdown ends, all the lights in the ice arena, which holds 20,000 people, go out.

Thump, thump!

The woofer sound vibrates beneath the feet, accompanied by a dazzling laser show reminiscent of a rock star’s concert and the voice of a DJ fueling the crowd’s excitement.

Swoosh, shink!

Sharp skate blades carve through the ice. The rink is no different from a ring for the athletes. The puck* flies, and players collide. Armed with protective gear, the players throw themselves at their opponents without hesitation.

*Puck: The ball used in ice hockey. A disk-shaped object 2.54cm thick and 7.63cm in diameter, made of hardened rubber or a similar material.

Bwooooong-!

Finally, the foghorn sounds to signal a goal. The standing crowd cheers the player’s name at the top of their lungs and sings cheering songs. Goosebumps break out all over the body, and the blood boils.

Some say its popularity rivals that of football in Europe or baseball in East Asia.

But those words are not enough. For Canadians, ice hockey is a culture and a way of life, a community and existence itself.

Unfortunately, such status is hard to find in South Korea, on the opposite side of the globe….

* * *

Sports Board > Other Sports > Ice Hockey

Title: Those fucking association bastards

Two out of the barely three teams in Korean ice hockey are about to be disbanded, and they’re just sitting back and pretending not to know?

You fucking pieces of shit…

Comments

What happened?

└└ [Following Incheon Ice Snipers, will Suwon Blue Wolves also face disbandment… Dark clouds over Korean ice hockey] Daily One, Reporter Kim In-jung’s article …see more

└└└ OMG

└ I saw that article today and came here in shock, and a post was already up… This is depressing.

└ According to the article, the players have already heard the news of the disbandment ㅠ Even a company that wanted to acquire them appeared recently, but the deal fell through at the last minute…

└ I feel like this was an expected sequence. The performance gap between the Tigers and the other teams became too wide, so watching the games in person stopped being fun a while ago. The charm of ice hockey was mostly in watching it live.

└ Blue Wolves are disbanding?? After recruiting Shin Ho-jae last league and making the playoffs for the first time in 6 years?? Wasn’t Shin Ho-jae the top scorer last year…

└ No, what did Shin Ho-jae do wrong lol. If they forced a player who was playing in Canada to stay in Korea, they should take responsibility, you fucking association…

└└ 22 Isn’t this basically grabbing the ankle of the first player who was about to enter the NHL* from Korea and then tossing him away? If I were Shin Ho-jae, I would have just naturalized to Canada —

└└└ 3 Agreed… Honestly, no one would complain if he played under the maple leaf.

└└ Is there proof he was forced to come? Didn’t Shin Ho-jae come to Korea on his own?

└└└ Would you leave a top-tier league and go to the K-League on your own, and a 2nd division level one at that? —

└└└└ Ouch… take it easy ㅠ (Passing K-League fan)

└ I feel so wronged and frustrated, I can’t imagine how Shin Ho-jae feels… ㅠ

└ In terms of skill alone, he’s honestly top-tier… If it were an individual sport, he’d win a gold medal and gain massive popularity… but ice hockey in Korea is just… ㅠ It’s not a sport where you can succeed alone.

└ There aren’t even many articles. It’s sad being an unpopular sport. ㅠ

└ But even if they disband, can’t Shin Ho-jae just go back to Canada??

*The top professional ice hockey league in North America.

* * *

“A comment?”

Answering a call from an unknown number on a whim had been the mistake.

─Yeah, I’m Reporter Kim In-jung from Daily One. I was hoping Player Shin could say a few words as the representative of the Blue Wolves regarding this disbandment.

“…….”

Shin Ho-jae let out a half-hearted sigh into the phone.

Because he didn’t have an agency, these kinds of calls came whenever he was just about to forget about them. Should he have taken his friends’ advice that while it wasn’t necessary in Canada, it would be in Korea?

“Ho-jae, over here.”

Just then, a man with a thick jawline and a dependable impression entered Ho-jae’s field of vision, waving his hand.

It was the captain of the Blue Wolves, Choi Yong-su. Shin Ho-jae gave him a nod and replied concisely into the phone.

“I don’t think this is something I can comment on. I’m busy, so I’ll hang up now.”

─Huh? Wait, Player Shin…!

Click.

Ho-jae cut off the urgent voice with a single touch and looked up.

He saw Choi Yong-su, dressed in a suit, scanning Shin Ho-jae’s attire from top to bottom. Shin Ho-jae was wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt with a sports brand logo, black sweatpants, and a black cap on his head.

It was an outfit that couldn’t be called fitting for today’s occasion, even as a white lie. A slightly troubled expression appeared on Choi Yong-su’s face and quickly vanished.

“You didn’t have time to stop by home.”

“I came straight from physical therapy.”

“Ah, is that so? Your shoulder?”

Shin Ho-jae gave a short nod.

“Well…. Since the other side is the one who suddenly said they wanted to see us, they’ll understand. What’s the big deal about an athlete wearing athletic clothes.”

Choi Yong-su patted Ho-jae’s shoulder and grinned. It was a dependable smile befitting a captain, but it looked somewhat comical because one of his front teeth was missing.

Following him, they stepped into a high-end restaurant located in Cheongdam, Seoul. The entrance, lit only by indirect lighting, was dark, and despite being a restaurant, a pleasant scent lingered instead of the smell of food.

“Ho-jae.”

Standing in front of the room, Choi Yong-su looked at Ho-jae and tapped his own forehead.

“……?”

Ho-jae blinked, frowning.

Forehead? Was he telling him not to scowl?

It seemed to mean he should manage his expression since it was an important occasion. He had often been misunderstood because of his habitually sullen expression.

He was well aware that people said such things behind his back. It’s just that managing one’s expression isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Shin Ho-jae took care not to wrinkle his brow and waited for Choi Yong-su to open the sliding door made of wooden lattices. Soon, with a sliding sound, the closed door opened. Choi Yong-su spoke politely toward the inside.

“Director, Coach. I’ve brought Ho-jae.”

Chief Coach Yoo Gu-hwan, sounding slightly tipsy, welcomed Ho-jae warmly.

“Ah! You’ve arrived! Director Kwon, this is Player Shin Ho-jae, whom you said you wanted to see. He’s tall and handsome, isn’t he? He’s number one in our team in both looks and skill. But wait, you brat. Why are you in sweatpants?”

“Coach Yoo, Coach Yoo. Let him greet them first.”

“Oh, right. Go on, Ho-jae. Greet them.”

Seeing Shin Ho-jae bow his head, Coach Yoo added in surprise.

“Goodness, boy. You have to take off your hat too.”

“Ah.”

Letting out a stupid exclamation, Shin Ho-jae quickly took off his hat and bowed again.

So what Yong-su hyung pointed to wasn’t his forehead, but his hat. The realization came late, and the act of smoothing down his pressed hair felt embarrassing. With the blind spot covered by the brim of the hat gone, his vision was clear.

It was a fairly large room with a table for six. Like the outside, the lighting was somewhat dim, and a flower arrangement placed inside a recessed wall, like a frame, created a luxurious atmosphere.

Starting from the side closest to the door were Chief Coach Yoo Gu-hwan and Director Park Nam-woong, and at the innermost end sat a young man he was seeing for the first time.

He didn’t need an introduction to know who he was. He must be the protagonist of today’s meeting and the person who summoned Shin Ho-jae. A member of the owner’s family of the Myeong-jeong Group, a third-generation chaebol, and the grandson of Chairman Kwon.

For a moment, their eyes met. Shin Ho-jae unconsciously held his breath and stared at him. The man was also looking at Shin Ho-jae without blinking once.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Kwon Jung-hyun.”

“Ah… yes. I’m Shin Ho-jae.”

The man reached out his hand first for a handshake. Since he reached out while seated, Shin Ho-jae had to lean his waist quite far.

Unlike the corners of his mouth, which were slightly upturned in a smile, his eyes with thin double eyelids were devoid of laughter as they faced Shin Ho-jae. Feeling the slowly dropping body temperature, Shin Ho-jae narrowed his brow slightly.

Trying to analyze an opponent within seconds was a habit formed from a long athletic career.

On the ice, one had to predict the movement of the puck by looking at the opponent’s pupils, the slight tilt of the skate blades, or sometimes just by intuition. However, the man was not easily read.

Shin Ho-jae glanced at the man in the suit again as he sat in the seat Choi Yong-su offered.

He was a handsome man. And probably a Beta.

Trait-bearers can generally recognize each other.

It was a sense unique to trait-bearers that was difficult to explain scientifically. Some people say it’s evidence that Alphas or Omegas are closer to animals than humans, but regardless.

Kwon Jung-hyun possessed the appearance of what people commonly call an ‘Alpha.’

His neatly swept-back hair and suit suited him like a painting. His shoulders were broad and his posture was good. He likely exercised quite a bit, as the muscles visible beneath his clothes were just the right amount.

Being surrounded by active players and former players, he looked relatively small, but his height didn’t seem short by any means.

In reality, there are many Alphas who are short or look ordinary, but if one thinks of the conceptual image of an Alpha, anyone would think of someone like Kwon Jung-hyun.

A Beta man who looked like an Alpha.

For Shin Ho-jae, who lived in a world full of Alpha athletes, he wasn’t the type of person he could easily encounter in his surroundings. Perhaps that was why he was hard to read at a glance.

The sound of “Oops!” escaped Coach Yoo’s mouth just as Kwon Jung-hyun was about to pour a drink into his own glass.

2 – Puck Drop