#18

Would Peter have responded to him? Seeing how natural his touch was with Kwon Jung-hyun, it didn’t seem like the possibility was zero. Had he mixed tongues, let out pleasant moans, and gotten an erection from uncontrollable excitement, just as he had done with him?

Fuck.

Ho-jae chewed on a curse inwardly. Again. He was thinking like this again.

Why even ask such a question? Of course he had. The man called himself a man who was desperate to become an Alpha.

Shin Ho-jae quickly pushed the thoughts away and glanced at the man sitting in front of him. Kwon Jung-hyun was resting his chin on his hand, staring at the pool with a somewhat sunken expression.

The yellow and blue lights of the water’s surface shimmered, reflected in his eyes. Beyond his gaze, the elderly couple, who still looked affectionate, were visible.

It was an expression entirely different from his usual one. He looked somewhat vacant, and the corners of his mouth were turned downward.

For some reason, Ho-jae’s throat felt dry, and he lightly licked his lips. He felt as if he had peeked beyond a door that should never be opened.

So, he lowered his gaze. Then, the man’s long fingers caught his eye. Unlike his own hands, which were merely large and thick, these were hands that felt beautiful despite belonging to a man. Hands that looked as if they had never done a day of hard labor in their life.

Ho-jae’s eyes stopped at one point. He noticed a wound that didn’t suit the straight, long fingers. A protruding part of the back of the hand was red and raw, as if the skin had chapped during winter.

But it was June, so it couldn’t be chapped skin, and it didn’t match the man’s perfectly groomed nails.

He didn’t dare think about how he must look to others, staring down at the hand while lost in such thoughts.

“It’s a chore, isn’t it? I wonder if two hours have ever felt this long.”

At those words, he snapped his head up to find Kwon Jung-hyun, who had returned to his usual face at some point, looking at him with the corners of his mouth lifted. Shin Ho-jae brushed his face with the back of his hand and muttered.

“Not to that extent…”

“You can be honest.”

Ho-jae frowned and rolled his eyes.

Clearly, until the moment he received the sudden call and came down to the lobby, the emotions dominating Ho-jae’s mind were things like annoyance and unpleasantness.

But just now, he really didn’t think it was that terrible. Since when? The boundary was blurred. He was somewhat confused.

“Maybe it’s the jet lag, but I’m feeling a bit tired too.”

Jung-hyun stood up from his seat.

“We’ve finished our drinks, so shall we head out? I’ll consider the two hours filled.”

Having stood up, the man turned around first. Shin Ho-jae glanced at the glass. The round-bottomed glass still had almost as much alcohol as when he first saw it.

Ho-jae also stood up. At the edge of his vision, he saw the man signing the bill provided by the clerk.

If he left now, it seemed they would end up in the same elevator. Feeling unnecessarily awkward, he searched his mind for the location of the emergency stairs.

“Sleep well.”

A concise farewell came first from Jung-hyun, who had finished signing. When he looked up, the man was already far ahead of him.

As if he knew exactly that Ho-jae would be uncomfortable. Shin Ho-jae scratched the back of his neck, feeling strangely unsettled.

Beep.

After tapping the card key and entering the room, Yuk Du-min was asleep, just as he had been earlier. It seemed Ji Min-chul had returned to his own room.

As he passed Du-min and headed toward his bed, Ho-jae suddenly stopped. A wet towel was sprawled across the sheet where Yuk Du-min was lying. Shin Ho-jae cleared away the wet towel and took off his clothes to shower.

As the hot water poured over the crown of his head, the unsettled feeling he had felt at the lounge bar with the pool was quickly washed clean.

* * *

『I felt a lot at yesterday’s dinner. That the time I spent with our players was too little. And that some players seem to have spent very little time with each other.』

As if considering the previous night’s dinner, a notice had been posted that the next day’s training would start in the late afternoon.

Thanks to that, the players, who had soothed both their hangovers and fatigue, gathered at the training ground in much better condition.

『But ice hockey is a team sport. And a team sport cannot be led by just one outstanding player. The most important thing is trust and solidarity among the players. That is teamwork.』

While the interpreter translated the coach’s words, Peter cast a glance toward Shin Ho-jae. Ho-jae frowned slightly.

『No matter how perfectly I give instructions from behind the rink, it is not me, but you, who run on the ice. It is also you who read and judge the flow that changes moment by moment during the game.』

The coach continued, scanning all the players again.

『To make accurate and precise judgments, it is as important to know the players you run with as it is to know yourself.』

At Peter’s signal, Head Coach Yoo Gu-hwan stepped forward with a deliberately solemn face. In his hand was a rolled-up bundle of paper.

『After yesterday’s dinner, I spent the night talking a lot with the coaches. In the process, an interesting idea came up. I hope that the ‘game’ we play today will allow our players to feel what teamwork is, even if indirectly. That is all.』

The players stirred slightly at the word ‘game.’

What Coach Peter, the coaching staff, and the club officials had prepared since early morning was, so to speak, ‘teamwork training.’

Using a small campsite near the training ground as the stage, it was a simple game where the team that found the hidden flags scattered about and returned the fastest would win.

Each team was given one map indicating the flag locations, and the only rule was that they had to return to the starting point together when all flags were found; the method of retrieving the flags was free.

The problem was that the coach and the coaching staff had decided the ‘team members.’

Shin Ho-jae stared blankly at his teammates.

It was Moon Seung-yeol, Alexei Borbiev, Ahn Dong-ju, and Park Hyeong-hun.

“Ah, hello, hyungs…! I look forward to working with you.”

Hyeong-hun, whose face still held a youthful air, greeted them with a smile, but everyone remained silent.

It seemed Peter and the coaching staff had put a lot of effort into creating the most awkward combination within the team.

Ho-jae looked around. This team wasn’t the only awkward one.

Yuk Du-min was grouped with Lee Sang-gon and the rookie players, and Ji Min-chul was grouped with the veterans, including Yong-su hyung. The latter at least seemed harmonious, but…

Shin Ho-jae glanced at Alexei and Ahn Dong-ju, who were standing awkwardly.

Alexei, who had joined the team only two weeks ago and had acted almost alone even during the overseas training (he had also skipped last night’s dinner), and Ahn Dong-ju, who had lost his starting position to that very Alexei.

It wasn’t his place to say, but he had never once seen the two of them have a conversation that could be called a real conversation.

“Is there only one map?”

Moon Seung-yeol asked, gesturing with his chin toward the paper map. Ho-jae nodded. He scanned the flag locations with his eyes and spoke simply.

“There are exactly five flag locations. I think it would be faster if we each found one.”

“Each…? But there’s only one map?”

When Hyeong-hun asked tentatively, Moon Seung-yeol picked up his phone instead of answering. A flash went off. He had taken a photo of the map.

“I thought you were possessed by a ghost who died because he couldn’t train, but this is like some outdated variety show. Let’s finish quickly and get the reward. Everyone’s going to think this is a waste of time anyway.”

“Uh… I don’t think we should do that…”

“They said as long as all team members are gathered when returning with all the flags. There are no rules on how to find the flags, so doing it my way is the most efficient and fastest.”

While he partially agreed with those words, considering that the game was created for teamwork, he couldn’t simply accept it. Shin Ho-jae, who had been listening silently, spoke up.

“I don’t think it’s for us to judge whether it’s a waste of time or not. If the coach pointed out teamwork, shouldn’t we at least try?”

“Then what? You want the five of us to wander around in a crowd and find them one by one?”

“Yes.”

“And what if we don’t find all five within the time limit? If the only reason to go slowly when the fastest path is obvious is just that, I can’t accept it. Whether it’s a game or a match, I’m the type who can’t be satisfied unless I win.”

Ho-jae let out a small sigh. This was the first time he had spoken with Moon Seung-yeol for this long, and perhaps because they were both forwards, their way of thinking was similar.

“Everyone here is the same. What athlete likes losing?”

“Did you just sigh?”

“Yes. I did.”

“Seung-yeol hyung, Ho-jae. Stop it.”

Ahn Dong-ju stepped in to block the two, but Moon Seung-yeol insisted on adding one more word.

“That thing called teamwork. Don’t you think it’ll get even worse if the five of us stick together?”

“…”

“They said until 5 o’clock, so let’s gather in front of the camp at 4:30 and go back together. I’m leaving first.”

With those words, Moon Seung-yeol turned around. Seeing him push through the mountain path without hesitation, Ahn Dong-ju also hurried to take a photo of the map.

“T-then, I’ll find the one at this end. See you later.”

Then he hurried off after Moon Seung-yeol.

Alexei, who couldn’t understand Korean, looked at the remaining people as if wondering what was happening, and Hyeong-hun looked at Ho-jae with relying eyes.

“Sigh…”

Shin Ho-jae let out a short sigh, then roughly explained the current situation to Alexei in English.

The blue-eyed teammate shrugged and said mockingly, “Excellent teamwork.” Since that was exactly the case, there was nothing to say.

In the end, Alexei also split off, agreeing to meet in front of the camp at 4:30. This probably wasn’t the kind of teamwork training they intended. This training was a failure before it even started.

“What about you?”

Ho-jae asked Park Hyeong-hun, who was left alone.

“Uh… if you’re okay with it, hyung, I’d like to go together. Peter did say it was teamwork training.”

“Sure.”

Fortunately, the two remaining flag locations weren’t very far. It seemed they could find the one at the bottom first, turn sideways to find the other, and then return to the camp.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes. Huh? But the coach is coming over there…?”

“What?”

Turning around, as Hyeong-hun said, he saw Coach Peter and the interpreter walking toward them from the opposite direction.

“Ho-jae, Park.”

“H-hello, Peter.”

Perhaps because Hyeong-hun’s name was difficult to pronounce, he seemed to be called by his surname. Ho-jae suddenly wondered what he called the other person with the surname Park in the team.

Peter stood in front of Hyeong-hun, who was waving awkwardly. The eyes visible beyond the sunglasses scanned the two of them sharply.

『Where did the others go?』

“Ah… well.”

Trailing off, Park Hyeong-hun looked at Ho-jae. Since it was nominally teamwork training, talking about team members who had scattered from the start would be like shooting himself in the foot. Ho-jae made up a plausible excuse.

『We decided to scout the surroundings separately and then meet up to move together.』

Hmm. Raising one eyebrow and looking at the two, Peter turned around and called someone loudly.

『Hu! Come here! I need you to be the spy for this team.』

19 – Puck Drop