#22

What followed was the sight of Kwon Jung-hyun, clutching Ahn Dong-ju around the waist, beginning to tumble down the hillside.

Even as he rolled while shielding the larger Ahn Dong-ju, Jung-hyun was trying to use his legs to act as brakes.

Shin Ho-jae, carrying Moon Seung-yeol on his back, ran down quickly, extending one arm and leg. It would have been faster to throw his own body into the fray, but it was agonizing that he couldn’t do so because of the injured man on his back. Instead, he braced his thighs firmly and increased his speed.

Quickly catching up to the two, Ho-jae lowered his center of gravity and used his own body to block them.

With a loud thud, the momentum carried them another 30 meters backward. They only finally came to a stop when Shin Ho-jae’s shoulder slammed into a large tree.

The four of them lay there, covered in wet soil and fallen leaves, gasping for air. Jung-hyun, the first to regain his senses, checked on Ahn Dong-ju first.

“Dong-ju, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry. I stepped on something wrong and caused the CEO to…”

“I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have held on tighter. Ho-jae, Seung-yeol, are you two okay?”

The impact of hitting the tree sent a shock through his chronically bad shoulder. However, not wanting to show it, Ho-jae simply nodded. Their eyes met. Jung-hyun’s wet face was full of worry and concern. Shin Ho-jae looked up into his eyes as if possessed.

In that moment, something indefinable clawed through the center of his chest.

Along with it came an intuition—not just a feeling of uncertainty, but a sense that he was missing something very important.

It was a strange sensation he had never felt in his life, so Ho-jae stared at Jung-hyun’s face for a moment, unable to say a word.

It was then that a voice broke through his thoughts.

“Oh, there they are! Ho-jae hyung! CEO!”

It was Park Hyeong-hun. Behind him, the faces of the coaching staff shining flashlights, as well as Alexei and Coach Peter, were visible.

* * *

“I heard Ji Min-chul’s team got a voucher for the Gangneung MJ Resort and a million won in department store gift certificates. That’s insane.”

At Yuk Du-min’s words, Ho-jae put down the hamburger he had been barely eating and gazed into the distance.

He could see the table where Ji Min-chul was gathered with the teamwork game group. Even at a glance, the atmosphere looked great.

“Sigh. Our team would have been fine if Lee Sang-gon hadn’t been so obnoxious… Still, thanks to you guys, we avoided last place. Thanks, I guess?”

When Ho-jae arched one eyebrow crookedly, Yuk Du-min chuckled.

The first-place winners of the teamwork game were the team with Ji Min-chul. It was only natural, as they had a captain trusted by everyone, and Ji Min-chul and the other defenders were the model-student type who silently followed their leader’s words.

Yuk Du-min’s team came in third out of the four. Lee Sang-gon had spent the entire game nitpicking and acting independently, which eventually led to a huge fight that almost turned into a fistfight.

Considering the attitude Lee Sang-gon had shown so far, it was entirely plausible.

The reason the same thing didn’t happen in Shin Ho-jae’s team was because of an unexpected accident. And the presence of Kwon Jung-hyun.

Shin Ho-jae tapped his phone, checking the screen again even though there was no one to contact him.

As soon as they arrived at the training center, all four had gone to the infirmary for emergency treatment. As expected, Ahn Dong-ju had a sprained ankle, and Moon Seung-yeol was diagnosed with contusions on his back.

Shin Ho-jae only asked for cooling spray on his shoulder. The muscle was just a bit shocked; it wasn’t a major injury compared to the others.

Among them, only Kwon Jung-hyun went elsewhere for treatment. It could have been simply because the infirmary was short-staffed, or perhaps he received special treatment because he was the owner, but the fact that he went with Coach Peter bothered Ho-jae.

Why is he taking so long? He couldn’t have been seriously hurt, right?

He wasn’t particularly worried, yet he didn’t know why he felt so anxious. It was just as Shin Ho-jae finally set down his half-eaten hamburger.

“Ji Min-chul has been weird all day.”

Du-min’s serious tone kept him rooted to the spot.

“In the morning, I thought it was just my imagination because I was out of it from the hangover. But earlier, after they won first place, I put him in a headlock, and do you know what he said? He said, ‘Stop it.’ ‘Stop it.’ Do you think that makes sense? Even now, I asked him to have dinner together, but he went somewhere else alone.”

“…….”

“Did I maybe vomit on Ji Min-chul’s clothes yesterday? Or his face?”

Shin Ho-jae shook his head.

“No? Dammit, I thought that was the only possibility. Then why the hell is he acting like that?”

While drinking his cola, Shin Ho-jae recalled the situation he had encountered in the room last night. The towel and Yuk Du-min’s phone scattered on the bed, as if someone had left in a hurry.

Shin Ho-jae’s eyes rolled to the left.

Did Ji Min-chul see something? On Yuk Du-min’s phone?

But even if he saw something, was it something to act this awkward over?

While the pieces didn’t fit perfectly, there was something Ji Min-chul had been saying repeatedly lately, so it was hard to just ignore it.

“When are you going to introduce your girlfriend to us?”

“Huh…? What’s with the sudden question….”

Yuk Du-min hesitated, unlike his usual self.

“I don’t mind, but Ji Min-chul seemed really upset about it. Just so you know.”

“You don’t think he’s acting like that because of that…?”

“I think it’s a possibility.”

“Is he an elementary schooler? Pouting because you didn’t tell him?”

Only then did Yuk Du-min’s expression brighten slightly as he let out a hollow laugh. Shin Ho-jae smirked and stood up. Seeing the hamburger Shin Ho-jae had left behind, Du-min’s eyes widened.

“What? You’re not eating more?”

“I’m going to the infirmary for a bit.”

“Oh, really? Want me to come with you?”

Shin Ho-jae replied that he didn’t and immediately left the cafeteria. It took about five minutes to walk to the training center’s infirmary. As he opened the door and walked down the hallway, Shin Ho-jae’s face was darkly clouded.

Everyone around him, including himself, were athletes.

Most were people who thought only about exercise and training 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and perhaps because of that, their tendencies and personalities weren’t very complex.

Of course, you couldn’t divide people strictly into black and white, but he meant that good people like Coach Park or Yong-su hyung were generally good, and bad people like Lee Sang-gon or Moon Seung-yeol were generally bad.

That was why people like Kwon Jung-hyun, who couldn’t be easily defined, were uncomfortable and difficult for Ho-jae. He couldn’t understand the very principle of what he was thinking or why he made certain decisions.

Just when he thought he understood a bit, a new side would appear, and once he barely grasped that, another unknown side would reveal itself.

The state-of-the-art training center the club had established, the private bus, the equipment transport trucks, the business class seats… he had considered all of it as part of image-making.

But could the act of shielding Ahn Dong-ju and rolling down the hill with him really be explained as image-making?

That was the realm of instinct. No matter how great Kwon Jung-hyun’s acting skills were—rivaling a professional actor—not many people could roll down a hillside while sacrificing themselves.

And this sensation that he was missing something important.

When holding a hockey stick, Shin Ho-jae tended to trust his instincts and intuition. Especially the moment the puck drops, feeling it is faster than thinking and moving. That was why Shin Ho-jae was called a “genius type.”

And he was feeling a sense of dissonance more strongly than ever before.

Ho-jae wanted to confirm exactly what that dissonance was coming from. No, he felt a strong sense of obligation that he had to confirm it.

Among the several doors lining the hallway, there was a room two doors away from the infirmary. It was the room Peter had taken Jung-hyun to.

Just as he raised his hand to knock on the door with its small, opaque window, voices drifted from inside.

『…Whenever you do something out of character, that guy is always involved. The acquisition of the club, and back in the States too. Right?』

『How long ago was that? How do you even remember?』

『There’s no way I wouldn’t remember. It’s your business. …And I’m a man who is always thirsty for you.』

Shin Ho-jae stopped his hand from knocking and frowned slightly.

The voices of two men. One was Kwon Jung-hyun, and the other was….

『Pete.』

『Hmm?』

『Someone’s outside.』

At those words, Ho-jae stepped back. It seemed his reflection had been visible through the opaque window.

Thump, thump. The sound of footsteps approaching without hesitation followed, and the door swung wide open. The person he locked eyes with was Coach Peter. He arched his eyebrows.

『Ho-jae? The doctor isn’t here.』

『……No. I have something to say to the CEO.』

『Hmm?』

Peter wore a mysterious expression and turned his upper body halfway so that the person inside could see Ho-jae. Kwon Jung-hyun was sitting sideways on a medical bed with his back against the wall.

Seeing the visitor, Kwon Jung-hyun’s eyes widened slightly.

Ho-jae quickly scanned his condition. Below his short, rolled-up shorts, red scratches were visible across the outer thigh and calf.

The wounded areas looked slippery, as if medicine had been applied. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any major injuries.

『Then I’ll be going first. Ho-jae, make sure the CEO gets back to his vacation room safely.』

Peter patted Ho-jae on the shoulder and left the infirmary. The sound of the door closing echoed, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

After a brief, awkward silence, Jung-hyun was the first to speak.

“How is your shoulder?”

“Ah, it’s fine. …And you, CEO?”

“It’s not to the point where I can’t walk.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean you don’t have to worry about what Pete said about taking care of me.”

“Ah….”

Ho-jae stood there with his mouth half-open. He hadn’t even processed what Peter had said. He had been distracted by something else.

The inner thigh clearly exposed due to the rolled-up shorts, the slippery ointment someone must have applied. The conversation he had heard beyond the door…….

The scattered scenes connected in his mind, and just like when chasing a puck, instinct rather than logic moved his tongue.

“Did you do it with Coach Peter as well?”

A short question came back.

“Do what?”

“The act of… mixing saliva.”

He had been reluctant to use words like ‘kissing’ or ‘making out,’ so he used terms that felt as distant as possible. As soon as he spoke it, he thought it sounded ridiculous, but he couldn’t take back what he had already said.

23 – Puck Drop