#37

After the game, Shin Ho-jae was waiting for Ji Min-chul, who was talking with the head coach. The conversation inside was dragging on.

The other players had already finished packing up and returned to the dorms. Du-min had been pulled from the starting lineup halfway through the second period due to poor condition.

Ho-jae had discovered the existence of the article and the photo right after the second period ended, after Min-chul—who had been ejected—went to the medical room and Du-min had already returned to the dorms.

Just looking at the headline made his heart feel like it was skipping beats. If even he felt this way without being the subject, it wasn’t hard to imagine how Du-min must have felt upon seeing it.

As he slowly scrolled down, the moment Ho-jae realized what the man in the photo was wearing, he closed the window immediately without looking at the rest. He felt that Du-min wouldn’t want him to see the photo.

The atmosphere in the locker room was split in two. There was Lee Sang-gon’s group, who poured out curses, calling it disgusting, and Park Hyeong-hun’s group, who defended Du-min, claiming it was a malicious composite.

While doing so, both groups subtly gauged Shin Ho-jae’s reaction. However, Ho-jae’s face remained stiff. It was only natural, as he knew nothing about the situation.

Now that he did, he could only guess the context behind Na Dae-il’s previous remarks, which had previously made no sense.

Soon, the coaching staff and Coach Peter entered and calmed the players down, but the seeds of discord that had begun to spread quickly sprouted at the slightest provocation from the Tigers players.

The result was the ejection of Shin Ho-jae and Park Hyeong-hun, and Na Dae-il and Na Myeong-il. It was fortunate that it was a practice match; had it been an official game, they might have faced suspensions for the next match.

Click. Just then, the door opened and Ji Min-chul stepped out of the coach’s room.

Ho-jae stood up. He could see a cut near Min-chul’s lips. It was an injury from the fistfight with Na Dae-il. Shin Ho-jae had a similar wound on his face. Fortunately, thanks to the protective gear, they weren’t seriously hurt.

“What did you talk about?”

“Well, the usual nagging about being pulled from the starters if this happens again, and some talk about Du-min.”

Shin Ho-jae handed over Ji Min-chul’s bag, which he had been holding.

“Thanks. Where’s Du-min?”

“At the dorms. He’s probably with Hyeong-hun.”

“You’re heading there too, right?”

“Let’s talk for a bit before that.”

The two sat in the lobby of the arena, where all the lights had been turned off. Shin Ho-jae was the first to speak.

“Do you know something?”

“…….”

Min-chul sat with his arms crossed, looking down. He seemed hesitant to speak.

“Tell me. I don’t want to make a mistake around Yuk Du-min because I’m clueless.”

He meant it. This was also why he had waited for Ji Min-chul instead of staying by Yuk Du-min’s side with Hyeong-hun.

Intuitively, he knew this wasn’t a normal situation. He also knew that the shock Du-min had received must be immense.

He felt that if he stayed by Du-min’s side trying to comfort him while knowing nothing, he might say something wrong. He didn’t want that.

Min-chul’s lips twitched, and he slowly began to speak.

“…First of all, the person in the photo is Yuk Du-min. It was taken while he was with the guy he’s dating. It wasn’t a photo taken against his will.”

“…….”

“That’s as far as Du-min confessed to Peter. I don’t know the details.”

Amidst the fragmented words that felt like they were floating without connecting, Ho-jae noticed that Min-chul referred to Du-min’s lover as ‘that guy.’

As Ho-jae stared at him in silence, Min-chul roughly swept back his short hair as if frustrated.

“Actually, there’s something I didn’t tell you.”

“Yeah.”

“That day we had the team dinner in Canada, while I was taking care of a drunk Yuk Du-min, I answered a call from his lover.”

“…….”

“I didn’t answer at first, but the calls were so persistent that I felt I should at least tell them that Yuk Du-min had passed out drunk. No, actually, that’s an excuse. I was just curious about what kind of person Yuk Du-min’s lover was. So I answered.”

A crease slowly formed between Ho-jae’s brows. Ji Min-chul was definitely talking about that night. The night he had gone down to the pool’s lounge bar to meet Kwon Jung-hyun after the dinner.

“It was a man’s voice. I clearly saw the saved name was ‘Lover,’ and there was even a heart attached to it.”

“…….”

“I was so shocked that I ran away from there without even cleaning up. Only after leaving did I realize I’d thrown my towel aside, but the room key was inside, so I couldn’t open the door and go back in.”

Having said that, Ji Min-chul gave a bitter smile.

Ho-jae remained silent. He now clearly understood why a wet towel had been left on the bedsheet that day, and why Ji Min-chul had acted awkwardly toward Yuk Du-min.

“It’s my fault,” Min-chul murmured quietly.

“I should have told Yuk Du-min about that day. And I should have told him that I didn’t care whether he dated a woman or a man.”

“…….”

“I figured Yuk Du-min wanted to keep it a secret, so I just pretended not to know. You know his personality. He hates telling us dark things. Once a lie starts, it keeps growing, making it harder and harder to talk about.”

“…….”

“If he had just opened up about that guy from the start, we would have noticed something before today happened. Don’t you think so too?”

A chill ran down the back of Ho-jae’s neck. He couldn’t answer.

He had never once seriously considered that Ji Min-chul might be thinking this, or what kind of worries Yuk Du-min might have had.

He had been thinking only of himself the entire time. He had been so immersed in his own situation that he didn’t have the luxury to look around. No, he had thought there was no need to look.

He had subconsciously believed that since he had endured the sacrifice of being sponsored by Kwon Jung-hyun for their sake, his own worries were the most important.

Clues he had previously ignored began to surface in his dizzy mind.

Yuk Du-min, who kept trying to hide the existence of a lover; Ji Min-chul, who had been obviously strange during the training camp; and the boyfriend of Yuk Du-min, whom he had clearly seen with his own eyes.

Ji Min-chul said this was his fault, but it wasn’t. It was Shin Ho-jae’s fault.

At the very least, he should have told Ji Min-chul when he saw Yuk Du-min’s boyfriend. He could have easily done so. But what had he done then?

Fearing that his relationship with Kwon Jung-hyun might be discovered, fearing that all the emotions he felt for him would be exposed, fearing he would be pointed at as filthy, he chose to keep his mouth shut.

A chill ran down the back of his neck. He felt that because he had kept silent, Yuk Du-min was being pointed at by people instead of him. An unpleasant sweat pooled in his palms. It was brought on by self-loathing.

Watching Shin Ho-jae with his eyes cast down, Min-chul spoke as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“Come to think of it, what happened with that article about your father? Sorry, I was so out of it because of Yuk Du-min’s situation that I couldn’t pay attention to your father’s matter.”

“…….”

Ho-jae looked up and gazed at Min-chul’s face. His eyes were filled with pure concern.

He remembered when he had rushed back to Korea after hearing the news about his father. His two friends had been pained and saddened as if it were their own business.

Among them, the tearful Yuk Du-min had shed buckets of tears. Despite Ho-jae’s adamant refusals, Du-min and Min-chul had pooled money together to help with his father’s surgery costs.

He had eventually returned the money without using it, but he could never forget the gratitude he felt then.

“…That article was taken down.”

Ironically, Shin Ho-jae’s article had been completely buried after Du-min’s article broke. In the meantime, the article had even been quietly deleted.

“Ah, I guess your phone call worked. That’s a relief.”

Ho-jae’s heart grew even heavier. It felt as if he had covered up his own mess by exposing a friend’s vulnerability.

“Du-min’s article has spread too far now; I don’t think deleting one won’t solve it. The comments on Du-min’s YouTube and SNS are a mess right now… Peter said he’d discuss it with the club officials, but honestly, I don’t expect the club to do much.”

“…….”

Ho-jae thought the same.

Whenever big or small problems arose in the previous club, they either remained unresponsive or, unable to withstand public pressure, put out a response that was worse than doing nothing, only to be cursed at more.

Since almost all the players, including Yuk Du-min, didn’t have management, they were helpless in such situations, which often led to poor condition.

Just then, Ho-jae’s phone rang. It was Park Hyeong-hun. Ho-jae switched the call to speakerphone so Min-chul could hear as well.

—Ho-jae hyung, are you with Du-min hyung right now?

“What? Weren’t you with him?”

—Ugh. You’re not with him?! No, we were together, but then a call came from Du-min hyung’s older brother, and hyung’s expression became so bad. He said he wanted to be alone for a bit, and I couldn’t exactly say no… So I just let him go, but it’s already been 30 minutes and he’s not answering!

Ho-jae locked eyes with Min-chul.

With a stiff face, Min-chul picked up his phone. He seemed to try calling Du-min immediately, but since he didn’t answer, Min-chul shook his head and hung up.

“Did you see where he went?”

—I just thought he was stepping out in front of the dorms, but I can’t find him anywhere… Du-min hyung isn’t thinking of doing something strange, right? I mean, fuck, why does hyung have to suffer because of some crazy bastard who made and spread a composite photo?!

“…We’ll look for him too.”

—Okay. If you find him, please let me know.

Ho-jae said he would and hung up.

The dorms where the players stayed were located slightly away from the city center. Thanks to that, the surrounding scenery was beautiful, but there were no shops open late outside the dorms. There was nowhere to go after leaving the dorms.

Feeling anxious, Ho-jae called Yuk Du-min. The slow ringing tone continued leisurely, oblivious to the situation here.

Just then, Ji Min-chul, who had been operating his phone, stood up abruptly and said,

“I caught a taxi. Let’s go.”

“Huh? Where?”

“Anmok Beach.”

Anmok Beach was one of the beaches close to the dorms. Shin Ho-jae stood up reflexively and asked,

“Is Yuk Du-min there? How do you know?”

“GPS app.”

“What?”

“I installed one back in college because Yuk Du-min used to get drunk and lie down on the street so often.”

“…Ah, really?”

Shin Ho-jae frowned and followed Min-chul.

Thinking that the reason Du-min’s lover disliked them was probably because of Ji Min-chul.

38 – Puck Drop