#51

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Period 2

“Shin Ho-jae, why aren’t you taking this?”

Shin Yeon-jae asked, lingering around his room as if he were bored. He was pointing toward the suits that Ho-jae had received from Jung-hyun and had never worn once.

They had been delivered to the house recently to coincide with the season opening, and in Ho-jae’s view, the quantity was so immense that he could have opened a clothing store with them.

“I mean, why are you taking those old suits! These are way cooler!”

“You must be free. You seemed busy lately.”

“Yeah. I’m free today.”

The teasing Shin Yeon-jae flipped through the new suits and then let out an exclamation of surprise. “Huh?”

“There’s embroidery of your back number here, so why aren’t you wearing it?”

“What?”

“Right here. It says 86.”

At those words, Shin Ho-jae stopped packing and stood up. Looking at the suit jacket Shin Yeon-jae held out, there was indeed the number 86 embroidered in small letters inside the pocket.

“What’s this? You did it yourself and didn’t know?”

“…….”

Ho-jae checked the other jackets hanging nearby. Similarly, Shin Ho-jae’s back number was engraved in the same spot.

Since the shirts had the initials he had requested, he hadn’t thought there would be other embroidery.

Shin Ho-jae brushed his fingers over the silver thread. He could feel the thick surface beneath his fingerprint.

It had been quite a while since he started playing with the back number 86. It had been seven years, starting from when he played in the Canadian youth leagues.

Suddenly, an old memory flashed through his mind. The SNS with the bluebird icon where he used to chatter instead of keeping a diary whenever he felt lonely and exhausted.

Thinking back, it seems he needed some kind of outlet at the time. Having lived in a foreign land since childhood where he couldn’t even communicate, many things must have accumulated within him without him realizing it.

It was difficult to talk about his hardships with his family, who were already worried about him being abroad, and the same went for Yuk Du-min and Ji Min-chul. He thought that they, being with their families and friends in Korea, would find it difficult to 100% understand the feelings he held.

For such a Shin Ho-jae, SNS willingly became that outlet. Because it was an account his family and friends didn’t know about, he could speak his inner thoughts more comfortably.

Back then, there was an account called ’86’. Someone with a warm tone who always liked his trivial stories and sent long replies.

Since it was an account with very few followers, he quickly realized that the account ’86’ was the one replying to his stories.

He figured the person was likely a Korean studying abroad. That was probably why they shared their own stories as if empathizing with his, and took photos of the number 86 found on English signs or posters.

Although he had never spoken to them directly, he could tell that the person’s desire to comfort and cheer him on was sincere. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have consistently looked at his posts for such a long time.

Then one day, that account suddenly stopped being active. And not long after, Shin Ho-jae naturally lost interest in SNS as well.

The photos of ’86’ that the person sent probably still exist on the phone he used back then. Where did he put that phone…

“Why? Is something wrong?”

At Shin Yeon-jae’s voice, Shin Ho-jae snapped out of his reverie and shook his head.

To Ho-jae, the back number 86 was now too familiar and natural. He no longer felt a surge of happiness every time he saw the same number like he used to.

Perhaps that was why. He remembered the old days when someone else considered a simple back number to be more special than he did.

“I’m telling you, those old suits are really not it.”

Ho-jae chased away the continuing grumbling Shin Yeon-jae and closed the closet door again.

The opening of the Asia League was three days away.

Last year’s champion and runner-up, the HI Tigers and Japan’s Red Falcon Hokkaido, were predicted to be the favorites for the title again this time, and the Blue Wolves, to which Ho-jae belonged, were attracting attention in a different sense due to the ejection and the Yuk Du-min incident that occurred during practice matches.

Tomorrow, the Blue Wolves team would depart for Hachinohe, Tohoku, Japan, for their opening match.

The Tohoku Winterboar, which uses a white boar as its symbol, was a team that finished 5th last season. Although the Blue Wolves were one rank higher, they couldn’t let their guard down because the Winterboar was a team with particularly strong defense and unity among players who had played together for a long time.

Thanks to the efforts of Peter and the physical coaches, the Blue Wolves’ performance had improved remarkably. However, if there was a remaining problem, it was the teamwork, as always.

After Du-min’s incident was settled, Du-min and Min-chul arranged a meeting to apologize to their fellow players for the series of events.

The captain, Yong-su, as well as Hyeong-hun and Alexei, shrugged their shoulders and accepted the apology with a laugh, but a few, such as Lee Sang-gon and Moon Seung-yeol, openly avoided Du-min or showed clear signs of displeasure.

Waking up at 4 AM the next day, Ho-jae finished managing his father’s bedsores and suctioning on behalf of his sleeping mother, then gave him a leg massage.

It was when he turned on the fan on low for his sweating father that he heard a mumbling voice. As he approached, his father spoke once more. Listening closely, it was a pet name for his mother.

“Dad, it’s me, Ho-jae. Mom is sleeping right now.”

“Ho-jae? Why is he here? He should be exercising.”

His father didn’t seem to recognize him. Recently, delirium symptoms had begun to appear in his father, who had previously been mentally clear.

His heart felt heavy, but since it had been a while since he had a conversation with his father, Ho-jae gave a small smile for the first time in a while. Then, suddenly, his father asked in clear pronunciation.

“Did you pack your bags?”

Ho-jae asked back in surprise.

“Bags? Yes, I did. Did you know I was going on an away trip today?”

“Yes… You have to go quickly. Ho-jae is waiting in Canada…”

His father’s memory occasionally returned to the moment just before the family left for their summer vacation in Canada. Perhaps that time was particularly memorable, or perhaps he felt lingering regret because they ultimately couldn’t go on that summer vacation.

It wasn’t easy for Ho-jae, who lived in the present, to guess the thoughts of his father, who remained somewhere in the past.

“Oh my… I must have fallen asleep for a moment. Is Ho-jae leaving now?”

His mother approached, having been woken up by the voice. Ho-jae nodded, said a quiet goodbye to his mother, and left the house.

His father’s symptoms fluctuated, improving and worsening. There were days when he struggled greatly seeing that a movement he could do yesterday was impossible today, but eventually, the whole family became numb to such things.

They say the secret to long-term caregiving is not to be swayed by every small joy or sorrow. In that sense, Ho-jae and his family were doing quite well.

It was still dark outside. Since it was mid-September, the dawn air was quite chilly. Ho-jae stood in front of the main road.

An empty taxi slowed down in front of Ho-jae. However, seeing Shin Ho-jae just standing there with a blank face, it zoomed away again. After some time had passed…

A navy-blue domestic SUV stopped, turning on its blinker. Only then did Shin Ho-jae adjust the sports bag slung over his shoulder.

He opened the back door and placed the bag in the empty seat first. Ji Min-chul, sitting in the driver’s seat, said shortly, “You timed it perfectly.” In the passenger seat, Yuk Du-min was nodding off.

It was the three of them’s routine for away games that Ji Min-chul, who had a car, would pick up Du-min first and then Ho-jae last to go to the airport.

From September, when the league begins, until April of the following year, there are frequent schedules for overseas away games. An away trip usually lasts a total of 4 days, including two match days. Since there are away games twice a month, they essentially spend half the month abroad.

There was the option of taking the team bus, but players with cars usually preferred going straight to the airport like Ji Min-chul. Thanks to that, Ho-jae and Du-min were able to travel comfortably every time.

Aside from feeling a bit stiff since it was usually the time to wake up and start dawn training, his condition was good. He saw Yuk Du-min’s head, which had been nodding, suddenly snap toward the driver’s seat.

The angle was almost 90 degrees, so from behind, it looked exactly like a horror movie. Finding it funny, he looked for the phone in his pocket to take a photo, but Min-chul raised his arm first.

Min-chul’s hand lightly pushed Du-min’s head back upright and then indifferently returned to the steering wheel.

The atmosphere between the two had become soft enough for even Shin Ho-jae to feel it. Du-min had resumed broadcasting, and Min-chul was with him in every broadcast.

With Min-chul by his side, stepping in whenever malicious comments were posted, it was visible that Du-min’s expression was gradually becoming more relaxed.

It looked good. To the point where he thought it was a relief that Min-chul was there during Du-min’s difficult moments.

“…….”

And it was always at times like this that a certain face came to mind. Shin Ho-jae frowned and turned his head toward the side window. It was only around the time they crossed Yeongjong Bridge that the sky began to brighten.

“Is everyone here? We’ll go through procedures all at once, so collect the passports from the back. You all know you have to gather in front of the gate once we arrive in Tokyo to transfer flights, right?”

“Yesss.”

At the coach’s words, everyone was busy taking out their passports. While receiving the passport handed over by Du-min, who was yawning wide enough to tear his mouth, Ho-jae unconsciously glanced past the players.

“Why?”

Du-min followed suit and looked around behind them. Shin Ho-jae shook his head and passed the three passports forward.

“Ah, I’m waking up now that there’s food. The lounge is the best. Business class is the best. God MJ!”

“Doesn’t in-flight meal come out later too?”

“Cheol. Who can survive on that thing the size of a fist?”

Since business class seats were provided for this away trip as well, all the players could use the lounge. He could see familiar faces sitting huddled around lounge tables, chatting.

Every time someone stood up from their seat, Ho-jae repeated the action of lifting his eyes and then slowly casting them down.

Hachinohe is where the Tohoku Winterboar’s home stadium is located. Since there are no direct flights, they have to transfer to a small plane in Tokyo and land at a regional airport.

After arriving, they checked the equipment that had arrived in advance and immediately had an on-ice training session. The accommodation was a business hotel close to the stadium.

After playing two matches over the next two days, they would stay one more night and then return to Korea. Shin Ho-jae sat on the bed of his single hotel room, set the alarm, and stared blankly ahead.

Although the first match of the season was tomorrow, he wasn’t particularly nervous or trembling. He had prepared as usual, and his condition was fine. However, the problem was the face that popped into his mind from time to time.

Given the personality, he thought the person would definitely show their face at the first game.

“…….”

Ho-jae frowned and tossed his phone onto the nightstand.

52 – Puck Drop