#33

─Ho Jae-shin?

“Ah.”

─What are you doing? Can’t you focus?

However, if he wanted to mention that he had seen Yuk Du-min that day, he would have to admit that he had been there himself. The tailor shop, and Kwon Jung-hyun.

Min-chul and Du-min knew better than anyone that Shin Ho-jae would never visit such a distant tailor shop on his own. Yet, he didn’t feel like lying.

Since the incident with Yuk Du-min, Ji Min-chul had become obsessively persistent whenever he sensed someone was hiding something, so it was nearly impossible to hide the details and only mention seeing Du-min.

“…What are you going to buy? Was there something Yuk Du-min said he wanted lately?”

─Oh, remember how Du-min said he wanted noise-canceling headphones a while back? I got some department store gift certificates as a prize, so I’ll use those—.

And so, Shin Ho-jae chose to bury the image of Du-min he had seen that day.

It must have been another friend. He might have briefly seen a friend who works nearby before meeting his girlfriend. Or it could have been a different day. Surely, that was the case.

He never wanted to let those two know about what happened with Kwon Jung-hyun.

In all his life, Shin Ho-jae had never done anything he couldn’t be proud of. But regarding what happened with Kwon Jung-hyun, there was nothing he could openly disclose with a clear conscience.

He only realized that after seeing Yuk Du-min’s face outside the window. He realized just how deep he had stepped into the filth.

The filth emitted a stench so disgusting it made anyone frown. A stench so potent that even a tiny smudge would make people point fingers at him.

* * *

The practice match against the HI Tigers was held at the Tigers’ home stadium in Gangneung.

The players, arriving a day before the match, spent a day at a tourist hotel near the stadium after some light acclimation training.

Since they visited the Gangneung Hockey Center so often that it could almost be called a second home stadium, extensive acclimation training wasn’t necessary.

And then came the day of the match.

Ho-jae, arriving at the cafeteria shared with the Tigers players for breakfast, saw Du-min looking somewhat gloomy.

Since tomorrow was Yuk Du-min’s birthday, every player passing by offered him congratulations. Du-min responded brightly with a smile each time, but there was no way Ho-jae would fail to recognize the expression of a friend of ten years.

“It’s your birthday week, so why the long face?”

“Ah, dating is fucking hard.”

“I guess Du-min’s partner got mad because he’s going on an overnight trip with us.”

“Why?”

Du-min sighed as he piled white rice like a mountain on his tray.

“I mean… they are on the jealous side.”

“Jealous? Over a trip with friends?”

It was a concept Ho-jae could hardly understand.

“It’s my birthday. I guess they naturally thought we’d spend it together.”

“Didn’t they say they weren’t available?”

“I feel like I shouldn’t have taken that at face value? I think they wanted me to go and practically beg on my knees. Ah, I feel like I’m solving a riddle. Actually, this isn’t the first or second time. We fight all the time about my streaming. They say I flirt too much with my subscribers.”

Ho-jae laughed lightly.

“You do flirt quite aggressively.”

“Really? Does it look like an NG to you too?”

“But so what? You said they liked you because of how you act on stream. Isn’t that something they should understand?”

“Sigh… I don’t know. Sometimes it’s a bit shocking. Should I say they seem too obsessed…?”

“Still, you’re dating because you like them.”

“That’s true, but lately it’s just….”

Min-chul, who had been silently listening to the conversation between Ho-jae and Du-min, spoke up while scooping rice.

“Then should we invite your partner too? There are two rooms there. Your couple can use one. I don’t mind.”

“…Huh?”

“It’d be a good chance to introduce them. Ho Jae-shin, you’re okay with that too, right?”

As Ho-jae nodded as if it were obvious, Du-min blinked his round eyes rapidly.

Du-min bit his plump lip and remained silent for a moment, then filled his soup bowl with stir-fried pork before speaking.

“No. It’s more fun if it’s just us. I’ll try talking to them first. It’s not right for me to walk on eggshells just to meet my friends. Let’s just eat and get ready for the match. There are only a few hours left.”

With that, the conversation wound down.

Ho-jae also served himself food and sat down. While Park Hyeong-hun and the rookie players, who entered the cafeteria late, noisily celebrated Du-min’s birthday, the phone on the table vibrated several times.

Ho-jae touched the screen nonchalantly, and his expression crumbled.

It was a message with a copied and pasted headline of an internet article.

[Exclusive] MJ Blue Wolves’ Shin Ho-jae, did he choose Korea over the home of hockey, Canada, because of his brain-dead father?

“…Fuck. What is this.”

At the quiet curse, Yuk Du-min and Ji Min-chul, who were drinking cold seaweed soup, looked surprised simultaneously.

“What is it?”

“Why?”

Following the link to check the article, a familiar reporter’s name appeared.

Daily One’s Kim In-jung.

Shin Ho-jae pushed back his chair and stood up to search for the contact in his phone. He thought he had saved it after accidentally answering a call once before, but the contact wasn’t visible.

“Send me Reporter Kim In-jung’s contact info.”

“Huh? The Daily One reporter? I have it.”

“…What the hell is this.”

Du-min quickly sent the contact, and Min-chul frowned his thick eyebrows, seemingly having searched for the article on a portal site.

Leaving only the words, “I’ll be back after making a call,” Shin Ho-jae left the cafeteria. The long ringing finally stopped just before the voicemail greeting began.

─Oh? What brings Player Shin to call me? Isn’t today match day?

“Take the article down. How can you publish something like this without even verifying the facts?”

─What? What’s with the sudden aggression?

“I saw the article. I, the person involved, do not want this, so take it down. Furthermore, my father is not in a brain-dead state.”

─What are you talking about? I verified it several times. No, but Player Shin. I’ve packaged all your rudeness and lack of humor and only wrote good articles for you, and now you’ve forgotten all that and are acting out because you don’t like one article?

Shin Ho-jae let out a hollow laugh.

Packaging? Good articles?

Is writing a ridiculous article saying he requested a private jet from the owner “packaging”?

“I am the party involved, so who exactly did you verify this with?”

As he spoke in a stiff tone, barely suppressing his anger, a familiar figure walking from the end of the hallway entered his sight. It was Coach Peter and Kwon Jung-hyun.

Their eyes met. Shin Ho-jae did not avoid his gaze and continued the call. Kwon Jung-hyun was also looking at Ho-jae. His expression was calm, as if nothing had happened.

─Who else? At a drinking session a while ago, huh? I heard it clearly from Coach Yoo and CEO Kwon.

“…Who?”

─I mean, I think it was CEO Kwon.

At that moment, he snapped.

That would be the most accurate way to describe it. His memory of the time between hanging up the phone and approaching Kwon Jung-hyun was completely gone. His eyes stung with a boiling rage.

To Shin Ho-jae, family was the reverse scale—the one thing no one should ever touch. And Kwon Jung-hyun had touched it twice, in the worst possible way.

“I’d like a word with you.”

Shin Ho-jae stood tall in front of the two and murmured quietly. In the hallway, there were passing staff and players besides Coach Peter.

To ensure that his relationship with Kwon Jung-hyun didn’t look even slightly strange in front of them, Shin Ho-jae did his best in that moment.

The two moved to a terrace area on the second floor of the stadium. It seemed the officials used it as a smoking area, as cigarette burns were dotted across the tables.

During the two or three minutes it took to find a place to talk quietly, the rage that had boiled until his vision went black subsided somewhat.

The Tigers’ home stadium was located in a quiet urban area near the beach. Beyond the open terrace, gentle mountains and scattered apartment complexes were visible.

Regaining some composure, Shin Ho-jae watched the profile of Kwon Jung-hyun as he closed the terrace door. He had a peaceful face. Relaxed and leisurely, as always. It made his blood boil.

How could he have such a confident face after stirring up someone else’s family just as he pleased?

“So, what is it?”

“Do you find me laughable, CEO?”

“…What?”

“Then again, in your eyes, whether it’s me or my family, we probably just looked like toys on standby that you could play with however you liked.”

At the pouring criticism, Jung-hyun narrowed his brow.

“Instead of getting worked up on your own, I’d appreciate it if you explained yourself clearly.”

Ho-jae clenched his fists to control the anger that threatened to flare up again.

“Do I look worked up? I am being as polite as possible right now.”

“…….”

“Since you are the owner who holds the lifeline of our club.”

34 – Puck Drop