Chapter 6: Even if You’re Good-Looking, You Still Sleep in Class.

“The MVP award for this tournament goes to… Yoo Hee-sung!”

The stadium erupted in cheers at the announcer’s declaration.

As Yoo Hee-sung walked up to the podium to receive the trophy, the senior players around me started murmuring.

“Wow, we won, and Tae-woo even scored the last goal.”

‘I could have achieved an accomplishment if I won the MVP award, but it can’t be helped.’

‘These kinds of awards usually go to attackers.’

“Sh*t, that’s a damn shame.”

“Hey, you should have come out one more time and scored just one more goal.”

“Then you definitely would have been the MVP.”

“Tae-yang, if you just keep your mouth shut…”

I stared intently at Tae-yang’s face.

“Hmm… Never mind.”

“Even if you keep it open.”

“It’d probably be the same?”

“Hey, hey, what does that mean?”

“………”

“No, what does it mean!!!!!”

Lightly ignoring Lee Tae-yang’s words, I focused on Yoo Hee-sung’s acceptance speech.

“It’s really disappointing that we came in second.”

“Next time, we’ll do better and definitely win.”

“And… I hope to become closer with Pungwol High’s Jeong Tae-woo while studying the history of Manchester United together!”

The stadium fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“Ah… This is hilariously ridiculous.”

***

[The Second Kim Byung-ji Emerges? The Player Who Dribbled Past Three Defenders with Flashy Individual Skills and Scored a Goal Turns Out to Be Jeong Tae-woo, Once Famous as the ‘Crown Prince’?]

[This high school football final between Pungwol High and Inha High, dubbed the ‘Crown Prince Battle’ in addition to being a rival match, drew attention to the rivalry between Yoo Hee-sung and Jeong Tae-woo.

However, an unexpected situation occurred mid-game.

Goalkeeper Jeong Tae-woo suddenly charged out of the goal and began dribbling.

He successively dribbled past opposing team players with astonishing individual skill, eventually even getting past the opposing goalkeeper to score a goal.

This scene instantly spread through SNS, receiving a passionate response from many football fans.]

ㄴ Wow, I was there, it was insane.

ㄴ Bullsh*t  What goalkeeper dribbles and scores a goal? Reporter, get a grip.

ㄴ https://www.kfa.or.kr/newsview.do? Check this out. It’s real lol.

ㄴ Reporter, I’m sorry, is this for real?

ㄴ Diapers are a must.

ㄴ Thanks to the comment above, I saved my underwear.

ㄴ Are the diapers wet then?

[Jeong Tae-woo’s MOM Interview: He showed incredible saves in the first half, then suddenly came out early in the second half and scored a goal with an amazing play. Was this a planned play?

“It wasn’t planned.”

“It just felt like the little kid inside me was saying I should score a goal this time, so I ran out, and before I knew it, the ball was in the opponent’s net.”]

ㄴ The little kid inside me 

ㄴ Van Persie: That’s right, the little kid inside me always tells me the right things.

ㄴ But watching his interview, he’s really handsome.

ㄴ A face too good for a football player.

ㄴ Oppa, I love you (dangling dangling)

ㄴ ??????

ㄴ Wow, I want to go to Pungwol High too. How would it feel to have such a handsome junior?

ㄴ I want to live with a face like that for just one day.

ㄴ I’m more handsome.

ㄴ Turn off your phone screen for a moment.

ㄴ Ah… I saw my face, I’m having a reality check.

“Puhahaha.”

Looking at my phone, I couldn’t hold back my laughter and burst out.

‘Ah, the praise for my looks that I couldn’t even dream of during my Kim Chan-ki days, and even these fawning comments… Is this the popularity of a handsome man?’

“Hey, Jeong Tae-woo.”

“Ah, these comments are seriously hilarious.”

“Hey, Jeong Tae-woo!!”

“Ah, why are you calling me? Can’t you see I’m looking at my phone right now?”

“I don’t care if you’re looking at your phone, but why are you in someone else’s classroom, and at my desk, looking at your phone?”

“Hey, we’re childhood friends, why are you being so petty about something like that?”

Jang Da-min.

Because our families had been close since we were young and we grew up together, from my perspective, having Jeong Tae-woo’s memories, she was a really comfortable friend.

“Ha~ Seriously.”

Da-min sat down in the empty seat next to me as if she had given up, and I stared intently at her.

‘She really is pretty.’

‘Short black hair, fair skin, and facial features as pretty as a doll’s.’

‘I don’t understand why Jeong Tae-woo married someone else instead of Da-min.’

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because you’re pretty?”

“Are you sick somewhere? Stop talking nonsense and go to your own class!”

“Ah, it’s too noisy there because of Lee Tae-yang.”

“Oh right, do you have plans after school?”

“I have to go practice.”

“Sigh, don’t you guys even get vacations?”

“How would I know my younger sister’s schedule?”

Seeing my expression, Da-min shook her head.

‘I really don’t think there’s any older brother who knows his younger sister’s schedule.’

“Yeah, that’s just like you.”

“Now, don’t bother me, I’m going to draw.”

Da-min’s family had been Manchester City fans for generations, so naturally, Da-min also became a Manchester City fan.

Moreover, Da-min, whose hobby was drawing, loved drawing since she was young and often drew football players.

“Hey, I’m better at football than those guys there.”

“Just draw me.”

“You’re better than the Man City players?”

Seeing Da-min’s incredulous expression, I nodded as if it were obvious and spoke.

“Hey, did you not see my super play in the finals this time?”

“Wasn’t it cool?”

“Sigh, hey, even if Man City’s performance isn’t great these days, they’re Premier League players.”

“Is that the same as a high school tournament?”

“Then if I go to Man City, will you draw me?”

“Huh?”

Seeing the flustered Da-min, I repeated myself.

“If I go to Man City, will you draw me?”

“You don’t like Man City.”

“No, I’m a Man City fan.”

“Since when?”

“Hmm… Since just now?”

“Hey!”

Da-min lightly tapped my arm and laughed.

I laughed along and said.

“Just kidding, I’m really a Man City fan.”

“Alright, alright, stop with the nonsense and hurry to your class.”

“Class starts in 1 minute.”

“Okay, okay.”

“But really, if I go to Man City, you’ll draw me, right?”

“Yeah, if you go to Man City, I’ll draw you a lot, so disappear to your class, Mr. Jeong Tae-woo.”

“You promised!”

I grinned, stood up from my seat, and headed to my classroom.

“Hey, are you guys really not dating?”

“Ah, I told you we’re not.”

I heard Da-min talking to her friend.

A slight smile appeared on my face as I heard that.

‘Another reason to go to Man City, I guess.’

‘I was planning to go anyway, but if my pretty childhood friend is a Man City fan, well then.’

***

Even though I ran quickly, the math teacher was already teaching.

I peeked through the window and tried to enter quietly through the back door, but…

Screech-

“Who is it?”

“Ahaha, teacher, well, I really had to go to the bathroom…”

“Well, well, if it isn’t the star of our finals, Mr. Jeong Tae-woo?”

“Ah, you saw my game.”

“It’s embarrassing to say it myself, but I am indeed Jeong Tae-woo, the hero of that fantastic winning goal, the iron wall goalkeeper who didn’t allow a single point.”

All the friends in my class burst into laughter at my joke.

“Hahahaha.”

“Alright, alright, quiet.”

The math teacher tapped the blackboard.

“Since you’re the pride of our Pungwol High, Mr. Jeong Tae-woo, I’ll forgive you for being late to class.”

‘If you’re handsome, you get these kinds of bene-‘

“However! Only if you solve this problem.”

A complicated geometry problem was drawn on the blackboard the teacher was pointing to.

I slowly walked to the front of the blackboard and examined the problem.

“Since it seems you absolutely won’t know it, I’ll specially tell you the formula.”

The teacher began to explain.

“This part is like this, and using that angle…”

‘I can speak English, but this doesn’t seem like it.’

‘Is it French?’

To my ears, the math teacher’s explanation sounded like he was speaking a foreign language, not Korean.

“Alright, now solve… Sigh, looking at your expression, you didn’t understand a thing.”

“That’s right, teacher!”

“Good, your confidence is good.”

“Since you’re in the football club, I’ll give you a special pass.”

“Go sit down.”

“I’m sorry!!”

I apologized and carefully sat down in my seat.

“Hey, you went to Da-min’s class again, didn’t you?”

It was fine for me since I was in the football club, but for the sake of the other students’ learning atmosphere, I could quickly fall asleep using Lee Tae-yang’s nonsense and the teacher’s foreign language as a lullaby.

***

“Hey Jeong Tae-woo, wake up.”

Waking up to someone calling me, I opened my eyes to see a man who looked like the coach standing there.

“What, he looks like the coach.”

“Yeah, I am your coach.”

I rubbed my eyes at the coach’s voice and came to my senses.

“Huh? Coach, why are you all the way in the classroom… It’s definitely a day off from training.”

‘On the bus back after winning, the coach’s joyful voice and the seniors’ voices are still vivid, aren’t they?’

“Everyone, this is to celebrate our victory. Training is off until Wednesday!”

“Niceeee!!!”

‘The coach came all the way to the classroom on a day off from training… What is this, really?’

“Someone wants to meet you, so I came to get you, you brat.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

‘Who could it be?’

‘An agency?’

‘It’s true I don’t have an agency yet…’

Wait a minute.

The coach is using polite language, and if this is after the football tournament ended, it’s 2036… during the Olympics.

Could it be the Olympic coach?

In the novel, Jeong Tae-woo wasn’t selected for the Olympics, but is this a butterfly effect from the winning team changing?

But this Olympics, they get eliminated in the preliminaries, and miserably at that.

For this Olympics, someone with coaching experience in Germany was appointed as the coach, raising readers’ expectations.

However, they were eliminated in the preliminaries due to conceding a large number of goals from an extremely offensive tactic.

‘He definitely appeared like someone significant when he was introduced, but because he was eliminated so miserably, readers also cursed a lot in this chapter, calling it frustrating.’

Following the coach, I entered the football club’s coach’s office.

A 190cm giant with voluminous curly hair, wearing a black suit, was smiling at me.

“Nice to meet you.”