00004 Sangbok-ri ------------------------------------------------------------------------=
Thud, thud—
Swoosh~
Waaaah----!!!
"[S-Seo Jeong-won!! He scores a miraculous equalizer!!!]"
"[In the 40th minute of the second half! Hong Myung-bo keeps the spark of the chase alive! In the 45th minute of the second half, Hwang Sun-hong, Hong Myung-bo, and Seo Jeong-won combine for a beautiful one-two pass to finally score the miraculous equalizer!]"
"[They fought well. Drawing against Spain, a European football powerhouse, proves that Korean football is in no way inferior to the rest of the world. Especially the astonishing focus shown at the end of the second half is no different from a strong warning that one must not let their guard down against Korea!]"
Just as cheers and voices of joy poured from the TV, everyone watching the soccer broadcast in front of it cheered in unison, throwing their hands up in celebration.
"Did you see that! Did you see! Ah~ to think I'm watching this as a replay."
"It's totally awesome, I tell ya! They pass the ball back and forth real quick like that, then kick it and whoosh, cut right in! Whew~ it's really thrilling!"
"Look at them foreign kids putting on blank faces. Keke, that really hits the spot!"
Led by Seongmin, Sani and Minjun, who had been watching the soccer broadcast, couldn't understand the rules well, but were fascinated and admiring the sight of the players running across the wide field, moving the ball as if it were part of their own bodies.
"Wow! That's amazing. How do they connect that with their feet? It'd be hard even throwing with your hands."
"That's why they're national team players! Our country can probably make it to the Round of 16 at the US World Cup this time. If we drew with Spain, it's a piece of cake!"
Seongmin spoke as if he were immensely proud, and began pulling out one story after another about soccer. Whether it was about the rules, how to pass the ball, or repeating what he'd said before, the only thing he kept expressing regret about was the number of people.
"Damn it... We don't have enough people to play proper soccer. You need eleven on our team and eleven on the other team to do anything... Would the girls even play soccer? Tch. If we go to middle school, at least there are older brothers there to play with. But we just kick the ball around all the time."
The middle school next to the elementary school had quite a lot of students—about seventy enrolled—and there were people who played soccer, so Seongmin often went to the middle school with the sixth graders. Just passing the ball back and forth was enjoyable enough.
"I want to play forward too. The forwards are always taken by the middle schoolers, and we're always stuck playing defense. Sometimes I play midfielder, and then at least I get to kick the ball a bit... It's unfair."
"Right. That's kinda annoying. They say that third-year senior can't even score goals. They say you're way better, Seongmin."
"Can't be helped. Even if it's a shame."
Since they were elementary schoolers and were only allowed to play because the older kids let them join in when they didn't have to, it was a situation where they were grateful just to be given any position, whether defense or whatever. So when Minjun and Sani voluntarily showed willingness to join, completely captivated by soccer's charm, Seongmin was in a very good mood.
"Well, now with two more added, we can at least have two defenders, two midfielders, and one forward... This way we can sort of make up the numbers and pass the ball among ourselves and play."
"Hyung, what about the goalkeeper?"
"For the goalie, we'll just tie some buoys together and set them up. And we'll say it's a goal only if the ball goes in without touching the buoys. Then the two defenders can block the two midfielders and one forward while kicking the ball, and we can sort of play soccer among ourselves."
It was quite a shame, but since they said they'd rotate roles, it was much more fun than going to middle school and being stuck in one position all the time, so Seongmin and the other upperclassmen were very pleased.
In Sani's case, he was happy just to be able to play more with Seongmin, and Minjun, more than that, was very satisfied to be learning about soccer, which he had found interesting, from Seongmin, who knew it like a soccer expert.
"Then I'll practice hard what I learned from Seongmin hyung. I'll ask Dad to buy me a soccer ball when he goes out to town."
"Oh! Will you? As expected, I like that you're quick to take action."
"Ah! I'm gonna do that too! Mom!"
As soon as Minjun received praise, Sani sprang up from his seat and ran to his mother in the kitchen right away. Seongmin giggled as if he found such Sani cute, picked up a piece of octopus sashimi, ate it, and said to Minjun,
"We'll play soccer Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday—four days—after our classes end. Let's have fun from now on."
"Yes!"
* * *
"A soccer ball?"
"Yes! I watched a soccer replay with Seongmin hyung today, and it was so much fun."
Suman, who had been reading the newspaper, nodded at Minjun's sudden request to buy a soccer ball.
"Well, soccer is quite the craze these days."
"It's all the buzz in Sangbok-ri too. Today the Village Chief was in an uproar saying he's reviving the Youth Association soccer club."
"The Village Chief? Can he even play soccer?"
"Heh... I know, right. The Village Chief got scolded terribly by his wife over it, but from what I can see, I think he's planned it out quite thoroughly."
Suman, who had stopped by Sokcho to take care of business and was thinking that quite a lot had happened today, stroked Minjun's head as Minjun looked up at him with bright, expectant eyes waiting for an answer, and said,
"Alright, then I'll buy you one. But do you only need a ball to play soccer?"
"Huh? What else?"
"To play soccer, you need... soccer shoes and things like that, don't you? I saw the players had stuff like that on TV."
"I'm not sure. I only know that soccer has goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and forwards."
At Minjun's answer, Suman realized he had asked too much of an eight-year-old child. Feeling impressed by even the answer he had just given, embarrassment crept up on him, and he immediately gauged the mood of his wife, Yeonhui.
Because Yeonhui often nagged Suman that Minjun might feel burdened by questions that seemed to demand excessive intellectual knowledge, since he was more mature and clever than children his age.
And seeing Yeonhui already glaring at him from the moment his question popped out, Suman cleared his throat once, quickly changed the subject, and decided to give Minjun additional things.
"Then this dad will buy you shoes to wear when playing soccer and soccer gear and such tomorrow. I'll buy you books about soccer too."
"Really?"
"Since you're going to do it anyway, it'd be good to learn the rules properly too... Ahem. Dad doesn't know the details either, but I saw something about it briefly on TV, so..."
At Suman's words that he would buy not just a soccer ball but other items too, Minjun shouted that his father was the best and clung to him in a hug. Yeonhui sighed, letting go of her slightly glaring gaze, and said,
"I'm letting this go just this once."
"Haha, t-that's right. Ahem... Hoo......"
Letting out a sigh of relief, Suman thought that if Minjun hadn't clung to him, there was a 100% chance he would have been nagged at tonight. Feeling fortunate, he let out another sigh of relief and ruffled Minjun's hair as he spoke.
"If our Minjun works hard at soccer, will he become a soccer player later?"
"A soccer player?"
Watching Seongmin get incredibly excited about the national team, Minjun had definitely already begun to want to become a player who appeared on TV showing awesome moves. Because of Suman's words, that thought arose, and instead of answering, Minjun fell into thought.
"I, um... Soccer players are cool, but I don't really know yet. But since Seongmin hyung likes the national team so much... somehow I want to do it too."
"The national team... Keuh, just thinking about our son representing Korea and playing soccer already makes me feel so proud."
As Suman got ahead of himself again and began asking Minjun this and that, this time Yeonhui slapped Suman's thigh with a smack and spoke.
"Suman! Leave Minjun alone to do what he wants for his future. Don't keep forcing things on him."
"Ahem... Well, that's what I mean. Still, definitely the national team! If Minjun appeared on that TV over there with the Taegeuk emblem proudly on. How proud I'd be."
"You don't even know if he has any talent for soccer, but you keep talking like that!"
"Well, it's just... kids from the neighborhood gathering to kick a ball around. Ahem."
He was about to say, "Why are you getting so far ahead of yourself," but Yeonhui's glaring eyes were so scary that Suman tucked his tail between his legs, lifted Minjun right up, and said,
"Minjun~ let's go take a bath. If we stay any longer, this father will be in danger."
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"Ahem, your mother is..."
"Dear!"
Just as he was about to ramble on again, Yeonhui shouted sharply. Suman put on a mischievous smile and took Minjun to the bathroom, while Yeonhui simply sighed as if she couldn't do anything with him.
She thought that ever since coming to Sangbok-ri, Suman's personality had really changed to become like a child's.
---------------------------= Author's Afterword ---------------------------=
Nodding off.