Chapter 71 – Participating in the First Group Activity

A soccer match is held for each class prior to the sports day.

Lunchtime soccer is something that boys play every day, but this time it carries a special weight.

Unlike usual, where offsides are handled appropriately, we even have a referee to take charge of the game, and even the kids who don’t care much about winning or losing and just want to play soccer take it quite seriously.

But…

“Miss, I’m screwed.”

“Who can we substitute for?”

“They said that the remaining kids would all be left out because they couldn’t play soccer. Should I add one of them?”

“What is it? What’s going on?”

A group of boys gathered together in the morning with serious expressions and talking.

And another guy who didn’t yet know the situation came up and asked what was going on.

I was also sitting in the corner of the classroom with Yuri, quietly listening to their stories.

I could immediately understand why the boys were making a fuss.

Because when school was in full swing, one person showed up with crutches.

“Ha, fuck… I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong with this guy?”

The guy on crutches muttered with a gloomy expression, and some guys who didn’t yet understand the meaning asked back in surprise.

“That bastard was looking at his phone when he got off the bus and tripped over her and fell.”

“You idiot…”

“Oh, if you’re going to roll, do it after the sports day.”

“Not a single person asked if the fuckers were okay.”

There was a vacancy in our class because the guy who was supposed to play sprained his ankle for some stupid reason.

In order to find the other 10 people who would participate in the game before lunchtime, I went around asking people who were not among the members.

And among them was Gong Young-bae.

“Hey, Youngbae! Do you want to play soccer with Class 6 at lunch later?”

“Ah… I think if I don’t really have athletic skills, I’ll just hold you back. Sorry. It would be much better to look at other kids instead of me.”

“Mr. Ha, he said he won’t do it either… I’m really screwed. What should I do?”

Yuri, who was quietly watching the scene, whispered softly to me.

“Seongjin, how about you go out? Aren’t you good at sports? You’re strong too.”

“I’m not good at soccer.”

“But you’re in such good shape, shouldn’t you have the basics? They’re in trouble right now because they don’t have anyone around. I also said I would participate in the sports festival this time, so let’s give it a try this time, okay?”

“How come you seem more interested than me?”

At my words, Yuri held my hand with a slightly sad expression.

“That’s right, he’s my boyfriend, and I don’t like seeing him acting like this in class. I wouldn’t have known it before, but you’ve changed a lot now, but they still have a hard time with you. Furthermore, I’m sorry that I can’t do anything for you when you’re already having a hard time.

It would be nice to use this opportunity to become closer to the kids in the class. I heard that boys especially become friends while playing soccer, right?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Then go ahead and ask. I’ll be here.”

“Ha… I think I’ll just ruin the kids’ mood by interfering with the bully… Furthermore, I was just planning on participating in the sports day as an individual competition, this kind of thing…”

“Come on, give it a try. Fighting, my boyfriend!”

Yuri smiled and gently pushed my back and made a ‘Going!’ Gesture.

Since I couldn’t ignore my cute girlfriend’s request, I got up from my seat and walked towards the group of anxious boys.

“Hey.”

“Eh… Ha, Han Seong-jin… Uh, why?”

The boys momentarily flinched when they saw me.

“They’re empty of soccer players?”

“Huh? Right…”

“Did you save someone?”

“No, not yet…”

“Should I play? I’m not good at soccer.”

At my remark, the boys opened their eyes wide and looked at each other’s faces.

Of course, some of them may have been in the same class as me in the first or second year, and even if not, everyone would know about me.

This is because the old boy who has no interest in class work and who gets into all sorts of troubles with women around him said that he would be the first to participate in the class sports day.

The boys just looked at each other with anxious expressions and couldn’t readily answer what I said.

“Mr. Ani, you said you need someone. You need it, you don’t need it. If you don’t need it, don’t.”

“It’s necessary. It’s necessary, but…”

“Then what? You need people, but you don’t need me? Because I’m not a person?”

Yuri stood at a distance, touched her forehead, and sighed.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that! It was just a bit surprising. Then, I’ll join you. Right after lunch.”

“Okay.”

I returned to my seat and extended my fingers to Yuri in a V shape.

“It was successful.”

“I wish I had spoken nicer! I told you to treat me like you treat me!”

“They’re not as pretty as you.”

“Extreme… Anyway, if you really can’t talk. Anyway, it’s been a while since you get to hang out with other kids, so try your best. Can’t fight? Promise me.”

“Okay, okay. Promise.”

I bet my little finger with Yuri.

Yuri couldn’t hide her smile, as if she was quite excited to see me hanging out with the other kids in her class for the first time.

#####

After lunch, I participated in a soccer game with the boys in my class.

And while eating together, Soo-yeon Choi, who knew that I played soccer, sat down with Yuri on the stone steps at the edge of the playground and cheered us on as we went to the game.

“Going senior! I’ll definitely win! Even if I die, I’ll win!”

“No, we’re not going to the National Sports Festival. We’re just playing a game of soccer with the class.”

“Still, I’d rather see my senior win than lose! Good luck, senior! I’ll be cheering you on from here!”

As Sooyeon Choi hugged me, Yuri became uncomfortable and came to the other side of me and wrapped her arms around me.

“This is my first activity with my boyfriend and the other kids in my class, so work hard. It’s good if you win, but you can’t fight with other kids just because you can’t win, okay?”

Yuri cheered me on by saying things that were just like her mother’s nagging.

With the two girls cheering on me, I headed to the playground, and we started the game with class 6.

Since I wasn’t confident in shooting, I took a defensive midfielder position and went on defense.

Abbreviated soccer with 20 minutes in the first half, 5 minutes in intermission, and 20 minutes in the second half.

It wasn’t an official soccer team, it was just an ordinary high school soccer game, so there was nothing special about it, but my class and Class 6, both boys and girls, gathered together on the stone steps of the playground and cheered hard, and other kids from other grades and classes who were bored also came and watched the soccer game together. I did it.

…

Meanwhile, the people gathered around recognized Han Seong-jin as the particularly tall and bulky person among the participants and became excited.

“What is he? Isn’t he Han Seong-jin?”

“Why does he get involved in the kids’ soccer game? I’ve never seen him do that before.”

“I saw someone in class 3 in the morning using crutches. I guess that’s why I’m a pinch hitter.”

“Why did someone who won’t even ask me to suddenly get angry? I feel sorry for the kids in class 3. If they lose, don’t they go back and get scolded and beaten for no reason?”

However, Han Seong-jin, who thought he would just run around without any motivation, was quite motivated.

“Hey, block it! Back! Don’t follow the ball, have someone go over there!”

Han Seong-jin, who took advantage of his height, which was much taller than others, to dominate the air, cut a fly ball with a short header, and because he was so big, he blocked the view of the 6th class attackers, preventing the 6th class from digging deep.

And above all, the power struggle is so strong that the moment they collide, the Class 6 players are likely to fall down.

Although he was not a striker who was easy to stand out, Han Seong-jin easily caught the attention of others due to his protruding height and large size, and even performed exceptionally well.

“Nice!”

“Hey, Han Seong-jin, that was just so fucking good!”

When Han Seong-jin blocked Class 6’s attack with his defensive skills, the men of Class 3 asked Han Seong-jin for a high five.

Wow!

High fives from men sweating profusely.

“Pass!”

“Seongjin! This way! Fly!”

“Hey, stop it!”

The boys, who had found Han Seong-jin very difficult and reluctant just before the start of the game, quickly let down their guard by playing soccer together, as Lee Yu-ri said.

When you look at them when they play soccer, they just seem like friends who always hang out together in everyday life.

“Seongjin is doing well! Good luck to Class 3!”

“Cheer up, senior! Pass! Pass!”

Lee Yu-ri and Choi Soo-yeon, who were sitting on the stone steps, cheered for Han Seong-jin at the top of their voices.

And Jeong Eun-ji, who was running on the track laid around the playground as per her usual routine, also kept her eyes on the soccer game between classes 3 and 6 throughout the run.

It was hard to believe it when I heard that Han Seong-jin would participate in the soccer game first, but seeing him play with such enthusiasm and work well with his classmates was almost unbelievable.

Considering his original personality, I thought he would be a top striker, and it wouldn’t be strange for him to immediately curse at the other kids and throw a tantrum when he didn’t get the ball.

Watching Han Seong-jin play surprisingly altruistically and sacrificially, Jeong Eun-ji became increasingly suspicious that everything she had believed in might not have been true.

‘Really… Did I really just not believe it? Actually, Han Seong-jin changed a long time ago…? But if you look at what he does to me… No, but compared to when he was in middle school, it seems very normal… My, why do I keep thinking about this while looking at that kid?’

#####

2:0, 3rd class win.

“Nice!”

“Hey, everyone did well!”

“Oh, I’m out of breath. I guess everything I ate will come back.”

“Hey, if it weren’t for Seongjin, we would have been really screwed. You said you couldn’t do it, but you said you were perfect at it, right?”

After the match, the men in class 3 were friendly calling me ‘Seongjin’ and bumping their fists.

“What are you good at? You stand behind and chase the ball.”

“No, really, but I’m not kidding. Your defense is terrible. Hey, why don’t you just play soccer until sports day?”

“No, then what about me?”

A guy who had sprained his ankle while getting off the bus while looking at his phone came up to me and asked, and he immediately became prey for the other friends.

“What do you ask about being a cheerleading squad leader? Do you wear underwear and dance in front and wave a piece of bread?”

“You idiot, even if your ankle gets better, you won’t be able to run properly until the sports day. It would be better for you to just be left alone and let Seongjin play defense.”

“Aren’t we more likely to win now than when we had bad legs?”

“These bastards…”

As Yuri said, we quickly became familiar with one game of soccer.

So, I successfully completed my first group activity with my classmates and gradually began to blend into the class.

I feel like I’m missing something, and it feels like something I’ve been longing for in my heart has been quite fulfilled.

It wasn’t bad.