Chapter 271 – Season’s End (2)

271

The room was already hot with heat.
In a room where a bout of heat passed, excited people were chattering as if in a heated room on the TV that was turned on as a habit.

[He played a decisive role in sending his country, Korea, to the semifinals in his first World Cup.]
[The surprising thing is that Korea is a team that should aim to advance to the round of 16 no matter how you look at it. Hong Min-joon proved his individual competence by winning the World Cup scorer as a representative of Korea.]
Haha, let’s not forget that we already won the Bundesliga and Europa League top scorers before the World Cup. Including the World Cup, he was the top scorer in three competitions last season.]

A TV program with the words ‘End of the season, Hong Min-jun special’ written on the screen.
The guests were busy promoting the feat competitively, as if advertising, “I know the greatness of Hong Min-joon better.”

[Based on his performance, he joined Newcastle for a transfer fee of 100 million euros. This is the moment when the conqueror of Germany finally set foot in England.]
[When it comes to Hong Min-jun, you can’t leave out Barcelona, ​​right?]

The guests, who were discussing seriously while repeating the story with Barcelona that everyone knows because they are so famous now, soon changed the subject.

[In the first year of the EPL, there was a prediction that a period of adaptation would be needed… There was no need for Hong Min-jun to adapt.]
[Right. He came late to the World Cup and missed the pre-season, but scored a hat-trick in the first game against Leicester City. Come to think of it, I foresaw this year’s performance from the beginning.]

Then, the CG graphics that appeared on the screen listed the matches and attack points in which Hong Min-jun participated.

Round 1 vs Leicester City — 3 goals
Round 2 v Middlesbrough — 1 goal
Round 3 vs Southampton — 2 goals
Round 4 vs Fulham — 1 goal, 1 assist
Round 5 vs Liverpool — 3 goals, 1 assist
Champions League first leg v Trabzonspor — 2 goals
Round 6 vs Arsenal — x
League Cup Round of 32 v Charlton — 6 goals
Round 7 vs Tottenham — 1 assist
Champions League 2nd leg vs Sevilla — 1 goal, 2 assists
.
.
.
.
Champions League quarter-final first leg vs Barcelona — 9 goals
.
.
.

[Wow! The attack points are really endless. He scored 39 goals and 8 assists in the first half alone, right?]
[It was Hong Min-joon who had an all-time great season with 23 goals and 4 assists in the league and 8 goals and 3 assists in the Champions League. Still, it’s true that I thought he might slow down a bit in the second half. As it was in the Bundesliga, it was the theory that the EPL, which had more games and was more intense, would suffer from physical fitness issues, and that the opposing team had enough to analyze.]
[Right. But surprisingly, Hong Min-joon earned more explosive attack points in the second half.]
[It really left an immortal record in the history of EPL, no, English football.]
[So far, the player who scored the most among the EPL top scorers was Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah with 32 goals, and if you count the previous 42 rounds, Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s 34 goals were the season’s most goals.]
[Hong Min-joon is in the league this season—]

“Ah-oh. Why are you talking about me here and there?”

I was lying on the bed languidly with no strength to move, and that bastard’s fool box was again, again, my story.

I’m tired of it. What is the real popularity of this guy?
Superstars are tired.

“Did you rest a lot?”

As if waiting, a hand gently rubbed his chest.

“… Elena. It hasn’t even been 10 minutes since we promised.”
“Too bad. We met after 4 months.”
“I am 5 months.”
“Heeyeon noona is 3 months old! Don’t lie!”
“Hey… Caught But you couldn’t eat this because the schedule didn’t match at that time~ so that’s invalid.”

Is that my body….
The heat, which had barely subsided, re-ignited again.

How many days have you been suffering from the wheel battle that started right after the season ended?
I hate it now… Can’t you just have some alone time?

As soon as you become sensitive to repeated actions for several days, your body, which has become sensitive, informs you of the sense of ejaculation from the beginning…

‘Let’s hold on.’

Not this time
Hong Min-joon, the pronoun of absolute love, is premature. Absolutely not.

Now I think of sad and gloomy thoughts as much as I can in order to endure the act that is dull but still thrilling.

The very game that I lost despite playing the hardest this season, to the point of throwing up.

* * *

The moment the overtime ended, my pulse went blank.
Although the defensive burden was reduced due to the coach’s consideration, the Real Madrid defense was exhausted throughout the 90 minutes of the first and second half, especially against Alex Tillian, and even overtime.

Physically, it was exhausting, but mental fatigue was much higher than that.
Even though it seemed like they had the upper hand against the best defense on the outside, the level of fatigue every moment was different from usual.

“Red! It’s okay?”
“Are you fine. Why all of a sudden?”
“You just stumbled. Didn’t you know?”

I didn’t know.
I thought I was dizzy from extreme mental fatigue… It is unreasonable to play overtime against a team like Real Madrid.

But somehow, it brought me here.
Beyond Real Madrid, the Champions League final stage.

If you can get past the penalty shootout, which will be the last, last, final match—
However, things did not go very well.

While Newcastle is a team that focuses on young players with a promising future, Real Madrid is a team of veteran players whose average age is in their 30s.

There is a lot of pressure even in the penalty shoot-out of a fair number of games, much less the stage where the Champions League final is at stake.
Even veteran players lose their lives due to the pressure, but it goes without saying for the young Newcastle squad.

“… Under.”

José Gaya, who took the first penalty kick, kicked it into the corner without showing much nervousness.

However, starting from the second Luke, he failed to overcome the burden, and even the fourth, trusted captain, Baum Johan, lost the game.

Fortunately, the third kicker, Sakum Shakki, hit the post, but managed to score it with a lucky goal that went inside.

Even in this situation, hope cannot be lost until the end, that the veteran Real Madrid players also missed out due to pressure, and that reliable goalkeeper Yomund blocked one goal.

Real’s 5th kicker, Jorge Garcia, effortlessly succeeded, and now I am the only one left.

Newcastle have done it 2 out of 4 times and Real have done it 3 out of 5 times.

“Minjoon… Sorry.”
“Red! Must put it in! If you don’t put it in, it’s over—”
“Jose, you fool! What if I put pressure on you!!”
“Huh. If you are the best player, you have to overcome this pressure!”

In fact, Jose Gaya’s legs are shaking.
He’s a funny guy I thought he wasn’t nervous because he was such a jerk, but he was acting.

“If I fail, is it the end? It’s up to me again.”
“Minjun! Don’t be too nervous! Just because we came this far—”
“What are you talking about? What tension am I Rather good?”
“… Uh?”
“This situation. I like it It’s thrilling.”
“… You are real.”

I left behind my colleagues with absurd expressions and took my seat.

Tension?
… To be honest, a little bit.

But more than—

No preparation was required.
After a light run-up as soon as the referee’s whistle blows,
Phut!

With a sound that is too weak to be called shooting, the ball floats up and lands precisely in the center of the goal.

“… Panenka?”
“Crazy… Panenka here?”

The Real goalkeeper, who collapsed after running hard to the right, looked at me with his mouth wide open, so I gave him a wink.

It’s thrilling to be successful at times like this.

And lost
In that situation, my penalty shootout, which turned the game around with Panenka, was a success, but the penalty was missed in the sixth penalty shootout that followed.

『I lost but I fought well!! Hong Min-jun, who struggled until the end, succeeded in Panenka in the penalty shootout, but the team was defeated!”

‘… I won, but I lost.’

Personally, it was a game where I won the match against Jorge Garcia, who is supported by a much higher quality team, and Alex Tillian, who is considered the world’s best centre-back.

However, then what?
After all, I got to watch the Champions League final at home.

It was a very sad and disappointing result, but the season was not over.
It is said that there are only league games left due to the elimination of the FA Cup, but there are only five games left.

The title was far away, but it was enough games to push a third place out of the top four, a Europa qualifier to a Champions League berth, a Conference League qualifier to a Europa berth, and a relegation-place team to turn the bout. It was also a game that could be played.

Is that why?
After losing in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, which went to a penalty shootout, Newcastle’s momentum was judged to have declined, but the opposing teams rushed defiantly—

『Hong Min-Jun 37 league goals! Only 3 goals to 40 goals!』

It only became my sacrifice in anger.

And at the end of the season.

『A hattrick of fury!! Crossing the 40-goal mark with 2 games left!!』
『Hong Min-jun, who scored the 42nd goal in the last match!! Write the history of the EPL!!』

I was able to create a record in which various media headlines featured in my name.

『Incomplete completion. Hong Min-joon broke a career high with an all-time personal record, but the team swallowed regret
『A love call for Hong Min-joon that starts again?』
“Single! Hong Min-joon, Departure through England’s Heard Law Airport! The destination is known as Dubai!』