Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 11



Only Krnovel

Yoo Jin-ho opened the door to the director’s office and sat down on the top seat. Even with the windows open, the air in this director’s office was stuffy.

Coach Park Hyeon-woo and Coach Kim Tae-ho, who followed in, closed the door and sat on the sofas on either side.

It was a weekly executive meeting.

“Okay, tell me what you want to report on from the past week.”

Yoo Jin-ho said as he took off his shoes and socks. Among the two coaches who had been watching for a moment, Coach Park Hyeon-woo spoke first.

“The first-year students have improved their physical strength significantly. Among them, Kim Jun-young stands out the most. Two weeks ago, he could only do 35 50m shuttle runs, but this week, he has improved to 50.”

“What? It went up that much?”

Yoo Jin-ho was surprised by the rapid growth and asked back. Coach Park nodded with satisfaction.

“Yes. In percentage terms, it increased by 42%.”

“Who among our kids is the best at shuttle running?”

“This is Seungwoo Han. It varies depending on my condition, but I did 74 this week.”

“Han Seung-woo···.”

Eugene Yoo thought for a moment and then chuckled.

“Is there finally a guy from Suyang High School making his professional debut?”

“Coach, there are quite a few friends who debuted as pros at Suyang High School.”

“Mom. What am I talking about? I’m talking about going straight to Part 1, not Part 2 or Part 3.”

“Aha. Yes. There are rumors that scouts from the first division are paying attention to our Seungwoo. I think the coach would know more about it···.”

Yoo Jin-ho shrugged his shoulders at Park Hyun-woo’s words.

“What, even though they all said it wasn’t confirmed, they secretly left room for it. Why are you all so cautious? Huh? Someone like Seungwoo would be worth handing over a contract, right?”

Both coaches nodded in agreement, their gesture seeming almost flattering.

“Is it because the timing is ambiguous to sign a semi-pro contract? Are you really going to sign a full-time pro contract after graduating from high school?”

Rather than saying the timing is ambiguous, I think you’re hesitating to sign the contract because your skills are ambiguous, right, Director?

Coach Kim Tae-ho smiled on the outside while reciting his thoughts on the inside.

“Anyway, if Seungwoo signs a contract, the coach will be able to save face. I hope the contract is signed quickly. Well, it would be a shame if Seungwoo leaves Suyang High School’s roster, but… isn’t it a great thing that he signed a contract?”

“Seungwoo’s problem will be solved if we just try a little harder. Is there anything else?”

Yoo Jin-ho looked at Park Hyun-woo and Kim Tae-ho in turns. This time, it was Kim Tae-ho’s turn, and the director’s office meeting lasted quite a while.

And as the meeting was coming to a close.

“Oh, and this time, we have a new recruit, Kim Min-woo.”

“Oh. I was wondering why you didn’t mention him. Tell me.”

In fact, the person who was the subject of this meeting came out of Park Hyun-woo’s mouth.

Park Hyun-woo opened his mouth with a slightly awkward expression, furrowing his eyebrows.

“There are some reactions that the director favors Kim Min-woo.”

“What the heck? What kind of kid says something like that?”

Naturally, Yoo Jin-ho reacted sharply. Coach Park moved his lips and barely managed to answer.

“That’s what we hear from both children and parents.”

“Oh, really. What do you guys think? Do you think I favor Kim Min-woo?”

Yoo Jin-ho looks at me sharply with his arms crossed. In this situation, there was actually something he had to say. What good would it do to fight with the director for no reason?

“How could that be?”

“I think there are a lot of situations that are overlapping and causing some misunderstandings on your side. I will try to explain it to you, Director.”

Yoo Jin-ho scratched his eyebrows, perhaps satisfied with the answer. However, he still looked at Park Hyun-woo with a frown on his face.

“Tell me more. What are you dissatisfied with?”

“Director. Before I speak, I want to let you know in advance that this is not my opinion······.”

“Okay, then hurry!”

“Oh, yes. The parents suspect that there is some kind of connection between the director and Kim Min-woo. Maybe a relative, or maybe a bribe······.”

“Are you kidding me!”

Yoo Jin-ho, who was angry while listening, slammed the table between the sofa and the table. Park Hyun-woo and Kim Tae-ho flinched at that action.

“Am I sucking up to you for bribes? Me, Yoo Jin-ho? I don’t even ask their parents for any money?”

Yoo Jin-ho searched his chest, as if anger was rising from deep inside his heart. What came out was a cigarette. Smoking cigarettes in school is not a desirable thing, but there was no one to stop him.

Yoo Jin-ho, who puts a cigarette in his mouth and exhales smoke, gestures for him to continue.

“Yes. And Jaehyun and Seunghyun’s parents were so angry that they reported it to the Football Association and reported it to the press···.”

Before he could finish his words, Yoo Jin-ho’s rebuke burst out. His shouting made my ears numb.

Yoo Jin-ho, who had been grumbling for a while, spoke in a very irritated voice.

“Jaehyun and Seunghyun? Are you talking about the goalkeepers?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Those parents are ruining their own children’s futures. Huh? I got rid of all the existing goalkeepers and only used Kim Min-woo. What did you do? Did you have him play in just one friendly match and one practice match and it was so bad? Huh?”

“I tried to dissuade them, but my parents said they wanted to formally meet with the director and discuss the matter.”

“I don’t think anything good will come out of it, but let’s make room for it. It would be much better to just talk things out than to make a fuss about exposing it here and there.”

“Yes. Then let’s set a date for this week.”

“And. What about the kids? What do they say?”

Coach Park Hyun-woo hesitated, but he told the coach what he knew, using his words as carefully as possible.

“It’s not that they’re kids, but there’s a strong perception that they’re receiving special treatment. It’s not just Kim Min-woo, there’s a perception that Kim Jun-young is receiving special treatment as well, so they’re secretly ostracizing him.”

“This is really a mess. If the upper stream is like that, then the lower stream must be like that too.”

Yoo Jin-ho pointed at Park Hyun-woo with the cigarette in his hand and said. His expression was filled with discontent. It looked like he was resenting him for not taking care of the kids properly, which is why this is happening.

‘Fuck. Then kick that bastard Kim Min-woo out!’

If you think about it, it all happened because of the director.

Who brought in a regular student out of nowhere and created this mess?

Who was it that suddenly had him play in an official match?

Of course, it was an unspeakable feeling.

“These kids are no good. Hey. And if Kim Min-woo didn’t do well in the game, I wouldn’t have said anything. Has Kim Min-woo given up even a single point so far? Huh? He didn’t give up a single point! He never gave up a point!”

It was true. So everyone was dissatisfied but couldn’t protest strongly. If Kim Min-woo can’t do it, it’s a different story, but he’s been doing well so far. Much better than the previous goalkeepers.

“This won’t do, you little punks. I’ll show you this right now. Okay?”

“Hey, Director? What are you going to do…?”

Coach Kim Tae-ho spoke as if he was looking at a time bomb. Yoo Jin-ho’s answer was simple.

“I have to show you very clearly that my eyes weren’t wrong this time! Let’s send Kim Min-woo to the high school league!”

Both coaches were shocked by those words. Coach Park Hyun-woo was definitely negative about Kim Min-woo, and Coach Kim Tae-ho was neutral about Kim Min-woo, but this incident clearly went too far.

The two coaches stopped the manager without saying a word.

“Huh? Let’s go, Director! But Minwoo is still······!”

It hasn’t even been two weeks since I started playing soccer!

The words were blocked by Eugene Ho.

In a much louder voice.

“That’s an order!”

The director was really hurt.

Now that the director, who already had a bad personality, was upset, there was no one to stop him.

If we have to point out the person responsible for this situation, it would be Kim Min-woo.

If Kim Min-woo scores 3 or 4 goals in the first half, the manager will be relieved.

And honestly, it was very likely that that would happen.

Because the high school league is a regular league belonging to the Korea Football Association.

Because it’s a match that can’t be compared to something like a friendly match.

There is a saying that winning or losing is not important until elementary school and middle school, your creativity and experience are more important, but it is completely different from high school.

Here, winning or losing was important.

There are leaders here who insist that winning or losing is not important, but······at least the leader of Suyang High School was not that type of person.

But before that, both coaches were concerned about the fallout from the incident.

If you can’t do it, then that’s it, the parents’ nagging will become more extreme, and if you do it well, then that will cause its own problems.

The two coaches tried to change the manager’s mind, but they had no choice but to leave the manager’s office due to the manager’s order to refrain from leaving.

***

Eugene Ho had to suffer from the coaches even after that. If Kim Min Woo, who had only been with the team for two weeks, is sent to the high school league, no matter what the intention, others may misunderstand, the existing goalkeepers will feel severely deprived, things will really get worse, etc.

Eugene Ho dismissed all of that with this one word.

“Then build up your skills! At least Kim Min-woo proved it with a clean sheet!”

Any further comments after that were completely blocked.

Player appearances are at the discretion of the coach, and you must follow my orders. So, whether you disagree or not, follow my orders.

Or take off your coaching clothes and go out.

When I did that, it became quiet.

“Oh my.”

A sigh escaped me.

It was the first time in Yoo Jin-ho’s life that he had seen coaches oppose something like this.

That means this decision is a stretch.

To be honest, I did it in a fit of anger, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t wrong.

Didn’t Kim Min-woo prove it?

And his thoughts about Kim Min-woo were also firm.

Even though he doesn’t grow up, he has the talent of a starting goalkeeper in the K-League. If he grows up normally, he is a goalkeeper with the talent to advance to Europe.

Eugene Ho trusted his eyes and his intuition.

Even if they play in this high school league, they will probably keep a clean sheet. Or, there may be variables, so they will concede one goal, but not more.

Because Kim Min-woo has something to show.

Because we haven’t conceded a single goal so far.

‘And by the way. If you just watch him, you get the feeling that he’s predicting where his opponent is going to strike and blocking it, right?’

There is nothing special about a goalkeeper predicting and blocking an opposing attacker’s shot path, but it is definitely different if he does it with a 100% success rate.

Yoo Jin-ho was personally curious about how far Kim Min-woo, who was still incomplete, would have to go before giving up a point.

So maybe we’ll find out this time.

dripping-

There is a knock.

“Oh, come in.”

As soon as Yoo Jin-ho finished speaking, a male student came in.

“Did you call, Director?”

Eugene Ho smiled and nodded.

“Okay. Sit here, Minwoo.”

Kim Min-woo now plops down on the sofa as if he is used to the director calling him.

There was a lot I wanted to say and a lot I wanted to hear.

Eugene Ho slowly opened his mouth.

End

ⓒ Doctor Am

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