LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 39
*
[League Round 29 Match Result] Hamburg 1: 1 Dortmund.
[Dortmund scores a late equalizer to grab 1 point in the away match.]
[16-year-old boy from Korea shocks Volksparkstadion!]
[’16 years 138 days’ Son Jinho breaks youngest scoring record with a fantastic shot!]
[Jurgen Klopp talks about substituting Son Jinho, ‘Did I feel pressured to bring in a 16-year-old? Well, when I saw Jinho’s eager expression wanting to play, that feeling disappeared in an instant.’]
[Hamburg’s interim coach Michael Welling says, ‘The fact that a 16-year-old is playing is simply amazing.’]
[Leverkusen declares that the championship competition is still on after securing a 2-1 victory against FC St. Pauli, narrowing the point difference to 5!]
*
I know that sports can be extremely turbulent, but the media and fans were already calling me the Korean Messi after my debut match where I scored!
“Wow…. Now they’re calling me the Korean Ronaldo?”
“Do they even realize I’m a midfielder?”
I sighed at Gyeouri’s words.
Isn’t this a bit excessive? But then again, I remembered my age.
A promising 16-year-old saved the team from defeat in his debut match?
Well. I can’t help but go crazy about this.
“I mean~? Even if they know, they might still use it~? By the way, look at this.”
Gyeouri, as if recalling the same fact, playfully dragged her words and handed me her phone, saying she saw a funny post like before.
As I cautiously took the phone, the abyss swallowed me whole.
[Title: Ho-woo!!!!]
How could it!!!!
Not shout out!!!!
Ho-woo!!!!!!
I should’ve pressed the back button here, but the abyss held on tight.
“There’s another post!”
I had no choice but to continue reading the posts.
[Title: Why not Ho-woo for the celebration?]
Where’s my Ho-woo? Where’s my Ho-woo? Where’s my Ho-woo? Where’s my Ho-woo? Where’s my Ho-woo? Where’s my Ho-woo?
└ I was ready to stand up and shout Ho-woo right after the goal, and I was taken by surprise by a different celebration, lol.
└ Ah…. return my Ho-woo ㅠㅠ
└ ? The celebration just now was cool too though.
└ This guy’s a heretic! What are you kids doing? It’s time for heresy judgment!
└ It was cool, but…. if you’re doing a different celebration, how about a Ho-woo first?
└ For real, lol. Only getting one goal and doing a different celebration? That’s totally ungrateful~
└ Ho-woo lost his essence, haha.
└ Ah…. I want to shout Ho-woo. I need Ho-woo. Ho-woo…. Ho-woo… Ho-woo… Ho-woo….
[Title: Phew. I’ve combined the scene where I score and shout Ho-woo.]
(A GIF of Son Jinho, about the size of the second-floor stands, shouting Ho-woo)
I can finally breathe.
└ Wow…. You’re the best, bro!
└ LMAO, this guy’s a giant, haha!
└ A big and strong Ho-woo…. totally awesome!
└ Ho-woooo─!!
“Isn’t it fun?”
I nodded at Gyeouri’s comment.
Honestly, it was fun since they were hyping me up, but the fact that it was a gathering of my extreme fans made my face flush a bit.
‘By the way, why have things gotten so extreme? Is it because I didn’t shout Ho-woo?’
The Kumho Syndrome was hard to bear.
*
Having broken the youngest record against Hamburg, I could say I was now one of the most promising young talents in Germany.
And not just in Germany, mentions of me began to increase even in Korea.
– An incredibly old player steps onto the Bundesliga turf. It’s none other than Son Jinho, who played with the U19 national team and lifted the trophy at the U19 Championship last October!
Making his debut at just 16 years old, Son Jinho not only broke the record for the youngest debut but also scored a dramatic equalizer during stoppage time. Let’s watch some footage from now.
My debut and goal were reported on the 9 o’clock news, and congratulatory messages flooded in from acquaintances back in Korea.
– Kang Chan: Wow;;; This guy just slams it in like that;;;
– Kang Chan: Sigh… I wanted to boast about winning the championship yesterday, but someone’s already scoring on their Bundesliga debut. I guess I need to train harder.
– Father-in-law: Son-in-law! Congratulations on the debut goal!
– Golden Shield: Ahhh! Our future ace from the prestigious Arsenal!
Waking up in the situation of having become a superstar overnight. Well, there might still be some skeptical glances, but if I keep performing steadily, they’ll come to recognize me soon enough.
I sent my thank you replies and put my smartphone away.
“Jinho! Is everything ready?”
“Ja!”
The interview at Dortmund was about to take place.
Dortmund wanted to shield the still young me from the media, yet the interest from the Dortmund fandom towards me after scoring on my debut match was far too great.
Ultimately, I had to face a local newspaper with Dortmund’s marketing staff and media relations staff watching over.
“Jinho, don’t be too nervous. Just be relaxed! If there are any provocative or problematic subjects, we’ll ask for editing.”
“Just trust us, Jinho!”
“Okay, thank you.”
And so, the interview proceeded.
– Jinho! Nice to meet you. Can you introduce yourself briefly?
“Yes, of course. Um. I’m Son Jinho, who just had my debut match at Dortmund. Ah, since Son is my surname, I’d appreciate it if you could call me Jinho.”
– That was an incredible debut goal. How do you feel?
“It felt good. It wasn’t just about me scoring but rather that I could prevent the team from losing.”
As I conducted the interview skillfully, I garnered reactions like, ‘Indeed, a genius stands out from the very beginning.’
Hmm. Is this the life of being misunderstood as a football genius? Since I had begun the interview, I started blurting out words that would make the Dortmund fans happy.
“Dortmund is a team with a deep history and is excellent. I am learning so much from Jürgen Klopp and the amazing players here. The fans are always passionate, regardless of whether the club is struggling or doing well, and that passion makes me proud to be a player at Dortmund.”
Well…. there was a bit of sincerity mixed in.
*
“Now entering the ground is superstar Jinho!!”
I burst into laughter at Mario Götze’s exaggerated demeanor. Despite that, he seemed a bit moved.
“Jinho! I watched your interview!”
After a light greeting with my teammates, practice commenced.
“Schöner Pass!”
In a practice match, Robert Lewandowski raised his thumb high after netting my assist.
“Schöner Schuss!”
I nodded back with a thumbs up.
I wanted to become closer to Lewandowski, but as it was reported later, he wasn’t exactly a social butterfly.
Shall I say he kept work and personal life strictly separate? He felt more like a coworker doing just his job.
‘In football, just performing well is all that matters. What’s there to it?’
I’m also not the most sociable person, so naturally, it was hard to get friendly with Lewandowski.
“Jinho, the one who stole my record! Did you sleep well?”
I chatted with Nuri Şahin, my training partner and the former record holder.
According to Nuri Şahin, debuting in the first team felt like living a dream, and he couldn’t sleep when he scored his first goal.
I wasn’t quite that over the moon.
Perhaps it was because I had already scored in the World Cup.
I felt somewhat regretful. Emotions tend to fade, so I guess I wouldn’t be able to feel those emotions I had in my previous life again.
– Gyeouri: Jinho ㅠㅠ
– Gyeouri: What do I do? ㅠㅠ The German food seems too greasy ㅠㅠ I gained weight, and my underwear doesn’t fit anymore ㅠㅠ
But strangely, being with Gyeouri was always fresh and exhilarating. Just the act of watching, listening, and talking together felt good. Even if we did the same thing in the same place, just being together felt pleasant, you know?
– Ho-woo: Hehe, could be better, right? Hehe.
– Gyeouri: (a scared puppy emoji)
– Gyeouri: That’s perverted! You sounded just like a creepy old man back there!
I felt wronged.
Internally, I may be an old man, but I’m not a pervert.
*
The league Round 30 match between Dortmund and SC Freiburg was taking place at Signal Iduna Park.
I was on the substitute list for this match as well. I had hoped for a starting position since Klopp had been watching me closely during training, but… well, no matter how much of a genius Klopp is, it would be tough to have a 16-year-old start in a match that could essentially determine the league championship.
“Jinho! You might get subbed in during the second half, so don’t be too disappointed!”
And I still hadn’t fully blended into the team. There were still mismatches in our coordination.
Anyway…. Klopp did his best to accommodate the players who wanted to focus on the game.
He didn’t turn on the radio that could disrupt the players’ concentration, and SMS messages were the only means of communication.
As time passed…
Unaware of the result of the match between Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, the players entering the stadium declared:
“Heute wollen wir siegen, wir gehen mächtig ran! (Today we want to win, we’re going to smash it!)”
“Leverkusen lost today! We’re surely going to win!”
When news broke on the Südtribüne that Leverkusen had been heavily defeated by Bayern Munich, smiles spread across our faces.
*
Borussia Dortmund aggressively pushed against SC Freiburg from the start of the match.
It seemed that the news of Leverkusen’s loss had completely eased the tension that had gripped the Dortmund players.
Dortmund kept banging against SC Freiburg’s goal, and in the 23rd minute, Mario Götze, receiving a pass from Marcel Schmelzer, successfully shook the SC Freiburg net.
The good atmosphere, however, took a cold turn when Nuri Sahin, who had been robustly supporting the team’s midfield, fell to the ground clasping his right knee in the 26th minute.
“Jinho! Hurry up and warm up!”
With a stern expression, Jurgen Klopp called out to Son Jinho without hesitation.