NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1
***
Every year on December 25th.
The time when lovers go on dates and enjoy happy daily lives during Christmas.
I headed to the Columbarium located in Seoul while listening to the Christmas carols ringing in the streets.
I was there to see my parents, who were enshrined there, and my childhood friend and fiancée, Gyeouri.
After greeting my parents upon entering the Columbarium, I made my way to Gyeouri.
[Han Gyeouri]
Slowly opening my mouth, I gazed at a photo of my fiancée, the K-League MVP award set in the corner, and the transfer proposal from Manchester United that Gyeouri had liked.
“Hey, Gyeouri. I came alone this year. I should have asked Mom and Dad to join me… but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I’m sorry.”
Until last year, I would have come with Gyeouri’s mom and dad. However, after our argument at the Columbarium last year, it felt a bit awkward to face them.
The words my mom said back then still echoed in my ears.
“Jinho, can’t you just forget Gyeouri and live your life? Like others, get married, have kids…”
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted by my mother’s words.
Fifteen years had passed since my fiancée tragically died in an accident.
Each time I see my colleagues or juniors getting married and having kids, I couldn’t help but feel resentment for those who left me behind and wondered if I could forget Gyeouri and start anew, just as my mom suggested.
That’s why I felt angry at her for saying such things.
After a while of being angry, my dad approached, calmed me down, and added,
“…just as Gyeouri is our daughter, Jinho, you are also our son. We want you to live happily, even for Gyeouri’s sake.”
I stood there in silence for a long time, blankly, and left the Columbarium without even saying goodbye.
Since then, I’ve occasionally checked in, but I never found the courage to visit.
Maybe it was because of the guilt of having thought of being happy and forgetting Gyeouri, even if just for a moment.
“Hey, looks like it’ll be tough for the loser this season…”
As I looked at my fiancée’s photo, who had to leave this world at the young age of 22 due to an unfortunate traffic accident, I talked to myself for a long time, hoping she wouldn’t feel lonely.
***
“Is this going to be a white Christmas this year…?”
After greeting my parents and Gyeouri, I went outside, where snow had begun to fall.
I was walking down the street, looking at couples engaged in affectionate displays.
Ding-dong-!
A bell sounded in my ear.
Turning my head, I saw a little child dressed as Santa, collecting donations with his parents.
“If I’d married Gyeouri as planned and had a kid, would he have been about this age…?”
I couldn’t help but feel proud of the child, despite his young age, for fundraising for poor and needy people, so I took all the money in my wallet and dropped it into the donation box. I had donated most of the money I earned as a football player, but it was my first time contributing like this, and a strange feeling washed over me.
“Santa grants wishes to good kids! What’s your wish?”
As the child smiled brightly at me while I put money in the donation box, he asked me.
“…I don’t know.”
I hesitated in response to the child’s question because I knew it was an impossible wish.
“You’re kind, so Santa will fulfill your wish!”
The child looked at me with an understanding expression and smiled.
His words seemed to comfort me, and I smiled back.
“I hope so.”
And just when I was about to pat the child’s head, my consciousness faded.
“Ho ho-! A gift from Santa for the good child! May you be happy!”
As I lost consciousness to the warm voice of the kind old man, when I regained my senses, I found myself back to when I had just entered high school.
“Glory Glory Man U~”
And outside my room, I heard voices I thought I’d never hear again.
***
“This feels familiar.”
Waking up to the chants of Manchester United in my ears, I saw a poster of Zinédine Zidane on the ceiling.
Come to think of it, during my school days, I had put up Zidane’s poster, aspiring to be a player like him.
‘…Is this a dream?’
I stared at Zidane’s hairstyle blankly for a while. It was dazzling.
“Ah! How could you miss that!”
Then I snapped back to reality upon hearing Gyeouri’s voice in my ear and hurriedly got out of bed.
There was no time for this.
If this is a dream, I had to see Gyeouri’s face before I woke up.
I grabbed the doorknob, focusing on Gyeouri’s voice coming from outside.
Finally, I calmed my wildly racing heart and opened the door.
“Hmm? Did I wake you?”
The cold-looking beauty looked apologetically at me.
She was just like Gyeouri in my memories.
“…”
I approached Han Gyeouri, who was wearing a Manchester United uniform.
And just in case this was a dream, I carefully hugged her to not wake up.
“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly doing this?”
Gyeouri’s surprised voice, her warm body temperature, and the beating of her heart reminded me that this wasn’t a dream.
‘So this is reality… it’s really Gyeouri.’
Realizing this was real, the tip of my nose tingled, and my vision began to blur strangely.
“What’s wrong, Son Jinho? Why are you crying!”
Even though this was the situation I had always longed for, the tears wouldn’t stop flowing.
“I’m just… happy.”
After fifteen long years, I was able to meet again the precious person I had yearned for all my life.
***
After losing my parents in elementary school, whenever there were school vacations or weekends, Gyeouri, who lived next door, used to come over to sleep.
She said it was because she was worried about me being alone, but it felt like she treated my house as her secret base when we were kids, and now as a hangout.
Well, I wasn’t complaining.
I hated the solitude of my empty house after losing my parents, and I was grateful to Gyeouri for filling that space.
[Goal-! Just 3 minutes after conceding a goal, Villarreal’s Valentino scores the equalizer!]
Anyway, I pulled Gyeouri in for a tight hug and started watching the Manchester United match, which I wasn’t even interested in.
“…Hey, is it too hot? Can you let me go?”
Gyeouri, unable to concentrate on the game, started wiggling her toes.
‘My Gyeouri’s toes are cute too.’
Instead of letting her go at her complaint, I quietly turned on the air conditioner.
To 18 degrees. I even pressed the power cooling button.
In February, wouldn’t our house be the only one in South Korea with the air conditioner running?
“Ugh… Okay. Just hug me. I’m your pillow.”
As the air conditioner started running, Gyeouri sighed deeply, then snatched the remote from my hand and turned it off.
Sticking out her lips, she focused on the game. It was one of her old habits to pout when concentrating on something.
‘February 20, 2010. It’s a match between Manchester United and Everton.’
As I looked at Gyeouri, memories of the past flooded back. I spoiled the game result for her.
“United is going to lose.”
I could remember that after losing this match, Everton’s points would increase further, and Gyeouri had been gloomy all day because of it.
“Sigh. No matter how much you’re my boyfriend, I can’t tolerate you cursing United.”
Hearing the declaration of Manchester United’s defeat in my ear, Gyeouri glared at me with a look as if she had been insulted.
“Wanna bet?”
I smiled as I looked at Gyeouri glaring at me. She flared up at my expression.
“What kind of bet?”
“Why not grant me a wish?”
“…You’re not going to ask for something weird, are you?”
“You scared?”
“Heh… You traitor who doesn’t even know the limitations. Prepare for my wish to be granted because United will smash Everton in the second half.”
As I finalized the bet.
The halftime was over, and the second half began.
Was it due to the accumulated soccer experience? I could see the flow of the game clearly.
“Soon, United is gonna concede a comeback goal, right?”
“Yeah, no way.”
No sooner had Gyeouri denied it than Manchester United’s net shook.
[Goal! Everton succeeds in scoring a comeback goal! Everton’s young blood! Dan Gosling fires the comeback goal!!]
“Ah, there’s still plenty of time left! And there’s also Fergie Time!”
And once again, the net shook. It was another goal by Everton.
“…”
Was it because I sensed defeat? Gyeouri’s eyes began to glisten with tears.
Pat pat.
“…Don’t ruffle my hair.”
Even the grumpy Gyeouri was cute.
***
That evening.
I couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning for a long time. Honestly, I still couldn’t believe I had returned to the past.
And personally, there was a slight feeling of regret.
As they say, when you want to sit, you want to lie down.
I wished I could return to the time before my parents passed away, but I quietly thanked Gyeouri for her breath that reached my ears.
“Gyeouri, are you asleep?”
I carefully called out to her.
“…Why?”
“I’m thinking of using the wish I collected earlier.”
In the dead of night.
A house with just the two of us.
And a wish.
When these three elements combined, Gyeouri exploded.
“You pervert! I told you not to make weird wishes!”
Startled, Gyeouri rose from her spot and started hitting me with a pillow.
“No, I know what you’re thinking. But that’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“My wish is to grant your wish.”
At my urging to tell me her wish, Gyeouri hesitated for a while before slowly voicing it.
“Then, I wish to transfer to Manchester United, win the Champions League, and then…”
I thought to myself, is this even one wish? But…
“Propose to me with a big ear.”
It didn’t matter.
Even though it was dark and I couldn’t see her, I could feel Gyeouri, who was oddly shy while making her wish, and it was cute.
Honestly, when I join, I might be microless in the Premier League instead of Manchester United.
“Why can’t I? Well, it would be difficult to transfer to the best football club, Manchester United, right?”
Hmm. Well, by then, wouldn’t Gyeouri be satisfied with just winning a cup competition?
With that thought, I attached a condition and readily accepted Gyeouri’s wish.
“Okay. But if I transfer to Man U, let’s go live in England together.”
“…Huh?”
She probably didn’t expect me to accept the wish so easily. Gyeouri’s surprised voice echoed in my ears.
“Uh, uh, uh, huh?”
I hugged her tightly as if she had broken down a bit.
And for the first time in a while, I could feel her warm body temperature and fell into a deep sleep.