My Girlfriend Wants Victory

---

Kang Chan passed the entrance test safely and joined Geumsun High School’s soccer team, and time passed quickly as the EPL’s 2009/2010 season came to an end.

Suddenly, it’s been three months since I regressed.

The Gyeouri family, each with their favorite soccer clubs, filled the group chat with a peculiar excitement as the season concluded.

– Mother-in-law: Hwangjok Chelsea, double record!!

– Mother-in-law: (Image of lifting the league championship trophy and the FA Cup trophy .jpg)

– Mother-in-law: Jinho! How about coming to Chelsea later?!

The energy of my mother-in-law, who is a Chelsea supporter, was particularly high.

– Gyeouri: What are you saying! Our Jinho is going to Mighty Hwangyu?!

– Mother-in-law: Oh my, is he already our Jinho?

– Mother-in-law: But isn’t it regrettable that ‘our’ Jinho is going to a team that barely saved one league cup?

On the other hand, Gyeouri showed a clear expression of disappointment.

Cristiano Ronaldo transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid, and “Join King” Michael Owen joined Manchester United that season.

[Despite Park Jisong’s fantastic goals, Manchester United fails to win by just one point against Chelsea.]

Manchester United finished as runners-up in the league by just one point, successfully lifting only the Carabao Cup (League Cup).

“Ah, really! What’s so embarrassing about just the League Cup! That League Cup isn’t even necessary.”

Han Gyeouri, who nestled in my arms with a upset expression, let out a statement that future fans would find shocking.

‘…He doesn’t realize how precious trophies are.’

I patted Gyeouri’s head and swallowed a bitter smile.

It seems that Gyeouri needs to properly experience the dark period of Moyes’ Manchester United.

Only then will he understand the value of the League Cup.

– Wow—! Mourinho! Finally, a manager that suits Manchester United is coming! It’s the signal for the revival of Mighty Hwangyu! Last season was just the FA Cup, but this season will be at least the league championship, right?

I recalled how excited future Gyeouri was when the news came out that Mourinho would take charge at Manchester United in 2016 and shook my head.

‘Hmm. He still hadn’t snapped to reality by then.’

Anyway, it just reminded me that Mourinho’s Inter managed to achieve a treble by defeating Bayern Munich.

Indeed, a master is still a master.

But Mourinho’s greatest achievement has yet to be reached.

After all, isn’t Mourinho’s greatest achievement being the runners-up in the league with Manchester United?

‘And then that Mourinho got fired, and Solskjær became the coach…’

As expected, Ed (Wood)ward.

Like Edward Newgate, the man who sacrificed himself to usher in a new era in a pirate manga.

He led Manchester United into a new era of being the “Manchester United of the Preview League.”

‘In the past, I used to just tease Gyeouri, but thinking about the future I’ll experience now feels miserable. By the way, it’s sad that Woodward is still Woodward, but the real issue is the Glazers…’

Unfortunately, our former majesty, the great Sir Ferguson, seems to have a friendly stance toward the Glazer family, making it difficult to oust them.

Anyway, while I was imagining Ed Woodward, Moba Musol, and the Glazer family, a terrible version of “The Worst Generation.”

Gyeouri was wriggling in my arms, typing messages in the group chat.

– Gyeouri: … Next year will be different!

– Gyeouri: Next year, Manchester United will win!

– Gyeouri: And don’t act tough without a Champions League trophy~!

– Mother-in-law: … Han Gyeouri. What kind of talk is that with your mother?!

Hmm. Maybe it’s because there’s still no Big Ear.

Mother-in-law got angry at Gyeouri’s words.

– Mother-in-law: By the way, why is the fan of the ‘3rd place’, ‘trophy-less’ Arsenal so quiet?

Mother-in-law thought that Manchester United, shining with three Champions League victories, couldn’t be beaten, so she turned her target to Arsenal, who have no Champions League trophies.

– Chairman of the Gunners: …Go win an unbeaten championship first.

Our poor Gunners chairman took out the only unbeaten record in the EPL like Arsenal, just like Chelsea, has no Champions League win.

– Mother-in-law: Huh? I can’t hear the voice of a team that hasn’t won anything for five years?

Arsenal had a huge weakness of not having won anything for the past five years.

[Gunners chairman has left the chat room.]

– Mother-in-law: Hoho—. The club that represents London from now on is Chelsea!

In the end, Chairman Hwang Geum-soon ended the chat with a GG and left the group chat for a while. Mother-in-law enjoyed the joy of the winner.

I smiled while looking at the noisy group chat.

Had there ever been a time when the chat was this loud when Gyeouri had an accident?

I buried my face in Gyeouri’s neck and whispered softly.

“Gyeouri.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“…Why are you suddenly being scary?”

Saying that, Gyeouri twitched her lips. While delighted, she would always act tough.

Well. That’s what makes Gyeouri charming.

“…I love you too.”

I burst into laughter at Gyeouri’s murmured words barely audible, while she puffed up her cheeks and glanced at me angrily.

“Manchester United is the strongest, and Donnie doesn’t have any substance!”

That day, I had to try my best to cheer up Gyeouri, who was sulking.

***

Meanwhile, at that time.

The Ho Woo Gallery was going through growing pains due to an increasing number of users after the incident of the Hojin High School coach assault.

[Title: Is anyone going to watch our brother’s game this week?]

I wanted to shout out “Ho Woo!” with my older brother after a long time, but I was embarrassed to go alone.

└ Where is the game being held?

└ It’s at Madeul Stadium located in Nowon-gu, Seoul.

└ Ah, it’s a bit far. Isn’t it broadcasted?

└ No, damn, it’s not the King of Kings, it’s just high school football league, would they broadcast it?

└ Why talk like that? Can’t you just explain nicely?

└ You’re asking questions about things that can easily be found by searching. I’m just getting annoyed, damn.

└ Ugh. I heard this is where fans of Son Jinho gather, but is this a place that rejects newbies? There’s a player named Kim Jang-hyuk, and he has a good personality and looks handsome, you know? Wanna cheer for him together?^^

└ What’s up with this idiot? Why are you promoting your son here?

[Title: Damn. Why doesn’t the newbie influx ever stop?]

And someone, please write an announcement!

You keep asking the same thing. Damn.

└ Hah…. My little Ho Woo has grown so big all of a sudden.

└ Seriously, there seems to be a lot of new fans. Last week, there were 60 people who went to watch our brother’s game. Out of those, half were new people, and if you combine those who couldn’t come due to work with other factors, we could really have had 100 people.

└ Wow, isn’t 100 people crazy for a high school league?

└ Yeah, there was even an article called “The New Wind Blowing in the High School League” recently. Didn’t you know?

└ Haha;; I don’t really watch the news.

└ By the way, why is there suddenly such an influx?

└ This is the cycle: the female fans come in after seeing our brother’s face -> male fans see the female fans -> it creates a massive audience in the high school league, generating buzz and then more female fans come in. It’s just a Möbius strip.

└ And our brother’s fan service also played a big role. That got a lot of new fans in too.

└ Whoa. At this rate, isn’t our brother going to be on TV?

└ No way. Then the soccer association’s crazy people might actually charge for ticket prices.

└ Come on, there’s no way they’d charge for tickets. It would be beneficial for the association if the high school league is activated.

└ Do you trust the association?

└ Uh. Hmm. Why is this guy suddenly sounding plausible?

└ That is precisely the true power of the football association. Haha.

└ What a joke. Damn, that’s just funny.

***

Saturday, June 12, 2010.

We took a dedicated bus to Madeul Stadium to play against Gwanghwa High School.

“Eh? It’s Ho Woo!—!!”

“Ahhh!! I’m a fan of Son Jinho!”

From the moment the bus pulled into the parking lot, I felt a surprisingly large number of spectators were already in their seats at Madeul Stadium.

“…Crazy. How many people are here?”

Kang Chan looked at the audience and asked nervously.

“…Looks like at least 100, right?”

“So all of them are Jinho fans.”

“Wow, I’m really jealous.”

About a hundred people seemed to have gathered, and the Geumsun High School soccer players were chatting away, wearing jealous expressions.

“Last time, when I made an amazing defensive play, a fan asked for my name and got my autograph. I wonder if they came today.”

When Geumsun High’s center back Kim Jae-hyun casually mentioned that, the players’ expressions instantly changed. They seemed to realize this was an opportunity to get their names known, even to a few spectators.

Well, if their enthusiasm grows, that’s a good thing.

I just need to make sure they don’t get too zealous and end up injured; I’ll have to watch out while they’re running.

Somehow, I feel more like a nanny on the ground than a commander.

It’s good if the players I was once schoolmates with are doing well.

Seeing the older ones who were once cautious now coming over awkwardly to ask questions and putting in desperate effort made me strangely want to tell them even more.

‘Hmm. Is this something like a teacher-student relationship? Maybe I want them to do well because of that?’

If I hadn’t regressed, I thought my post-retirement life would have been like this.

I would probably coach as a high school coach or assistant coach for a professional club.

Anyway, currently, the Geumsun High School players have rapidly improved their skills through the training I set up.

Unlike the first round, some of these students might become professional players.

Just looking at the pace of improvement, it’s clear that the importance of early training was felt.

After all, isn’t the prime age for a soccer player considered to be around 25 to 28?

For sports players, teenage years are invaluable.

Despite the overall system lagging behind, it’s amazing that players like Son Heung-min, Hwang Shi-chan, and Kim Min-jae emerged to shine worldwide.

I was both curious and a little afraid of the future that might change because of my butterfly effect.

“Jinho─! I’m here!”

Next to me, Gyeouri would always be there, so at least I’m sure it will be better than before.