Seokjin and the Heirs of the Korean Miracle - BOOK 1 ✔

Chapter 5: Before game

"Seokjin, you are in the moon!" exclaimed Mr. Han, the coach of the football team who was also one of the Gugbo school sports teachers.

Seokjin blinked several times and raised his head until he met teacher Han's furious gaze. They were in the locker room, dressed and ready to warm up before the game with the other school team, but first they had to establish their ultimate game strategy, even if the training had already made it possible to establish the milestones of a possible victory.

Looking around, Seokjin realized that all the players on his team were staring at him annoyed.

"S-sorry, what did you say?"

"Your strategy Seokjin! We are waiting for it!" the coach exclaimed, looking at his watch impatiently.

"B-But... I'm not the captain..." Seokjin started, turning his head towards Dae-Ho who was almost dozing while waiting for things to happen, confused. Seokjin still had in mind what Taehyung had told him and didn't measure his words, it started to make a lot of mistakes in one day.

He opened his mouth wide when he suddenly realized what he had just said. Even though he didn't have a captain's armband and in the eyes of all those outside the team, match strategies were developed by the coach and Dae-Ho, he was always the one who were busy with it.

Everyone in the team followed his strategies because it allowed the team to win but the success of these strategies always came down to Dae-Ho and even though his teammates knew about it and followed all his guidelines to the letter during the match, they never praised Seokjin after their victories but Dae-Ho first and the rest of the team next.

Yet, Seokjin spent a lot of time analyzing professional matches in the European championship thanks to the computers in the computer room of the school where he went most of the time during his free time to study because he did not have a computer at home. This was what allowed him to come up with effective tactics. By sacrificing his time for his passion. But since he had never received encouragement or praise for his work, he expected no more.

"It never stopped you from doing it for the team to win until today," Dae-Ho said while gritting his teeth, finally waking up from his torpor. "What, you want revenge today, for the last game of the season? Do you think if you do that I'm gonna begg you and give you the captain's armband so you can show off in front of the recruiters? You pretend to be naive but you're really a sneaky one in fact. Know that if we lose because of this attitude, it will be you and your bad selfish sports mentality who will be responsible, not to mention we'll all make you pay for it!"

The other boys unanimously approved of these unfair words. It was so. If the team won, it was because of Dae-Ho but if they lost, it was because of him. It was so unfair.

"No, no, no, it's not that at all, I misspoke!" Seokjin cried, eyes widening, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, my mind was just elsewhere."

"Do you really think it's time to dream awake? Do you want to stay on the bench during the entire match?" replied Mr. Han, annoyed.

"Coach, no!" Seokjin exclaimed jumping up. He had worked too hard this year to spend the last game of the year on the substitutes' bench.

"It's the last game of the season. If we win, our school will be crowned champion. It is therefore totally excluded that Gugbo lose. I think you care about it as much as we do, so give it your all."

I think I care more than you, otherwise you would have prepared the strategy yourself to win today, bitterly thought Seokjin who only said:

"Yes sir!"

"So? What do you have in mind to assure us of this victory?"

Seokjin came up with a four-three-three offensive strategy focused on attacking speed as the objective was no longer so much to protect their goal as to score as much as possible for that final game. It also meant for him that he should score more and be faster than the star scorer of the other team who was also the captain.

Once the strategy was validated by the team and the coach, the team members let out a last masculine shout of encouragement before joining the field to do their warm-up which the other team had already started.

Seokjin came out the last with the trainer: he inhaled several puffs of Ventolin before handing over his medicine to his trainer because he could not keep his precious object with him for security reasons. But he was reassured to know that the coach always had it at hand in case he needed it, especially at half-time.

Arriving on the field, he realized with annoyance his team was lightly warming up laughing and chasing each other in front of the very disciplined opposing team. Dae-Ho didn't tell them anything because he was the first to fool around. He was definitely not an example for his team and if players were injured, he should take responsibility for it for once in his career as captain.

The stands around the stadium gradually filled with excited students well as a few teachers who had come to support their students, from both schools : Gugbo Private School decked out in light blue colors and Choseon Private School in black colors.

Seokjin, in his outfit in the colors of Gugbo, began to warm up his joints seriously and rigorously, alone in his corner for several minutes, aware of the importance of warming up to preserve his athletic body in the long term.

He heard the students chanting the names of their favorite players but as usual, his name was not mentioned. Taehyung had probably lied saying that girls would come to support him this time. Or maybe he was so pissed off about what had happened earlier that he asked them not to cheer him on?

"It would have confused me anyway, they were going to call me Jin the moron again in front of the opposing team and I would be ashamed," he tried to convince himself even though he felt a hint of disappointment after his hope. "All I have to think about is winning this game now, getting my letter back and impressing all the potential recruiter lurking among the spectators to put the odds in my favor, even if I have no money. I'm going to show them all what I'm capable of!" He nearly shouted the last sentence.

It was all that mattered and not the number of supporters of this school where everyone hated him.

As he trotted, he suddenly felt the weight of an insistent gaze on him and as he turned, he saw two players in their black outfits from the opposing team chatting while looking at him, as if they were talking about him. One of them was the goal keeper judging by his outfit. The other, a broadly-built dark-haired man with big dark eyes, ended up pointing at him, and it was obvious that he was talking about him.

Seokjin saw that he was wearing the captain's armband of his team. So, he was the star scorer who was competing with him for the title of best striker of the year.

Seokjin wondered what he was saying about him because he was used to receiving only insults and reproaches but he secretly hoped that a talented player like him would praise his qualities as a player.

Apprehensively, he watched him approach him, leaving his teammate to finish warming up.

"Kim Seokjin?" he asked him when he arrived in front of him.

"Yes, it's me," Seokjin replied, giving him a shy and polite smile while turning slightly and pointing with his thumb at the back of his school-colored blue t-shirt, which had the letters of his name associated with the number 7.

The other boy smiled back.

"Please, forgive me but I had a doubt : given your reputation I thought you would be the captain of your team. But seeing him," he added, nodding his head at Dae-Ho, "I can understand that he can't be the Kim Seokjin  I heard about," he chuckled and Seokjin, embarrassed to see dae-ho, his captain, clowning around the opposing team and ridiculing Gugbo, decided to chuckle too. The compliments of the opposing captain had made him red with pleasure and he hastily arranged his hair to hide the tips of his very red ears.

His opponent stared at him, immediately finding him a sympathetic and then, held out a friendly hand :

"Delighted to meet you Kim Seokjin, I have heard a lot about you. I am Jeon Jungkook."

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A/N: And... Jeon Jungkook appears!