My Girlfriend Wants Victory

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“Wow….”

Han Gyeouri’s palms were sweating as she watched the match between Dortmund and Hamburg.

Even though it was just the Rigatotal Cup, both teams were engaging in a fierce battle without yielding an inch.

“Stay focused until the end!”

Han Gyeouri’s gaze was directed at Son Jinho, who was shouting on the ground.

“Don’t take it easy just because it’s preseason! Think about the fans who came to watch this match right now!”

After conceding a goal, Hamburg became more aggressive in their attacks, but Son Jinho continued to fend off Hamburg’s offense while encouraging his teammates.

Swish─!

Once again, Son Jinho intercepted a pass aimed at Son Heung-min, standing up right after blocking the pass to launch a counterattack.

“Scheiße!”

Unfortunately, Dortmund’s counterattack was thwarted by Hamburg’s center back, ending their chance to score.

“Whee—! Nice fighting spirit!”

The Mainz fans, pleased with the spirited play, cheered for Son Jinho.

“Mom, did you see!? This is my boyfriend….”

Hearing that, Han Gyeouri’s shoulders went up. She turned her head wanting to brag to her mom…

“Jinho!! Mother-in-law is right here!!! My son-in-law is the best─!!”

Seeing her mom Hwang Mi-yeon standing up and yelling in broken German, she quietly distanced herself.

“….”

She had lost the ridiculous competition against her mom.

*

As the second half began, Dortmund called most of their starting players back in.

Son Jinho was naturally included in that list. Since it was just a preseason match, Klopp decided to substitute Son Jinho, and he was replaced immediately after the first half by İlkay Gündoğan, who had joined Dortmund from Nuremberg.

Dortmund scored two goals in quick succession at the 64th minute from Felipe Santana and the 66th minute from Mohamed Zidan, sealing a 3:0 victory over Hamburg to claim the Rigatotal Cup title.

Although Son Jinho didn’t score in the preseason match against Hamburg…

“Jinho!! You were awesome!!”

He played a key role in preventing Hamburg’s attacks with his outstanding defensive abilities and received praise from the fans.

[The champions of the Rigatotal Cup are! Dortmund!!]

Then came the award ceremony.

“Yay~~~~.”

With the trophy in hand, he celebrated at the end of the ceremony.

“Hyung, let’s swap numbers.”

Son Jinho approached Son Heung-min for a number exchange.

“Oh. Just a sec… But why did you bring the trophy?”

Holding the warm trophy they received for winning the preseason.

“Oh. Just… I thought the trophy looked nice, so I wanted to show it to you.”

Seeing Son Jinho shaking the trophy with a bright smile, Son Heung-min didn’t feel so great.

‘…I want to smack him one.’

*

[Defending champion Dortmund continues to show strength with a victory over Hamburg.]

[Son Heung-min, regrettably failing to score despite a shot that brushed the goalpost, proves his potential!]

[Son Jinho, displaying an impenetrable wall, stops Hamburg’s attacks.]

[Dortmund’s coach Jürgen Klopp beams at Son Jinho’s story. ‘We often commute together and have many conversations. In the past, I asked him where he felt most comfortable playing, and he told me that he feels best when he plays where he is needed. He’s a wonderful player who puts the team first.’]

└ …? They commute together?

└ Yeah, at first, his girlfriend’s mom picked him up, and then Klopp said he would drop him off since it was on the way home.

└ No, that’s not it. He’s commuting to work with his boss, right? ;;;

└ …Wow. Damn, I got chills for a second, lol.

└ Thinking about a bald boss makes it hard to breathe just by hearing it;;

└ ? Is your boss bald too?

└ Hey, you too? lol

└ Man, you’re poking fun at 10 million balding people? You guys will probably be bald soon too!

└ Wow…. 10 million? There are a lot of baldies in our country.

└ Stop shouting about baldness, you crazy person, lol.

[Concerns pour in for Son Jinho, who failed to score. ‘Could it be the second-year curse?’]

└ Reporter;;; Don’t you watch the game before writing the article?

└ Just trying to stir the pot.

└ But at least you should watch the game before writing, damn;; Son Jinho did great, and just because there were no goals, you call it a second-year curse?

└ In the first place, there aren’t many opportunities to score due to his position.

└ Did he get overshadowed by Kagawa in the attacking midfielder role? He was always played as an attacking midfielder in the youth national team.

└ Well… the youth team’s goal-scoring ability…

└ Ah, ㅠㅠ ah ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└ It’s not that he got overshadowed; it feels more like Son Jinho is filling Nuri Sahin’s void?

└ Yeah;; When Son Jinho goes out, the balance goes completely off.

└ Why is Gündoğan playing so poorly?

└ He was an attacking midfielder back in Nuremberg, so he seems to be still adapting.

└ My big brother is probably starting, right?

└ Even after seeing today’s performance, you’re worried about the starting position, lol.

└ In the first place, my brother can play in all midfield positions, so he’s definitely starting.

[The highlight scene) Son Jinho showing off the trophy to Son Heung-min.]

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ah lol look at Heung-min’s face ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ ???: You don’t have one of these, do you? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Son Jinho is cute, lol. He looks like a cousin who’s happy about getting a toy, haha.

└ No;;; Even though it’s Son Heung-min, is it right to tease him like that?

└ Ah;; please;;; you serious guy, you’re really taking this seriously?;

*

After the match ended, I checked social media.

(Jinho shaking the trophy gif)

– Son Heung-min: Son Jinho, I’ll get my revenge.

It seems that my plan to instill a desire for victory in Hyung’s heart has succeeded greatly.

I decided to start sending photos of the trophy to Hyung regularly, showing my diligent training.

“Oh, right. Seong-ryong and Juyong.”

Remembering, I sent a picture of me lifting Meister Schal to Son Heung-min and successfully got Park Juyong and Lee Cheong-ryong’s numbers.

Feeling grateful, Lee Cheong-ryong replied that he would be careful after receiving concern from a much younger junior.

Thinking it was unexpectedly easy to achieve my goal made me feel a bit light.

“Hmm… But isn’t it better to try challenging?”

“Hyung, what are you going to do if you can’t play?”

The problem was Park Juyong.

Juyong wasn’t being picky about age. He calmly listened to the advice from a much younger junior instead of getting angry like, “What do you know?”

“Well then, I guess I have to train harder so I can play.”

However… maybe due to his inherent optimistic and hardworking nature, he didn’t seem convinced at all.

“Jinho, don’t you think it’s worth challenging if you can learn something from it? And they haven’t even inquired from Arsenal yet?”

Rather, talking to Juyong made me feel like I was the one being persuaded.

Now I’m not even sure. Is it right for me to stop someone from pursuing the path they want?

I wrapped things up, suggesting that personally, I thought it might be better to go to a club where he could play rather than a big club.

*

Time flies quickly.

Before I knew it, it was July 30th.

A thank-you call came from Lee Cheong-ryong.

“Jinho, do you want anything as a gift? I’ll buy you something.”

“Hyung, are you serious saying that I’m in Germany right now?”

“…I can’t take the match appearance fee right now because I’m injured. Let’s talk more when you come back to Korea.”

Due to Tom Miller’s tackle being so deep and rough, getting injured was unavoidable, but it wasn’t a serious injury that required an oxygen mask.

Just a half-season out, maybe?

Well, that’s a severe injury, but compared to the original history, I was thankful it was only this bad.

In the original history, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had retired due to that injury.

Anyway, at that time, Tom Miller repeatedly apologized to Lee Cheong-ryong, who was being carried away with an oxygen mask, but…

This time was a little different.

[Despite the murderous tackle toward Lee Cheong-ryong, Tom Miller and Newport County do not apologize!]

└ The crazy dogs of Dobongsan did worse than that.

└ I still can’t forget the Dragon Kick;;

└ No, is it reasonable to have a practice match with a fifth-division team? ——

└ This was Bolton injuring someone!

Having experienced karma firsthand, Lee Cheong-ryong seemed to have realized a lot about what he had done.

After all, even in the original history, Lee Cheong-ryong’s playstyle had been quite distant from team spirit to the extent that the word “karma” came up among Korean netizens.

“If you injure someone, shouldn’t you apologize?”

I could hear Lee Cheong-ryong’s voice getting frustrated through the phone.

“…Hyung?”

I instinctively asked back. It felt like asking, “Are you really saying that?” and Lee Cheong-ryong seemed to realize this, so he didn’t continue talking.

*

A week went by again.

Finally, the season kicked off.

“BVB! BVB! Last season’s champions BVB!”

Soccer fans, quenched their thirst from the transfer rumors and preseason matches, began to gather at the stadium to watch the opening match.

Dortmund was facing Hamburg again, who they had just played against recently, at their home stadium, Signal Iduna Park.

Since they had just faced them a short while ago, Dortmund was confident of victory.

[Dortmund wins big at home 5-0!]

[Korean Derby canceled! Son Heung-min misses out due to fever. In contrast, Son Jinho played 70 minutes before being substituted for İlkay Gündoğan!]

[‘Multi-goal explosion!’ Son Jinho, showing the future of Korean football!]

[German media labels Son Jinho as Weltklasse (world-class)!]

And Dortmund succeeded in winning big against Hamburg as they expected.