[Jeong Huiseo-ssi, you lost at rock-paper-scissors, right?]
[…Yes.]
[That’s the reason we’re filming this video. Short and sweet, just three quiz questions.]
[…Come in.]
[Who’s the most handsome person in the world?]
[……]
[Oh no. You must answer honestly.]
[Prince Yoon, Your Highness.]
So meaningfully calling it a quiz.
Huiseo snorted at the level of the question Hwan solemnly threw at him. It was utterly childish. However, since Hwan deliberately urged him sternly for an answer, Huiseo listlessly gave him the answer he wanted.
It was the same with the following questions.
But there was a trap sneakily hidden in there.
[Who’s the coolest person in the world?]
[Prince Yoon, Your Highness.]
[Who’s the person you love most in the world?]
[Prince Yoo… No, what! Cancel this!]
[Oh no, you have to answer properly!]
[What do you mean ‘oh no’!]
Then Huiseo tried to block the phone with his hand and even attempted to snatch it away. The video of Hwan grinning from ear to ear while dodging this way and that, playfully shouting “I love you most in the world too!” and shaking wildly, ended just like that.
Using the penalty as an excuse, it was a video filled to the brim with Hwan’s ulterior motives.
That short video was posted on Hwan’s SNS for exactly one hour, with Huiseo’s consent as a prerequisite.
However, Huiseo could never have imagined its impact, given how many people covered their mouths after watching it.
***
In any case, Hwan did well at what he was silently told to do, and perhaps because of that, he began to receive evaluations that he was quite ordinary as long as he didn’t provoke others by unnecessarily acting chummy with Huiseo. They thought he’d act superior because he was a prince. Surprisingly, he was appropriately easygoing and played around quite a bit. What especially surprised the other soccer club guys was that, well, there was nothing Hwan didn’t understand.
Game talk, overseas soccer talk, even YouTube memes—he understood them all without exception.
“Isn’t this that dangerous internet addiction thing?”
“Your Highness, you should study in moderation too.”
It was enough to warrant such concerns.
“I have someone else to nag me about that, so you just worry about yourself.”
Now Hwan could even say such playful things without hesitation.
‘Better than I thought.’
Most of the soccer club kids who had watched Hwan up close these past few days probably thought that. Huiseo felt the same. He had such thoughts about the situation unfolding more smoothly than expected. No, to be more honest, in Huiseo’s case, he thought it wasn’t just okay but very good.
Was it just the exchange of words that became comfortable?
As usual, while organizing the balls, his casual dribbling was extraordinary, so he even kicked the ball around lightly with a few guys who were watching. The soccer club guys must have thought Hwan’s skills were pretty good, because after that he could occasionally participate in training sessions that wouldn’t cause injury.
Even though it was just that much, Hwan’s mood was noticeably good on such days. He didn’t know how well he listened either.
‘I was secretly worried.’
It was gratifying that things went well.
But that was only for a moment.
Conversely, there were guys who didn’t like seeing such a sight. Though he’d become quite close with the soccer club kids he bumped shoulders with, the eyes of those who couldn’t belong inside and watched from outside became sharp.
To begin with, it was very displeasing that Hwan, who wasn’t even a club member, was called a reserve, even if only nominally.
‘This is special treatment.’
‘It’s not fair.’
‘Is it because this is the Imperial Higher Education Institute?’
There were those who thought that way.
Not just thinking it, there were even guys who came directly to the PE teacher to complain.
Hearing such stories, Huiseo held his head in pain and messed up his hair completely. Unlike before, this time it was hard to see that Yuwon had done anything in between, but what he’d done earlier to provoke the other guys seemed to have accumulated, and now even beyond his hands, they seemed to be tormenting Hwan.
He was called a reserve in name, but in reality, looking at what he did, he was no different from a general helper, yet they were jealous.
“The grass is always greener on the other side, is that it?”
In this case, it would be because it was specifically ‘Hwan’s’ grass.
“…If you’re so envious, come and pick up balls. I’m on the verge of breaking my back right now.”
While grumbling like that, thinking about it, it seemed not too bad. ‘Put yourself in their shoes,’ ‘seeing is believing’—several plausible sayings came to mind. There would be things you could only know by doing it yourself.
Huiseo went straight to the PE teacher and boldly asked to call those guys to today’s training. The PE teacher looked worried that a fight might break out unnecessarily though.
“Will it be okay?”
“If they come and directly experience how hard it is, won’t all that talk about special treatment and whatnot disappear?”
“Well, that’s true, but.”
“…And I have one more favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
At Huiseo’s sudden request, the PE teacher looked at him with a somewhat puzzled expression for a moment.
***
Actually, strictly speaking, it couldn’t be said there was no room for problems since Huiseo had separately made a request and a ‘deal’ behind the scenes. In other words, whatever was being done there, the other kids weren’t saying something completely absurd. Huiseo was quite anxious about that.
‘I was careful in my own way. It won’t start a rumor, will it?’
It was something he’d started to try to smooth things over between Hwan and the other kids, but if that happened, it would be no different from him stepping forward and creating trouble himself. The kids’ antipathy toward Hwan would intensify even more.
‘…That can’t happen.’
Since things had already unfolded this way, Huiseo, who absolutely couldn’t let that happen, came up with one plan.
The kids’ current claim was that Hwan had used so-called ‘connections.’ Using the power of the imperial family and being a prince. Actually, power my foot—it had been exchanged for Huiseo’s science olympiad performance. In any case, even if it was revealed that Huiseo had made a separate request, he needed a device to prevent the arrow from turning toward Hwan.
At the very least, he needed to prove the fact that Hwan ‘was worthy of being in that position.’
Actually, even with connections, the problem was when someone without ability rose to a high position. If you had ability, it could easily be reframed as a ‘recommendation.’ It might look petty, but right now, that was the only way he could see to get out of this crisis.
So what Huiseo separately asked the PE teacher was to have ‘penalty kick training’ with those guys today.
Soccer was ultimately a sport about scoring goals. Victory or defeat was decided by how many goals were put in the net. Of course, in an actual game, countless coordination processes between team members would be necessary before that, but it was unreasonable to expect such things from Hwan, who had only been ‘fiddling around’ with the ball next to them for a few days.
Nevertheless, if there was a way to show individual ability in a short time, there was nothing better than this.
Penalty kicks.
Just run up and shoot the stationary ball toward the goal.
“You have to score no matter what.”
More than those guys.
***
The guys the PE teacher brought that day at Huiseo’s request totaled three.
“Today these friends also came to help, so do it together.”
They glared straight at Hwan before even greeting the soccer club guys. Their true nature showed from such behavior. They must have come full of spirit to somehow put him down, but Hwan and Huiseo, who knew what they would look like shortly, didn’t even bother to respond with listless expressions.
And as expected, once the soccer club’s training began in earnest, before long three people could be seen making expressions that said ‘this isn’t it’ no matter who looked at them. It almost seemed like watching Hwan’s appearance on the first day.
Unlike their imagination, they were in the position of just warming the bench side by side.
Then, just when they thought they’d finally get to move, far from kicking the ball, they had to run all over the place picking them up. It must have been quite difficult for guys who only knew how to sit at desks to suddenly do such work. Huiseo knew that feeling very well.
Was this why they were called, were they being teased on purpose to mess with them? They must have thought such things.
However, to complain, Hwan’s face was too nonchalant. And too skilled.
“Hey, watch out.”
Not only did he kick the ball up with his foot without even bending his waist, but shortly after he was carrying several balls tucked under his arm like a trick. Seeing the bewildered gazes going back and forth at his leisurely appearance, Huiseo secretly smiled to himself from behind.
‘So the menial work wasn’t an excuse but real?’
If they had such doubts, it was half successful.
Now, if Hwan just flew around in training as Huiseo expected, he thought a more than satisfactory result would come.
“Score no matter what. Mistakes cannot be tolerated.”
In such a battlefield advantageously arranged as planned, it was absolutely impossible for the general to fail to behead the enemy and lose. With such thoughts, Huiseo’s attitude of shouting “no matter what” was very resolute. It was a sight that reminded one of the math score bet that had put Hwan in a difficult position not long ago.
However, the circumstances were very, very different from that time.
This was his main specialty.
“Whose command is it, of course I must obey.”
Hwan answered confidently while warming up.
Though he spoke playfully, knowing it wasn’t bravado made him more reliable than anything. Watching Huiseo smile with satisfaction, Hwan placed his hand on his head and thoroughly messed up his bright, soft hair.
“So this time, just think about what reward you’ll give me.”
“What? What do you…”
What’s this about now?
He never said anything like that, yet he’d arbitrarily created something strange again.
‘Besides, isn’t this too much of a losing deal for me?’
However, before Huiseo could refute anything, Hwan had already dashed away like an arrow. Because of that, Huiseo clicked his tongue as if dumbfounded, but soon couldn’t help but shake his head watching him run around the field excitedly.
‘Could he really be that happy?’
He was worried he might make him do something strange again.
But still, he couldn’t help it.
