After the showcase ended, Henry returned home and opened the front door, stepping inside.
Unlike the cold outside, the warm indoor air tickled his face. The smell of soup boiling in a pot filled the entire house.
It was a scene where nothing felt unfamiliar.
“You’re back?”
Iris, who had been sitting on the outer side of the living room sofa, was the first to greet Henry.
“Yeah. I’m home.”
Drrrk, he closed the inner door and stepped inside. That’s when he saw it—the one and only thing unfamiliar in this spacious house.
Veronica and Margaret beside Iris.
And Declan Russell, sitting next to the three women.
The man’s presence made the peaceful, familiar scene feel foreign.
Surprisingly, he was sitting on the sofa, blending in quite naturally with the Lowell women.
Only Henry seemed to feel any sense of incongruity about his presence. Everyone else appeared to regard Declan sitting on the sofa as completely natural.
“You’re wearing a scarf? What’s the occasion?”
Veronica, who had been working on her laptop with her glasses on, greeted Henry a beat late.
She had been about to welcome him when she noticed the scarf wrapped around Henry’s neck and asked curiously.
Henry awkwardly adjusted the long piece of fabric wrapped around his neck.
Actually, on his way home from the showcase, he had debated dozens of times whether or not to wear the scarf before finally wrapping it around his neck.
Even while putting it on, Henry constantly checked his surroundings.
No one was looking at him wearing the scarf, and no one would know it belonged to Declan Russell anyway.
“…It’s Russell’s.”
Henry answered awkwardly as he unwrapped the scarf from his neck.
“Wow, you wore a scarf you never wore before just because Declan gave it to you?”
“That’s not it!”
Henry’s face flushed red as he shouted in response to Iris’s giggling comment.
“It’s not? But you hate scarves. You said they’re annoying.”
As Iris laid out his preferences one by one, Henry naturally glanced at Declan.
He worried that Declan might get some strange idea like “he wore it because I gave it to him.”
“I just wore it since I received it. …I don’t want my almost-healed cold to get worse again.”
Iris didn’t seem to be listening to Henry’s explanation.
“You even prepared a scarf because you were worried Henry might get sick? How thoughtful.”
She was looking at Declan with a pleased smile.
That’s not what happened, but anyway, Margaret never understood his true feelings at times like this.
“I’ll go organize and come back down.”
Henry announced with a sullen face and turned around.
“Okay. Hurry and come back. Let’s all eat together.”
“Yes.”
Henry climbed the stairs while listening to Margaret’s perfect plan. Meanwhile, he unwrapped the scarf and held it neatly folded in his hands.
Thud, Henry entered his room and fell into contemplation. Though Declan had said he was giving it to him, he wasn’t sure if it was really okay to accept it.
Standing in front of the hanger, Henry’s eyes suddenly caught sight of a large luggage bag.
It seemed Declan had stopped by the dormitory to pack his things while Henry was at the showcase.
Henry placed the scarf on top of the large luggage bag instead of on his hanger.
He didn’t like accepting things just because someone said to take them. Especially when the other person was Declan Russell, even more so.
Having organized things in a way that felt comfortable, Henry went back downstairs. Unlike when he’d entered the house, the living room was now filled with noisy laughter and conversation.
The four of them were all looking at Veronica’s laptop screen together. At the end, Declan Russell was also huddled in, peering at the screen.
It was unfamiliar, but somehow it didn’t feel strange. He must not feel awkward around my family, Henry thought.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Henry spoke up.
“What are you looking at?”
At Henry’s question, Veronica smiled and turned her laptop screen toward him. On the screen was an article about today’s senior football game.
Among them, they had stopped on—
“You’re in it!”
—a page with Henry Lowell’s photo.
[Platts High School’s quarterback, Henry Lowell. Though only in 11th grade, he was invited to the showcase as a promising prospect. He’s attracting attention with skills impressive enough to compete with seniors right now.]
Since the photo was taken after the physical tests, Henry’s cheeks were flushed red in the picture. Henry’s short hair was also wet from the sweat that had run down his face.
Below was Henry’s brief interview from earlier.
“The photo came out well!”
Margaret exclaimed proudly.
“If there’s someone you’d most like to receive support from? My family. I want to receive it from my parents and my older siblings. They’re the first people to congratulate me when I win.”
Iris read part of the interview with a grin. Henry’s face turned bright red.
“You wanted support from us?”
Compared to Iris, even Veronica, who was usually more composed, couldn’t hide her playfulness as she asked Henry.
“But I went to almost all your games!”
Iris raised her hand high and asked with a blinking expression demanding explanation.
“No, this is just… like a model answer.”
Henry made excuses, but it didn’t seem to reach Iris’s ears, as she had already burst into laughter.
“Now everyone in the world will know our Henry is the youngest who loves his family.”
Iris seemed to have brought it up to tease him, but Margaret, hearing her words, wore a pleased smile.
“Mom is so touched. When did you grow up like this… Tonight I’ll have to pray and thank God for giving me such a good son before I sleep.”
“Oh, even Mom…”
Henry hung his head low and covered his face with both hands.
“…I think you did well.”
At that moment, a low voice broke through the laughter.
Henry had to forcefully shut his mouth to keep the words “please, stop” from bursting out.
***
The commotion continued for quite a long time. When Richard returned during the meal, Margaret made a fuss and showed him Henry’s interview once again.
After finishing the meal amidst trials and tribulations, Henry returned to his room with Declan.
Declan naturally hung the scarf that had been placed on his bag onto Henry’s hanger, then sat down on the couch in one corner.
Henry cautiously asked while watching Declan, who was looking at his phone.
“Hey, do you really not regret it? Not going to the showcase. I heard a lot of scouts came.”
“…I don’t.”
It wasn’t that Henry had expected an answer saying he regretted it now, but it was exactly as predicted. There was no hesitation in Declan’s answer.
Henry had no choice but to close his mouth at the response that left no room for doubt.
He thought silence would continue like that.
“…Why do you like football?”
But Declan was the first to ask a question that felt sudden and unexpected.
At the unexpected situation and question, Henry couldn’t answer right away, and after thinking for a long time, he responded.
“It’s kind of a long explanation.”
Even at Henry’s words, the man waited for an answer without moving. Defeated by the gaze looking at him, Henry finally began to ramble on.
“At first, it was just… because friends who came to church were doing it. I started following them. My hyung played football too.”
“Hyung?”
“I have one more hyung who lives in New York, so I can’t see him often…”
At Henry’s words, Declan briefly looked thoughtful before asking.
“Is his name Samuel?”
At those words, Henry made a very surprised face and opened his eyes wide.
“How did you know? Oh, did Iris tell you?”
“…No. You called me Samuel when you had a fever.”
“Ah.”
Henry let out a deep sigh in embarrassment.
“Sorry.”
Declan readily said he didn’t mind. That said, it didn’t make Henry’s embarrassment disappear.
“Ahem, anyway. At first… as you probably heard from Iris, I was really bad at football. Since I had no skill, it wasn’t fun either. At the time, I didn’t have a good physique for football. I wasn’t tall, didn’t build muscle easily, that sort of thing.”
Unable to hide his embarrassment, Henry awkwardly touched his bangs.
“Back then I really didn’t want to do it, but since I’d started, I worked hard anyway. Planning to do it half-heartedly and then quit. But then… completely by chance. I think it was in 8th grade. The hyung who played my position got injured, so I was urgently put into the field.”
Like a young boy confessing his first love that he’d kept hidden, a smile bloomed on Henry’s face as he recalled that time—one he couldn’t quite hide.
“That was the first time I actually played in a game… My heart was beating like crazy and my head went completely blank.”
Henry laid bare his young, clumsy past without hiding anything. Even while feeling embarrassed about it.
“I liked the feeling of forgetting who I originally was. On the field, all I could see was me, the ball, and the end zone behind the opponent’s back.”
Just imagining it made his whole body feel like blood was rushing through it. Henry repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists to endure the tingling sensation in his hands.
“And then when you finally reach the end zone, cheers pour out toward us, right?”
Henry asked Declan as if seeking agreement.
Fortunately, Declan, who had been listening to the story, nodded.
“I loved that so much. Because I could hide all my inadequate parts and only show the cool parts. In that one moment, all the hardships I’d endured to play in the game were completely forgotten.”
It was a confession that continued calmly and honestly. Declan was listening to his story.
Unlike Henry, who couldn’t hide his excitement just from recalling the memories of when he fell in love with football, Declan still had a face that looked languid.
Henry asked him carefully.
“Don’t you do it because you like it?”
