PUCKD Ch 35

—No, I said that was off the record! What do you expect me to do if you write an article with an exclusive tag on it, Reporter Kim!

Daily One’s Kim Injoong held a cigarette in his mouth and readjusted his grip on the phone. Blue Wolves coach Yoo Guhwan, who he usually called ‘hyung’ and ‘dongsaeng’ in private, was consistently referring to him as ‘Reporter Kim’.

—My position is extremely difficult right now! If this goes wrong, I’m going to end up taking all the blame because of you, Reporter Kim!

“Who was the one who told me something that wasn’t even proper information, and now you’re coming at me? I heard Player Shin’s father isn’t even brain-dead!”

—Who do you think you’re raising your voice at?! Take the article down immediately! If you don’t want to get sued for defamation!

The call ended with a sharp click after the irritated voice.

Kim Injoong cursed, “Damn it,” and lit the cigarette he was holding. The red-hot flame quickly billowed out acrid smoke.

The old building had low ceilings and poor lighting, making it gloomy even though it was close to noon. Kim Injoong clicked his tongue as he smelled the scent of decades-old piles of paper from all around.

This reporter life isn’t making any money. I need to quit soon.

The days of being called ‘Reporter-nim’ and having his back pocket stuffed were now a thing of the past. Since that damn anti-graft law was enacted, free overseas entertainment disguised as reporting trips and receiving ham boxes filled with wads of cash on holidays were now tales from a bygone era.

So it was true that he was more excited than usual when CEO Kwon said he would buy him dinner for business. It was a gathering hosted by the heir of Myeongjeong, so he had intended to get some crumbs.

Although, he was a bit disappointed when he got there and saw that there were several other reporters with him. Still, Coach Yoo, with whom he had been close for a long time, was there, so there was the fun of getting free expensive drinks.

Then he picked up a few interesting stories. Because he was tipsy, his memory of whether it was Coach Yoo or CEO Kwon who told the stories was hazy. But the phone call just now made it certain that it was Coach Yoo.

He’d written an article that was likely to get some views for a change and even got a ‘Not bad?’ compliment from the editor-in-chief. Thinking up to that point, Kim Injoong suddenly recalled the unpleasant phone call he had received that morning.

Some kid, young enough to be his son, had abruptly told him to take the article down. Just then, the door to the archives burst open without any warning.

“Kim sunbae! What are you doing smoking in here! Don’t you know this place is full of paper documents?!”

It was a sharp voice. It was reporter Park Hana, who was in charge of baseball and soccer at Daily One Sports. Kim Injoong grumbled loud enough for her to hear and stubbed out his cigarette on the windowsill.

He didn’t have a good impression of that bitch Park Hana because she never said a word when the editor-in-chief smoked but would rush in like a ghost and nag him whenever he smoked.

Are the two of them really having an affair? If not, why is a young bitch like her in charge of baseball and soccer, which can be called the cream of the crop of the sports department, over me, who has 20 years of experience?

Kim Injoong, who shot a glance full of contempt at Park Hana’s face and chest, couldn’t say anything to her and sheepishly left the editing room. No, he was about to leave.

“Kim sunbae, you have to clean up the cigarette butt before you go! Is there a separate person who smokes and a separate person who cleans up here?!”

“…….”

“Clean it up properly and spray some deodorizer before you leave. Got it?”

And then she thrust a lemon-scented spray can into his hand. Kim Injoong swallowed a curse that ended with ‘bitch’ and was left alone in the archives again.

“Fucking bastards. Every single one of them thinks I’m their punching bag, huh?! Huh?!”

Kim Injoong, feeling spiteful, threw the deodorizing spray into the corner of the sofa and took out another cigarette from his shirt’s front pocket and lit it.

Kim Injoong, who had started his career as a reporter in an era when everyone on the morning subway carried a free newspaper in their hand, resented this rapidly changing world.

Nowadays, you had to write articles that were guaranteed to get views. This was because the advertising revenue from them was the only source of income for small internet media outlets. The company openly paid incentives by multiplying the number of views.

Didn’t that bitch Park Hana take home an incentive last month that was double her salary? Fucking hell, it’s all money she got from writing articles sucking up to soccer players.

Anyone can write articles like that. It’s just that you can’t get as many views with articles about ice hockey players.

Kim Injoong plopped his butt down on a worn-out leather sofa and, out of habit, accessed an internet community.

It wasn’t for nothing that people said all the memes and gifs trending on the internet nowadays were created in this community. Kim Injoong skipped the ice hockey board, which had infrequent updates, and went to the chat board, which had the most active ‘regen’, so to speak.

Thinking of a certain internet media outlet that had recently raked in a handsome number of views with an exposé from a famous baseball player’s ex-girlfriend, his insides churned with envy.

All I need is to break one story like that.

It was then that something caught the eye of Kim Injoong, who was combing through the board’s posts like a hyena looking for the scraps of a lion’s kill.

It was a dark photo. One that reeked of an obscene atmosphere.

It was a photo of a man with the body of an athlete sitting on a bed, half-naked, but the problem was that what he was wearing was a woman’s bra and a miniskirt…….

Kim Injoong, feeling a vague sense of déjà vu, stared intently at the amateur-looking photo.

The photo had the face cropped out, but it hadn’t completely cut out the pink hair that covered the back of his neck.

Kim Injoong gulped.

The rectangular screen reflected in his small eyes shone a bright blue.

The first period against the Tigers ended.

The score was 0-0.

The Tigers showed the kind of game management expected of a team that had won the league for three consecutive years. On top of that, since it was their home stadium, Coach Peter’s new strategies were repeatedly thwarted.

In the Blue Wolves’ locker room, a somewhat agitated Coach Peter and Coach Yoo were finishing their briefing on the first period and shouting out the strategy for the second period.

“What’s important is who takes the lead in the second period! Hojae, Moon, Park, Doomin, Ji. Your unit goes in first as soon as we start. It’s all-out attack! Got it?”

Shin Hojae nodded and glanced at Doomin’s face, who was sitting next to him.

Yook Doomin had been complaining about the unit throughout the recent field training. So he had checked his face, thinking he would be happy.

But unexpectedly, Doomin’s face was deathly pale.

“……?”

“Guys, let’s go!”

One of the coaches had the players stand up. The second period was about to start.

As he put on his helmet and grabbed the hockey stick he had set aside, he saw Doomin hastily shove the phone he was looking at into his bag.

The expression on Doomin’s face that he had just seen was forgotten as he entered the rink amidst the roar of the crowd.

“Ah…. The twins are out.”

Hojae looked up at Moon Seungyeol’s mumble.

He saw the Tigers players lined up. Among them, two were familiar faces. The twin forwards who had held the Blue Wolves back throughout last year’s league, Na Myungil and Na Daeil.

The two were two-way forwards like Hojae, and their specialty was to stick to you like leeches no matter how much you tried to shake them off and bite down until the end.

Not just Hojae, but all the Blue Wolves players disliked them, and the reason for that included their dirty talk aimed at breaking the opponent’s mental state.

Shin Hojae, who was at the center line for the puck drop, lowered his posture. He had to win the face-off here and bring the momentum to their side.

As he was focusing all his attention on the puck in the referee’s hand, a sneering voice came from the right.

“Hey pretty boy, I saw the picture.”

It was the voice of Na Daeil, who was facing off with Yook Doomin.

“I’m just really curious, why were you wearing women’s underwear? You like that kind of stuff?”

“…….”

“If I put it on you, will you spread your ass for me too?”

What kind of bullshit is this?

It was nonsense he was spouting, hoping someone would take the bait. Did he think that would work on Yook Doomin? If there’s one thing Doomin was better at, it was talking endless nonsense.

Thinking this, he glanced at Doomin’s face. Hojae’s thought that he would be sneering back at Na Daeil was wrong again.

Although half of his face was covered by his visor, Doomin’s shaken face was clearly visible. And that expression must have been clearly visible to Na Daeil as well.

Daeil raised one corner of his mouth and whispered so only Doomin could hear.

“Fucking Alpha, you’re disgusting.”

And at that moment, the puck dropped from the referee’s hand. A fierce battle for the puck ensued, and in the end, it was the Tigers who took possession.

Ji Minchul and Yook Doomin ran towards the puck, and Minchul intercepted a pass to create a scoring opportunity. The sound of Na Daeil, who had lost the puck, cursing mixed with the sound of skating.

Shin Hojae took the puck and dodged a defender with a dazzling spin, but Na Myungil, who had rushed in from the opposite side, body-checked Shin Hojae.

With a thud!, his vision shook. In that brief moment, Na Daeil took the puck again and ran, and he could see Moon Seungyeol running in Hojae’s place.

It could have led to a goal, but Alexei and Ji Minchul threw their bodies to block the puck. Possession returned to their side.

Both teams’ play was somewhat rough and hurried. It was the aftermath of the scoreless first period. The sticks got tangled and clashed, thwack! thwack-thwack!. Then, Hojae’s stick finally broke.

A stick breaking during a game was a more common occurrence than one might think. Hojae was about to throw the stick, which had broken in two on the ice, and head to the bench to get a new one.

In his field of vision, he saw Ji Minchul, Yook Doomin, and Na Daeil competing. Hojae kept his eyes on them as he snatched the new stick the coach was holding out.

And that was when it happened.

CRASH-!

Ji Minchul used his whole body to slam Na Daeil into the boards. Hojae instinctively followed only the movement of the puck. The puck that Na Daeil had was already sliding to the opposite side.

But the very next moment, Ji Minchul threw his stick to the ground and threw a punch at his opponent.

With a thwack, the roar of the crowd was heard.

Na Daeil didn’t back down and threw his stick as well and rushed at Ji Minchul. Soon, a brawl started. They took off their helmets and gloves and swung their fists at each other.

Minchul punched Daeil in the face until just before he was restrained by the referee. The roar of the crowd, excited by the sight of blood, seemed to pound in his ears.

The game was immediately stopped. Na Daeil was sent to the penalty box for 5 minutes, and Ji Minchul was given an ejection.

It all happened less than a minute after the start of the second period.