PUCKD Ch 51

Period 2

“Shin Hojae, why aren’t you taking this?”

Shin Yeonjae, who seemed bored, lingered in his room and asked. What her hand was pointing at were the suits he had received from Junghyun but had never worn, not even once.

They had been delivered to the house recently, just in time for the season’s opening, and to Hojae, the amount was so immense that he felt he could open a clothing store with them.

“Ah, why are you taking those old suits! This one is much cooler!”

“You must have too much time on your hands. You looked busy lately.”

“Yeah. I’m free today, aren’t I?”

Shin Yeonjae, who had been teasing him, looked through the new suits and let out an exclamation of “Oh?”

“Why don’t you wear it? It even has your back number embroidered on it.”

“What?”

“Here. It says 86.”

At her words, Shin Hojae stopped packing and stood up. Looking at the suit jacket that Shin Yeonjae held out, he saw the number 86 neatly embroidered inside the inner pocket.

“What is this? You had it done yourself and didn’t know?”

“…….”

Hojae checked the other jackets hanging next to it. Similarly, Shin Hojae’s back number was engraved in the same spot.

Since the shirts had his requested initials embroidered on them, he hadn’t expected any other embroidery.

Shin Hojae rubbed the silver thread embroidery as if scratching it. He could feel the slightly raised surface beneath his fingertip.

It had been quite a while since he started playing with the back number 86. Since he was playing in the Canadian youth league, it had been seven years now.

Suddenly, an old memory flashed through his mind. The SNS with the blue bird icon that he used instead of a diary whenever he felt lonely and struggling.

Thinking about it now, he felt like he needed some kind of outlet back then. Since he had lived abroad alone from a young age, without even knowing the language, a lot must have built up inside him unknowingly.

It was difficult to talk about his struggles to his family, who were already worried about him being in a foreign land, and it was the same with Yook Doomin and Ji Minchul. He thought it would be hard for them, who were in Korea with their family and friends, to fully understand what he was feeling.

For Shin Hojae, SNS readily became that outlet. Since it was an account that neither his family nor his friends knew about, he could share his inner thoughts more comfortably.

At that time, there was an account called ’86’. With a warm tone, it always pressed ‘like’ on his trivial stories and sent long replies.

Since the account had few followers, he quickly noticed that the ’86’ account was replying to his stories.

He seemed to be a Korean studying abroad. That’s probably why he would share his own stories, as if empathizing with his, and take pictures of the number 86 on English signs or posters he found.

He had never directly spoken to the person, but he could tell that their intention to comfort and support him was genuine. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have consistently looked at his posts for such a long time.

Then, one day, that account suddenly stopped its activity. And not long after, Shin Hojae naturally lost interest in SNS as well.

He probably still had the ’86’ photos the person sent him on his old phone. Where did he put that phone…?

“Why? Is something wrong?”

At Shin Yeonjae’s voice, Shin Hojae woke from his thoughts and shook his head.

The back number 86 was now too familiar and natural to Hojae. He no longer felt happy simply by seeing the same number, like he used to.

That must be why. He remembered the old days when someone else considered his simple back number more special than he did.

“Ah, I’m telling you, that old suit is really not good.”

Hojae pushed away the continuously grumbling Shin Yeonjae and closed the closet door again.

The opening of the Asian League was three days away.

HI Tigers and Japan’s Red Falcon Hokkaido, last year’s champions and runners-up, were again predicted as the favorites, and the Blue Wolves, Hojae’s team, were receiving attention for a different reason due to the expulsion during a practice match and the Yook Doomin incident.

Tomorrow, the Blue Wolves team is heading on an away trip to Hachinohe, Tohoku, Japan, where the opening game will take place.

Tohoku Winter Boar, which uses the white boar as its symbol, was the fifth-ranked team last season. Although the Blue Wolves were one rank higher, they couldn’t be complacent as Tohoku was particularly strong in teamwork among long-time players and had good defense.

With the efforts of Peter and the physical coaches, the Blue Wolves’ performance had significantly improved. The remaining issue, however, was still teamwork.

After the Doomin incident was settled, Doomin and Minchul arranged a meeting to apologize to their teammates for the series of events.

The captain, Yongsoo, Hyonghoon, and Alexei accepted it with a shrug and a smile, but some players like Lee Sanggon and Moon Seungyeol clearly avoided Doomin or showed signs of displeasure.

The next day, Hojae woke up at 4 a.m. and, in place of his mother who was asleep, finished managing his father’s bedsores and suction, then massaged his legs.

A murmuring voice was heard when he slightly turned on the fan for his father, who was sweating. When he approached, his father opened his mouth one more time. He was calling his mother by her pet name, Hojae realized.

“Dad, it’s Hojae. Mom is sleeping now.”

“Hojae? He should be exercising, why is he here?”

His father didn’t seem to recognize him. His father, whose mind had been clear, had recently started showing symptoms of delirium.

His heart was heavy, but since it had been a long time since he had a conversation with his father, Hojae smiled faintly for a change. Then, his father suddenly asked with clear pronunciation.

“Did you pack your bags?”

Hojae was surprised and asked back.

“My bags? Yes, I did. Did you know I’m going on an away game today?”

“Yes…. You should hurry and go. Hojae is waiting in Canada….”

His father’s memory sometimes returned to just before the family was supposed to leave for their summer vacation in Canada. Was that time particularly memorable for him, or did he have lingering regrets because they ultimately couldn’t go on the summer vacation?

It was hard for Hojae, living in the present, to guess the thoughts of his father, who was stuck in some past.

“Oh dear…. I accidentally fell asleep. Are you leaving now, Hojae?”

His mother, whose sleep was interrupted by the noise, approached him. Hojae nodded, quietly said goodbye to his mother, and left the house.

His father’s symptoms repeatedly got better and worse. There were days when it was hard to see that a movement possible yesterday wasn’t possible today, but eventually, the entire family became numb to such things.

They say the secret to long-term caregiving is not to be overly affected by ups and downs. In that sense, Hojae and his family were doing quite well.

It was still dark outside. With mid-September, the early morning air was quite chilly. Hojae was standing on the main street.

An empty taxi slowed down in front of Hojae. However, seeing Shin Hojae just standing there with a blank face, it sped away again. How long was he there?

A dark blue domestic SUV pulled over, signaling. Only then did Shin Hojae adjust the grip on the sports bag slung over his shoulder.

He opened the back door and put the bag on the empty seat first. Ji Minchul, sitting in the driver’s seat, briefly said, “You timed it perfectly.” Yook Doomin was dozing off in the passenger seat, nodding his head.

The routine for the three of them for away games was for Ji Minchul, who had a car, to pick up Doomin first, and then Hojae last, before heading to the airport.

From September, when the league starts, until April of the following year, there are frequent overseas away trips. Away trips usually span four days, including the two game days. Since there are about two away games a month, they spend about half of the month overseas.

There is also the option of taking the team bus, but players with cars, like Ji Minchul, usually preferred to go straight to the airport. Thanks to this, Hojae and Doomin always traveled comfortably.

Other than feeling a little stiff, as it was usually the time he would be waking up to start his early morning training, his condition was good. He saw Yook Doomin’s head, who was nodding off, slump over toward the driver’s seat.

The angle was almost 90 degrees, and when seen from behind, it looked like a horror movie. Thinking of taking a picture because it was funny, he reached for his phone in his pocket, but Minchul was quicker to raise his arm.

Minchul’s hand gently pushed Doomin’s head upright and then casually returned to the steering wheel.

The atmosphere between the two had now softened enough for Shin Hojae to notice. Doomin had resumed his broadcasts, and Minchul was with him in every one.

With Minchul stepping in whenever there were malicious comments, Doomin’s expression was noticeably becoming more relaxed.

It looked good. Hojae felt relieved that Minchul was there during Doomin’s difficult moment.

“…….”

And it was always at times like this that someone’s face came to mind. Shin Hojae furrowed his brow and turned his head toward the side window. The sky gradually began to brighten as they crossed the Yeongjong Bridge.

“Is everyone here? I’ll process everything at once, so collect the passports from the back. Everyone knows we need to meet at the gate in Tokyo and transfer to the next plane, right?”

“Yes.”

At the coach’s words, everyone was busy taking out their passports. Hojae took the passport handed over by Doomin, who was yawning widely, and subconsciously glanced past the players.

“Why?”

Doomin looked around behind him as well. Shin Hojae shook his head and handed the three passports forward.

“Ah, I’m awake now that I’ve eaten. The lounge is the best. Business class is the best. God MJ!”

“Don’t we get an in-flight meal later too?”

“Chul-ah. Who can fill their stomach with that tiny portion?”

Since business class seats were provided for this away trip, all the players could use the lounge. Familiar faces were seen sitting close together at the lounge tables, conversing.

Hojae repeatedly lifted his gaze and then slowly lowered it whenever someone stood up from their seat.

Hachinohe is where the Tohoku Winter Boar’s home stadium is located. Since there is no direct flight, they have to transfer to a small plane in Tokyo and land at the regional airport.

Upon arrival, they checked the equipment that had arrived earlier and immediately held an on-ice practice. The accommodation was a business hotel close to the stadium.

After playing two games over the next two days, they would sleep one more night and then return to Korea. Shin Hojae sat on the hotel bed in the room he had alone, set his alarm, and stared blankly ahead.

It was the first game of the season tomorrow, but he didn’t feel particularly nervous or shaky. He had prepared as usual, and his condition was fine. The problem, however, was the face that kept popping into his mind.

Given his personality, he thought that person would definitely show up for the first game.

“…….”

Hojae furrowed his brow and tossed his phone onto the bedside table.