Second Half Chapter 10

Jerim didn’t have even a speck of intention to listen to his teammate’s outrageous remarks any further. He chose his fist as the means to end this insubordination. Even in that moment, because his reason screamed urgently that he shouldn’t hit the face, stomach, or legs, he struck the shoulder blade with all his might as the next best thing.

The moment he hit him—Crack!—he heard a sound like a bone snapping, which made him a little anxious, but one hit wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Since the guy had good bone density and Jerim had controlled his strength, it probably wasn’t broken. Jerim pretended to push Aaron’s shoulder away, deliberately gripping the area he struck as if to crush it before letting go. It felt very good to see that handsome face distort right in front of him.

He had hit him so hard that even the parts where the bones protruded on the back of Jerim’s own hand were all swollen red. He chewed on a curse while stroking his stinging skin.

“This son of a bitch can’t even distinguish between a joke and being serious. Did you pop some pills or something?”

“…What exactly was the joke.”

“That you’re the only slut here, you fucker.”

No matter how much he had lied first by saying he rolled around with his teammates, Jerim felt incredibly filthy being denounced as a slut by an actual slut, so he raised his middle finger. At that, Aaron also seemed to realize that the words Jerim had just spat out were all nonsense, as he rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“I see your habit of grating on people with pointless talk is still the same.”

“Yeah, while you’ve become a total prick. Right?”

“How about you? How is it that 10 years have passed and you’re exactly the same?”

“What did I—.”

“Is it unfamiliar to you now? Me talking back to you so clearly and being sarcastic?”

“……”

Jerim shut his mouth, his point pierced by the words that cut his protest short. No matter how filthily they had broken up, they were quite a sappy couple before that, so the image of how they were while dating remained quite vivid in his memory. It was just that he hadn’t had a reason to think about it; he had buried those memories at a depth where they could be dredged up whenever a catalyst like this appeared.

At the time, Aaron was quite… cute for his size, and even if he ignored what other guys said, he listened well to his lover. He was a bit overly jealous, but he was sweet. He often said cringeworthy things, calling him nicknames like ‘My Heaven’ or ‘My Rabbit’, which made Jerim’s fingers curl every time.

Since such a guy had appeared after 10 years and was acting like this, it was naturally unfamiliar. Of course, Jerim knew that Aaron had only been submissive because he was playing innocent in front of him, and that his original personality wasn’t all that great. Just looking at his goal ceremonies or playstyle, a tribute to how damn dirty his personality was would come out automatically.

Deliberately provoking an opposing defender who failed to commit a foul, or in matches where the opposing fans’ booing was intense, intentionally crushing them by stuffing in three or four goals and then going toward the opposing team’s stands to perform a mocking ceremony. Regardless, he was definitely not a nice guy.

Come to think of it, this was simply his original personality, and since they had broken up ages ago, it seemed he was acting however he pleased because he no longer needed to play innocent. But….

“I suppose so. Since only the way I acted like an idiot for you would remain in your memory. As for anything else, just like those high-and-mighty words of yours, I’m not interested, so I’ve forgotten it all.”

Accusations flew one after another toward Jerim, who was standing quietly. As soon as Jerim heard those words, he couldn’t hide the sneer that leaked out and started laughing.

What the hell did this bastard do so well that he’s acting this confident? The anger and unfairness that had been piling up since Aaron started rebuking him finally exploded. Jerim patted Aaron’s cheek with his palm and spoke sarcastically.

“Aren’t you the one who forgot? As the captain, should I inform you again how we ended at the very last? You were the one who cheated, Aaron Reyes.”

“…That is. Sigh, don’t tell me you still…”

The guy hesitated for a long time as if he also had nothing to say regarding this topic, and just as he let out a deep sigh and moved his lips slightly, a sound knocking on the door from outside split the air of the room that had momentarily turned silent, ringing out exceptionally loud.

At the sudden visit of another person, both Jerim and Aaron turned their heads toward the door with wide eyes. Since they were in the middle of fighting fiercely while speaking of things that could never be heard by others, they couldn’t help but be surprised.

When there was no answer from inside, the guest even pressed the doorbell this time and mumbled toward the intercom.

“Jeri. It’s me, Lehmann. Can you spare a moment?”

“Lehmann Fritz?”

A faint irritation was steeped in Aaron’s voice as he muttered the full name. It seemed he was annoyed that his exciting fight time was interrupted. Ridiculous bastard. Jerim, clicking his tongue openly, shouted loudly toward the front door to wait a moment and started pushing Aaron’s shoulder.

He didn’t want to show others the sight of them huffing with flushed faces, stuck in the same room without even unpacking their luggage. However, to kick Aaron out that door right now, Lehmann was right in front of it. After thinking quickly, he decided to lock Aaron in the bathroom.

“Wait a minute!”

“Ugh! Jerim, what are you doing?”

Aaron let out a groan as Jerim roughly guided him into the corner, deliberately shoving the area he had hit earlier.

“Don’t press my shoulder, it hurts! Do you know how much my body is worth to be doing this?”

“What ‘how much’. Are you advertising that you’re a slut? And I’m just as expensive as you, punk.”

Jerim didn’t care, gripping and pressing down on the shoulder as he dragged that huge frame and threw him in front of the bathroom. Then, personally opening the door, he jerked his chin toward the gap.

“I have nothing more to hear from you. I’m not curious. It’s already a relationship that ended ages ago, so you don’t need to bother making excuses.”

When he had found out through an article that Aaron had cheated, his anger had naturally soared to the top of his head. At that time, he had already moved to England, so he was in a position where he couldn’t even slap Aaron’s cheek.

And… honestly, they just hadn’t said the words to break up; since the relationship had already half-ended, it was an ambiguous situation to argue about. They had moved after the residue of a fight hadn’t been cleared, and they hadn’t contacted each other for a while.

They said with their words that they were taking time to think, but Jerim knew inwardly. That this relationship would not be recovered. Even though he knew, he was afraid to completely let go of the thread of the relationship, so he had pinned his hopes on the fact that neither of them had ever explicitly said to break up.

It must be a tabloid, a denial article will be posted soon, at the very least he’ll contact me personally to explain that it’s not true. He tried to cool his head and wait, but there was no particular statement of position, and as it was revealed that the partner in the dating rumor was a famous Spanish actress, Gabriela Delgado, the world only became more boisterous.

‘Even Satan couldn’t do that.’

Isn’t it too much to make someone find out a relationship has completely ended through a dating rumor with someone else? A young and handsome top-prospect soccer player and a young and pretty actress who had even advanced to Hollywood. That dating rumor, which possessed all the elements for the world to go crazy over, was accepted as an established fact as neither side denied it, spreading far and wide.

When he finally saw an article with a photo of Aaron and the woman hugging affectionately and stroking a cheek as if to kiss, he even dropped and smashed his phone. Angry, miserable, sorrowful, and his pride wounded…. In the midst of that, the sentiment that he looked better with a woman after all than with another man like himself made him even sadder.

But that was only back then; now he felt nothing. He couldn’t help the momentary flare-up when he thought about it, but it wasn’t to the extent of digging a hole and crawling into it like in the old days. Because 10 years had passed.

Is there anything else that fades as quickly as emotion? Jerim no longer liked Aaron, nor was he hurt by his words or actions. And that would be the same for Aaron. Because time hadn’t flowed only for Jerim.

The strength seemed to drain from the hands of the guy who had been holding onto the doorframe, resisting going in. His eyes, which had been smoldering with a fierce light, turned cold the moment Jerim spat out the words that it was a relationship that ended ages ago.

“Fine, if that’s what you say. Thanks for saving me the trouble of making tedious excuses.”

“Sure, whatever. Go rot in the bathroom and be as thankful as you want.”