Second Half Chapter 47

“You should give them a card instead! Anyone can see that was a dive!”

“Robin!”

Recalling that this referee was the type who did not tolerate protests, Jerim hurriedly pulled Robin away. However, the referee had already pulled out a yellow card again. Jerim pushed the heated Robin back and pleaded, asking if this wasn’t going too far, but a card once shown was never rescinded.

‘Fucking octopus-headed bastard.’

Jerim swallowed the curses rising in his throat and ordered Robin to get back to his position, along with a warning not to make any more useless protests. As a stiff-faced Robin let out a small apology, William patted his back and led him back.

With both starting center-backs receiving cards within ten minutes of the first half and conceding the opening goal, Sefton’s momentum sagged completely. Messina took advantage of this opening, firing the ball away as if to blow them over. Since they each already had a card, there was a limit to aggressive defending or stopping play with fouls. A second card meant an ejection.

When they conceded yet another goal five minutes before the end of the first half, Jerim’s irritation began to boil. Normally, he would have done something to change the atmosphere, but today was just not his day in many ways.

The unfair officiating, the match not unfolding as intended, the lack of chemistry with Aaron as if advertising they had fought the day before, and the heavy feeling in his body added to the overall depressed mood meant that stabilizing his own mentality was the priority.

Ending the first half with a two-goal deficit was a very bad omen. It meant they would need to score at least three goals in the second half to turn it around, which was nearly impossible with their current performance.

‘Please, let’s just score one goal before it ends.’

No sooner had he prayed for a long stoppage time than an ambiguous four minutes were given. The irritation simmering inside reached its peak right before the end of the first half when a goal he managed to assist for Aaron was canceled for offside.

As soon as the score on the electric scoreboard went up, the flag went up, and the number reverted back to zero. Aaron let out an annoyed curse and requested a VAR check from the referee, but the result did not change.

Hearing the analysis that the goal was indeed offside, Jerim let out one sigh after another. Why was this guy, who used to be amazing at line-breaking, acting like this today? Just when he thought they would at least go into halftime with one goal.

Frustration, worry, the irritation over his poor chemistry with Aaron—which felt particularly clunky today—and his subpar condition mixed together to create an explosive synergy. Even though he knew goals being canceled for offside happened often, complaints finally forced their way out of Jerim’s mouth.

“Aaron! Why do you keep running a step ahead?”

At that, Aaron also spread his arms in protest, looking dumbfounded.

“What about you? Why do you keep hesitating for a beat before passing? We’re out of sync!”

“Why are you blaming others when you’re running without even looking at the line?”

“You’re the one not looking. Their defense raises the line like ghosts the moment I try to run, but your passes are late…!”

As the teammates began to raise their voices at each other, the referee approached. Seeing this, both Aaron and Jerim quickly shut their mouths. Taking that opportunity, their colleagues separated the two and whispered.

“Stop it! What do you think you’re doing to your own teammate on the field?”

“Whoa, whoa, both of you calm down. You’ll get a card.”

“It just feels like we’re overall out of sync today. There are days like that.”

The first half came to a close following the dispute between Jerim and Aaron. As they trudged into the tunnel, Jerim bit his lip upon seeing Manager Verdi’s expression. We’re going to get shredded. His hunch was correct.

“You’re all so pathetic I don’t even know what to tell you first. The opposing fans are making quite a racket celebrating early; I hope you all feel something from that.”

Jerim and the rest of the teammates bowed their heads like sinners. The manager, letting out a sigh for all to hear, began to tear into them one by one.

“Edson, is the instruction to finish calmly that hard to understand? Taking a breath before you kick should be easier than repeatedly blasting the ball against the goalpost.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“William, Robin. Don’t commit unnecessary fouls and play intelligently. Unless you want to show the fans who traveled all this way for an away game a ‘unique’ match where nine men play without center-backs.”

“We’ll be careful, sir.”

“And Jeri, Aaron.”

Sensing he was destined to be rebuked more severely than anyone else here, Jerim answered, “Yes,” and lifted his chin. Aaron did the same. Manager Verdi looked at them both in turn and sneered.

“You two should be ashamed. What was that disgraceful display on the field earlier? For a moment, I thought I was a kindergarten nanny instead of a manager of a club competing for the top spots in the Premier League.”

“…We’re sorry.”

The same words flowed from both their mouths simultaneously. Even if they had ten mouths, there was nothing else to say. Just as he said, it was a disgraceful display—nothing more, nothing less.

“I say this repeatedly, but I don’t give special treatment just because someone is a star player. If you’re going to show that kind of disgrace in the second half, let me know in advance. I’ll have to tell Lehmann and Iraz to start warming up.”

“No, sir. If you give us one more chance, we will prove ourselves.”

When Aaron answered resolutely, the manager stared blankly into Aaron’s eyes for a moment as if to verify his sincerity. Soon, the manager patted Aaron on the shoulder.

“Fine, I’ll trust you this once. And Jeri.”

“Yes.”

“You are the captain. Please do not betray my trust.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

It was a sentence heavier than any other. After listening to the explanation of the modified tactics for the second half, Jerim asked for understanding and headed to the restroom.

He washed his face with ice-cold water and stared quietly into the mirror; a pathetic face stained with irritation was dripping water. Seeing for himself exactly what kind of expression he had been making, his head cooled down more than ever before.

The objective judgment that the criticism he hurled at Aaron right before the end of the first half was nothing more than venting gradually seeped into the cracks of his cooled brain. And that the reason he had flared up during the conversation with Aaron yesterday was, in the end, because that shitty inferiority complex had played a minor part.

‘Pathetic bastard.’

If he had thought a bit more calmly, he could have understood to some extent why Aaron questioned his excessive attachment to his mother. For Aaron, the existence of a mother had been practically non-existent in his life since childhood, and even if she was there, their universal mindset was to graduate from their parents’ care strictly upon reaching adulthood.

To him, it must have looked bizarre for a man pushing thirty to still consider his parents while deciding his career path. Even by Korean standards, it was a bit excessive. So he should have just dismissed it as a conflict arising from a simple cultural difference, but the reason he added emotional remarks at the end was likely because he thought Aaron was a guy who had it all.

‘That guy wasn’t in the right either, prying and digging when it was obvious I was uncomfortable.’

In any case, Aaron’s fault was Aaron’s fault, and his fault was his fault. Since they had even messed up today’s match as an aftermath of the fight, it was only right for him to reflect deeply as the captain. It was then, while he had his head submerged in cold water to cool down again. Hearing the sound of the restroom door opening, he looked up to see Aaron’s reflection in the mirror, leaning against the doorframe.

“…”

“…”

The two faced each other through the mirror for a while. Aaron was the one to speak first. He tossed over a sports towel he had brought and murmured lowly.

“Sorry.”

“…”

“I was reckless to mention your parents yesterday. I’m sorry.”

“…Yeah, I’m sorry for overreacting too.”

The poison drained away at a single, simple apology and a thin towel. We should have just ended it like this yesterday. If we had, today’s match might have been very different. Ruminating on his belated regret, he wiped his face with the towel Aaron had thrown. In front of him, Aaron crossed his arms as if in a bind.

“As for the passes… our chemistry is definitely off today, so I don’t know what to do.”

“Days when it’s off, it’s off the whole time. It can’t be helped. For now, let’s at least coordinate hand signals as a quick fix. Raise your hand when you want a pass. I’ll signal when I’m giving it to you too. And…”

Jerim forced his lips apart, which were trying to stick together again.