My Girlfriend Wants Victory

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[Manchester United faces Dortmund.]

[Son Jinho meets his old team in the Champions League quarterfinals.]

[Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp: “I can’t wait to see how much Jinho has grown.”]

[Alex Ferguson, who has declared retirement after this season, seems to name Klopp as his successor? “Klopp is an incredibly talented manager.”]

[Son Jinho shows unwavering love for his old team: “Dortmund is the home of my heart.”]

[Son Heung-min: “I will do my best for Dortmund’s victory.”]

[Roberto Lewandowski, still close friends with Son Jinho, says, “He was the best player I’ve ever seen.”]

[Marco Reus: “Manchester United is one of the top teams, but so are we.”]

[Unexpected friendship? Dortmund’s Kevin De Bruyne leaves a comment on Son Jinho’s social media….]

└ Reporter: “It’s my brother who recommended De Bruyne to Dortmund, just so you know.”

└ “For real, lol. You should have checked it out first. What a twist in friendship.”

└ “But when did they become friends? Was there time for that?”

└ “I heard Son Jinho became friends with De Bruyne when he was loaned to the Bundesliga.”

└ “Oh, I see.”

[Ilkay Gundogan: “I never dreamed we would meet again so soon.”]

└ “Gundogan meets his old team right after moving to Man Utd—legendary, lol.”

[Will we see Chelsea’s Slam Dunk again? Chelsea faces FC Barcelona.]

└ “Wait? Chelsea is going to beat Barca?”

└ “Have you seen the fierce momentum Barca has right now?”

└ “Seriously, if you look at how Barca is playing, they’re on track for a double treble.”

[Bayern Munich, Jupp Heynckes: “All that lies ahead is victory!”]

└ “Uhh… why are they getting darker and darker?”

└ “Munich… Beer hall… Wait, why is that weird mustached guy suddenly popping into my head?”

—

While the Champions League quarterfinal matchups were being announced around the world, an unexpected war began at our home.

“Hmm? Why isn’t Man City on here?”

Ha-eun, who was checking the Champions League quarterfinal bracket, voiced her confusion.

“Man City couldn’t do it and got knocked out of the Champions League!”

At Ha-eun’s words, Han Gyeouri’s lips twitched in amusement, and she answered her with a playful expression.

“No way!”

“Really? They’re not on the bracket.”

Not that it was right for a daughter to boast about her defeat, but—

“Why aren’t they here?”

“Because they couldn’t make it. Look—there’s Man Utd, right? They’re doing good, so they’re here.”

Gyeouri beamed with happiness as she continued to tease Ha-eun.

‘Isn’t that just making her more resentful without knowing it?’

It seems she gave up on the plan to make Ha-eun a Man Utd fan.

So, teasing must be the way to go.

Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing to see a mom teasing her daughter like that.

“No! I’m a life-long Man Utd fan!”

In the midst of it all, Ha-eun’s speaking skills began to shoot up dramatically.

“Yeah~ We’ve practically won the league! Man City hasn’t won anything, right?”

“I hate you!”

She had to work hard to refute her mom’s claims and express her feelings.

Although there were still random mixes of English and German here and there, now Koreans could roughly figure out what was being said by the nuances.

“Waaaah─! Mom, you’re mean!”

“Did I make you suffer, Ha-eun?”

“Yup!!”

“I was bad, huh?”

“Exactly! Mom’s the worst!”

“You still can’t call me that, okay?”

“I can’t help it….”

“You should apologize to Mom, alright? Should we make you apologize later?”

“Yup.”

Anyway, I hugged Ha-eun, who had run over crying.

“You’re making kids cry and you’re the mom…!”

“I’m Han Gyeouri. I look colder than anyone else, but my heart is warm. I can take insults at me, but I can’t stand insults at Man Utd!”

“Gyeouri, does it make you happy to win against your three-year-old daughter?”

“…But I did win, right?”

Having made the child cry, Gyeouri was caught and scolded by her mother-in-law and father-in-law.

—

[Manchester United vs. Sunderland. Korean Derby! In SBK!]

└ If it’s a Korean derby, isn’t it just a Korean derby? What is a Korean descent derby?

└ It’s even Korean descent, lol!

└ I felt sorry for the reporter after reading the article.

└ Why did the reporter feel sorry?

└ It looks like they were struggling to figure out what to call it.

└ A poor, pathetic office worker, indeed….

└ So after pondering, they came up with Korean descent derby? What a lol moment!

—

Two days after the Champions League quarterfinal matchups were announced, on March 22, 2015.

A home game between Manchester United and Sunderland.

In a game where Manchester United could secure early victory, I met Seong-ryong and Cheong-ryong before the match, greeting them with happy expressions.

“Jinho, let’s not go too hard.”

“Yeah. You’ll need the bonus to get married, right?”

The older brothers immediately started sounding weak once they saw my face.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go easy.”

I said this with a smile to those older brothers, but of course, I had no intention of going easy.

The world of competition is merciless.

And besides, they were probably just joking around.

Professional athletes naturally carry an intense desire to win.

Due to this, they sometimes can’t control their anger and make reckless tackles, which occasionally leads to character controversies.

But it’s true—they wouldn’t be happy winning against someone who wasn’t putting forth their full effort.

Of course, among professional athletes, there are people who intentionally lose for money, but

‘Those guys aren’t professional athletes anymore. They’re just frauds.’

Anyway, the match began with the referee’s whistle, and Manchester United pressed Sunderland hard from the start.

“Power tackle!”

Right at the match’s beginning, I delivered a full-strength tackle to Cheong-ryong.

“Referee!”

Cheong-ryong, who fell from my ‘serious’ tackle, tried to make a case to the referee with a shocked expression, but I had only touched the ball.

And while Cheong-ryong protested, Ilkay Gundogan seized the ball that had gone out of bounds off my foot and passed it quickly to the side.

A quick counterattack from Manchester United.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who received the pass, attempted to break through, but Sunderland’s defenders successfully organized themselves to block Ronaldo’s advance.

The ball hit Sunderland’s defender’s leg and went out of bounds.

The game was restarted with Manchester United’s throw-in.

“Luke!”

I immediately demanded the ball from Luke Shaw, who was preparing for the throw-in. After chest-trapping the ball, I kicked its lower part, sending it over the defenders’ heads.

Keeping my eyes on the ball as it dropped, I swung my foot in a rustic fashion.

The shot, while taken with my weight slightly off balance, flew directly toward the goal.

The goalkeeper, who had stepped a bit forward with no respect to direct orders, desperately stretched out his hands to make a save.

But the ball didn’t touch the goalkeeper’s hands, instead shaking the net.

“…We agreed to take it easy.”

Seong-ryong’s resigned voice echoed in my ears after witnessing the wonder goal right in front of his eyes.

—

[Woah, woooooow─!]

[Son Jinho! Son Jinho! Son Jinho’s wonder goooooooooooooooal─! Immediately, Son Jinho scores the first goal early in the game!!!]

[Wow, he skillfully lifted it over the goalkeeper’s head and shook the net.]

[Honestly, I thought the ball would go out, but it just dropped right in front of the goal.]

[Yes. The game resumes with Sunderland’s kick-off.]

[Manchester United is applying strong pressure.]

[A miss from Ki Sung-yueng!]

[Once again, Manchester United pushes forward!]

[Son Jinho passes to Cristiano Ronaldo! Ronaldo!!]

[Ah! He couldn’t score!]

[An unusual shot by Ronaldo! Since it’s a game that could confirm the league victory, the players seem to be tense.]

[Yeah. He misses a shot he normally wouldn’t.]

[Huh? Just as I mentioned it, Sunderland’s mounting a counterattack! Lee Cheong-ryong speeds up!]

[Shoot──!!!]

[But Lee Cheong-ryong’s shot fails to get past David De Gea.]

—

In the first half of the match between Man Utd and Sunderland, it was a one-sided flow towards Man Utd.

Though there were a few threatening counterattacks from Sunderland, they couldn’t get past the defenders: Luke Shaw – (now awakened) Evans – Virgil van Dijk – Kyle Walker and goalkeeper David De Gea.

Even though Man Utd dominated and pressured Sunderland, they couldn’t secure additional goals.

However, the attackers were continuously shooting and slowly finding their balance.

If they took a few more shots, it felt like they would soon break through Sunderland’s goal again.

“Till the end!”

“Sunderland!!”

But the flow changed dramatically in the second half.

I don’t know what kind of promise the Sunderland owner made, but—

“Bonus!!”

The Sunderland players started playing like they were possessed by the bonus, going wild.

As if they’d become Stoke City players, Sunderland was pressuring Man Utd fiercely.

“Son Jinho, become my bonus’s sacrifice!”

After Cheong-ryong summoned the ‘Crazy Dog’ he had sealed away after Tom Miller’s reckless tackle,

“SIUUUUUUUUUUUU─!”

“Cough─!”

He was schooled by the martial arts master Ronaldo unleashed from the abyss.

They say he who lives for tomorrow will die to the one who lives for today.

Thud.

Cheong-ryong, who was wary of being sent off, couldn’t defeat a Ronaldo who wasn’t looking out for the referee’s opinion.

“This is the wall of the world….”

It was the moment Cheong-ryong, who was called the ‘Crazy Dog’ in the Korean league, recognized the wall of the world.

“…It’s just so high.”