148 — Lifting the Trophy

AFC CUP FINAL 2025

Winner — South Korea.

Confetti came falling like petals and people all around were screaming in exultations.

Everyone was chanting loudly and wearing large, silly smiles, as if the stadium was just a big bar, and a massive celebration was taking place there.

Dae-hyun sprinted to where the fans were seated and immediately gave several of them high-fives.

There, in the very middle of the horde of red supporters, stood his family. Dae-hyun's parents were the first to greet him, quickly enveloping him into a huge bear hug. His older sister soon joined them. Everyone looked so fucking happy. It was almost surreal to Dae-hyun at how overwhelming his euphoria was, but, like everyone else, he was now on the ground, clutching his jersey and crying.

"Dae-hyun, can you believe it!? Can you believe what you did!?"

The screams from his family seemed to only heighten his sobs, and it also prompted him to pull himself out of their arms and wipe the tears off his cheeks and nose with the back of his sleeve.

Everyone was jumping, hugging, and congratulating the players. The scoreboard seemed to have awoken the thousands of supporters present to go fucking crazy. Jun-hwan. Sung-tae. Min-hyuk. Jong-su. Everyone was hugging each other, their families, the manager, even their substitute goalkeeper.

Their incredible victory didn't feel real to some. The AFC was ours. It wasn't comparable to the WC, but it was still a trophy and its price tag was still considered a lot in the eyes of the youths of the country.

Dae-hyun walked up, raising his head to look at the gigantic, golden trophy standing proudly in its platform. He found his jaw slightly open and his eyes glittering in delight. This wasn't a dream, was it?

"This is no dream." Jong-su walked up to him, wiping the sweat and tears on his cheek with a tissue. He hung an arm over his shoulder, shaking the taller player lightly. He was beaming ear to ear. "I'm pretty sure this is real."

"Did we just..."

"Yeah, we did!"

Coach Ahn ki-seok was running around giving everyone tight hugs and celebratory pats on their backs. He looked the happiest of them all, to the point where the press was even taking pictures of him. He laughed with his heart, until he caught sight of me and that happy smile widened even further. "Jae-il! Good boy!" And then I was enveloped in a strong hug of his own. "Very good! Very good!"

I was surprised; Coach Ahn had never shown this much emotion in front of anyone. Especially not in front of media personnel. When the camera guy came, the coach broke the hug and slowly backed away, composing himself and putting on his usual stern expression.

The first thing I did after pulling myself away from all the attention was grab my phone and video call Mia.

It barely took a beep before the call connected. The camera on her end was slightly shaky, her face filled with a kind of excitement I hadn't seen before.

"Jae-il!" She squealed, her voice nearly breaking my eardrum. "You were... you were... God! That was insane!"

I could hear Su Ah's softer cheers in the background.

"Awww, look at my baby brother~" Mia cooed, her face filling the entire screen. I saw how her bright, butter-yellow hair was tied up in a messy bun, similar to our mother's. She was wearing one of my spare jerseys, the number 9 printed on the front, a sight that sent a small jolt of pleasure through me.

I gave her a proud smile, chest puffed out like a strutting peakcock. "Isn't your brother amazing, Noona? Or were you cheering for someone else?"

Mia gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. "Who else would I be cheering for, you dork?" She leaned closer to the camera, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial little moan that made my stomach tighten. "You're my favorite player, you know?"

She gave me this soft smile that made her eyes glitter. I smiled back, my grin widening till it hurt the corners of my mouth. I sat in a corner of the pitch as the celebrations continued all around. And I let her talk. She blabbered on and on about how incredible the match was, how good I played, how fucking cool all of my goals were—

And she did so with the kind of enthusiasm that would have the event committee consider her an honorary member of staff.

By the time Mia had calmed down, we ended up just kind of staring at each other without saying a word. I wasn't exactly sure how long we were watching each other through the camera without uttering a peep. To be honest, I was just content staring at her staring back at me, her smile never faltering.

She giggled, and it was like that sound brought us both back to reality, her eyes sparkling a little with mischief.

I laughed, and I was certain the smile on my face would get stuck that way.

"What are you staring so intensely at?" She asked coyly, eyes narrowing languidly. "What are you thinking about? Does it start with a 'M'? I bet it does."

"You caught me."

"Cute..." She put a thumb to her bottom lip, pretending to bite. "Hey, Jae-il. When are you—"

And then Mia's face was comically pushed aside by another, equally beautiful and pale face with pink glossy lips, whose cute nose was uplifted in smug triumph.

"Su Ah Noona?" I mumbled, looking confusedly back and forth between my two sisters.

Su Ah unapologetically pushed Mia's face away from the camera, clearing her throat. "What's this? Preferential treatment to our oldest, huh, Jae-il?" She huffed. "You know, I was cheering for you too?"

"Heh," I scoffed and watched as Mia tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to break through Su Ah's steel grip. "So did Mia Noona. That's the kind of game that deserves the utmost support, no?"

"Su Ah, leave him alone!"

"No. You hogged him for a whole minute!"

"He called me first, bitch!"

"So what? I'm his Noona too. Fuck off."

"It's my phone!"

"Let me borrow it for a minute."

"You..."

And then the camera began to shake violently as Su Ah ran away from the wrathful hands of Mia, with my eldest sister frantically screaming behind her. I blinked at the commotion, feeling like a kid that had no idea what to do next, before a tired hand swooped in and grabbed the phone out of their fracas, their loud whines turning into desperate wails as a female voice screamed. "You two, stop that behavior. Jae-il is still on the line. He can see you."

And, like that, Eun Ha was on screen, looking every bit as lovely as the other women of the house. Her long, brown hair was tied into a messy bun, same as Mia, though hers was less contained. A bit loose.

Her purple eyes, sparkling and alert, regarded the younger woman beside her with mild exasperation before returning their gaze back to the camera. Her mouth turned downward into an unmistakable pout as she released a weak chuckle and a nervous apology.

"Sorry about that, honey."

The apologies were interrupted, though, by the frantic cries coming from Mia.

"Mom, Su Ah pushed me!"

Su Ah didn't bother defending herself.

Eun Ha gave an eye roll before her full lips flattened into a hard, straight line. "Shush, you two." She turned towards me, and I could kind of tell there was something different about her; her voice was softer, and the edges in her smile were a tad more strained than usual.

"Anyway. Congratulations, sweetheart."

"Thank you, mom."

"You worked really hard, honey. I'm sure the game took a toll on you, didn't it?" Her eyebrows curved worriedly. "Be sure to take a good soak in the tub tonight and sleep early, alright?"

"Yes... and I'll be back soon, mom." I said, and it was finally time. The World Cup was months away, and it meant more free time than usual before everything would blow up again.

Eun Ha's eyes widened. Her mouth hung open for a stretch of uncomfortable silence.

The more I stared at my mother, the more the happiness started to feel tainted.

What was wrong with her? The joyous atmosphere made it seem like nothing was amiss, yet the feeling still stuck. She was distracted—distressed even. She didn't look as elated as Mia or Su Ah in the background, and the halfhearted, lifeless smile wasn't very encouraging. "Mom?"

"Oh, ah... yes, that's... that's great, Jae-il!" Eun Ha smiled. At least she made an attempt at forming one. "I've really missed you. Everyone did, really. We... ah, the house feels quite empty when you aren't around."

Mia pounced on Eun Ha's shoulder, peeking over her shoulder. Su Ah did the same.

Now, I had three cute heads cramped on the screen, all staring at me with the same heart-breaking, irresistibly soft looks on their faces.

Eun Ha's smile was a little stiff, compared to Mia and Su Ah.

That very same smile would be stuck in my mind even as we got on the podium for the final burst of celebration, lifting the trophy. All of my teammates were around me. Hands on my back and shoulders.

Cameras zoomed in on my face. Park Eun-sol from SPOTV was there as well, a wide smile on her face.

I tightened my hold on the trophy. The flashes of cameras captured everything.

And I had the honor of being the first one to show it to my Mamãe high up in the heavens—because for every little step I took, for every trophy I'd acquire, it'd all be in honor of her, the one who gave up everything for me.