92 — Shit Happens

It was the middle of the night, but the team's dorms had turned into some wild kind of party house, with people hanging around in groups. Music blared, but at a volume not too loud since there wasn't really any dancing or craziness that you'd expect to see at college ragers.

I sat with Sung-tae and Jun-hwan on one of the couches near the corner, chatting about stuff. We were just chillin', you know. Training was over and we had some nice team-building activities. The match had been dissected by the coach, from the best to the worst parts.

He wasn't particularly interested in punishing the mistakes, rather just wanted the players to acknowledge why things worked and why others did not and how they could avoid them in the future.

Then again, the match itself had been pure domination, and Coach didn't want to take anything away from the fact that we had played some really beautiful football.

Jun-hwan took a sip of the soda, and leaned back into his seat. His expression looked contemplative.

"It was a nice match." He said simply.

"Sure was." Sung-tae smiled, looking down into his can, which held a fizzy soft drink in it. "You guys are crazy monsters." He smirked.

"Damn right." Jong-su popped out of nowhere and joined in.

"Jeez, where did you pop out from?" I snickered.

"My mom, that's where!" Jong-su beamed at us. His eyes gleamed with amusement.

"Boo!"

"Get outta here!"

Sung-tae threw his empty can at him.

"You missed."

Jong-su grinned widely before he plopped down on one of the sofas next to Sung-tae. The defender leaned back with a huff and sipped on his drink.

Dae-hyun, the giant teddy bear that he was, came over with a smile. Seeing that there was no more space on the sofas, I scooted aside for the taller guy. Dae-hyun thanked me with a silent nod as he sat down with us.

"Where are the rest?" Sung-tae frowned, looking around. "Where are Min-jun, Yeong Tak, and Dong-hyun?"

Dae-hyun shrugged. "Off somewhere. Maybe sleeping already." He raised a hand and rubbed at the back of his head. "Don't know."

Sung-tae nodded absently at this. After our exciting victory, and technically topping our own group, everyone still had their game faces on, but they also wanted to get something good going.

I mean, who wouldn't be in the mood to party a little bit, when we were on the cusp of making Korean football history? While we had yet to lift the trophy, we were getting close enough to be called favorites. Of course the usual England, France and Germany had all qualified with no real struggle as well. Brazil had swept their opponents aside like they were children playing in their backyard and even Mexico had made a spectacular performance.

"So. You guys think we can win this thing?" Sung-tae asked after a beat of silence. "I mean, really."

Jun-hwan raised an eyebrow. "If we play as well as we have the last few games, we can."

"True. But let's say we play against the top nations in Europe." Sung-tae pointed out. His voice dropped. "Or Brazil."

"We play the same way, and see what happens." Dae-hyun pointed out. "I don't think any team can match our duo up front, and we have some solid defense. Plus the entire squad is full of talent."

"......" I hummed. Comparing ourselves to Europe or South American titans, like France and Brazil would be a difficult thing. Because these were nations that have won world titles, that had some of the world's greatest ever, that still continued to pump out world-class stars and champions, even at the youth level. "It doesn't matter who we play against. If we can bring out the best in each other, if we keep doing what we've been doing. I believe we have the best shot we could possibly have."

I didn't know how far we'd go. I couldn't see the future. Not even the next game was clear to me. The best of teams, the absolute best of teams, they can slip. A little misjudgment, an off-game, or just shit happening.

I didn't know if it'd be this tournament or the next. Or even five, or twenty years from now, that South Korea would win.

The only thing that was certain, was our current status and how much better the rest of my teammates could perform under the right circumstances, given the correct support. Regardless—I would be there, playing, fighting and trying.

"But what if we get knocked out?"

"Then we get knocked out. There are no certainties, no matter how much we wish for it."

They looked at me as though they had expected some grand, uplifting speech from some great footballing guru, but that was a responsibility I didn't care to shoulder. They could find their own ways of getting motivation; I wasn't some wise, immortal sage that held all the secrets to victory in the palms of their hands. I just said what I thought. That's the only thing you can really do in a situation where nothing has happened.

There's nothing else to do, really.

If shit happened? Then shit happened.

The most important thing in sport, I believe, is to always keep moving. Even when things don't go the way you want, there's always tomorrow, always a new match. Always something to prove. The future can be better, or it can be just as disappointing. The best you can ever do is to take things one game at a time and give it your all, just like everyone else. You either succeed or you fail, but there's nothing in between.

That's how you become a champion.

Or lose.

But always, always... keep going forward. One goal at a time, that's what the path is about.

"Agghhh!" Jong-su yanked at his hair. "Let's talk about something else. I don't wanna think of a potential elimination just yet." His voice trailed off as the others all looked away at the same time.

Sung-tae shrugged. "What do you wanna talk about then?"

Jong-su went silent for a moment as we all stared at him. He was cooking up some shit in that thick head of his. I could tell by the grinch-like look he suddenly got. He looked left and right, then rubbed his hands like a mosquito. "You guys have any plans for tonight? Guehehehe~"

"......"

We all exchanged a wary glance.

"Cuz I was thinking we could, you know..." Jong-su coughed into his hand. "Sneak out and go party, for real for real." His voice lowered to a conspiratorial tone.

The knockouts wouldn't start until a couple days later. Meaning, after today's round, the following day, and the day after the second legs are done and dusted, everyone would be able to kick back for a little bit. Or as much as our respective clubs allowed.

Since the national team had secured an almost unassailable lead over the others, I didn't think our Coach was too concerned about us taking the time to relax. We kind of deserved it, but it was also the perfect time not to slack off either.

"No way. Coach's going to skin us if he catches us." Dae-Hyun shook his head.

"That's only if he catches us."

I rolled my eyes and took a big gulp from the can, finishing off my drink in one big, fizzy sip.

Dae-hyun looked unsure, but quite eager. When you dedicate your life to sport, you rarely get the opportunity to cut loose. And he was a growing lad of sixteen, almost seventeen years. So when Jong-su, the proverbial bad influence of our team, flashed a sly grin and reached into his backpocket for his secret weapon—the rest of the group's resolve was about to be broken in the next second or two, I could just tell.

He whipped it out with dramatic flair.

A card.

"See this? It's not just any card. No no no. This baby here, is a national team special card, courtesy of our manager."

"Card?" Jun-hwan scowled. He didn't buy the bullshit being sold to him.

"This cutie right here can open any door." Jong-su declared with glee.

He twirled it between his fingers like an over-glorified playing card.

Jong-su, what did you do...? Did he blackmail someone from the staff for this thing? Or did he have to murder somebody's first-born to get a universal access card from them? Not that I could ever see him actually managing to get his own way like that, he was more the kind to go on all fours while the coach beat his back and ass with a belt than blackmail.

"How the heck did you even manage to snag that?"

"I got connections." Jong-su shrugged at the question.

"From who?"

"People."

"What people?"

"Doesn't matter."

Well. I didn't know whether I should laugh or smack him, since it was obvious he stole the card from one of our managers.

"That still doesn't mean we can simply sneak out. We're supervised all around the hotel, remember? What about security?"

"Please. We can just slip right through the lobby. Trust me on this one, we'll be golden."

"Right." I nodded solemnly. "Golden."

xXx

Shit happens.

I learned this important life lesson at the ripe old age of seven.

And it had not stopped being relevant, all these years later.

For some reason, Jong-su managed to convince all of us that sneaking out, in the dead of the night, was a great idea, and that it could get us into a lot of trouble, would simply be a fun experience that we'd have to tell our kids one day. It would make a funny story, and that we should live a little.

Restricting freedom for a bunch of teenagers is basically like putting a lion on a leash and hoping that it behaves. Even Jun-hwan, that bastard with his boring ass attitude, was slowly but surely roped into Jong-su's little escapade.

Which meant the guy that came up with this terrible, terrible idea was feeling really fucking confident he could manage this entire thing.

Turns out he could.

The security at the lobby didn't stop us, merely gave Jong-su a sour but resigned glance and let us through without questioning what a bunch of young men, clad in plain clothes and a few with their hoodies covering their heads, were going out in the middle of the night. Which meant there definitely were strings pulled and bribes involved.

Now, why was I—despite knowing it was probably a very, very, very stupid move—even along for the ride?

I liked living on the edge, too. It made my heart sing.

A part of me thought I might just regret the decision.

I was also a fifteen year old, so I was just being the idiot I was destined to be at times, but hey. A few of the other guys also joined us, including Dae-hyun. I lived for training and football, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy a good time every now and then, did I?

I did sneak out a couple of times, had Mia sneak in, and then sneaked out once more to fuck her. It wasn't the worst idea to chill, was it?

"So, where are we going?" Sung-tae asked as we moved from the training center's gates and into the streets.

Jong-su pounded his chest, proudly. "To celebrate, of course."

"But where." Jun-hwan repeated the same question, though with more bite to it. He was wearing a black, unzipped hoodie that was a few sizes larger than him and was glancing around like someone was about to arrest us on the spot.

"There's this super awesome, awesome nightclub not far from here." Jong-su replied as he swivelled to avoid another pedestrian. He continued down a narrow alley. We followed after him.

"Is that allowed?" Dae-hyun asked, a little worried we might've been heading for something too illegal. He looked back to see if we were indeed being tailed by someone. No one. There wasn't anyone behind. "Shouldn't be of legal age for that stuff?"

Jong-su chuckled at Dae-hyun's question, waving his hand around in a lazy motion as though trying to bat away a fly that buzzed in his face. "Oh ye of little faith."

We went down the same alley. It was dirty and littered with garbage bags that overflowed onto the pavement. There were also a couple of dumpsters leaning against the brick wall to our left.

We continued forward. I didn't recognize this particular street at all, which meant Jong-su must've done his own reconnaissance beforehand. That didn't fill me with confidence.

After around ten minutes of walking, and a lot of back and forth banter between me, Jong-su, Sung-tae, Dae-hyun, with Jun-hwan occasionally piping in with his snarky remarks and quips, Jong-su suddenly halted, making all of us stop along with him. He pointed up ahead at the neon-lit building looming at the corner. Music boomed, while people went in and out.

"That's it. Club Paradise."