The World Begins to Crack

“Huh…?”

She had definitely ordered seasoned chicken.

Yet inside was a box of completely cold fried chicken.

Right then, her phone vibrated.

It was a DM from ‘Chicken Head,’ an acquaintance she was close with on ‘T’—the social media platform Yeohui used most frequently—to the point of sharing a private account.

Chicken Head was a nickname.

Yeohui’s nickname was Gudakdari, taken from her family name, Gu, and both of them shared a common thread in that they were fanatic fans of Gye Yusin.

–Gudak~~ Are you eating seasoned chicken today too??

–No, ughㅠㅠ.. It was delivered wrong,, fried..ㅠ

–What theㅡㅡ Call them and tell them it came wrong and ask them to swap it

–It’s fine, I’ll just eat it..

–What do you mean it’s fine? Call them quickly!! If you call them, they’ll exchange it!

If there was a difference between them, it was that unlike Yeohui, who was timid and indecisive in everything she did, Chicken Head possessed an extremely cheerful and magnanimous personality.

Chicken Head urged her to call the shop immediately, but Yeohui did not have the courage to make such a phone call.

Unless she wrote a script detailing the fact that the chicken had arrived incorrectly, memorized every single line including the order number, checked the natural breathing intervals, and practiced it through role-playing more than ten times, it was an absolutely impossible task.

–It’s really fine.. I wanted to eat fried chicken today anyway

–What about you, Head Unni? Did you get your seat?

Because of that personality, unlike Yeohui, who always stanned Gye Yusin strictly online, Chicken Head also went to offline events extensively.

Today, Chicken Head had managed to secure a ticket with great difficulty and went to see Yusin in person.

–Yep, I’m on standby to wave my banner exactly when Gye Yusin comes out, hahaha

–But it’s seriously so f*cking loud here;;

Two photos arrived from Chicken Head.

They were on-site photos capturing a wide shot of the opposite side of the stadium, packed to the brim with spectators, along with the view of the central court.

Being the championship final, the crowd was immense.

It was a stadium located a mere twenty minutes away from Yeohui’s house.

Six years ago, the reason twenty-year-old Yeohui had fled Seoul as if escaping and moved into a worn-out officetel in Gwangmyeong was also because Gwangmyeong was the home ground for the ‘Red Rooster’ team to which Yusin belonged.

Even though Yusin left for an overseas league the moment Yeohui moved in, meaning they actually stayed under the same sky for only about two years or so.

Still, she liked it.

Even the disaster alert text messages telling people to be careful of occasional rainy seasons or heavy snowfalls made her happy.

Because Yusin, who would be at the stadium, must have received the exact same text message.

Her heart fluttered secretly at the feeling that she was sharing daily life with him.

At least once, she wanted to go meet him.

At least once before Yusin retired.

Once the outside world was no longer terrifying to her.

In other words, someday.

But that day was not today, so Yeohui closed the iTube video titled ‘National Son-in-Law Gye Yusin, An Unexpectedly Cute Habit?’ and accessed the live broadcast channel.

At the bottom of the screen, the text ‘V-League Men’s Championship Finals Game 5’ could be seen.

The broadcast was just about to begin.

While she was looking at the inside of the tightly packed stadium without a single empty seat as if possessed, the players appeared in the corner of the screen.

The cheering voices of the audience grew louder.

Among the volleyball players whose average height hovered just slightly under 200 centimeters, the 194-centimeter Yusin fell on the average side.

He was even told that he was on the shorter side among attackers of the same position.

Nevertheless, Yeohui found Yusin at a single glance.

Only Yusin was visible to her.

The sight of Yusin waving his hand toward the spectator stands and smiling gently was captured by the broadcast camera.

Just looking at him beyond the screen made her heart race like crazy, so what would it be like in reality?

How on earth could everyone capture photos of Yusin with their cameras?

If it were her, her hands and chest would surely tremble so much that even if she shot all day long, only shivering, blurry photos would come out.

How could everyone focus on the match?

How could they focus on the victory or defeat and express joy or anger?

How could they follow him around all the way outside the stadium and say that they liked him and loved him right in front of his face?

Yeohui felt as though her heart would burst and she would die just by imagining herself saying those words.

Back when Yusin had just debuted as a professional player, an ill-intentioned sasaeng fan had attached herself to him.

On days when Yusin won a match, she sent cheers, support, and confessions of love, but on days when he lost, she was a malicious person who pointed fingers right at his face, demanding to know if it was because he was fooling around with women at night behind the fans’ backs.

She was famous even within the fan cafe.

Ultimately, everyone had cursed at that fan who went all the way to Yusin’s house.

It was something she herself could never even dream of doing.

Not that she should dream of it either.

Yusin’s attitude in dealing with fans of that sort was famous for lacking even a shred of mercy, so the fan who had gone to the front of his house at that time could not avoid a police investigation.

–Now then, first let’s take a look at the starting lineup for the home team, the ‘Red Rooster’ team!

The players, having finished their warm-ups in the warm-up zone, stood on the court.

–It’s almost the exact same starting lineup as the last match. Lee Chanyoung at setter, Kim Seungbin and Kim Minjae as outside hitters, Gye Yusin as opposite spiker, Do Hyunseok and Alex as middle blockers, and Park Woosung starting as the libero.

Standing in their respective positions, the players communicated through eye contact and hand gestures.

Yusin nodded his head at the sign that setter Lee Chanyoung sent behind his back.

–Opposing them, here is the introduction of the starting lineup for the visiting team, the Green Waves. Ryu Jinwoo at setter, Seo Seungyun and Kim Sunho as outside hitters, Carlos as opposite spiker, Han Dohyun and Yoon Jihwan as middle blockers, and Joo Sehoon starting as the libero.

The head referee stood between the two captains.

A coin flipped up into the air.

The boisterous stadium fell silent all at once.

–…The Green Waves, having won the coin toss! They have chosen to serve first.

–The first serve of today’s match starts with outside hitter Seo Seungyun from position number one.

With the right to serve passing over to the opposing team, the match began.

The championship final with the team’s victory trophy on the line.

Yeohui gathered her two hands together and prayed desperately.

She could not even dare to fathom how massive of a meaning today’s match would hold for Yusin.

Yeohui remembered an interview that Yusin had done during his rookie days.

The twenty-year-old Yusin had said that he wanted to play actively in the Olympics and, if given the opportunity, he also wanted to play in an overseas league.

He had also mentioned that before turning thirty, he wanted to be unanimously selected as the championship final MVP.

Because it was a time when he had just been drafted as a player, it was a period when he had almost no public recognition.

The reactions had been cold.

People claimed that kids like him usually flashed briefly before disappearing, that he was looking down on the pros, and asked if he thought a unanimous MVP was some neighborhood dog’s name.

Yet, Yusin claimed the championship final MVP in his very first year of debut.

It was not unanimous, but he performed splendidly as if to show those who mocked him.

In the Olympics, he led the team to victory as the undisputed best attacker, and a few years later, he even played in an overseas league.

From a certain point, a kind of perfectionism had intensified within him, to the extent that he would not even make a gesture to save a ball that seemed impossible to recover, which earned him criticism for that reason, but the balls through which Yusin scored points outnumbered the balls he abandoned.

His serves also grew more intense day by day, to the point where there was a saying within the country that no player could match Yusin when it came to serving.

He was a person who steadily achieved his dreams step by step.

Therefore, today’s MVP would surely be Yusin as well.

Because today was his twenty-ninth birthday.

The brilliantly gleaming golden trophy would become his twenty-ninth birthday present, turning the blue dreams of his twenty-year-old days into a rose-colored reality.

Yeohui did not entertain a single doubt about that fact.

The match ended.

The Red Rooster team defeated the Green Waves and won the championship final.

At the bottom of the screen, a subtitle popped up stating that the Red Rooster team had achieved a combined championship for the first time in six years.

Immediately following that, the camera captured the image of the director with tears welling up in his eyes and the players cheering as they ran out onto the court.

Behind them, a massive celebratory banner descended while red confetti exploded grandly, fluttering down like rose petals.

The team’s victory trophy rode a rolling wave over the hands of the Red Rooster players.

Just as Yeohui believed, the MVP was awarded to Yusin.

Therefore, at least one camera ought to be illuminating Yusin.

Yet, even in the place where the players were gathered and laughing, at the site of the camera interviews, and anywhere within the stadium, Yusin was nowhere to be seen.

He was nowhere to be seen.

–Gudak

–Gye Yusin has disappeared

The calling out of the MVP’s name continued once more.

The players looked around at their surroundings.

The director, who had been crying tears of joy, dialed a phone call somewhere with snot still hanging, and the coaching staff ran around busily.

The executive who had been approaching to present the trophy looked toward the camera with an expression that indicated he had no idea what was going on.

The official who had been bringing a bouquet of flowers from behind also came to a dead halt.

The screen showed the image of the Red Rooster mascot, ‘Rooster,’ who had been assigned the role of dancing behind the recipient, wandering around having lost his way.

The atmosphere was chaotic.

–The venue is a total mess right now

–I came out right behind him but it’s like he vanished into thin air;; he’s seriously gone

–The kids who were in the parking lot said they didn’t see Oppa either… what on earth is happening

–Is this crazy b*stard out of his mind? Where the hell did he go