An Abrupt End

Chicken Head, who was directly at the scene, also appeared to be in a state of utter confusion.

The title she used to refer to Yusin shifted from Gye Yusin, to this guy, to Oppa, and then to this crazy b*stard.

Yeohui bit her lip anxiously, looking back and forth between the stadium screen where Yusin had vanished and the messages coming from Chicken Head.

Yusin had definitely been somewhat off today.

He had never been a player who specialized in receives to begin with, but he possessed the basic fundamentals. His skill level was absolutely not poor enough for anyone to say he could not defend well.

Yet today, he had stepped up for a receive he did not even need to take, disrupting the positioning and putting his teammates in jeopardy. It was not the kind of mistake that Yusin, who was notoriously sensitive about injuries, would ever make.

Conversely, when a ball came that he could have easily saved if he had just run a tiny bit more from his position—if he had truly taken just one more single step—he merely stared at it blankly without chasing after it.

In the middle of the match, his coordination with the setter fell out of sync, causing the attack itself to sputter. And that was not all. Because he failed to match the timing for blockings, they surrendered points, and during a deuce situation toward the end of the third set, he conceded an absurd point due to a net touch.

As always, his serves alone were magnificent, but even that was not at his usual level of performance.

Today, he made a rare service error. Making a service error in an official match was something that had not happened for the first time in three months.

Because she knew Yusin was the type to heat up slowly, Yeohui had been cheering quietly without letting herself get impatient, but even she became completely anxious starting from the transition into the third set.

It was fully discernable even beyond the screen. The fact that his condition today was poor.

Nevertheless, he displayed a level of play that thoroughly outweighed his errors. The victory of the Red Roosters and Yusin’s MVP title were explicit.

Yeohui bit her nails anxiously.

The live broadcast screen shook disorientedly. It seemed as though the cameraman was running.

Leaving the chaotic stadium behind, the camera illuminated the gloomy grey sky.

It was a nearby sky that Yeohui would see if she were to just open her curtains. It was about to rain.

–Ah, there he is! Player Gye Yusin!

Yusin was outside the stadium.

She had not known that an interview zone was prepared outside as well, but he was standing there leisurely as if he had been waiting for the camera to arrive in front of a sponsor backdrop.

Beside him, a black sedan was parked as if it were ready to whisk Yusin away at any given moment, fueling Yeohui’s anxiety.

There was something else that was strange. The logo stamped onto the backdrop was not Kkokko F&B, the main sponsor of the Red Rooster team, nor was it Hanseo Finance; it was the logo of Gyehwa Hospital.

The screen illuminating the makeshift backdrop and the sedan finally captured Yusin’s figure without any shaking.

Offering a bright smile toward the camera, he opened his mouth.

–Hello. I am Gye Yusin.

Questions from the cameraman, journalists, and fans who had rushed over poured out all at once, but Yusin spoke unilaterally, like playing a recorded audio file.

–It has been an honor to be able to play volleyball as a single team with magnificent players in a good club until now.

Her heart pounded anxiously.

–Due to personal circumstances, I intend to wrap up my career as a player with today’s match as my last.

A flash burst like a bolt of lightning.

–Thank you for cheering for me all this time.

Yeohui’s world collapsed.

It rained all through the night. It was a spring rain that was said to revive all living things.

“Gasp…!”

Yeohui, who had failed to be revived, bolted up from a shallow sleep.

Without even wiping away the saliva trailing near her mouth, Yeohui fumbled around her bedside.

She grasped her phone back in her hand, which she had been staring into along with the sound of the rain throughout the early hours of the morning. The state of the internet world was similar to yesterday.

[Sudden Retirement Declaration… Gye Yusin Halts Right in the Midst of His Prime, A Shocking Move]

[Championship MVP Gye Yusin Announcements Abrupt Retirement]

[Injuries Absolutely “NO.” What is the Truth Behind Gye Yusin’s Retirement?]

[Both Stats and Skills at Their Absolute Peak, Yet Gye Yusin Declares Retirement]

[Offensive Power Noticeably Diminished in Preceding Match… Is Gye Yusin Actually in a Slump?]

[Is He Walking the Same Path as His Deceased Uncle… Dead Silence Even Toward Fans Worried About Injuries]

[Various Speculations Arise Over Gye Yusin’s Sudden Retirement… Even Suspicions of Drug Use]

[Korea-Japan Olympics Male God Gye Yusin Declares Retirement, Reigniting Gyehwa Hospital Inheritance Controversy]

All sorts of speculations ran rampant surrounding Yusin, who had suddenly retired.

Claims that Yusin had taken drugs for match performance, that he was targeting the Gyehwa Hospital inheritance by stripping his older sister of her shares, that he was retiring because he was getting married to the youngest daughter of a pretty and wealthy chaebol family… they were nothing but nonsensical articles.

The comments section was even more spectacular.

–Isn’t it about time for him to quit? Honestly, I thought this guy held out for a long time, lol

–I guess after trying it out himself, he preferred to suck down honey as a gold spoon rather than doing f*cking exhausting volleyball, hahaha

–Isn’t that uncle jinx of his for real though? Is there anyone who doesn’t know Gye Yusin got mad and yelled at the rookies who took the wrong receive positions? He’s only smiley and kind to the fans, but he’s been strangely sensitive about injuries since way back

–Wow, it really must be an injury.. Even though the club kept denying it so muchㅠㅠ

–Anyway, he’s finally washed up, congrats, congrats, sjh. Honestly, everyone shouting Gye Yusin Gye Yusin over every little thing was a collective madness

–Wasn’t Gye Yusin’s older sister supposed to inherit the hospital?? He should’ve just kept playing volleyball like he always did, fck, our Roosters just won the combined championship for the first time in six years, the timing is seriously sht

–Who is going to the Olympics this year if Gye Yusin drops out? ┕ If the men’s team can’t go, the women’s team will go

–Is the rumor that Gye Yusin is marrying the daughter of the Financial Supervisory Service’s vice president fake?? ┕ Why would it be a fake rumor when there are photos of the two of them taken in front of a hotel

–This guy is a total sl*t, hahaha. Honestly, they hushed it up until now because he was good at volleyball, but it was famous that he used up almost all the condoms distributed during the last Olympics

–After Director Gye Byeongcheol’s eldest son died, Gyehwa Hospital was also highly unstable. I am aware that Gye Yusin’s biological older sister also continuously advised him to quit volleyball. It seems he felt a sense of responsibility as the only male in the household. As a fellow man, I cheer for Gye Yusin.

–Is Gye Yusin marrying into a chaebol family? What a male leech, ha

Yeohui tapped away on her phone with eyes that dark circles had settled heavily beneath.

“That’s… not true…? Our Yusin Oppa… is absolutely not… that kind of person….”

She tried her best to leave clarifying comments, but they were merely swept away by the wave of abundant rumors. Even when she refreshed the news window once every minute, there was no information of substance.

Becoming furious, Yeohui went around reporting every single malicious comment that came into her sight.

She also left a supportive comment.

–Player Yusin, I am always cheering for you.

A reply comment was attached immediately.

┕ Who are you talking about? He’s not a player anymore, lol

┕ You’re sucking up to him quite a bit

┕ Your player just straight up became a gold-spoon chaebol, damn

It was a malicious comment.

Flinging her phone far away, Yeohui huffed and puffed by herself before burying her face right back into her blanket.

“Sigh….”

Retirement. For Yusin to retire. It was truly an absurd matter.

Yeohui knew just how much Yusin loved volleyball.

She knew the time and devotion, the efforts like a grueling rain that he had allocated to volleyball, and she knew just how sincerely he gave his all in every single moment.

If anyone heard her, they might mock her, asking how much she could possibly know about Gye Yusin to say such words, but she truly knew.

Because they were of the same kind.

People who passionately loved something had a way of recognizing each other.

Therefore, she believed it. Even if everything else was a lie, at the very least, he was not a person who would abruptly quit volleyball in this kind of manner.

He surely wouldn’t have done that…….

A few days later, an article confirming Yusin’s retirement was published.

The content stated that instead of paying a contract termination penalty, he had concluded his life as a player on good terms under a mutual agreement with the Red Rooster team.

Loss of contact. Drugs. Extreme attempts. Injury. Even bullying within the team.

The rumors that had been rampant were buried beneath the phrase ‘personal circumstances’ which the club consistently maintained.

The Republic of Korea, which had been boiling over with news of Yusin, moved its attention over to that side a short while later when a dating scandal involving a top idol erupted.

Now, those remaining in the article comments were either fans of the Red Roosters or hardcore fans of Yusin.

Because most of the latter were wailing day after day inside Yusin’s fan cafe, the former outnumbered them.

Of course, there were also many fans who left the fan cafe. In the section for writing the reason for withdrawal, every single one of them mentioned Yusin’s sudden retirement.

Some words even stated that retiring in this manner was an act of deception toward volleyball, of course, as well as his fellow teammates and the fans.

With a troubled heart, Yeohui processed the withdrawal applications sent by the departing fans. Then, she rewatched the video footage of Yusin’s past matches.

The sound of volleyball shoes dragging against the stadium floor. The sound of a volleyball bouncing hollowly. The sound of the whistle signaling a serve. The sound of a powerful leap forward before the eight-second grace period expired.

I am still trapped on that court….

While listening to the sound announcing that the MVP of that day was Yusin over and over again, staying exactly as she was.

Where on earth had Yusin gone?