A Great Day to Play Soccer!!!

At first, our team was leading the game, scoring two goals in only 5 minutes after the starting whistle. However, our players were much weaker in cardiorespiratory endurance, and the team-play got worse as time passed. The other team scored two goals in the second half and the final result was a tie. As a center forward of the team, I felt angry but sorry for my teammates because I wasn’t able to make as many significant chances for a goal as I expected. Still, I and others were at least glad that we did not lose. We had a barbeque with the 18^th wave players-who were not given the chance to play although they long wished for the opportunity-and our managers later in the afternoon.

“It’s a great day to play soccer!” This is what my soccer coach in the US always used to say, before we began our actual practice. He was a man who simply “loved” soccer. Just like his arm or legs, a soccer ball was a natural part that belonged to him. From this enthusiastic coach, I learned not only the skills and techniques of the game, but also how to truly enjoy the sport. Even now, soccer is a very big part of my high school life, and I usually go out to the green, grass field to play after classes.

I’ve loved soccer from so early an age that it was almost immediately after the moment I learned to walk. Kicking the ball as hard as I could was a thrill that nothing else could provide. Also, the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea was a huge stimulus for kids my age to get fascinated with the spectacular sport. Captain Hong(Hong Myong-bo) was a great hero, perhaps the living Superman for all boys at the time.

Even after I got into KMLA, I kept playing soccer at times I got stressed out and needed rest. Due to KMLA’s somewhat freer(?) schedule, I found it easier to spare time to play soccer than I did in my middle school days. I got into a soccer club called CGV, and somehow became the vice-captain of the team.

As representatives of KMLA, CGV participates in a soccer league consisted of teams from special-purpose high schools. Every year, we get a satisfactory result, usually making it into the finals. This year, CGV have had two matches with two schools in our preliminary group-Goyang and Gangwon Foreign Language High schools. We tied with both teams with a score of 2-2. This Thursday, which was the 6^th of June, was the day we had a game with Gangwon Foreign Language High School. That match was a very important one for CGV because the result of the match basically decided CGV’s chance of going into the finals this season. Other than these two schools, we are planned to compete with Buk-il High School, whose team is one of the best in the Amateur League. We all knew that we couldn’t stand a chance against Buk-il. Therefore, in order for us to safely make it to the finals, we had to win the match against Gangwon.

What can I say? Even though we had a tie, it is a great relief that we did not lose, and we also had a fun barbeque. Most importantly, all of the players who came out(including those of the second string) got a chance to play on the field and enjoyed the game as actual players, instead of spending the whole time as benchwarmers. Notwithstanding the somewhat unsatisfactory results, we finally felt with our hearts that we are a team - not individual players, but one team. In the end, that’s what matters! As we were coming back to the dormitory dragging our tired bodies, we promised each other to make the impossible happen: we will beat Buk-il High and go to the finals!

Letters to Mary Jane

2013. June 6th, Thursday

        It feels very weird, even at this moment as I am writing this down on the probably last page of my diary, to share this shocking truth at least with a piece of paper. How should I start my life-long confession? Should I simply tell my secret, or should I give a small hint? What would others think if they supposedly read this confession? Would the friendship that I built all those years with my dear acquaintances be destroyed? Would they feel sorry for hearing my secret? Never have I felt so nervous yet excited to write something in my beloved diary.

        Huh? What in the world is he talking about? All this time, I thought we had no secrets between our relationship. This is getting a bit mysterious…

Well, here it is! I am not a human being! All this time, I have been lying to all my dearest friends and even to Mary Jane, the dearest of them all. There! I did it!

Oh, my! Oh, God…I just can’t believe this. Well, let’s keep reading for now.

I am not a human being. Isn’t this beyond surprising? I am not a human being, different from all my friends and people I’ve met. I am a type of creature whose outer appearance looks like that of humans but inside is filled with active spider-like minuscule creatures. If anyone I know could recall, I have abnormally slime arms, which supports the fact that I am different from normal human beings.

Come to think of it, he did have extremely slim arms. But who in the world could imagine that such a handsome man is not a human, but a hideous creature filled with spiders? How disgusting it is! How could he conceal his true identity so well? Oh, all my affection an joyous feelings towards him seem to be escaping from myself, after hearing this shocking truth. I certainly do not wish to believe that I had feelings for a spider!

I was born in a cave, where no one belonging to the human race could have possibly reached before. It was possible for me to be born inside a cave because like I said, I am not a human being. My family members are all like me; they are all creatures filled with spiders, although their outer looks resemble that of humans. My role-model is ‘Oong-nyu’, who used to be a bear but later successfully transformed into a human after spending 21 days in a dark cave to marry a king named ‘Huan-oong’. Becoming a perfect human, instead of only resembling the outside, has been a common wish of my race for a long time. My mother, who also had longed to become a human, put me in a cave to follow the steps of Oong-nyu. I spent my entire early childhood in the cave, but nothing happened. After turning 10 in human age, I got out from the cave to live in the human society. Socialization was not very easy, but I did manage to learn human language and culture.

Wow! I’m just…I…I simply have nothing to say! What is this? A science fiction in real life? He must’ve been out of his mind! I mean, he is saying that he was not a human but a spider, right? Maybe he was suffering from minor schizophrenia near the end of his life. Who knows?

As a human-resembling spider, I experienced so many things. Nobody recognized my true identity, and I had made good friends with a lot of people throughout my life. Looking back, I have no regrets except for one thing. I want to apologize to Mary Jane, the true love of my life, for betraying her love and escaping from her kindness. I did not want my identity to be discovered. If we had got married, she would have found out, and all her expectations and affection for me would have turned into despair, misery, and disbelief, which was the last thing I wanted to happen. I ran away from her not because my love had cooled, but because I most dearly loved her, and I did not want her to get disappointed. But seeing her tears and watery eyes, I regretted my poor decision. Oh, if only she could understand my troubled mind!

Oh, Peter! Is this why you ran away? I am so sorry to have misunderstood your honest intention. All this time, I’ve been wandering how the feeling of love could change so easily after you had left me. I was so sure of your love that I almost panicked when you suddenly left me. But it sounds like you have been near me secretly all along.

Remember, Mary Jane? The time when we went to the movie theater to watch a horror film early in the morning? You opposed to this idea, but I insisted that we go. I do not know why I did that, but I knew we had to go to the movies that morning for some reason. In the back of the dark theater, we kissed for the first time, and I felt as if all my spidery-senses were going up in the sky. There was a scene where a hairy monster was trying to attack a poor young girl, and you were outraged, rather than scared by the scene. You looked so cute when your lips were trembling with anger, your eyes shaking with deep horror. From that moment, I wanted to be the one who could be always on your side to help you get through the hardships in life. However, as the movie went on, I slowly had a thought in my mind, that I might be the hairy monster inside and was trying to harm you whether it was my intention or not. I realized our love could not be fulfilled because of our fundamental differences. I decided that running away would be the best thing to do in order for you and me to be happy in the end. How could fate be so cruel? Letting our love develop in the first place, and then making us realize the difficulties of fulfilling that enthusiastic emotion!
       I may have told a lie all this time, that I was a human when I was not one. Some could say that I was a total liar trapped in my own selfish thoughts. But I can proudly say one thing for sure. Although my life was filled with lies and disguise, one thing had been so true that I cannot even describe it in words. I may have been a hairy monster, but my love for you was real. My love! Oh, if only you could understand! If only…

          O’ course I remember, Peter! I still remember the exciting feelings of our first kiss in that old theater. I can still recall the dear words you have whispered to me. I did not know about your hardships and I only thought of mine, hoping that you would understand and protect me from falling. Oh, selfish me! The one who should be sorry here is not you, but me. I did not know loving could be so challenging. I cannot describe the sorrowful feelings I possess at this moment. I most truly understand your decision and respect your thoughts. You were the love of my life, Peter! The first, only, and true love! Now, I am here to say good bye, Peter. It’s time to let you go. I wished that this time would never come, but it did, and now I have to stand up to the most sorrowful moment of life all alone without you. Parting is such a misery, yet I have to endure it. Farewell, Peter!

         It was early in the morning, and she gently put the antique diary into the deep grave, tears dropping from her eyes, her lips trembling with sorrow, and her hands shaking. Then, she went to the old theater where unforgettable memories still remained. There, she went to the seat in the corner of the very back row, and sat down. This was where she made her first kiss with him. Now that she was all alone, she gripped the seat next to her and calmly closed her eyes. The spider-man who longed to become human rested in her memories forever.