Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 140

140: The Day After Winning

“Kkyaaaaaaak!”

The young man’s sorrowful and painful scream echoed through the room, but no one paid any attention.

Well, to be precise, it wasn’t that no one paid attention.

“Hey, stop exaggerating and hurry up.”

“How can you hurry up in cryotherapy?!”

Karim Adeyemi, inside the cryo machine with only his face exposed while the rest of his body was subjected to the ultra-low temperature of -160 degrees Celsius, glared at his friend who was urging him.

“Damn it! Hey, how many seconds left?!”

Nicholas Seiwald muttered, watching the red numbers slowly decreasing in front of the cryo machine that looked like a medieval torture device.

With three or four players on either side of Karim Adeyemi enduring the 180 seconds of ultra-low temperature therapy with all sorts of expressions, the faces of the remaining Burnley players lined up in front, waiting for their turn to be punished, weren’t much better than Nicholas Seiwald’s.

“What’s wrong with everyone? Still, enduring this for three minutes is….”

Nicholas Seiwald glanced around to make sure he was being heard, then lowered his voice.

“…better than Coach Paulo offering to loosen our muscles himself, right?”

“Hmm… that’s true.”

Muttering voices agreed here and there.

The Portuguese fitness coach insisted on personally administering physical therapy despite the club’s physical therapists, and when he massaged, he really showed no mercy.

It was good that the muscles loosened quickly, but the side effect was suffering through death-like pain during that time.

Everyone had experienced this middle-aged man’s gentle (?) and kind (?) and, above all, short (?!!) massage at least once, so they all nodded in agreement.

Cryotherapy ends after enduring 180 seconds, but Paulo Morais continues the massage until he is satisfied.

And no one among the players knew where that satisfaction standard was.

“By the way, what are you doing tomorrow?”

Although they won the Carabao Cup [a major English football competition], Hyungmin and the club limited the celebrations to the day of the victory.

But the players, whose minds and bodies were tattered after playing the game, didn’t have the mental or physical energy to do anything on the day or even the next day.

Probably, after the recovery training and therapy this morning, everyone would go home and collapse like the dead to sleep.

Perhaps for that reason, Hyungmin politely declined the offer of an event with fans or a second parade in Burnley town following last season and granted the players another special day off.

One trophy, one day off, but the Burnley players were grateful for even that.

“Hmm… I think I’ll just be resting at the dorm?”

Nicholas Seiwald replied sullenly after asking Paulo Morais and receiving the answer that if he touched his recovering muscles by training alone on his day off, he would personally kill him.

“Why don’t we go out to Manchester city?”

“Manchester?”

Compared to Burnley town with nothing much to offer, Manchester, the largest city in the northwest of England, had much more to do and see.

“I’m not really interested in shopping or sightseeing….”

The upright young man trailed off, but Karim Adeyemi, who had been with him since childhood, noticed the hesitation hidden within and winked at Luka Sučić, who was waiting next to Nicholas Seiwald.

The young Croatian midfielder, who had often hung out with him in Austria because they were from the same RB Salzburg [a football club], put his arm around Nicholas Seiwald’s solid shoulder.

“Niki, the manager gave us a day off tomorrow so we can get some rest, right?”

“Right.”

“But why did he give us a day off tomorrow even though we have recovery training today?”

“Uh….”

“Isn’t it like, physical recovery today! Mental recovery tomorrow! Something like that?”

*Ah, I feel like I’m being tricked, but it’s hard to say it directly because it’s coming in logically from the front.*

Like a wild animal that knows it’s a trap but can’t avoid entering, Nicholas Seiwald hesitated and continued his answer.

“Y-yes, I guess so.”

“Don’t you think you need a change of pace sometimes for mental recovery?”

“Uh….”

“And sometimes seeing new scenery, tasting new things, and broadening your horizons will help you change your mood!”

Nicholas Seiwald, who wanted to say, ‘You just want to see pretty girls, don’t you,’ couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Well, yeah.”

“Then, we’re going to Manchester city together tomorrow!”

“Uh….”

The veterans standing behind desperately held their mouths shut and suppressed their laughter at the sight of the young vice-captain, who didn’t realize until the last moment that he should have asked why *he* had to go too.

The sharp glares that the young prospects sent them, telling them to shut up with gestures, were helpful, though.

***

Two people had reached the same conclusion as the young players, albeit a day earlier and through a different process.

“Haa… still, this is much better than Burnley town.”

Helena said, putting down her luggage at a cafe after a morning and afternoon of sightseeing and shopping, taking a breather.

Manchester in February is still cold.

Outside, the weather was a near-freezing 3 degrees Celsius, but Carolina, who had roamed the streets of Manchester next to her, showing off her considerable stamina and cold resistance, shrugged her shoulders and drank her coffee.

“Well, there’s nothing *to do* in Burnley. But Manchester is close enough to Burnley.”

“That’s true.”

Unlike Helena, who was still staying at a business hotel in the middle of Burnley, which she had chosen simply based on location even after Emil came, there was a reason why Carolina had rented a mansion on the outskirts of Manchester.

The late lunch they ordered came out, and while the two women, who boasted hearty appetites, were devouring the food for a while, Carolina asked Helena.

“So, are you two making any progress?”

At Carolina’s question, Helena raised one eyebrow.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing else….”

Carolina raised both hands, pretending that she had no other intentions, but answered with a smirk.

“I saw you at the Carabao Cup final and it seems like you’re still awkward with each other.”

Helena glared at her friend with blazing eyes and hissed between her lips.

“Be quiet.”

“Yes, yes.”

Carolina mimed zipping her lips shut.

Helena glanced at her troublesome friend for a moment before sighing.

“Haa… I feel like I’m constantly sending signals, but there’s no response.”

At her friend’s gloomy reaction, Carolina, who had quickly forgotten her vow of silence, giggled and said.

“Why don’t you just go for it?”

“Go for it? Go for what?”

“Well… just plant a kiss on her or something. Or sneak into her room at night and pounce on her!”

“Oh my! Such words!”

Feigning a blush, Helena punched her friend in the arm.

Thwack!

Caught off guard, Carolina could only open her mouth, unable to even scream.

*Emil trembled so much whenever Helena was mentioned, she thought he was exaggerating…*

She had won Ligue 1 [French Football League], the European Champions League, and even the World Cup, but she had never been hit this hard in any match or training.

No, not even when she took short-term boxing lessons to improve her physical play was it this bad.

Her arm was at least cracked, or more likely, fractured…

“Don’t make a fuss over something like that.”

Helena looked down at her friend, who was clutching her arm and trembling in pain, with satisfaction.

*I* was the one who single-handedly subdued the Cartwright triplets with my fists.

“S-Such violence…”

“Ah, for some reason, hearing that from you doesn’t feel good at all.”

Knowing the reality of Carolina, who reigned as a figure of terror among Burnley’s players, Helena’s words made Carolina unable to hide her painful expression as she clutched her arm.

“I can’t have such a violent person as a friend!”

Helena scoffed at Carolina’s words.

“Hey, if things go well between Emil and me, I’ll be your sister-in-law, you know? Want a taste of sister-in-law tyranny?”

“Ugh, such medieval remarks…”

Carolina retorted, still clutching her arm in pain.

“Emil said your family isn’t that old-fashioned…?”

Oops?

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Carolina widened her eyes, but Helena, who had successfully reeled in a big catch with her leading question, struck a triumphant pose.

“I’ve got you! You *are* dating Emil!”

“Hey!”

***

[…Oh, sure. Sure. I want to see you too.]

[…Yeah, then come with the kids then! Okay, I got it. I’ll prepare everything.]

[…Okay, sure. I’ll pass on your regards. Okay, bye. Love you!]

The call ended, and Hyungmin, who had been sitting on the opposite sofa listening to his friend’s cheesy lines, unknowingly let out a breath he had been holding.

“So, they’re coming at the end of March?”

“Yeah, yeah. The kids are applying for experiential learning at school, and they’re planning to come for about a week! Maybe even longer!”

“That’s great.”

Taejin, who had been laughing excitedly, tilted his head.

“What is?”

“Well, I don’t really know, but usually married men are happy to be away from their wives and kids, aren’t they?”

At Hyungmin’s question, Taejin chuckled and shook his head.

“That’s only for a day or two. It’s really tough when you’re apart for months like this. Especially now that the kids are old enough to realize I’m gone, I get sensitive about how time is passing.”

“Was it like that in Spain too?”

The top striker, who had once been coveted by mid-table teams in the Spanish Primera Liga [Spanish First Division League], nodded.

“Back then, the second one was too young, and professional players aren’t home often anyway, right? Lots of away games. So, in the end, my wife stayed in Korea with the kids, and only I was in Spain… It was tough.”

He had scored over 10 goals for two consecutive seasons, and what was even more praised was his pressure on the opposing team’s defense and his linking play that connected the attack.

Hyungmin nodded at the words of the veteran, who was evaluated as someone who could have risen to the top teams if he had been a little younger and had more time to refine his skills.

“Yeah. Family has a big impact on players’ psychology.”

The young prospects that Burnley currently has in large numbers rarely have spouses or girlfriends accompanying them, and the fact that they live in the same accommodation and enjoy that life is also a reason.

Comforting the loneliness of living in a foreign land through teammates in Burnley, where there is nothing.

“Money is good, fame is good, and playing in a more developed league than Korea like Spain was also enjoyable, but you can only enjoy those things when your mind is at peace. The manager and the club tried to stop me, but…”

In the end, he returned to Korea and was criticized by fans and the media for failing after going to a big league.

The veteran striker, whose face briefly darkened as if remembering the difficult times, soon brightened up.

“Anyway! I’m only going to be in Burnley until the summer, and my wife is coming with the kids at the end of March, so I need to spend a lot of time with them then.”

Oh, about being here only until the summer…

Hyungmin, who was about to bring it up, changed his mind, feeling that it wasn’t the right time.

“But where are they going to stay? There doesn’t seem to be many suitable places in Burnley…”

Taejin shook his head at Hyungmin’s question, who had stayed in hotels near Burnley before finding accommodation when he first arrived.

“Of course, I have to book a hotel in Manchester. I’ll be staying there in the meantime too. Of course, I’ll come to Burnley for a visit, but as you know, here…”

“…There’s nothing to see.”

In fact, it ends with looking around the stadium and training ground, and there’s nothing special about Taejin’s family, who are ordinary people, seeing the Barnfield Training Centre.

“By the way, what about you?”

“Me? What about me? What are you going to do during your vacation?”

“No. Not that. What are you going to do with the CEO?”