YHP 38

Yoo-young put down the dumbbell and turned around at the sound of the ground rumbling. He saw Ho-jin, who was swinging the kettlebell without rest as soon as he put down the battle rope.

It was already close to noon. But even as the morning training was coming to an end, there was no sign of Ho-jin’s movements slowing down. He always exercised like he was going to die, but today he seemed to be in particularly good condition.

“You’re going to die, it’s almost twelve.”

Yoo-young chuckled and walked over to him, handing him a new towel.

“Thanks.”

“Did something good happen to you? Why are you so energetic today?”

Ho-jin, who emptied a bottle of energy drink in the blink of an eye, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled.

“I got a studio near school.”

“What?”

At those words, Yoo-young widened his eyes and asked again.

“Are you just going to stay in Seoul now?”

“Unless something special happens, I think so.”

Yoo-young sat down next to him.

“Hey. You’re not thinking of not going to Socheong, are you?”

When he asked cautiously, Ho-jin smiled ambiguously instead of answering.

Yoo-young let out a short sigh.

“I don’t know what’s bothering you so much, but it’s been a while since you’ve competed. You’ll lose your touch in an instant, so why don’t you just close your eyes and say you’ll do it? Socheong is just paving the way for you to win a medal….”

“Yoo-young.”

Ho-jin, who had been listening quietly, suddenly interrupted Yoo-young.

“Everyone is doing their best, so how can you say that? You know that no athlete enters a competition to make someone else’s medal.”

It was a very Yoo Ho-jin-like thing to say. But he couldn’t just let it go this time. Yoo-young pounded his chest and said.

“I’m going to do that.”

He was serious. This was the same thing that the other athletes who had decided to participate in Ho-jin’s comeback match had said in unison.

“I’m going to do my best and make your medal.”

No athlete selected as a national representative hasn’t experienced injuries, big or small. And there are more than a few who have considered quitting in the process. Of course, Yoo-young was once one of them. But the reason Yoo-young still wears the Taegeukgi on his chest is at least half thanks to Yoo Ho-jin.

“Yoo Ho-jin. Don’t you remember when I got injured?”

“…”

It was during the season when he suffered a hamstring injury.

Even after finishing rehab, his records kept falling behind. No matter how hard he gritted his teeth, he stayed in the same place. During those days when he felt like he couldn’t do anything anymore, it was Ho-jin who literally packed lunch boxes and clung to Yoo-young.

Every day, he put aside his own training and came to Yoo-young’s house. It was quite difficult to refuse the unnecessarily delicious lunch boxes, and as he ate them mindlessly, Ho-jin would ask with a serious look about his plans after quitting swimming, asking the same question over and over about whether he would really have no regrets.

Of course, at first, he was annoyed and just took the food and tried to brush him off. But eventually, before long, Yoo-young burst into tears in front of Ho-jin and admitted it. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t do anything else. But it was too hard. He wanted to do so well, but his body wouldn’t move the way he wanted.

Then Ho-jin, without any comfort or anything, dragged Yoo-young to the gym and started pushing him like crazy. After filling a hellish week with exercises close to his maximum strength, the stray thoughts disappeared and his mind healed as if by magic.

And finally, he sincerely looked forward to the future. It happened exactly one week later.

Even on the way back from telling the coach that he would pull himself together and try again, Ho-jin was still by Yoo-young’s side.

He vividly remembered almost getting his ribs crushed by a barbell when he tried to joke around with Ho-jin, who was panting just like him while lifting a barbell next to him.

Yoo-young, who almost got injured again as soon as he recovered, was naturally chewed out. Of course, Ho-jin, who had been focused solely on training with Yoo-young, ignoring the schedule set by the dedicated team, also had to endure a barrage of nagging from the federation. Nevertheless, when the next day dawned, he appeared at the athletes’ village earlier than anyone else, looking as normal as ever, and crossed the middle of the lane.

Yoo Ho-jin was that kind of person. He was a really good person, upright and righteous, as if he had jumped out of a fairy tale. He was a hero of South Korea and also Yoo-young’s personal hero.

Looking at his unwavering appearance, no matter what happened, made it feel like nothing had happened at all. There were many times when he felt like he could do anything right away.

So that’s how world-class athletes comfort people’s souls. Just knowing that there is someone of that caliber among the same species can be comforting. The reason why people in the past created and worshiped idols probably wasn’t much different from this.

Most of the thoughts that came to mind when he saw Ho-jin were like that. Other athletes probably felt similarly. Not only Yoo-young, but all the athletes who had gone through major crises owed Ho-jin a debt, whether small or large.

“You told me not to quit, asking if I was really confident I wouldn’t regret it. That’s why I’m still holding on. But why are you like this?”

But Ho-jin never asked anyone for help when he himself was in crisis.

And that was really disappointing.

“I did it, so why do you keep… acting like you’re going to quit any minute now?”

As he spoke, he became upset and angry.

“I’m not quitting, Yoo-young.”

Ho-jin patted Yoo-young’s shoulder, who was panting, and smiled. Seeing that made him even more upset.

Even though he was smiling as if nothing was wrong, it didn’t seem like he was okay inside. He had never shown his difficulties to those around him, which made it feel even more so. He could go somewhere and vent his anger or cry pathetically, but Ho-jin had never complained about anything. Even for Yoo Ho-jin, it seemed impossible to live his whole life like an island and not feel any hardship.

“I’m just thinking a lot these days.”

“Thinking about what?”

“…This and that.”

Muttering, Ho-jin began to organize the equipment one by one. Following behind him as he neatly arranged the dumbbells and kettlebells scattered around, Yoo-young began to chatter again.

“So, are you really not going to the National Sports Festival? Then should I not go either? Jeong-woo and I have already made all the plans, are you going to take responsibility?”

“You’ll get hurt, stay away.”

“Are you going to take responsibility, you crazy bastard? Don’t you even feel sorry that we both came all the way up to Seoul because of you?”

Yoo-young shouted at his face, who was just chuckling, knowing it was a joke.

“Take responsibility, quickly! What are you going to do!”

“Mister. Don’t do this here, go take a nap, okay?”

Until Ho-jin finally burst out laughing and covered his mouth with a towel.

***

Ho-jin was genuinely happy. He felt like he could repeat the training he had just finished from the beginning with a smile.

The reason being,

“Hyung.”

It was because of Choi Jeong-in, who was looking at him a few steps away with a sullen face.

“Did you just finish class?”

Jeong-in, who had just entered the building, nodded lightly.

“I’ll just drop off my books. Wait a little.”

“Yes.”

Today was the day to go to the flower market to buy seedlings for Jeong-in’s part-time job. Since Jeong-in had agreed to help with training for one day this week anyway, Ho-jin should also help with Jeong-in’s work.

Of course, Jeong-in stubbornly refused, saying he could do it alone. But Ho-jin had no intention of backing down. When he mentioned their promise again, Jeong-in waved his hand as if his head was about to explode, telling him to do as he pleased. Just thinking about that made him laugh like an idiot again.

“…”

Ho-jin was slowly getting used to dealing with Choi Jeong-in.

Getting closer to him was like reading a manual written in a foreign language. He would stare at the unfamiliar sentences, interpret them one line at a time, and before he knew it, beautiful sentences would be completed.

The first sentence he discovered was, ‘Choi Jeong-in is a much softer person than he appears.’ And the sentence Ho-jin had recently interpreted was, ‘If you want to get closer to Choi Jeong-in, use yourself.’ If he made the excuse that it was for himself, not for you, Jeong-in would usually just let Ho-jin do whatever he wanted.

Ho-jin leaned quietly against the wall, looking at Jeong-in’s front door. Glancing sideways, he saw another door right next to it. It was his own door, located right next to Jeong-in’s house.

It was true that he had been unable to find a room for a long time while waiting for a unit to become available in the building where Jeong-in lived. But he never imagined that he would actually live in this building. No matter how long he waited, a unit didn’t become available, so he was seriously considering giving up halfway and getting a room about 5 minutes away. But surprisingly, Jeong-in seemed to be quite close to the building owner, and thanks to Jeong-in’s connections, Ho-jin was able to find a room very easily.

Smart, beautiful, strong, kind, nice, and even perfect at managing his connections.

There wasn’t a single flaw. He was truly like a Prince who had fallen from some distant land.

So how great must that Hyojin be?

“…”

It was the moment he thought that. Suddenly, his nose started bleeding. Ho-jin took out a wet tissue and blocked his nose. Strangely, he seemed to be getting nosebleeds frequently these days for no particular reason.

“…What?”

Jeong-in, who had opened the door just in time, asked as he saw it.

“It’s nothing. A blood vessel burst… It’s been like this lately.”

He was about to say he was really okay. It was then. Jeong-in, who had widened his stride and approached, carefully placed his fingers on the back of Ho-jin’s hand. He smelled the fresh scent of flowers from Jeong-in, who had gotten closer before he could do anything.

“You’re bleeding this much and you say it’s nothing?”

Jeong-in silently gasped as he flipped over the wet tissue that had already turned bright red with his fingertips.

“You should just go to the hospital or rest today. I’ll go alone.”

“No. Please let me go too.”

Ho-jin quickly grabbed Jeong-in.

“I endured this morning’s training just for this today…”

His nose was still bleeding profusely.