* * *
Right before entering the conference room, he stopped his steps.
―If you take that, you’ll definitely succeed, so don’t worry.
Seo Sihan drank water. His mouth still tasted bitter.
Jeong Minha had eaten the same thing as him. And the result he saw was the same as before.
“…”
Jeong Minha looked precarious as if he had failed.
‘But…’
While flustered, he tried hard until the end and eventually obtained even a silver medal.
Rather, that point resonated with him. If he had only done well from beginning to end, he would have just considered him someone who always does well due to an overwhelmingly different talent gap.
Seo Sihan slowly breathed in. Even though it was right before the meeting he had worried so much about, his heart was strangely stable.
‘Right, even if I make a mistake… I just need to pull myself together again.’
Didn’t Jeong Minha just prove it directly a moment ago? Even if the result was unsatisfactory to him, from Seo Sihan’s position, it looked sufficiently impressive.
And he recalled the last conversation too.
―Smile a bit! You’re scary. With that face, everything will go well if you just smile.
Thinking about it again, it was such absurd words that laughter came out naturally. Well, when that athlete shot a perfect score and smiled earlier…
“…”
When he recalled Jeong Minha’s smiling appearance, his heart rate started becoming strange again. At this, Seo Sihan was flustered for a moment, then just opened the conference room door thinking he should go in quickly.
Right after, the time when the meeting started. All the key figures had gathered in one place.
Seo Sihan recalled the conversation with Jeong Minha and the appearances he saw at the match.
“I’ll begin.”
Seo Sihan was naturally smiling.
* * *
The meeting ended.
The heart that had been going crazy during the match became calm like a lie as soon as the meeting started. Strangely, he felt like his mind became clearer too, so words came out better than usual.
While speaking in familiar English, he also answered questions that came in the middle in other languages. It was at a level where a separate interpreter wasn’t needed.
People’s reactions were good. The meeting ended successfully. The director position was almost confirmed.
Seo Sihan, who had relieved himself of a burden after finishing a big task, returned to the stadium with relaxed steps.
‘Why am I here…’
Now he should just return to his lodging, but without realizing it, he came back to this place again.
“…”
In Seo Sihan’s head after the meeting ended, Jeong Minha wouldn’t disappear.
‘…It’s no different from succeeding thanks to the medicine that person gave me.’
It was really effective. He wanted to thank him and also ask where he bought it.
However, he soon realized one fact.
‘In shooting competitions… you shouldn’t take that kind of medicine, right?’
Just like doping is prohibited in competitions that require strength, in competitions that require concentration like shooting, drugs that calm the body were prohibited. And Jeong Minha had eaten the same medicine as him. Right before the match…
Seo Sihan, who started breaking into a cold sweat for a moment, quickly opened his bag. He already didn’t look good, but what if even his silver medal gets canceled? He hurriedly took out the wrapper he had saved. He had kept it to investigate in case it had strange ingredients.
There was a small explanation written in Korean on the back of the wrapper. Earlier he was too out of it for the writing to be read properly. Now Seo Sihan, who had pulled himself together again, frowned and interpreted the text as much as possible.
‘Carbohydrates 9.5g… Protein 0…?’
Seo Sihan stopped interpreting the ingredient list and looked at the writing at the very bottom first.
“…Candy?”
No matter how long he looked at the wrapper, the two characters for candy were correct. Just in case, he also turned on a translator. Candy, candy. It was the candy he was thinking of.
Seo Sihan blankly stared at the wrapper. So, that confidently… he scammed me? …It’s candy, so why is it as bitter as real medicine? It tasted so bad I thought it was real medicine.
―What’s in it?
―It works better if you don’t know.
“Haha…”
It was a scam, but anyway Jeong Minha had only said correct things. The effect really was good. He didn’t know just how much he smiled today. Though almost all of it was absurd hollow laughter.
‘Then in the end… it wasn’t because of medicine but entirely my own strength.’
…That athlete too.
Seo Sihan recalled when Jeong Minha lied saying it was medicine and handed him candy. When he watched the match, he just considered him a genius, but thinking about it again, his right palm was full of scars at that time.
At first, that rather made him look more suspicious, but soon he realized while watching him enter as a shooting athlete. They were traces of holding a gun.
Then that athlete had been putting in that much effort. The words that he takes medicine every time seemed to mean he had been doing mind control for his nervous heart with candy that just tastes like medicine.
“…”
Seo Sihan raised his head and sighed.
They say there are phrases Koreans say first when falling in love.
‘Anyway, it’s strange. Funny… and stupid.’
And for Seo Sihan, who was half Korean, this formula also worked.
‘But… cool.’
Seo Sihan wanted to meet Jeong Minha again.
He wanted to ask why he lied saying it was medicine, wanted to express thanks saying he was able to finish the meeting safely thanks to him, and wanted to listen to what had happened.
However, even until the closing ceremony ended, Seo Sihan couldn’t meet Jeong Minha.
Just in case, he went every day to the waiting room he seemed to frequent often, but only empty indoor space was visible. Did he already go back? He hoped nothing happened but was somehow worried. The last time he saw Jeong Minha, he had disappeared hurriedly with an anxious expression.
Still, if he was an athlete who participated in the Olympics, he would prepare for the next Olympics too. Then he would have to appear in regional competitions, preliminary competitions, and so on.
Anyway, Seo Sihan, who had to continue doing related work because of the Olympics investment matter, attended competitions each time. He went around looking for Jeong Minha while he was at it.
* * *
For three years after that, he directly attended competitions that were held, but he couldn’t find any trace of Jeong Minha.
During that time, even while working all day at the company as a director, he kept thinking of Jeong Minha. While wondering why on earth he was like this, before he knew it his hands were playing that match video.
The strange but kind person who helped him when they first met, athlete Jeong Minha who confidently shot perfect scores, athlete Jeong Minha who suddenly got anxious and made mistakes, and the disappeared Jeong Minha…
Seo Sihan, who had risen to the director position thanks to that Jeong Minha, kept feeling frustrated.
Right, this is definitely… because I want to express thanks. Because I want to reward him. He rationalized it in his own way while deliberately ignoring other thoughts that came to mind whenever he watched match videos.
Seo Sihan, who decided to formally reward him, eventually gave up on a natural meeting. That meant he asked other athletes who came to preliminary competitions about Jeong Minha’s whereabouts.
“Jeong Minha? Ah… what was it? He applied for long-term leave.”
“Long-term leave?”
“Yes. But honestly, in a place with already fierce competition like this, if he’s kicking away opportunities himself, it’s practically the same as a retirement declaration. Especially seeing how he hasn’t been visible for several years says it all.”
“…Do you also know why he did that?”
“Who knows. After he left like that, his coach also wasn’t seen… There are quite a few athletes who left like that after the Olympics ended. Whether they realized their own ability, had health problems, and so on.”
“…”
Seo Sihan, who returned home in a state of shock, thought. If he wasn’t coming out because he himself didn’t want to do it anymore, there was nothing particular to say.
But what if a different problem arose? Anyway, he gave up on sleep that wasn’t going to come due to insomnia and pondered.
He had also diligently tried internet searches during that time. However, although many articles or videos that came up only from that time as genius shooting athlete, handsome national representative, silver medal athlete, and so on appeared a lot, these days related posts weren’t visible. He must not do SNS either because nothing came up even when searching.
“Hah…”
Clearly, in the beginning, it was simple interest. But even though several years had passed, he couldn’t understand why he wanted to see him this much.
However, he acknowledged it. He wanted to see Jeong Minha’s match appearance once more.
More precisely, he wanted to see that face that smiled brightly after shooting a perfect score again.
