Chapter 8: A Matchmaker with an Agenda

“Um, I know you’re busy, Senior, but would you mind taking a look at my form?”

“Your form?”

“Yes.
Even just for a moment would be fine.
O-of course, if your own training is more urgent, then it’s completely fine.”

Watching Jin-ung fumble over his words, Han-gyeol felt puzzled.

Wasn’t correcting someone’s form the coach’s job?

“What about Coach Go?”

“He went out today to take care of something at the association.
Usually, he’s too busy training you or Senior Kang-hoon to give me proper coaching.
I’ve asked him separately a few times, too, but he always says he’ll get around to it and then…”

Han-gyeol couldn’t help sighing.

This was exactly the sort of thing Coach Go, who pursued maximum efficiency above all else, would do.

Since no one other than Han-gyeol and Kang-hoon seemed likely to win medals at the next Olympics or Asian Games, the coach had apparently decided to leave the other athletes to fend for themselves.

But in Han-gyeol’s opinion, there were a few athletes who could still shine if they were trained consistently and given enough time, even if they weren’t ready just yet.

The coach probably couldn’t be bothered to invest that much effort.

Jin-ung pressed his lips together when he saw the sudden shadow fall across Han-gyeol’s face.

“I guess it’s too much to ask.
I’m sorry for bothering you, Senior.
I’ll get going.”

“No, I’ll take a look while I’m resting.
Stand over here.”

Jin-ung’s face immediately brightened.

Han-gyeol had him practice several attacking and defensive stances commonly used in actual matches, then pointed out what needed correcting.

Jin-ung nodded enthusiastically and adjusted his form accordingly.

At the very least, he seemed to have plenty of passion.

“Your form isn’t bad, but your upper body is swaying.
There should be some cones in the equipment room.
Can you bring one over?”

“Yes, understood!”

Han-gyeol coached him in the friendliest tone he could manage, careful not to intimidate the younger athlete.

That was when he noticed Kang-hoon coming in from a distance.

He looked as though he’d just finished running on the track.

Wiping the sweat from his face with a towel, Kang-hoon was heading toward the showers when he spotted his prey and immediately approached.

He never missed an opportunity to start something.

“Just as expected of Athlete Joo Han-gyeol.
Helping out a junior with his training, too.
You’ve certainly got plenty of time to spare.”

“Coach isn’t here, so I’m just helping him out for a bit.”

“The selection trials are only a few months away.
You must be confident.
I heard the competition for the lineup is pretty fierce this time.”

“…If I’m good enough to get selected, I’ll get selected.”

Han-gyeol ended the conversation and turned his attention back to Jin-ung.

There was no point dragging out a conversation that had started with provocation.
He wasn’t going to have anything nice to say if it continued.

So you’re not even going to acknowledge me?

Kang-hoon let out an incredulous snort.

Han-gyeol saw him frown and turn away, but he still didn’t respond.

Kang-hoon then muttered a curse loudly enough for him to hear.

*f*cking hell.
Just because the coach favors him a little, he thinks he’s so great…*

“U-um, Senior Han-gyeol.”

After Kang-hoon slammed the door behind him, Jin-ung spoke up with a solemn expression, as though he’d finally made up his mind.

“What is it?”

“I-I might be overstepping, but I think you should be careful for a while.
At least until the national team selection trials are over.
It would be a disaster if you got injured.”

Jin-ung glanced uneasily in the direction Kang-hoon had disappeared.

Han-gyeol chuckled softly before asking,

“…What, did Choi Kang-hoon tell you to watch your back at night?”

“I haven’t heard anything specific, but sometimes the way Senior Kang-hoon looks at you seems a little strange.
W-when you were away in the military, Senior Kang-hoon was the one everyone treated the best.
But as soon as you came back, both the coach and the other club members started talking about you a lot…”

“All right.
I’ll be careful.
Thanks for the warning.”

Han-gyeol helped Jin-ung with his training for another twenty minutes or so, then showered and headed to the student center.

Un-jae had contacted him to say that the clubroom was hosting a welcome party for the new members that evening and invited him to come if he had time.

Since training was over for the day, Han-gyeol figured he’d spend a little time socializing before heading back to rest.

He wasn’t particularly interested in welcome parties, but Un-jae had said he was ordering naengmyeon, Han-gyeol’s favorite cold noodles.

Another reason he was willing to attend was that he wanted to spend less time in his room.

One of his roommate’s many flaws was his habit of listening to heart-wrenching breakup songs, the very kind Han-gyeol couldn’t stand.

He wished his roommate would listen to them alone, but perhaps he wanted Han-gyeol to hear them, too, because he always turned the volume up to the maximum.

The music would leak out even through Han-gyeol’s earphones.

Sometimes Han-gyeol felt like buying his roommate a pair of in-ear earphones just to put an end to it.

And that wasn’t all.

Whenever a song reached its emotional climax, his roommate would apparently get so overwhelmed that he’d start singing along under his breath.

That was even more irritating.

I can’t forget the fish cake soup you used to make for meee…

Imagining that dreadful song ringing in his ears, Han-gyeol shook his head.

Thanks to his roommate, he’d developed a hatred of fish cake soup.

As he walked along, cursing every ballad in the world that dealt with heartbreak, he suddenly remembered Jin-ung’s warning.

He didn’t know whether the warning was true, but there was no denying that he needed to take care of his body.

An athlete’s body was his lifeline.

Even the smallest injury could have a tremendous impact on his performance.

He’d already lost nearly a year of his career because of an ankle injury.

It would be awful to waste more time because of another injury.

Surely Choi Kang-hoon wouldn’t actually go so far as to hurt me on purpose.

He didn’t seem that bold…

When Han-gyeol opened the clubroom door, he found a mixture of familiar faces and people he’d never seen before.

Could setting up that booth really have worked?

Un-jae approached and lightly tapped Han-gyeol’s arm as he stood there looking bewildered.

“You’re here.”

“Did we get a lot of new members?”

“Seven so far.
Almost all of them are freshmen.
Heh heh.
I hope they don’t all quit.
Oh, and one of them is your fan, too.”

“My fan?”

“Hello, Athlete Joo Han-gyeol!”

“Moon Si-yeon?”

The petite young woman with a short bob bowed to him.

Surprised, Han-gyeol bowed back.

He hadn’t actually expected her to join.

Un-jae watched them with a pleased smile before leaning toward Han-gyeol’s ear and whispering,

“You said you have a class together.
Si-yeon even brought two friends with her.
Who knew Joo Han-gyeol could actually be useful?”

Han-gyeol greeted Si-yeon’s friends as well.

Once most of the members had gathered, Un-jae asked everyone to take a seat.

Han-gyeol was about to sit in a conspicuous chair when it suddenly slid backward.

“Sorry.
This seat’s reserved.”

“…I was wondering where you’d been.”

It was Anix.

He must have just gotten up from the sofa where he’d been sleeping, because his light-colored hair was tousled.

Han-gyeol gave up and immediately sat in a different chair.

*Ignore him.
I’ll only exhaust myself otherwise.*

Si-yeon was sitting right beside him.

“Athlete Joo Han-gyeol!”

She whispered his name softly and waved.

Han-gyeol waved back.

“How long are you going to keep calling me ‘Athlete’?
Nobody else calls me that here.”

“Oh, that’s right!
Then I’ll just call you Han-gyeol oppa, so you should speak casually to me, too.”

“…All right, Si-yeon.”

After answering, Han-gyeol found himself turning around without thinking.

He wondered if someone might be eating popcorn again.

When Han-gyeol glared at him, Anix widened his eyes and looked deeply aggrieved, as if to say, What did I do to deserve that glare?

Sure enough, he wasn’t holding any popcorn.

Before Anix could say something else that got under his skin, Han-gyeol turned back around.

He had to admit he was acting a little paranoid.

But wasn’t the person at fault the one who’d first started watching someone else’s conversation while eating popcorn?

Un-jae gave a brief introduction to the club, then asked everyone to introduce themselves one by one.

As usual, Han-gyeol gave a dull, unremarkable introduction and sat back down.

Si-yeon, on the other hand, gave an enthusiastic, very freshman-like speech.

She explained that she’d joined the club because she was a fan of Athlete Joo Han-gyeol—no, Oppa—and added that the atmosphere was wonderful and she was looking forward to the club activities.

Anix was the last to introduce himself.

Contrary to Han-gyeol’s expectations, his introduction was perfectly normal.

He even ended with a suitably cynical joke about his Korean skills, making everyone laugh.

Laughter erupted from every direction.

Han-gyeol was the only one who couldn’t laugh wholeheartedly.

Does this senior only act like a lunatic around me?

His suspicions had even gone that far.

And as time passed, those suspicions only grew stronger.

They ordered naengmyeon over the phone and decided to play a board game together while waiting for the food to arrive.

Even then, Anix kept pulling tricks.

Yes, tricks was exactly the right word.

Anix acted as though he wanted something to happen between Han-gyeol and Si-yeon.

If he had merely wanted the two of them to get along, Han-gyeol might not have noticed.

But Anix deliberately seated Si-yeon beside him, joked around with her, then drew Han-gyeol into their conversation before conveniently slipping away himself.

It was so blatant that there was no way Han-gyeol could fail to notice.

He was practically itching to ask Anix what on earth he was doing.

Han-gyeol and Si-yeon had only known each other for a short time.

They attended the same general education class and were now members of the same club, but beyond that, they had no connection whatsoever.

Anix had only just met Si-yeon himself, so Han-gyeol couldn’t understand why he was going out of his way to set the two of them up.

Sorry, but no matter how charitably Han-gyeol tried to interpret it, Anix’s behavior looked like a deliberate attempt to mess with him.

While Han-gyeol was busy suspecting him, Anix somehow managed to rig the drawing of lots.

As a result, Han-gyeol ended up on the same board-game team as Si-yeon.

There was no doubt about it.

This wasn’t suspicion anymore.

He was certain.

Everything was going exactly as Anix wanted.

Anix watched Han-gyeol and Si-yeon sitting side by side with a smug grin.

To Han-gyeol, he looked like he was about to pull out the popcorn at any moment.

Is that guy seriously insane?

Han-gyeol gritted his teeth and glared at Anix.

“Oppa, should I play this card now?”

Si-yeon whispered softly.

But Han-gyeol was so preoccupied with figuring out Anix’s tricks that he’d completely lost track of what was happening in the game.

“Yeah.
Play that one.”

Anix, who was teamed up with Chan-seok, was bickering with him as they discussed their strategy.

“Hyung, that’s not the right move!”

“No.
Let’s play this one.”

In the end, Han-gyeol and Si-yeon came in last.

Considering that one of them hadn’t been paying any attention to the game at all, the result was hardly surprising.

The losers had to go out and collect the food, so Han-gyeol had no choice but to get up.

The moment he saw Anix watching him and Si-yeon prepare to leave with a satisfied smile, Han-gyeol realized that this was his chance to turn the tables.

He couldn’t afford to let Anix keep control of the situation.

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