Childhood Friends: Turning the Tables - Chapter 9.1
To celebrate her first visit to the gym, Eun-sae ate black bean noodles and sweet-and-sour pork that the director had bought for her while continuing to look around inside. The sight before her was unfamiliar yet fascinating.
On the walls were photos and autographs of athletes, with gloves also hanging nearby. She did not know who they were, but they seemed famous.
Didn’t people get injured a lot doing this? She imagined bleeding mouths and torn skin. Even without looking it up, she had often seen scenes like that in dramas or movies.
The director also looked quite intimidating, as if he had taken a lot of hits himself.
When Eun-sae glanced at him, the director chuckled and shook his head.
“Well now, look at this. You recognize me?”
“Sorry…?”
Not understanding what he meant, she turned to Tae-seung, but he was too busy eating to notice.
“You noticed me just because I was on TV a few times? You’ve got a sharp eye, huh?”
“TV? I don’t watch TV.”
Since the conversation was making less and less sense, Eun-sae answered right away. The director furrowed his brows and made a puzzled sound.
“Why don’t you watch TV, kid? Families should sit together after dinner, watch TV in the living room, eat fruit, and chat. Why wouldn’t you watch TV, huh?”
“Our TV’s in my parents’ room. My mom and dad are the only ones who watch it.”
“Is that so? Families these days sure are strange.”
“So, you’ve been on TV, Director?”
At that, his face brightened again. It was as if he had been waiting for her to ask.
He explained that actors who took on fighter roles would come to his gym for training. Because of that, he often appeared on celebrity reality shows as well.
Hearing that famous people came to this gym made Eun-sae look around with a new sense of wonder.
“What’s Tae-seung learning? Is he good at it?”
“You talk like you’re his guardian, kid.”
Was that so? She was only curious about what Tae-seung was learning here, whether there was any danger of him going down the wrong path, and if he had talent for it.
The director gave her a straightforward answer.
“He only started recently, so he’s learning the basics—stance, striking techniques, grappling, and regular conditioning. Why? Are you interested in this stuff too?”
She didn’t really understand most of what he said, but she was clear on her answer.
“No. I was just curious.”
“Figures. You don’t have any jabs in your face, kid. None at all.”
“You mean… I’m boring?”
“No, a jab means… ah, never mind.”
Eun-sae leaned toward Tae-seung, who was finishing off the sauce from his black bean noodles, and whispered,
“What’s a jab?”
In response, Tae-seung clenched his fist and shot it forward sharply. His movement was so fast that before she could even see it properly, his fist had already returned to position.
‘So that’s what punching meant…’
She understood what a jab was now, but she kept turning the phrase “no jab in your face” over in her mind, trying to figure out what it meant.
***
Eun-sae unfolded a chair outside the mat and sat down to watch Tae-seung train.
“Even Tae-seung’s mom doesn’t sit and stare at this openly,” the director said, slipping on a pair of mitts and looking at her in disbelief.
“She used to watch me like this back when I did taekwondo too,” Eun-sae replied, her voice small but firm. The director chuckled and called out energetically to Tae-seung.
“Tae-seung, your girlfriend’s watching, so let’s show her what you’ve got, yeah?”
“She’s not my girlfriend…”
Her response was drowned out by the sound of Tae-seung’s glove striking the mitt.
“Alright, two jabs. Jab, jab, straight! Faster, jab, jab! Watch your footwork, twist your hips, and again!”
The director’s commands came like rapid fire. What amazed Eun-sae even more was how quickly Tae-seung followed along. He threw his punches in rhythm with each shout, the impact echoing through the gym.
He was nothing like when he practiced taekwondo in a uniform. Back then, he had focused on precision. Now, he was focused on power, speed, and timing.
The look in his eyes as he aimed for the mitts felt unfamiliar. She had never seen him like that before. His sharp gaze, narrow eyes, and tense jawline all struck her at once.
For a moment, Eun-sae wondered if this was really the same Yoon Tae-seung she thought she knew.
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