Childhood Friends: Turning the Tables - Chapter 9.2
While Eun-sae blankly watched the mitt training, kicks were added alongside jabs and straights. Yoon Tae-seung lifted his leg and struck the mitt with precision.
There was a reason humans had two legs. If one was lifted, balance was quickly lost. Yet even as he stood on his left leg, Yoon Tae-seung did not waver.
“Wow, whose student is this? Who taught him this well? Great form. Keep it up!”
The gym director continued training, mixing in vague exclamations that sounded halfway between praise for Tae-seung and for himself.
Sweat dripped from Tae-seung’s forehead, soaking his clothes, but there was no sign of fatigue. His breathing had become heavy, yet his posture remained steady and upright.
Even the director, who had years of coaching experience, was excited by Tae-seung’s unwavering spirit and pushed him harder. Those who had been jumping rope or hitting the sandbags began turning their heads one by one to watch.
‘So this was what people called talent.’
He had barely started, yet he was already drawing attention and admiration for his skill.
Talent was an abstract concept to Eun-sae since it could not be seen. To her, it was something you could live with or without.
But that was because she had never truly seen a talented person before. Watching Yoon Tae-seung now, she realized it with certainty. The thing shining so clearly even to her untrained eyes—this was talent.
***
The night sky was clear without a single cloud, and the moonlight shone brightly.
After visiting the gym that Yoon Tae-seung attended, the lingering awkwardness and distance she had once felt disappeared completely. She also felt reassured, as if she had been reminded that she was still Tae-seung’s closest friend. Their relationship had not changed at all since kindergarten or elementary school.
“You’re really good,” Eun-sae said offhandedly, feigning indifference.
Tae-seung lowered his gaze and rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger, embarrassed.
“When you were training with the director, everyone else was looking at you. Even the adults with all those muscles.”
“Ah… yeah.”
His lips twitched, showing his amusement. He could not say much, so he simply rubbed the back of his neck, making her laugh.
“But why mixed martial arts, of all things?”
She no longer sounded disappointed that he had quit taekwondo or switched to another sport. She was just curious. What made him choose something like that?
At her question, Tae-seung hesitated for quite a while. He licked his lips, opened his mouth as if to speak, closed it again, brushed his hair back, then bit his lower lip.
‘Why was it so difficult for him to say?’
Three seconds passed, but Eun-sae did not rush him. She figured it was simply a question that required more thought and waited patiently.
Just when she had almost forgotten what she had even asked, Tae-seung finally spoke.
“I want to get good at fighting.”
Eun-sae’s eyes widened in surprise. Someone who had never hit another kid before wanted to get good at fighting? That sounded more mischievous than she expected.
She turned to him with wide eyes and parted lips, and he quickly added,
“So I can protect the people I care about.”
“The people you care about? Who are they?”
This time, his answer came without hesitation.
“My parents, and yours too.”
“My mom and dad too? How thoughtful of you. That’s real filial piety right there.”
“And someday, my wife and kids.”
He was already thinking that far ahead. It was surprising that someone who hardly hung out with other girls already had plans for marriage.
“And… you too.”
Tae-seung’s last words pierced straight into Eun-sae’s heart.
“Me too?” she asked, pointing at herself.
To protect the people he cared about. To become strong. And one of those reasons… was her.
Eun-sae had never expected to hear something like that from him. The fact that she held such a meaningful place in his life made her chest tighten.
The dull throb in her heart felt like something she would remember for a very long time.
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