NOVEL NEXT Chapter 71
Before the alarm even went off, I was up like a soldier at 6:50 AM sharp.
I jumped out of bed and stretched for about 10 minutes.
Then I splashed some water on my face, shoved a cap on my head, and headed outside.
“Breeeeath.”
The smell of dawn tickled my nose, and the damp leaves whispered tales of yesterday’s weather.
“Phew, time to go.”
Beep beep!
Then came the start of interval running, accompanied by my alarm blaring.
It was the new routine I crafted after deciding to prepare for a boxing tournament.
“No matter how much talent I’ve gained, I need to keep my head in the game.”
Sure, [Sims – The Real Life] is a cheat code, but I can’t just lounge under a persimmon tree and let the fruit fall into my mouth.
I had to continuously push away that rotten mentality with consistent effort.
Huff huff.
With each step I took, memories of my past life bubbled up as I gasped for air while running.
“I sprinted like this back then too.”
Those were the days when I really hated being stuck at home.
Back when I found it unbearable to be alone.
I even avoided facing people.
I remember I used to cover myself up completely and just run every single day.
Maybe that’s why I can run so well now – thanks to those times.
After somewhat glamorizing my past, I wrapped up my run, took a shower, devoured breakfast, and leisurely relaxed at home before setting out for a post-meal stroll.
“…When did they put this up?”
As I headed toward the school, the banner caught my eye.
[Shinbit Middle School’s Pride! Ten Million Actor Kim Donghu!]
Even though it was still winter break, the banner had changed.
“They decided to use me as the face of the school, huh?”
I didn’t feel bad or anything.
In fact, it was such a new and pleasant experience since I’d never been treated this way before.
“Ahem.”
After briefly witnessing the new social murder scene at the school gate, I continued my laid-back day.
“The Golden Bell is in March, and the boxing tournament is in May.”
Considering it was the end of January, I had about a month to prepare.
“I heard they’d have fan meetings if the ratings hit over 40%.”
MNC had promised various specials if they exceeded the 40% mark.
So they really wanted to break through that barrier, huh?
“Easily doable.”
When I checked the script, the rating next to [Eclipse] was an A.
From what I’d seen so far, dramas seemed to have a 30% B rating and 40% A rating.
“In movies, A hits ten million, while B… still a mystery to me.”
I’d never seen a commercial film with a B rating, so it was tough to gauge its success.
But considering that the short film rated B, [Hero], won four awards for mise-en-scène, it could mean that an A-rated short might reach wider audiences.
“Maybe it’ll become a well-known movie on OTT platforms later.”
Lost in these thoughts, I suddenly…
“Donghu, could you spar with me next week?”
“I feel like if it’s just us two, the size difference will mess with my rhythm.”
“We were supposed to do it in April, but I think doing it once more early wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“What do you think?”
“Of course, you can decline if you don’t want to; I was just wondering… hehe;;;”
Why does our coach turn into a different person just by texting on KakaoTalk?
He looks like a shark, making it so no one dares to talk to him…
“I’ll do it.”
“Really?”
“Thank you so much…”
“…”
I was getting used to the fact that his online and offline personas are completely different.
“Right, you said you’re entering a boxing competition?”
“I just woke up this morning and seriously thought about it.”
“I’ll be your manager!”
With impeccable timing, Ye-rim’s text popped up.
My manager? What does that even mean?
+++++
Time passed quickly, and it was the day before the scheduled sparring.
Kim Donghu’s sparring partner, Kim San-soo, was lightly warming up at the gym.
Bang! Bang! Bam! Puck!
As soon as the pads appeared, his fists connected with astonishing speed.
He wasn’t called a promising prospect for nothing.
With a relaxed face, Kim San-soo stretched out his punches.
Ding!
Then came the end-of-round bell.
Taking a leisurely breath, Kim San-soo finally spoke.
“How do we smash that guy, Kim Donghu, tomorrow?”
“It’s just sparring, what do you mean by smash? You’re not thinking weird things, are you?”
“Hey, how can you think weird things in sparring?”
His shining skills were inversely proportional to his character.
“I was just thinking of making a few scratches on that pretty face of his.”
His personality was definitely on the opposite spectrum of his ability.
“Hey, don’t you know his fanbase? You could get killed.”
“Kill? They can’t even talk back in front of him.”
“You really have no fear, do you? Do you know the ratings from this solar eclipse?”
“I didn’t watch it, so I wouldn’t know.”
“36%! Do you know how many people are watching these days? You better be careful.”
“But you managed to set this sparring date for me, so thanks for that.”
Well, it’s because I was afraid you’d cause trouble if I didn’t.
The coach furrowed his brow, suddenly regretting that day.
“Did I regret suggesting this?”
Sparring isn’t something you do often, but it’s good to do it regularly.
You can only gain actual combat experience from practice.
In that sense, objectively speaking, the sparring between Kim San-soo and Kim Donghu was pretty ideal.
“It seems like their skills are close, and their builds match fairly well.”
That’s why he had intentionally asked Coach Baek Sang-ha to set this up.
He never thought they would hide something like that.
He had always shown some signs of being a jerk, but not to this extent.
“I’d like to cancel if I could, but it would be a bit silly to do that the day before.”
If something happens during the sparring, he could always step in.
“Why not just intervene before?”
“I thought there were no problems.”
“But unlike the pure thoughts of the director…”
“Kim San-soo’s head was filled with jealousy.”
“If we’d met in school, I wouldn’t have been able to talk to him, just someone to scam money from. And now he’s flaunting himself because of some lucky break.”
“On top of that…”
“‘How dare you touch my junior? I’ll teach you how small this world really is.'”
“It wasn’t just simple anger; deep-seated grudges were entangled.”
“In everyone’s forgotten memories, there was Park Seok-gu, the top of Sinbit Middle School, who vomited right after being hit by Kim Dong-hu.”
“Now he was going to pay back the punishment for hitting his well-behaved junior harshly.”
“‘I’ll definitely see you tomorrow.'”
“Kim Dong-hu getting punched tomorrow was something I looked forward to immensely.”
++++++
“Yay, Dong-hu!”
“Whoa!”
“Suddenly, I hear this cheerful voice followed by a warm back hug. I couldn’t help but feel flustered since I knew who it was.”
“…You actually came?”
“Of course I came! Am I going to pretend? I’m your manager now!”
“I just didn’t think you’d really come… I didn’t even imagine it.”
“Well, I told you where it was and all, right?”
“I didn’t really have any reason to refuse…”
“But, sorry, could we ease up on this back hug?”
“Kim Dong-hu couldn’t bring himself to say that.”
“Somehow…”
“Something squishy,”
“felt very clearly touching me, but my adolescent heart firmly rejected it.”
“Anyway, since I’m going to join your agency, isn’t this okay? We’re going to keep seeing each other, right?”
“We’re going to school together too!”
“Ah, school too.”
“Right, Ye-rim also said she was coming to Daejong High.”
“But then next year, will I be seeing Ye-rim, Su-Jin, and even Jae-rin together at the same school?”
“Why do I feel like that shouldn’t happen?”
“I get this feeling that if all three of them meet at the same spot, something big is going to happen.”
“But that worry was short-lived.”
“Oh, everyone’s here. Can we leave right away?”
“Director Baek Sang-ha showed up driving.”
“Our gym doesn’t have a cage or a ring, so we had to move to the opponent’s gym.”
“We quickly hopped into the car and soon headed toward the gym where the sparring partners were waiting.”
“Just a quick greeting, and Dong-hu will warm up right away; I’ll talk a bit too.”
“Yes.”
“The gym we entered felt strange since it was definitely my first time there.”
“It was empty, probably because sparring was so early in the morning, and it really felt like a space designed just for sparring.”
“Wow, I can see all the famous faces I’ve seen on TV here. Nice to meet you. I’m Director Geum-jin.”
“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Kim Dong-hu.”
“I’m Shin Ye-rim, Kim Dong-hu’s manager. Looking forward to working with you!”
“You already have a manager? Must be different when you’re an actor.”
“Even if we learn differently, what’s the difference?”
Haha.
After a brief playful exchange,
As soon as the greetings ended, I headed straight toward the punching bag to warm up.
And at that moment, words came out as if they were waiting for me.
“So you’re Kim Donghu?”
“Huh?”
“I’m your sparring partner for today, Kim San-soo.”
“Oh… Nice to meet you.”
With a cocky tone and a deliberately crooked stance.
I wanted to look down on him, but I couldn’t because of the height difference.
It was a clear situation where he was trying to pick a fight.
But for some reason, this situation felt eerily familiar.
‘When did I experience this?’
Why does that Kim San-soo feel so familiar?
“You brought a girl for sparring? What are you going to do if you get embarrassed and humiliated?”
A one-sided provocation.
“Excuse me, isn’t that really rude for a first meeting?”
“Hey, you shut your mouth, or do you want to die? You’re nothing.”
His attitude toward people around me was outrageous.
“I heard you were the manager earlier, but that’s not true, right? You’re this, aren’t you?”
Kim San-soo expressed “this” with his hand.
He made a fist, stuck his thumb between his index and middle fingers, and wiggled his thumb.
With such explicit expression, Ye-rim couldn’t say a word.
The way he bullied weaker people just because he was a bit stronger.
‘Ah, I remember.’
Park whatever-his-name-is.
He was just like that guy.
As soon as I thought that, my mind became clear.
Normally, I would feel offended by such a low-level provocation from someone, but the moment I felt he was similar to Park whatever-his-name-is, a solution immediately came to mind.
“Shall we skip the warm-up and just go for it?”
Originally, I intended to go easy on him.
Even though it’s sparring, I was aware of the talent that resided in my body, so I was planning to respect my opponent and take it easy.
But if he’s the same type as Park whatever-his-name-is, then there was no need for that at all.
I’ve been feeling restless lately anyway.
‘Perfect timing.’
It was just right to have a good place to release that tension.
Isn’t this also the meaning of [Sims – The Real Life]?
“You want to go now? Without warming up?”
But when I actually suggested it, Kim San-soo looked a bit flustered.
This is where you sprinkle a bit of magical language.
“Yeah, but if you’re scared, you can warm up a bit more.”
“Hey, let’s do this now, or you’re really gonna regret it.”
Guess this trick really works.