It was Tuesday afternoon. Jiheon finished his work early and tidied up his desk. Seungmyung poked his head out from behind a nearby partition.
“Heading out now, Mr. Jung?”
“Yes, see you later.”
“You don’t have to come back today. Just get us Gwon Jaekyung.”
“I’ll just come back and work through the night,” Jiheon said. Seungmyung burst out laughing.
Seungmyung had probably been joking, anyway, and Jiheon knew that. But he simply wasn’t in the right headspace.
“I’m heading out, sir,” he said to his superior before leaving the office.
He nearly choked on the thick summer air the moment he had stepped out of the building. This summer was expected to be hotter than average. July had just begun, and the temperature was already 34°C. Jiheon took a taxi right in front of the building.
When he mentioned the name of the hotel, the driver pulled away without even needing directions. Jiheon checked the time again and settled into his seat. The air conditioning quickly cooled his forearms, where his sleeves were rolled up. Jiheon turned to look outside the window.
He had come because he was told to— just a salaried employee, after all, with no time or reason to ask questions. Even so, he could hardly believe what was happening. His agency was actually going to have a meeting with people representing Gwon Jaekyung. Jaekyung, who had turned down every major agency without even granting them a single meeting, was now giving a chance to ProEdge—an agency barely five years old. Even more unbelievable was the fact that the reason seemed to be him.
After all, even ten years ago, their interactions had amounted to little more than an occasional hello in passing. That was why yesterday’s call had been such a surprise as well. He hadn’t expected Jaekyung’s mother to be so pleased to hear from him.
Of course, she had always been that way—far friendlier than her son, almost as if to make up for his blunt demeanor.
She had been especially warm toward Jiheon. If she so much as spotted him from afar, she had always waved to him welcomingly. Then she’d casually ask how he was doing and follow up with some bit of news Jiheon hadn’t even asked for. She would always wrap up the conversation the same way.
“I wish Jaekyung would grow up already and train with you, Jiheon. You have no idea how much he likes you. Did you know? He only came here because he saw you in the World Swimming Championships on TV and wanted to train at the same swimming center.”
Jiheon had heard those words at least twenty times. Oh, really? Jiheon would say each time, laughing. Back then, if anyone so much as poked him, he’d respond on autopilot, Oh, really? Because almost every parent of elementary and middle schoolers said the same thing, not just Jaekyung’s mother.
After Jiheon had risen to prominence with his medal at the World Swimming Championships, many children transferred to his swimming center. Though few went as far as moving to Ilsan[2] like Jaekyung did. Most simply made the drive, even if it was a bit far. Families who lived too far to commute regularly often arranged temporary living situations, such as leaving the child with a relative nearby.
Jaekyung’s mother, however, took the bold step of relocating her entire family to Ilsan. No one knew how Jaekyung’s father had taken it, but Jaekyung’s older brother, at least, seemed unhappy about it. Not only did he have to move from Seoul to Ilsan for his little brother, but he also had to transfer schools. The older brother was in middle school at the time—a turbulent age, to say the least. It was hard to imagine he’d appreciated how completely the family’s attention revolved around his younger brother.
The older brother mostly came to the swimming center after his school classes were over, so that he could ride home in his mother’s car after his little brother finished training. Jiheon saw the older brother on multiple occasions, sitting in the lounge and waiting for his mother and little brother. He didn’t look exactly like Jaekyung, but the resemblance was still noticeable. And he always wore a sullen expression as he stared at his tablet.
It always reminded Jiheon of his own younger sister. She had also been upset from time to time with their parents, who seemed to care only about Jiheon. Jiheon’s mother, unlike Jaekyung’s, hadn’t fussed over Jiheon excessively. She didn’t come by every day to pick Jiheon up like the other parents, and mostly communicated with the coach over the phone. Even so, his sister often felt left out—meals were prepared around his dietary needs, and his swim events always seemed to come first.
When Jiheon was younger, he couldn’t understand why she felt that way. Back then, he just thought his sister was overreacting. Their family wasn’t doing anything special—certainly not compared to the parents of other kids training to be athletes. But as he got older, he came to understand just how hard it was to be the parent of a child preparing for a professional athletic career. And with that understanding came the realization of how hurt his sister must have been back then.
Maybe that was why Jiheon always felt a pang of discomfort whenever he saw Jaekyung’s brother sitting alone in the lounge. It hit closer to home because Jaekyung’s older brother happened to be the same age as Jiheon’s sister. That was why he sometimes waved in passing and bought him drinks or fishcake bars at times. Eventually, he began to treat Jiheon like a real older brother. There were times when he wouldn’t stop talking, keeping Jiheon until the very last minute before training. Looking back, his friendly nature was clearly something he got from his mother.
The funny thing was, even though Jiheon had often spoken with Jaekyung’s family, he had exchanged hardly any words with Jaekyung himself. In fact, they had barely even said hello when they passed each other at the pool.
But that had more to do with Jaekyung than Jiheon. Jaekyung never greeted anyone at the swimming center, unless it was his coach. He always behaved as if his brother and Jiheon were invisible. It was no wonder Jiheon couldn’t bring himself to believe what Jaekyung’s mother said about Jaekyung liking Jiheon or coming to this swimming center because Jiheon trained here. If anything, Jaekyung seemed to regard Jiheon with indifference—almost like he was beneath notice.
That was why Jiheon was so surprised when, half a year later, he emptied out his locker and was just leaving the swimming center, only to find Jaekyung had followed him and wanted to talk.