Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 114

If he did not hold on tight to his consciousness, his vision was so dizzy he felt like he would collapse right away. While his vision flickered like a broken light bulb, the opponent’s foot came striking right in front of his chin. Even as his consciousness wavered, the things that his body had learned like a habit for nearly twenty years were not useless, as his body moved first.

He was reaching the limit of how long he could hold on like this. He had no intention of making it all the way to the finals only to show a pathetic sight and go down. He had to do something, he had to do something somehow…. Taehyun narrowed his eyes to focus his blurring vision. It was an opponent he had beaten without difficulty when he was in perfect condition. He already knew which direction was weak, what his specialty was, and what kind of patterns he preferred.

The problem was… that even though his head knew where the best place to break through was, his body did not follow properly. Each and every step was as heavy as if his trouser legs were being held. If he tried to score points by pecking away vaguely, there was a high probability that he would end up giving away a stream of points in succession instead. Because his current self could not display the same quick evasion as usual. In that case, to settle the match, he needed a way to end the game in one fell swoop. He had just finished the first round and entered the beginning of the second round, and honestly, he was not confident he could last until the third round.

‘When was the last time… there was a KO loss in the Olympics?’

KO losses in the main competition had disappeared since 2010. With the introduction of electronic protectors, the overall game dynamics had changed significantly, and athletes had also changed their tactics to a direction of stably checking the opponent and steadily accumulating points rather than showcasing big, flashy techniques. It was because focusing on defense was more advantageous for entering the medal contention than aiming for one big shot and losing a series of points. However, with the score already trailing at 3 to 7 and his stamina only set to decline further, clinging to the existing tactics would only lead to a predictable result.

If I’m going to lose anyway, I might as well lose in style. Whether the plan failed or succeeded, this was the end. Taehyun flinched, stepped back to create distance from the opposing athlete, and lowered his center of gravity again. As Taehyun gave up the attack as if running away and took a defensive stance, the opposing athlete also stared at Taehyun from a distance to gauge his condition one last time. He already seemed half-confident of victory, as the tension had left his instep. It was a strange feeling. To be treated not as a dangerous target to be most cautious of and on guard against in the arena.

‘Should I be grateful, rather?’

For Taehyun, who had to aim for a single shot by taking advantage of his opponent’s carelessness, he could only be thankful. That side would be hoping for the match to end with as few unexpected events as possible while dragging out the time like this. Taehyun carefully corrected his stance again. Taking that opportunity, the opposing athlete approached to push Taehyun completely out of the line. He must be hoping that I would lose my balance and fall out of the line while stepping back to create distance as if I were turning tail. The moment the opposing athlete finally came close, Taehyun, instead of pulling his body back, leaned forward and advanced. The opposing athlete, who had not expected Taehyun to suddenly come forward, hurriedly turned around. That short period of a few seconds began to flow slowly like a kaleidoscope.

Taehyun recalled a strange story he had heard from a sunbae athlete who had retired quite a long time ago.

‘Hey, Taehyun-ah. You know, when you’re living as an athlete. At a certain moment, you get that thought. Ah, I’m done now. I’ve done everything I needed to do. Now I can really die. And then a door just opens. That’s the moment when you can bring out the best you can do. After tasting that, how could there be any more lingering attachments? I don’t have any more attachments like that now.’

He was right. This was a moment like a fate that could not be resisted. It was a dangerous attempt, no different from a gamble, but he felt like he had to do it. He could not endure without trying, even if it would become an ugly struggle if he failed. This was Taehyun’s ‘that moment’. It felt like he had run for nearly twenty years for these few seconds when this door opened.

In the instant the gazes of the chased and the chaser crossed in reverse, before the opposing athlete’s body could even turn following his head, Taehyun planted his right foot firmly on the ground and kicked his left foot straight up. Crack, a sound of something crumpling was heard. The kick, which had rotational force that was momentarily exploded after crouching the whole body against the fast speed of kicking up against gravity, hit the opposing athlete’s chin squarely. Due to the powerful recoil, the headgear was ripped off and flew away, landing far away in front of the spectator seats. Taehyun also lost his center of gravity and was slammed to the floor as if collapsing. As he barely managed to get his body up, he saw the opposing athlete lying completely flat on the floor.

The referee and officials rushed over and surrounded the opposing athlete, who could no longer move and had collapsed. As the numbers echoing in the arena decreased one by one, the venue became as quiet as if cold water had been thrown over it. And finally, when the last count of the 10 seconds that felt like 10 hours ended and the referee fully extended his arm to point at the winner, a thunderous roar erupted at the same time, as if it would bring down the building. It was a result that no one had expected.

It was a situation where no one had doubted that if there was a KO victory in this match, the opposing athlete would naturally take it, so it was only natural for a dramatic reaction to erupt. Taehyun, who had barely confirmed his victory through the cheers from the audience seats, tried to lift his head, and only then did his surroundings, which had only looked blurry, come into view.

His held breath burst out, and along with the cheers that echoed as if his head would break, a camera approached Taehyun. He heard the excited commentators shouting something, but he could not properly understand what they were saying. Taehyun squeezed out his remaining strength to wave his hand at the camera, then received a national flag from an official who approached him and limped his way to where he needed to go. The place where Taehyun finally stood was in front of the spectator seats where the cheering squad that had flown a long distance from his home country was seated.

Our athlete Sung Taehyun must have had a hard time because of his injury, but he did a really, really great job. The proud national representative of the Republic of Korea! Today, he proudly seizes victory like this!

In the spectator seats that he could finally look up at with pride, the seats were packed with dark-haired spectators. Finally seeing the vigorously waving national flag, Taehyun knelt down and bowed. It was the most brilliant tribute he could offer to the people who had believed in him and cheered him on until now.

Do you see this? It’s such a beautiful tear. It’s a moment of overwhelming emotion as he concludes his long athletic career. He really did a great job until the very end.

Taehyun did not even know that he himself was crying. He had only just realized it. How much he loved Taekwondo, this uniform, this moment. He could only know after the burden that had been heavily pressing down on his shoulders was gone. He loved this moment to the point where it was laughable that he had even doubted himself. This is really the end now. This would be the last time he would hear these cheers of victory. He was standing on the last step of a long, long journey. Taehyun quietly knelt down and closed his eyes. This moment, when everyone was applauding, was the time for Taehyun to satisfyingly step down from the very bottom step of the staircase.

🤺

After the match result was officially declared, he could not remember anything about how time had passed, as if the memory had been erased. He was hurriedly surrounded by medical staff, received temporary treatment, composed himself to stand on the podium, and then, without any further delay, was transported to the hospital. After frantically getting X-rays and finishing various tests, it was already past midnight.

“You’re going straight back to the accommodation now, right? It’s late, so don’t wander around in that state and get some rest, please. You really look like you’re going to collapse, so it’s scary.”

At the coach’s advice, Taehyun finally realized what he had forgotten and looked for his cell phone to check the time. But the cell phone was nowhere to be seen. As Taehyun fumbled through his pockets with a dumbfounded expression and looked around, the head coach took out the cell phone he had kept separately and handed it to him.

“I thought you might lose it when you went in for the X-ray earlier, so I kept it for you. Call your mother and hurry up and rest.”

“Ah.”

Taehyun made a stupid sound and took the cell phone. 00:47. The clock situated in the center of the lock screen felt unreal. Had that much time already passed? The sun had set at some point, but he was surprised because he had not expected it to be this late at night. Taehyun, who was about to unlock the screen, quickly came to his senses again and bowed his head to the head coach to express his thanks.