Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 120

First, Taehyun replied to the congratulatory messages one by one, starting with those from the people closest to him, but after sending about 30, he was exhausted and gave up. A picture had been posted on social media, apparently first by his agency, showing Taehyun getting up from a deep bow with tears streaming down his face. Of all the pictures to choose, why this one. He was embarrassed that a photo of a grown man crying was being spread all over the country for everyone to see, but it seemed to have moved many people’s hearts. Even the official Olympic account had a similar, but different photographer’s picture of him in a similar pose posted prominently as the best photo. The subtitle was <The Most Persistent Champion>.

‘Ughhhhh.’

Even though no one was looking at him, he was so flushed with embarrassment that he could not lift his head. No, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not like competing in the Olympics for the third time or fighting through an injury is that rare. He didn’t think it was something to be praised this much for. He couldn’t understand why the shame was all his to bear. Without looking any further, Taehyun closed the internet window. If I keep looking at this, I really won’t be able to stay sane. He couldn’t even drink alcohol because of the possibility of pregnancy, so he couldn’t take any more mental attacks.

Taehyun tried to turn his attention away from the embarrassing photo and started replying to the congratulations from his acquaintances, which were still pouring in in real time. When Taehyun replied, the acquaintances who received his reply would send new responses, so no matter how many greetings he sent, there was no end to it.

‘How long do I have to keep doing this….’

Just as he was feeling utterly exhausted and wanted to give up, the name he had been waiting for appeared on the screen.

Are you feeling okay?

9:32 AM

It was Sejin. Taehyun stared down at the screen, his ears perked up like a dog that heard the sound of a walk, and then abruptly pressed the caller’s number with his thumb. The profile page for the saved number appeared. Taehyun immediately pressed the edit button to enter the editing screen and then modified the saved name.

Fencing Joo Sejin

Fencing Joo Sejin

Joo Sejin

♡Joo Sejin

♡Joo Sejin♡

Then he suddenly felt like he was being too ridiculous, and his face burned. Ha…. Dating someone six years younger is really not easy. He felt like whatever he did would just look like a pathetic act from someone old enough to know better, so he quickly deleted the hearts and made a change.

Sejin-ie

But this also didn’t feel quite right, so he deleted it. And in the end, he left just one heart.

♡

Now he felt a little less embarrassed. What did Sejin have him saved as? He was suddenly curious. Should I ask him next time we meet? Whatever he saved it as, he thought it would look cute. He really was being ridiculous in all sorts of ways. Even though he was aware of it himself, he couldn’t control the silly smile that kept spreading across his face.

10:09 AM

Yeah. You really don’t have to worry. The swelling has gone down a lot too.

After sending the message to Sejin, he noticed the dozens of new congratulatory messages from acquaintances that had piled up in that short time. Taehyun busily moved his hands and started replying to the backlog of messages again. Eventually, he switched to his laptop and started typing on the keyboard, which made him much faster. He was most happy that he could finally receive congratulations instead of condolences.

Taehyun continued to handle the endlessly scrolling messages, his fingers starting to ache but his heart feeling light, and then ate the lunch an association staff member brought him. He tried to refuse, saying it was fine and they didn’t need to go out of their way to visit his room to take care of him, but the immediate requests for a photo and an autograph that followed made him realize what the man’s purpose was.

‘Um, if it’s okay, could I ask for just one picture?’

Of course. That’s not a difficult thing to do. Taehyun personally took the man’s phone in his own hand, framed the shot, and pressed the shutter button.

‘What is your name?’

‘I’m Kim Hyungyu. Ah, could I possibly ask for one more? My girlfriend is a fan of yours too, athlete-nim.’

‘Ah ah, yes yes, that’s fine.’

On a white piece of paper, he wrote ‘To Mr. Kim Hyungyu, thank you,’ and with the short phrase, he scribbled his familiar signature and handed it over. The man immediately took a picture of it. He was probably going to show it off to his acquaintances. Taehyun pulled at the corners of his mouth, thinking that no matter how many times he experienced this, it was still awkward.

‘I will take care of things myself starting from dinner, so you really don’t have to worry. I don’t think I’ll feel comfortable. I also have personal acquaintances to meet, so I will go out and handle it.’

When Taehyun naturally expressed his refusal, the staff member’s gaze went somewhere. Taehyun glanced in the direction the staff member was looking, saw his own leg wrapped tightly in a cast, and smiled awkwardly.

‘I’m really fine with lightweight crutches. You don’t have to worry.’

‘Still….’

In order to persuade the staff member, who seemed to have lingering attachments, Taehyun ended up having to speak on the phone with an association manager. After being dizzied for a moment by the first proper congratulations he had heard in nearly eight years, he politely expressed his refusal, saying that since there were no official schedules left besides the disbanding ceremony, the assistance from his agency was sufficient for his personal needs. He also added that anything more might be seen as preferential treatment, which was a concern.

‘You should head back now. You must have taken the time to come here, so you should return quickly.’

‘Yes, sir. Then I will see you again next time.’

After finally sending the staff member away, he was drained again. On top of that, for some reason, the man had a concerned look on his face as he left the room, which made him feel even more unsettled.

‘Ah, but athlete-nim, that…’

‘Yes?’

‘No, it’s nothing. I believe it’s all groundless talk. Please just remember that there are far more people cheering for you!’

What on earth was that about. What did he mean by groundless talk? Only then did Taehyun search his own name on internet communities and was shocked to find that an unimaginable rumor had swelled up like a river in the rainy season.

└ They say if you’re one degree of separation away in the entertainment industry, every celebrity has dated Sung Taehyun.

└ I heard he dated three girl group members at the same time.

└ They say he has ten omega f*** buddies alone.

└ I also saw a story that his ex-girlfriend got pregnant and he secretly told her to get an abortion.

Most people recognized that these were ridiculous jokes and said them in jest, but some people believed that there is no smoke without fire. They didn’t truly believe all of those absurd rumors, but for some reason, everyone was firmly convinced up to the point of assuming that since it was true that Taehyun was popular even among celebrities, he must have had promiscuous relationships with many people.

‘In the first place, I would have been the one to get pregnant.’

And it felt a bit unfair. Honestly, even just counting the number of people he had dated, he didn’t think it was above average. Doesn’t everyone date around that much by this age? He hadn’t just slept around casually with anyone, so he was honestly baffled as to why such a strange rumor had started. It was because just a year ago, when he had asked his agency to monitor things, there were no such ridiculous rumors.

‘So this means the rumor spread while I was so focused on preparing for the Olympics that I couldn’t pay any attention to public opinion….’

Taehyun adjusted the search results from within the last month to within the last three months and checked the pages one by one. It felt absurd to be searching for keywords like “Sung Taehyun f*** buddy,” “Sung Taehyun omega,” and “Sung Taehyun girlfriend” with his own hands, but he needed to check. He finally found the point when mentions of him as the ‘Emperor of the Night’ began to appear, and it was recent, less than a month ago. And it was during the period after he had arrived in LA to acclimate to the local environment.

‘…….’

Could it be that his secret meetings with Sejin had been discovered. He hadn’t been meticulous about hiding his meetings with Sejin because he didn’t think it was a situation that would arouse much suspicion. He had even told the junior who shared his room that there was someone he was interested in. But he couldn’t have been caught showing affection to Sejin in front of others. It was a mystery how a third party could have found out about their trysts, which had all taken place indoors, in private spaces closed off on all sides.

‘Then is it an inside job.’

It was possible that the manager wasn’t the only one within the agency who knew about his and Sejin’s relationship. Besides, Sejin would have his own circle of people, and with his personality, it was unlikely he didn’t have any enemies. Thinking this, Taehyun felt sorry for a moment, but it was an undeniable fact that Sejin had a personality that made enemies around him. However, to infer that someone had either peeked at Sejin’s phone or overheard a call, figured out their relationship, and then spread rumors about him to negatively affect Sejin… seemed like a stretch.