Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 122

After a long wait, as Sejin entered the stadium, the chat window began to scroll up at a crazy speed. There was no time to read any of the words. It’s this fast? The moment Taehyun was stunned with surprise, the sound of Sejin’s scoring signal rang out.

[8:8]

And Sejin pressed his opponent without giving him or the spectators a moment to rest. The rule was that the next turn would go back to the youngest member, so it seemed he intended to widen the score gap as much as possible before that. 9:8, 10:9, 11:9, and when the three minutes finally ended, the score had changed to 12:9. He alone had scored 5 points in 3 minutes, reversing the atmosphere of both the team and the chat window.

-Who stans Joo Sejin for his face? Who stans Joo Sejin for his face? Who stans Joo Sejin for his face? Who stans Joo Sejin for his face…

-I like him cause he’s good lol I like him cause he’s good lol I like him cause he’s good lol I like him cause he’s good…

-The ♡♡s who call Joo Sejin a jerk, hang your heads. You guys have neither the face nor the skills nor the manner…

-Aah—. He is a 『God』—.

-His performance is just so overwhelming I have nothing to say hahahahahahaha

-Wow he’s really ♡♡good

The score gap did narrow again shortly after, but the second and third fencers defended successfully, so when it was Sejin’s second turn, South Korea was ahead by 1 point. And in his second turn, Sejin scored another 6 points. Even though he gave up 3 points to his opponent, the score gap was widening more and more.

[27:23]

Now, each player had one chance left. As Sejin, who had finished his second round, took off his mask and wiped away the sweat that had trickled inside, the chat window started scrolling rapidly again.

-He’s just letting the holy water go to waste like that

-Please preserve him as a cultural asset

-How can every single shot, just taken randomly by a broadcast camera, look like it’s from a photoshoot

-holy… sexy…

-OMG how do you do that with the letters?

After a short break, the final third of the match finally began. The opposing team was no pushover either, and they pushed the youngest fencer at a frightening speed to overcome the widened score gap. As the point difference closed in an instant, the chat window began to fill with malicious comments again, so Taehyun closed it once more.

[28:26]

After the two subsequent fencers, the moment it was Sejin’s turn again. Seeing the dismal expression on the opposing team’s coach’s face, Taehyun was certain of victory. And the result was as he had expected.

[37:32]

With five seconds left in the match, the opposing fencer took off his mask first and offered Sejin a handshake. He had judged that it was meaningless to continue the match any longer. He was accepting defeat with a rather calm face.

‘Oh….’

For Taehyun, who had only ever competed in matches where every last minute and second was used unless one of them was knocked out, it was a curious custom. The match ended like that, and Sejin, as if accustomed to it, took off his mask, finished the greeting with his opponent with minimal contact, and accepted the towel a staff member gave him. His sweat-drenched hair stuck to his forehead, giving him a strangely seductive look. It seemed Taehyun wasn’t the only one who felt that way, as a stream of compliments bordering on sexual harassment poured into the chat again. Watching it quietly, he felt an indescribable, subtle emotion. It was a little different from… jealousy. It was closer to a childish impulse to quickly mark him as his own and declare it.

-He’s my husband, say hello. He’s my husband, say hello. He’s my husband, say hello. He’s my husband…

Seeing the same kind of fawning comment might have made him feel even stranger. No, he’s not. He’s my husband. We aren’t married yet, but. We’ve pretty much talked about doing it. Taehyun furtively checked once more that the format didn’t expose the poster’s username, then carefully typed in the chat.

• He’s my husband, you know｜

However, Taehyun’s chat was ultimately never sent. The live broadcast ended, causing the chat window to close automatically.

“Ah!”

Taehyun, annoyed and dumbfounded, immediately left Sejin a text message. It was a childishly petty jealousy, but it was a privilege only a ‘real’ husband, albeit a prospective one, could enjoy.

Afternoon 3:45

I saw you won

Afternoon 3:45

Congratulations

And he was startled by the reply that came back faster than expected.

(Photo)

Afternoon 3:49

He checked what was sent and saw it was a selfie taken inside the stadium. He had improved a lot… but… he still couldn’t shake the impression of a mugshot, as if he had been trained to place his own face in the center of the screen and press ON.

‘And the angle… is strangely bad….’

But the face in the picture was cute, so it was forgiven. So what if he’s not good at taking selfies. The subject is cute. Taehyun let out a silly laugh and replied.

Afternoon 3:51

Fighting!

Afternoon 3:51

I’ll definitely come to see your next match

The next match was the individual semi-finals, he thought. He knew Sejin would do well on his own, as he always believed, but he still wanted to go and cheer him on in person. It was a leisure only those who had finished all their schedules could enjoy.

It’s okay if you don’t come

Afternoon 3:52

You need to get better soon, so get plenty of rest

Afternoon 3:52

A reply came from Sejin, which may or may not have been sincere, but it couldn’t influence Taehyun’s decision. For now, it seemed better to rest at home today. Taehyun first staggered up to wash his face and ordered delivery through an app he had pre-registered an account for. The greasy hamburger with two large patties and three slices of cheese, along with the large-sized french fries, wasn’t as great as he had expected. He found it strange why it had looked so delicious.

‘…….’

Taehyun popped the medicine he had received temporarily into his mouth full of water and was about to swallow when he abruptly stopped his hand. Right. Shouldn’t he be careful about taking medicine? He quickly searched for the names of the prescribed drugs on a portal site. Fortunately, none of the drugs had a prominent warning that pregnant individuals shouldn’t take them, so he swallowed the medicine with his suspicions slightly allayed. Once he had filled his stomach, the more than half-eaten food left behind felt unsettling. It felt a bit wasteful to throw it away immediately, so he pecked at the now cold french fries for a bit before stopping. Somehow… he thought he would be able to devour all sorts of things with a refreshed mind after everything was over, but it felt different from what he had imagined.

He got up from his seat and connected his phone to the TV screen, browsing through an OTT platform. A flood of new seasons of series he hadn’t seen came out. Taehyun kept flicking through the first few minutes of various series before playing a third-rate comedy movie that was released about three years ago, which he hadn’t been able to watch because his schedule didn’t allow for it due to preparations for an international competition. The movie, which he would have watched while chuckling without much thought in the past, was strangely not funny at all. The corners of his mouth went up for less than five minutes in total. After enduring the nearly two-hour runtime while stifling yawn after yawn, a photo had arrived from Sejin.

(Photo)

Afternoon 7:31

It was a photo taken at the athletes’ village cafeteria, which was set up buffet-style, with a food tray in front of him, likely his dinner menu for the day. Ah, that looks delicious. Perhaps because of his unsatisfying meal a little while ago, the grass looked greener on the other side. Maybe I should have just said I’d stay in the athletes’ village. But at the point he requested to leave, the assigned dorm would have already been released from his allocation. Getting reassigned would be another hassle, so he had no choice but to accept the consequences of his own decision. At that time, it had seemed like the better option.

Afternoon 7:33

The menu looks good

Afternoon 7:33

Was it good?

When Taehyun sent a casual reply, Sejin responded right away.

It wasn’t very good

Afternoon 7:35

Since Taehyun had not been there for the meal, it was a statement whose truth he couldn’t verify. I should have eaten with him at least once. It wouldn’t have been easy to match our schedules, but it wouldn’t have been impossible. To think he was so anxious about his pheromone levels rising back then, and now he was regretting it. Taehyun was about to jokingly send Sejin the same regret that had just crossed his mind, but he stopped. What’s past is past. Regretting it wouldn’t change anything. Instead, he sent Sejin words of encouragement.

Afternoon 7:36

You have qualifiers tomorrow too, right?

A reply arrived quickly from Sejin.

Yes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon

Afternoon 7:37

The morning one is the team event and the afternoon one is the individual event, was that it? Taehyun silently nodded.

Afternoon 7:38

Fighting

Afternoon 7:38

Do well. Though I know you will

Then, a cat emoticon that was strangely fitting yet unfitting flew over. It was an emoticon of a cat fidgeting with its hands and nodding its head. Taehyun burst out laughing by himself, phuhat, and turned off the screen with satisfaction.