Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 14

“Great work today, Coach. See you tomorrow.”

Having changed back into training clothes with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, Taehyun looked every bit like a college student. He was a bit old for a college student now, but his casually tousled yet stylish hair and sharp, vibrant eyes still drew attention. It felt like such a waste for someone at the prime age for dating and enjoying youth to spend all day sweating in a gym.

But what could be done? Sacrificing youth for the spotlight and the glory of a champion was the fate of all elite athletes. Coach Im sighed as he watched Taehyun’s retreating figure leave the training room, hoping that his efforts would bear fruit.

Meanwhile, Taehyun, having exited the training room, was equally unsettled. The real headache-inducing issues were just beginning. Figuring out how to handle An Jimin was a drop in the bucket compared to this.

“…….”

First, a shower. Heading straight to the shower room, Taehyun locked the door of a single-stall shower and let cold water pour over his head, unable to hide his troubled thoughts as he bit his lip repeatedly. But was that guy really okay? Was he always sexually responsive to men, or was it because Taehyun was an omega? He couldn’t tell. Amid the confusion, Taehyun tried his best to interpret the situation positively. Considering his own messy romantic history, Sejin might actually be the best option. After all, Sejin was the one guy who hadn’t reached out even once after Taehyun cut off all contact and went silent.

Looking back on Taehyun’s past relationships, not a single one had ended well. The best case was probably the one who dumped him first, saying, “You make your partner too anxious.” In every instance, his few relationships began with the other person confessing their feelings first, and Taehyun’s fault was failing to reject people who openly liked him and seemed decent enough to date. Thinking it wasn’t about eternal love and that a light relationship would be fine, he’d accepted their feelings readily, but the relationships were never smooth.

If he had realized that their confessions were essentially about wanting public validation that “this amazing person loved by everyone” was exclusively theirs, those tragedies might have been avoided. Taehyun’s kind nature wasn’t reserved for just one person. Constantly prioritizing his teammates over himself and stepping up for tedious tasks made his partners anxious. They said they couldn’t distinguish between the casual kindness he showed others and the affection he gave them. The only exclusive privilege they had was in the bedroom, and even there, his tendency to “accommodate” his partner was so pronounced that it left them feeling miserable.

“Do you even really love me?”

Whenever his partners finally threw up their hands, berated him, and left, Taehyun felt a bit wronged. They couldn’t have been unaware from the start, he thought. They were the ones who’d confidently claimed they could change him, not Taehyun. He believed he’d been a more devoted partner than most, despite making them anxious with his kindness to everyone, but being exclusively kind to just one person was impossibly difficult.

Growing up in a dysfunctional household, how could he possibly manage relationships properly? Unlike his belief that even messy relationships would eventually resolve once they ended, the world didn’t unfold as Taehyun expected.

“Hey! Sung Taehyun! You think you’re so great, huh!?”

Some showed up drunk in the middle of the night, causing a scene in front of his house, or begged for another chance in front of everyone, claiming they’d made a mistake. Others, having dated and parted coolly, thought they could sleep together again whenever the mood struck, as if nothing had changed. Did they think he was some worn-out rag? He didn’t attach grand moral significance to sex, but that didn’t mean he slept with just anyone. His boundaries for rejecting people were clear, as were the lines for exposing his vulnerabilities to others, so casually hooking up and parting ways didn’t suit his temperament.

Yet here he was, about to do something more worn-out than anyone, which was utterly hypocritical. That’s why, when he asked the agency to look into alpha athletes considering a mating partner, he insisted on strict confidentiality about his identity. If his exes caught wind of it, they’d surely mock him for acting so principled while secretly seeking a sex partner.

In comparison to those messy exes, Sejin was relatively reassuring. Even if they returned to being nothing to each other after the Olympics, it felt like they could act as if nothing had happened. Sejin wasn’t the type to cling desperately to someone, and given how well he’d managed after their contact had been cut off, he was unlikely to become fixated just because some attachment developed.

They hadn’t even had a proper goodbye. Up until right before the competition, Sejin had cheered him on, but after Taehyun botched the event and went silent, Sejin hadn’t reached out through any possible channel. That suggested he didn’t dwell on severed ties. Unlike Taehyun, who’d been flustered when they unexpectedly met again at the hotel, Sejin’s calm demeanor was also reassuring.

Maybe Taehyun hadn’t been that important to him in the first place. Whether Taehyun was around or not, it didn’t seem to matter much, and Sejin appeared to have no lingering attachment. A fleeting sense of hurt crossed Taehyun’s mind—how could Sejin be so detached when Taehyun had looked out for him, treating him like someone he’d just met again? But regardless, those qualities made Sejin an ideal mating partner.

‘Well… alright, let’s think positively.’

Whatever Sejin wanted, it didn’t seem to be Taehyun himself, and that was enough. As Taehyun finished his shower and stepped out of the shower room, he unfortunately ran into An Jimin, who was poking his head out of the intensive training room, having just finished his own session.

“Oh, hyung…”

Taehyun gave a quick wave in lieu of a greeting and strode past down the hallway toward the parking lot, not giving Jimin a chance to start a conversation. He’d head home, eat a quick meal from his diet plan, and go. The thought of shoving yet another tiresome diet menu down his throat already made him feel queasy.

‘Once summer’s over, I’m done with this damn chicken breast.’

Taehyun mentally counted how many pepper-flavored chicken breasts were left in his freezer and turned the steering wheel to exit the parking lot. Would things have been better if he had any talent, interest, or even a passing curiosity for cooking? His culinary skills were hopelessly abysmal. Unpacking food and heating it in the microwave according to a timer, or making instant ramen, was the extent of his cooking prowess. People advised that following a recipe and keeping the heat at medium-low would prevent inedible results, but no matter how precisely he followed instructions, the outcome was always bizarre.

Still, he should at least eat properly. He’d tried buying meal kits from a popular diet site at first, but they didn’t quite meet the nutritional and caloric needs of a professional athlete, making it impossible to escape the frozen chicken breast. Just wait until I retire, he thought. I’ll go beyond delivery app VIP to VVVIP. Blessed with a physique that converted everything he ate into muscle—a boon for an athlete—Taehyun had lived his entire life under strict dietary restrictions.

People often think having a body that builds muscle easily is a good thing, don’t they? But as he’d said time and again, that’s only a general assumption and doesn’t apply to every sport. Sports are categorized in various ways, but diet is dictated by the physical demands of each event. Long-distance marathoners or swimmers, who rely on high-intensity cardio, live lives far removed from dietary restrictions. For them, calories are akin to bullets, an essential energy source. The same goes for sports like weightlifting or throwing events, which require explosive strength. So which sports require living in lockstep with strict dietary limits? Those with weight class restrictions are a prime example.

In men’s taekwondo, Taehyun’s sport, athletes are divided into four weight classes: -58kg, -68kg, -80kg, and +80kg. Taehyun competed in the -80kg class, but since he normally maintained a weight in the high 70s, he constantly lived with the risk of exceeding his weight class. Those unfamiliar with the sport might ask why he didn’t just diet to stay in the low 70s or bulk up to the over-80kg class, but… it wasn’t that simple.