Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 92

“Ah… well….”

Why can’t he just say it. Sejin was so frustrated he felt like he would explode.

“What is it. Did something serious happen?”

Out of frustration, he asked again in an urgent tone as if he were about to snap at him again, and Hoyong let out a long sigh, haaah, then finally took Sejin aside to a place where there were no reporters and began to explain.

“Um…. It seems Taehyun was having a really hard time because of the injury. I knew he was the type to not show it because he hates burdening others, but it seems the pressure was severe. He said he wants to focus solely on treatment for the time being, and that it will be difficult to contact him for a while. We’re frustrated too because we can’t get a hold of him.”

Only then did Sejin realize that Taehyun had intentionally kept his phone off, not for reasons like being on a flight. Just how difficult was it. He was worried, wondering how overwhelming it must be for him to not even answer calls from his agency. It was frustrating that he did not know anything about his current situation, but he also could not even fathom what a difficult time that solid person was going through.

“I have to show them properly this time, too.”

Although he had said it with a smile, anyone with a bit of sense could tell that Taehyun was feeling quite a bit of pressure about his Olympic results. But seeing how well he had done so far, it was unlikely that Taehyun would suddenly stumble at the Olympics. And since Taehyun had returned as a star athlete this time, public interest was high, so it would be difficult for the judges to carelessly stir up judging controversies either. He never dreamed that thinking so complacently would lead to this result. The same went for Sejin.

What should I say to console him? That he’s still young, so if he works hard on rehabilitation, he might be able to seize the next opportunity? In four years, Taehyun would be twenty-eight. That was the age when most athletes begin to feel the difference with their juniors in their early twenties and either prepare for or decide on retirement.

It was not a simple matter of skill. Physical issues could be overcome with a difference in experience, but a longer athletic career also meant that the time for various other variables to arise also lengthened. In the meantime, new rookies could emerge, or regulations could change due to internal changes in organizations like associations or federations. To nonchalantly promise the next opportunity, the age of twenty-four was an age that was difficult to call suitable.

“……”

Therefore, it was clear that whatever Sejin, who had already achieved the greatest accomplishment as an athlete at the mere age of eighteen, said would seem like deceit. But in the first place, he could only offer those words of comfort if he could even get in touch. For several weeks after that, the message that the phone was turned off repeated over and over, and then a short while later, it was replaced by a voice saying that this line had been suspended.

Hoyong, for his part, was in an uproar, frustrated that he could not get in touch either, while the fencing association, for its part, dragged Sejin around to utilize the young medalist, whose skills were of course proven and who possessed the appearance of an insane star, as a source of income. Sejin, who was pushed into attending several events hosted by the association, found everything to be just annoying.

“Wow, I’ve heard a lot about you, but as expected, you look even better in person than on screen. I seriously thought you were from some idol group, you know?”

“Joo Sejin-nim, would it be possible to have a one-on-one interview, just once?”

“Could I ask for just one photo!? I’m a really huge fan!”

“Hello, Sejin-nim. We’re from K Broadcasting. Could we have a word with you separately for a moment?”

Everywhere he went, people swarmed him. From all over, they tried to act friendly to make Sejin a star and to rake in money by the handful. To Sejin, all those attempts were just disgusting and bothersome. What do you know about me to keep acting so friendly? He kept getting on edge and angry. His attitude towards those around him remained consistent, but he seemed more sharp-tongued than usual, to the point that Seoyoung eventually said something.

“If you’re going to walk around scowling like that and making others feel uncomfortable, then don’t come out. You’ve managed to avoid any talk about your character so far, are you dying to have rumors spread that your personality is a total wreck?”

Of course, the association president’s opinion was different. The fact that Sejin looked sullen was just because that was his natural expression, causing ‘misunderstanding’ in others. He was full of thoughts to present him to the public by packaging it as him actually being introverted and shy. Sejin wanted to snap at Seoyoung with words that, common-sensically, should not be said to a sunbae, like, ‘I didn’t go around picking fights with people, so what the hell,’ but he knew it was a childish tantrum. Taking out his frustration on Seoyoung would not change anything. In that case, it was better not to say anything at all. When Sejin clamped his mouth shut like a clam and averted his gaze, Seoyoung spat out another curse and disappeared.

“Ugh, that insolent brat. I should just save my breath.”

In the meantime, a throbbing headache continuously followed Sejin around. He had long since grown accustomed to his heart rate being faster and his body temperature being higher than normal.

“……”

Around the time Hoyong also began to worry about the symptoms that showed no improvement at all even after he had swallowed the full daily dose of headache medicine, Sejin decided to go to France. There was a rather long period of free time until the next international competition, so he judged it would be best to continue his training during the off-season in a familiar place. In the first place, there was no longer any reason to remain in Korea.

Thus, his return was decided, and right before leaving Korea, on the agency’s recommendation to get a health check-up just in case there was something wrong with his body, Sejin reluctantly made his way there. Sejin himself, who had been suffering from nausea, headaches, and a low-grade fever for almost several months now, also wanted to clearly know the cause. Seeing as he was not physically exhausted, it probably was not a fatal illness. Could the cause be stress, the scapegoat for all ailments? However, the results he heard at the hospital he visited after being pushed by Hoyong were completely unexpected.

“It would be best to transfer to the endocrinology department and get a detailed examination. The symptoms you mentioned seem like typical pre-presentation warning signs.”

“What?”

When Sejin, unlike himself, asked back with a dazed face, the doctor with a serious expression explained it again, articulating each point.

“You said you’ve had a persistent low-grade fever, nausea, and continuous headaches since about two months ago, right? Those can be side effects of the process where our body balances itself in response to pheromone changes. Let’s start with a blood test. That will be the clearest.”

The old male doctor seemed to already be convinced of Sejin’s presentation, as if he knew just by looking. Sejin, faced with such an unexpected answer, did not know what emotions he should be feeling. Presentation… would he be an Alpha, as everyone expected? If it was what Sejin wanted, it was a situation where something he had wished for as desperately as a gold medal had come true, but he did not feel happy at all. Because, the reason Sejin had wanted to be an Alpha was entirely because of a person he could not meet now.

In a rather bewildered state, the endocrinology department he was transferred to informed him of the results less than half a day after taking Sejin’s blood sample.

“I believe you were expecting this, but you are an Alpha. First, you should get a pheromone suppressant shot, and since you’ll have to continue competing, from now on you should regularly check your pheromone levels and get a prescription for daily pills for athletes and take them.”

Everything he had wished for so dearly had come true, yet his heart was not happy at all. It was because the person he had wanted to be by his side through the entire process was not there. Moreover, even after getting the suppressant shot and continuously taking the daily pills, his symptoms showed no signs of getting better. It was the same even after he returned to France, judging that staying in Korea would be of no help. He visited famous internal medicine clinics in the area almost every other day, but the answers he received were all similar.

“It’s probably because of stress. I don’t know what is causing you anxiety, but try to put your mind at ease.”

Even when they tell me to put my mind at ease… I don’t know. What is being at ease, and what exactly is different from before. He returned to his ordinary daily life and spent his time personally preparing for the next international competition, but he still felt only emptiness. In the end, in an attempt to alleviate the symptoms somehow, after going around to this and that hospital requesting referrals multiple times, a professor at a university hospital who was said to have researched presentation for over 30 years gave him a plausible answer.

“It is not yet an official term, but it seems similar to a symptom we in our lab have named ‘unilateral imprinting’.”