Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 95

Yeah well, even if I fail to win a medal and become a national traitor, he’s willing to pull me up even from the depths of hell. It was so absurd that laughter kept spilling out. A life of pushing all the difficult and hard things onto Sejin and just watching Net○lix at home might not be so bad after all. What did they call it? Imperial confinement. If he confines me at home, prepares three delicious meals a day, and the house comes with a swimming pool and a private home gym, I might not even need to go outside.

‘……It’s really not bad, is it?’

Of course, not being able to go out and meet people would be a bit suffocating, but it seems like it would be fine if Sejin stays cooped up like a homebody and plays with me. Then, it suddenly struck him as absurd that he was seriously and concretely imagining such a crazy thought.

‘No, I have to win the medal, the medal. Don’t think about creating an optimized efficient route for confinement.’

That moment of scolding himself was brief. Although the doors leading to the individual rooms were all closed, Taehyun quickened his pace and returned to his room, just in case an early-rising athlete might pop out from somewhere. After passing through the long hallway and stairs, he finally finished the arduous journey and returned to his room, and only then could he breathe.

Just in case the scent of pheromones still lingered, he hurriedly took a proper shower before the morning training began, and by the time he came out, the morning sun had already risen above the mountain ridge. The dazzling sun was shining, burning with a golden light. Taehyun gazed for a moment at the brilliant sun, which seemed like it would blind him if he kept looking, then turned his gaze away. Another energetic day was beginning.

🤺

After that, there was not much time left until Taehyun’s discharge. He finished the scheduled training well without any further disruptions, and just before his discharge, he visited Sejin’s room one more time. It was a little fun to continue this thrilling secret meeting, moving through the hallways like a spy at times when no one was around, for fear of being caught by others. He thought, when else in my life would I get to do something like this. After he retires, he won’t be an athlete anymore, and even if Taehyun, by some whim, becomes a coach, their sports are different in the first place, so even if he met Sejin, it would not become an inappropriate relationship, so there was no need to hide.

‘If you think about it that way, isn’t it actually not a big problem even now?’

For a moment, Taehyun forgot that his relationship with Sejin did not start as a romance that could be proudly revealed to others and thought of a foolish sentence. Then, ah. Right. I’m not dating this kid yet. Realizing the reality, his face turned beet red. They had not even properly made a declaration like ‘Starting today is day one!’, but what was he doing counting his chickens before they hatched; he was practically devouring kimchi pancakes, kimchi stew, and kimchi fried rice in a row. Of course, it was unlikely that Sejin would now say, ‘I’m canceling my confession,’ but realizing that their relationship was not originally one to be so confident about made his cheeks burn.

So what if it started like that. It did not matter as long as no one knew anyway. Although it felt like they had glossed over things, it was not as if he had accepted it with a completely light heart, and it felt like whatever happened, as long as Sejin was by his side, it would be okay.

‘If I was going to date him casually, I would have said okay without difficulty a long time ago.’

The more he thought about the future, the more of a headache it became, but for now, he did not want to look more than one step ahead and trouble himself. That could be done after all the competitions were over. The fact that there was someone who would stay by his side even if his last chance went wrong. That alone was satisfying for now. So, all that was left was to do his best during the time given to him. Just as he had always done.

🤺

“Wow, this is my first time in America.”

Taehyun smiled lightly as he looked at the junior athlete who let out a sound of admiration as soon as they landed at the airport with their fellow athletes.

“Hyung, you’ve been here before, right?”

Taehyun nodded his head moderately at the question thrown by the junior, whose face was full of expectation.

“Yeah, since my junior athlete days, there’s hardly a place I haven’t been.”

“I’m so envious. For me, strangely, every international competition that’s held, the host city is always in our country.”

While it was true that most competitions were held domestically, various competitions under the WT, including the World Championships, were often held overseas. Thanks to that, he had flown on planes so much that his passport was tattered, so of course, America was no exception. However, it was also Taehyun’s first time in LA, so the exotic scenery that unfolded as soon as they left the airport also captured his attention.

‘Sejin will be coming soon too.’

Taehyun’s departure date was scheduled about three days earlier than Sejin’s. It was not a situation where he could say, ‘I’ll go first and get settled, so take your time coming,’ but he had arrived ahead of him anyway. While moving to get a taxi after leaving the airport, Taehyun took a picture of the palm trees lined up outside and sent it to Sejin.

3:26 PM

(Photo)

3:26 PM

Just landed at the airport

It would be morning in Korea now. It was probably the time when they would be gathered in the auditorium for group morning exercises. He had never seen it in person because none of their group schedules overlapped with the national fencing team that Sejin belonged to, but according to the athletes’ village regulations, the day’s schedule was supposed to start with everyone gathering in the morning for gymnastics, stretching, and a run, so Sejin, too, would have been forced to participate in that tedious schedule. A small laugh escaped him as he pictured Sejin, with a slightly sullen yet dazed expression from the morning, moving his body following the instructor at the front.

‘It would have been nice to do it together at least once.’

Though it was unavoidable since there were so many athletes staying at the center. Taehyun thought the reply would come after a long while again this time and was about to turn off his phone screen and put it in his pocket. However, unexpectedly, as soon as he sent it, a read receipt appeared, and a reply arrived.

Aren’t you tired?

3:28 PM

Hurry and go to the hotel and rest

3:28 PM

Why is he messaging back right away? Taehyun, surprised by the unexpected reply, quickly moved his fingers and typed.

3:29 PM

It’s okay I slept a lot on the plane

3:29 PM

It’s morning there, right?

Then, to his great surprise, a message arrived in less than a minute. It seemed he had been watching his phone waiting for a reply.

Yes

3:29 PM

7I’m about to go for morning warm-ups now

3:30 PM

Then, as if he felt he had to send something too since Taehyun had sent him something, he sent a selfie that seemed to have been taken in his room, with his hair sticking up a bit like a magpie’s nest. Since he was not the type to take selfies often, his photography skills were absolutely terrible. His slender and pretty head shape was stretched out long like a cucumber, and both his eyes were distorted, making them look uneven in the picture. Sejin did not even have an SNS account, and the only pictures of him that were public were all official profile photos released during major events like the Asian Games or the Olympics, so Taehyun was probably the only person who had seen such an ugly picture of Sejin. For a moment, Taehyun forgot what to reply and burst out laughing, puhat.

“……? Hyung, are you looking at something funny?”

Only when the junior athlete who was walking slightly ahead of Taehyun turned around to look at him with a puzzled expression did Taehyun manage to calm his expression and shake his head.

“No, I was just looking at an old picture while scrolling through my Inst○ feed.”

As Taehyun gave a vague excuse, Ahh, the junior replied in a soulless tone and then quickened his pace nonchalantly. In the midsummer of LA, the scorching sun was beating down tremendously. Is this weather with a lower average temperature than Korea? Because the air conditioning was running so strong inside the airport that they had to wear outerwear, everyone was a little fed up and exclaimed in admiration at the surreal outdoor scenery.

“It’s probably because they measure the temperature in the shade. If you walk in the sun, you’d really burn to death.”

That’s the same in Korea, though. As they passed through a spot without a sunshade on their way to the outdoor taxi stand, tense, everyone screamed at the immense heat.

“Aaaah, it’s hot.”

“Wow, it’s really hot.”

Fortunately, once they entered the shade, they could breathe a little, but there was no one who wanted to wait here for long. However, because it was a peak tourist season, the taxi stand was already teeming with countless people, forming a human sea, waiting for their dispatched vehicles.

“Should we call a Lyf○ or an Ub○ instead of a taxi? I think that would be faster.”

“Yeah, that would be better.”

“Can only one person call one at a time? Taehyun, did you install Lyf○?”

And at the sudden call for him, Taehyun frantically searched for the ride-sharing service app for which he had created an ID on a previous visit to the US and hurriedly called a car.