Chapter 43
‘Well, he’s doing alright…’
About twenty minutes passed as they drove.
Contrary to Kang Hoyeon’s worries, Kang Taehan’s driving skills were better than he expected.
It wasn’t just about speed and handling, but he could feel that Taehan was properly grasping where the surrounding cars were and what they were trying to do.
He changed lanes smoothly and, above all, didn’t make any reckless attempts.
His sense of the car’s width was also uncanny, rarely leaning to one side.
Whether his worries were unnecessary or he had come to acknowledge Taehan’s skills,
Kang Hoyeon began looking around at the scenery with a more relaxed face than before.
The scenery felt unfamiliar even though it wasn’t that far from Daejeon.
He had felt it when he went to the golf course last time, but it had been a long time since he had been this far out of town.
After driving for a while,
“Father, are you hungry by any chance?”
Kang Taehan casually spoke, glancing at a sign indicating that the rest area was 1km away.
“Hmm… I am getting a bit hungry. Shall we stop by the rest area?”
“Sure.”
Kang Taehan slightly slowed down and immediately exited to the rest area.
A short while later, the two sat facing each other at a table with the food they ordered from the restaurant.
“Enjoy your meal, Father.”
The dish Kang Taehan ordered was Udon with fried tofu.
As he lifted a large chopstick, thick udon noodles and pieces of fried tofu came up together.
Kang Taehan waited a moment for the noodles to cool down, then put the lifted noodles straight into his mouth.
With a slurping sound, the noodles went down in one gulp.
The thick udon noodles were chewed softly, and in between, the pieces of fried tofu were chewed…
The oil from the fried tofu and the udon broth spread in his mouth, creating a rather exquisite balance of flavor.
Of course, it was the typical taste that came to mind when one thought of rest stop udon, but that was precisely why it had a strange charm that appealed to him.
Kang Taehan quickly emptied his bowl and took a big gulp of the broth.
“…Speaking of which.”
As the meal was nearing its end, Kang Hoyeon, suddenly remembering something that happened a while ago, casually spoke.
“What happened with you and that young lady?”
“Yes? Young lady?”
Who is he talking about?
At that moment, the person who came to Kang Taehan’s mind was Yoo Se-ah.
But his father had never met her, so he couldn’t be talking about her.
“You know, the one who was with you at the golf driving range. Chae, Chae… What was her name again?”
“Ah, Eunbi?”
“Yes, right. What happened with Ms. Chae Eunbi?”
Kang Hoyeon, who was struggling to remember, nodded vigorously and asked again, urging for an answer.
“What do you mean what happened? I told her to come for a massage and then checked her for any discomfort.”
“…And?”
“What else? We ate together and parted ways.”
Kang Taehan’s voice was as indifferent as if he was saying he had a meal with a friend and parted ways.
At that reaction, the corners of Kang Hoyeon’s eyes drooped slightly.
“…Why. You should try to get to know her better.”
“Me? With Eunbi?”
“Yes.”
Kang Taehan made a dumbfounded expression.
“Oh, I don’t know why you think that way. If you say it like that, it sounds like I talked to Eunbi at the golf driving range to try something with her.”
…Wasn’t it?
From a third party’s perspective at the time, it looked like that to anyone, but Kang Taehan’s expression seemed quite wronged, so Kang Hoyeon didn’t bother to say it out loud.
“Eunbi is… a younger sister I want to help in many ways. She’s cute, and we got close this time.”
“Hmm. Is that so.”
It seemed like some kind of connection had been made, but it wasn’t in the direction he had hoped for.
Well, relationships can change anytime, but… at least for now, that’s the feeling.
Kang Hoyeon, as if his interest had waned, took a sip of water for no particular reason.
“Oh, Father. I’m going to check my KakaoTalk for a moment.”
“Do as you please.”
Just then, a KakaoTalk notification rang from his pocket.
He took out his smartphone and checked, and it was a KakaoTalk message from Yoo Se-ah.
『Mr. Taehan, did anything happen yesterday?』
He tilted his head, wondering what she was talking about, but Kang Taehan sent a reply right away.
『I had dinner and went home to sleep as usual. Why?』
『It’s nothing serious, but I heard there was a big accident yesterday, and it was in the same neighborhood as where you work, so I was just wondering if you were alright.』
The reply came back after a slight delay.
He didn’t remember hearing about any accident, but it was still nice of her to be concerned.
Kang Taehan tapped the smartphone screen with a gentle smile.
‘…He seems to be doing well on his own.’
He had been a little worried because he had never heard Taehan talk about a girlfriend, but when he thought about it, he had always been a guy who took care of things on his own.
Watching Kang Taehan send the KakaoTalk message, Kang Hoyeon shrugged his shoulders unconsciously.
⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢
Start of semester.
The word itself literally means the beginning of lectures, but for college students, it also signifies the end of rest and the return to academics.
The regret that the vacation is over lingers, but at the same time, there is excitement for the new semester, a strange mixed feeling.
Thanks to this, for a while after the start of semester, the entire campus tends to have a somewhat chaotic yet lively, contradictory atmosphere…
However, the fourth-year students, who were already worn out from campus life, were separated from that flow and exuded a uniquely gloomy atmosphere.
The lecture room where Choi Seonghyeon was currently sitting could be said to be the epitome of that atmosphere.
It was nothing other than the fact that it was packed with only fourth-year students.
“…What? I thought you were extending your leave of absence. You came back too?”
“Well, yeah. I have to graduate…”
“How’s that part-time job you were talking about?”
“Got one line on my resume and that’s it.”
Even the occasional conversations were extremely realistic!
The romance of campus life was nothing but a joke here.
Choi Seonghyeon, who was glancing at the scene, let out a small sigh.
‘I envy Taehan.’
It was a class they had originally planned to take together.
If things had gone as planned, Kang Taehan should have been sitting next to Choi Seonghyeon, but he was currently somewhere else.
Creak.
At that moment, the front door of the lecture room quietly opened.
As the door opened and the professor entered, even the students who were chatting quietly sat down in their seats.
“Taking attendance. Kang Nayeon.”
“Here.”
“Kang Minsu.”
“Here.”
“Kang Taehan…. Kang Taehan? Ah.”
When there was no response, the professor looked up, then as if he remembered something, he started calling out the rest of the attendance.
“Did everyone have a good vacation?”
Only silence filled the lecture room.
The professor laughed weakly and continued speaking.
“I guess it was a tough vacation in many ways since you’re all seniors. That’s why I keep telling you, from your freshman year, to get your certifications early…”
The professor closed the attendance book and leaned against the podium on the platform.
“I received a call from the Hanha Hawks recently. They said they desperately need one of our students, but they’re worried about attendance issues.”
“Ooh…”
“Who is it?”
The Hanha Hawks were a professional baseball team that everyone knew.
Of course, they were also famous for losing streaks…
Anyway, the students’ attention was immediately drawn to the fact that the name of a sports team they had heard of was mentioned.
“So I told them not to worry about that. You learn more by being in the field than listening to lectures in a classroom.”
“You’re right, Professor.”
A student sitting in the front row chimed in.
It felt like the natural flow of the conversation was leading to, ‘In that sense, since it’s the first day, let’s start the lectures next week─’
“But to go out into the field, you first need to learn the theory, right? Let’s begin the class.”
However, how could things go as one wished?
As the professor clicked the mouse and pressed a button, the beam projector turned on and a white screen descended.
The students sitting in their seats expressed their despair in silence, each in their own way, some gaping their mouths, others covering their faces with their hands.
‘Is it real that we have class on the first day…’
This was a silent outcry.
Amidst this small tragedy, Choi Seonghyeon genuinely felt envious of Kang Taehan.
‘I should have gone as an assistant.’
He felt like Kang Taehan would have taken him… but it was too late for regrets.
Choi Seonghyeon started taking out his textbook and notebook without a word.
⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢
“Oh, Coach. What brings you here?”
Kim Taepyeong, the third baseman for the Hanha Hawks.
He entered the room after being called by the coach, taking off his cap and letting out a good-natured laugh.
“Ah, Kim Taepyeong. It’s nothing special. I just wanted you to cool down here, get a massage, and manage your condition.”
“…Already? I was in the middle of part training.”
Kim Taepyeong said with a puzzled look.
Of course, there was always time to manage their condition before the game started, but that was after the basic training and part training were over.
“Did I look out of shape or something?”
“Nah. If that was the case, I would have said something during the meeting earlier, or you would have come to me first. It’s not that.”
Coach Jang waved his hand in denial.
“The manager called in a massage therapist this time, and he said for those he named to get a massage in turn, rest well, and then be sent to today’s game.”
“Really? Hmm… a massage therapist.”
He felt like he almost remembered something related to that.
Kim Taepyeong frowned for a moment, touching his head, then snapped his fingers.
“Ah, is it the one who fixed Taejun’s shoulder?”
“That’s right. The manager went and brought him personally, I heard.”
“Oh, man. Our Manager Oh is so gullible. It’s obvious Taejun exaggerated a bit.”
Probably every player and coach in the team had heard about Choi Taejun’s fantastic massage experience.
That’s how much he had talked about it whenever he got the chance.
However, less than 10% of the people actually believed Choi Taejun’s experience.
Did it make sense? Feeling electric shocks all over his body, his mind going blank with pleasure. Even if he was exaggerating, he should have done it moderately, this was too much.
People around him only guessed that Taejun’s hard work had finally paid off, and the timing of him getting out of his slump happened to coincide with that time.
It was similar to how jinxes are formed.
He ate a green grape candy that day and hit a home run in the game, and when he ate another green grape candy the next day, he hit another home run.
It was kind of like that.
“Our manager is gullible…”
Coach Jang slowly nodded, as if he couldn’t deny that part.
“But it seems different today. First of all, the manager went and received it himself before making the decision, and also… Gwangho received it first, and his reaction was different.”
“…Brother Gwangho?”
“Yeah. He was groaning and moaning, then let out a sigh, then screamed again.”
Lee Gwangho.
He was Hanha’s catcher and the oldest among the current players.
It was hard for Kim Taepyeong to imagine him groaning and screaming.
“Anyway, it’s the manager’s order, so go and get it.”
“Alright, I understand. Where do I go?”
“Go to your break room. There are plenty of beds there.”
Kim Taepyeong bowed his head and came out, closing the door.
However, he still didn’t believe it much.
Naturally, he had received massages quite a few times before.
It felt good at the time, but he hadn’t really seen any noticeable effects, and once he got a massage that was too strong on his shoulder blade, it kept aching, and he ended up having to sit out the next day’s game.
“Well, he brought him after receiving it himself… Hmm?”
Just as he was about to enter the break room, the door opened from inside and a middle-aged player came out.
It was Lee Gwangho, the player who was mentioned in the conversation with the coach earlier.
“Ah, Taepyeong. You’re here for the massage too?”
“Huh? Yes. But…”
Kim Taepyeong stared blankly at Lee Gwangho’s face.
Soon, his head tilted slightly to the left, as if he found something strange.
“Did you suddenly get younger, Brother?”
His glowing skin, his shoulders that seemed to have broadened, and above all, his voice that was somehow gentler than usual…
Looking at Lee Gwangho, Kim Taepyeong rubbed his eyes without realizing it.
