DASH-Chapter 167

Jiheon left the distraught Jaekyoung and headed alone to the table where the directors of KSC were gathered.

After ensuring no other outsiders were around, he stood up. Coincidentally, someone arrived almost at the same time as Jiheon.

“Oh, Assistant Manager Jeong. Oh my, athlete Han Yuseong is here too.”

Executive Director Choi of the Sports Promotion department looked at both of them in turn and greeted them.

“Yes, Mr. Choi. How are you doing?”

“Oh, good, good. Thanks to you, I’m very healthy.”

Executive Director Choi shook Jiheon’s hand, then immediately pointed to Han Yuseong next to him.

“You know him, right? Our long-distance champion athlete Han Yuseong.”

“Of course, sir.”

“He’s become the ambassador for the anti-doping campaign.”

“Yes, I’ve heard the news.”

One of the things that received positive reviews from last year’s Pan-Pacific Games was the athlete doping management. The Korea Anti-Doping Agency had introduced the latest equipment, and its performance was so much better than existing equipment that it was said to present a new paradigm in doping analysis.

Earlier this year, the Korea Anti-Doping Agency selected Han Yuseong, who had performed well in the Pan-Pacific, as an ambassador for the anti-doping campaign. It seemed like he was invited today in that capacity since the Korea Anti-Doping Agency was a statutory corporation under MCST.

However, seeing that Han Yuseong came alone to such a large event, Executive Director Choi asked as if he was surprised.

“But where is Mr. Kim?”

“He has urgent business, sir.”

“Is that so? Then you came here alone?”

“Yes. I’m here alone today....”

Han Yuseong trailed off.

“Well, it’s enough if the main character is here. Do we really need anyone else?”

Executive Director Choi made a lot of jokes, but the fact that he tried so hard to comfort Han Yuseong indicated that he already knew everything about Han Yuseong’s situation. How could he not? KSC must have felt it when Han Yuseong left Kavva right after finishing the first selection round.

Despite Executive Director Choi clicking his tongue and questioning why Han Yuseong was spending the day alone, Jiheon had a slightly different perspective. The reason Han Yuseong was appointed as an anti-doping campaign ambassador might have been the result of Kavva’s hard lobbying, advocating for his participation in the Olympics.

However, it seemed like his Olympic participation had become less likely. From Kavva’s standpoint, it would have been disappointing even to face the Anti-Doping Agency and KSC. Considering this, it was even more surprising that Han Yuseong came here alone today.

Regardless, Jiheon couldn’t engage in a deep conversation with Han Yuseong in the current company. After offering a proper greeting to Executive Director Choi and others in the department, he turned around first. While checking the schedule on his cell phone and thinking about setting up a separate table next time, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind.

“Excuse me, sunbae-nim.”

Jiheon turned around in surprise, finding Han Yuseong standing right behind him. After a brief hesitation, Han Yuseong started to speak.

“There’s something I’d like to tell you.”

“Go ahead.”

Jiheon glanced back at his cell phone.

“Here...?”

“Yes.”

Han Yuseong looked around with a puzzled expression, then lowered his head. Jiheon took a quick look at him and eventually put his cell phone in his suit pocket.

“Come this way.”

Not wanting to go too far, he opened the door to the nearest emergency exit.

“Alright, speak.”

Standing in the corner of the narrow landing, Han Yuseong glanced anxiously around, then lowered his head to speak.

“I, I... would like to change companies.”

After stating that, Han Yuseong secretly observed Jiheon. He then lowered his head again and continued speaking.

“Would Spoin be willing to take me—?”

“No.”

Jiheon stated firmly. Han Yuseong, seemingly not expecting Jiheon to reject him without hearing everything, looked at him in shock. Jiheon couldn’t help but smile at the sadness in his eyes.

“Yuseong-ah.”

Jiheon crossed his arms and called him.

“I thought you called me to apologize for the incident with the vice chairman.”

At the mention of the vice chairman, Han Yuseong’s face immediately stiffened. He lowered his gaze, appearing pale. Jiheon expected him to quickly feign innocence and question what he meant by that, but Han Yuseong didn’t seem that shameless.

“I... didn’t expect him to have a fight with you.”

After a moment, Han Yuseong spoke in a muttering tone.

“Really.”

He spoke in a trembling voice, tightly clenching his hands.

“I told Mr. Kim I didn’t want to do that. Kwon Jaekyoung wouldn’t even care about something like that anyway.... I’m an athlete too, so I told Mr. Kim that I don’t want to act that way and disrupt other athletes’ mentality. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. But at that time, my records were so bad, and I couldn’t reach the qualifying time no matter how hard I tried, so....”

Tears were welling up in Han Yuseong’s eyes. Despite his large stature, he crouched down, stammering, resembling a child being punished—it was painful to watch.

“You may not believe it, but it really bothered me too. Mr. Kim must have been disappointed that my records didn’t improve, but I’m also very upset..., so, I thought I couldn’t stay at this company anymore.......”

Suddenly, thick teardrops fell from Han Yuseong’s eyes.

“Don’t cry.”

Jiheon softly ordered. Han Yuseong urgently wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Jiheon observed quietly, then spoke calmly.

“I’m sorry, but my company can’t afford to take you with that penalty. We have no intention of doing so, and there is no reason to do so. It’s not just me; if you ask my CEO directly, he will probably say the same thing.”

Han Yuseong buried his face in his sleeve.

“Yes....”

“And after today, let’s not °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° talk about this again. I don’t want to be misunderstood as tampering [1] or anything, and honestly, I don’t want to be associated with your company. You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes, I’m sorry....”

Jiheon felt even more uneasy at that weak voice. He clicked his tongue and lowered his head. After looking down at the tips of his shoes for a while, he eventually called Han Yuseong with a soft sigh.

“In the second selection round, go for the 1500m freestyle.”

Han Yuseong raised his head, looking puzzled. Jiheon spoke with his arms still crossed.

“In the first round, none of the swimmers surpassed the 1500m selection time. If you manage to exceed the qualifying time in the second round, you’ll secure your spot for sure. Even if you fall short of the qualifying time but meet the selection time, if you come in first place and earn ranking points, KSC will request FINA to issue you an invitation and send you to the Olympics. So, it’s time to leave the individual medley behind and focus on preparing for the 1500m freestyle.”

Before Jiheon could finish speaking, Han Yuseong shook his head. Jiheon asked:

“Why? Your company won’t let you?”

“No, that’s not the issue.”

When questioned further, Han Yuseong replied in an uncertain tone.

“I can’t win a medal in the 1500m anyway.”

Taken aback, Jiheon asked for a reason he hadn’t considered.

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“Did you enter the 400m individual medley thinking you had a chance at a medal?”

“Just participating in the 400m individual medley is already meaningful, so—”

“What do you mean it’s meaningful?”

Jiheon cut off Han Yuseong.

“For whom and for what is it meaningful?”

“.......”

“For advertisers? Because you took on the challenge of the 400m individual medley, an event Kwon Jaekyoung had never attempted before? Is that what you’re trying to convey?”

Han Yuseong remained silent. Jiheon wasn’t even angry anymore and just laughed.

“What the hell do you do for a living? Are you an athlete or an advertising model?”

“An athlete.”

This time, the answer came right away. Han Yuseong lifted his head, looking at Jiheon, and added immediately.

“But I also want to do commercials. I want to do a lot of them.”

Han Yuseong repeated.

“I’ve been competing since middle school, breaking the national record in the 800m freestyle during high school. But no one cared. No one even knew my name. I haven’t missed a freestyle long-distance gold medal in domestic competitions for several years, but I never got a down payment, even after receiving all the prize money. Do I still have to swim until I die? Do I have to stay sincere and not even consider doing commercials?”

Han Yuseong’s eyes were already turning red at the corners. Staring at the color, which hinted more at anger than tears, Jiheon said:

“Go ahead, do commercials. Do as many as you want.”

Jiheon nodded strongly.

“The time you can be an athlete is short, so if you can make money, do commercials or whatever.”

“Then why?”

“But do it with what you have.”

“.......”

“Use your skills, your looks, and your image to do commercials. Don’t use Kwon Jaekyoung’s name, image, or accomplishments that have nothing to do with you. Do you understand?”

Han Yuseong fell silent at Jiheon’s words, but only for a moment.

“What’s wrong with using some?”

Han Yuseong spoke confidently.

“Even though I won so many gold medals, I never received a sponsor offer, let alone a commercial. But when I mentioned Kwon Jaekyoung in an article, some CFs he turned down came to me. He’s not going to take those commercials anyway, so what’s wrong with using his name? It’s not like I’m going to ruin his image by doing that.”

“Yuseong-ah.”

“Why? Do athletes have to maintain sportsmanship when doing commercials too?”

Han Yuseong was openly sarcastic right now.

“It’s not a stadium or anything. Do I still have to act like a gentleman and keep everything I need to keep?”

“Han Yuseong.”

Jiheon called his name again. Han Yuseong pretended not to hear and finally said what he most wanted to say:

“Sunbae, if you’re going to talk about sportsmanship, go tell Kwon Jaekyoung to give up his gold medal first and get lost. If he had a conscience, he wouldn’t be able to win by competing fairly anyway. Dominant Alphas are born with different abilities after all. How can he think of rubbing it off on ordinary athletes?”