Chapter 162 – Going to the Competition.

But after a few days, things exploded.

After working out at the gym, I went straight to Aunt Jeong-hee’s house to say goodbye to the baby.
However, there were three women gathered on the sofa, including her mother, Aunt Jeong-hee, and Aunt Hyo-seon.
But Aunt Hyo-seon was holding her mother’s hand and shedding tears.

I didn’t know what the hell was going on, so I couldn’t even enter from the front door, and I was rolling my eyes to catch the atmosphere.
The three women were looking at me with eyes that each had a different meaning.
I sneaked over and sat down on the sofa watching the three women.

“What the hell is going on? Why is Aunt Hyo-seon crying?”

“Joy. It’s like the revelry of the world.”

Her mother blew her snort and turned her head away.

I opened her eyes wide and looked at Aunt Jeong-hee and asked what was going on with the shape of her mouth.

“Eh. Now Seongjin-ssi and Hee-kyung unnie know everything about our relationship.”

I didn’t understand what the hell you meant.

“I and Hyo-seon told her sister Hee-kyung that we had a loving relationship with Seong-jin. And now, like this, Hee-kyung unni gave me complete permission to be Seong-jin’s lover. Thank you. Hee-kyung sister.”

Aunt Jeonghee bowed her head slightly at her mother as she spoke her words.

I was honestly not very surprised.
After all, my mother already knew our relationship from the beginning, and it was only a matter of time before this became known.
In the meantime, her mother had been silent and pretended not to know her.

“No, but why did she suddenly confess everything to her mother?”

When I asked a question in a puzzled voice, Aunt Jeong-hee answered.

The cause of the incident was Aunt Hyo-seon.

As I paid attention to her mother’s words and showed a lukewarm attitude about Aunt Hyo-seon’s pregnancy, the impatient Aunt Hyo-seon hung on, crying, to tell her mother the truth and to allow her to conceive.
Aunt Hyo-seon already knew that her mother knew everything about our relationship, so she wanted to be acknowledged by her mother as an unofficial daughter-in-law (?).

At first, she said that she would never be a mother, but she said that she was already pregnant with my child.

After hearing all the explanations, I was just dumbfounded, where did that Majo Hyo-seon lady get such courage?
When I looked at her Aunt Hyo-seon, Aunt Hyo-seon was avoiding my eyes and acting away from her.
Even though I was dumbfounded, the look was so lovely.

“Sungjin. Hyo-sun and Jung-hee are all like that with you, and in a situation where Jeong-hee is pregnant with four children, Hyo-sun wants to have four children like that, what should I do? Ehh~~ You do it yourself.”

My mother glanced at me resentfully and made a face asking me to go to her house.
I was thrilled, but I was more than happy when her mother officially gave her permission.

“And. Look at that guy laughing Do you really like getting women pregnant like this? I’m really dumbfounded…”

My mother threw a river spike at me who was laughing all of a sudden.
Even as I rubbed her sore arm from her beating, I hemmed in and laughed at her mother.

Mother acknowledged it and I laughed, and only then did Aunt Hyo-seon raise her head and smile broadly.
Aunt Jeong-hee was already smiling as she stroked her belly as if she was glad she had my child.

“Okay. Hyo-seon, let’s assume that Seong-jin is having a child. What are you going to tell people? And what about Ai’s last name?”

“When people ask, they will say I have a man to marry. Also, I would like to use the last name of Seongjin as the child’s last name, but I can’t do that, right? Like Jeong-hee, I’m just going to stick with my last name.”

“Eh. This one Do you have any idea how much a divorced woman is doing right now? And you’re old too. What if you suffer?”

“Tooth. Well, my sister is also growing up well because she got pregnant late. I am confident too.”

Her mother continued to sigh.

“Okay, Hyo-seon, I’ll tell you clearly. I won’t stop you guys from loving Seongjin. However, I will never forgive Sungjin for getting in the way of Seongjin when it is known that she is pregnant with a child. You know what I mean?”

“Yes. Sister. I will never be greedy any more. There will never be anything blocking our master… Seong-jin’s path.”

Aunt Hyo-seon said she was her master for a moment, but quickly changed her words and said her words with her face blushing.
Seeing that, her mother sighed again.

“They say there is no medicine for a woman to go crazy with a man, but looking at you guys, she is just like that.”

My mother finally laughed and glared at me like she was going to kill me.

With her mother now sitting with her head to head, the pregnant Aunt Jeong-hee talked about how she would do her job in the future, Hyo-seon when she would conceive, and so on.
Meanwhile, her mother’s right to speak was ignored.
When Mother told Jeonghee to do this and Hyo-seon to do this, Aunt Jeong-hee and Hyo-seon nodded in agreement and followed unconditionally, saying yes.
It was also evident that her mother-in-law’s power was immense.

As soon as I left Auntie Jeong-hee’s house, my mother said her words while pinching my arm.

“Oops. Great. Our Sungjin. How on earth could a married woman with children die to Seong-jin like this and not be able to live?”

My mother gnashed her teeth as she spoke, and I should have felt a slight chill.

“Lol. I’m sorry Hee-Kyung. I didn’t know that everyone would love me this much. But honestly, I feel good. Hee-kyung and all the women I love, do you know how thrilling and excited it is to have my child? I want to dance at least.”

“Chit. I love Seong-jin so much, but I know better than anyone how Hyo-sun or Jung-hee feel. Anyway, Seong-jin does a good job so that these facts are not known and there is no problem. Because I love and trust our Seongjin more than anyone else.”

“Yes. Let’s find out. Mrs.”

When I joked pleasantly, my mother laughed and hugged my arm tightly.

From the next day, Aunt Jeong-hee and Aunt Hyo-seon were living happily because of me, but the fact that they were acknowledged by their mother made them laugh.
When people always laughed and saw the two women getting more and more beautiful and asked what was good about them, they would say it was because things were going well.

If he even made eye contact with me in the office, he would wink at me, pucker his lips and blow a kiss, and it wasn’t a fuss.
They were two ajummas who laughed at what I could say, saying that older ajummas were the main house.
He expressed his love so much that it was to the point where I had to watch the staff and tighten my heart and tell them to restrain themselves.

Still, it was also true that seeing the two women who were so happy made me love them more and more.

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In the second week of October, the National Sports Festival finally began.
It was held in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do for a week from October 7th to 13th.
16 teams and about 22,000 athletes participated in 35 events.

I attended the meeting of the Seoul athletes last week and heard a briefing about the schedule and events.

At our gym, one older brother in my weight class was selected as the representative of Seoul City.

We had already come down to Jeonju over the weekend and were holding a lodging.

Since there was no separate accommodation for the athletes like in the Olympics, they had to set up their own accommodation in an inn near the indoor gymnasium.
Fortunately, the indoor gym where the boxing match is held is close to downtown Jeonju, so I moved the director to a hotel instead of trying to find an inn.
The head coach and player hyung didn’t expect it at all, and when they found a good accommodation, they looked puzzled, but they didn’t seem to hate it.

The opening ceremony was held on Monday.
Teams from each city and province entered with flags, and opening remarks were being given on the podium.
In the last opening declaration, Park Jeong-eon, who was no different from Kim Hyun-sam’s political opponent, made the opening declaration as the Minister of Sports and Youth.

Seeing Park Jung-eon reminded me of Kim Hyun-sam, who attended the chicken franchise opening in June and hadn’t heard anything about it until now.
It was anticipated that sooner or later they would meet again for the 14th National Assembly election next year.

After the opening ceremony, after-dinner events were held, and some games started.

We returned home early and took a break because the game starts the next day.

The weigh-in was conducted from 8:00 a.M. On the day of the match.
My older brother and I passed the weigh-in without incident, and prepared for the afternoon game.

While watching other people’s games, I thought about this and that.

My goal was to go to the Olympics next year and win a gold medal, but there were many twists and turns just to get here.

I came to return, and I happened to be involved with gangsters such as Kim Chun-sam and Jang Gwang-sik, and met the director and started exercising.
I hadn’t even thought about games or competitions at all, but with the goal of being exempted from military service, I was able to participate in an unexpected competition called the National Sports Festival.

Even participating in the National Sports Festival was really deep.
I met Sooyoung noona, defeated Jo Yoon-soo, an up-and-comer, and recently I could not participate in the National Sports Festival.

The standard for participation in the general division of individual events at the National Sports Festival was that people over the age of 18 could participate.
However, I was 17 years old and fell short of the participation criteria.
Fortunately, the director and Hansol Gymnasium’s director Kim managed to pass the participation, citing the reason for dropping out of high school.

I was complacently thinking that I would just have to exercise hard, go to competitions and win, and then I almost promised the real five years later.
Now, I had to do my best to compete and win and go to the Olympics.

Watching the fighters fighting with all their might in the ring, I once again strengthened my fighting spirit.

Finally it was my turn to play.

Our gym hyung had already won the match.

I put on my headgear and climbed into the ring.
The director followed me up, patted me on the shoulder saying that I believed in me, put the mouthpiece in my mouth, and went down.

I strained my eyes and glared at the opponent from the start.
The opponent was a player from Cheongju, but he was medium-sized and slender, so he didn’t look that strong.
In particular, the opponent’s eyes were shaking because he was frightened by my height and size.

The opposing coach kept holding on to his headgear and shouting something, while the opposing player kept nodding his head and didn’t seem to have much of a fight in his eyes.

Naturally, the match was easily over in the first round.
I exchanged attacks with jabs several times, but I could feel that the opponent’s hands were not properly strong.
Isn’t it foolish to back away from an opponent who is already intimidated?

I completely threw down my guard and pushed the opponent head first, driving it right into the corner and engaging in a slugfest.
In the opponent’s corner, I was screaming at them to get out quickly, but the opponent, who had already been caught in the net of my fist, passed out.

The referee stopped the game, and I immediately turned around and slowly returned to the corner.

In the corner, the director was waiting with a smile and holding a towel.
The director patted me on the shoulder and said that I did well, and immediately packed my things and prepared to go back.

As I was stepping out of the ring, taking off my headgear and removing my gloves, I heard whispers around me.

“I heard that he is a kid who came up after winning by KO in the qualifier this time? They said I could go pro right now, but seeing it in person is no joke.”

These sounds were coming from all over the place.

Middleweight players and coaches were sighing as they saw me.
It seemed that the players from Cheongju also heard about my rumors in advance and came to the ring.
Otherwise, wouldn’t there be a reason for a player who has been selected as a representative player to be so frightened by an opponent he sees for the first time today?

Regardless of what people say about me, we went back to our lodgings and rested.

There was still time before dinner, so I called my mother from the payphone in the lobby on the 1st floor and told her that I had won easily.

My mother, who was praying that I wouldn’t get hurt, her first question was, “Are you anywhere?”
I barely got hit, so I told her not to worry at all, since I wasn’t hurt, and her mother begged me in her weeping voice to please don’t get hurt.
And she whispered to me that she loved me.
I felt her mother’s heart so big that it felt like her heart was choking.
I wanted to run to Seoul right away.

I barely hung up on the phone with my mother, who didn’t want to hang up, and was about to go up to the room, but the director was coming down at the same time.
When the director saw me, he hurriedly called me and took me to my room.
But in the room, two strangers were sitting and waiting for me.

“Greetings, Sungjin. These people are from the Amateur Boxing Association.”

I said hello, wondering why these people were visiting.

“Ah. You see. Nice to meet you. You must be busy right now, so why did you come to us?”

When I sat down and asked why, the two were subtly surprised to see me treating them so confidently and naturally.
The Director, who knows me well, couldn’t help but laugh at the reaction of the association people.

“Ah. I’m sorry I came to you while I was resting. It’s nothing else, but I hope you don’t end the game too one-sided from tomorrow.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“It’s fun from the viewer’s point of view if you hit each other a little, but your game is too one-sided, so it’s not fun. End too early And shouldn’t we also think about the players? They are people who have practiced hard and sweat for several years aiming for the National Sports Festival or the Olympics. How would you feel if you lose in vain like this? So starting tomorrow’s game, I want you to look after me and greet me while playing the game.”

I was dumbfounded, so I couldn’t speak.
I thought the boxing association executives were pathetic, saying they had nothing to do.
He must have been busy right now, but he had visited for an inconsequential reason.

Of course, the words made sense.
At this time, in the early 90’s, people didn’t have that many things to enjoy.

In 2017, there were a lot of things to enjoy, such as the Internet, smartphones, games, karaoke, game rooms, and playrooms, but at the time, there were only professional baseball that started in 1982 and professional soccer that started in 1987.
Therefore, sports broadcasts such as the National Sports Festival and Blue Dragon High School Baseball could become a matter of great interest to the people.

However, when I appeared out of nowhere and ended with a KO in the first round of amateur boxing at the National Sports Festival, the high-ranking people came out with a different opinion.
But to do it while watching the game openly like this, it seemed that sooner or later people would say that they would lose the game.

“What. It’s not difficult. But then, wouldn’t it be ignoring and making fun of the opponent who is competing with me? Maybe you can ask me to lose the final?”

When I answered coldly with a stiff face, the two of them just cleared their throats while hemming, as if they really intended to ask for a favor.

I was really dumbfounded and just stared at the two of them.
Perhaps the manager was also angry, and in the end he told the two of them that the match would be moderated and kicked them out.

“Eh~ I’m sorry, Seongjin-ah. This is the reality of the athletes in this country. Don’t pay attention to what you just heard, play the way you want and make sure to win. Understand?”

I had no choice but to answer quietly and leave the director’s room.

From the match the next day, I didn’t fight one-sidedly like before, but rather greeted them moderately, leading them to the second round and winning.
Isn’t this something you can do with a service?

But the next day, another person called the Boxing Association executive came.

It was to ask me to lose to tomorrow’s game, saying that the child of a member of the National Assembly is coming out, and he must be in the rankings because college is at stake.
He was asking me for a favor because he would definitely lose to me if he competed with his skills, and then he wouldn’t be able to advance to the semifinals.

There is no 4th or 6th place in a boxing match.
If it’s 3rd or 4th, it’s 3rd, if it’s 5th or 6th, it’s 5th.

The son of a member of the National Assembly was able to enter the university with special exceptions because he was in the rankings even if he went to the semi-finals.

When I said that I couldn’t do that because my qualifications to participate in the Olympics were at stake, I started threatening that no matter how qualified I was to participate in the Olympics, I would not be able to participate in the Olympics if I could not be seen well by high-ranking people.
I wanted to punch the person sitting in front right away because I was angry and the director was like that, but I had no choice but to endure it because I would be immediately deprived of the game.

When I told him that I had to go to the Olympics, he coaxed me into giving up tomorrow’s game because he would definitely select me as a representative for the next Olympics.
Somehow, it gave off a nuance that seemed to have been decided internally who would go to this Olympics.

My stomach was boiling, but I replied that I would understand it and sent it back.

“Sungjin, what are you thinking? Are you really thinking of losing tomorrow?”

“No. Director. Even if I can’t go to the Olympics because I’m so pissed off, I’ll definitely drop that son of a member of the National Assembly tomorrow. It’s also very cruel…”

“Quack. Okay. Then it is. I’m always on your side You know what to do.”

The director smiled cheerfully and left my room.