FETCH 76

“Hit it!”

Han Kang’s angry voice cut through the training room. Inside the room where the team was conducting a joint coordination training, an ominous atmosphere had been flowing for some time.

Though Han Kang was among the youngest in terms of age, he was a seasoned veteran. Along with the team leader Kang Chanbit, he had been leading the match from the front, but the newly joined youngest member was failing to keep up with their pace at all.

Feeling frustrated by this, Han Kang eventually spat out, “Fuck,” and threw off his combat gear. The rookie Esper, who was already intimidated among his prominent seniors, flinched visibly.

The already heavy atmosphere sank even further in an instant. Judging by the chill in the air, it seemed Han Kang hadn’t bothered to suppress his energy; consequently, the opponent shrank back even more, looking as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

“Hey, someone better stop that guy.”

Ji Sangtaek, who had been watching them from inside the Safe Zone, grumbled as he stood up. As he entered the arena immediately, Kang Bichan, who had been watching quietly, also stepped in with him to block the two.

Han Kang’s personality went without saying, and no matter how intimidated he was, the opponent was still an Esper. It seemed they thought that if left alone, these hot-blooded young men would end up in a massive brawl.

“Hey, hey, let’s take a break. Maybe the training is too intense, but everyone’s nerves are on edge.”

“Oh, Jaechan! Come and take Kang away.”

As Jaechan stood up at Kang Bichan’s call, his eyes locked right with Han Kang’s. Han Kang, who glanced at him, distorted his face into a scowl again and brushed his hair back roughly.

With both hands on his hips, Han Kang lowered his head and exhaled sharply. His chest expanded and contracted greatly with the effort. Jaechan slowly approached him and picked up the combat gear Han Kang had irritably tossed aside. As Jaechan patted off the dust and handed it back, Han Kang tilted his head to the side.

“Why are you acting so annoyed.”

“Ah, the coordination is just too poor.”

Han Kang spat out the words, which were thick with irritation, and leaned his head on Jaechan’s shoulder. He let out a series of long sighs while pressing near his temples as if he felt a headache coming on.

As if used to this, Jaechan placed a hand on top of Han Kang’s head and stroked him gently. His scalp was quite warm, likely because he was worked up.

“It’s his first time, you have to find your rhythm gradually.”

“Exactly. It’s his first time, but why can’t he even follow along? If he’s like that, he shouldn’t be on the team.”

“They say he’s skilled. You just need to teach him well. Were you good from the very beginning?”

“I was good from the very beginning.”

There was no need to take Han Kang’s confident words to heart.

Instead of replying to Han Kang, Jaechan offered an apologetic smile to the rookie Esper, who was surrounded by other team members while cautiously watching Han Kang’s reaction.

He was only lagging behind within this specific team; otherwise, he was an Esper who had won quite a few medals on the international stage. It was just that he had mostly competed in individual matches and wasn’t used to team matches, but unfortunately, the Olympics were only holding group events.

There was no rule stating that national athletes must only come from the EKR Center. However, the Center was frantic, acting as if they wouldn’t give up a single spot.

Ahead of the Olympics, the Center had been working on selecting reserve members for Team Zero to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances. This was to prepare for a situation like the previous Olympics, where another team member had to be substituted in a hurry because Han Kang went into a rampage.

According to the rules, Olympic matches were played with five athletes per team. However, considering that an Esper who played the previous match might suffer from decreased performance if sent in again, additional personnel were assigned. While narrowing down the candidates from the athletes who had earned qualification based on matching ability levels, the rookie Esper ended up joining the group event.

In truth, as Han Kang said, their cases were different. Since Han Kang had covered both group and individual matches from the moment he manifested as an Esper and started competing, he might find an opponent who didn’t meet his standards unsatisfactory.

Still, he shouldn’t create discord within the team like this. Jaechan pressed down on the back of Han Kang’s head and coaxed him with kind words.

“Still, you’re the hyung. You aren’t the youngest here anymore.”

Since Han Kang had been the youngest both at home and at the Center, Jaechan wondered if scratching that itch a little might serve as motivation.

“…That’s true. Oh, I’m not the youngest.”

It worked perfectly. Han Kang gave a wide grin, straightened his back, and then showed a more generous expression toward the opponent.

“How dare you talk back to your hyung. If you act like shit, I’ll kill you.”

No, it seemed it hadn’t worked at all.

Recalling that the hyungs around him weren’t exactly of a gentle disposition, Jaechan let out a sigh. At Han Kang’s threatening remark, the opponent became even more discouraged.

Ah, this isn’t it.

After a brief moment of hitting his own forehead with a smack, Jaechan composed himself again and patted Han Kang’s firm buttocks. The corners of Han Kang’s mouth quirked up into a pretty smile, as if the touch on his buttocks was familiar.

Seeing that, Jaechan grabbed Han Kang’s cheeks with both hands. Han Kang’s handsome eyes widened into circles.

“What’s wrong?”

To the short question, Jaechan just went ahead and gave him a quick kiss. As Jaechan attached a laugh—hee-hee—to the end of his lips after they lightly touched and pulled away, Han Kang’s eyes widened even further.

“What was that?”

“What do you mean, what was it? It was guiding. Since we’re taking a break right now anyway.”

“Oh, right. It’s guiding.”

Han Kang darted his eyes left and right quickly as if he were dazed. It was a strange reaction, considering Jaechan had never skipped guiding and had always been active in every session.

Jaechan shrugged as if to ask if there was a problem. Even though he let go of Han Kang’s face, Han Kang remained frozen in place, not moving an inch.

“Since you’ve received guiding, cheer up and go act like a hyung. Don’t be like that to your younger brother.”

When he added a nag as if it were the price for the guiding, Han Kang straightened up completely with a face that said, ‘Of course.’ With his hands on his hips, he pouted his upper lip slightly as if dissatisfied.

“What does acting like a hyung even mean? My hyungs used to put me in armbars and bully me every day.”

“Those were your biological brothers. They weren’t going to kill you, your hyungs.”

“Don’t you remember? I couldn’t eat at home, so I used to go to your house every day to get a meal. I almost starved to death.”

“You had already eaten two bowls at your house before coming to eat again at mine.”

When Jaechan snapped back at the absurdity, Han Kang scratched his cheek, saying, ‘That’s true.’ He talked as if he had been raised in an abusive household. Because he came over looking so pitiful and asking, ‘Please give me some food,’ Jaechan’s parents even thought Han Kang was being abused at first.

Thinking back, it was both absurd and audacious. It was also ridiculous how his cheeks turned slightly red as if he were embarrassed.

Even if they were a bit rough, everyone in the neighborhood knew how much the hyungs doted on Han Kang. Perhaps it was a bit overwhelming for Han Kang to handle since there was a significant age gap, but seeing those hyungs, Jaechan often begged his mother to ‘give birth to a hyung for me too.’

Anyway, he’s so ungrateful. Feeling inexplicably annoyed, Jaechan poked him in the stomach, and Han Kang replied nonchalantly.

“So did I grow up well or not? I’m tall and I have a good build. If I had eaten three bowls at home and one more at your house back then, I would have grown even bigger.”

Jaechan couldn’t even fathom how much bigger he wanted to get.

“You’re plenty big enough now. Why do you want to grow more?”

“What part of me is big?”

“…Huh?”

No, why is the conversation going this way?

He had only expressed disgust because he thought it would be creepy if Han Kang got any bigger, but for some reason, a faint, mischievous playfulness began to linger on Han Kang’s handsome face.

Knowing the hidden meaning behind the suggestive tone even without pointing it out, Jaechan distorted his face into a scowl and took a step back from Han Kang. Regardless, Han Kang was busy grinning.

“Hmm? Honey. What part is big?”

“Oh, come on. Aren’t you going? Team Leader! Isn’t this guy training?”

Jaechan pushed away Han Kang’s head as he persistently clung to him and asked Ji Sangtaek for help. At that, the team members who were huddled together turned around all at once to stare at the two. Until just a moment ago, it was only Kang Bichan, Ji Sangtaek, and the rookie who had been scolded by Han Kang, but seeing everyone gathered now was quite a nice sight.

“Feeling better already?”

The nuance of the question was as if they were waiting for Han Kang to cool off. When Jaechan nodded, Ji Sangtaek clapped his hands with loud thuds.

“If I had been the one to comfort Han Kang, it would have taken forever.”

“What about me?”

“He cheers right up just because his honey is by his side, my goodness.”

“Honey, your Team Leader is making fun of me.”

Han Kang, who had already stuck close again, spoke in a grumbling tone. Since the embarrassment in these moments was always Jaechan’s burden, he just kept his lips pressed together in a tight line.

“Hey, Kang. I’m not Jaechan’s Team Leader, I’m the Team Zero General Manager. I can hear everything, get over here!”

“Go and train quickly, it’ll be break time soon.”

He had been resting until now, so he didn’t know what more there was to rest from, but that was the schedule anyway. As Jaechan patted Han Kang’s waist and handed him the combat gear late, Han Kang put it on reluctantly while muttering.

“Sigh, fine. I guess I have no choice if I want to put a gold medal around my honey’s neck. I’ll just have to put up with using a piece of trash rookie like that.”

To Han Kang’s attitude of stubbornly picking a fight one last time, Jaechan could only let out a heavy sigh.