Ch.135I’ll Definitely Win That Gold Medal

June 21, 2015.

“Sims, aren’t you going to tell me?”

My parents are going to die.

The cause is also clear.

‘A slippery road from heavy monsoon rain, a truck from the opposite direction with poorly maintained tires, a roe deer that suddenly jumped out.’

Three unforgettable things.

Back then, I resented and felt wronged by all of it.

Now I have the chance to prevent it, but.

I’m not quite sure exactly how to stop it.

‘Would it be enough to simply prevent them from getting in the car? Would that really work?’

The restraining power of fate and the fixity of the future that appear in movies, comics, or dramas.

The inevitable process that what will happen must happen, and so on.

Considering various possibilities, I had a feeling they would somehow end up in the car.

‘It’s similar in reality too.’

Not once has the future I’ve known changed.

‘Things might happen earlier or later, but nothing has ever not happened.’

What will happen must happen.

That’s why I wanted to rely on Sims, but.

“Why don’t you answer at times like this?”

Sims didn’t send a single message.

I don’t know if it hasn’t sent one yet,

Or if it has no intention of sending one.

‘This is frustrating.’

Since there’s nothing better than running when thoughts get complicated.

I pulled my hat down low and headed straight outside.

‘Even if I receive awards at the end of the year, nothing excites me.’

Actually, that’s just an excuse because everything passed in the blink of an eye.

Many things happened at the end of 2014.

I held quite a grand celebration party to commemorate becoming a double 10-million-viewer actor.

I swept all the Best Supporting Actor awards at the year-end ceremonies.

And I heard news that my performance in Japan was also off to a great start.

‘I think they said the expected revenue was about 1.2 billion yen.’

That was a figure that could be considered quite successful.

Whether it was thanks to the clean dubbing.

Or the power of marketing, I’m not sure.

Because of that, money was accumulating in my bank account at an incredibly fast pace.

But at the moment, I didn’t feel much excitement.

After all, when I think about losing the people with whom I would share this joy.

Even when I feel good, my mood suddenly drops.

‘I will definitely prevent it.’

A light 15km run.

There really is nothing better than running to clear your head.

And then.

Ding!

-[Confirming that the user’s mind has calmed down to some extent]

-[Activating Hedgehog Protection Protocol.]

-[Wishing for your happiness.]

A message arrived from Sims that instantly melted my tense heart.

-[Changing death is an extremely tricky matter.]

-[Therefore, to change fate, several major turning points are needed.]

But to change an already determined fate, special conditions seem necessary.

Sims added several conditions.

But those conditions.

-[The first turning point is to be selected as the national representative for heavyweight boxing at the Rio Olympics.]

-[Until then, death will be postponed, and if you fail, the predetermined fate will immediately take effect.]

“…Is this for real?”

It matched exactly what I had been planning to do.

‘Then, after becoming a national representative, is it about winning a gold medal?’

In a slightly dumbfounded moment.

-[The whole world must recognize your family relationship.]

-[Then fate will not be able to change what has been determined.]

Sims’ additional messages continued.

To the point where I wondered if it had ever sent such long messages before.

This shows how much effort Sims is putting into this matter.

‘Then what I need to do is clear.’

It was something I had already set as a goal.

But now I had the motivation to achieve it with my life on the line.

‘Rio Olympics gold medal.’

I will definitely win it.

++++++

Kim Seohyun, 3 years old.

Despite her young age, she has already mastered Korean.

Starting with her outstanding appearance.

Growing up with plenty of love from adults.

People say she’s another miracle after Kim Donghu.

In addition, she amazes people with behavior unlike that of a 3-year-old.

But no matter how smart and bright she is, she’s still just 3 years old.

“Mom, when is oppa coming?”

“Hm? Your brother… he says he can’t come because he’s busy exercising these days.”

“He’s not coming to see me? He called me a princess!”

Acting spoiled is, in a way, only natural.

And most of that spoiled behavior was related to her brother, Kim Donghu.

“Since Seohyun is a princess, maybe he wants to come looking even more handsome?”

At such times, her parents were miserable.

‘How can she miss her brother more than us?’

‘He’s exceptionally handsome, so Seohyun really likes him.’

That brother whom the little sister adored so much was extremely busy.

So no matter how much they tried to console her.

“Oppa is always handsome, to the point where he can’t be any more handsome. Honestly, he’s the most handsome in the world!”

Seohyun’s answer was always the same.

And that was a fact that parents couldn’t deny.

Beyond subjective views.

Even when objectively evaluating Kim Donghu as a human being.

Their son was too handsome and too cool.

The problem was that he was just as busy.

‘Son! Why are you so busy!’

‘When Seohyun cries because of you, she doesn’t stop for about three hours!’

Usually, she doesn’t cry much, and if she wants something, she says it right away.

Seohyun tends to speak quite logically.

But when it comes to her brother, she truly becomes just a 3-year-old child.

“So oppa isn’t coming? He’s not coming to see Seohyun today either? He definitely said he’d come quickly to see his princess…”

As her last words start to fade, tears well up in Seohyun’s eyes.

What’s so great about a brother 16 years older than her?

Just the thought of not seeing her brother, exactly 5 seconds before crying.

“Seohyun, oppa is here. Where’s my princess?”

Like a miracle, the front door opened and Kim Donghu appeared.

Perfect timing, appearing exactly when she wanted to see him.

With such prince-on-a-white-horse vibes, Seohyun smiled brightly and ran over.

“Wow! It’s oppa!”

Kim Seohyun loved her brother.

She loved him the most in the world.

Because he plays with her so well and adores her.

Plus.

‘He’s even more handsome than the princes in fairy tales!’

Just seeing his face makes her smile.

Hehe.

After enjoying the airplane ride her brother gave her for about 2 hours.

And listing everything that happened today for about 1 hour.

Only then did Kim Seohyun, with a satisfied face, run to bed.

Having released all her pent-up energy, fatigue suddenly hit her.

“Oppa! I’m going to sleep! Make sure you’re still here when I wake up! Promise!”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Hehe.”

After finishing the pinky promise, Kim Donghu’s time playing with his sister ended.

‘Playing with kids is tougher than I thought.’

Thinking he had worked up quite a sweat, he gulped down a cup of cold water.

Then Kim Donghu sat in front of his parents and immediately brought up the reason for his visit.

“Mom, Dad… would you like to go on a trip around June?”

“A trip? What kind of trip?”

“To Europe, leisurely for a month or two, taking Seohyun too, for a world experience kind of thing.”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“Ah, well, you see….”

The words weren’t coming out properly.

It felt like something was getting tangled.

But it was something he absolutely had to say.

So Kim Donghu gathered his thoughts and continued.

“I just wanted to do something filial like this for once! Suddenly! What do you think?”

“But it’s too sudden. Two months… wow, that would require quite a lot of preparation! And the money….”

When his mother showed a more negative reaction than expected, making him think he might fail.

“Son, is this something you really want?”

His usually quiet father spoke up.

“Yes?”

“This trip, you really want us to go, right? That’s why you came all the way here despite being busy.”

His father was right.

Kim Donghu didn’t want his parents to be in Korea during that period.

Even though death had been postponed.

June itself felt extremely ominous.

This was a judgment based on psychological factors.

Regardless of the rational trust in Sims.

And this judgment.

“Let’s do it.”

“Honey? Is work okay? But still, so suddenly….”

“No, if Donghu wants it that much, we should do it.”

Kim Donghu’s father, Kim Jeongryeol, immediately agreed.

There was no objection.

He simply trusted his son’s wishes.

“When our son says something like this, there’s always a reason. Let’s just do it.”

This was the trust of a father who had received his retirement money in advance.

And invested it all in stocks and coins, believing in his son’s words.

+++++

Mid-January.

All preparations were complete.

In June, his parents would take Seohyun on an overseas trip.

He had asked Seokho hyung in advance to clear all his schedules.

And he could now focus purely on training.

“…Donghu, are you really doing this?”

“Yes, I am.”

The goal was to earn the qualification as a heavyweight boxing national representative.

Then go to the Asian Boxing Championship and secure a spot in the Olympics.

To do that, he could no longer spar with headgear.

Sparring that felt like a real match.

A match without any safety equipment.

I told the coach that I was determined, over and over.

The coach nodded as if he had made some decision.

“Alright, Donghu. I’ve been building up my weight class for this day too. I’ll probably be at least a decent toy for you.”

“…?”

But something about his words seemed strange.

Why is he calling himself a toy?

“I’ve been looking into domestic heavyweight fighters… but to really play properly, we might need to go abroad. But until then, just beat me up.”

While I was confused by his words that seemed to belittle himself.

“Shall we start now?”

Coach Paek Sangha announced the start of sparring with a cheerful smile.

Ding!

The moment the bell rang.

‘I will definitely win that gold medal.’

For the first time in my life, I showed the coach 100% of my power.