Kang Tae-han has a small hobby and habit.

It is to check the internet news on a smartphone in my spare time. When I work or exercise, I stay away from my smartphone itself, but at other times, I was looking for things whenever I had free time.

He had been in Moorim for about sixty years.

Naturally, during those years Kang Tae-han forgot much of the knowledge and information he knew in modern times.

It was simply because that amount of time had passed, and it was also because life in Moorim was not easy enough to recall old memories.

When I returned to modern times, the memories of everyday parts quickly came back, and I quickly adapted to the point where I didn’t feel awkward around me… Still, gaps in oblivion remained in the details.

For example, I don’t know the name of a national idol that everyone knows, or I can’t remember an incident that stirred up the whole country last year, or I don’t know the name of a movie that was a big hit recently.

The so-called ‘spy if you don’t know this’ was quite often unfamiliar to Kang Tae-han.

Of course, who would have to arrest me as a spy for forgetting something like this… Still, it is true that whenever I encounter such a situation, I feel very uncomfortable.

But this is modern.

Almost all the information you need can be found in the palm of your hand. You can find all the latest news as well as news and gossip from years ago.

‘Come to think of it, something like this happened at that time… I think there was a commotion at school then.’

Kang Tae-han smiled at the article he suddenly remembered and looked up last year. When a memory comes to mind through an article, other memories related to that memory come to mind one by one, just as branches grow from a tree.

The process was quite enjoyable rather than cumbersome, and it was appropriate for the entertainment of the elderly. Of course, Kang Tae-han’s body was a young man in his twenties.

‘Well?’

In the meantime, a familiar name caught his eye among the latest news.

“Choi Tae-joon… … ? I think I heard it somewhere.”

Kang Tae-han tilted his head slightly and immediately recalled the memory. This is the name of the baseball player Choi Seong-hyun talked about at a sundae soup restaurant a few days ago.

Saying that you ruined all the games you were winning all at once. I guessed that maybe he was a player who used to be good but has been sluggish lately.

As expected, the content of the article was also not very good. Not only did he simply point out his sluggishness, but the reporter could feel the emotion conveyed in the sentence as if he were a fan of Hanha Hawks.

‘Super Rookie, Han-Ha’s Prospect… It seems that he was originally a good player.’

Suddenly, I became interested, so I did a search, and the articles that came out in the past were all positively reviewed.

In fact, it was natural. If you say your grades are sluggish now, on the contrary, it means that your grades were good in the past.

‘What a common thing.’

A promising talent shows a sluggish appearance.

This is a fairly common occurrence, regardless of the East and West. Rather, a person who has never experienced this kind of thing and continues to be satisfied with expectations is a ridiculous genius.

But it will be difficult for me. It is sad to see the difference between the smiling face in the old article and the bowed face in the recent article. Kang Tae-han just shrugged his shoulders and put his smartphone into his pocket.

“I am here.”

“Oh, Tae-han! Come on.”

9:20 am. Without the slightest error, I arrive at the massage shop at the same time as usual. Kang Tae-han greeted Chief Hwang and immediately headed to the changing room.

After a while, the clothes he wore were not those of a masseuse, but ordinary jjimjilbok.

The first reservation guest arrives at 10:00.

Taking advantage of the remaining time until then, warming up in the bathroom first was the beginning of Kang Tae-han’s daily routine.

“Huh… nice.”

Start each morning by warming up in a hot bath.

This alone makes the day’s satisfaction go up. A pleasant sigh escaped from Kang Tae-han’s mouth, who was submerged up to his shoulder.

‘This is really special.’

The bath in the morning is something different.

Do you think it’s quieter than usual? Since there are few people, the bath can be used widely, so it is a perfect timing to enjoy contemplation while taking a bath.

When I work here, I don’t know anything else, but this one is a really big advantage. Kang Tae-han had a leisurely time while soaking in the bath.

‘… Well?’

While loosening up his body and hitting the bruises, Kang Tae-han’s gaze gathered at a face that seemed to have been seen somewhere. It didn’t take long to remember who it was. Because it was the face I had seen before.

‘Isn’t that Choi Tae-joon?’

Seeing the faces I had seen in news articles here made me feel strange again. The feeling is similar to when you run into one of the four envoys in the country at an inn in the countryside.

Taking a quick look at her, I could clearly see her well-trained body, as much as she made sports a career. It wasn’t just a few years of hard work, but it was a muscle that was created through constant effort from before.

‘As expected, there is a gap between reality and rumors.’

He gets popular early on, so he neglects training, drinks even before the game… Such public opinion was often seen, but when I saw it myself, I immediately knew that it was a false rumor.

That is a body that cannot come out of an idle life. I can’t be sure because I can’t see it closely, but rather than that, it seemed closer to overexerting the body.

… what has nothing to do with me

I don’t know if it’s fate, but it doesn’t matter in this situation. Even if you pay attention, it’s just an ojilap.

It was time to go back, so Kang Tae-han left the bath with Choi Tae-joon behind.

By the way, when I received the second guest of the day.

“Take good care of me.”

Seeing Taejun Choi sitting on the bed and slightly lowering his head, Kang Taehan burst out laughing without realizing it. It seems that I have a connection with this person.

* * *

‘… It’s the person I saw in the bathroom earlier.’

When they met in the bathroom, in fact Choi Tae-joon also looked at Kang Tae-han. Of course, I didn’t know who he was, but his tight muscles caught my eye.

People who have made exercise their business, even if they are in different sports, can tell roughly what kind of exercise they do, how much career they have, and how much effort they usually put in by looking at their bodies.

However, when I saw Kang Tae-han, I didn’t get a good feeling.

The only thing I can be sure of is that it is a refined muscle that has been trained very delicately. It was impossible to stare at a stranger in the bathtub, so I only glanced at it, but it was an ideal shape that could be used as a teaching aid.

It must have been a body built with a lot of effort.

Choi Tae-joon hadn’t even thought of a body that had been created in less than two months.

‘It’s a mysterious atmosphere.’

Meanwhile, apart from that, Choi Tae-joon felt a strange impression from Kang Tae-han. From the outside, they seem to be about their age, but the atmosphere is completely different.

It doesn’t match the youthful appearance at all… If I had to use an analogy, I would feel the weight, like age.

“Is there anything else that makes you uncomfortable?”

Is it because of that? It is natural to speak condescendingly. Both to the person speaking and to the person listening to it.

To be honest, until just a moment ago, Choi Tae-joon did not have high expectations. To be honest, how good it would be if the skills of the sauna massage shop were good.

I liked the sauna itself because it was large and neat, but that’s about it. I didn’t want to reject the fact that the coach cared about me, and I only came up to see the faces of my acquaintances in Seoul.

But the moment I met Kang Tae-han.

A little bit of hope rose up. Choi Tae-joon put his hand on his right shoulder and said.

“I hurt my shoulder while throwing a ball before.”

“It’s the right shoulder.”

“Yes, but I wonder if there are any aftereffects left, the feeling of a foreign body still lingers around here… I have been to many places, but there is no progress.”

As I was speaking, I suddenly thought it was funny.

I’m talking about the symptoms that I can tell at any hospital at the massage shop in the sauna. Maybe the other person feels burdened too.

“Let’s take a look.”

But Kang Tae-han just nodded once and put a hand on his shoulder. That attitude, as if it was no big deal, strangely gave me confidence.

‘… It’s definitely serious.’

Kang Tae-han, who checked the condition, made a bitter expression.

However, what he was talking about was not the condition of the shoulder, but the condition of the whole body. As seen in the bathroom, the whole body was in a state of decay, as if it had been overworked for a long time.

It is also true that there are traces of a knife on his shoulder, and it is also true that there are some cracks in the blood vessels around it. However, compared to the physical condition, this is rather insignificant.

‘Is it a sign of struggling to get out of the slump?’

Delayed achievement and no further growth.

There are few things that are more painful than this to the Murim people.

The more diligent and hardworking a person is, the greater this pain comes, and it is bound to be more bitter, especially to young people who are still inexperienced and full of energy.

It was to the extent that it was not uncommon for young Moorim writers to appear every year who were possessed by heart demons or who ruined their lives by choosing the path of the sado that seemed easy.

‘This has no choice but to be the same in modern times.’

One of them was right in front of my eyes.

A young man who has reached the point of exhausting himself, struggling to make progress at all costs. On the outside, he has a strong and sturdy body like a young athlete, but on the inside, his strength is already showing the bottom.

Since I went to the match with this body, my grades are bound to be sluggish. However, this person must have found the cause not in lack of rest, but in lack of effort. He was just that kind of person.

However, I don’t hate those types of people.

Shall I help you a little? Kang Tae-han placed his hand on his back with a light smile on his lips.

“Hey, you have a disease in your heart.”

“… … .”

If you hear it in front of a station somewhere, you’ll dismiss it as a strange pseudonym and you won’t even hear it. However, perhaps it was because of Kang Tae-han’s atmosphere, Choi Tae-joon listened to him calmly.

“It is certainly a brave thing to endure and confront hardship, but if it is hard enough to break oneself, it is necessary to let it pass in moderation. I’m just trying to pay some attention. This time, please don’t break it and be flexible.”

What does that mean? Taejun Choi raised his head slightly to ask a question. But the question never came out of his mouth.

Papababak!

From the Myeongmun acupuncture point near the tailbone to the Jujube acupuncture point below the neck. Kang Tae-han’s acupressure rode up Choi Tae-joon’s spine, stimulating dozens of acupuncture points in an instant.

“Huhhhh!”

The vertebrae running through the center are literally the pillars of the body.

Tae-Jun Choi’s head turned white at the sensation of the tingling sensation spreading all over his body along the pillar, and he let out a scream close to moaning.