“donation… You mean?”

“Yes.”

Kang Tae-han nodded at the words of team leader Woo Dae-seok, who asked for confirmation. Then, in a slightly embarrassed voice, he added:

“To be honest, I don’t know anything about where to donate or how to proceed, but sports associations probably know these things well.”

“… It is, but.”

At Kang Tae-han’s words, Team Leader Wu nodded slowly.

There will always be sports organizations that need help or support. Unpopular events are always short of money, and it goes without saying about organizations for the underprivileged, such as the Paralympic Sports Association.

It’s just that the budget is limited and manpower is limited, so we can’t support all of them. In the first place, sports clubs are operated with the support of various companies and the government, so how can they have a generous budget?

In that situation… The amount of money in this envelope can be a real help to some small organizations.

Well, that doesn’t mean it’s a huge amount in billions, but honestly, it wasn’t even that small.

“Are you really going to be okay?”

“Yes. Please proceed like that.”

To Team Leader Woo’s request for confirmation again, Kang Tae-han replied with the same calm tone as before. Woo Dae-seok kept his mouth shut for a moment and stared at Kang Tae-han’s face.

‘this person is… The bowl is wide.’

Giving is, after all, the act of transferring one’s money to someone else. It means giving away the wealth you have earned through your hard work to someone you may never meet in your lifetime.

Wouldn’t that be easy to do?

Especially in this case, it’s the reward I got after taking time off on my day off and doing a massage all day.

Of course, it was not a previously announced reward, but it was prepared separately by Team Leader Woo, but doesn’t that change the value of money?

‘He has a broad mind and a wide field of view.’

However, I do not think that all such donations are based on pure goodwill. Team leader Woo is not a person who only sees the world so innocently. If I had been that kind of person in the first place, I wouldn’t have been able to take on the role of team leader.

However, even if that is the case, what Kang Tae-han is looking at is a big picture calculated and drawn far into the future. And that’s something that ordinary people don’t see easily. Especially at such a young age.

After all, a person with a wide bowl. A look of admiration flickered in Team Leader Woo’s eyes as he looked at Kang Tae-han.

“… Okay. I will.”

Team leader Wu immediately nodded and said. The hand that put the money in the envelope looked a little embarrassed, as if there was still regret, but it seemed that he was convinced.

“There is an event to support sports activities for the vulnerable this time… I will sponsor it in the name of Mr. Taehan. Can we proceed like that?”

“yes. thank you.”

Taehan Kang answers with a smile. Wu had a smile on his face. Then, with an embarrassed expression, he continued his story.

“This, you must be tired, but the story seems too long. I’ll just go back.”

“no. It’s not even a bad story, well.”

“Huh, thank you for thinking so.”

Then, I’m alone.

Team leader Woo Dae-seok bowed his head and walked out of the room at a slightly faster pace.

The two remained in the room again.

Seonghyeon Choi, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between team leader Wu and Taehan Kang, asked Taehan Kang in a low voice. It’s something I’ve been curious about before.

“… Even if you didn’t take the money, they’ll buy you beef, right?”

“I said I would buy it for you and you wouldn’t buy it for me… Did you die of starvation because you couldn’t eat a cow in your previous life?”

“No, since you said earlier that you would buy me beef, my appetite was so strong. Today is the day you have to eat beef. It feels like that.”

Seonghyun Choi’s voice is half playful. At that, Kang Tae-han smiled and replied in a similarly playful voice.

“If someone buys you, you can eat it even if they tell you to eat only beef every day.”

“Um… I don’t know because I’ve never done it.”

Seonghyeon Choi said while pretending to think seriously.

“Shall we try starting today?”

“If it replaces your paycheck, it’s worth a try.”

“… I made a mistake, boss.”

Choi Seong-hyun expresses his apology with exaggerated gestures as if he were offering an apology. Kang Tae-han laughed at the sight, and Choi Seong-hyun also burst into laughter before long.

* * *

a few days after that.

In the Jincheon National Training Center after Kang Tae-han went, there was a clear difference that even a person who did not know the process before and after could feel it.

Originally, it was an athlete’s village where the tension and rigid atmosphere grew day by day as the Olympics approached.

“Whoa, whoa… Just turned it off, how did the record come out?”

“uh… I think you have the best record of your seniors?”

“really?”

“Hey, this is really no joke.”

“Right? Even though the body is light, it is too light.”

Admiration and exclamation bursting out from everywhere throughout the day.

It was nothing different, it was the admiration of the players who felt the effect after receiving Kang Tae-han’s massage. Perhaps because of that, the atmosphere that had been stiff just two days ago had naturally become friendly.

If I had to use an analogy, I would say it feels like a high school playground on the day of an athletic meet. Even though he was constantly running around, he was overflowing with stamina, just like a high school student in his prime.

And of course, the effect of massage wasn’t just physical strength.

“Hey, did you really like this Lely?”

“Right? Wasn’t I the only one who thought so?”

“Coach, did you just film Lely?”

“uh… No, I wasn’t filming.”

“Oh, why! It was great!”

“I was staring blankly too… sorry.”

It feels like the various physical abilities of the players, along with their skills and achievements, have risen dramatically. It wasn’t just the feeling, but also the actual measured results.

Should I say it feels like my potential is exploding, or should I say it feels like my body has been raised to the level of its prime. There was such a strange sense of fullness that I felt better just by moving my body lightly.

Thanks to this, there were players who overtrained by violating the existing schedule because they were unable to concentrate on training, but… … .

Even that was a part of creating this exhilarating atmosphere, so most of the coaches did not impose any special sanctions and looked as if they could not stop it.

Of course, not all players were so excited.

“… Are you making a fuss like this?”

“I don’t know… … .”

Among them, there were some players who couldn’t fit in and sympathize with this atmosphere.

I received a massage from Kang Tae-han, and I saw the effect… To be honest, it wasn’t such an effect that it made such a fuss.

It’s just that my body feels refreshed, and my condition has improved.

It is true that I received an amazing massage, but it was true that it was not to the extent of running around like that. At least that’s what they went through.

“Hmm… … .”

Manager Maeng, who was walking around and looking around.

Watching the noisy training ground from a distance, he let out a low saliva and nodded and opened his mouth.

“Certainly, as Team Leader Wu said, it’s not like he’s all-round, but it seems that each player has different effects.”

“Yes. Because the director said so.”

In other words, it does not mean to create skills that do not exist, but rather to bring the skills that have not been displayed properly to the front.

But that is to say, in the opposite case… … .

“They are usually indolent, what is this feeling?”

“It would be dangerous to make hasty generalizations, but… Well, it can’t be said that it’s a story that doesn’t exist.”

At Manager Maeng’s words, Team Leader Wu nodded slowly.

This is the athletes’ village where the national team is gathered.

It is literally a place that fosters outstanding elite athletes, but if everyone is serious about it, it is also ambiguous.

There are people who go out and cause controversy, and there are people who have bad attitudes, and players cause minor incidents while dating… … .

Woo Dae-seok, team leader, was a person who sympathized with the players and tried to take care of something more, but it was difficult to cover even these parts.

“But there aren’t that many people like that.”

“Well, that too. If you think about it that way, it may be less than I thought.”

Manager Maeng nodded as if in sympathy with Team Leader Wu’s words. In other words, it was a rather satisfying result. Except for a few, it also meant that everyone had been working hard to build up their skills.

“And there are a lot more players who have grown through this opportunity. For example… Like Kim Chan-soo over there.”

Team Leader Woo pointed to the inside of the Taekwondo training ground he had just arrived and said. There, for a while, a sparring between Kim Chan-soo and another player was taking place.

“Wow… Chansu, why did your skills improve so much?”

“He used to be a good guy, but since he’s even better, he’s at a level where he just can’t touch him.”

The sound of other players talking in the distance.

It is not an exaggeration to say that, even to the two people who do not know Taekwondo very well, Kim Chan-soo’s body movements were extraordinary.

Kim Chan-soo’s real ability, which put down the doubts that remained inside and began to do his best in earnest.

He was expected to be a promising player because of his good grades from the beginning, but… Now, it felt like he had risen to the top of the national team beyond being a promising player.

“Kim Chan-soo is also talked about a lot these days. Of course, in a good way.”

“I see.”

Manager Maeng nodded in sympathy, and Team Manager Wu replied with a smile. However, Manager Maeng soon opened his mouth with a questioning expression.

“By the way, didn’t Kim Chan-soo get a massage this time? I remember that the people who went to the massage parlor because of the aftereffects were excluded.”

“that… Well.”

It was true.

Team leader Woo, who was about to say something, shut his mouth for a while, drooled, and spoke carefully.

“Well, isn’t that a good thing?”

It was a good, appropriate sentence to answer something I didn’t know well.

* * *

“Hey, Yvor.”

“… Well?”

A cafe located next to the lobby of the Liner Hotel.

Ivor Gibson, who was sitting in a corner seat there, slowly opened his eyes at the voice calling him.

“Are you sleeping after calling someone?”

“What is it, Benerick? I didn’t expect you to come already.”

He was interrupted in the middle of light meditation, but he was not an uninvited guest. After confirming the other person’s face, Gibson showed a welcome look and spoke.

“I thought I would be late by 20 or 30 minutes while signing autographs for fans.”

“What about the fans? It may not be possible in the United States or England, but there’s no way that’s the case in a country so far away.”

“okay? As a Hollywood movie star.”

Benedict Brown.

As an actor from England who is active in Hollywood, he was quite famous enough to hear the evaluation that he has been renewing his heyday since several years ago.

Originally, it was evaluated that it was famous only in the Western world rather than the Eastern world, and there was actually such a tendency… … .

“Then, is it because you came here 10 minutes late just because you made a promise to a friend lightly?”

“… no.”

“Then why are you late?”

“… I signed autographs because there were fans.”

That, too, is a thing of the past now.

It is because his recent works have become global hits, both in the East and West, and he has literally become a movie star, receiving treats wherever he goes.

“But it’s not like you said before, ten or twenty minutes late.”

“You speak well.”

Yvor Gibson said with a chuckle.

He was usually known for his hard and firm impression, but now he has a very friendly and mischievous face, probably because he met a friend from his hometown.

“So, how’s Riley doing?”

At the same time, Ybor naturally asks how his wife is doing.

It was a very natural question that could be asked by just the two of you, or rather, it would be strange if you didn’t ask.

“Layla… … .”

Hearing that, Benerik’s expression darkened noticeably. He drank a sip of water as if to hide his face, and then opened his mouth with an effortless tone.

“It’s kind of bad.”

“… Did you fight?”

“They are separated.”

Hearing those words, Ivor paused momentarily. It was because the story that was brought up with a light heart turned into a heavy story.

“Is something going on?”

But what appeared on his face was not something like bewilderment or curiosity, but concern for his friend. Benerik was silent for a moment, then let out a small sigh and opened his mouth.

“There are no children between me and Riley yet.”

“It was.”

To be precise, I wanted to have a child, but it was hard to have one.

I couldn’t sympathize properly because I wasn’t even married yet, but Ivor knew well that it could be a serious problem for the person involved.

“By the way?”

“It turned out that it was because of me. It is virtually infertile.”

“… uh?”

“But don’t they sell alcohol here?”

I knew it would be a heavy story, but Gibson was embarrassed nonetheless.

Aside from that, Benerik started looking at the menu for a drink. Although he spoke in a calm tone, it was because it was a story that had no choice but to become complicated.