Chapter 69.2: Side Story - Someone's Brother Part 2
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Exactly five years before Naru's death.
It had been almost a year since Changho met Naru on the national team and they became like brothers.
Right after finishing another grueling day of training.
Changho was walking lightly, thinking he should go see Naru.
Someone called out to him.
"Seo Changho."
"......?"
Changho turned his head with a questioning look at the familiar voice.
His face hardened as he saw the man standing there.
A middle-aged man with characteristic black hair and sharp eyes.
A face he hadn't seen in almost six years.
But it was also a face that brought him no joy.
"......Senior Hanchul."
Changho muttered, staring at the man in front of him.
Kim Hanchul.
A legend in the Korean Kendo world, a monster who had won five consecutive world championships.
He stood at the pinnacle of Korean Kendo history.
He was the current president of the Korean Kendo Association.
And...
Naru's father.
.
.
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Inside a cafe not far from the training center.
Two men sat facing each other at a table tucked away in a corner.
A young man with light brown hair and a middle-aged man with black hair.
Seo Changho and Kim Hanchul.
"So... what brings you here?"
Changho asked, his eyes cold as he stared at Hanchul.
His gaze was a mixture of contempt, disgust, and betrayal.
The eyes of a child who had seen the ugly side of the hero he once admired.
"It's been a while... About six years, I believe."
Hanchul greeted him nonchalantly as if he didn't notice Changho's gaze.
Changho felt a surge of nausea at Hanchul's brazen attitude.
"Yes... It has been a while."
"You don't seem too happy to see me."
Hanchul said in an emotionless voice, fiddling with the coffee cup on the table.
He tapped the cup with his index finger and continued.
"You know why I'm here, don't you?"
"..."
Changho kept his mouth shut.
It wasn't that he didn't know why.
He just didn't want to face it.
"Did you think I wouldn't know? That you've been close to my son for the past year..."
There was an unspoken rule among the members of the training team Changho belonged to.
It was to keep their distance from the boy named 'Kim Naru'.
-That kid Naru... He's the chairman's son.
-Every senior who got involved with him ended up badly.
-If you show him even a little kindness, or treat him nicely...
-You'll get caught up in some strange violence scandal, or get a weird injury, and be forced to retire...
-So it's best to avoid him as much as possible.
Changho recalled the stories his seniors had told him.
"You know I've been lenient with you..."
"..."
"Let me be frank. Stay away from my son."
Changho didn't answer this time either.
Hanchul sighed at Changho's stubborn attitude and stared at him.
His empty eyes were black and lifeless.
"Think about your career as an athlete... Do you really want to ruin your entire life because of some petty sentiment?"
This is a warning.
A warning to your life.
"Think carefully."
Hanchul said, taking another sip of his coffee.
His casual tone and demeanor made Changho's teeth grind.
How could a father say such a thing to his own son?
Changho's hand, holding the coffee cup, tightened involuntarily.
-Crack...!
The disposable cup crumpled under the pressure.
The spilled contents soaked the young man's hand coldly.
Changho took a deep breath to calm his anger, then spoke.
"Why are you doing this...?"
"Why?"
"Why are you pushing that poor child so cruelly...!"
"..."
He had thought it was strange.
The training Naru was receiving was always a little off.
Making him spar with people using all sorts of strange weapons.
Making him run the entire marathon course once a week.
Beating him up all day in the name of training.
It was all strange, far from any normal training method.
It seemed more like 'torture' than 'training'.
Cruel torture filled with malice.
As if the focus was not on training, but on inflicting pain.
"What did that child do wrong to deserve this...?"
At Changho's question, Hanchul's pupils darkened.
His eyes, deep black as if ink had melted within them, looked like the night sky without a moon.
Hanchul answered coldly.
"For his own happiness."
"You bastard."
Changho spat out a curse without realizing it.
Hanchul, unfazed, moved his lifeless eyes.
He put down his coffee cup and stood up.
"Make your choice. Continue to be close to my son, or stay away from him."
For your information, I recommend the latter.
I mean it.
.
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The rest was obvious.
After a moment of silence, Changho chose to stay by Naru's side.
-You'll regret it.
Hanchul left the cafe with those words.
Changho was left sitting there, staring blankly at the table Hanchul had vacated.
A few months after their meeting, Changho was caught up in a strange violence scandal.
[Shocking! Current National Kendo Team Member Seo Changho Involved in Violence Scandal...]
[Due to the recent incident, the Association has decided to expel Seo Changho from the Kendo world...]
[Current Kendo Association President, Kim Hanchul, expresses his regret over the incident...]
Changho was swept away by the current without a chance to fight back.
He was thrown out of his place in an instant and had to flee.
.
.
.
"Fuck..."
Lost in thought, Changho let out another curse.
The empty sound echoed faintly through the empty room.
He had failed to do anything, become anything, and had crumbled to nothing.
-I... I will stay by Naru's side. I won't let you have your way.
What a foolish vow it had been.
A moment of defiance against the hero of his childhood who had disappointed him.
The recklessness of a young man whose emotions still outweighed his reason.
The foolish arrogance of believing he could help Naru in that situation.
Changho gritted his teeth and wiped his eyes again.
A powerless voice escaped his trembling lips.
"Stay by his side my ass... Stupid..."
The vow he had made that day had brought about a storm far greater than he could have imagined.
It had been violent.
Overwhelming.
And so cruel that he couldn't even bring himself to rebel.
Changho had eventually been brought to his knees, unable to withstand Hanchul's power.
As a result, Changho had lost everything he had built.
And Naru had been left with an irreparable wound.
"I shouldn't have run away like that..."
If he was going to run away after losing everything.
He shouldn't have left Naru alone in the locker room that day.
He should have grabbed his hand and run away with him.
Instead of cowering in fear before that overwhelming influence, he should have done something, anything.
He had destroyed his own life by his own choice.
He should have at least protected what he had tried to protect by fighting through the wreckage...
"It's my fault... If only I had made a better choice that day..."
The accumulated guilt formed a painful memory.
And that memory-filled a corner of his heart.
Now that Naru had taken his own life, there was nothing Changho could do.
All he could do was look up at the towering height of his regrets and lick his wounds bitterly.
"Ugh, ugh..."
Changho let out a pained groan as tears streamed down his face.
The summer sun was peeking through the window.
Every time the warm rays touched his haggard face, a faint warmth brushed against his cheek.
It was an utterly unpleasant sensation.
Changho reached out and closed the curtains irritably.
The warm sunlight reminded him of the small boy's hand that had once touched his cheek.
Changho couldn't bear it.
The sound of cicadas chirping could be heard from outside the window.
The air was thick with the heat of summer.
It was as if everything was reminding him of the season.
Come to think of it, it had always been summer.
-Hey! You're Naru, right? I'm your senior! You can call me Hyung Changho!
The season when I first met you.
-Well then... Goodbye, Naru.
The season when I left you.
-Naru... committed suicide...?
The season when you left this world.
"Fuck... Fuck, fuck, fuck..."
Raw, unrefined words spilled from his mouth.
His voice was closer to a wail than a mutter.
It was an outpouring of emotion.
The faint chirping of cicadas seemed to mock him.
Changho covered his ears and curled up.
But summer wouldn't go away.
It only mercilessly melted away his body, slumped in defeat under its scorching heat.
Yes, summer.
An endless summer.
A cruel, merciless summer that had taken the boy away.
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