Real Man

Chapter 688

Chapter 688

Sip.

She took a sip of coffee through a straw and glanced at Yoo-hyun.

“Are you okay, Mr. Yoo?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re going to meet your junior soon, right? But you don’t seem to be worried at all.”

Unlike the frantic night before, Yoo-hyun looked calm now.

His beloved junior was in a difficult situation, but he didn’t show any signs of anxiety.

Jeong Da-hye was puzzled, but Yoo-hyun had a reason for that.

He had contacted Lee Jang-woo early in the morning.

-Senior, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not in bad condition, and the opponent in Daejeon is not bad either. I’ll show you that I can win.

Of course, his words didn’t sound very reassuring.

He was obviously trying to act fine, and his voice was very hoarse.

But he felt relieved.

As long as he had the strength to squeeze his voice, Yoo-hyun could fill in the rest.

Yoo-hyun answered calmly.

“There’s nothing to solve by being impatient in this situation. I’ve done everything I can.”

“Did you contact Robert?”

Jeong Da-hye was referring to Robert Evans, the old driver who helped Yoo-hyun in Texas.

Yoo-hyun told her what he had said before he left.

“Yes. He said he had colleagues in New York. When I called the number he gave me, everything went smoothly.”

“He seems to have a lot of connections.”

“I know, right? He’s been very helpful in many ways.”

The two of them were new to New York.

They had nothing prepared for now, and there were more than one or two things to worry about.

From transportation to preventing possible accidents.

To prepare for this, Yoo-hyun borrowed Robert Evans’ help.

Tick.

Yoo-hyun turned on his phone screen and checked the message he received early in the morning.

-I’m Scott Brown. As Robert asked me earnestly, I’ll help you for the duration of your schedule.

It was literal.

From now on, his colleague, Scott Brown, would help Yoo-hyun.

There were also many other things to deal with.

How was the press conference schedule, how many reporters were coming, what events were linked, how to use the interpreter, etc.

Kim Tae-soo, who had only been training, couldn’t handle these details.

Even if he took care of all this, there was still a big problem left.

It was the preparation for the match.

From securing the venue to hiring coaching staff, there was a lot to do.

Jeong Da-hye was looking into this for him.

How did it go?

As Yoo-hyun was about to ask, her phone rang.

Ring.

She checked the message with one hand and said.

“The contact I’ve been waiting for has arrived.”

“From Super Punch?”

“Yes. The stage is set, now it’s your turn, Mr. Yoo.”

“I’ll live up to your expectations.”

Yoo-hyun smiled confidently as he met her gaze.

A few hours later, Kim Tae-soo was sitting in the hotel lobby.

He had spent the night with his eyes open and was staring blankly at the TV.

The news captions were scrolling on the screen.@@@@

Would this have happened if he had been with a world-class agency like Super Punch?

He shook his head at the thought that suddenly came to his mind.

No way.

No matter how Lee Jang-woo was an Asian, he was a star who had won two world championships.

It didn’t make sense to treat such a player recklessly.

The more he thought about it, the more problems there were.

From training methods to weight loss, this match had made a lot of unreasonable demands on Lee Jang-woo.

In the end, they changed the opponent and blew everything up, and then they broke the contract right before the tournament.

Was this a reasonable thing to do?

He was angry for a moment, but Kim Tae-soo sighed.

“Damn it. What am I supposed to do now?”

Yoo-hyun passed by Kim Tae-soo and approached Lee Jang-woo behind him.

He had dark circles under his innocent big eyes.

His dry lips alone showed the difficulty of his weight loss.

He was surprised to see him, but he tried to greet him.

Yoo-hyun hugged him.

Wham.

“It’s been a while, Jang-woo.”

“Senior...”

No other words were needed.

Pat pat.

Yoo-hyun patted the back of his beloved junior.

The expression of joy and the introduction of each other were brief.

There were a lot of things to prepare for the upcoming press conference.

It would be best if they could go through the agency, but they were not ready yet.

They needed an interpreter, and Jeong Da-hye agreed to take on that role.

-I’ll do the interpretation and take care of the details, so you take care of your junior. He’s in a very difficult situation.

She was true to her words and paid very close attention.

Kim Tae-soo explained the background he had heard from her and made a list of expected questions.

“So the eye injury you suffered in the second match is okay?”

“Yes, Ellis. It’s healed. And the problem I’m facing right now is...”

Ellis Jung, who was introduced to Kim Tae-soo, was very diligent in explaining, as if she was really an interpreter.

She looked very professional.

Meanwhile, Yoo-hyun sat with Lee Jang-woo in the empty stadium stands.

It was very spacious, as it could accommodate 20,000 people.

It was a perfect place for his junior, who hated the cramped space.

Yoo-hyun handed him a bottle of water.

“Drink some.”

“No, I can’t. I have to lose weight, so I can’t take in water.”

“You can cut off water the day before the weigh-in.”

“I’m over the weight limit this time. I won’t make the target weight at this rate.”

Lee Jang-woo was very serious.

-Smack Sports bastards made Jang-woo gain 20 kilograms of weight. They said it was a tailored strategy for this opponent, so I believed them. But they didn’t support him properly with the weight loss and this happened.

Yoo-hyun also knew the rough situation from Kim Tae-soo.

But it was not something that could be solved by being impatient.

If he reduced his water intake from now on, he would collapse before the weigh-in the day before the match.

That was not Yoo-hyun’s opinion, but the common opinion of the experts.

Kim Tae-soo knew it too, but he couldn’t break Lee Jang-woo’s stubbornness.

But Yoo-hyun didn’t intend to back down.

“Are you going to do the press conference with that face? You need at least some strength to talk.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re talking nonsense. What are you going to do if you faint and lose the match?”

“I’ll lose it anyway if I don’t pass the weigh-in.”

Lee Jang-woo, who was holding on to the end, was firmly pushed by Yoo-hyun’s hand.

“Stubborn. Don’t drink if you don’t want to. If you don’t want to see my face again.”

“...”

“I’m serious.”

“I’ll drink it.”

Maybe it was because Yoo-hyun’s eyes were very serious, but Lee Jang-woo finally took the small bottle of water.

Swish.

Then he barely wet his lips, and Yoo-hyun gestured again.

“Drink it all. And then let’s talk.”

Lee Jang-woo glanced at Yoo-hyun’s face and drank the water again.

Gulp. Gulp.

“I drank it all.”

“Now you look like a champion.”

“Wasn’t I before?”

“Yeah. You looked very depressed. You looked like you had no strength at all.”

“...”

Was it because he saw the weak side he had hidden inside?

Lee Jang-woo was silent for a moment.