30 – The Boy of Urban Legend #2
Even when they were in high school, Jinwoo was close friends with Joohyuk. When he wasn’t by Sarah’s side, Jinwoo often went out to play with Joohyuk. Of course, that didn’t mean Joo Hyuk was close to Sarah.
Should I say that stealing and eating candy that was an offering in elementary school led to a bad relationship?
Whenever Sarah ran into Joo-hyuk, he would say something to her at that time.
The moment Joo-hyuk approached, Sarah opened her mouth, curling the corners of her mouth.
“I haven’t seen you lately, but he has appeared again. Mr. Candy Thief.”
Joo Hyuk glanced at Sarah and answered abruptly.
“Who is the candy thief?”
“Who are you, Joohyuk? You won’t steal other people’s stuff anymore, right?”
“I’m not stealing! I’m buying it with my own money! I won a lot of money in competitions, so why would I steal from someone else?”
“Ho… Then should I call you by a different name? Mr. Mama’s Boy.”
“aaah!”
When Sarah lightly dissed Joo-hyuk, he got angry. Joo-hyuk thought of his past as being possessed by a ghost and showing an unsightly side as a dark history. At that time, if he dissed me about something, there was an immediate response.
“This is really…!”
“Really?”
It was time for Sarah and Joo-hyuk to slowly raise their voices. Jinwoo, who was listening to the conversation between the two, sighed and opened his mouth. The war of nerves that unfolded every time these two encountered each other was something Jinwoo was familiar with.
“Let’s stop there.”
“No, he started the fight first!”
“So who wants to steal ghost candy?”
Se-ra and Joo-hyuk growled at each other, but soon stopped fighting.
When Jinwoo intervened, the two people tended to stop fighting.
“Huh, it’s done….”
Jinwoo spoke to Joohyuk, who shook his head.
“Joo Hyuk, but why are you here instead of going into the classroom?”
The classroom Joo-hyuk was assigned to was class 5, first grade. It was a classroom far away from Class 1 where Jinwoo and Sarah were. Instead of going into the classroom, Joo-hyuk was wandering around in the hallway near Class 1 for some reason. Then, a group of students came to see Juhyeok, a judo athlete.
Joo Hyuk answered while looking at Jin Woo.
“Me? I came to see how you live. You’ve been busy preparing for the competition these days, so you don’t even have time to hang out.”
“Then come back to the classroom quickly. Why are you outside?”
“I can’t help it because the kids are surrounding me. They keep asking me to show them my gold medal. Why do I bring it to school?”
Joo Hyuk, who became a high school student, became a judo player with a promising future. Although he swept all kinds of competitions held domestically and achieved good results in world competitions, Joo-hyuk did not live an easy life. It was much busier than before.
Joo Hyuk has been busy these days as he participates in competitions.
There was a reason why he couldn’t go to school for a week after the semester started.
“It’s been a while since I last saw you. Are you preparing well for the competition?”
“There’s no problem there.”
While talking, Joo Hyuk looked at Jin Woo and smiled.
“By the way. I received an interesting gift from an overseas fan last week. It’s definitely something you’d really like.”
“A gift?”
“Huh. If you were me, you’d probably be excited to get it. This is a gift I received from Mr. Yukio in Japan…”
A gift I received from a fan in Japan.
Since Joo Hyuk participated in world competitions in middle school, he has fans overseas. Although his appearance was ordinary, he attracted fans because of his hot performances. Among them, Yukio was a fan living in Japan.
“What is that?”
Jinwoo became curious. The only objects Jinwoo was interested in were those related to mysteries. Moreover, he was interested in anything that came from Japan. There were many strange stories in Japan.
“hehehe…”
However, Joo Hyuk did not immediately reveal the gift.
“Do you want to know what it is? Then, arm wrestle with me! If you arm wrestle and beat me, I’ll show you a gift.”
Joo Hyuk placed a bet.
He made a bet that if Jinwoo won by arm wrestling, he would reveal the gift.
“Suddenly? Let’s arm wrestle here now?”
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“You can do it in your classroom. Let’s finish it quickly before assembly time.”
“No, but…”
Sarah, who was next to me, spoke to Joo Hyuk.
“What kind of arm wrestling is this? You’re so good at judo that you want to arm wrestle with ordinary people? I guess you’re not embarrassed.”
“I asked Jinwoo.”
In the end, it was Jinwoo who made the decision.
Although he was embarrassed, Jin-woo wanted to see what gift Joo-hyuk brought.
I could do as much as arm wrestling with friends.
“Okay. Let’s arm wrestle.”
“Okay.”
Jinwoo took Joohyuk into the classroom. But they were not the only ones who entered the classroom. Other students who were watching around started talking noisily.
“Hey! Lee Joo-hyuk is arm wrestling!”
“Arm wrestling? Who are you doing it with?”
“I’m not sure, but let’s do it with a friend! Come quickly!”
Lee Joo-hyuk, the star of Korean judo, arm wrestles with an ordinary person.
It was bound to become a hot topic at school.
The rumor quickly spread and students gathered in Class 1’s classroom.
The crowd appeared as if there was a sporting event taking place.
“Wow! It’s really Lee Joo-hyuk!”
“The official record in the competition is undefeated.”
“You’re a judo genius.”
Judo genius Lee Joo-hyuk.
He was a player who had never lost a single official match. He even beat foreign players so mercilessly that even the general public heard Lee Joo-hyuk’s name. Jinwoo and Joohyuk sat facing each other at a desk in the middle of the classroom.
“Sera, you are the judge.”
“Good.”
Sera decided to watch the referee.
Jinwoo put his arms on the desk and held hands with Joohyuk. The moment Joo-hyuk’s large palm covered Jin-woo’s hand, cheers rang out around him.
“Lee Joo-hyuk! Lee Joo-hyuk!”
“End it with one blow!”
“After you’re done, play a round with me!”
Everyone predicted Joo Hyuk’s victory.
There were also students who bet on the outcome.
“How many seconds do you think Lee Joo-hyuk will win?”
“5 Seconds? I bet on 5 seconds.”
“With different body sizes, does it take 5 seconds? It would be a miracle if that curly hair over there lasts 3 seconds.”
“Is that so? That’s right.”
In the students’ minds, the outcome was obvious, but the interesting topic was how long Jinwoo could endure. Most students expected the duration to last in seconds. The holding time was in the single digits.
“Ready.”
It was right then.
Sarah, who was watching the referee, raised her hand and signaled preparation. The hands of Jinwoo and Joohyuk, who were holding each other, gained strength. The atmosphere in the classroom boiled over like an arena.
“Waaa!”
The students’ cheers rang out loudly.
As Sarah lowered her arms, she spoke briefly.
“Start.”
The arm wrestling has begun.
Joo Hyuk’s arm muscles swelled after exerting strength. The shape of his muscles was clearly visible through the shirt he was wearing. As expected from a judo player, the direction in which Joo Hyuk applied his force was precise. It was a move where he knew exactly where to put his hands.
“Huh!”
But Jinwoo’s hand did not fall.
“…….”
Even though his rugged arm muscles were exerting force, Jinwoo’s hand did not move from where it was held. He just sat still on the desk as if nothing had happened.
“Huh?”
At that moment, the students who were watching the arm wrestling looked puzzled. Time passed and 3 seconds passed. Another 5 seconds passed, but the arm wrestling did not end. It wasn’t even clear whether one side had started arm wrestling in the first place. Unlike Lee Joo-hyuk, who was giving strength, Jin-woo was just calm.
“What…”
“So, why can’t I move my hand?”
━━Tick! Tick!
It was when 10 seconds had passed.
Jinwoo moved his hand. It wasn’t the direction he fell to the floor. What was falling on the floor of the desk was the back of Joo-hyuk’s hand. The back of Joo-hyuk’s hand, which was slowly falling, eventually touched the floor.
Tuk! The sound echoed throughout the classroom.
At that moment, silence fell throughout the classroom.
“The end.”
Sarah, who was watching the referee, announced the end of her match.
It was Jinwoo’s victory.
“Ugh…!”
Joo Hyuk was still putting strength into his hands. However, no matter how hard he gritted his teeth, his hands would not lift. The students in the classroom did not understand what they were seeing. While everyone was shocked and silent, Joo Hyuk eventually accepted the outcome of the match.
“Ugh… I lost, I lost again.”
“Is it all over? So what’s the gift?”
“I’ll show you after school today.”
Jinwoo released his hands. Joo-hyuk took his hand away, breathing heavily. Joo-hyuk’s palms were red where his blood had poured into them.
A judo athlete who swept competitions was defeated by the general public.
It was something I could not understand. The students’ eyes focused on Jinwoo. But Jinwoo was only interested in mysteries.
As Sarah smiled, she asked Joo-hyuk.
“So how many times have you lost now? Lee Joo-hyuk.”
“I don’t know! I don’t remember, so don’t ask.”
Actually, this wasn’t the first time Jin-Woo arm-wrestled with Joo-Hyuk. As Sarah remembers, the two boys had made similar bets several times in places that no one could see. It was mainly a bet where the winner was decided by strength, like arm wrestling.
Jinwoo was the one who won every time.
Even after Joo Hyuk won several competitions, the game did not change.
“Hmm.”
Sarah looked at Jinwoo sitting at her desk.
He couldn’t help but be an interesting boy just to look at.
‘As expected, he’s an amazing kid.’
From the moment Sarah first met her, she knew that Jinwoo was strong.
Of course, simply having a strong body did not attract Sarah’s interest. There were quite a few people who could display superpowers by using magical methods or borrowing the power of divine beings.
Right now, Sera was increasing her physical strength with the magic that came down to the samurai family.
A 17-year-old girl had a secret to fighting ghosts and monsters.
But Jinwoo was different.
There was no special reason for Jinwoo’s power. He had neither magical powers nor was he borrowing power from a divine being. There was simply a force that caused the phenomenon without any cause.
I couldn’t help but think that the boy named Jinwoo was strong.
I think it shows that people are strong but need a reason.
‘It makes me want to study the body.’
Sera wanted to study Jinwoo’s body.