Chapter 67 – Swimming Emperor (11)
[Chapter 4 – Verse 5] Finally Found You
“To Athlete Kang Moon-soo.
You are being deceived by Park Han-hee.
If you ignore this warning, you will regret it.”
‘Oh! How kind.’
Worrying about someone else’s relationship when they’re neither family nor friend?
Of course, the cowardly method of hiding one’s identity was more than enough to breed suspicion and distrust.
“What the—! Deceived? Who would do something so—!”
Park Han-hee read the short letter and exploded in rage.
“Han-hee.”
“Please listen! I’ve never once deceived you!”
“Calm down.”
“This has to be the work of someone jealous that we’re dating! How much do they even know about us to say I’ll regret it? So petty and cowardly…!”
“Shh. They’ll hear you.”
“…”
We’re not the only ones living in the athletes’ village apartments.
Realizing her voice had been too loud, Park Han-hee pressed her lips together.
I looked around the front door where the letter had been wedged.
‘Are they watching?’
If they slipped the letter right after Park Han-hee came to my room, they couldn’t have gone far.
I decided to look.
“Let’s start with the security office. The CCTV should have caught who it was.”
“Hey, Moon-soo… you don’t believe this letter, right?”
“I don’t. If I did, I would’ve hidden it instead of showing you.”
“Ah! Right! You would’ve hidden it!”
Her expression softened a little at my explanation, and she took the lead.
“…This is ridiculous.”
Approaching me out of pity instead of jealousy?
That’s genuinely strange. The biography published by their children described Nam Hae-soo and Park Han-hee as a harmonious couple…
“Regret dating me? Just wait till I catch them—I’ll make them regret it!”
“Yeah. Let’s teach them a lesson.”
I couldn’t picture a harmonious future.
***
“This is unbelievable! If they wanted to date me, they should’ve written the letter to me! What kind of guy acts this low…!”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll never forgive them!”
Park Han-hee had assumed the culprit was a woman; when the CCTV showed a man, she only got more annoyed.
Face hidden by cap and mask.
Since everyone was required to wear masks, he could move without drawing suspicion.
‘It’ll be hard to catch him…’
Even if we reported it to the police, would they catch him?
There was enough evidence of the act, but the crime was too minor to sue for defamation.
“I’ll definitely catch him!”
“Let’s eat something delicious and feel better. My treat.”
The next day, Park Han-hee was still busy cursing her “future husband.”
Feeling a little regretful for showing her the letter, I suggested we eat out.
“Huh?! Really?!”
“Of course. Why?”
“But you… never mind! Let’s get out of here quick!”
“…”
Was me buying dinner really something to be this happy about?
The free nutrient meals from the village were a waste, but today I decided to splurge.
‘It’s not like I’m taking the money back to reality.’
Someone must have overheard me mention emigration to the turtle; the government immediately shoved a contract and signing bonus at me.
They wanted me to compete in the Olympics as a Korean representative.
Was it after I accepted?
The media suddenly started hyping me up all at once.
“Let’s run there.”
“Okay!”
Leaving the bus behind, we ran downtown on our healthy legs.
Even though we jogged at a leisurely, walking pace, sweat beaded on Park Han-hee’s forehead.
“We’re almost there, let’s walk.”
We didn’t want to crash into anyone in the crowded streets.
Wiping sweat with the back of her hand, she asked,
“Not tired?”
“Not at all.”
The mask was a little annoying, but that was it.
“I should be used to it by now, but your stamina still feels like cheating no matter how many times I see it. You’re really amazing.”
“Nothing amazing. I was just born this way.”
Aptitude isn’t something to brag about.
“Were your parents as fast and strong as you?”
“No. They were ordinary.”
Looking back, I was pretty ordinary too.
‘That’s the weird part.’
My body changed drastically only after learning my aptitude?
That doesn’t make scientific sense.
Song Sun-young, whose mother was a swimmer, had been good at swimming since she was little. P’s aptitude tester simply didn’t miss the genes she inherited from her mother.
Same with everyone else.
In other words, P’s aptitude tester doesn’t decide a person’s fate—it only reveals it.
Anyway.
“Han-hee, what do you want to eat?”
“How much can I spend?”
“…No limit. As long as it tastes good.”
It’s the fault of living as a noble in the romance fantasy novel <I Became the Youngest Daughter of the Count’s Family>.
My tongue got spoiled by luxury food; I can’t go back to cheap convenience-store instant meals or frozen food!
The aftereffects are severe.
“Seafood?”
“I like it, but unless it’s live fish just pulled from the ocean, the texture is bad, so I don’t eat it.”
The voyage had been boring and brutal, but I still can’t forget the fish dishes the sailors personally prepared.
Even though I threw it all up from seasickness before it could digest!
“So you’re a food snob, Moon-soo. I had no idea. You always seemed to eat anything…”
“I don’t discriminate when it’s free.”
“R-right!”
After thinking for a few seconds, Park Han-hee grabbed my hand and pulled.
“Decided?”
“Yep. It’s a restaurant couples go to a lot. I went there with that senior, so I wasn’t keen, but…”
“You’re not keen, yet you’re still taking me…?”
“It’s cheap and delicious.”
“Then we’re definitely going!”
“Molang!”
There was no reason to refuse.
Creak—
The interior was dark like a medieval tavern, lit only by tiny fairy lights.
We filled out the visitor log according to quarantine rules…
‘Wow, there really are a lot of couples.’
Two-person tables filled with young men and women were everywhere.
“How many in your party?”
“Two.”
“Will this seat be okay?”
“Yes.”
After sitting where the server led us, I kept an eye on the men entering the restaurant.
Nam Hae-soo wearing someone else’s skin might come in to watch us.
“Moon-soo, how about Couple Set A?”
“Set A… oh! Free soda and fries! I’m in.”
I might never come again, but it looked like Park Han-hee had introduced me to a great place.
Tap, tap.
The two main dishes placed in the middle for sharing were ordinary.
But the free soda came with one blue straw and one red straw “for sharing.”
The free herb-sprinkled fries and ketchup were served on heart-shaped plates?
‘So that’s why it’s a couple set~’
I smirked, took off my mask, and started eating.
“Let’s dig in!”
“Eat as much as you want.”
When I went to the ultra-luxury restaurant “Parnaru” with Song Sun-young, the other guests kept stealing glances at us.
Her future-model looks stood out anywhere.
It was the same now.
“No way…”
“That couple…”
Not just the customers— even the staff were showing intense interest.
Their voices were too quiet to eavesdrop, but it had to be comments about Park Han-hee’s beauty, right?
She seemed to feel it too.
“Moon-soo, I think people are staring at us.”
“Not us. You.”
I corrected her misunderstanding.
“Well… I know I’m pretty, but I also know I’m not stare-worthy to this extent.”
“You must have gotten even prettier lately.”
“…You say heart-fluttering lines way too casually. That has the opposite effect, you know?”
“Didn’t know that.”
“It’s really important. Engrave it in your brain.”
“Yes, ma’am! Girlfriend ma’am!”
I answered cheerfully instead of brushing it off.
“Where did you learn to be such a sleazy charmer?”
“No idea~”
“Molang molang~”
Life lessons learned while dating Song Sun-young.
Tap.
Just then, a server placed fresh fruit juices on our table.
“We didn’t order fruit juice?”
“It’s on the house.”
“Aha!”
Free stuff is always right.
“By any chance… are you Athlete Kang Moon-soo? You look exactly like the photos in the news…”
“That’s me.”
There’s no such thing as a free lunch!
“Wow! If it’s not too much trouble, could we take one photo for the restaurant’s promotion?”
“I don’t mind, but…”
Would an athlete with zero Olympic medals even help promotion?
As if mocking my doubt, the whole place erupted.
“What?! Superboy is here?!”
“It’s really Kang Moon-soo!”
“Should we ask for a photo together?”
“It’s actually him!”
Customers and staff who had been eavesdropping swarmed around us.
Click!
Some were already snapping photos with their phones.
‘Well, this is something…’
I was pretty used to public attention from my days as “Count Amolang.”
Having experienced noble society in <I Became the Youngest Daughter of the Count’s Family>, I handled it smoothly.
“Everyone! Please follow quarantine rules! I’ll get in trouble!”
“Molang!”
“We can’t take off our masks, but how about a big group photo with the restaurant in the background?”
“Sounds good!”
“I’m in!”
“Me too!”
Under my lead, the group photo session proceeded quickly.
Me in the center, Park Han-hee standing beside me like a real girlfriend on the right, the beaming restaurant owner on the left…
“Taking the picture! One, two, three!”
Click!
After that, I quickly wrapped up the photo session under the pretext of quarantine rules.
“Thank you, everyone!”
“No, thank you! The free juice… ahem! Take care!”
“Come again!”
Just putting our masks back on made us unrecognizable again.
Even so, this kind of popularity?
Honestly, I was a little surprised.
“That was cool.”
The restaurant’s dim lighting and our masks had hidden it, but Park Han-hee’s face was flushed pink.
“What was?”
“You.”
“It’s just the media hype.”
It wasn’t me who was impressive.
“No, not that. When everyone swarmed us, I panicked and froze. But you didn’t even flinch—you smiled naturally, talked smoothly… you were like a celebrity.”
“Well…”
I was once the Count of a great empire, after all.
“That was so cool.”
“It’s nothing. You experienced it today too, right? Next time the same thing happens, you’ll handle it just as smoothly.”
I didn’t spot any customer who looked like Nam Hae-soo in disguise.
“I don’t think I will…”
“Shall we start running?”
“Right now, I just want to walk slowly and talk with you.”
She secretly slipped her fingers between mine and held tight.
It felt like our relationship had taken one step forward.
“…Sure.”
I pretended not to notice and let her do as she pleased with my right hand.
Swing~ swing~
Our interlocked hands swayed back and forth like a swing.
“Um… Moon-soo, can I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why did you break up with your girlfriend? I heard it before, but not the details…”
“That’s a painful question.”
“S-sorry! I shouldn’t have asked! You don’t have to answer!”
“…I got dumped.”
“What?! You? No way!”
I gave a wry smile to my fake girlfriend who couldn’t believe it.
“We were stranded alone on a deserted island and naturally started dating. But the moment we escaped the island, she dumped me.”
“Right away?”
“Yep.”
“That’s awful! And you still like her?”
“She suddenly had a bunch of great guys around her. It was only natural.”
I don’t resent Song Sun-young for waking up from the dream.
“You’re the same.”
“Me?”
“When you escaped that island, a bunch of great girls suddenly appeared around you too, didn’t they?”
“Sharp observation… I actually just broke up with one of those great girls recently.”
“Again?!”
“The border between countries got in the way.”
The wall between novel and reality couldn’t be overcome with love.
“Ah… so even after breaking up, you still keep in touch sometimes, right?”
“No. I lost her contact info.”
When Kim Eun-jung woke up, Valentine disappeared too.
“I… I see.”
“So right now, I’m healing from the wounds of breakup.”
“I could heal you…”
“Only accepting free treatment.”
I had no intention of dating her for real as payment.
“Installment plans available.”
“I’ll have to politely decline.”
“Tch!”
Maybe she felt bad for only hearing my tragic love stories?
Park Han-hee changed the subject.
“I was super popular in high school.”
“I heard from the coach.”
“No, unnie only knows a little. I didn’t tell her about the stuff outside school because she’d obviously be jealous.”
“Ah.”
What a good little sister.
“I met all kinds of guys on the street… Oh! There was one really ridiculous guy.”
“…”
I had no interest in her dating history, so I just listened silently.
“We met at a cram school, and he told me that if I didn’t date him, I’d be unhappy a year later.”
“…Hmm?”
“And exactly one year later, I did end up suffering because of that weird senior… but anyone could say something like that, right?”
“Right.”
No one’s life is smooth sailing.
Am I being overly sensitive?
“But you know why that guy still sticks in my memory? He told me to quit sports and just sing. As if he knew anything about me!”
“What a weird guy.”
“Right?”
“There’s no way he could’ve known.”
“Known what?”
“Your aptitude.”
Nam Hae-soo’s wife, Park Han-hee, became a model in reality—
But her true aptitude is “opera singer.”