Episode 7
7. Maturation
In general, it was impossible for a middle school student in South Korea to drop out.
Because by law, education was compulsory until middle school.
So Baekho had already filled out high school applications just anywhere.
Since he had no intention of going, Baekho's parents would inform the school and process it as a withdrawal.
In other words, Baekho would end his high school life without even attending the entrance ceremony.
"I don't think I need it, though…..."
Baekho looked up the records regarding the high school equivalency exam.
"There's a first round (April) and a second round (August), and the first round is only for those who dropped out by July of that year, while the second round is only for those who dropped out by late November? I don't qualify."
Baekho was dropping out after becoming a high school student in the first place.
So it meant he couldn't take the exam that year.
"Wait, why am I even worrying about this? It's not like I'll have anything to do with it going forward, right?"
Baekho sprang up from his bed.
Taking the equivalency exam would only grant him the qualification to attend university. But if you asked if Baekho had any intention of going to university, of course he didn't.
'I'm going pro right away, after all.'
It was just that his parents told him to prepare it as a last resort, just in case.
'Right, I've already made up my mind to drop out of school, so if it's just a request about the equivalency exam…...'
It all depended on Baekho's grades.
'Ah, if the Olympics had been held when I was a second-year student, I could've proven it right away!'
Baekho clenched his fist tightly, though he felt regretful.
'At the world level, how would I do? I'm probably still lacking, right?'
For three years of middle school, Baekho had focused on hammering in the basics.
Even though he had regressed, he didn't suddenly become stronger.
He was building a foundation through training he had never experienced before.
Simply put, whereas before the regression he might have thrown two punches, after the regression he could build his body to throw six punches.
'Much stronger.'
The problem was, building that sixth punch wasn't something that finished as if by magic, 'just like that.'
'It arises from thorough basics.'
Footwork, posture, jump rope, basic weight training, and muscular endurance training.
Baekho hadn't entered the advanced stages.
He had grown by thoroughly repeating only the fundamentals that he could do without overloading his young body.
On one side of Baekho's room, there was a medicine ball and a sandbag, each taking up about a third of an adult man's upper body.
Training that was at least convenient to do at home. A boxer who didn't use a medicine ball was no different from someone who didn't care about punching power.
It formed the very foundation of power output.
The sandbag was, needless to say, the basics of combat martial arts. Depending on how you used it, what you trained changed.
'Once I become a high school student, I'll have to strengthen the weight training aspect a bit more.'
Baekho's training menu would differ between his three years of middle school and three years of high school.
Digging a little deeper into heavier weights and perfecting even his physique before going pro.
"Phew. I'm nervous. I'm nervous."
Baekho put the tap ball sitting on his desk on his head and tapped it with his fists.
His way of relieving the stress and tension he was feeling.
'I hope Son Uhyeon is the kind of person I think he is.'
He accurately connected the trajectory of the tap ball returning along the string with his next punch, keeping it going.
To a boxer, a coach was someone responsible for training objectives and results.
Also an important position where personality could grow as if being cultivated by the coach.
He simply hoped that Son Uhyeon was a leader who would meet his expectations.
'It'll be decided tomorrow.'
Baekho checked his newly bought training gear once more and went to sleep.
* * *
The next day, Baekho left home at 8 AM.
Since it was his first day, wearing his newly bought training gear and with a fresh mindset, he headed to Konkuk University.
'Oh boy. Training with someone who knows how to manage me properly? I'm looking forward to it.'
Until now, Baekho's training had been pushed to the afternoon due to school life.
He also went swimming and arranged his training schedule around his afternoon routine.
He ran roadwork of 3km~5km divided by intensity and substituted swimming as well.
After jump rope, he trained without fail in the boxing gym basics starting with shadow boxing.
Technique training was on the flex gym.
He supplemented the lacking parts on days he didn't go to the gym.
'Just what level is my conditioning at...…?'
Not even high school level, but adults' training. Baekho thought of the conditioning and plyometric matrix he had done.
The concept of conditioning itself differed from simply running for extended periods, like marathons or long-distance running.
Simply running for a long time was different from moving intensely, expending stamina, and recovering.
Conditioning training was necessary to increase this recovery speed.
'It was the same when Director Hiddink came.'
What was lacking was stamina. When everyone in South Korea had the misconception that their stamina was outstanding and their technique lacking, Hiddink had decisively shattered that common sense.
[Their technique is outstanding, but their stamina is lacking.]
These words became the root of fundamental changes in South Korean football training after Hiddink.
Baekho had been doing such training continuously as well. So much so that at times he mobilized his parents and did stamina training on the flex gym.
He could compare himself to adult athletes. When he got off at Konkuk University Station, he saw a vast crowd.
"There's a lot of people, as expected."
As Baekho ran there in a hurry, before his eyes he saw a famous quote written in yellow lettering.
"It's good to float like a butterfly."
That was exactly how Baekho felt right now. With the excitement of a child bouncing in place, he now knocked on the gym door.
"Hello!"
Leaving behind the noise of athletes training as expected, he headed to the director's office.
There, Son Uhyeon handed documents to Baekho.
"Read them carefully and sign."
"Yes."
Baekho was looking at the benefits and cautions given upon entering the gym.
"If I've read it all, I just sign, right?"
"Yes. If you pay the admission fee, you start immediately today."
Baekho didn't delay any longer. He signed in one go and sent the money via bank transfer.
"Congratulations on becoming affiliated with the gym from today."
"Yes."
"Then, Baekho. You seem to know the concept of conditioning; how do you normally train?"
Baekho told him his training routine. That of his three years in middle school.
"......"
Son Uhyeon's expression was full of surprise.
"Where did you gain such knowledge?"
"The internet. There's a lot of it these days. I looked up various athletes' training videos."
Baekho glossed over it. It was piecemeal, but since he could check overseas athletes' videos on the internet, it was plausible.
Son Uhyeon was thinking about something.
"Understood. Then I'll assign you a locker room, so let me see your stamina right away."
"Anytime."
Soon, in front of the Hanmyeong Insurance team, Baekho began stretching.
Everyone warmed up, but Baekho had a characteristic of having a very long warm-up because he added yoga poses.
Son Uhyeon's gaze fixed on such a Baekho.
"Not bad. Guys! Shall we run the routine once?"
As soon as he shouted, the Hanmyeong Insurance athletes swarmed together.
"And this is Baekho, who is entering the gym this time. He belongs to the Hanmyeong Insurance Gym but is not on the semi-pro team."
"How come?"
Pyo Daeung, who boasted a strong impression on his square face, was puzzled.
"They had to give him a salary of 30 million won, but the higher-ups didn't approve it."
"Ah…… labor costs are important."
Pyo Daeung immediately nodded. Son Uhyeon now introduced Baekho before everyone.
"As you can see, this kid is a third-year middle schooler but has talent. You know, right?"
"......"
The Hanmyeong Insurance team was taken aback. It was natural for Junggil, who had lost to Baekho, to burn with a fierce gaze.
"He'll be participating in training from today, so say hello."
"Hello! I'm Yong Baekho!"
When Baekho greeted them, the Hanmyeong Insurance team had awkward expressions.
Coach Lee Minsu, who had been watching quietly, was the same.
"No, you rejected him, yet you insisted on bringing him into the gym. He'll be a hindrance to the athletes. He has to train with them too; do you think he can keep up?"
"It's going to be a problem starting from the stamina training."
The other Hanmyeong Insurance athletes expressed their concerns too.
Even if he joined, how could a mere third-year middle schooler endure their training?
But Baekho didn't seem to think so.
"If the dawn training is finished, what exercise do we do now? Weight training and cardio?"
"Correct. But our gym will be a little different."
Baekho tried to join the weight training with high expectations.
But soon, something strange caught his eye.
'What? Why only this?'
In Baekho's eyes, he saw them doing the Big 3 along with various muscle exercises.
Exercises like barbell rows and military presses too.
'Right, those are basics. But if it's strength training, what about landmine presses? They don't even do medicine balls?'
Something was lacking.
Although it had a bit more added compared to old-school training, the training necessary for a boxer still seemed insufficient.
'.......'
Baekho let out a sigh with a slightly disappointed look and completed his Big 3 measurements.
"A Big 3 total of 330? That's good for a middle schooler?"
The athletes around him were amazed, but the Big 3 record wasn't very important to him.
Because what mattered were the muscles needed for boxing.
'At least they have battle ropes and a speed bag.'
It was different from what he had imagined.
Baekho wiped his sweat and looked toward the pull-up bar where an athlete was training.
There, he saw kettlebells and things like tennis balls or golf balls.
'That.......'
Baekho immediately realized what that training was, but no athlete was currently doing it.
"Don't you do kettlebell training?"
Unable to hold back, Baekho asked, and Coach Lee Minsu stepped up.
"You're young, so you don't know. You should do weights in moderation. Punching power and technique can be trained just with the sandbag and mitt work. If you train excessively, your speed won't develop."
"......"
Dozens of retorts flashed through Baekho's mind, but he kept his mouth shut.
'Bodybuilder-style muscles aren't the only type of muscles. Even with the same body, depending on how muscles are accumulated, power and speed change! Disregarding weights? How backwards is that? Even high schoolers these days wouldn't do that!'
While thinking that, Baekho finally realized the reality.
Why the training methods of Son Uhyeon he had expected weren't much different, and why in a future interview he had said this period was a struggle.
'So it was because of this guy?'
Coach Lee Minsu. A man who fervently believed in old-school, unscientific training.
"Director. No matter how much I think about it, the training intensity is weak! You have to train until you really sweat buckets and collapse to win like a tenacious fighter."
"We're training efficiently."
"To be honest, it feels like a joke. That's why the athletes also……"
Lee Minsu smirked but soon stopped. He had received Son Uhyeon's fierce glare.
At the same time, Baekho could grasp the full picture too.
'It must definitely be hard for the athletes to accept as well. If it suddenly changes.'
But Baekho himself was different. He started juggling tennis balls and golf balls.
"What are you doing? Our director wasted the budget on that. Hahaha!"
Lee Minsu was dumbfounded, but Baekho looked at him meaningfully.
"It develops hand-eye coordination."
"!"
At Baekho's remark, Son Uhyeon's pupils widened.
Someone who knew his intentions. Lee Minsu scoffed without realizing that.
"What kind of training is that? It's a joke."
Lee Minsu felt sorry for Baekho dropping the balls while juggling.
"He fits well with the director."
"Right."
Son Uhyeon didn't even hear Lee Minsu's sarcasm.
He simply made a pleased expression at the action Baekho had shown.
And so the afternoon came, and serious jump rope, sandbag, and mitt work began.
As anyone would know, just wearing gloves for a long time saps stamina, but repeating several rounds of sandbag and mitt work?
Of course getting exhausted was the norm. All athletes were striking with all their might while following the coach's harsh orders.
"Suho, your time has gotten slower! It's slower than your record from a week ago! You have to improve! Not hitting faster?"
They couldn't tolerate doing things half-heartedly. Everyone was fighting the training with all their strength.
Speed gradually slowing while sweating profusely. At the same time, the sounds from the sandbag and mitts decreased.
"......"
While everyone was getting exhausted, a loud glove-touching sound rang out in this boxing gym.
Where the gazes turned, Baekho was standing there.
He was catching his breath and wiping sweat, but that sound and speed were as fast as at the beginning.
'I can do this. My stamina recovery is fast.'
It was just as hard as for everyone else, but his stamina recovery speed was fast.
With the strength he had built up over three years, Baekho was hitting the most composedly in this place right now.
"What the hell is that punk? Why does he have so much energy left? Did he half-ass it?"
Lee Minsu couldn't understand, and Son Uhyeon, who knew the root of it, was simply smiling with satisfaction.