A moment later.
The fierce wind began to die down little by little. Only then did Yi Han, who had been running, stop.
“Hoo.”
When he turned to look behind him, his gaze caught sight of twenty men chasing after him, drenched in sweat. They had clung on doggedly, and were already utterly exhausted.
Swish.
Yi Han turned his gaze forward and stood in place, beginning to stretch. He bent his waist down and stretched his arms. Then, he made his palms touch the floor. Maintaining that position for ten seconds, he raised his upper body.
“Hoo.”
After repeating it several times, he started a different stretch. Only then did the marathoners who had been chasing Yi Han stop resting and follow along.
“Alright, let’s start stretching too.”
“Yes!”
Among them was a man with sharp eyes. Yi Han’s figure, effortlessly cutting through the sea breeze, was seared into his pupils.
It was An On-ho, the ace of the marathon team.
“An On-ho!”
Someone called him, but he was already too focused to hear. The coach let out a long sigh and approached An On-ho.
“You need to loosen up.”
“Sir?”
“Get a hold of yourself.”
“Ah, sorry.”
After the coach left, the man standing beside him whispered to An On-ho.
“Senior, what’s wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
An On-ho’s gaze remained fixed on Yi Han’s back, but soon he faced forward as if nothing had happened. Because of that, An On-ho didn’t notice that Yi Han had turned his head slightly to look at him.
After stretching finished, the coach headed toward An On-ho.
“Good work today too.”
“Yes. But, Coach.”
“Hmm?”
“No matter how much Senior Yi Han is my senior by one year, I’m thirty now. I’ve seen too much wear and tear over the years to simply yield to someone.”
At the man’s words, the coach made an awkward expression.
“Yeah, I know. But still, you’re the athletes’ idol and the pride of South Korea.”
“But now is the time I need to run for myself. If I push the juniors from behind, I can maintain condition, but it’s not proper training.”
The coach shrugged with a resigned expression.
“If that’s what you think, it can’t be helped.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“From now on, I’ll take the lead.”
“Do that. But Yi Han is the pacemaker. At the Olympics, you have to follow behind him.”
“I know.”
“If you know, then that’s a relief…”
The coach let out a long sigh and turned his back. Then he shouted loudly.
“Alright, we’re heading back to the gym!”
“Yes!”
“Run slowly enough that your bodies don’t get cold. At the lead…”
The coach, who had been pondering for a moment, looked at him—the Olympic prospect and Yi Han’s junior by one year whom he had been talking to earlier.
“An On-ho, take the lead.”
“Yes.”
As An On-ho started running in front, the junior athletes standing in the back had their eyes sparkling.
“It’s On-ho.”
“He’ll win this time too, right?”
“Of course.”
An On-ho stood at the lead. Then Yi Han had to stand at the very back and adjust the pace of those falling behind. From there, he heard talk of An On-ho.
“He’s really amazing.”
But Yi Han cursed inwardly.
That son of a bitch…
Murderous intent flared from the corners of his eyes. It was because he harbored such intense thoughts of wanting to kill him. I’ll have my revenge.
A period of over five years had changed many things.
Revenge wasn’t simply making him unable to run. He had to make it more miserable, more agonizing than that.
Without fail…
Yi Han muttered and kicked the ground.
Pat.
And lightly ran out.
“Kuk!”
Then suddenly he lost his balance and staggered. The coach, who had been checking the front and back from the middle, quickly approached.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
Yi Han clenched his molars tight. Feeling the pain disappearing quickly, he slowly exhaled.
“Hoo, I’m fine now.”
“You don’t have to run.”
“I’ll run.”
The coach’s pupils shook. But at Yi Han’s resolute gaze, he had no choice but to nod.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The pain subsided like a lie, but Yi Han’s expression was as hard as stone. It was because he had no idea when the pain would appear again.
Damn it…
He clenched his fist without realizing it. With that strength, he desperately endured.
Yi Han, who had been running, suddenly stopped.
Damn it…
Once again, an unbearable pain slithered and crawled up from his ankle to his knee. A spasm ran across Yi Han’s face, but he endured the pain by clenching his fist hard.
Keuk!
It was a pain that would disappear with time. Yi Han felt one second like an hour, but even so, he endured without letting out a single groan. After some time passed, the pain disappeared like a lie.
“Heok, heok.”
Like ice melting under the spring sun, the extreme pain melted away due to some unknown influence. But he couldn’t hide his rough breathing. Only when the spasms on his face subsided to some extent could Yi Han take a step.
‘Damn it!’
Pain consumed his mind, and each time he was freed from it, Yi Han recalled that moment. That bastard’s sinister smile as he turned away still flickered before his eyes. That was why he could not give up.
‘I’ll get out there. And I’ll win.’
Yi Han’s heart remained as knotted as ever. He had merely shifted the direction of the blade slightly. To make it more painful. He would make him realize how rotten his own talent was. Despite being injured, he would show that he could still surpass An On-ho, that bastard. And when he stood at the top, he would mock him. He would isolate him so he could do nothing. He would make everyone take his side and trap him. With a clear mind and a body without a single injury, An On-ho would never again be able to run in a place where people looked up to him.
He would make it so.
Swish.
Yi Han slowly ran forward, his eyes more resolute than ever. After about thirty minutes, he finally arrived at the gym. The coach had been waiting for Yi Han, who was late.
“You’re here?”
“Yes.”
“Good, let’s go in.”
The coach couldn’t hide his pitying gaze. It was because he could guess why he was late. That gaze was unbearably unpleasant, but Yi Han didn’t say anything. It was because he knew how much the coach cared for him.
“Coach.”
“Hmm?”
“Sorry, but I’ll rest a bit and come back.”
“Ah, do that.”
Yi Han soon turned around and headed toward the dormitory. Entering the room, he lay on the bed.
Haah.
A sigh escaped involuntarily. Yi Han, who had been blankly staring at the ceiling for a long while, closed his eyes briefly to compose himself. A fleeting moment? No, perhaps it was a time close to eternity. After that time passed, Yi Han opened his eyes.
Flash.
He wiped the cold sweat flowing from his forehead.
‘Haah, did I have another nightmare?’
Yi Han let out a short sigh, rose from the bed, and left the room. Escaping the dormitory, he headed to the gym.
“Faster!”
Though the distance was considerable, he could already hear the sounds of training.
Squeak, screech—
The sound of how quickly they were braking in their sneakers escaped the gym and reached Yi Han.
Thud.
As the distance to the gym closed, the sounds grew louder. Having passed the entrance before he knew it, Yi Han looked around and approached where the coach was.
“Coach.”
“Ah, you’re here?”
“Yes. I’m a bit late.”
“Good, stretch and join the training.”
“Yes.”
Yi Han slipped to the side and began stretching. There is a tendency to think that stretching is good for maintaining muscles in a stretched state for a while. However, it’s not good to simply stretch them. The important thing is to slowly pull and stretch, not stretching too hard, while maintaining that state for several to tens of seconds. Muscles function with a mechanism that tries to maintain their original state. In joints and tendons, there are sensory organs that monitor the role of muscles, so when muscles are suddenly pulled or strongly tugged, they perceive it sensitively. And to prevent the muscles from being destroyed, they reflexively strive to return the muscles to their original state. That is, if you don’t stretch slowly, you can’t stretch the muscles sufficiently.
Knowing that fact, he stretched his muscles as slowly as possible. The reason he did it so delicately and accurately was because considerable effects could be obtained through stretching alone. In the short term, there is an immediate effect: when exercising, the contractility of muscles increases, allowing one to run more smoothly than usual. In the long term, it improves the body’s flexibility. When stretching for a long time, new muscle fibers are created between muscles and tendons, lengthening the entire muscle. Because of this, the muscles surrounding the joints lengthen, so even when definitely stretching, one doesn’t feel pain, and the body’s flexibility increases. This is directly related to injury prevention.
In Yi Han’s case, because he didn’t know when pain would appear, he developed even more of such an obsession. A sense of pressure arose that if he didn’t stretch properly, even greater pain would come more frequently than now. There were various other effects too, but the current Yi Han was clinging to that aspect much more.
Yi Han, having stretched enough, surveyed the juniors who were training. But he couldn’t see a training session he should suitably join. So Yi Han stood in an empty spot and began his own training.
Swish.
First, he clasped both hands and raised them above his head, then slowly bent his knees as if sitting in a chair. However, he kept his upper body straight so it wouldn’t bend over, and after bending enough, slowly stood up. After repeating several times, Yi Han lifted one leg into the air and performed the same movement again. The muscles that can be strengthened through this training are the quadriceps femoris. Simply put, the quadriceps are the thigh area. These muscles play a very important role when running.
After repeating four sets of fifteen reps like that, Yi Han started the next exercise. Yi Han headed to the stairs nearby and placed one foot on the step. It was an exercise of raising and lowering the heel while on tiptoes; this exercise develops the triceps surae. Simply put, the triceps surae are the calf area, and these muscles are also very important when running.
“Haah, haah.”
Yi Han was putting almost all his effort into exercises that grow muscles. Of course, he was also doing interval training to improve cardiopulmonary function, but whenever he had time, he worked his lower body muscles to the point of cruelty.
Stronger. I have to get stronger.
Pain bursts through the muscles. But if he created highly compressed muscles dense enough to envelop even that pain, wouldn’t the pain decrease a little? Perhaps, might he even be able to cross the finish line on the day of the competition?
Yi Han’s head was filled entirely with that thought. What if he collapsed right before the finish line? What if he couldn’t endure the pain and fainted? To prevent that, Yi Han clenched his teeth.
He had to build stronger muscles than he had now.
For the current Yi Han, it was the training method that took precedence above all else.