DASH-Chapter 171

‘Of course you can do it.’

Jiheon let out a sigh, watching Jaekyoung head to the manual therapy room with a therapist.

If Jaekyoung set his mind to it, he could pull it off. The problem was with the aftermath. Wanting to compete in all eight events at the Olympics was one thing, but it was unclear how many gold medals he’d win, and it was also questionable whether he would be able to compete with a fully healed shoulder before then.

As the application deadline for changing participation neared, Jiheon felt like his head was about to explode.

KSC commented, “Why does it matter if the swimmer himself is okay with it? Kwon Jaekyoung wants to do it because he’s confident, right? Just let him do all those events.”

On the other hand, the company sided with Jiheon, mostly considering Jaekyoung’s image rather than his physical condition. Instead of risking a failed gold medal attempt in many events for no reason, they figured it would be better to maintain the winning image even if the number of events was reduced.

Neither answer was correct, but neither was entirely wrong either. As Jaekyoung put it, it was something no one would know until he gave it a try. He might have taken home medals in all eight events, or he might have regretted participating in only three events even though he did exceptionally well.

Eventually, Jiheon reached out to Oliver in Australia for his opinion.

「If it were me, I’d suggest cutting down on the events.」

Oliver said, sounding carefree.

“That’s what I told him, but he’s so stubborn.”

「I can see that. Because he has ambition.」

Oliver chuckled, as if it was obvious.

「Many Olympic gold medalists are like that. They love winning but can’t stand losing. And their biggest competitor is no one else but themselves. But Jay will go along with you if you persuade him, Mr. Jeong.」

Oliver spoke in his usual gentle yet firm tone.

「Even if he’s not thrilled about it at first, he’ll eventually yield in. So, the way I see it, it’s not about Jay’s choice; it’s about your choice.」

Oliver’s words added weight to Jiheon’s shoulders. Jiheon had been pondering it until the day of the participation change application and finally talked to Jaekyoung.

“Alright. For now, let’s stick with all the existing events.”

Jaekyoung just raised his eyebrows, as if he had naturally intended to do so from the start.

“Instead, if I ask you to withdraw from an event even on the day of the selection round, you have to do it without hesitation.”

“Withdraw...?”

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Jaekyoung blinked, as if hearing the word for the first time in his life.

“Yeah. I’ll decide based on the condition of your shoulder that day. I’m not saying you should just withdraw. My goal is for you to go into as many events as possible too. However, if a situation comes up where I think withdrawing is the answer, I’ll apply for it right away. So promise me you’ll follow my lead unconditionally.”

Jaekyoung seemed reluctant. But in the end, he said, “Okay.” It seemed that he acknowledged making enough concessions in Jiheon’s position to some extent.

“But I probably won’t have to withdraw.”

Seeing Jaekyoung speak confidently, Jiheon gave a brief nod.

“That’s right.”

****

The participation change application was closed, and Jaekyoung hit the swimming pool again the very next day. Now, he had to focus on his swimming practice for the week leading up to the selection round and get the feel of the water again.

For two days, Jaekyoung focused on kicks and turns to minimize using his arms as much as possible. On the third day, he cautiously moved his arms, swimming slowly as if doing a warm-up. Finally, on the fourth day, he took a shot at the 100m freestyle and 200m medley backstroke. Surprisingly, his first lap time post-injury wasn’t as bad as expected, and his movements were no different from his pre-injury form. His strokes were more powerful than ever, maybe thanks to the stamina he built up during the two-week break. It was so powerful that the onlookers got a bit nervous.

“Hey, easy there. You might break a bone.”

In response to Jiheon’s joking caution, Jaekyoung laughed.

“Not a joint this time, but a bone?”

Whenever Jiheon warned him to be careful after the injury, Jaekyoung used to frown and react sensitively. But today, even when Jiheon joked about him breaking a bone, he only laughed, seemingly in a good mood.

Whether he was truly a merman in his past life or not, he couldn’t live without swimming.

“How’s your shoulder?”

Jiheon asked the moment Jaekyoung emerged from the water.

“I’m good.”

Jaekyoung shrugged.

“Don’t move your shoulder for no reason. Conserve your joints.”

“Oh, why bother?”

Jaekyoung chuckled at Jiheon’s joke, but when he eyed the pumpkin salad Jiheon handed him to munch on while waiting for their guests to arrive, his demeanor suddenly changed.

“I need to conserve my joints, so feed me, hyung.”

“...I told you to conserve your joints, not your brain.”

Jaekyoung paid no heed to Jiheon’s scolding.

“Feed me. If I move my arm now, it’ll hurt during training later.”

“Use your left hand.”

“Then I’ll spill everything.”

Jaekyoung finally unwrapped the pumpkin salad and handed it to Jiheon.

“Hurry up and feed me, hyung.”

He even held out a fork, but it looked like he wouldn’t budge until Jiheon gave him a bite.

‘This is why it’s important to teach your kids good habits.’

Jiheon sighed, mixing the salad. They said if you kept spoon-feeding your child even when they refused, later on, they wouldn’t even think about holding a spoon themselves. Jiheon vowed not to let his baby develop a habit like this when he was born.

As he fed Jaekyoung the salad, pledging to raise the little one well based on the big one’s failure, there was a knock on the waiting room door.

“Excuse me, we’re from the Anti-Doping Agency. We’re here to collect samples.”

Jiheon put down the fork and stood up.

“Ah, yes. We’ve been expecting you, sirs.”

He quickly called out and opened the door to find two coroners in uniforms standing there smiling. Seeing these gentlemen—who usually came, collected samples, and greeted them all with poker faces—smiling like this indicated they had been watching Jiheon and Jaekyoung’s antics through the glass wall of the waiting room.

“Please come in.”

When Jiheon came back to the waiting room table with the coroners, Jaekyoung was sipping water with a very uncomfortable look on his face. It wasn’t just because he didn’t get to be fed the salad; it was likely due to the visitors’ purpose.

From here on, Jaekyoung had to head to the bathroom with the coroners, pull down his pants and underwear, and urinate right in front of them. His task was to confirm that the fluid came from his own body, put it in a container, and hand it over to the coroners.

Of course, Jaekyoung wasn’t the only one facing this awkward duty. High-ranking athletes in the Olympics, regardless of the sport, were required to submit samples. Medalists had to do it more often, and gold medalists even more frequently. In short, among active athletes, Jaekyoung had to show his stuff to the coroners the most.

“I’ll be back.”

When Jaekyoung went to the bathroom with one of the coroners, Jiheon offered the remaining one a drink.

“No, thank you. I already had plenty.”

The coroner politely declined. After visiting several athletes’ homes and training grounds in one day, it seemed like his stomach was already on the verge of bursting with drinks.

“The guy with me today is our new recruit, so he’s tagging along with the athletes to learn how to collect samples. Because of that, I had to down all the coffee and drinks they gave us all by myself.”

The senior coroner explained it as if he was telling Jiheon not to be offended by his refusal. He usually sat there expressionless like a robot, hardly ever chatting, and left right after the job was done. But today, he kept talking with a calm smile, seeming like he cared secretly, probably worried Jiheon might feel bad.

“You must be busy with the Olympics getting closer, sir. The selection round is in full swing right now.”

In response to Jiheon’s words, the coroner nodded.

“Yes. So it seems.”

“Are you coming to the selection round as well next week?”

“No. Starting this season, the visiting team decided not to do on-site competition work. That’s what the guidelines from WADA say.”

Swapping samples had been a big part of doping scandals history. In some cases, not only doping control organizations but even the government took part in swapping athlete samples on a large scale (and usually, only such extreme incidents made the news), but what happened more often was collusion between individuals. The coroner might turn a blind eye to the misconduct of an athlete they had a personal relationship with or participate in sample swapping for a fee.

To avoid such situations, they rotated visiting staff and always sent them in pairs to keep an eye on each other. Yet, some still managed to pull off the crime. To counter this, new guidelines were created one after another every Olympic season.

“But I still hope all the athletes I’ve been in charge of will get good results. We always met at the training ground, and when the results didn’t meet expectations, I felt quite disappointed. Athlete Han {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Yuseong is also a hard-worker, but seeing the results of the first selection round....”

The examiner said with a sad look on his face.

“Yes..., he is a hard-working athlete.”

Jiheon agreed appropriately. He was considering whether to add, “Let’s look forward to his performance at next year’s Asian Games,” but the coroner spoke first.

“I heard he’s going to try the 1500m freestyle in the second selection round, so I hope he can secure an Olympic ticket with that.”

“I beg your pardon? The 1500m freestyle?”

Jiheon asked back in surprise.

“Oh, yes, I heard so... Isn’t there an article about it?”

The coroner stammered, looking shocked. Seeing his expression as if asking if he made a mistake, Jiheon quickly said:

“No, no sir, there probably have been some articles. Yes, there likely are, but maybe I haven’t seen them. I’ve been really busy lately.”

“Oh, I see. Well, this is the busiest time of all.”

When the coroner nodded in understanding, the waiting room door opened, and Jaekyoung entered. The coroner accompanying him followed.

The coroner holding the bag with the samples to his chest seemed... well... extremely shocked. Jiheon seemed to know what shocked him.

The senior coroner who had taken Jaekyoung’s samples before him also nodded kindly as soon as he saw his junior’s expression. He approached his junior with a consoling look, saying:

“Yeah, I know what’s going on. I was really surprised when I first saw it too. But it’s okay. It’s not that we’re lacking. It’s just that Kwon Jaekyoung has too much of it. Honestly, it’s strange that he is that big. But it wouldn’t be all that good, right?”

And as soon as he received the bag with the sample, the senior coroner greeted the two people in the waiting room.

“Then, I wish you a good race in the selection round, athlete Kwon Jaekyoung. We will see you again before the Olympics. We’ll be in your care.”