Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Tennis Practice and the Seoul Citizen Award
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"Ah, you said you haven't tried it before?"
"Yeah."
Yoon Haneul scratched the back of her neck a bit awkwardly as she spoke.
"It went well when I practiced... Actually, I haven't been learning for long either."
She probably wanted to show off what she'd learned from Kang Hyun.
Pretending not to notice, Kang Hyun played along.
"Yeah, it's not easy. I thought it'd be like badminton, but it's pretty different."
Sensing his words were meant to spare her embarrassment, Yoon Haneul looked at him gratefully with sparkling eyes.
Kang Hyun turned his head away from her gaze, feeling awkward, and spotted a cart piled high with tennis balls over there. The two of them looked at each other at the same time.
"Shall we practice with those?"
"Yeah, let's do it!"
After that, their enjoyable practice session continued until the surroundings grew dim.
Tennis wasn't easy, but it was fun.
Kang Hyun learned a bit about how to grip the racket and the forehand stance, and soon he was returning the balls Yoon Haneul tossed to him pretty well.
He wasn't athlete material, but he had decent athletic reflexes, so it made sense.
Then they practiced rallies together, awkward as they were.
"Oh, that was a good hit!"
"Nice one!"
Whether they were good or not didn't matter. The time spent immersed together was plenty enjoyable, and for Kang Hyun, who had been under pressure from relentlessly studying and pushing forward, it was undoubtedly a fresh, leisurely day.
It was like a reward given to him after all those incidents had passed.
The same went for Yoon Haneul, it seemed, as by the end they were bursting into laughter.
Time passed further, evening came, and the surroundings turned pitch black as the lights on the tennis court came on.
"Huff, huff! Phew... Shall we stop?"
"Yeah. Today was really fun."
Before they knew it, both were drenched in sweat.
Yoon Haneul gathered her things, while Kang Hyun stretched, feeling refreshed after a long time without exercise.
"..."
Suddenly, Yoon Haneul stopped what she was doing and stared at Kang Hyun.
"What's up?"
As Kang Hyun asked while drinking water, she approached him with soft steps and asked quietly.
"Next time... want to go grab dinner together?"
"Dinner?"
"Yeah! Once break starts and we have time... It's too late for dinner after practicing, so maybe on a day we don't?"
Unexpected words poured from her mouth, leaving Kang Hyun stunned, wondering if he'd heard right.
Under the streetlamp light, she was still beautiful despite the workout, and it was surprising that someone whose fitness he thought was lacking was suggesting they eat together.
But...
'Is there any reason to say no?'
"What do you want to eat?"
"Hmm... tteokbokki!"
She seemed to hesitate a little, but it looked like she'd already decided on the menu.
"Alright, next time."
The moment Kang Hyun agreed, Yoon Haneul swiftly searched SNS for nearby restaurants, saying there was a good one, then strode over and showed him her phone.
"They say this place is delicious!"
"Whatever you like."
They'd eaten snacks together while studying at school and spent quite a bit of time that way, but going out separately to eat felt somehow unreal.
Of course, Kang Hyun's mind was already picturing her munching on tteokbokki in front of him.
"I'm so excited!"
Seeing her smile brightly at the thought of tteokbokki, Kang Hyun's heart suddenly pounded.
'What is... this feeling.'
Kang Hyun couldn't tell if it was from the exercise or because of Yoon Haneul.
'No way, do I like her?'
There had been a time when they had zero interest in each other. And times when he wasn't sure if he was just a friend, a rival, or one of the people she pitied and looked after.
But now, that wasn't the case—a thought flashed through his mind.
'Well, it'll be fine.'
This uplifting feeling.
Kang Hyun decided not to suppress the rest he'd craved for so long.
One week after break began.
"The Seoul Citizen Award has evolved since the establishment of the 'Seoul Metropolitan City Grand Prize' in 1989, integrating nine ordinances, revising the award name several times, and adding new categories."
Kang Hyun sat in the front row of the venue, looking tense as he stared at the stage. Beside him, his mother gripped his hand tightly, her eyes full of anticipation for the moment his name would be called.
"This 'Seoul Citizen Award' honors the dedicated service of citizens who have fostered a healthy civic society and contributed to community development..."
This was the biggest event Kang Hyun had to face since break started.
Time had seemed to fly by as if forgotten, but as the date approached, his mind was filled with thoughts of the ceremony.
"Next, the grand prize in the service category. The hosting departments are the Youth Policy Division and the Autonomy Administration Division, and the award will be presented directly by the Mayor."
Finally, it was Kang Hyun's turn.
"Grand Prize: Kang Hyun, second-year student at Korea High School."
Polite applause filled the hall, and Kang Hyun stood up calmly as prepared and walked forward.
The mayor, whom he'd never met before, greeted him with a courteous smile and congratulatory applause, while his mother's face looked happier than he'd ever seen.
Below, the attending dignitaries and institution heads all looked at him with expressions of admiration.
And at that moment,
"Look this way, please!"
Hearing the shout, he looked up to see Jeong Eun-seong the journalist along with reporters from various broadcasters and newspapers unleashing a barrage of camera shutters at him.
In a word, he was the star here.
Soon, a microphone was handed to him, giving him a chance to speak.
"...I'm happy to be able to give joy to my mother. I will continue to serve society in the future. Thank you."
His mother nodded with a bright smile in response.
Taking time out from her tiring job to watch her son receive an award and be happy about it.
What could be better than this?
For Kang Hyun, seeing his mother happy was an indescribably joyful time.
In the past years, his mother had endured a harsh world looking only at him, but Kang Hyun had tried to ignore it.
But not anymore.
'I'll do even better!'
As Kang Hyun vowed silently while looking at his mother, she gazed at him endlessly without taking her eyes off.
'Well done, my son.'
A few hours later.
After the ceremony ended, Kang Hyun stood at the bus stop to see his mother off.
"I have to hurry back and brag about my son!"
She'd only taken a short break, so she had to return to work quickly. Wanting to spend more time with her son but unable to, his mother looked slightly bitter as she spoke to Kang Hyun.
"I'm sorry I can't buy you something delicious. Go home early and rest today. Don't overdo your studying, and there's food prepared, so..."
"Don't worry. I'll eat well, manage my condition, and study properly. And here."
He handed her the white envelope containing the cash prize. She waved her hands and laughed.
"Oh, come on! Why give this to me? Use it as pocket money!"
"Let's have a nice meal with this later! Mom, please hold onto it for now!"
His mother looked troubled, but when she saw the bus approaching from afar, she nodded and took the envelope.
"Alright. Bus is here. I'm going first."
"Yes, take care, see you at home later!"
"Okay, go on in."
"And Mom..."
Kang Hyun hesitated for a moment but gathered his courage.
"I love you."
At his words of love, his mother beamed but shyly waved her hands as she boarded the bus.
'This must be what filial piety is...'
Watching the bus his mother was on, Kang Hyun thought.
There was still a long road ahead and much to do, but wasn't even a single word like this precious?
It was difficult, yet in a way the easiest thing. Kang Hyun was mustering the courage to start with that.
The moment Kang Hyun let out a deep, joy-filled sigh and turned in the opposite direction.
"There you are!"
"...?"
Someone called out to Kang Hyun and appeared.
At first, Kang Hyun didn't recognize who it was, but then he did and said in surprise,
"Prosecutor?"
Kim Jeong-min, the prosecutor.
The Central District Prosecutor he'd connected with during the trial where he'd been a witness last time.
The one who'd given him his contact info, saying to consider working during break, had suddenly appeared and was standing right in front of Kang Hyun.
In casual semi-formal attire, Kim Jeong-min looked more relaxed and cheerful than when he'd been in his purple-trimmed prosecutor robes.
"Did you come to the award ceremony?"
"By chance? Haha, I heard your great acceptance speech, Kang Hyun! Congratulations!"
"Ah, thank you. But... how did you know about this place..."
"Haha, why I came?"
Kim Jeong-min gave a teasing, amused look at Kang Hyun's puzzled expression.
It was understandable for Kang Hyun to think that. Wasn't he one of the busiest prosecutors? Too busy with national affairs to come all the way here out of curiosity for a high school kid he barely knew receiving an award?
Realizing that, Kang Hyun roughly gauged how interested he was in him.
Then, suddenly recalling the previous offer, he said,
"I was going to contact you first, but you beat me to it."
Satisfied with Kang Hyun's response, he clapped his hands excitedly and said,
"See, good thing I came! I had to keep my word anyway, and the application deadline is today, so here I am."
"Yes?"
"You said you wanted to work at the prosecutor's office, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
Kim Jeong-min smiled and pulled out a few sheets of paper from the large envelope he was holding, handing them to Kang Hyun.
"Fill this out and send it to the Personnel Department at the Central District Prosecutor's Office by today. Actually, just fill it out now and give it to me. I'll handle the school recommendation, so don't worry. You'll get a call soon, so prepare well. Got it?"
From what he could guess, the 'student worker' recruitment he'd proposed was nearing its deadline with no contact yet, so he'd tracked Kang Hyun down and learned about the citizen award this time.
Even so, it was a bit surprising that all of Kim Jeong-min's actions showed such enthusiasm—or obsession—for Kang Hyun.
"Thank you for going to this much trouble. But, Prosecutor... I don't even know exactly what I'll be doing there, and I think I need time to read the posting and prepare."
Kang Hyun politely asked for time, but he immediately shook his head and refused.
"If you knew everything before starting, where's the fun in that? Right?"
"Yes?"
"Just think of it as me scouting you, Kang Hyun. Work starts next week, Monday or Tuesday. Come to the third floor."
There was an irresistible aura in Kim Jeong-min's firm words and precise tone.
'He wants me to just go for it, huh?'
Finding it intriguing in its own way, Kang Hyun nodded without asking more.
"Understood."
"Good. Then let's wrap up at that cafe over there. You can't drink coffee as a student?"
"Anything but alcohol is fine."
"Nice."
The documents he gave were simple personal info and a self-introduction, so it didn't take long to fill out.
As Kang Hyun quickly wrote them down, Kim Jeong-min sipped his coffee contentedly, waiting.
Once finished, Kim Jeong-min took the application with a satisfied expression and stood up abruptly.
"Looking forward to working with you, Kang Hyun. And next time we meet, drop the formal speech, keep that in mind."
"Yes. I'll be in your care. Thank you for the opportunity."
Kang Hyun bowed politely, and Kim Jeong-min left with quick steps.
A faint smile crept onto his lips, as if he was barely holding back excitement for something truly fun.