Macarons and the Mountain
There was a macaron right in front of her eyes.
A few days after the match against Seo Min-ho…
Rachel held her phone to her ear and gently nudged Seo-yeon aside.
"Rachel, what's this document? Is this Beary's contract?"
"……Seo-yeon. Just a second—let me take this call."
These days, Kang Seo-yeon trailed after Rachel wherever she went.
It wasn't because she had any real work to do. Watching Rachel handle her job simply looked fascinating and cool, so she stuck close and stared openly from the side.
Rachel was always busy. One hand held a phone while the other flew across a laptop keyboard; she coordinated fight schedules, negotiated with sponsors, and fielded calls from reporters. She handled every last bit of it without a single crack, her heels clicking sharply the whole time.
"……Wow."
Seo-yeon propped her chin in her hands and watched.
"Rachel, you're seriously amazing. You just knock everything out like it's nothing."
"It's all just work."
Rachel set the phone down and smiled.
"Nothing special. Once you get used to it, anyone can do it."
But to Seo-yeon it was special. She had never seen an adult who worked so crisply and cleanly. Back underground there had been no one like that—only rough men and debt collectors.
Rachel was different. Confident, full of self-assurance, someone who clearly loved what she did. Somehow that made her shine.
……I want to be that cool too.
The thought made Seo-yeon speak up.
"Hey, Rachel."
"Yes?"
"Can I be Beary's manager too?"
Rachel blinked once.
"I follow Beary around every day anyway. Matches, training, all of it. Since I'm already tagging along, I want to do something real. Like you—cool and capable."
Seo-yeon's eyes sparkled. Rachel watched her for a quiet moment, then let out a soft laugh.
"……Well, why not?"
"Really?!"
"I'm still the official manager. But you, Seo-yeon… yeah. How about assistant manager? Someone who looks after him from the side?"
"Yes! Assistant manager! Perfect!"
Seo-yeon bounced on her toes. Rachel looked at her with eyes that weren't the least bit displeased. Trailing after her like a puppy—no, like a cat—chattering the whole way was somehow adorable. One more job on the plate, but it didn't feel bad at all.
And just like that, Seo-yeon became the self-proclaimed "Beary's Assistant Manager."
She bought a diary. She bought a brand-new pen. Declaring she would manage the schedule as stylishly as Rachel, her motivation shot through the roof.
……But.
All that enthusiasm meant nothing when there was a macaron right in front of her eyes.
"Kang Tae-san is one of the biggest guys even in the super heavyweight division. Record's two fights, two KOs."
"……Yeah, yeah. Huge. Two KOs."
Seo-yeon scribbled half-heartedly while her free hand already reached for a macaron. She plucked a strawberry-colored one and popped it into her mouth.
……Sweet.
"He's the type who just bulldozes with size and power, so his technique isn't much."
"Technique not much…"
……Mm, this is really good.
Seo-yeon's pen slowed. She grabbed another macaron, took a forkful of cake… and before she knew it the diary was forgotten, her entire focus captured by the dessert plate.
. . . . .
"The Round 3 opponent has been decided."
Rachel set her tablet down and pulled up the fighter's profile.
"Next up is Kang Tae-san, nickname Taesan—the Great Mountain. Only two fights since debut, but both were overwhelming KOs."
The man on the screen was definitely huge. Shoulders like door frames; the people standing next to him looked like children.
"Even among super heavyweights he's one of the biggest. Pure size-and-power style. Honestly, not much technique to speak of."
"Hmm."
I studied Taesan on the screen. He was big, no question.
"Should I be worried about this guy?"
Rachel shook her head lightly.
"No. Not really."
The answer was unexpectedly calm.
"He's big, but… you're no slouch either, Mr. Han. More than anything…"
Rachel let the words trail off and smiled with quiet meaning.
"I know what kind of person you are by now. One fighter who's just a little bigger isn't going to change a thing for you, right?"
"……."
I couldn't find a reply for a moment. Rachel acted like she didn't know, yet she seemed to have half-figured it out—that I held back when I fought. That was actually more comfortable for me. No need to explain.
"So don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just do what you always do."
Rachel tidied the tablet as she spoke.
"Weight-class differences don't matter. In front of you, Mr. Han——"
She stopped mid-sentence, glanced sideways, and snorted a laugh. I followed her gaze.
……Seo-yeon was dozing.
A half-eaten slice of cake and an empty macaron plate sat on the table. Stuffed full of sweets and now drowsy, she had sunk deep into the chair, her head bobbing.
"……Our manager is working hard, I see."
Rachel's tone was teasing. For days now Seo-yeon had insisted she was my manager—keeping track of the schedule, tagging along to interviews, sitting in on meetings with Rachel. But when the actual meeting happened… well…
"……Like leaving fish in a cat's care."
I muttered it under my breath, and Rachel burst out laughing. Well, she had been called the Golden Cat. Dozing off after a sugar binge—she really was every inch a cat.
"Leave her be. She must be tired."
Rachel said it with a smile. And just like that, the talk about the Great Mountain wrapped up lightly—while Seo-yeon half-slept through the important details.
That night.
Seo-yeon lay face-down on her bed, fiddling with her phone. Maybe she had eaten too many sweets during the day; now that night had come, sleep refused to arrive. Staring blankly at the ceiling and tossing around, she suddenly remembered one name from earlier.
"……Taesan? Who was that again?"
During the daytime meeting Rachel had definitely said he was the next opponent. But between dozing off and eating macarons she had only half-listened, so the details were fuzzy. For someone calling herself assistant manager, not even remembering the opponent's name properly—her conscience pricked a little.
"……Well, I can look it up now."
Without much thought she typed the name into the search bar. Kang Tae-san, Taesan…
The moment the results loaded, Seo-yeon's eyes grew wider and wider.
"……What the hell is this."
A photo of Taesan appeared. Standing next to another fighter, the other man looked like a little kid. Height, build, arms—everything was a whole size larger. More like a wall than a person.
Seo-yeon hurriedly tapped a match video.
On screen Taesan simply crushed his opponent. One swing of that massive fist sent a perfectly healthy fighter flying like a rag doll into the cage mesh. One hit. The match ended in a single blow. The downed man didn't get up for a long time.
The other videos were the same. No matter who stood across from him, Taesan just pushed with pure size and drove in hammer-like fists. No technique to speak of—just overwhelming bulk and power. That alone flattened every opponent.
"……This guy's a total monster."
Seo-yeon's fingertips trembled slightly. During the day she had talked big right next to Beary—"Just being big isn't enough; Beary's no pushover either." But seeing it on video like this, the man was way bigger than she had imagined. Maybe as big as their Beary. No—maybe even bigger?
"……W-wait a second."
Seo-yeon sat bolt upright. No matter how strong Beary was, if he got pounded by a monster of that size… if by any chance something went wrong…
"……No, no. There's no way our Beary loses."
She shook her head hard. But once the worry started it refused to leave. All sorts of terrible scenes ran wild through her mind on their own—Beary staggering under Taesan's fist, slamming into the cage, collapsing while bleeding.
"No, no!"
Seo-yeon clutched her head and rolled around on the bed. Come to think of it, Rachel had said she wasn't worried at all—that she knew what kind of person Beary was. But that was that. The mere thought that Beary might get hurt made her heart pound so hard she couldn't stand it.
Of course Seo-yeon knew. She had seen up close, better than anyone, how strong Beary was. But knowing and worrying were completely separate things. Her head said he won't lose, yet her heart kept clenching with but what if. The fear that the person she loved might get hurt refused to be reasoned away.
In the end she picked up her phone and typed.
Only after firing off three messages in a row did Seo-yeon finally let out a breath. But once they were sent, a quiet embarrassment crept in. She had talked so big during the day, then searched alone at night and made this huge fuss.
If Beary saw the messages he would definitely tease her—blank-faced, saying something like, "What's a bear like me supposed to worry about over something like that?"
"……I don't care. I can't help worrying."
Seo-yeon yanked the blanket all the way over her head.
The world called Beary a monster and feared that power. But to Seo-yeon he was never that kind of being. He was the one who kept her up at night before big matches, fretting that he might get hurt; the one whose eyes lit up over a single red-bean bread… just a big, clumsy Beary.
That was the other face of Han Daewong that the world never saw—and only Seo-yeon knew.