I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Fighting Prodigy Bullied Without Knowing It Episode 063
Light returned.
Blurred.
The ceiling lights came into view first.
And then a face.
Do Yun.
His expression was rigid.
Behind him, A Yeon and Ryu Tae Hwan appeared.
Baek Seojun’s eyes snapped open wide.
“…….”
He lurched upright.
His head throbbed.
Do Yun immediately pressed down on his shoulder.
“Take it slow, will you.”
Baek Seojun looked around.
The opposite corner.
A crowd had gathered.
Lee Sung Jun stood at the center.
Cheers.
Applause.
Both arms raised high.
Baek Seojun watched the scene for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“I lost.”
Short breath.
“I did.”
Do Yun tapped Baek Seojun’s shoulder twice.
“You did well.”
Again.
“You really did well.”
Baek Seojun didn’t answer.
He simply got to his feet.
Tae Soo tried to support his arm.
Baek Seojun shook his head.
“I can walk.”
He removed his Gloves.
The Wrist Tape was soaked with blood and sweat.
Baek Seojun walked toward the Champion.
Two staff members quickly blocked his path.
“Fighter, one moment please.”
Baek Seojun raised his hand.
“It’s fine.”
Then.
Lee Sung Jun came walking from the other side.
The staff members looked between them.
Lee Sung Jun spoke first.
“Step aside.”
The path opened.
The two fighters faced each other at the center.
Baek Seojun extended his hand.
Lee Sung Jun gripped it firmly.
Solid.
Their hands locked.
“Congratulations.”
Lee Sung Jun looked at Baek Seojun.
“Good fight.”
He said nothing more.
They released their grip.
The ring announcer stepped to the center.
“Ladies and gentlemen!”
The Stadium erupted once more.
The Referee called both fighters forward.
Baek Seojun on one side.
Lee Sung Jun on the other.
“Five Rounds!”
“TKO Victory!”
The announcer’s voice exploded through the speakers.
“AND STILL!”
The crowd rose to its feet.
“AXIS KOREA FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION!”
“Lee! Sung! Jun!”
The Axis representative entered the Cage.
The Champion Belt unfurled.
The golden plates caught the light and gleamed.
The belt was fastened around Lee Sung Jun’s waist.
Click.
Flashes erupted.
Baek Seojun watched the moment from beside him.
The reporter extended the microphone to Baek Seojun first.
“Baek Seojun, that’s an unfortunate result. How would you assess today’s bout?”
Baek Seojun took a short breath.
“The Champion was strong.”
“It was my first bout to go Five Rounds.”
“Yes.”
“Did you learn a great deal?”
Baek Seojun nodded.
“I now understand exactly what I’m lacking.”
The reporter asked one final question.
“A few words for the fans who supported you?”
Baek Seojun glanced at the crowd.
Then he spoke into the microphone.
“I’ll prepare for my next bout.”
That was all.
Baek Seojun bowed his head.
Then he descended from the Cage.
The corridor entrance.
Lee Sung Jun’s interview continued behind him.
[How was the challenger today?]
Baek Seojun’s pace faltered slightly.
Lee Sung Jun’s voice came through the microphone.
[He was the only challenger to give me the toughest bout of my career so far.]
Baek Seojun’s steps stopped.
He turned to look back.
Inside the Cage.
Lee Sung Jun held the microphone.
His gaze was toward the corridor.
He was looking at Baek Seojun.
[I’ll be moving to a higher stage now.]
A brief silence.
[But I’ll prepare so that we can have a rematch there.]
The crowd erupted again.
Baek Seojun watched the Champion in silence.
Lee Sung Jun did not avert his gaze.
Baek Seojun slowly bowed his head.
Once.
Then he turned away.
* * *
The waiting room door opened.
Tae Soo approached first.
“Hey.”
Thunk.
He slapped Baek Seojun’s shoulder.
“You fought really well out there.”
Kim Ji Hoon joined in immediately.
“Just the fact that you pushed the Champion to Five Rounds—”
“Let’s keep it short today.”
Tae Soo cut him off.
Ryu Jin Hyuk leaned against the wall and spoke.
“I lost.”
Baek Seojun nodded.
“Yeah.”
Ryu Jin Hyuk let out a quiet laugh.
“Then we just go again.”
A Yeon draped a towel over Baek Seojun’s head.
Ryu Tae Hwan spoke tersely.
“You’ll see what’s missing now.”
Do Yun gripped the back of Baek Seojun’s neck one last time.
“Let’s try again.”
Baek Seojun slowly clenched his fists.
“Yes.”
* * *
Days passed.
Team Jugjak Gymnasium remained unchanged.
The Punching Bag swayed.
Sweat dripped onto the Mat.
The sound of Gloves colliding erupted without pause.
Thunk!
Bang!
But one person was missing.
Baek Seojun.
Tae Soo, finishing his sparring, removed his Headgear.
Breathing heavily, he walked over to Do Yun.
“Coach.”
Do Yun was striking the Punching Bag.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Tae Soo asked.
“How much longer is Seojun taking off?”
Nearby, Kim Ji Hoon, who’d been jumping rope, perked up his ears.
Ryu Jin Hyuk set down the Pads.
Do Yun didn’t take his eyes off the Punching Bag.
Bang!
A heavy right hand.
“He’ll be back soon.”
It was a casual answer.
Tae Soo tilted his head.
“Can you reach him, at least?”
“Yeah.”
“Good enough then.”
Tae Soo turned back.
The other members resumed their training, one by one.
But in the back.
A Yeon said nothing.
Her hand holding the tablet stilled for a moment.
Her expression grew just slightly tense.
Do Yun didn’t see it.
Or rather.
He pretended not to.
* * *
Night.
The last visitor had left the gymnasium.
Half the lights were already off.
Only the two of them remained in the office.
A Yeon poured coffee.
Two cups.
She set one in front of Do Yun.
“You’re still in contact with Baek Seojun?”
Do Yun was studying some papers.
“Yeah.”
“How’s he doing?”
The pen’s tip scratched across the page.
Scratch.
“Recovery’s going smoothly.”
Do Yun turned the page.
“No signs of concussion. The bruising around his temple is already fading.”
A Yeon sat across from him.
“So the real problem is something else.”
Do Yun’s pen stilled.
“Mental.”
He lifted his eyes from the papers.
“It’s his first defeat since his professional debut.”
A Yeon didn’t touch her coffee.
Do Yun set down his pen.
Thud.
“You know this as well as I do.”
His voice had grown quieter.
“Fighters are shaken most deeply right after their first loss.”
A Yeon nodded slowly.
“When you’re undefeated, you don’t really understand.”
She turned her cup with her fingertips.
“You think that even if you get hit, you’ll dodge it next time. You believe that no matter how strong an opponent is, you’ll overcome them eventually.”
Do Yun looked out the window.
The darkened street.
The gymnasium’s interior reflected in the black glass.
A Yeon spoke.
“But after you lose for the first time, everything changes.”
“You face an opponent your fists can’t touch.”
“You feel firsthand the wall you can’t overcome, no matter how hard you try.”
Her hand stopped.
“That’s when fear takes root for the first time.”
Do Yun said nothing.
A Yeon continued.
“What if I face another opponent like that in my next fight?”
“What if I get hit again and fall?”
“Was this as far as I could go?”
Do Yun let out a hollow laugh.
There was no strength in it.
“That kind of thinking destroys people.”
A Yeon watched him.
“What’s your sense of how Baek Seojun is handling this?”
Do Yun didn’t answer immediately.
He only looked out the window.
After a long pause.
“I don’t know.”
It was brief.
“He responds when I contact him. He’s getting treatment, eating properly.”
Do Yun’s jaw tightened slightly.
“But he doesn’t talk about the gymnasium.”
A Yeon’s eyes darkened.
Do Yun leaned back in his chair.
“If you’re going to break here and give up.”
He spoke quietly.
“Then it wouldn’t be the worst thing to quit early.”
A Yeon said nothing.
“You’d avoid worse injuries that way.”
Do Yun’s gaze turned toward the Cage.
The empty Mat.
The darkened Punching Bag.
“You could find another path.”
A Yeon asked.
“Are you serious?”
Do Yun paused for a moment.
Then he answered.
“Professional boxing is a career built on taking punches and enduring.”
His fingers slowly curled.
“If you’re afraid after one knockout and can’t come back,”
Do Yun’s eyes turned cold and bleak.
“the next time you’ll suffer worse.”
The office fell silent.
Only the faint hum of the refrigerator echoed from somewhere distant.
Do Yun picked up his cooling coffee.
He didn’t take a single sip.
“So.”
He spoke while gazing out the window.
“We can’t drag him back in this time.”
A Yeon slowly lifted her head.
Do Yun set down his cup.
“He has to walk back in on his own.”
* * *
Three days later.
Baek Seojun sat at the dining table at home.
A steaming stew sat on the table.
His mother set down the ladle.
“Would you like more rice?”
“No, thank you.”
Baek Seojun picked up his utensils as he usually did.
The swelling in his face hadn’t completely subsided yet.
Faint bruising still lingered near his temple.
His mother pulled the side dishes closer without saying a word.
“You’re going to the hospital today, right?”
“Yes.”
“Have you taken your medicine?”
“Yes, I have.”
Short exchanges.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Baek Seojun spooned some rice into his bowl.
Then.
His mother set down her utensils.
She looked at Baek Seojun for a moment.
“Seojun.”
“Yes?”
“Will you… continue training?”
Baek Seojun didn’t hesitate.
He didn’t lower his gaze.
He didn’t need time to think.
“Yes.”
He answered immediately.
His mother waited quietly.
Baek Seojun swallowed his rice.
“I want to keep going.”
His voice was firm.
“You’ve taken a lot of hits.”
“I know.”
“You could get hurt again.”
“I understand.”
Baek Seojun didn’t set down his spoon.
“But I still want to do it.”
His mother watched him for a long moment.
Baek Seojun didn’t look away.
He’d lost the match.
He’d gone down.
But that wasn’t the end.
His mother didn’t press further.
She picked up a side dish.
She placed it over his rice.
“Then eat.”
Baek Seojun looked down at the bowl.
“You need to build your body back up first.”
“Yes.”
His mother ladled the stew again.
“And don’t skip the hospital visits.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
Baek Seojun let out a short laugh.
“I think the coaches will say the exact same thing.”
His mother smiled faintly as well.
“Then you’d better listen to them.”
Baek Seojun went back to eating his rice.
It was an ordinary morning.
* * *
Exactly one month later.
Team Jugjak Gymnasium.
Smack!
The pads echoed.
“Again!”
Tae Soo thrust out a One-Two, breathing hard.
Smack! Bang!
Do Yun caught the strike on the pads.
“Faster!”
“You’ve been gone a month and you’re just getting meaner, aren’t you?”
“Stop talking. Hit.”
On the other side of the gym.
Ryu Jin Hyuk was working the punching bag.
Thwack!
A heavy Low Kick.
Kim Ji Hoon was jumping rope, watching him.
“As expected, Ryu Jin Hyuk’s kicks are really—”
Tae Soo turned his head.
“Stop talking and train!”
A short burst of laughter echoed through the gymnasium.
Then the sounds of impact came again immediately.
Smack.
Bang.
Thwack.
Do Yun raised the pads higher.
“Tae Soo, right hand!”
In that moment.
Creak—
The metal door opened.
The sounds in the gymnasium died away, one by one.
The jump rope stopped.
The Punching Bag swayed, then slowly returned to stillness.
Tae Soo’s fist stilled against the Pads.
At the door.
A man stood carrying an Equipment Bag.
Baek Seojun.
The bruise at his temple had vanished.
The swelling was gone.
His face was clean.
Leaner than a month before.
But his eyes had changed.
Deeper.
Quiet and settled.
Seojun’s gaze swept across the Gymnasium.
Then he lowered his head.
“Hello.”
Tae Soo’s expression broke first into a smile.
“Hey!”
Ryu Jin Hyuk turned as well.
The corner of his mouth lifted, just slightly.
Kim Ji Hoon dropped his jump rope.
“Baek Seojun!”
Do Yun said nothing.
He watched Seojun, still wearing the Pads on his hands.
For a long moment.
Then his mouth curved up slowly.
“You’re late.”
Seojun adjusted the strap of his Equipment Bag across his shoulder.
“My apologies.”
“How’s the body?”
“Fully recovered.”
Do Yun struck the Pads together once.
Smack.
“Then.”
Seojun’s eyes fixed on Do Yun.
“Ready to try again?”
Tae Soo laughed and rushed over.
Ryu Jin Hyuk peeled himself away from the Punching Bag.
A Yeon stood at the office door, arms crossed.
Seojun set his Equipment Bag down slowly.
He unzipped it.
He took out his Gloves.
And he began pulling them onto his hands.
“I’m in your care!”
After his defeat, he had returned.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————