Life is Easier If You’re Handsome

“I’m sparring with a bureaucrat and why am I so nervous?”

Baek Sang-ha suppressed his anxious heart and picked his breathing slowly.

To consider, feeling this intimidated wasn’t exactly strange either.

“Donghu’s specs were probably 180 and 81 right now.”

According to Olympic standards, that puts him in the heavyweight category.

Each punch he throws has the destructive power of being hit by a truck.

“We’re almost the same, though I’m still taller.”

The difference? Donghu is still in his growth phase, steadily getting taller.

Anyway, since we agreed to go all out against someone in that weight class—

*Gulp.*

I swallowed involuntarily, and the sound of the gong entered my ears really slowly.

Ding!

And then, it rang out,

Signaling the start of the round.

In the spirit of sportsmanship,

We lightly touched our gloves.

“Box!”

Shall we start by creating some distance?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Baek Sang-ha lifted his gaze slightly.

*Whoosh.*

Kim Donghu vanished from sight.

His movement was beyond mere speed; it transcended everything.

As if he had hidden gunpowder in his toes.

In an instant, Donghu burrowed into his space.

“What’s up with this speed?”

*Bam!*

Before he could even react to the follow-up attack,

It felt like he was hit in the gut with a sledgehammer.

His body involuntarily staggered back with no choice but to retreat.

Thank goodness he managed to twist his body just enough to avoid a direct hit to the liver.

That was a close call!

“Is this my student’s 100%?”

There was no time to be purely astonished.

He must respond immediately.

“There’s no sport that wins by just defending.”

Baek Sang-ha extended his fist.

From childhood,

A technique honed for at least 30 years sprang forth from his body as if it was waiting.

However.

*Swish.*

It glided right past him due to Donghu’s shoulder roll.

Baek Sang-ha, not flustered, immediately continued the attack.

No sport wins by only defending.

Only attack could break through all situations.

*Hoo…*

He inhaled deeply before launching into a furious dash.

There was no time to think; he had to push forward.

“I’ll corner him in the ring.”

He thought that this was the only way to block Donghu’s movements right now.

In fact, there was no other breakthrough.

It would be better to decide things in close combat.

Having made that conclusion, Baek Sang-ha summoned every bit of strength he had.

*Whoosh.*

With just a few steps, Donghu escaped from the pressure.

Through a high guard position, he protected his face, peeking out just slightly.

Once worn by a legendary boxer,

This was the peekaboo style.

“What the hell!”

And then came the King, slip, rolling.

And within that motion—

*Bam!*

A powerful punch.

Even knowing it was coming, he couldn’t block it.

No, his guard had already been penetrated.

With the first collision, it felt like his forearm exploded.

With the second hit, his arm was left hanging in mid-air.

Baek Sang-ha tried to respond urgently with an overhand punch.

But Donghu was already gone from that spot.

Just like a sniper wouldn’t shoot from the same spot twice.

Donghu had already changed his point of attack.

“Are you predicting my reactions based on instinct?”

What is this, some kind of comic book character? How is this possible?

Slightly dumbfounded, Baek Sang-ha felt Donghu’s fist strike his solar plexus.

*Thud!*

In that moment, Baek Sang-ha felt for the first time what it’s like to be on the verge of death.

“Why did I say to go all out?”

A hit to the gut.

And another to the solar plexus.

The power was so overwhelming that his legs gave way,

And his body couldn’t withstand the shock, toppling back.

*Crash!*

Luckily, Donghu hastily caught Baek Sang-ha’s head, preventing a concussion.

“Director! Are you okay?!”

“Ha, haha… Huh…”

Baek Sang-ha couldn’t say anything because he could hardly breathe.

“I should have told him not to go all out….”

He recalled a time when he thought he was raising a tiger.

But now that he had collided properly once,

“It wasn’t like that at all.”

“I never even taught him the peekaboo style.”

He should have seen it coming when Donghu competently used that flicker jab in practice.

“Wait, am I really getting KO’d in the first round by a bureaucrat?”

This should have been incredibly embarrassing,

“Hmm… but why does this feel good?”

A strange sense of pride bubbled up.

The first man to be knocked out by Kim Donghu at 100%.

What a not-so-bad title to have, he suddenly thought.

Around three minutes passed.

Finally able to catch his breath and speak,

Baek Sang-ha sincerely said, “Thanks for not hitting my face.”

“I mean, hitting the face just feels wrong, doesn’t it?”

“….”

Hearing Donghu’s nonchalant reply, Baek Sang-ha thought,

“You’re not giving it your all, are you?”

If he was really at 100%, there’d be no reason to avoid it.

Of course, he hadn’t hit him either, but

To put it precisely, he was more unable to than unwilling.

But what about his beloved student, Kim Donghu?

“He could definitely have hit me.”

When he landed that initial body shot without hesitation,

He could have taken aim at Baek Sang-ha’s chin right away.

“He’s holding back.”

Baek Sang-ha was genuinely grateful yet simultaneously regretful.

Because his title as the first man to be knocked out had literally vanished before his eyes.

“Yeah, Donghu, if you’d hit me in the face, I would’ve knocked out right away.”

“Haha, how could that happen? Honestly, with how tough you are, you’d hold on, right?”

“Uh, uh, right… uh? Hmm, uh? Aaah, yeah, yeah, you’re my student, so… of course, right!? Tch!”

“Really, I can’t keep up with your jokes, Director.”

That wasn’t a joke at all.

I seriously thought I was going to pass out.

“I’m just playing with my life here.”

So while Bahk Sang-ha joked and played around with Donghu,

He suddenly had a thought.

“Well, what about during real matches?”

When Donghu really goes 100% into a fight?

For some reason, the number 119 popped into Baek Sang-ha’s head.

“Oh right, the tournament’s scheduled for late September. Is that okay for you?”

“Yeah, my schedule is pretty clear these days, so it’s fine.”

“Really? That’s a relief. If by any chance it doesn’t work, just let me know, because the main thing is your career.”

“Yup, thanks.”

Kim Donghu replied, recalling his upcoming schedule.

One of the variety shows he really enjoyed watching before.

“Rushman.”

He really wanted to remove that name tag quickly.

++++++

Rushman’s PD, Jiyujin, smiled broadly while looking over the filming proposal for the upcoming shoot.

“This is destined to be a hit!”

Currently, the members of Rushman could be said to be in their golden years,

Close to being an invincible fleet.

And the guests they had? Truly spectacular.

“To be able to secure rising stars, Kim Donghu and Kim Sujin.”

Not just any rising stars, but two who are currently making a positive impact under the name of Theater Flame.

But the thought of those kids getting onto Rushman and showing their human side?

“It’s guaranteed to be a hit.”

They were at an age where they were meant to run around and play, so there were no restrictions on their activities.

Then suddenly, one thought struck her.

“How good is Kim Donghu at sports?”

Actually, she had some idea.

She had already done a preliminary interview, and searched for related materials earnestly.

But then she discovered his boxing tournament achievements.

No matter how much of a youth competition it was, he had won.

“His main profession is an actor, yet he’s a boxing champion and ringing the golden bell.”

Not to mention being super good-looking, having a great character, and he made some significant donations the other day.

It was just all so fascinating.

“Is the tournament next week?”

She hoped that shooting day would come quickly.

++++++

At the same time.

*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*

There was a delicate girl mercilessly pummeling her blanket.

“Ahhh! Why, why?! How could this happen?!”

The girl’s name was Kim Sujin.

A girl juggling both first love and unrequited love.

Currently, she was unleashing her curses upon the world.

“Why?! How could this happen?!”

No matter how she thought about it, it seemed unbelievable.

Denying reality, she dashed back toward her vanity mirror.

*Poke.*

“Ahhh!”

What exactly was the problem?

What could have caused such a disaster?

A single pimple had popped out right on her forehead.

She went to the dermatologist every month; how could this happen?

“No, honestly, on other days, it wouldn’t matter.”

Why did it have to happen today?

She was fine when it was the Rushman filming day,

Because it would surely be gone by then.

But tomorrow was the real problem.

Kim Sujin furrowed her brows and checked her texts.

[Kim Donghu, what are you doing tomorrow? ] I’ll probably be just working out as always or going to see Ye-rim.

[Ye-rim? Oh, that person from that agency? ] Yeah, I was thinking of sneaking in to check on her monthly evaluation at the modeling academy.

The moment she heard this, she thought he had lost his mind.

She was there widening her eyes and living in the present, and he was talking about going to see another girl?!

“I might die before letting that happen!”

But looking at the conversation, it didn’t seem like a promise had been made.

This meant he could change his plans any time.

So she boldly threw out some bait.

[Hey, you know there’s a Rushman shoot next week, right? ] Yeah, I know.

[They’re saying we’ll be running a lot then, can you please watch my running form? ] Running form? Why would you want that? It won’t be that fast anyway.
[So you’re saying you won’t watch it? ㅡㅅㅡ?! ] Just kidding, I’ll watch. I’ll come over to your place tomorrow.

She had just secured a date with Kim Donghu after a long time!

It took all her courage to muster that date!

“Why is a pimple popping up just a few hours later?!”

Could it be that taking a nap was the culprit?

Kim Sujin felt utterly resentful towards the world.