DASH-Chapter 175

Despite Jiheon’s encouragement, Jaekyoung didn’t show much reaction. Jiheon felt uneasy inside, but he figured there was no use dwelling on the situation. He didn’t even ask if his shoulder hurt. Instead, once they went back to the hotel, Jiheon gave Jaekyoung a massage. When Jaekyoung went to sleep, Jiheon wrapped the electrotherapy device belt around his shoulders to help him rest.

Jaekyoung seemed determined to prove his earlier statement that, ‘I don’t like my record,’ and he came in first place in the 200m freestyle final the next day in 1:41.88. It was 0.08 second better than his previous personal best and world record of 1:41.96 seconds.

While the first selection round also served as a national competition, the second round was merely a domestic one, so the record wouldn’t be officially recognized as a world record. Regardless, the crowd joyously applauded the new record set right before their eyes.

As they left the cheers and headed to the waiting room, Jaekyoung, for the first time, asked Jiheon to call Dr. Shin, the team physiotherapist.

Jiheon felt a drop in his heart at that moment, but he kept his composure and asked calmly.

“Why? Does your shoulder hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt—”

Jaekyoung suddenly closed his mouth and shook his head.

“Never mind. I don’t think you need to call him.”

“Why not? If your shoulder hurts, I need to call Dr. Shin. He is in the car anyway.”

“It doesn’t hurt. It’s just a little sore.”

Jaekyoung said casually, moving his right arm around. After showing that he could move without difficulty, he spoke to Jiheon again.

“It’s really just a little sore. It used to get a little sore when I was swimming hard. I was just worried that it might be hurting for another reason. But I don’t think that’s the case.”

Jaekyoung explained in a nonchalant voice.

“That’s not for you to judge. It’s up to the doctor.”

Jiheon spoke quietly.

However, with the 200m backstroke final starting in 10 minutes, there was no way they could go to the hospital for an X-ray and a thorough check-up.

Dr. Shin, who rushed over after Jiheon’s call, examined Jaekyoung’s right shoulder for a while but concluded that it was difficult to make a definite judgment in the current situation.

First off, there wasn’t any immediate swelling, and more importantly, Jaekyoung insisted that it wasn’t a constant pain, just a bit of a soreness. He mentioned experiencing similar sensations when playing multiple races in a row.

“But wouldn’t it be better to take painkillers first?”

Jiheon asked Dr. Shin, causing Jaekyoung to frown.

“Hyung, my joint doesn’t hurt, so why the hell should I take painkillers?”

Despite Jaekyoung himself objected, Jiheon couldn’t ignore it and handed him some pain relief patches. In the end, Jaekyoung entered the 200m backstroke finals with several cooling patches on his right arm.

“You absolutely can’t overdo it. You just need to get second place, so please don’t be too greedy. Just pass over the qualifying time.”

Jiheon urged Jaekyoung repeatedly until just before the first call rang.

But it was in vain.

Jaekyoung, who started off at his usual speed, seemed to suddenly slow down after the first turn, but he went back to full speed on the last lap, ultimately touching the pad first. Even his record was better than in the preliminaries.

“As expected, it was just muscle soreness.”

Jaekyoung commented after returning to the waiting room.

“Okay, I get it. Let’s go to the hospital first.”

Jiheon suggested, but Jaekyoung didn’t seem to be listening.

“For what?”

He blurted out and just lay down on the massage bed. The massage therapist standing between them began massaging Jaekyoung’s back, and Dr. Shin approached the bed, carefully examining Jaekyoung’s right shoulder and arm and began asking:

“Does it hurt here? How about here? Do you feel uncomfortable when I do this?”

After that, Dr. Shin approached Jiheon and spoke softly.

“When I touched his shoulder, he said it hurts a bit more than before. It doesn’t seem to be inflammation or anything, just some temporary joint stiffness. Backstroke inevitably tends to strain the neck more than freestyle. In that state, his arms moved in a different direction than usual and made his biceps very tense, which seemed to affect his shoulder joint. He’ll need an MRI for more details, but that’s what I can see. I don’t think it’s something to worry about.”

Dr. Shin added that if the injured area had been damaged again, Jaekyoung wouldn’t have been able to move like that now, but Jiheon couldn’t agree with that opinion. The Kwon Jaekyoung that Jiheon knew could endure that much pain for the sake of his competition.

Neither of them spoke a word in the car on the way back to the hotel. Jaekyoung’s expression was even cold, making it seem like they were in a silent battle, but that wasn’t the case. Jiheon thought that if he opened his mouth now, he’d just ask to go to the hospital, and Jaekyoung knew that if he spoke, Jiheon would immediately suggest going to the hospital, so both of them just didn’t open their mouths.

But even if this was a real silent battle, there was no way it would last long. Moreover, it was clear who would give in first in this situation.

“Take off your clothes.”

Jiheon said as soon as they entered the room.

“Why?”

“Let me check your shoulder.”

“Dr. Shin already did.”

Jaekyoung sat down on the bed without even taking off his jersey.

“What the hell? Are you avoiding me now?”

Jiheon said with a smile on purpose.

“You showed me everything until yesterday, so why are you suddenly refusing?”

Jaekyoung stood up without responding. As he headed to the minibar behind him, Jiheon raised his voice without realizing it.

“Your shoulder is hurting right now, isn’t it?”

“No.”

Jaekyoung opened the minibar and took out water with a movement as simple as his answer.

“Jaekyoung-ah.”

“Hyung.”

Jaekyoung twisted open the water bottle and called Jiheon.

“I’m okay.”

He drank the water after saying so. After downing half the water in one go, he crumpled the bottle and tossed it into the trash can.

“And I can’t afford to be not okay right now.”

“That....”

Jiheon was about to get angry and ask why he said such a thing. But when he actually opened his mouth, no words came out. He seemed to understand what Jaekyoung meant, so he couldn’t bring himself to be angry.

Finally, Jiheon turned around, pressing his forehead.

“Okay. I get it... but at least take some painkillers.”

“You said non-steroidal painkillers don’t do much for this type of pain.”

Jaekyoung settled back onto the bed. It seemed like he had decided to stop insisting that it was just muscle soreness.

“But it’s better than nothing.”

Jiheon unzipped his suitcase and pulled out a pouch with medicine.

Jaekyoung added:

“And I don’t usually take naproxen. Tylenol is the only thing I’m okay with, but it doesn’t help much with joint pain.”

As Jiheon watched the conversation go on and on, he thought that Jaekyoung really didn’t want to take painkillers.

Just like most athletes who were sensitive to doping and side effects, Jaekyoung had a dislike for medication of any kind and avoided taking it at all costs. He was told he could take anti-inflammatory painkillers during prolotherapy, but they weren’t very effective, so he held on, saying, “I’ll just wait and see,” and never took a single pill.

“Here, take it.”

Jiheon passed the medicine and water without saying more. Jaekyoung hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly put the medicine in his mouth and washed it down with water.

After a while, room service arrived, and Jaekyoung finished a light meal before lying down on the bed.

“How is it? Any effect from the painkiller?”

Jiheon asked while wrapping the therapy belt around Jaekyoung’s shoulder, just like yesterday. Jaekyoung closed his eyes, took a moment to think, and then shook his head.

“I’m not sure.”

“I see.... Your muscles are pretty tense right now, so maybe you’ll feel better after a nap.”

Jiheon tried to uplift Jaekyoung with some positive words.

Jaekyoung fell asleep while the electrotherapy device was still operating. Jiheon unfastened the shoulder belt, turned off the lights to avoid waking him up, and, with only a nightlight on, he browsed information about shoulder joint injuries on his laptop before going to bed shortly before nine.

Thinking he had just closed his eyes for a bit, Jiheon woke up to rustling sounds. Checking his cell phone, he realized it was already 2 in the morning. He mumbled half-asleep to Jaekyoung, who was sitting on the bed next to him.

“Why are you awake already?”

Jaekyoung didn’t respond. Jiheon belatedly noticed Jaekyoung was holding his right shoulder, so he kicked off the blanket in surprise and got up.

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt?”

“It’s just a bit sore.”

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Jaekyoung said that and asked Jiheon without looking at him.

“Hyung, where are the painkillers?”

“Hold on. I’ll grab them for you.”

Jiheon swiftly got off the bed. Approaching the window to fetch the medicine from /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ his bag, he suddenly looked up in confusion.

Rain was pouring down outside the window.

JAEKYOUNG’S COMPETITION RECAP

DAY 1

400m freestyle (#1) — 3:40.76

DAY 2

50m freestyle (#1) — 21.54200m individual medley (#1) — 1:57.xx

DAY 3

200m freestyle (#1) — 1:41.88 (PB)200m backstroke (#1) — (time not mentioned)