Life is Easier If You're Handsome-Chapter 212

Kim Donghu is an irreplaceable talent in Korean boxing.

At just 20 years old, he won the Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight division.

Then, just two years later, he claimed the gold in the heavyweight division at the Asian Games.

The time it took him to achieve this? Less than 12 minutes.

There had never been a boxer in history who delivered a performance like that.

So, when Kim Donghu announced that he would hold an intensive training camp for athletes,

active boxing players were filled with immense expectations.

They didn’t expect anything extraordinary.

They just wanted to experience it for themselves.

How high is the bar of the world they should aim for?

How strong is the strongest human being at this point in time?

They wanted to experience that strength firsthand.

But...

"Ugh!"

I never imagined I’d experience it so quickly.

And so directly.

"Your breathing is weak when you’re hit. If this were serious, you would’ve been down by now."

"...Ugh, gasp, thank you."

"If it’s too much, you can stop anytime."

"No! I must finish the first round! I must!"

This was a golden opportunity.

I absolutely couldn’t miss it.

With that thought, Park Ji-hong clenched his mouthpiece tightly.

‘This is 50%?’

I’d trained my abdomen well, and I’d never been knocked down by a body shot.

But I never thought I’d experience it during training.

And in a sparring session where the opponent was only giving 50%.

It didn’t feel humiliating.

It was actually thrilling.

This was what the world’s strongest looked like right now.

And I had the chance to be in a camp with that strongest.

I was ecstatic.

‘But this pressure... it feels like I’m facing a wild beast.’

Park Ji-hong stared at Kim Donghu’s eyes, surprised.

Is this really the atmosphere that a human can give off?

A form that seemed like it was forcibly woven from untamed lines.

A punch that could send anyone flying no matter where it landed.

Still, Kim Donghu faced his opponent with a calm demeanor and not a single change in expression.

All these things stacked up, creating an overwhelming sense of fear.

And the most frightening of them all was his breathing.

Even though less than a minute had passed.

‘I’m struggling so much, but he’s so composed.’

Compared to my own panting, Kim Donghu was perfectly fine.

The pressure that came from that was beyond imagination.

Was he never going to tire?

Am I just wasting my energy?

Why am I even doing this, knowing I can’t win?

Even though I knew this was just sparring,

even though I understood it was a light match,

the thought kept gnawing at me like shackles.

"Your feet have stopped. This is dangerous."

And, as if not to miss that opening,

Kim Donghu’s fist landed on my abdomen once again.

Thud!

It felt like a punch he had purposely thrown lightly, but the shock went straight to my internal organs.

"Huff!"

Unable to endure the pain, I gasped for air, and in my blurred vision, I saw other athletes barely breathing outside the ring.

Including myself, there were 20 people, and it took about 30 minutes for everyone to be cleaned up.

‘...But this isn’t the end, and I still have to do this for another 7 and a half hours?’

And I had to keep doing this for three months?

‘Just... just kill me.’

With that final thought, Park Ji-hong collapsed and closed his eyes.

It was time for a sweet rest.

***

From mid-September, Kim Donghu’s boxing intensive training camp began.

He had jumped straight into it, with no time for advertising after winning the gold medal.

The public was extremely interested.

Some even said that South Korea might become a boxing powerhouse.

Of course, news spread, and YouTube was buzzing about it for a while.

It became a topic most people were familiar with.

"...Oppa, you’re so busy."

Kim Donghu’s 6-year-old sister, Kim Seohyun, had realized this as well.

Being sharp for her age was both a blessing and a curse.

She could quickly gauge the surrounding situation,

which meant she could predict her future to some extent.

"Heeeing..."

The camp was supposed to last about three months,

and even if it was generously scheduled, it would last until the end of December.

The kindergarten performance would be on December 24th.

"Huuuheeing..."

There was an 80% chance she wouldn’t be able to make it!

"But I’m playing the princess."

She had worked so hard to get the princess role.

She memorized her lines perfectly, studied acting, and even watched princess animations to refine her elegant movements.

She even started playing with dolls, pretending to be a princess!

But if her brother didn’t come to see her, all that effort would feel pointless.

"Ugh...!"

Kim Seohyun struggled to hold back her tears.

But then...

"Huhhh...!"

She almost let it all out.

Eventually, she switched her thinking, deciding it was better to cry now.

For about three hours,

Seohyun cried herself out, her eyes swollen, and then made a resolution.

"It’s okay, even if Oppa doesn’t come! I’m a princess!"

No matter what happened, she promised not to cry again.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Although she knew it was impossible not to, she would try her best.

And this thought stayed with her...

"Hiccup..."

"Seohyun, should we just contact Oppa and ask him to come?"

As soon as December 24th arrived, it was like nothing had happened.

"Huh... Is it really okay?"

No matter how bravely she spoke, her eyes still welled up.

Then, exactly 5 minutes before the play started,

just as the tears were about to fall...

"Our princess is here."

"Oppa?!"

Her brother appeared at the perfect moment.

***

‘I really thought I was going to die from being so busy.’

The time required to fulfill my volunteer hours was about two and a half months.

This is assuming no weekends off.

Of course, since training was involved, rest was also important, so including weekends, it turned into about three months.

In this case, I’d spend most of my time at the athlete village.

But the problem was that my work didn’t end there.

‘I can’t go on variety shows, but I still have to shoot commercials.’

Not wanting to miss out on my acting career either,

even though I couldn’t engage in full-fledged projects, I still made appearances for CFs whenever I could.

And because I wanted to promote boxing more, I kept participating in interviews as well.

In the midst of all this...

"You’re going abroad?! For a year?!"

"So, can we go on a date before you leave?"

"I... I want to, though."

I had to explain my overseas schedule to people around me.

"Really? So, we won’t be able to see each other for a ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) while, huh? I’m going on an overseas tour too."

"Before you go, can we at least go on a quick trip somewhere?"

And though it was supposed to be impossible,

I got greedy and ended up going on separate trips with Sujin and Jaerin.

‘I didn’t know it would be this hard to go on a trip without getting caught.’

Although we mostly stayed indoors,

it was still a happy trip overall.

Then, something suddenly came to mind.

‘Don’t kindergartens usually have year-end performances around this time?’

I asked my parents, and lo and behold, they said they were having one. When I asked why they hadn’t told me earlier...

"Your brother’s been too busy."

"I guess Dad didn’t mention it either."

I understood my parents’ situation.

I could see their desire to protect me, but...

‘Still, it feels wrong to miss out on such an event.’

This was an event I absolutely had to attend.

When I lost my entire family in a past life and had to live alone,

I purposely didn’t attend my high school graduation.

I knew that if I went, I’d end up seeing everyone with their parents, taking pictures together.

Just imagining how miserable it would feel to watch that was enough to make me avoid it.

Now, knowing that I wouldn’t attend my little sister’s year-end performance?

That didn’t make any sense.

So I moved my schedule forward.

On the 24th, I’d make sure to take the day off.

"Son, are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Seohyun’s princess play is the priority."

"Hmm, I really raised a great son."

"Honey, Donghu has always been capable of handling things on his own."

"...."

Listening to my parents' playful banter,

I watched the play at the kindergarten.

But the content was much different than I had expected.

"Ahhh, I don’t like any of this! I’ll just, I’ll just catch the dragon myself!"

Seohyun was definitely a princess,

but she wasn’t the typical princess.

She was wearing a dress, but why was she holding a sword and shield?

When I asked my parents about it...

"What’s the title of this play?"

I was shocked by their answer.

"It’s called Princess Knight. The princess is a knight, and the boys are playing dinosaurs."

Dinosaurs? So they’re playing evil dragons or something?

‘The girl is a princess... the boys are dinosaurs?’

It was genius.

Writing a story that satisfied both sides—brilliant.

‘What 6-year-old boy wouldn’t want to play a dinosaur?’

But how could such a creative play even exist?

While thinking this, I overheard a small comment.

"Did he make this?"

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"Yeah, that’s right. Bong Jinwoo. He’s a kid who became really famous with his plays."

Bong Jinwoo.

A nostalgic name.

‘He’s still giving dreams to the kids.’

Thinking this, I relaxed and continued watching the play.

It was so different from everything I had experienced.

No matter how cautiously I appeared,

whenever I showed up, the attention was always on me.

But now, no one was paying me any mind.

Everyone was focused solely on their own children’s performance.

Yeah, this was why I worked so hard in life—

to experience these moments.

‘This is nice.’

After enjoying a brief respite from my busy routine,

on December 26th,

I headed straight to the U.S.

***

December 26th, early morning.

Before Kim Donghu arrived in the U.S.

"How many times do I have to say this? It’s dangerous for an Asian to imitate a monkey."

"When did that become an issue? And wasn’t the race issue dealt with a long time ago? Why are you suddenly raising this now?"

"With the new mask and the skills..."

"Skills, skills, always with the skills! Then prove it!"

Click.

Berry Lad Ice ended the video call in frustration.

These people had no idea.

How did they end up in such high positions?

If you’re incapable, you should step down.

They kept complaining, nitpicking about things that didn’t even matter.

"He was born in the UK! He just got a tan! Isn’t that enough to solve it?"

He was born in the UK.

But because of his hairstyle and skin color, they were desperately trying to make it a political correctness issue.

Did they want the movie to fail and then blame the audience?

"Before I die, I’ll never let that happen!"

I swear, I will make Kim Donghu Tarzan.

With that resolve, as if waiting for this moment...

Ring ring.

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

—Hello, this is CAE. May I speak with you?

"CAE?"

Where had I heard that before?

As soon as I thought of it, Berry Lad Ice smiled broadly.

"Did Evelyn come up with some interesting plan?"

CAE.

It was Evelyn’s agency’s abbreviation.