Real Man

Chapter 688

Sip.

She took a sip of coffee through a straw and glanced at Yoo-hyun.

“Are you okay, Mr. Yoo?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re going to meet your junior soon, right? But you don’t seem to be worried at all.”

Unlike the frantic night before, Yoo-hyun looked calm now.

His beloved junior was in a difficult situation, but he didn’t show any signs of anxiety.

Jeong Da-hye was puzzled, but Yoo-hyun had a reason for that.

He had contacted Lee Jang-woo early in the morning.

Of course, his words didn’t sound very reassuring.

He was obviously trying to act fine, and his voice was very hoarse.

But he felt relieved.

As long as he had the strength to squeeze his voice, Yoo-hyun could fill in the rest.

Yoo-hyun answered calmly.

“There’s nothing to solve by being impatient in this situation. I’ve done everything I can.”

“Did you contact Robert?”

Jeong Da-hye was referring to Robert Evans, the old driver who helped Yoo-hyun in Texas.

Yoo-hyun told her what he had said before he left.

“Yes. He said he had colleagues in New York. When I called the number he gave me, everything went smoothly.”

“He seems to have a lot of connections.”

“I know, right? He’s been very helpful in many ways.”

The two of them were new to New York.

They had nothing prepared for now, and there were more than one or two things to worry about.

From transportation to preventing possible accidents.

To prepare for this, Yoo-hyun borrowed Robert Evans’ help.

Tick.

Yoo-hyun turned on his phone screen and checked the message he received early in the morning.

-I’m Scott Brown. As Robert asked me earnestly, I’ll help you for the duration of your schedule.

It was literal.

From now on, his colleague, Scott Brown, would help Yoo-hyun.

There were also many other things to deal with.

How was the press conference schedule, how many reporters were coming, what events were linked, how to use the interpreter, etc.

Kim Tae-soo, who had only been training, couldn’t handle these details.

Even if he took care of all this, there was still a big problem left.

It was the preparation for the match.

From securing the venue to hiring coaching staff, there was a lot to do.

Jeong Da-hye was looking into this for him.

How did it go?

As Yoo-hyun was about to ask, her phone rang.

Ring.

She checked the message with one hand and said.

“The contact I’ve been waiting for has arrived.”

“From Super Punch?”@@novelbin@@

“Yes. The stage is set, now it’s your turn, Mr. Yoo.”

“I’ll live up to your expectations.”

Yoo-hyun smiled confidently as he met her gaze.

A few hours later, Kim Tae-soo was sitting in the hotel lobby.

He had spent the night with his eyes open and was staring blankly at the TV.

The news captions were scrolling on the screen.

Would this have happened if he had been with a world-class agency like Super Punch?

He shook his head at the thought that suddenly came to his mind.

No way.

No matter how Lee Jang-woo was an Asian, he was a star who had won two world championships.

It didn’t make sense to treat such a player recklessly.

The more he thought about it, the more problems there were.

From training methods to weight loss, this match had made a lot of unreasonable demands on Lee Jang-woo.

In the end, they changed the opponent and blew everything up, and then they broke the contract right before the tournament.

Was this a reasonable thing to do?

He was angry for a moment, but Kim Tae-soo sighed.

“Damn it. What am I supposed to do now?”

The problem was how to get to the press conference hall.

He had no interpreter, and he didn’t know exactly how the press conference worked.

Without an agency, there were more than one or two things to worry about.

Kim Tae-soo was making a helpless expression when it happened.

Thud.

A middle-aged man in a neat suit approached him.

There were two bodyguards in black clothes next to him.

“Are you Kim Tae-soo?”

“Yes. But who are you?”

“I’m Scott Brown. We’ll take care of you from now on.”

The middle-aged man pointed to the entrance, where a black limousine was parked.

“What the hell…”

Kim Tae-soo blinked his eyes.

Meanwhile, Yoo-hyun had arrived at Madison Square Garden, where the press conference was held.

He wanted to check the situations he had to prepare for in advance.

Jeong Da-hye had taken care of this part a lot.

She had secured various convenience requirements from the UFC side through her New York network.

The waiting room that Yoo-hyun was in now was also thanks to her.

Yoo-hyun gestured to her as he sat on the sofa.

“Ms. Da-hye, take a break.”

“Just a moment. I’ll check the details a little more.”

Jeong Da-hye, holding her phone, made another call.

As if it was her own business, she was taking care of Lee Jang-woo’s schedule.

‘She’s amazing.’

The more he saw her, the more he realized that she was a person with exceptional abilities.

Her quick judgment and coping skills, and her vision to utilize the surrounding infrastructure.

Thanks to her, Yoo-hyun was able to focus fully on the current situation.

Yoo-hyun put his gratitude aside and looked over the schedule on the table.

Swipe.

The main event was the press conference of the UFC president and the New York mayor.

There were also sub-events such as introducing the stadium, interviewing former champions from New York, and announcing future collaboration plans with New York City. 𝘳ÅΝȪᛒÊṧ

Lee Jang-woo’s press conference was a very small event.

It was not planned from the beginning.

This schedule was suddenly arranged because of the request from Garnet Fight, the agency of Lee Jang-woo’s changed opponent in Daejeon.

They had not held a press conference yet, so they could demand it under the pretext of an event.

The problem was Lee Jang-woo’s condition.

He was suffering from a drastic weight loss, and he had to fly from LA to New York for this small event.

In the process, he clashed with Smack Sports and everything got messed up, increasing his stress.

Was all this a coincidence?

Yoo-hyun did not think so.

After finishing the call, Jeong Da-hye, who was sitting across from him, had the same thought.

She recited what she had investigated separately.

“Garnet Fight is a large agency. It’s also run by the uncle of Martin Yorte, Lee Jang-woo’s opponent.”

“When I looked at Martin Yorte’s record, he had a lot of substitute matches like this one.”

“Yes. I checked with the industry insiders, but there was no clear evidence. However…”

Thanks to Jeong Da-hye’s preparation, Yoo-hyun was able to quickly grasp the situation.

And his own solution was added to it.

“To sort this out, we have to…”

“That’s a good idea. But to speed up the timing…”

The two people discussed fiercely as if they were doing their work.

It was then.

Clank.

The door opened and a familiar face appeared.

It was Kim Tae-soo, who was wearing the same sunglasses as in Korea.

“Huh? Yoo-hyun?”

“Hyung, you’re here?”

“No, what the hell is going on?”

“What do you mean?”

Kim Tae-soo, who had a bewildered face, poured out his questions.

“Suddenly a limousine came, I had bodyguards, and there was a waiting room here? I didn’t even hear about it? And…”

He wanted to answer everything, but it was not the time.

Yoo-hyun passed by Kim Tae-soo and approached Lee Jang-woo behind him.

He had dark circles under his innocent big eyes.

His dry lips alone showed the difficulty of his weight loss.

He was surprised to see him, but he tried to greet him.

Yoo-hyun hugged him.

Wham.

“It’s been a while, Jang-woo.”

“Senior…”

No other words were needed.

Pat pat.

Yoo-hyun patted the back of his beloved junior.

The expression of joy and the introduction of each other were brief.

There were a lot of things to prepare for the upcoming press conference.

It would be best if they could go through the agency, but they were not ready yet.

They needed an interpreter, and Jeong Da-hye agreed to take on that role.

-I’ll do the interpretation and take care of the details, so you take care of your junior. He’s in a very difficult situation.

She was true to her words and paid very close attention.

Kim Tae-soo explained the background he had heard from her and made a list of expected questions.

“So the eye injury you suffered in the second match is okay?”

“Yes, Ellis. It’s healed. And the problem I’m facing right now is…”

Ellis Jung, who was introduced to Kim Tae-soo, was very diligent in explaining, as if she was really an interpreter.

She looked very professional.

Meanwhile, Yoo-hyun sat with Lee Jang-woo in the empty stadium stands.

It was very spacious, as it could accommodate 20,000 people.

It was a perfect place for his junior, who hated the cramped space.

Yoo-hyun handed him a bottle of water.

“Drink some.”

“No, I can’t. I have to lose weight, so I can’t take in water.”

“You can cut off water the day before the weigh-in.”

“I’m over the weight limit this time. I won’t make the target weight at this rate.”

Lee Jang-woo was very serious.

-Smack Sports bastards made Jang-woo gain 20 kilograms of weight. They said it was a tailored strategy for this opponent, so I believed them. But they didn’t support him properly with the weight loss and this happened.

Yoo-hyun also knew the rough situation from Kim Tae-soo.

But it was not something that could be solved by being impatient.

If he reduced his water intake from now on, he would collapse before the weigh-in the day before the match.

That was not Yoo-hyun’s opinion, but the common opinion of the experts.

Kim Tae-soo knew it too, but he couldn’t break Lee Jang-woo’s stubbornness.

But Yoo-hyun didn’t intend to back down.

“Are you going to do the press conference with that face? You need at least some strength to talk.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re talking nonsense. What are you going to do if you faint and lose the match?”

“I’ll lose it anyway if I don’t pass the weigh-in.”

Lee Jang-woo, who was holding on to the end, was firmly pushed by Yoo-hyun’s hand.

“Stubborn. Don’t drink if you don’t want to. If you don’t want to see my face again.”

“…”

“I’m serious.”

“I’ll drink it.”

Maybe it was because Yoo-hyun’s eyes were very serious, but Lee Jang-woo finally took the small bottle of water.

Swish.

Then he barely wet his lips, and Yoo-hyun gestured again.

“Drink it all. And then let’s talk.”

Lee Jang-woo glanced at Yoo-hyun’s face and drank the water again.

Gulp. Gulp.

“I drank it all.”

“Now you look like a champion.”

“Wasn’t I before?”

“Yeah. You looked very depressed. You looked like you had no strength at all.”

“…”

Was it because he saw the weak side he had hidden inside?

Lee Jang-woo was silent for a moment.