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2. To the Fighting Gym <2>
The next day.
Changgong took a day off from the construction site and called the number on the business card.
Ring ring ring

 Ring ring ring


-Hello, this is Team Fighting Spirit.
“Ah, yes, hello.”
-What’s your reason for calling?
“Yes, uh

 I’m Dongwoo’s junior. He gave me a business card and told me to try calling

”
-Dongwoo? 

Oh-Oh! I heard. So you’re his friend he told me about.
“Yes. When would be the best time for me to visit?”
-When would work for you?
“Any time’s fine for me.”
-Then, why don’t you come now. You know the way?
“Yes, there’s a map on the business card.”
-Okay, then I’ll be waiting so come when you’re ready. Oh yeah, and just to be safe, bring a photo ID with you.
“Yes, I’ll be there soon.”
Changgong hung up the phone, grabbed his ID, and quickly left his house.
“

Is this really a gym?”
The gym he arrived at after a few bus stops was a lot bigger than he imagined.
He had been thinking that it’d be like a fairly large Taekwondo training hall, but with just a little exaggeration, it was as large as a school field.
The building was modern, too.
It was so clean that it felt a bit embarrassing to walk in with his dusty shoes. Wow, the security guard is wearing a suit!
The gym was on the second floor. Changgong hesitantly walked up the stairs and was met with the sounds of noisy kihabs (short shouts voiced while performing martial arts moves). The door was a push button automatic door. Cutting edge technology.
Changgong pressed the button and entered the gym.
“

Jesus christ.”
The interior was even better.
There were two groups of people working out in the auditorium sized space.
One group was stepping up and down a box or swinging a kettle shaped weight up and down, while the other group was in pairs wrestling on the floor.
Further inside, there was a square ring and a octagon cage that he had only seen on TV before. Amazing. It’s like I’m in the US.
“Can I help you?”
A young man with a military haircut and a sturdy looking body approached Changgong.
“Oh, I’m Dongwoo’s junior who called a earlier

”
“Oh~! You came quickly. Since you’re Dongwoo’s junior, I’ll speak casually, okay?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, you’ve come well. You’re pretty handsome, like a man.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, let’s go inside and talk.”
Military haircut led Changgong to the office by the arm.
“Do you want coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
Dongsub Choi spoke as he mixed the instant coffee.
“Is Dongwoo doing well?”
“Yes? Oh, yes.”
“I’ve heard a little from him. You had some issues and had to leave school?”
“Yes

”
“I’m Dongsub Choi. 36. I’m Dongwoo’s older cousin. He hadn’t contacted me for the past year, but one day he randomly calls and asks me to take in one of his juniors.”
“

”
Changgong hadn’t known.
He hadn’t known that Dongwoo would have gone so far out of his way for him.
If he thought about it, there really was no one who took care of him as well as Dongwoo, but it seemed he had looked badly on him for being associated with the other thugs.
“Where do you live?”
“Yonghyundong namgu.”
“Not too far. And you know what kind of job it is?”
“I heard a little from Dongwoo

”
“What did he say?”
“Cleaning, taking care of the equipment, laundry and stuff like that.”
“That’s right. It’s mostly that.”
“Yeah?”
“Why? Were you expecting something else?”
“No, just

.”
“The curriculum’s from 9:30 in the morning to noon, then 2 to 9 in the evening. We do crossfit and MMA coaching with groups split into athletes and regulars, but you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Okay.”
“Come by 12, eat lunch, and clean, take care of the equipment, and do laundry until 2. After that, you just have to do some small chores. When you’re done with that clean, do laundry, and look over the equipment one more time, and you’re off at 10:30.”
“Yes

”
“Whether you’ll become the coach for the regular group or transition into an athlete yourself will be decided later on. For now, just think of yourself as an errand boy. Nothing too difficult.”
Changgong nodded. He would just have to do what they told him to without thinking.
“I can talk about the wage, right? 1.3 million won a month. Monday through Friday with two meals provided a day. A hundred thousand won for commuting expenses. If you want to work out you can come earlier in the morning, get some in between breaks, or come on the weekends.”
The conditions were better than expected. It wouldn’t have been easy to get a job like this. Changgong felt thankful to Dongwoo once again.
“So, you think you can do it?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, you brought your ID with you, right? What’s your name?”
“Changgong Lee.”
Changgong gave his name as he handed over his ID.
“You have a pretty unique name. Your cell number?”
“Oh, my phone broke so I don’t have one right now.”
“Really? Then just give me your home phone for now.”
“032-883

”
Dongsub wrote down Changgong’s address, phone number, and similar information on the form.
“Do you have any questions?”
“Not at the moment

”
“Okay, if you have any you can ask any time. When can you start?”
“Whenever.”
“You’re really eager to work, huh. Then

 take this week off and start on Monday next week.”
“Yes.”
Dongsub opened the locker room and handed Changgong the staff uniform.
“Wear this when you’re working. There’s a locker room so you can leave it here if you want.”
Changgong received three pairs of clothes. It was the same type as the one Dongsub was wearing. He hadn’t started working yet, but he somehow felt proud.
“I should explain this and that, but I have to go coach right now, so I won’t be able to take care of you.”
“No, that’s fine.”
“Alright, you can take a look around if you want. Oh and if possible, get a phone by next week.”
“Yes.”
Dongsub pat Changgong on the shoulder before taking a timer, jump ropes, and the like to the gym.
Despite his rough appearance, he seemed like a nice guy. This is probably because of Dongwoo, too, though.
Changgong watched the members work out for a while before heading back home.
There’s a lot of pretty girls. Hehe.
***
It was the first day of his part-time job.
He wasn’t the most diligent of people, but he wanted to give a good impression and arrived 30 minutes early.
“Changgong, you came.”
Dongsub found Changgong looking around and approached him.
“Hello.”
“What’re you doing so busily.”
“Since I’m here, I should work.”
“Take it easy, man. Let’s eat first. You have to introduce yourself to the family.”
As he said this, Dongsub hung a card holder necklace around Changgong’s neck.
“What’s this?”
“It’s like an employee card. Since you’re part of the family now, you have to wear it around.”
On the card inside the clear plastic was Changgong’s name along with his picture.
Sub Coach Changgong Lee.
They called him a coach. Changgong felt his chest puff with pride.
“Dongsub, let’s eat!”
One of the coaches shouted from the cafeteria.
“I’m going!”
Dongsub took Changgong to the cafeteria. Inside, six men who looked as intimidating as Dongsub were eating.
“Everyone, please pay attention.”
Dongsub clapped his hands and drew the men’s attention.
“This is Changgong Lee, the new family member I told you about before. 18 years old. Young blood. Still in his teenage years. Don’t go too hard on him and let’s teach him well. Changgong, introduce yourself.”
Dongsub pat Changgong on the back.
“My name is Changgong Lee. Uh

I don’t know much about mixed martial arts, but I’ll work hard not to get in the way. Uh

Please be patient with me.”
The coaches clapped, welcoming Changgong.
They all look pretty scary, but were good people. Everything was still new to Changgong, but he would get used to it soon.


But where was his food?
Changgong got a spoonful of food from each coach. He started cleaning soon after finishing his lunch. The youngest coach/athlete Doyoon Kim stayed with him, explaining everything to him. It wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be.
First, the floor was all mats, so if he just wiped the floors with a wet cloth, mold would form and the mats would smell. So, he had to spray the mats and the sandbags with a cleanser, wipe them down with a dry cloth, and then air it all out.
Changgong’s knees began to feel sore once he had done so, twice, over all of the interior of gym that was as wide as the Manchurian Plain.
But that wasn’t the end.
He had to constantly wipe down the equipment with a dry cloth and hang up all the laundry in the drying room. But the amount of laundry from just the morning was over a hundred units.
It was even busier in the afternoon.
The ten’s of regular members and athletes all worked out in the same area, and Changgong had to grab all the equipment for them.
“Changgong! Bring 3 of each wall balls 6, 9 here!”
‘69? 

 I like 69, too.’
“Changgong! Kettlebells 12, 15! 2 of each!”
‘Kettlebell. Uh

 I feel like I learned this in English class.’
Everything was a foreign to Changgong. What was a wall ball, and what was a kettlebell? Every time a word came out that Changgong didn’t understand, he had to look  towards Doyoon with pleading eyes.
Fortunately, Doyoon wasn’t one to scold him over that. Changgong moved quickly, and the gym that had been running smoothly wasn’t going to fall apart because of one newbie.
It was tolling on Changgong in many ways, but he was content. It was a lot more comfortable than hard labor and there was a lot of time for breaks. More than anything, he had fun watching the MMA athletes spar with each other; something he had only seen on TV before.
It wasn’t bad. It felt like he had gotten an official job.
And, there were a lot of girls. Hehe.
Like that, a few days passed.
***
“Good job everyone!”
The coaches gathered together and shouted after finishing their day. As the older coaches slowly left, Changgong began cleaning.
“Good job, Changgong. Just clean a little and go home early and rest.”
“Yes, sir. Bye”
“See you tomorrow.”
The gym’s manager, Dongsub, left, and Changgong was left alone in the vast gym.
“

”
Changgong carefully rested the rag next to the wall and put on the gloves that had been left out on the floor.
Open finger gloves.
Unlike boxing gloves, these gloves did not cover your fingers. In MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), not only was hitting allowed, but grappling and choking were allowed too, and the use of fingers was important.
The gloves weighed only 4 ounces (about 28.35 grams), half that of professional boxing gloves.
Just from wearing the gloves, Changgong felt like he had become a professional fighter. This time when he could hit the sandbags without a worry was the happiest for him.
“Huff! Huff!”
Smack! Smack!
Changgong easily controlled his breathing as he hit the sandbag.
He moved on to the dummy and clumsily practiced the grappling techniques he had learned from watching the others.
“Ha!”
After using up his energy, Changgong carelessly stretched out on the floor.
‘This is great

’
Changgong enjoyed this drowsy feeling.
People’s lives are unpredictable. He had felt like the world was ending when he got expelled, but now he was comfortably working out while making money. Getting expelled might have been for the better..
‘If my father knew I was thinking that he would kill me, though.’
A shadow formed over Changgong’s face as he was resting.
“Agh!”
Changgong stood up, surprised.
A middle aged man with a messy beard had popped out of nowhere.
“Can I help you? Although, we’re closed right now.”
The middle aged man didn’t answer and tapping and looking over the sandbag that Changgong had been punching.
“Why are you punching such a heavy one?”
“Huh? The other ones sway because they’re too light

”
The 20-30 kg sandbags sold on the market shook easily to the punches of a middle weight athlete. It’s really annoying when the sandbag sways as you’re punching.
That’s why heavy weight athletes usually punched heavier sandbags. Like the one Changgong had been hitting now.
“Are you an athlete here?”
The middle aged man asked.