Today, Jaekyung visited the sports complex in Ilsan for the first time after moving. After talking to the coach and passing the test, he immediately returned to the car in which his mother was waiting for him.

"And Jihon is much prettier in person," she said.

"Have you seen him?"

— Yes.

"And what is he like?"

"When I saw him on the screen, Jihong seemed so pale, but in fact he is very handsome. But my son, of course, is better.

Jaekyung was still holding on to the driver's seat, staring at his mom almost without blinking. He couldn't believe that she had met him. It was just incredible. Yes, hyun used to visit the same pool, so it's only natural to cross paths with him.

Jihon-hyun used to flash only on the screen, and was perceived as the hero of the film. For Jaekyong, this person was actually out of reach until recently.

"Sit up straight, it's dangerous. And fasten your seatbelt.

Jaekyung responded to his mother's grumbling with obedience, sitting comfortably in the passenger seat. But he did not fasten his seat belt, because there were more important things to do. He urgently pulled the phone out of his bag and turned on the video, which he had already watched many times. As soon as Jaekyung pressed the play button, the announcer's enthusiasm and the sound of water filled the cramped car interior.

"Jaekyung-ah, I've told you many times not to watch videos in the car. This will have a bad effect on vision.

The woman, frowning, continued to grumble, glancing in the rearview mirror, but Jaekyung did not react at all.

"You've already memorized this video.

Looking at her son, who was almost ready to dive into his cell phone, she just couldn't understand his pronounced interest: "Is he really that good?"

— Yes.

— How is it different from the others? They all seem to move in approximately the same way.

"No," Jaekyung said sharply, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Jihon-hyun is the coolest."

– Indeed, at the moment he is the best swimmer in our country. But it's still at the national level, right? There are also many outstanding athletes in Western countries. You need to get acquainted with other broadcasts, for example, the finals of the Olympic Games.

His mother, believing that she had already become a semi-expert in swimming, spoke as if she understood the business.

"No, I don't. Watch them yourself, mom," Jaekyung blurted out.

When he changed the speed of the video, which was already set to 0.8x, to an even slower one, his mother sighed heavily and added, "You should pay attention not only to his professional skills, but also to his behavior and mannerisms. Jihong seems like a good person."

Jaekyung finally raised his head and asked, "What is he like?"

"You'll know when you meet him," she said, turning the steering wheel. "I was just eavesdropping on those ladies' chatter. Although he is a sports star, he behaves friendly with everyone and is not at all arrogant. He's a real gentleman."

Clicking her tongue, she continued to teach her son. But Jaekyung was no longer listening to her, but staring at the phone with an absent look.

"I see. He's the same person," Jaekyung muttered in surprise. It turns out that that hyun has a "personality". Yes, it was quite natural, but Jaekyung had never thought about such a thing. After all, for him, Jihong was an exceptional swimmer with perfect technique. He didn't know anything about his character, his food preferences, or his musical preferences. Jaekyong was simply not interested in this, since he saw an athlete and his skill in front of him. Perhaps that was why it seemed to him that Jihong was out of his reach. As if Jihon is the personification of swimming itself. But in reality, this hyung is primarily a person who thinks, talks, eats, sleeps, breathes, gets angry, cries, or laughs. Just like Jaekyung.

It was at that moment that Jaekyung realized that he was closer to Hyun than he could have imagined.

At the same second, the frame changed to a new one: when the athletes touched the touchpad, the camera, which previously showed wide shots, began to zoom in on their faces. Hyun slowly took off his cap and looked up at the electronic scoreboard. And as soon as he checked his results, an incredibly bright smile appeared on his face.

Stunned, Jaekyung brought the phone closer to his face: "That's how it is, smiling."

Although Jaekyung had seen the video hundreds of times, it was the first time he had seen Hyun's smiling face so closely. Usually, when the swim came to an end, he turned on the broadcast again.

Jaekyung rewound this time too, but now to the final part of the swim. At a low playback speed, he watched the hyun stretch out his long arms to touch the touchpad.

Most likely, Jihong-hyun didn't expect to win, as his eyes widened in surprise. And the next moment, he smiled as if he couldn't believe it, covering his mouth with his hand. Swimmers from the neighboring lanes congratulated him, and he happily hugged them.

His smile was so expressive, as if he had conquered the whole world.

"How can you smile like that?" thought Jaekyung, returning to this part again and again.

Suddenly, while studying hyung's smile, Jaekyung remembered a video that had recently been shown in biology class. It showed the process of plant growth from seed to fruit in an accelerated mode. But the moment when a sprout broke out of the seed and stretched into a stem seemed slow. The same is with the flower: the white bud gradually blossomed, as if exploding, opening the petals. And it was surprising and impressive.

Worried about the harsh silence, the mother looked in the rearview mirror and asked, "Jaekyung-ah, what are you laughing at?"

As if waking up from a dream, Jaekyung realized that he had been smiling back at the face on the other side of the screen all along. Slightly embarrassed, he hid behind the phone.

And then I went to YouTube to find the full broadcast of the finals of the freestyle swimming competition, which took place in Berlin. For the first time, Jaekyung watched representatives of different countries take turns coming out and taking their seats.

Jihong, wearing a white jacket with the Korean flag symbol, appeared sixth. Usually, Jaekyung saw him already in the water, so it was somewhat unusual to watch him in his clothes.

Swimmers often slouch a bit, but Jihon had a surprisingly even posture and a perfect stance. And the skin is quite light. As he did a slight stretch in front of the launch block, his white back with protruding shoulder blades resembled ivory carving.

Finally, the athletes took their places. The camera quickly went over all the participants. Among the finalists, Jihong was the youngest and shortest. 182 cm is a relatively small height for swimmers.

But his strokes were the most powerful. Despite the enormous power, the guy's shoulders moved smoothly. And even when the hand returned to its original position, it never moved to the side. Keeping vehicles at high speed is a wildly difficult task. Even Jaekyung, being a beginner, understood this very well.

Jihon became an idol for him. That's why Jaekyung decided to work out in the same pool, but he never even dreamed of meeting his hyung. After all, initially Jaekyung was little interested in the personality of the athlete.

Therefore, I was not upset that they did not cross paths for a month. Perhaps a little, which is a shame. After all, his mother had already met him, and he had not. It was comparable to wanting to eat noodles that someone next to you is eating.

After all, Jaekyung saw him every day on the screen, so often that he was already a little bored.

When his family moved to Ilsan, he thought that now he would no longer watch records from those competitions. After all, now he will be trained by a coach who also works with Jihon. But, as it turned out, according to the rules of the sports center, this was impossible.

Therefore, he was assigned another coach who led the initial groups.

The man was constantly shouting, without really explaining anything. Therefore, Jaekyung continued to study everything on his own, returning to those videos over and over again. But now he was interested not only in racing, but also in the beginning and end of the tournament.

Curiously, the hyung's voice is as pleasant as his appearance: a calm, soft tone, and a strikingly gentle manner of speech. All these details perfectly described Jihon and absolutely suited him. He didn't seem to be used to interviews, because several times during the conversation he lowered his eyes in embarrassment and smiled, which was quite nice.

But, of course, the most impressive thing was the smile that appeared on the owner's face. Sometimes Jaekyung would skip the competition to enjoy that bright and sincere smile in slow motion at 0.3x. Sometimes he involuntarily repeated after the hyung, as if he wanted to smile back at him.

And then, embarrassed by himself, he threw the phone and hid with his head in the pillow.

And so the autumn went: in the pool during the day, and in the evenings watching broadcasts.