The two returned to the parking area and got back into the car.
As soon as she sat down, Ji-min removed her mask and carefully set it aside.
After settling into their seats and fastening their seatbelts, Jin-ho started the engine.
Then he glanced toward her.
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
He planned to drop her off at her dorm before heading home.
Ji-min told him where she and her teammates were staying without much hesitation.
She was not worried about him knowing.
After all, she trusted him.
Soon, the car pulled out of the parking lot and merged onto the road.
As they drove through the night, Ji-min suddenly started talking about the pool game again.
More specifically, she started praising herself.
“Did you see that shot earlier?” she asked proudly.
“I was actually pretty good.”
Jin-ho glanced at her briefly.
“You still have a lot to learn,” he said bluntly.
“Don’t get too confident.”
Silence.
Ji-min slowly turned her head toward him.
Then crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
Jin-ho looked at her reaction.
Then the corner of his mouth quietly lifted into a small smile.
Not long after, Ji-min turned slightly toward Jin-ho.
“What time does your tournament start tomorrow?”
She asked casually, though there was a reason behind it.
She wanted to know what time she needed to prepare and leave with him for the venue.
“The tournament starts at 1 p.m.,” Jin-ho replied, keeping his eyes on the road.
After thinking for a moment, he added,
“If I remember correctly, the call time is around 11 or 12.”
Ji-min nodded quietly.
A brief silence followed before she spoke again.
“Are you…
nervous about tomorrow?”
Her voice was softer this time.
She was curious about what he was feeling.
Because for her, evaluations back during her trainee days had always made her nervous.
Before debuting, every evaluation felt important.
One bad result felt like a step backward.
So she had always practiced hard, tried her best not to make mistakes, and forced herself to stay confident even when she was anxious.
Jin-ho thought about the question for a moment.
Was he nervous?
Maybe a little.
But not much.
He was confident enough to believe he could place high in the tournament.
Still, his goal had never been just placing well.
He wanted first place.
Nothing less.
After a moment, he answered.
“Not really,” he said calmly.
“I just don’t know what’ll happen.”
He kept his eyes on the road as he spoke.
For Jin-ho, the most troublesome thing was always the unexpected.
The unpredictable things you could never prepare for.
No matter how much you trained, there were always variables.
Ji-min quietly looked at him for a moment before asking another question.
“Then how did you prepare?”
“Your strategy and training, I mean.”
Jin-ho thought for a second.
Then answered in the simplest way possible.
“Practice.”
A pause.
“Play.”
Another pause.
Then a small smile appeared on his face.
“Pray.”
Ji-min stared at him.
Then blinked.
“…That sounds made up.”
Jin-ho kept looking forward.
“It works.”
Jin-ho drove through the night, slowing as he approached Ji-min’s dorm at a safe pace.
The two of them remained quiet during the ride.
Ji-min simply looked out the window as the city lights passed by in silence.
Soon, the car arrived near the entrance of her building.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Then Ji-min unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Jin-ho… thanks for driving me back,” she said softly.
Jin-ho nodded slightly.
“No need.”
Simple.
As if it was nothing.
Ji-min opened the car door, already wearing her disguise.
Before stepping out, she gave him a small wave.
“See you.”
Jin-ho watched her for a moment as she walked toward the entrance, then closed the door behind her.
Once she disappeared from view, he started the car again and drove off, heading back to his place.
He needed rest for tomorrow’s tournament.
Staying in peak condition mattered.
His win rate depended on it.
Meanwhile, Ji-min entered the dorm quietly.
The inside was dark and silent.
No lights.
No movement.
She assumed everyone was already asleep.
Carefully, she removed her shoes and began walking toward her room, trying not to make any sound. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
She didn’t notice anything unusual.
Behind the corners of the hallway, three figures were already waiting.
Giselle, Ningning, and Winter stayed hidden, watching her quietly as she moved closer to her room.
Step by step.
Closer.
Ji-min reached for her door handle.
The moment her fingers touched the knob—
She felt something behind her.
She turned around instantly.
“AH—!”
Her scream echoed through the dorm.
At the same time—
“AHH!”
The three hiding figures screamed as well, startled by her reaction.
For a brief moment, chaos filled the hallway as all four of them reacted at once.
The hallway became quiet.
Ji-min and the three members of her group stood frozen for a moment, all of them staring at each other in shock.
Then, slowly, recognition set in.
“…You guys?” Ji-min finally said, her voice still tense.
Giselle, Ningning, and Winter looked equally startled, blinking at her as if trying to process what had just happened.
Ji-min exhaled sharply.
“What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”
The three of them immediately reacted at once.
“We didn’t think you’d scream!”
“You scared us too!”
“It was supposed to be a surprise!”
Their overlapping voices filled the hallway for a moment before fading again into awkward hush.
Ji-min pressed a hand to her forehead.
“…This is not how surprises work.”
Before anyone could respond, footsteps were heard approaching.
A moment later, a staff member appeared at the end of the hallway, looking concerned.
“Is everything alright?
We heard shouting.”
All four of them stiffened slightly.
Ji-min quickly straightened up and gave a small bow.
“Yes, it’s nothing serious,” she said politely.
“We were just startled.”
The staff member looked at them for a moment, then sighed lightly.
“Please try not to make noise at this hour.
There are other residents resting.”
Ji-min bowed again, more deeply this time.
“I’m sorry.
It won’t happen again.
I apologize on behalf of all of us.”
The three others quickly followed her lead, bowing as well.
The staff member nodded once, satisfied.
“Please be mindful,” they said before turning away and leaving down the hallway.
Once the footsteps faded, silence returned again.
Ji-min slowly straightened up, then turned back toward the others with a tired expression.
“…Next time, don’t do that again,” she said flatly.
The three immediately avoided her gaze.
After that, none of them spoke for a moment.
However, their attention slowly shifted back to Ji-min.
“Ji-min, whose jacket is that?” Giselle asked, glancing at what she was wearing.
She had noticed it immediately when Ji-min returned.
Earlier, she had seen her leave without any jacket.
But now she was wearing one.
Ji-min glanced down at herself, as if noticing it for the first time.
“I forgot to take it off,” she thought for a brief moment before quickly correcting herself internally.
She adjusted her expression and replied calmly.
“It’s my father’s jacket.”
Her voice was steady, but inside, she felt slightly tense.
They must not find out it belongs to Jin-ho.
Otherwise, they would keep asking questions.
The three of them studied her reaction.
Earlier, Ji-min had mentioned she was going to have dinner with her parents, so the explanation made sense on the surface.
Still, something about her behavior felt a little off.
Ji-min met their gaze briefly, then spoke again.
“I’ll go back to my room.
I need to sleep.
I have something early tomorrow.”
Before anyone could respond, she turned and walked straight to her room.
She opened the door, slipped inside, and closed it behind her without pause.
The others were left standing in the hallway.
They exchanged looks.
“She’s definitely hiding something,” Ningning said after a beat.
The other two nodded in agreement.
But without any proof, they could only guess.
Soon after, they dispersed and returned to their rooms.
The dorm gradually settled into silence again.
The night had already long passed, and morning arrived quietly.
Sunlight slowly crept into the room as the world outside began to wake.
Inside his place, Jin-ho was already up.
Today mattered.
He sat in front of his PC, preparing himself in the way he knew best.
Tekken 7 was already running on the screen.
His hands moved with focus and precision, executing drills and combo sequences repeatedly.
Clean inputs.
Clean timing.
No wasted motion.
Character after character, he practiced movement, punishment timing, and reaction strings, treating each match like a mental warm-up.
It was not just a game right now.
It was preparation.
The clock on the screen showed 9:04 a.m. Find the original chapter at g.com.
There was still plenty of time before he had to leave for the arcade.
Enough time to stay sharp.
Enough time to refine his focus.
He continued his practice, eyes steady, posture relaxed but alert.
Every input was deliberate.
Every combo reinforced muscle memory.
Then his phone vibrated on the desk.
A notification lit up the screen.
He paused for a moment.
Still holding the controller, he glanced at it.
It was Ji-min.
She was on her way to his place so they could go together.
Jin-ho read the message, then replied simply.
“See you here.”
After that, he returned to his warm-up without delay.
A few minutes passed.
Once he felt satisfied with his practice, he stopped the game.
He disconnected the arcade stick from the PC and carefully packed it into his bag, planning to bring it with him later.
As he stood up, he paused for a moment.
He had not eaten yet.
A small reminder that his preparation was not complete.
Before Ji-min arrived, he needed to take care of that first.
He grabbed his wallet and headed to get something to eat, making sure he would not go into the day on an empty stomach.
He stepped out of his place shortly after.
Instead of cooking, he decided to go to the nearby convenience store.
He was too lazy to prepare anything, and he had no intention of eating instant noodles again today.
The street outside was still calm in the morning light as he made his way down.
Jin-ho walked at an easy pace toward the store, hands in his pockets, mentally going over the day ahead.
Once he arrived, he picked out a few items that would actually keep him full and give him enough energy for the tournament.
Nothing heavy, but enough to sustain him.
He took his time choosing, scanning the shelves before finally settling on a simple combination of ready-to-eat meals and drinks.
After paying, he heated up the food inside the store’s microwave, waiting quietly as the machine hummed.
When it was ready, he grabbed the warm meal, finished quickly, and headed back out.
With everything done, he returned home, ready to continue preparing for the day ahead.
When he got back, Jin-ho sat down at his desk and began eating the food he had bought, settling into the chair in front of his PC.
While eating, he opened his browser and checked updates on EVO 2022.
He scanned the current bracket and looked over the Top 8 for Tekken 7.
The lineup included two players from Pakistan, five from South Korea, and one from France.
His attention lingered on the South Korean players.
He studied their names and placements quietly, committing them to memory.
“They’ll be my opponents someday,” he thought.
Not just as a passing idea, but as a certainty in his mind.
After a moment, he closed the tab and continued browsing other content while finishing his meal.
The room stayed quiet except for the soft sounds of the PC and occasional movement as he ate.
Time passed like that for a while.
Then, the doorbell rang.
Jin-ho paused.
He set his food aside and stood up.
Without hesitation, he walked toward the door, already expecting who it might be.
He opened it.
Ji-min stood outside.
A plain shirt and skirt completed her outfit, simple yet naturally fitting on her.
The shirt had a clean, neutral look, while the skirt complemented her frame with a soft and relaxed elegance.
A hat covered most of her hair, with a few loose strands near her face.
Her mask hid her expression, leaving only her calm, alert eyes visible at the doorway.
They stood for a moment at the doorway before exchanging a simple greeting.
“Morning,” Jin-ho said.
“Morning,” Ji-min replied as she stepped inside.
Her eyes briefly scanned the living room, then she naturally made her way toward his bedroom.
As she walked in, she noticed his PC still on and the food sitting on the desk beside it.
Her gaze shifted past him and settled on the meal.
She tilted her head slightly as she took it in.
“You’re eating that this early?” she asked, lightly tilting her head as she looked at the packaged meal on the table.
Jin-ho gave a small shrug.
“It’s just easier,” he said plainly.
“I didn’t feel like cooking.”
Ji-min looked at him for a moment, then sighed softly.
“You should eat a proper meal today,” she said, her tone firm but not unkind.
“Not just convenience store food.”
Jin-ho glanced at her, pausing mid-bite.
“…Have you eaten?” he asked.
Ji-min nodded immediately.
“I already did,” she replied.
Jin-ho just nodded at her response, then just continued to eat.
Ji-min just sat down of his bed, then just pulled out her phone.
She’ll wait for Jin-ho to finish eating.
Jin-ho ate quietly but not slow.
He didn’t want Ji-min to wait too long.
As soon he finished, he threw away the packaging then grabbed his bag containing the arcade stick.
“Let’s go.”
Jin-ho said to Ji-min to which she nodded.
Jin-ho checked the place first before going out, turning off everything before going out.
After he checked everything, the two went out.
Going to the parking area, on where Jin-ho parked the car.
The two got into the car and settled in their seats.
Jin-ho started the engine, and after a brief moment, the car rolled out of the parking area.
The morning streets were gradually becoming busier, but the drive remained steady and quiet.
Ji-min sat beside him, watching the city pass by through the window without saying much.
Jin-ho stayed focused on the road, navigating in silence as they moved closer to their destination.
Eventually, the arcade came into view, already showing signs of activity outside.
Jin-ho slowed the car and began to pull in, preparing to park.
This was where the day would truly begin.