Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 286

Once Mokhwa finished explaining, a Janggi [Korean chess] board was set up on the ring.

It seemed to be Mokhwa’s minimal consideration, but also a trap to lower my guard.

“Isn’t this too advantageous for the applicant?”

“It’s the price for not acknowledging my dissatisfaction.”

Mokhwa retorted grumpily.

I understand the sentiment, but it needs to be more reasonable to become a family tradition. We’re setting rules for our descendants, so we need to establish a solid framework.

“Next time, let’s do 2 against 1. Divide the events to comprehensively evaluate various abilities. That way, it’ll be useful for generations to come.”

This way, when our descendants face inheritance issues or difficulties in selecting the family representative, it can be a fairly equitable solution.

It would be even fairer if we significantly increased the penalties for the applicant if they lose.

In other words, the principle is to set rules and play fair instead of playing dirty.

It’s like Grotius’s ‘The Laws of War and Peace’—if you’re going to fight, at least have rules.

“Wow, so this is how a family tradition evolves. Let’s create a prestigious family. What should we name it? I’ve been thinking, but I can’t figure it out.”

“Since it’s a family tradition, it should have an old-fashioned name. How about ‘Shepherd’s Game’?”

You always have such unnecessarily romantic notions.

Family feuds often turn into messy brawls, but resolving them this way is quite elegant.

If we infuse it with a pastoral atmosphere, we can mask its true nature.

Ryui-deun, who came to watch the filming, was handing out coffee to the staff and looking at us with a ‘What on earth are they doing…?’ expression, but I ignored him.

“Shepherd’s Game, that’s good. It sounds very peaceful. It’s like you’d have a Border Collie running around.”

Is that why I came with Ryui-deun? Ryui-deun would be perfect as a sheepdog.

“Setup complete!”

The staff members were also looking at us with eyes similar to Ryui-deun’s.

‘What on earth are these guys?’

But we were just ordinary bickering brothers (the obvious fact that brothers don’t usually set rules, film with cameras, and play Janggi on a boxing ring when they fight was deliberately ignored).

“Then, shall we start the first game, Janggi!”

Mokhwa sat at the table.

In front of him was the red Janggi board he had once given me as a gift.

“Are you confident?”

“Of course. I’m definitely going to win. I always won when we were kids.”

You’re still not being honest, Mokhwa. This is a sacrificial pawn.

* * *

As each move was made, memories of childhood inevitably resurfaced. How can associative memory be stopped?

Back then, there weren’t many things to do.

Our house didn’t even have cable TV, so Janggi was a great form of entertainment.

When my younger brother, who was shorter than me, moved the Janggi pieces randomly like a child, I would deliberate and deliberately make moves that narrowly lost.

That way, he wouldn’t lose interest and would enjoy it.

Mokhwa back then was the epitome of innocence, and that tendency was evident even when moving the Janggi pieces. All his intentions were transparent, and he rejoiced as if he had conquered the world whenever he captured a piece.

“Wow, hyung [older brother], it reminds me of the old days. You even taught me the positions of the pieces.”

“I did.”

“My skills have improved a lot compared to the old days. Just you wait, Ji Dong-hwa. I’m going to crush you.”

Mokhwa moved the pieces with confidence.

A position that anyone could see was a mistake. A trap that you fall into when you’re blinded by immediate gains. A move where the reality becomes apparent about three moves ahead.

The style of playing Janggi varies from person to person, and the style is usually determined by the person’s personality.

Which pieces they favor, which pieces they’re willing to sacrifice—all those choices resemble a person’s character.

My father used to say to me while playing Janggi, ‘You’re going to have a hard life. Just like me, our Dong-hwa!’

“…You’ve changed a lot, compared to the old days.”

Pretending to make mistakes while looking for the opponent’s weaknesses—far from innocent, you’ve become cunning.

Perhaps the reason Mokhwa chose Janggi was to make me realize this.

“It’s been about ten years.”

I slowly gazed at the Janggi board.

Janggi has little tension. Playing defensively is the wisest approach.

The absence of several rules that exist in chess makes the game feel sluggish when played between people of similar skill levels.

That is, if their skills are similar.

The formation was tightening. Mokhwa’s speed of moving the pieces was gradually slowing down, while I moved the pieces quickly at similar intervals.

Mokhwa frowned and took a deep breath. He let out a hollow laugh and called out to me.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“Sometimes, I miss the times when we used to play Janggi like this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m incredibly happy now, of course, but you know how it is. When I think of my hometown, I feel inexplicably tearful.”

Mokhwa’s camp was slowly collapsing.

Even as he slowly died, Mokhwa tried his best to defend.

“But there’s one thing I’ve always been dissatisfied with, then and now.”

I was about to move a piece but stopped my hand for a moment. What on earth was going to come out of Mokhwa’s mouth?

“Hyung always goes too easy on me, and that’s just… ugh. I was a brainless kid back then, but still!”

The complaint made my tension seem ridiculous.

I guess parents always see their children as children, even when they grow up. I still vividly remember you saying that I felt like a parent to you, Mokhwa.

I no longer hesitated to move the pieces.

This time, Mokhwa needed more and more time, while I needed less and less time.

It was quite enjoyable to push Mokhwa’s back towards the predetermined cliff.

A smile leaked out. I moved the last piece and released my focus.

When the tension is released after running straight ahead, focusing on only one path, a sense of exhaustion pours in. I leaned back comfortably in my chair and declared,

“Checkmate.”

Mokhwa looked down at the Janggi board.

The movement of his pupils as he tried to find a way out. After contemplating for a long time, he asked.

“…Is there any way to win this?”

“No.”

That’s how you’ve been running. That’s the side of you that you didn’t show, which you complained about, Mokhwa.

“See, you always went easy on me, even when we were kids.”

Nod.

“Ah, really. What should I do with you, hyung? I’ll have to properly show you in the next game. That I’m not a pushover anymore. That I’m not an easy target now.”

“What’s the next game?”

Mokhwa lifted the Janggi board, moved it backward as it was, and slammed the table. Violent, Mokhwa.

He grabbed the desk with his left arm and extended his right arm towards me.

A determined gaze, the embodiment of a will to defeat and suppress me.

“Arm wrestling.”

Oh, my god. I expected it, but really.

They say history is the process of killing one’s parents, but is today the day I die at Mokhwa’s hands?

* * *

I realized as we clasped hands. What Mokhwa intended with this project.

The guesses I made while staying up for two nights in the practice room were all just secondary elements.

“I’m Ryui-deun, the official referee. I’m honored to participate as the referee for the Shepherd’s Game, a long-standing tradition of the Ji family.”

Mokhwa bowed politely, but he didn’t seem to want to show me any courtesy, as he was squeezing my hand tightly. Our hand sizes are similar, but oh my god, what grip strength.

“Referee, the opponent is putting too much force on my hand. Sanctions are needed.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been bribed by Mokhwa.”

However, Ryui-deun is fundamentally a person who loves fair competition. He shook his hand and gently released Mokhwa’s strength.

“Applying force before starting is prohibited, and it’s best out of three. We’ll do right hand, left hand, right hand in that order.”

“Haha, hyung, with so little muscle in your arm! You need to eat more.”

That’s the kind of thing I’d hear when visiting my grandparents’ house in the countryside. I never thought I’d hear those words from you.

“Okay, players, get ready, and start!”

Muscles tensing from the shoulders onward. I clenched my teeth, gathering strength in my grip. Thud, just like that, I pushed Mokhwa’s hand.

“…Hyung, is that really your best?”

Mokhwa’s voice was calm and unwavering.

“You said you didn’t want me to go easy on you.”

Shut up, little brother. I don’t have the energy to answer right now because I’m clenching my teeth.

But my inner thoughts wouldn’t be conveyed, and Mokhwa frowned, then looked quite surprised.

“…You’re serious.”

Then the grip on our clasped hands intensified.

The hand approached the desk at a constant angular velocity. Mokhwa, who had been smiling leisurely, clenched his teeth like me, and his wrist touched the floor in an instant.

“I used to lose in the old days!”

I covered my face with both hands and let out a deep sigh.

I wish I hadn’t tried so hard. It’s the first time I’ve felt so ashamed of myself for doing my best.

Ryui-deun, being the official referee but also a guy who was bribed by Mokhwa, massaged Mokhwa’s shoulders and whispered, ‘Just kill him!’, and Mokhwa, as if the victory was too sweet, knelt on the boxing ring and cheered.

“The day I beat hyung in my life!”

“It’s not over yet, Mokhwa.”

I held out my left hand.

Mokhwa, still rolling on the floor and cheering, and a dog following such Mokhwa (I thought our dog wouldn’t bite me because it’s our family dog, but I feel betrayed. I will definitely take revenge.), flinched as if time had stopped, then turned their heads towards me.

“I’m ambidextrous.”

A dumbfounded expression.

It seems they’re flustered because it looks like I’m burning with competitive spirit.

According to Ryui-deun, the words ‘me’ and ‘competitive spirit’ are disgustingly incompatible, so it’s understandable.

In reality, I’m a person who values the results of victory more than the victory itself, so it’s difficult to understand being obsessed with victory itself.

But, if it’s to fulfill what Mokhwa wants, what can’t I do?

* * *

Of course, I lost. The only consolation is that I won with my left hand.

Why is reality so right-hand-centric?

The fact that the majority’s ethics and order should not harm the minority is even written in the Constitution, damn it.

I don’t know what the third game is, but we were given a break because there seemed to be some changes to the set.

“Hyung, here’s water.”

“…You’ve really grown up.”

“I told you. I don’t know what hyung is hiding! But I’ll find out no matter what.”

The proposition ‘Even if I die, my brother must live’ is always true for me.

That’s because it’s a way of thinking that’s been ingrained in me since I was young.

Just seeing that I experienced a space-time shift because of this one way of thinking shows how deeply rooted it is.

One of the many conclusions derived from that proposition is ‘Even if I suffer, my brother must be happy.’

In other words, it means that I shouldn’t pass on my suffering to my brother.

So, Mokhwa seems to have had one goal he wanted to achieve through this whole process, apart from obtaining the wish ticket.

“You’re trying to fix my way of thinking from the root.”

I laughed in vain. What should I do with my brother, who’s begging me to rely on him too?

“Of course.”

Mokhwa gave me a smile as he took the water.

“It’s impossible.”

“Then we’ll just have to play among ourselves over and over again.”

“So, what’s the last game?”

“Quiz.”

…What, did you not intend to win from the start?