Mr Mermaid | LK Adaptation

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

When Jungkook met Coach Brown, the coach told him, "Jeon, you can race against Samuel this afternoon. I'll be cheering for you."

Jungkook nodded calmly, "Okay. Thank you."

Coach Brown had never hidden his fondness for Jungkook. Right then, seeing how subdued Jungkook was, Coach Brown was a little confused. From his interactions with Jungkook these past few days, Coach Brown felt that the young man had a very healthy mindset. Jungkook would never become discouraged at his opponent's strength.

Perhaps because there was very little in the way of entertainment for the athletes, Jungkook and Samuel's friendly match stirred up the majority of the club. Many people came to spectate. The ladies were split into two groups — one cheering on Samuel, while the other was on Jungkook's side. Based solely on personal best times, Samuel had the advantage, but this lead was less than 0.1 seconds so it was not indicative of anything. Furthermore, men from the East just had that sense of mystery about them. The ladies liked him, and even Coach Brown liked him... Taking all these miscellaneous things that had nothing to do with racing itself into account, Jungkook's support rating actually managed to match that of Samuel's.

Jaehyun was leading a group of people in yelling Jungkook's name: "Jungkook! Jungkook! Jungkook!"

Only his bro of many years Jungkook could stir his majesty Jaehyun to personally come and be a cheerleader. The girls around him shouted along with him, very quickly picking up Jungkook's full name. Later on, many of them would realise that the first Chinese phrase they learned was not 'hello' or 'thank you', but was instead 'Jungkook'.

Jungkook stood on the starting block, looking down at the rippling surface of the water. He took in a few deep breaths, gathering up his jumbled thoughts. Well, it's time to race. Even though this was an inconsequential race.

As soon as the starting gun sounded, the two swimmers dove into the water with astonishing alacrity. Upon entering the water, Jungkook did not feel the usual tension of competition nor was his heart pounding with excitement. His emotions were rather chaotic — he was unable to focus no matter how he tried.

Coach Brown stood beside Jaehyun. He shook his head and sighed, saying to Jaehyun, "Jeon's not in good form. His start should have been faster than Samuel's."

Jaehyun: "???"

Coach Brown: "..."

The two of them stared at each other helplessly for a long moment. In the end, Jaehyun smiled politely at Coach Brown with a nod, and then he turned back and continued to shout, "Jungkook! Jungkook! Jungkook!"

Coach Brown: =.=

The national team had actually hired a local translator for Jaehyun and the others, but the translator was not present right then. Coach Brown had been hoping to analyze the situation with the world champion Jaehyun, but now he had no choice but to nurse his thoughts in solitude.

Coach Brown's premonition was not wrong. Jungkook was off his game. In the end, Samuel won the race with a large lead, clocking in a time of 47.82 seconds, almost rewriting his own personal best time this year. In contrast, Jungkook finished at 48.30 seconds, which was a rather large disparity from his usual performance at present.

Jaehyun pulled him out of the water.

Back on land, Jungkook wiped his face. His expression was rather troubled. Samuel walked over. As the winner, he was gleeful to see Jungkook's troubled expression. He was just about to openly taunt the other when Jungkook stretched his right hand out at Samuel.

Samuel paused, stunned.

Somewhat impatient, Jungkook reached and clasped the other's hand. "Congratulations. You performed well." After that, he turned to leave without waiting for a response.