Unexpected

Part 23

Saturday arrives, bringing with it anticipation for the qualifying session. The last practice was fine, the car tuned for the last time, and my first qualifying in Formula One was here before I knew it. I had seen Sangil and my family in the break between sessions, and was glad that they were getting along and Sangil had someone to talk to while I was busy.

The Nissan team is doing great. Despite being F1 newbies (I mean the team, not the drivers, since Esteban has raced for a couple years), we are not knocked out in the first qualifying round, but both Esteban and I move up to the second session. We high-five each other in the garage afterwards.

"Great job, Esteban," I say.

"Thanks. You, too."

There's not much time before I have to be back in the car, and it's mostly spent with my race engineer and chief mechanic, plus a quick massage from my personal trainer. And then it's back in the car for more laps. I get knocked out in second qualifying, but I'm pleased. This is a great start to my debut season. After the team debriefing I have media obligations to fulfill, so I swipe some gloss on and go. It seems like I'm answering the same questions over and over, how I feel about my place on the grid tomorrow. How many different ways can you say great? And am I looking forward to my first Formula One race? How do the drivers who've been in Formula One for years do this?

When everything is finally over and done with, I hug Sangil. "Let's go somewhere and relax. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan. Dinner first?"

"A shower and then dinner."

"Okay."

The somewhere to relax turns out to be the hotel pool. We swim in lazy laps before resting on the edge.

"When did you learn Russian?" I ask.

"I know only a few words. Last year Snuper was part of the Feel Korea festival in Moscow. We learned how to introduce ourselves. I had to brush up a little to remember the pronunciation."

"You did great. I was impressed."

He grins. "I also know 'я вас люблю'."

That means "I love you" in Russian. Though вас is plural you, not singular.

"What have you been doing lately, Sangil?" I ask after a moment of silence, because I've been the center of attention for far too long.

"Hanging out with my family and friends. Also, our company will let us have individual Instagram accounts soon, and we had to go over rules about what we can and cannot post."

"Cool. Am I allowed to be in them?"

"Yes. With restrictions, of course. It will be announced on April first."

"April Fool's Day?" I exclaim. "Won't your fans think it a joke?"

"Maybe. But they'll soon see that it's not."

"Will you post more often than on Twitter?"

"Um, probably not. I've never been a big fan of social media. I can't remember to post. And a lot of what I do when I'm out of the public eye is personal. I've drawn a line between my idol life and my Shim Sangil life."

"Do your fans understand?"

"Haven't told them."

"I've always had a problem with the idol lifestyle. It's not realistic or healthy. I know several Jpop idols. And I've heard such horror stories."

"Such as?"

"The dieting and unhealthy weights. Severe restrictions on what they can and cannot do. And the lack of sleep. I cannot fathom getting less than eight hours of sleep every night. I heard of a driver who had trouble sleeping, so he saw a specialist. And not for pills, but for ways to lower stress and eliminate other problems that were causing the lack of sleep. His team was very worried about it."

"Really?"

"Yes, sleep isn't something that you should skimp on. Your brain cleanses and reboots itself, so to speak, while you're sleeping. And your memory improves and neurons grow connections."

"You don't diet?" he continues questioning me.

"I do, but that mainly means eating healthy. My calorie intake is high, usually between two and three thousand calories a day. My trainer gives me meal plans for each week, with certain percentages of the calories coming from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats."

"And how about your weight? That doesn't matter?"

"Not for Formula One. They used to have a lower weight limit, and it was advantageous if you weighed less, but now every driver gets weights added to the car so the weight of the 'driver' is eighty kilograms."

"That much?"

"So what this means is that you can weigh up to eighty kilos. Come on, let's get out of here. I need to go to sleep soon." I give him a wink.

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I can't believe how short this YouTube version is.