FINALLY! EXAMS ARE OVER...WELCOME BACK TO LAZY DAYS. It feels so good to be able to dump my books aside and await the next semester. I apologise to everyone for making you wait these two months. The next few chapters will probably come weekly if I don't suffer the dreaded disease called writer's block. Anyways, I got some reviews telling me to let Hikaru and Yeong-ha meet and some telling me to just let the story flow. Personally, I would agree with the second, then I realised that letting the story flow still led to their meeting. Welp, enjoy!
Chapter 4
Large green eyes surveyed the vast hall before him, crowded with everything to do with Go. This was heaven for Go fanatics like himself. Jung-shin finally managed to will his legs to step through the entrance of the foyer in the Seoul Go Institute. Booths lined the walls, selling Go related products of all kinds, going from books to polished gobans etc. The event was a Go tournament held for amateurs, followed by teaching games with a few lower dan pros. But that wasn't the most important thing to Jung-shin at this point. Like the enthusiastic child he was, Jung-shin hopped from booth to booth, eyes shining at everything they locked onto. Praise Su-young for inviting him to this event or he would never have had the chance to touch all these treasures.
Jung-shin picked a book off a shelf and flipped it open, skimming through the pages hungrily, much like the way his past self was. Sai was enthusiastic at everything related to Go, living for the game itself and dying for it as well. Jung-sin wasn't supposed to be like that, he knew he wasn't, was his actions influenced by Sai's love for the game? Their personalities were so different. Sai was an elegant and graceful heian noble while Jung-shin was a loud, rude and sporty brat. He liked to think that everything he did for Go was due to his own desire to play the game, not Sai's. But then again, Sai was Jung-shin and Jung-shin was Sai, could Sai's love for the game be allowed to call his own? He was so very confused.
Jung-shin slowly looked up from the book, anguish evident on his face before he quickly stilled his features. Perhaps it was a mistake to have came here today, Jung-shin didn't let himself think of these things until he came here, a place ridden with Go. He replaced the book in its original location and left the booth in deep thought, oblivious of the vendor's crest fallen face when he didn't purchase the book.
Jung-shin walked past the booths, this time his eyes were focused on his shoes.
'WHAM!' Aaaaannndd of course he would bump into someone. Jung-shin stumbled backwards, lifted his head and spotted a middle aged man staring down at him. He mumbled an apology and made to leave before he was stopped.
"Wait boy," the man called out. "You play Go?" The man's name was An Teson, a fairly respected Go player in Seoul, but of course Jung-shin didn't know that. An Teson himself also didn't expect to see a boy like Jung-shin in the institute. The way the boy dressed was nothing like a refined Go player. And the way he blatantly stared was also unlike Go players who respected each other even when not playing.
"No I don't," Jung-shin replied hesitantly and proceeded to rush off...only to be stopped again...by dear Su-young.
"Jung-shin! You came!" Su-young exclaimed, smiling and running towards them. "How do you feel about the games, were they good?" He just had to come at such a timing.
'I thought you didn't play Go," An Teson inquired.
Su-young bowed to the older man before speaking,"Jung-shin doesn't play Go? As if!" Eyes shining at Jung-shin as if he were a celebrity he said," Jung-shin sweeps me off the board every time we play."
Jung-shin couldn't help the facepalm, Su-young spoke too much. Why oh why did Su-young get so excited at everything related to Go?
An Teson raised a brow at Jung-shin,"Oh? Then he must be good, why hasn't he gone pro?"
Jung-shin took a moment to glare at Su-young before replying,"because I don't want to,"and walked away. Su-young gave him a questionable look before once again bowing to An Teson and went after his friend.
"Jung-shin!" Su-young called out for his friend to stop, however said boy made no move to do so. Instead, he quickened his pace, moving even further away from his younger friend. He didn't get why Jung-shin was mad at him. Was it so wrong to brag to the world that his friend was a prodigy at Go? Su-young scratched his head and caught up to the boy with bleached bangs. " Jung-shin, are you angry?" He asked hesitantly.
Jung-shin turned his head, his steps never faltering. "Why would I be angry? I'm just desperate to get out of here, the atmosphere is suffocating, my head hurts and I'm tired." Jung-shin tried to ignore all the Go, walking past games that he just wanted to stop and look at. He wanted to play a game, everything around him made his fingers itch to lift a stone. But Jung-shin wouldn't attract attention to himself here, not in a place where plenty of pros roamed. He knew fully well how strong he was, how strong Sai was and he couldn't play just anywhere he liked. The internet was still the safest haven to play to his heart's content.
WHAM! Again! What's with him and bumping into people this few days. Oh? This guy looked familiar, who was he? Ah...yes, they met at Su-young's house hadn't they? Well, not exactly met, they bumped...and this was their second bump. Jung-shin stared stupefied at the handsome young boy before him and Yeong-ha stared back with equal curiosity. Yeong-ha had the silkiest long hair Jung-shin had ever seen. Too bad he didn't have the time to admire him the previous time they bumped into each other. It glowed a brilliant red, Jung-shin couldn't help but be dazzled by it. He didn't let his awe show though, hurriedly, he adverted his eyes and stepped away from the taller boy.
"Yeong-ha! Didn't you have a game in…...ten minutes? Why aren't you preparing for it?" Su-young asked with a glance at his watch. Go conventions like this often held non-official games between pros for the public to watch. A commentator would stand by the side to explain the moves to the audience. Today, Yeong-ha was scheduled for such a game but didn't seem to be in a hurry for it. He didn't reply to Su-young but instead continued to stare at Jung-shin, causing said boy further discomfort.
So this was the Jung-shin that Su-young often ranted about? Honestly, the boy looked like he didn't seem much. Bleached bangs and untidy clothes, he gave the impression of someone who wouldn't know a thing about Go let alone be serious about it. Perhaps Su-young was wrong, perhaps he just wanted someone to look up to...but wouldn't Yeong-ha be perfect for that role? This boy that looked so alike a hooligan couldn't possibly be stronger than him. Yeong-ha would show Su-young that he judged wrong and that Yeong-ha would forever be the strongest youth.
Leaning forward so that their faces were close, Yeong-ha stared straight into Jung-shin's eyes, challenging him. "Watch my game, I'll let you know just how strong I am," and with that, he stalked off, as elegantly as he ever was.
Moments later, Jung-shin was seated among the audience, eyes burning fiercely at the red head on the stage. Mainly, it was Yeong-ha who dragged him to a seat before going up to the stage. But Jung-shin wasn't exactly pleased with the indirect challenge the older boy had issued through his eyes. He didn't even know what on earth was up with the boy. Still, if he wanted Jung-shin to witness his strength then by all means he wouldn't refuse. If Yeong-ha wanted to challenge him then Jung-shin would have to judge his skill. Though he wasn't even sure what Yeong-ha was challenging him for.
'Pachi'
The game had started and the commentator started speaking. "Ko Yeong-ha takes the first turn with black. He starts with the upper right corner at 5-5, ooh he seems confident." Jung-shin stared at the board that was shown through the projector. He made a solid opening, if he managed to protect that stone then it could be very helpful later in the game. The game progressed slowly with both players placing stones near the sides, preparing for the upcoming battle. Jung-shin's eyes never wavered, glaring at the board with so much intensity that Su-young beside him felt uncomfortable.
Yeong-ha striked first, attaching his stone to a lone white stone separated at the bottom from the others at the left side of the board. His opponent immediately brought his attention to that stone as well, making a hane on Yeong-ha's stone. Yeong-ha ignored it and brought his attention to the upper right corner, he began to connect his stones. Jung-shin tried to blocked out the commentator's words and focus on the board. White was still working on the bottom of the board when Yeong-ha changed his strategy. Very slowly, he switched his attention to different parts of the board in attempt to confuse white. His opponent became confused about what black was doing and before white realised it, it was surrounded in mid-game. Time was ticking but white made no move….he passed, Yeong-ha passed and the game was over. White couldn't find a way out of his predicament. Wherever he went, it only led him straight into black's evil clutches. Black won with the komi rule, 78 moku to 47.5 moku, quite a feat considering that his opponent was a 5-dan.
As Yeong-ha stood up from his seat, he looked down at the audience and gave Jung-shin a triumphant look. In response, Jung-shin raised a brow, not understanding why Yeong-ha had given him that look. It wasn't as if Jung-shin was the one who lost that game. Turning away, Jung-shin made his way for the door.
Yeong-ha frowned, the boy hadn't seemed impressed. Why wasn't he impressed? Yeong-ha had won against a 5-dan by a large margin didn't he? Hurriedly, he jumped off the stage and went after the two boys. Outside the convention hall, Yeong-ha stopped them.
"What did you think? You don't look like you understand that I have won the game." He said to Jung-shin. Did the boy truly not understand Go after all?
"Oh I understood that you won alright. But I didn't think that the game was all that great to be impressed about," Jung-shin replied. To be honest, it wasn't Yeong-ha's skill that was the problem. His opponent, despite being a 5-dan was just too weak that the boy's skill couldn't shine. However, Jung-shin could still find places in which Yeong-ha could have played better so that the game was in it's best form.
"My opponent was a 5-dan," Yeong-ha countered. He didn't understand why he was acting so childish and trying to impress the boy before him. It was all because of Su-young who said that Jung-shin was better than him that made him want to prove it otherwise.
"Rank doesn't define one's abilities, didn't you know that?"Jung-shin replied. "If Su-young hadn't been yapping by my ear all the time about pro matches, I would have thought that all 5-dans were that weak," he continued, ignoring Su-young whom had made a sound of protest. He paused for a while before speaking up again,"why don't we discuss the game?"
