Chapter 32

Monday was finally the day that my mom's rice cake skewers were served for the first time.

I was anxious all day about whether my mom would succeed in business or whether the skewers would sell well.

After class, I ran to the front of the school without waiting for Brandon.

"Mom, I'm here."

"Oh, Daniel is here."

"How's business?"

"Well, it's just the beginning, but it will gradually get better..."

Looks like the sales aren't as much as I thought.

"Don't worry too much, mom. You just started today. That's because people haven't tasted my mom's rice cake skewers yet."

"Huh. Sure. I'm not worried either. Why would I worry when my son is by my side?"

Hearing what my mom said, I couldn't help but be a little embarrassed.

But suddenly I remembered something...

"Ah! Mom, I decided to go to the gym and exercise from today."

I told my mom that there was someone who took a good look at me, so he decided to help me go to the gym.

Hearing that, my mom left a thank you note and then asked me to bring her some food.

While I was talking to my mom, two female students walked into the stall.

"Eh? This is a new rice cake restaurant. Two servings of rice cakes, please."

My mom responded quickly and was happy that finally, the customers had arrived after a long time, my mom quickly put an envelope on a plate, and served some rice cakes on top and served to the two female students.

The way she placed the envelope on the plate was the way I told my mom.

If mom puts the envelope on the plate, she won't have to wash the bowl, and when she wants to wrap it up, my mom can put it in the bowl easily, so this method is convenient in many ways.

It's a common method in the future, but it's a method that no one uses at the moment.

I quickly took the rice cake skewers, smeared them with the sauce, put the skewers in another bowl, and served them to the girls.

The female students looked at me and suddenly seemed surprised.

"Aren't you Daniel?"

"Yes. That's right. Please try it. This is a menu developed by my mom. Guaranteed delicious."

"So this is your mother's restaurant, Daniel?"

"Yes. This is my mom's."

"Aww! Hello Aunty, I will come often in the future. The skewers are very good."

Suddenly, the female students went wild after hearing what I said.

My mom looked back at me wondering what was going on, but I just shrugged.

Suddenly, the female students who were chatting with my mom accidentally ate the skewers I gave them, their eyes widened and they couldn't say anything.

"Wow!!! This is good, and very delicious."

The female students were excited to taste my mom's delicious cooking.

After a while, the students who were on their way home noisily came rushing in with the other students.

"This is it. Here... This is Daniel's mom's Skewers restaurant. And the rice cake skewers are really good."

Suddenly, the stall became crowded, and I reluctantly began to serve, helping my mom bring out bowls for the girls.

The girls were either busy eating the rice cake skewers or staring at me.

And the flavor of the rice cake skewers left everyone dumbfounded.

The rice cake skewers, sprinkled with savory powder in a sweet and sour sauce, were crunchy in the mouth and soft like cheese when chewed, so it was a meal that touched the taste buds of the ladies.

My mom's skewers showed signs of being a hit.

After one wave of customers passed by, my mom told me that she could do it herself and she sent me home quickly.

She didn't want to see her favorite son suffer.

I was also worried about my younger siblings, so I said I would come at night and go home.

After coming home, I took care of my homework and taught my younger siblings, and went to the gym Kaiden told me about.

When I opened the door and walked in, I saw punching bags hanging everywhere and a ring in the center, and the smell of hot sweat came out.

It smelled like sweat, but I felt fine with it.

As I walked in, a young man who was punching a punching bag approached me and asked how I got there.

"Hello? A guy named Kaiden asked me to come today, so I came."

"Ah! You're the person Big Brother Kaiden was talking about. Come in immediately."

"Big Brother Kaiden, someone came looking for you."

The young man shouted inside and after that returned to molesting the punching bag.

From the other side of the ring, Kaiden's face appeared and he found me and approached me with a happy smile.

"Daniel, welcome, come with me first."  

Kaiden led me to a room marked as the director's office.

"Hello Director, this is the Daniel I mentioned last time."

I nodded in greeting.

A rather short man with short sports hair stared at me for a long time.

"Ho! Your body is very well managed. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Easton Kang, the director of this gym."

Easton Kang, the director, shook my hand.

"So how old are you?"

"Yes. I'm 17 years old, a freshman in high school."

"Really? Amazingly, you have this body while still in high school. Hey, Daniel. Let's do well in the future."

The director hugged me as if he had suddenly found a treasure and talked briefly about my arrangement in this gym with Kaiden.

"First of all, Daniel, let's measure your physical strength. Follow me."

He led me to a place marked as the changing room.

"Change your clothes first, I'll wait outside."

"Ah, I'm not sweating, so this is fine."

"No sweat? Then how do you usually exercise?"

"I just wear what I'm wearing at the moment."

It was then that the director and Kaiden checked my clothes.

A white cotton t-shirt, dark blue trousers, and white lace-up shoes.

"No, so you've been wearing these clothes all this time?"

"Yes. Because of the low price at the factory, I was able to afford it."

Only then did the two of them seem to realize my situation.

"Director, wait a moment. I'll have a quick word with Daniel."

Kaiden took my hand and left the gym.

He took me to the sporting goods store next to the gym, picked up two pairs of sportswear to wear while exercising, sneakers to wear while exercising, and a large bag, after which he paid the bill.

"Now, this brother of yours is giving you a gift, so train hard. Understand?"

I just frowned at this man's actions.

If I still had thoughts of not joining this organization, however, after this man showed me such kindness, how could I stand by not joining the organization?

"I will train well, Big Brother. I hope it goes well."

I didn't want to distance myself from someone sincere with me.

So I called him big brother and bowed my head respectfully.

"That's good to hear. Okay. Call me big brother from now on. Now you're my brother."

Kaiden laughed loudly and patted my shoulder.

I went back to the gym and changed my clothes.

The director came with a file folder and a time clock and started measuring my physical strength while measuring the time.

After measuring how many push-ups and sit-ups I did in one minute, he went to the treadmill and had me run.

As the speed gradually increased, the time was measured according to the speed.

Although I increased the speed to the end, I ran without stopping.

"Stop. Here's some water... Catch your breath."

The director handed me a bottle of water and pointed to a bench to tell me to rest.

The director looked back at Kaiden, who was watching from the side and spoke to him.

"Hey, crazy guy. Did you see this? This guy is a complete monster. His physical strength and lung capacity are no joke."

"I saw it, director. I think this figure is better than mine."

"Hey! How old is he now? He's 17 years old. 17 years old! ... I mean, he's still growing and developing. But at this rate, he'll soon be a full-fledged Superman."

The two of them put their heads together and giggled about something that I probably knew why.

Seeing the two of them like that, the other people who were practicing also sneaked over and looked at my stats chart, and everyone was shocked.

Suddenly, the director walked over and came over with a pair of gloves.

"Daniel put these on."

When I received the gloves and put them on, Big Brother Kaiden attached Velcro to my arms.

"Daniel hit the punching bag here."

"Are you sure?"

"Huh. Hit it as hard as you want."

I stood in front of the punching bag, raised my arms, and took a stance.

While thinking about what to do, I took the Dempsey-rolling stance that I did last time.

After taking a step back in front of the punching bag, I stepped forward again, spread my legs wide, leaned my upper body to the right, and came back with my right hand to stick the hook into the punching bag.

*BAM*

Everyone in the gym looked at me in surprise.

"Hah!!! Your punches are really strong. Did you learn boxing?"

"NO. I just did it not too long ago."

"A guy who never learned boxing did such a hook?"

The director had an absurd face and looked at the punching bag that was still shaking from the blow I had made.

"Haha. I understand now how the youngest member was hit in one punch, if the punch you gave is like this, it's understandable."

Kaiden laughed loudly and patted my back.

"What are you talking about?"

"Director, this guy sent four of our new kids in one hit."

"What? So, is this guy the one responsible for the gas station incident you heard about from Dominic earlier?"

"Yes, that's right."

"That's amazing. I need to think about how to teach him in the future."

The two of them couldn't stop laughing when talking about what they should teach in the future.

During my time here, I exercised for about two hours.

Like the jump rope which is equipped with various physical training tools, I feel good to exercise here.

After showering and changing clothes, Dominic was already in the gym.

"Daniel, is your workout going well?"

As I entered the director's office, I nodded at him, and he greeted me happily.

The director, Dominic, and Kaiden were talking as I entered, and somehow they were looking at me happily and lovingly.

The atmosphere was awkward, so I just put on a smile.

"Daniel, do you have time tomorrow?"

"Yes. No special appointment."

"Okay? Then come have lunch with me tomorrow."

Kaiden and Dominic treated me very well, so there was no reason to refuse.

"Yes. Okay. Where are we going tomorrow?"

"I'll send a pickup tomorrow. Where's your house?"

"No need to bother, just pick me up at school after it ends. It'll be easier to meet up."

"In that case, I'll see you in front of the school at noon tomorrow."

I said goodbye to the three and left the gym.