Running to You | Park Han + JL + Steven | Haneulz + Stejay AU

Chapter 83: Even Those Who Are Broken

Two weeks later, Coach Yang sat in his office, staring at a letter that had arrived the way all Zhang correspondence arrived -- with pomp, circumstance, and the faint smell of generational wealth.

Li, the Zhang family Steward of Accounts, stood in the office like a statue. His posture suggested not just good breeding but possibly selective breeding, generations of servants refined into the perfect embodiment of dignified threat.

Coach Yang broke the wax seal -- actual wax, because of course -- and read:

To the Esteemed Guardians of Athletic Excellence at Korea National Sports University,

It has come to our attention that one Jay Lawrence Gaspar, companion to our heir Zhang Shuaibo, brought unprecedented honor to your institution through his phoenix-like valor. His threatened dismissal has been found unacceptable.

Even a grounded dragon remains a dragon. The boy who ran like wind-over-water shall not be permitted to depart in shame. This would reflect poorly upon our son's judgment in companions, a reflection this House shall not permit.

We remind you of the words of Mencius: "The ten thousand things are all complete within me." So too is your institution complete only with all its parts intact, even those transformed by circumstance.

Zhang Holdings shall establish a new endowment, the Companions of Excellence Fund. Its sole purpose: to ensure that those who have stood beside our son in glory shall not fall in defeat. All provisions shall be covered. Accommodations shall be made. This is the will of the House.

Furthermore, the rivers of our beneficence, which have long sustained your institution's prosperity, flow at the pleasure of the House. As all rivers may be redirected when the harvest proves unsatisfactory, we trust your esteemed offices will exercise the prudence and discernment befitting so longstanding a relationship.

We anticipate your capable stewardship in this matter.

Zhang Xuanye

Chief Secretary to the House of Zhang

Coach Yang read it twice, then set it down very gently, as if it might explode or turn into a snake. The Zhang family didn't make requests. They rearranged reality until their desires became everyone else's facts.

"Well," Coach Yang said, with an exhale, "that certainly makes their position clear."

"The House trusts you comprehend fully," Li said quietly, with a slight incline of his head that acknowledged comprehension was obligatory.

"I understand," Coach Yang replied carefully.

Li produced another document, folded crisply, from within his robes. "Additionally, Young Master Shuaibo has made certain... private arrangements. Accommodations shall continue discreetly, funding shall manifest subtly, and young Gaspar need never be burdened by knowledge of its provenance."

Coach Yang hesitated. "That's... remarkably generous."

"The House of Zhang," Li corrected, gently but firmly, "does not permit its esteemed heir's companions to suffer needless indignity. Those who have shared triumph, who have shed blood upon common ground, are considered part of the Zhang legacy."

Coach Yang nodded once. "Please inform the Patriarch that Korea National Sports University is grateful for his consideration. All necessary arrangements will, of course, be made."

Li bowed precisely thirty degrees. "The family will be pleased."

After he left, Coach Yang called an emergency team meeting.