Jungkook and Chen's master-apprentice and friend relationship

Jungkook Jeon and Chen Wu share a mentor-and-protégé relationship shaped by underground boxing and marked by personal concern beyond the ring. Chen’s presence at Ares Garden becomes a test of Jungkook’s decision to return to fighting, while Jungkook’s later refusal to re-enter that world shows how strongly he has come to regard the promises made to people close to him. The relationship is presented through brief, consequential encounters rather than a full account of their history: Chen’s influence is clear, but the story leaves much of their earlier bond outside the scene.

Mentorship in the boxing world

Chen is identified as Jungkook’s mentor, and their connection is rooted in the underground fights at Ares Garden. At one point, after Chen leaves, Jungkook goes to the changing rooms and finds Shelby Anderson Barnum crying in the shower. The scene does not explain what Chen has been doing or establish the details of their training history; instead, it places Chen within Jungkook’s immediate boxing environment, before Jungkook turns his attention to someone in distress. The limited detail makes the relationship’s setting clear without turning Chen into the focus of every fight-related moment.

The clearest encounter occurs when Jungkook returns to the Ares Garden ring. He enters to an excited crowd and notices that spectators now bear a Corinthian-helmet mark on one hand, a new admission requirement that Chen had never imposed before. Jungkook then spots Chen beside Spencer Jenkins. The sight catches him by surprise: he had not expected his mentor to be there, and he cannot leave the ring to greet him. Jungkook offers a wave instead, and Chen returns it. That small exchange registers their recognition across a divide created by Jungkook’s return to a world from which he had stepped away.

Chen as witness to Jungkook’s return

Chen’s reaction is restrained but uneasy. After returning Jungkook’s wave, he takes out his phone and calls Namjoon Kim, asking whether Namjoon knew that Jungkook had resumed fighting. Chen has only just learned of it himself, and his immediate decision to alert Jungkook’s close friend makes the return seem consequential rather than routine. He does not approach Jungkook or interrupt the match; instead, he and Spencer go upstairs to watch. Chen is thus both a former guide within the boxing world and a concerned observer of Jungkook’s renewed involvement in it.

The scene also contrasts Chen’s earlier influence with the changed conditions at Ares Garden. The venue has introduced an admission mark Chen had never required, while Jungkook has returned to a ring where Chen is present but not beside him as a trainer in the immediate moment. The exchanged wave preserves their connection, but the call to Namjoon and Chen’s movement upstairs keep the encounter at a distance. The narrative does not specify what Chen thinks about Jungkook’s return beyond his surprise and concern; the scene conveys that concern through what he does rather than through an explanation of his feelings.

Leaving the fights behind

Later, Andrew Wilson asks Jungkook to speak to Andrew’s father. Jungkook refuses to involve himself, making clear that he is no longer participating in illegal fights and has promised people close to him that he will not return. The refusal is not presented as a decision made in isolation: Jungkook has already told Sunmi Eun what happened at Ares Garden, without omitting the details. She listens, then embraces him as he cries. When he later finds Shelby in the waiting room, he rushes into her arms and rests his face against her neck. Sunmi watches them with calm admiration, believing that they are good for one another.

This sequence clarifies the stakes of Jungkook’s withdrawal without establishing that Chen was among the people to whom he made his promise. Chen’s role remains specific: he is the mentor associated with the boxing world Jungkook has re-entered, and his surprised response makes the return visible to those connected to that world. Jungkook’s later refusal to act for Andrew marks a different choice, one supported by his relationships with people close to him and by his willingness to speak openly with Sunmi.

Relationship and narrative significance

The relation between Chen and Jungkook is defined by mentorship, familiarity, and concern, but its development is deliberately partial. Chen’s returned wave, his call to Namjoon, and his decision to watch from upstairs are the available signs of his response when Jungkook reappears at Ares Garden. They show attention without claiming a reconciliation or a direct confrontation, neither of which occurs in the evidence presented here.

That restraint gives Chen a distinct place in Jungkook’s story. He links Jungkook’s personal history to the underground boxing network, while Jungkook’s decision to quit places that history under pressure. The mentor does not control the choice Jungkook makes; his presence instead makes the cost and visibility of returning harder to ignore. By setting Chen’s anxious observation beside Jungkook’s later commitment not to fight again, the narrative frames their bond as meaningful even when they are not speaking directly: a relationship formed in the ring that persists as Jungkook tries to leave it.