The Approaching May and the Approaching Sports Festival
The sports festival prize, shrouded in secrecy, had unmistakably captured the students' attention.
Suyeon was no exception. She promptly went up to ask the teacher if they could use homeroom time to decide which events to enter.
Teacher Jisu gave a small nod.
"As long as you don't get too loud about it."
Suyeon called Hasol up to the desk with her and swept her gaze across the classroom.
"From now on, I'm going to go through the sports festival events one by one."
Kickball, basketball, dodgeball, group jump rope and more — a different lineup from the ones at the all-boys school.
Hasol wrote the event names and required participant numbers across the blackboard.
Having finished the explanation, Suyeon raised her head.
"You all remember what the teacher said. Everyone has to enter at least one event."
Hasol brushed the chalk dust lightly from her hands once she'd copied down everything they needed.
"I'll call each event in turn, so raise your hand if there's one you want."
Hands went up one by one until the rosters filled. Since everyone had to do something, plenty of students were scrambling to claim the least miserable events for themselves first.
Group jump rope and dodgeball were by far the most popular. When too many hands went up for those, they split the contenders with rounds of rock-paper-scissors.
As Hasol wrote names onto the entry sheet, Suyeon checked them off against the class roster.
"And next is... basketball."
The moment Hasol finished speaking, Nayun's hand shot straight up.
"Nayun, all by yourself?"
Wondering if anyone else would join, Hasol's eyes swept the classroom — and landed on Yeoncheong. Nayun, having heard the word alone, whipped her head around too.
Under those pointed stares, Yeoncheong pointed a finger at herself. Nayun and Hasol nodded in perfect unison.
Watching this wordless pressure campaign, Teacher Jisu spoke up.
"You can't force her."
"We're not forcing her. It's better when someone who's actually good competes."
Despite Hasol's reasoning, the homeroom teacher wasn't about to go along with what Yeoncheong's friends wanted. She turned to the person in question directly.
"Yeoncheong, will you do it?"
"...Sure, I'll do it."
Yeoncheong had been planning to think over which event she'd prefer. But when people were telling her she was good at it, there was no reason to turn them down.
Hasol, still writing on the roster, said something that made the room laugh.
"Oh, it's fine. I already wrote you down."
"Hey, then why did you even ask me?"
Laughter rippled through the classroom at Yeoncheong's retort. Their homeroom teacher clapped the students back to order.
"Quiet, now."
With the laughter swallowed down, Class 2-1 continued sorting out its sports festival entries. But even stretching into first-period study hall wasn't enough to finish in a single day. Hasol and Suyeon collected their papers and promised to return the next morning.
The sports festival in May was drawing near.
The school's decision to keep the festival prize a secret was paying off in full.
At dismissal time, the girls heading to club activities were all chattering about the sports festival.
But just as everyone filed off to their clubs, a few students were trudging wearily through the classrooms.
Because the supplementary lessons for the midterms hadn't finished yet.
Nayun, who had just finished her own make-up lessons alongside Yeoncheong, asked,
"Why didn't you raise your hand for basketball this morning?"
"Hm? No reason. Just wanted to think about which event to do."
"And here I thought you didn't want to play at all. Scared me for a second. We need you if we're going to beat those volleyball-club bitches."
The unexpected word made Yeoncheong start. At the aggressive word choice, she asked for clarification.
"Bitches?"
Nayun nodded grimly.
"Yeah. The ones who keep running their mouths about placing at tournaments. They've been quietly creeping onto our court for practice, too..."
That short exchange was more than enough to sketch in the relationship between Nayun and the volleyball club.
"Whether they got wind of it from the club advisor or not — apparently they're entering basketball too. Riding on nothing but their height."
Her love of basketball fused with her hostility toward the volleyball club made for a truly murderous expression on Nayun's face.
Yeoncheong soothed her down before she could start growling outright. Conveniently, there was an easy topic to pivot to.
"Anyway, Nayun, do you think you'll pass on your first try? You need to, or there's no point in practicing."
"It's not about 'do you think you can.' I'm passing. Period."
Nayun's face hardened with resolve, and Yeoncheong wholeheartedly agreed.
Even if she'd gotten used to the supplementary lessons stretching on for days, hard was still hard.
"You're the one with it rougher, though. Three subjects is no joke."
"I'm fine. Seoha's been tutoring me."
"Oh, right. Heard about that from Suyeon. Then you've got nothing to worry about."
Aside from the dangerously close distance and constant skinship, Seoha's teaching was genuinely excellent.
That was exactly why Yeoncheong sounded so confident.
"Then go study hard."
Nayun waved as she headed down. Yeoncheong saw her off at the stairs and stepped into the literature make-up classroom.
She froze halfway to her usual seat.
What's with her?
At the next seat over sat Seoha — wait, no — Seobin. The study buddy who loved books but was hopeless at literature, defying every stereotype, was slumped over her desk, sighing in heavy, repeated gusts.
Yeoncheong sat down carefully, reading the mood, then asked,
"Hey, is something wrong?"
"Did you know? I hate P.E."
"...Yeah, that tracks."
With a chest of a size that made one wonder how she carried it around, and a devotion to books as a library club member — disliking sports was only natural.
Yeoncheong half expected a rebuttal this time too, but Seobin only heaved out another sigh.
"We have to enter at least one event..."
Only then did Yeoncheong understand the raincloud Seobin had been dragging around.
"You just have to pick one event, that's all. Something like group jump rope or dodgeball."
"Do you have any idea how much running and jumping hurts?"
With that, Seobin gave a pointed glance at Yeoncheong's chest.
No, actually, I wouldn't know...
Yeoncheong found hers inconvenient when exercising, sure — but it had never actually hurt. She racked her brain for something comforting to say, and after much deliberation, opened her mouth.
"Still... it's better to have them than not."
"Huh?"
Yeoncheong repeated herself, word for word.
"Having them is better than not having them."
She knew what she was talking about. She knew exactly one basketball-loving friend who gazed enviously at the chests of everyone around her.
The Annex. Today, the club room held exactly two people.
"Let's stop here for today."
As Seoha peeled herself away from their pressed-together position, Yeoncheong sucked in a great gulp of air. Seoha turned her chair back toward its desk and asked,
"Your make-up exams are tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Think you'll pass all of them?"
Yeoncheong slid the things spread across the desk into her bag.
"Obviously. I had someone teaching me, after all."
"Someone?"
When Yeoncheong stated the obvious so plainly, her head tilted naturally to the side.
"Hm?"
"Someone?"
Saye it more precisely, Seoha pressed. Under those red eyes boring into her like drills, Yeoncheong averted her gaze.
"...You, Seoha."
At the sound of her own name, Seoha smiled with unmistakable satisfaction.
The walk home after club activities was quiet. As they passed through the school gate together, the black sedan from the after-party day came into view.
Seoha asked, just like last time.
"Want a ride?"
"I'm okay. It's quick from school."
Seoha swallowed her disappointment and waved.
"See you tomorrow. Study hard for the make-up exams at home too."
"I will. Thanks for today."
Waving back, Yeoncheong hugged the roadside and headed home.
The next morning.
With everyone having filled their one-event quota, the morning roster session had ground into a stalemate.
Even after assigning the unmarked names on the class list to the understaffed events, some slots still sat empty.
Scanning the entry sheet, Hasol sought out Suyeon.
"Suyeon, among the girls who are only doing one event — anyone who could take on more?"
"Hang on..."
Running her finger down the roster, Suyeon looked up. Her eyes met Yeoncheong's.
The preparatory bell rang, and the homeroom teacher Jisu told everyone to get ready for first period and left the room.
With the classroom dissolving into break-time chaos, Suyeon made a beeline for Yeoncheong's desk.
"Yeoncheong, why are you only doing basketball?"
"Because that's what I feel like."
"Th— okay, two more events. Just two more."
"And then I'll work myself to death."
Hasol arrived on her heels and threw her weight behind Suyeon's appeal.
"You'd only have to do it once each. The three-legged race and the class relay. Please?"
The two of them remembered well the sprint Yeoncheong had shown during fitness testing.
"..."
The moment Yeoncheong showed a flicker of hesitation, Hasol and Suyeon pressed harder.
"You ran great during fitness testing. It's not like we're asking you to do kickball or anything."
"That's right. Or... would you rather do kickball?"
Both of them knew perfectly well that Yeoncheong was a total lead foot, so they offered a choice that was barely a choice at all.
"This isn't a request anymore, it's a threat, isn't it?"
Suyeon, who had already fixed her target, refused to yield an inch.
"Oh, come on. Just this once. We're trying to win the class championship here."
Suyeon wrapped her arms around Yeoncheong from behind and refused to let go. Ever since that scene with Seoha had been discovered, her skinship had skyrocketed.
"What is wrong with you all of a sudden?"
Panicked, Yeoncheong tried to pry herself free, but Suyeon would not detach.
"Let go already. I need the bathroom."
"You need the bathroom? Say the word and I'll let you go."
"Let go while I'm asking nicely. I seriously have to go."
"How badly?"
Having found her weak point, Suyeon's hands crept a little lower. Her clasped fingers pressed down against Yeoncheong's lower abdomen. With fingers kneading down in earnest, squeeze by squeeze, Yeoncheong's waist folded forward all on its own.
"You— you— you bitch!"
Her face flamed scarlet. Startled out of her wits, Yeoncheong thrashed harder — but the more she resisted, the more her own squirming only ground the pressure in deeper.
In the end, Yeoncheong, who had been whimpering the whole while, finally gave up.
"Ah! Fine! I'll do both! I'll enter both, so let go!"
"You mean it? I'm writing it down!"
Yeoncheong nodded furiously, shook Suyeon off, and bolted for the bathroom.
Hasol smacked the snickering Suyeon on the back.
"Are you insane? Where the heck did you just press?"
"Where? Nowhere weird."
One person had overheard the entire exchange. Seoha approached the tussling pair.
"Hasol, did you fill all the slots?"
"Not yet. But Yeoncheong just took two of them, at least."
Still riding the afterglow of her laughter, Suyeon spoke up.
"Now I should go ask some of the other athletic girls about the remaining events."
"Hmm..."
After a brief pause, Seoha asked,
"Are there spots left in the three-legged race?"
"Hang on..."
Hasol checked the entry sheet she was holding.
The three-legged race was run as a cross-grade event — meaning you might have to pair up with an upperclassman or underclassman instead of a classmate, which made plenty of students avoid it.
But for Seoha, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that it meant a little more time by Yeoncheong's side.
Suyeon's answer, after checking the sheet, sailed wide of Seoha's hopes.
"Three-legged race is all full."
"But the relay's open! Seoha, what do you think?"
Suyeon seized the opening and jumped into the conversation. When Seoha didn't answer right away, Suyeon closed the distance and asked again.
"What do you think?"
It was phrased as a question, but her motive was transparent.
"How many are you short?"
"Exactly one. It would be wonderful if you ran it, Seoha."
As Seoha stepped back, Suyeon stepped in. Under the endless recruitment campaign, Seoha finally accepted the offer.
"Fine. I'll do it."
"Really? Thank you so much!"
Suyeon threw her arms around Seoha, who had indulged her shameless pushiness. She'd barely recovered from the sudden hug when a voice that had been missing for a while wedged itself between them.
"What are you two doing?"
Yeoncheong, back from the bathroom, stared at Suyeon and Seoha with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Then she pointed at a desk.
"That's my seat. Move."
Having deliberately wedged herself even closer to Seoha, Suyeon answered in a mock-dramatic tone.
"Are you so jealous you're trying to tear us apart?"
"I only put up with you because... no. Never mind. Anyway, if you do that again, you're dead."
Seoha released her, and Suyeon covered her mouth, giggling.
"Dead how, exactly? You'll have to tell me in detail."
Suyeon made no sound — just mouthed the words.
Did she just say...?
This time, Yeoncheong read her lips perfectly. Her expression flipped in an instant as she shoved between the two and dropped into her seat.
"You—! You are not standing there!"
Yeoncheong kicked back from her desk and shot to her feet, and Suyeon darted nimbly away behind the other classmates.