Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Translator: Penny
Chapter 22
Generally, people prefer winning over losing in competitions.
And this also applies to pure, innocent children who haven't been tainted by the world yet.
Simply because winning feels good and losing feels bad.
Or, to earn praise from their parents.
Children, in their own way, exhibit a competitive spirit no less than adults.
It's just that they don't experience events that could be called 'competition' as often as adults do.
"We will now begin the 7th Areum Kindergarten Fall Sports Day!"
However, now that the announcer's voice, signaling the start of the Fall Sports Day, resounds throughout the vast futsal field.
Now that events befitting the name of competition, such as tug-of-war and relay races, are about to begin.
Even the usually bright and innocent eyes couldn't help but become serious.
Especially since many parents were watching them, unlike usual, making it impossible to let go of the tension.
However, there was one exception.
For Ha-eun, who until just a few months ago had been going to film sets instead of kindergarten, people's attention was focused on her in a slightly different way.
"Honey, isn't that the kid who was in ?"
"You can definitely tell that actors are different somehow."
"Would it be okay to ask her to take a picture with our kid later?"
'...Should I just go to the bathroom or something?'
Even the Dal-nim Class kids, who had only thought of Ha-eun as a pretty girl in their class, started glancing at Ha-eun for no reason.
It was only natural that Ha-eun felt burdened by these gazes.
Coincidentally, this was the first time Ha-eun had truly realized her fame.
Of course, Ha-eun knew that the movie , in which she starred, had set a record of 7 million viewers.
But honestly, the fact that Ha-eun had become a celebrity hadn't really sunk in until now.
The reason being that, after the production presentation for My Neighbor, Mister, there had been almost no opportunities for Ha-eun to be exposed to people's attention.
In the past, the only places Ha-eun had gone outside of kindergarten were the vacant lot near her house, which she had been using as a place to exercise for quite some time, or Deobeulli's studio.
Even when going to Deobeulli's studio, she traveled in Ju Jeong-yun's van, so it was unlikely that anyone would recognize Ha-eun and talk to her.
Therefore, this Fall Sports Day, which was almost the first time in Ha-eun's seven years of life that she had directly appeared in front of the public,
Was bound to be a series of experiences she had never had before.
Of course, Ha-eun didn't think that no one would recognize her at all, but still...
'It's a little overwhelming when people keep staring like that.'
It felt stranger than she had expected for someone else to be fascinated by her.
To put it a bit exaggeratedly, it felt like being a beluga whale in an aquarium.
"Our daughter has become quite the celebrity, hasn't she? Everyone around here is only talking about our daughter."
"Dad... Should I have worn a mask or something?"
"Hmm, that would have attracted even more attention."
Soon, Seong-yoon added a brief piece of advice, saying that it would be better for Ha-eun to just relax.
As a joke, he asked why Ha-eun was feeling burdened by people's attention when she hadn't done anything wrong.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't exactly wrong.
It's just that the amount of attention wasn't something that could be easily endured just by changing one's mindset.
Later, when the first event of the Fall Sports Day, , began.
Even when Ha-eun, recalling the time she threw the ceremonial first pitch, burst the balloon with her beanbag toss in just three tries.
-Murmurs.
-Glimpses.
She scratched her head awkwardly, feeling the gazes pouring down on her so intensely that the back of her neck tingled.
However, she didn't realize that there were different kinds of gazes mixed in among them.
[Oh, oh dear. It seems the Blue Team's balloon wasn't attached properly.]
With that, the announcer, flustered by the Balloon Bursting that ended in less than 15 seconds, somehow managed to smooth things over.
And after all the other events that started soon after were over.
"Mom put her skills to work for the first time in a while, what do you think, Ha-eun? Is it good?"
"Yes, it's delicious."
It was only during the finally arrived lunchtime that Ha-eun was able to escape from people's attention and taste the lunchbox made with Na-yeon's excellent cooking skills.
The preparation for the final event of this sports day, the highlight event, , began about an hour later.
As is usually the case with the final event of many sports days, it was an event with a large number of points at stake, making the previous small score differences meaningless.
Ha-eun, who had been doing something similar to training for the past few days just for this moment, tightened her shoelaces even more.
One way or another, the game that can most clearly distinguish between winners and losers among the various events of the sports day is this .
The excitement of the children, who had been immersed in the fluctuating scores between the Blue Team and the Red Team until this moment, was also at its peak.
[Okay, Blue Team and Red Team runners, get ready. 3, 2, 1… Go!]
"Go, Blue Team!!"
"Fighting, Red Team!!"
The problem was that this overheated excitement was applied to some children in the form of tension that made them look unwell.
The bigger problem was that this included the relay runner right before Ha-eun, who was supposed to hand over the baton to Ha-eun.
-Thud!
"Waaah... Waaah!!"
'...Oh no.'
The biggest problem was that the child, who had been running well up to the middle, lost her balance and fell, bursting into tears.
The face of Ha-eun's opposing team's relay runner, whom she had only known by name until now, lit up with a bright smile immediately after that.
"Hehe, looks like your team has lost~. Well, I'm going first!"
With that, the child, who needlessly teased Ha-eun, finally received the baton and started running far away.
The previous relay runner, who was somehow helped up by a teacher and approached Ha-eun,
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Ha-eun... Waaah..."
At that moment, she handed Ha-eun the baton covered in dirt while literally sobbing.
"It's okay, Eun-seo."
-Hoo.
"We're going to win."
At the same time as declaring victory with the same calm expression as usual, she kicked off the ground and started running.
Park Ye-joon.
Age, 7 years old.
"Hehe, looks like your team has lost~. Well, I'm going first!"
That child, who had provoked Ha-eun a little while ago, was already mistaken that he had won against Ha-eun.
That's because the distance from Ha-eun was more than half a lap, even if he estimated it conservatively.
If he just kept running like this, he could beat Lee Ha-eun in front of so many people.
Of course, if you think about it, it was all thanks to the mistake of Ha-eun's previous runner, but anyway, Ye-joon's heart was full of the fact that he could beat Ha-eun.
How many times had Ye-joon heard the name Lee Ha-eun until now?
The children in Byeol-nim Class, who were in the same class as Ye-joon, the teacher in charge of Byeol-nim Class.
Even Ye-joon's parents had been constantly talking about a child named Ha-eun.
A beautiful appearance that shines even when sitting silently.
A kind personality that has never been angry.
A celebrity who has already advanced into TV and movie theater screens.
It wasn't strange that Ye-joon felt fed up with the sight of everyone around him talking about Ha-eun.
'...What's so great about her.'
Jealousy towards Ha-eun that was blooming from deep inside Ye-joon's heart without Ye-joon himself knowing.
And, a vague admiration.
For Ye-joon, Ha-eun was a child who he envied and couldn't help but look up to at the same time.
Therefore, the opportunity to beat Ha-eun in front of everyone like now was literally a golden opportunity.
Now, in just a few seconds, he would be able to wrap the pure white finish line tape over his body and proudly declare Ye-joon's victory.
But, why.
"Uh, uh, uh…!!"
Why were everyone, including Ye-joon's parents, looking at a point slightly behind Ye-joon instead of Ye-joon?
With incredibly wide eyes, too.
'No way...'
As Ye-joon imagined a situation that he himself thought was absurd, he turned his head directly behind him.
"...Hello."
-Shivers.**
"Wh, wh, what!!"
He felt a chill for a moment at Ha-eun's unique calm gaze, which he encountered in reality, not in his imagination.
Coincidentally, there were now less than twenty steps left to the finish line.
No matter what, he hated losing to Ha-eun after coming this far more than death, so he ran with all his might.
Nevertheless, instead of the distance from Ha-eun widening, it narrowed.
-Whoosh!
And then, at the point when he reached a distance of about five steps from the finish line, he flew as he was running.
In a posture similar to when the cheetah in the documentary that Ye-joon watched on TV last night pounces on its prey.
-Snatch.
She finally snatched the pure white finish line tape right in front of Ye-joon's nose.
Ha-eun's figure after rolling once on the floor while holding the finish line tape, which had been stretched out like a rubber band, tightly in her hand.
However, she straightened her posture as if rolling on the dirt floor was nothing at all.
She passed Ye-joon, who was in shock, horror, and a sense of futility, and headed towards the Dal-nim Class children who were running from far away.
"Waaah, waaah... Waaah!!"
Emotions that were too much for a mere 7-year-old to endure overwhelmed Ye-joon.
In the end, tears burst out.
Even when the Byeol-nim Class teacher, who had rushed to Ye-joon, gently comforted Ye-joon, he felt as sad, resentful, and ashamed as he could be.
If he had just run without saying anything and lost, it wouldn't have been this humiliating.
The biggest wound was that Ha-eun, who had finally beaten Ye-joon by a hair's breadth, didn't even give Ye-joon a fleeting glance.
However, Ha-eun, the person who had inflicted an indelible wound on Ye-joon,
'...That was really close.'
Was evaluating Ye-joon as a pretty good runner.
The fact that she had ignored Ye-joon just before was actually not because she was ignoring Ye-joon, but because her attention had been taken away by the figure of Ha-eun's previous runner, who was running towards Ha-eun covered in tears and snot.
Anyway, the winner of the relay race and this Fall Sports Day was Ha-eun's Blue Team in the end.
She returned to Na-yeon, who had been cheering for Ha-eun under the tent, with the stationery set that was the sports day winning prize—a fact she only learned later, but for some reason, the runner-up prize was also the same stationery set.
And, almost at the same time, for the first time in Ha-eun's seven years of life.
"Even so, why would you jump onto the dirt floor!"
Na-yeon scolded her severely, saying that jumping right in front of the finish line to grab the finish line tape was too dangerous.
Seong-yoon, who was wondering if it was okay since they had won anyway, was scolded along with her.
Still, well, today was a pretty meaningful day as a result.
Even though she was banned from exercising for a week in exchange for momentarily shocking Na-yeon, who was watching Ha-eun's running, she didn't particularly regret it.
With that, Ha-eun's first seven-year-old self-reflection also came to an end.
One day in November, when even the colorful fallen leaves were slowly starting to fall to the ground.
"Ha, Ha-eun is... nominated for the Best New Actress Award?"
Unexpected news was delivered to Ha-eun's ear while she was taking singing lessons at Deobeulli's studio as usual.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny