Sports Festival (1)
As soon as I stepped into the classroom, my eyes met Lee Yuyeong's.
"Hey, Taeyang."
"Yeah, hey."
Lee Yuyeong gave a short greeting and fell silent.
"…"
"What's up, Taeyang?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, did you catch that anime I recommended yesterday live?"
"Nah, didn't have time."
"Too bad. It was so good."
"Yeah, whatever. I'll just stream it later."
"Watch it if you're bored."
She plopped down next to me and started chattering away. The topic? Anime, of course. Not like this was the first or second time she'd gone full solo otaku mode on me.
Once the conversation wrapped up and the other kids trickled in, she joined their group.
"What the hell?"
This had been going on for the past few days. Normally, the second I walked in, she'd be all over me with soccer club manager stories—subtly nudging me to drop by the club or something. It was annoying as hell.
But ever since the amusement park trip—more precisely, after her little chat with my sister Hayan—she'd been weirdly calm. Her personality hadn't flipped; she was still bubbly. Just... more reserved and careful around me. Quiet, even.
If anything, we were chatting more casually now, so we actually felt closer. Things were going too smoothly. I had my suspicions, but she wasn't being a pain in the ass anymore, so I let it slide. As long as she wasn't pulling some crazy stunt right now, I could count my blessings.
Homeroom kicked off, and the second our homeroom teacher walked in, she dove right into the event talk.
"You all know what's coming up in two weeks, right?"
"Sports festival!"
"Class rep, come up and divvy up the roles. We'll use PE class and after-school time for prelims, so give it your all."
"Yes, ma'am~!!!"
Main event season, huh. Pullyip Middle School's sports festival was right before Pulkkot High School's, so they were probably gearing up over there too. The one packed with flags around Seonwoo.
Up until now, heroines mostly brushed up against him lightly. But during main event season, they got seriously entangled.
This sports festival, for starters...
Seong Juyeon wants to do the three-legged race with Seonwoo but can't spit it out straight, so she misses her chance and stews over it. Plus, he's getting pulled every which way, so they barely stick together.
Then, the day before the festival, his partner bails, and without missing a beat, he asks Juyeon.
You're the most comfortable, after all. We'll sync up best as childhood friends.
He begs her like that, and after a full day of tsundere practice with her, his affinity shoots up.
My sister, Kim Hayan, gets roped into cheerleading by popular demand despite being a total klutz at it. No matter how much she practices, her moves are awkward and stiff, leaving her frustrated. But Seonwoo cheers her on and practices with her, drawing them closer.
I believe you'll nail it, Hayan. So don't doubt yourself.
With his constant encouragement and her skills improving, Hayan starts leaning on him, boosting her favorability.
Choi Gahee's the one helping him out. Seonwoo clumsily joins the group jump rope team and keeps tripping over the rope. They talk about swapping him out, but he insists on sticking it out and practices. Gahee helps from the sidelines.
Stop calling me cute and just hold the rope right.
She finds his flailing adorable, but he's dead serious. On the big day, he pulls it off flawlessly, lights up with excitement, and she watches with a fond smile—favorability up.
Finally, Cho Yuli. While practicing, Seonwoo scrapes his knee and ends up in the nurse's office, where he runs into Yuli. She says she's dreading the sports festival, so he suggests they enjoy it together. On the day of, he approaches her when she's sitting alone, cheers her on in some throwaway event no one expects her to win, shares lunch with her, and so on.
Why are you being so nice to me?
Because we're friends—it's normal. Let's do lunch together more often.
The class agrees, he says he wants to get closer to her, and she warms up to his constant kindness.
Whew~ That's the gist...
While I mentally recapped the Love Chain notes, the class rep started scribbling events on the board.
"Okay, first off, you all know sports club members have participation limits, right?"
"Aww~"
A few club kids mumbled from where they'd face-planted on their desks. Class hadn't even started, and they were already out? Sleeping in class was bad enough.
"With that said, let's pick athletes by event. Guys."
The class rep set the stage, slamming her hands on the podium.
"I want us to win it all!"
"Ooh!!"
The class erupted in cheers—"We gotta win!" "Burning our youth!"—total chaos.
"Everyone's so pumped."
"Yeah."
"Taeyang, any events you wanna do?"
I almost said anything but soccer, but held back. Yuyeong wasn't bringing up soccer at all right now.
"Hm... Just gonna cooperate normally, I guess."
"Normally cooperative, huh~"
Yuyeong just nodded, nothing more.
"Alright, soccer team first!"
I glanced at her, but she was glued to the board, ignoring me. Soccer filled up fast—popular with the guys. I stayed out, and she didn't expect me to join anyway.
"Next, basketball..."
We went through the events, but I just watched indifferently. I cared more about the high school sports festival next door.
"I'm the club manager, so I can join, right?"
Yuyeong signed up for dodgeball. Someone suggested managers should handle player support, but she brushed it off with a tired "Not doing that much."
"Gotta get some of the leftovers in too..."
The rep frowned, making the idle kids raise hands. Me included.
"Taeyang might as well join something while we're young, right?"
Yuyeong caught my look and waved it off.
"Not forcing you or anything. Just in case you're bored."
"Sure. If you need me, I'll do it."
The rep overheard like a ghost and jumped on it.
"Taeyang, you any good at running?"
"I run a bit. No volunteers? I'll step up."
"Ooh~!!"
I just said I'd fill in if needed—why the excited stares? I ignored the lame "He must be confident" murmurs, but Yuyeong looked off.
"You sure you're okay?"
"No issue."
She still seemed to think something soccer-related was bugging me. The rep slotted me into the relay race.
"Taeyang, don't push yourself. Whatever you want."
"...Yuyeong."
"Yeah?"
I hesitated, then asked carefully.
"Something happen at the amusement park?"
"Huh?"
I'd been trying not to care. But this was awkward as hell. Normally, she'd be hyped, ranting about youth and mixing in Japanese like some drama queen. Now she was way too chill.
Not obsessing was great, but the sudden character shift had me worried. What the hell happened?
"What'd you and my sister talk about at the park?"
"Oh... uh, just that I'd be more careful from now on."
She visibly flinched. Yeah, that kind of cowed reaction meant a real shock.
I took a breath, steadying my nerves.
"Be honest. Did my sister, like, cuss you out or hit you?"
I never dreamed my sweet, sunny sister would pull some thug shit behind my back... Shocking.
But shock or not, as the perpetrator's brother, I had to apologize to the victim properly.
"If she did something awful, I'll apologize for her."
"W-what? No way your sister would!!"
"Huh? Your sister?"
Guess it wasn't what I thought. Phew~ I'd been sweating bullets over her turning delinquent or something. So why the change?
"My sister?"
"Yeah, just... personally respect her, so I call her that."
"Respect?"
"Anyway, weren't you uncomfortable with me? So I decided to fix it."
"Oh. Thanks."
"If you're grateful, hang out with me more."
Yeah, positive spin. No more worries about Yuyeong. Sports festival stuff wrapped up, and school ended normally after that.
Starting tomorrow, after-school club activities halt for sports fest prep—except sports clubs. Meaning full-on practice begins.
Couldn't head straight home for a bit, so I hustled today. Time was short. Had to move fast to block Hayan-noona's flags.
On the way home, I watched videos on my phone.
[One- two- one- two-]
"Luckily, the moves aren't too tough."
I'd dug up a Love Chain clip of Kim Hayan practicing. Plan was simple: Master these before Seonwoo, help noona practice. If I coach her at home, she'll spend less time at school. Splits her from Seonwoo.
Plus, I'd hype her up with motivational lines and preempt Seonwoo's key dialogue. Shift the role from him to me, and the flags fizzle.
Time to secretly practice at home.
"I'm home."
"Welcome back~"
"Good work, Taeyang~"
Another voice besides Hayan-noona's. No way...
"Taeyang. Wash up. Noona got cake~"
Gahee-noona...
"Haha, you've been bringing it a lot lately. Feels bad taking it all the time."
"It's fine. You're eating it—what's there to be stingy about?"
Hayan-noona and Gahee-noona sat side by side on the sofa, enjoying tea time.
"Wash up," Gahee-noona said, patting the spot next to her. Clear invitation.
...Anyone want a daily cake delivery from a busty blonde bombshell? Free to a good home. Take her!!
This was day three straight of Gahee-noona invading our house!!
"Busy today."
"Huh?"
"What's up?"
Gahee-noona tilted her head with a smile, but her lips twitched—like she was holding back some emotion.
"Anyway, Taeyang. Noona's doing cheerleading."
"Cool."
"Yeah. I'll show you the uniform later."
Gahee-noona's gaze bored into me silently from the side. I could feel her hot breath from here.
"Ahaha... Can't wait."
"Ooh, excited for noona? Total siscon..."
"Gahee-noona, sorry. Next time!"
I bolted to my room. Locking eyes any longer, and her "you're so cute I could die" face would've flipped to Yandere Stage 1. Scary.
"Whew~ Terrifying..."
My legs were shaking. Lately, Gahee-noona was straight-up frightening!
"Haa~ How long is she planning to keep coming?"
After washing up, she was gone from the living room.
"Where's Gahee-noona?"
"She said she'd head out since you wouldn't play."
Hayan-noona was clearing dishes as she spoke. Finally relaxed. Guess she'd left.
Dancing with her around would've been impossible. Even alone with family, secret cheer practice was embarrassing. While noona focused on dishes, time to drill.
I locked my door and started matching the video.