Chapter 56
**BACKTICK**CHAPTER_TITLE: Sports Festival Day**BACKTICK**
Time flew by until the day of the sports festival finally arrived.
“Siwoo-ya, I packed the thermos, ice packs, bento, and drinks. Eat with Sia.”
“Okay, got it.”
“You packed all your other stuff, right?”
“Yeah, everything’s in.”
With my mom’s thermos in one hand and the crossbag stuffed with my clothes in the other, I left the house.
The crossbag held my change of clothes, sunscreen, a fan, and a mini mat.
When I stepped out onto the first floor, Sia was already waiting there.
“Sia!”
She stood there in the pants I’d told her to wear today.
“Did I keep you waiting long?”
“I just got here! Let’s go!”
The school we arrived at on the bus looked quite different from before.
Somehow the athletic field was now covered with large tents.
“Tents, huh…?”
“Yeah, look at the ones with class numbers. They must be staying here today.”
“Sounds about right.”
As soon as we headed to our class, the hallway was already packed with classmates buzzing with excitement.
Other classes had gathered and were snapping photos of each other, and I even saw people swapping their class shirts.
“Sure looks like every class has a different color shirt.”
“Yeah.”
Still, nothing beat the shirt Sia had chosen for me.
When we stepped inside our own classroom, our group was already in total chaos.
After everyone had worked themselves into a frenzy, the homeroom teacher finally walked in and things settled down.
“Everyone, remember the tents outside.”
““YES!””
“Good. We’re staying there today, got it?”
““YES!””
“All right! Today our class wins! Everyone, fight!”
““FIGHT!””
“Let’s move out!”
Everyone piled out and headed for the athletic field.
Other classes were also starting to gather there.
Thankfully, the tents inside had large mats laid out.
“Nice. Sia, let’s sit here.”
“Sure.”
After we set down our bags, the announcement came over the speakers telling us to gather on the field, so we lined up there.
A moment later the vice-principal appeared and gave a quick speech about the prizes before the sports festival kicked off at a lightning-fast pace.
“Listen up! Follow the schedule on the board and warm up!”
“Kangaroo run? Who went out?”
“Minwoo, Kyungmin, Byung-hoon, you’re up!”
“Let’s go!”
“Smash it and come back!”
The first event started, and our classmates began cheering loudly.
Sia and I cheered right along with everyone else.
“Kyungmin! Run!”
“Faster!”
Everyone screamed their lungs out.
Did our cheers actually reach them?
“First place!!!”
“Nice!”
We came in first after that event.
“What’s next?”
“Flag catch! Ready!”
We started strong with the first event and kept the momentum going, picking up high scores in the others.
After three events, the next one was group rope skipping!
“Everyone, get ready!”
“Sia, let’s go.”
“Yeah!”
We took a deep breath and headed back to the field.
We’d practiced the formation perfectly and stood there nervously waiting for the signal.
“Let’s do it exactly like we practiced!”
“Fight!”
The whistle blew.
As soon as it sounded, everyone started moving fast.
Eight-figure skipping required speed, so everyone moved with lightning reflexes.
With only fifteen seconds left, there was one little mistake, but everyone stayed calm and picked up again.
The final bell rang.
“How many did we get?”
“31!”
“Whoa! 31! We’re first?”
We were still watching the scores being tallied when…
“Oh… we’re second.”
“31 points, but second? How many does first place have?”
“33…”
“Wow… so close.”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t a bad score at all. We were still neck-and-neck with first place.
“It’s fine! We can make it up in the next events!”
“Everyone, fight!”
Feeling a little disappointed, I headed back to our tent and started preparing for the next event, which was obstacle course because Sia was competing.
I soaked a towel in cold water and pressed it gently against Sia’s face.
“Aaaah, it’s so cold!”
“Feels refreshing, right?”
“Yeah! Super… refreshing.”
“Go show them what you can do and cheer us on.”
“I will! Thanks, Siwoo!”
“Next is obstacle run, Sia. Get ready.”
“Yeah! I’m going now!”
Sia tied her long, wavy hair into a ponytail, loosened her body, and then sprinted off at full speed.
I watched her back as I grabbed a drink and headed toward the field to cheer.
The obstacles were varied and tricky.
There was a net to crawl under, parallel bars, gaps while skipping rope, and finally the section where you had to complete a mission.
They’d prepared everything with impressive creativity.
Sia stood at the starting line, took a deep breath, and crouched low.
The whistle blew.
Sia exploded forward like a rocket.
She cleared everyone else in the first lap and was the first to reach the net section, speeding through it like the wind.
Next came the parallel bars. Sia leaped as if she were a wild animal, clearing both bars in one fluid motion.
“Whoa… who is that?”
“Is that Sia? She’s so pretty.”
“I know, but didn’t she already have a boyfriend?”
“I don’t know, everyone seems to be talking about her.”
Everyone was praising her speed, but a lot of people were still staring at her looks and zoning out.
It made me a little upset.
Meanwhile Sia was already skipping rope and running like crazy, and only the final mission obstacle remained.
Sia picked up one of the paper cranes from the table, quickly unfolded it, then suddenly looked around and locked eyes with me.
She flashed a bright smile and ran straight toward me.
“Siwoo! Let’s go together!”
“Eh… eh?”
While I was still processing, Sia grabbed my hand and pulled me along at full speed.
We crossed the finish line in an overwhelming first place.
“Wow! We’re first!”
“It’s all thanks to Sia.”
“Hey, we probably couldn’t have done it without you, Siwoo.”
“What was it?”
“That… was…”
At that moment the teacher walked over.
“Sia, can you show me your mission paper?”
“Oh! Yes!”
She handed the paper to the teacher.
The teacher looked at it and smiled.
“I heard you wrote ‘someone I like’ or ‘my best friend.’ You went with the first one, huh?”
“That’s right!”
“Um… what was the mission?”
I didn’t know what the mission was, so I was a little confused and asked what it was.
The teacher glanced at Sia, who immediately smiled brightly.
“A person you like or your closest friend.”
“Aha…”
“Then first place is ours, right?”
“Yep, first place.”
“Hehe, let’s go back, Siwoo!”
“Okay.”
Sia and I headed back to our class tent, but…
“……”
I felt eyes on us from behind, but I didn’t let it bother me and ignored them.
When we finally reached our tent, the cheers exploded.
“Sia is the best! You were so fast!”
“First place! You’re amazing!”
“Hehe, thanks everyone.”
Everyone praised Sia.
After all, we were still neck-and-neck with first place, and Sia’s win had made everyone happy.
The sports festival continued on from there.
As time passed, it was finally lunch time.
“Lunch is one hour! Everyone, eat your bento and digest it!”
“It’s just bento, you don’t even run.”
“If you eat and end up with a stomachache you’ll be out for the rest of the games.”
“…Here.”
“Siwoo! Let’s eat together!”
“Yeah.”
I sat down next to Sia.
We pulled our bentos out of our bags.
Mine was a perfectly ordinary bento.
Sia’s was filled with rice balls, vienna sausages, and a variety of side dishes.
Plus, her bento was extremely full, as if she’d planned for two people to eat it.
“Cheers! How is it? I made everything myself.”
“You’re a great cook… but the portions seem huge.”
“Hmm? Oh, I packed a little extra because I wanted to share with you.”
“Aha…”
Sia smiled brightly as she answered.
Since she said that, of course I was going to eat with her.
I took one of the kimbap my mom had packed and placed it on top of Sia’s bento.
“Sia, try this.”
Sia just looked at me silently.
At first I thought maybe something was wrong with the kimbap…
Then she opened her mouth and let out a little sound.
I was completely bewildered seeing her like that.
I fed it to her.
She took a bite and her eyes widened.
“Mmm~!”
Sia ate it with obvious delight.
“Tastes good?”
“Yeah! It’s really delicious!”
The fact that Sia found it amazing made me want to try some too.
It was just normal kimbap.
But when she reacted so positively…
I started thinking she was a pro at reading reactions.
“When you feed me, it tastes even better.”
“Don’t say things like that so casually.”
“Why? Does it make your heart race?”
“…People are watching us.”
“Oh…”
Realizing that not just our class but the people sitting right next to us were staring at us.
Of course, what Sia had said wasn’t wrong.
My heart was still pounding from hearing her words.
Still, I ate the bento I’d fed her normally from now on, keeping my eyes on the other classmates.
But I didn’t stop bringing her homemade sides to her bento.
Every now and then I would add a couple of my own dishes to hers.
Since she had made them, I finished every single one without leaving a grain of rice.
They really hit the spot.
The thought hit me that when we got married later, I’d get to eat this delicious food every single day.
As if she could read my mind, Sia smiled.
“I’ll keep making it for you forever.”