You Don't Listen to Rock (5)
Dodgeball was a best-of-three match.
Naturally, we should have been using the first game to adjust our tactics and move on, but...
"Why do you think our team lost the first game?"
It was the first timeout.
The next game would decide our fate. Instead of using this precious time to draw up a strategy, Yuchae walked all the way over to ask me that.
I couldn't tell if she was joking or not, but I decided to answer seriously for now.
"Because our passes kept getting intercepted."
"Hmm. You weren't watching the game at all, were you?"
The last ten minutes, during which I hadn't taken my eyes off the court once—even wearing sunglasses—were dismissed in an instant.
"...Then, because every high-risk attempt to catch the ball failed?"
"Mhm. Now you're getting closer to the most critical reason."
"That wasn't the main reason?"
"You were close to the truth, Alchemist."
"You're not expecting some answer like, 'It's dodgeball, so dodging is the most important thing,' are you?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's the kind of answer an amateur would come up with."
I didn't think the person who got eliminated first had any right to say that.
"...So what's your point? The timeout is almost over," I asked politely, barely swallowing the retort rising in my throat.
Yuchae shook her head, looking at me as if I were utterly hopeless.
"Have you ever heard this saying? Dodgeball is all about momentum."
"Most sports are a battle of momentum."
"Don't interrupt. This is extremely important."
Under Yuchae's sharp glare, I silently nodded.
"Got it? There's a reason the term 'winning mentality' exists. In sports, momentum and mentality are just as important as physical factors. Especially when the crowd is cheering right in front of you."
"Yeah. I understand up to that point."
"Then why aren't you cheering?"
"Sorry. I don't understand after all."
"Ugh! Why aren't you cheering harder?!"
Pouting deeply, Yuchae began raining a flurry of cat-like punches onto my stomach.
Worried she would exhaust herself right before the next game, I quickly grabbed her hands and met her eyes.
"I did cheer, though."
"You lacked spirit! Spirit!"
"Hey, you told me to wave the cheering lightsticks, so I waved them."
"Silence! Your spirit was lacking! And so was your love and sincerity for me!"
This wasn't an idol concert. Why was she demanding love and sincerity?
"If your cheering lacks spirit this time too? Boom. I'm getting eliminated immediately."
Yuchae went limp, throwing her arm dramatically into the air in a textbook display of Hollywood acting.
It was unnecessarily high quality. I thought she only watched anime, but when did she start binging American dramas?
"Fine. I'll do it, so just go back."
"You understand? I'm really, really going to get out—... Huh?"
Her sharp eyes widened slightly, returning to their usual innocent look.
"Who are you? Has this reptilian finally revealed his true identity?"
Actually, she was pointing the edge of her hand at me, instantly reverting to a mischievous little devil.
I let out a dumbfounded chuckle.
"You should probably just accept it while I'm being nice."
"That's exactly why it's suspicious. The Yuseol I know never says yes on the first try."
"Today is just one of those rare days. Buy a lottery ticket on your way home."
"We're minors, you know?"
Yuchae stared at me as if I were absurd. But that only lasted for a moment.
"Come here."
With a playful smile, she gestured for me to lean in. I didn't know what more she wanted when we were already close enough, but I leaned closer as told...
Whisper, whisper.
"...That's crossing the line."
Having heard her whisper, I glared at the tomboy with resentful eyes.
"You're the one who agreed to do it, okay? And you know the Yujins are cool people who keep their word, right?"
Yuchae countered with a cute wink. Since I was indeed the one who had agreed first, it was only fair that I bear the consequences.
...Still, that didn't make me feel any less wronged.
"...Do you know what idiom describes someone like you?"
"What is it?"
"Wild and chaotic."
I grumbled, wearing a displeased expression. Yuchae stared at me blankly for a moment, and then—
"Yuseol, that's a nice saying."
She beamed like a child, looking happier than anyone in the world.
Most men who have completed their military service say something like this:
They would never go back a second time, but going once was worth it. In other words, no matter how hard, exhausting, and miserable those days were, time eventually filters them through rose-tinted glasses.
...The conclusion was simple.
...I just had to endure this single moment.
"Pfft—"
"This guy is living a straight-up youth drama."
"Seol Yujin, you crazy bastard! You're setting a legendary record today!"
Even if they were ecstatic at the prospect of teasing me.
"...Um."
"...Wow."
"...Isn't that just love?"
Even if they couldn't close their mouths in shock.
"I'm starting to think Yuchae has some serious dirt on him."
"Or maybe it's the opposite. Maybe he actually enjoys the attention."
"Just a young man starved for attention."
Even if ridiculous conspiracy theories were spreading.
Yes. I would overcome this situation in the end.
"Milky-white Chae Yujin...! I love you, Chae Yujin...!"
"Yuseol, Yuchae says to make your voice louder."
"Milky-white Chae Yujin...!! *Ugh*...! I love you, Chae Yujin...!!"
"She wants a bit more spirit."
"Milky-white Chae Yujin!! I love you, Chae Yujin!!"
"Good. She says to keep up that momentum."
"Damn it...!!"
Fortunately, bolstered by my cheers (?), the Blue Team won the dodgeball match.
But perhaps because my cheering stopped after that...
"The score is an astonishing 550 to 600! With the White Team leading by a mere 50 points, we have finally reached the last event of the sports day! The relay race is about to begin!"
We had lost both the group jump rope and the tug-of-war, allowing them to overtake us. We managed to catch up slightly in the three-legged race and barely scraped by with some points from the OX quiz, dragging the competition all the way to the relay.
"Blue Team! Blue Team!"
"White Team! White Team!"
The schoolyard was filled with the passionate cheers and shouts of our classmates. While the sports committee members prepared the track, the relay runners lined up one by one.
Up until now, the events had been divided among different groups within the teams. The relay, however, was different: one male and one female student were selected from each class, making a total of six runners per team. Because of this, Hwayeon Middle School's relay presented the unusual sight of only two runners on the track at any given time, unlike other schools...
But that only made it a truer battle between Blue and White.
"So it comes down to this."
We lined up after deciding the running order within our teams. Whether by divine intervention or sheer coincidence, the opponent I would be racing against on the final lap was none other than the romcom male lead himself.
"Yeah. It really comes down to this."
Haneul smirked and looked at me. But the one who responded solemnly to his words was none other than the girl standing in front of me, my namesake, Chae Yujin.
Even if we share the same name, I think stealing my lines is a bit much.
"You two have to perform on stage in a bit. Shouldn't you take it easy?"
"Thanks for the concern, but our performance is the very last one. We have a whole forty minutes to rest, so don't worry."
Yuchae snorted at Haneul's banter and fired back. A fierce war of nerves continued between them...
"Okay. Now I see why you two are childhood friends."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Sky, I'm fully prepared to play dirty here. Are you ready?"
Haneul, who had pulled off a miraculous comeback from the edge of defeat, just smiled. By the way, what did he actually mean by that?
"I'll pass on that, since getting hit sounds painful. Let's keep this fair and square. Yuseol, hurry up and stop your girlfriend."
"I don't have a girlfriend, so there's no one to stop. Go ahead and give her a good smack."
"BAM!"
"Hey, why are you hitting me?!"
"Well, if I hit Sky, we'll get disqualified for a foul. So you get to take it instead. Bam, bam!"
Why was holding back her anger never an option for her?
As I silently endured the punches from the "Bam-Bam Lady," the teacher acting as the referee finally stepped onto the track holding two batons.
"First runners, step forward."
It was a plain sentence, yet it carried an unusual weight. At the teacher's call, the first runners stepped onto the track.
At the same time, a roar of cheers erupted, loud enough to pierce through the band music blaring from the speakers...
"How do I move my hands and feet again...? Was it left hand, left foot...?"
"Dummy. It's right foot, right hand."
"Ah, right."
Hmm. It seemed the thumping sound I had been hearing wasn't a drum, but someone's heartbeat. I couldn't even begin to guess how nervous they were.
"Are you okay?"
I had heard the ridiculous exchange in front of me. Just in case, I lightly tapped Yuchae's shoulder to check on her...
"If I were the anchor, I would've totally done the Naruto run."
Yuchae looked at me with deep envy. Okay, you're completely fine.
"On your marks."
I let out a dry chuckle at the somewhat anticlimactic call, but the music quickly faded to a lower volume as the teacher spoke into the mic.
The first runners took their positions, ready to sprint.
The students cheering in the stands lowered their voices in unison as if by agreement. The teacher raised the electronic starting pistol above his head, finger resting on the trigger.
The schoolyard fell dead silent in an instant.
Thump, thump...
Thanks to the silence, I realized my own heart was beating much louder than I thought.
Beep—!
At the signal, the first runners kicked off the ground.
The suppressed noise rushed back in a wave of cheers, and our eyes locked onto the two figures tearing down the track.
It was our Blue Team that took the lead.
"Let's goooo!!!"
"Kim Seung-ho!! Kim Seung-ho!!"
A dirt schoolyard is slippery. Naturally, runners had to slow down around the curves, but...
"The first runners of both teams are fighting fiercely for the inside lane!"
"Since their speeds are so similar, they're trying to make their move on the curve!"
Though they wobbled, both runners made the bold decision not to slow down as they rounded the bend.
...I knew the inside lane was important, but weren't they running too close? It looked like one of them was going to trip.
"Second runners."
Right on the heels of my worry, the teacher called for the next runners. This time, it was the girls' turn.
"Get closer to take it!!"
"Please, just run and don't worry about your bangs...!"
Driven by a competitive fire, the boys shouted unsolicited advice. The girls, just as desperate to win, listened without complaint as they took their marks on the track...
*Slap!*
"The second runners of both teams have received the baton at the exact same time!"
After a fierce battle for the inside lane, the second runners sprinted forward.
"Ah! I told you to forget about your bangs!!"
"Have you guys ever spent thirty minutes styling your bangs?! I can't let them get messed up!!"
As if they had planned it, both girls ran while holding down their bangs. Their running forms were terrible, but since their speeds were evenly matched, the tension remained high...
"Third runners! The Blue Team's third runner succeeds in pulling ahead!!"
The race was past the halfway mark in the blink of an eye. This time, the girls running had abandoned all concern for their bangs, so the speed and excitement were on a completely different level.
"Fourth runners."
As the third runners rounded the curve, the boys stepped onto the track to receive the baton...
"Left foot, left hand..."
"I told you, it's right foot, right hand...!"
Looking at them, it was the ultimate lineup. A pair of Dumb and Dumber who had forgotten how to run.
"The Blue Team's fourth runner stumbles slightly as he takes off! The White Team is closing the distance rapidly behind him!"
Just as the announcer said, our runner's footsteps were unstable. Because he was too tense, his feet looked heavy as they kicked the ground. On the other hand, the White Team's runner was closing the gap around the curve as if he were using some special breathing technique.
At that distance, he would definitely hear the footsteps chasing him from behind. It had to be mentally suffocating.
Perhaps that was the catalyst.
"Uh, oh?!"
"Wait a minute...?!"
On the final curve, our runner, who had been holding onto his lead by a hair's breadth, stumbled heavily.
Seizing the opening, the White Team's runner took the inside lane and overtook him. Fortunately, they avoided the worst-case scenario of tangling up and falling together, but...
"Ah!!"
"He dropped it! The baton is flying!"
*Whoosh—*
Our team's baton spun out toward the outer edge of the track. The runner scrambled to pick it up and started running again, but the gap had instantly widened to nearly fifty meters.
Cheers and groans tangled in the air.
"Yuchae...!"
To make matters worse, even the handoff was fumbled. Yuchae only managed to start running five seconds after the opposing team's runner had already received their baton.
Unlike her opponent, who was still worrying about her bangs, Yuchae ran with textbook form, but the massive gap showed no signs of closing easily.
Meanwhile, the race was handed over to the anchors, who had to run two laps.
*Slap...*
Haneul and I stepped onto the track together. Naturally, the White Team's runner was the first to round the curve. Having run a full lap, the girl grimaced as she stretched out the hand holding the baton toward Haneul.
I watched from the side as Haneul started to build up his stride.
"I'll be waiting for you."
*Whoosh!*
With his usual refreshing smile, he kicked off. Thanks to his height, Haneul covered half of the straightaway in just a few strides.
"Waaaaaaah!"
The cheers grew louder as the distance widened. Perhaps because we were close to the stands, the roar felt like it was battering my eardrums, but only two sounds registered clearly to me.
"Yuseol...!!"
One was the voice of my childhood friend calling my name.
*Thump—!*
And the other was the sound of my heart, which had been beating wildly for a while now.
"Go for it!!!"
I sprinted with everything I had. No matter how small the schoolyard was, sprinting two full laps was a risky move.
But right now, I had no choice but to take that risk.
*Thud-thud-thud!*
My accelerating body tore through the straightaway in an instant. Rounding the curve from the outside to the inside to preserve as much momentum as possible, I spotted Haneul just as he passed the halfway mark of the straightaway.
*Inhale.*
I quickly caught my breath and kept my eyes locked forward. As we entered the curve again, he slipped out of my line of sight.
Pushing my pace even harder, his back soon came into view once more.
The distance was shorter than before. If I could maintain this speed, I could catch him.
He's insanely fast...!
Assuming we had about two more laps to go, that is.
"The Blue Team's anchor has entered the final lap!"
"He's closing the gap against the basketball captain! Is that runner a former track athlete?! How is he so fast?!"
*Step...!*
One lap down. I had closed the distance enough that I could probably hit him if I threw the baton, but I didn't think I could catch him in the remaining lap.
...Damn it, is it even possible to go faster than this? Would doing the Naruto run actually make a difference?
With those silly thoughts in mind, I entered the curve.
In my peripheral vision, Haneul was already almost out of the curve.
*Pant, pant.*
My breath was growing ragged. Pushing through on pure grit, like my CrossFit coach used to say, was reaching its limit.
I briefly considered leaning my upper body forward just to look dramatic, but my damn pride wouldn't let me give up so easily.
...Let's run until I drop.
Just as I clenched my teeth and took another quick breath—
"Waaaaaaaaah!!!"
A roar of cheers erupted. It was incomparably louder than any cheer before.
Only after I rounded the curve did I realize the reason for it.
"...Are you going to be okay with the fallout of this?"
I exhaled the breath I had been holding and gradually slowed down.
Standing right in front of me, having stopped in his tracks to look back at me, was the romcom male lead.
"You're fast. You must really want to win, huh?"
Haneul smirked, wiping his sweat with his T-shirt. Seeing him so relaxed, I couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't think I should be hearing that from someone who trains an extra two hours every day."
"I'm the captain. That's just par for the course, isn't it?"
See? Romcom protagonists really have a different mindset.
"What if you lose after doing this?"
"I waited because that won't happen. I know exactly how to win a fight."
"You must have only faced amateurs until now, then."
He chuckled, lightly bouncing on his feet. Matching his stride, I entered the final curve alongside him.
"Hey, Yuseol. How about the winner gets a wish granted?"
"Sorry, but my birthday is in March. It already passed."
"That's fine. Mine is in August. I'll combine the two and make you pay up double."
It was the same trivial banter as always. But this wasn't a classroom during lunch, nor was it the hallway during recess.
"Those crazy bastards!!!"
"Student Council. Pure romance. Approved."
2:00 PM, the hottest time of the day. A cloudless schoolyard.
"Seol Yujin! Seol Yujin!"
"Ryu Haneul! Ryu Haneul!"
The highlight of the sports day, where everyone's voices united as one.
It was the relay.
"What do you want to do? Start running after counting to three?"
"You count. I'll give that much privilege to the guy who waited for me."
"If I wanted to win in such a boring way, I wouldn't have waited. Let's count together."
The end of the curve. In other words, seventy-five meters to the finish line.
As if by agreement, we stopped our feet. And then...
"Three. Two. One."
We sprinted forward from the same line with everything we had.
*Whoosh!*
Haneul pulled ahead with his long strides.
A race decided in barely ten seconds. The gap felt like roughly two paces.
It was obvious, but the only way to close the distance was to run faster...
*Thud-thud-thud-thud!*
For every step he took, I took two, three more. Holding my breath. Pouring all my strength into my legs. Swinging my arms back and forth with all my might.
Overcoming and casting off the weight of gravity binding my body...
The white finish line appeared right before my eyes.
"Yuseol!!"
I threw my body forward toward you, shouting my name at the top of your lungs from beyond the line.
"...Don't ever try to be dramatic again, romcom protagonist."
In my hand, I held the finish line tape—the white ribbon that only the victor gets to claim.