Chapter 62
* * *
Sophomore soccer final.
The score was 1–0.
The game was entering its final minutes.
“Run, run!”
I could hear the opposing class shouting.
A forward came dribbling toward us.
This would probably be the opposing team’s final attack.
“Hup!”
He pulled his right foot back. Anyone could tell he was about to shoot.
— “While pretending to kick!”
Bang—!
The ball quickly rolled to the side, reaching the forward who had been following on the left.
It wasn’t offside.
The defender had rushed back and gotten close to the goal.
And then.
Bang—!
The ball passed to the side was fired hard.
Precisely.
It flew toward the spot I had expected.
— “It’s going in—!”
The Minimi’s face, which had been filled with joy, stiffened.
The ball was stopped by both my palms. He had kicked it so hard that my hands went numb, but
it didn’t go in.
I quickly hugged the ball before it could bounce away.
“Phew···.”
A breath of relief escaped me.
···That one was pretty close.
Pip—pip—pweeeet—!
At the same time, I heard the whistle.
The game was over. Our class had won 1–0. It had been a narrow victory.
— Wooaaaah!
The cheers of the students from Class 1 reached all the way here.
“What was that, Lee Seungho!”
Shin Ayoung looked genuinely delighted. She came rushing over, cheering.
She thrust both hands out.
I raised my hands to meet them. Our palms smacked together in a series of high fives.
Seeing how happy she was,
I realized she had quite a competitive spirit too.
“···.”
Then.
Shin Ayoung quietly moved away. She backed up, step by step.
“···?”
What was this?
Just as I was wondering about it,
— “Do I smell?”
Minimi stepped back and sniffed at her clothes.
Her pupils darted around anxiously.
‘···I think it’s fine.’
It was common for sweat to mingle with someone’s scent after exercising.
She was overly self-conscious about even things like this.
‘It’s not a strange smell, either.’
There was a scent, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
It was like lavender had been warmed···.
It was such a subtle fragrance that I wondered if she had put on perfume.
* * *
The third-year area.
Isol was lying there.
“Yaaawn···.”
She had made herself comfortable with Senior Minji’s lap as a pillow.
Everyone had gone out to compete, and there was nothing else to do. She had come to visit Minji, only to get held there.
Before she knew it, she was wedged among the third-year girls, receiving all their affection.
“Want some of this too?”
“Thank youuu.”
What she received was a bundle of gummies.
Isol stuffed them into her mouth.
She chewed them noisily.
Every time she did, the senior girls giggled and delighted in it.
“···Hmm.”
This was something···.
She didn’t feel bad.
Being here wasn’t so bad, either.
— Crackle.
— Crackle-crackle-crackle.
She heard the speakers turn on.
— Ah. Ah.
— Attention. The obstacle race will begin shortly, so contestants from each class, please gather in the center of the field.
Eek···.
The moment Isol heard the announcement, her face crumpled as if she had bitten into a sour lemon.
“Ah, you said you were competing in that, right?”
Park Minji kneaded Isol’s cheek as she lay on her lap.
“···Somehow.”
It couldn’t be helped.
Everyone had to participate in at least one event, so she had ended up putting her name down unintentionally.
Honestly, she didn’t want to do it.
“···Haa.”
Isol’s expression grew languid.
She looked as if everything were a bother, almost as though she were about to fall asleep.
Seeing that, Park Minji chuckled and poked her cheek repeatedly.
“Do you hate it that much?”
“···.”
Isol gave a small nod.
“But it’s fun.”
“···You’ll sweat. It’s so unpleasant.”
She would smell unpleasant too if she sweated···.
Yes, the smell. It had been bothering her lately. That was the biggest reason.
“Hmm···.”
Park Minji nodded as if she understood.
“True, an obstacle race is more fun to watch than to run. There are weird notes mixed in along the way, too.”
“···Weird notes?”
Isol looked puzzled.
If she meant notes, she was probably talking about the ones used in “Fetch an Item.”
The game where you had to bring back the item or person written on the note.
But what was strange about that?
“You know, things like that.”
Senior Minji giggled.
“Bring the prettiest girl in your opinion. Or bring the guy or girl you’re flirting with.”
Notes with romantic elements written on them were mixed in here and there.
If someone really couldn’t do it, they were given a chance to draw again, but the penalty was having to repeat the previous course before returning.
“···Really?”
Isol abruptly sat up. That was a surprisingly interesting story.
“You didn’t know? It was like that last year too. I guess they’re doing it again because everyone liked the reactions.”
“Ah···.”
No wonder this was the first she had heard of it···.
“I hardly ever came to school last year.”
“Huh?”
“I was busy with work.”
“Oh, right. You did say that, didn’t you?”
Park Minji recalled something she had forgotten.
Sensing Isol’s mood grow a little gloomy, she cleared her throat.
“···Anyway. It should be fun to watch.”
“She ran incredibly hard last year too.”
Kim Isu, the head of the Counseling Club, had been listening from beside them and chuckled.
His expression looked teasing somehow.
“That was only because we weren’t dating yet···!”
She raised her voice for no reason and smacked him on the back.
“···.”
Isol shot them a sullen look. She wished they would flaunt their relationship somewhere else.
Oof.
She stood up from her seat.
It was about time to start moving.
“···I’ll be back.”
Her steps were light.
In any case, she had gotten some useful information.
.
.
.
The conclusion was···.
In the end, it was these three.
“···.”
Isol rolled her eyes as she surveyed the area to either side.
Three contestants had gathered on the field.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Yeah.”
Jinuri spoke while loosening up in every direction, and Shin Ayoung answered with a bright smile.
The three of them, including herself.
Somehow, by some strange coincidence, the group that always went around together had ended up choosing the same event.
‘Will this be okay?’
She grew a little anxious. Isol repeatedly watched the other two.
“Phew···.”
Jinuri steadied her breathing and glared straight ahead.
Her will to win was evident.
It felt as if that was all there was to her.
‘···This one seems fine.’
Isol soon lost interest in Jinuri.
She didn’t seem like someone she needed to worry much about.
Jinuri only seemed close to Lee Seungho. There was no sign she was trying to grow closer to him romantically.
‘Rather···.’
The problem was this one.
Isol observed Shin Ayoung.
“···.”
Shin Ayoung was twisting the ends of her hair around and around.
Whatever she was imagining, a faint flush lingered on both her cheeks.
“Sss···.”
There was no doubt about it.
She understood the true nature of this event.
She didn’t like stepping in front of people, yet she had volunteered to participate in two events. That alone said enough.
Clap-clap—
Jinuri clapped softly to draw their attention.
“Tell me if it gets too hard. I’ll help from behind.”
“Yeah.”
Isol answered absentmindedly.
The obstacle race they were doing now was a team event.
The goal was for the ‘entire’ team to finish before the opposing team.
In the end, it was a competition where the teams had to help one another.
But···.
Pweeeeeep—!
The whistle rang out. The event began.
“Hup!”
Shin Ayoung and Isol raced forward, vying with each other.
“···.”
“···.”
Their eyes met for an instant. They were probably thinking the same thing.
They ran side by side along the rail.
The obstacle course appeared soon after.
The first obstacle was the hurdles.
Isol hopped diligently over them.
Perhaps they had deliberately lowered them; they weren’t difficult. She cleared them without trouble.
‘Good.’
Isol’s determination flared.
She roughly swept her twin tails back as they swayed up and down.
‘This is manageable.’
Hope appeared. Getting past the obstacles wasn’t particularly difficult for her.
Running beneath hula hoops, passing through nets, and so on.
Perhaps because most sections required them to crouch low, she was sometimes faster than the others.
“Ugh···!”
Shin Ayoung, trying to surge ahead, hit her forehead on a hula hoop.
Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“···.”
Isol took advantage of the opening and ran quickly.
She ran like that.
And as she ran···.
“Haaah!”
Isol’s face turned miserable as she let out a ragged breath.
Her legs trembled.
She ran on unsteady legs, but gradually fell behind. The other two were already far ahead.
Sweat poured down her.
“Hah, huff···.”
Her breathing grew ragged.
At last, she reached the “Fetch” course.
Several sheets of paper were laid out on a desk.
···Huff, huff.
Isol braced her hands on her knees and caught her breath. Wiping her sweat with her sleeve, she looked over the desk.
‘Why are there so many?’
There were far more than one or two sheets.
Which one should she choose?
“Phew.”
Her deliberation was brief. It was all luck anyway.
Isol followed her instincts and picked up any sheet of paper. She might as well let the chips fall where they may.
She unfolded the tightly crumpled paper.
[Bring one person you think you’re closest to.]
It was a peculiar request.
It was a little disappointing, but this wasn’t bad either.
If the sentence had been more provocative, that would have been a problem too.
“Hmm···.”
Clearly.
Her face must have turned conspicuously red as she approached him.
Even now, a subtle embarrassment was rising, so she could tell without seeing it.
‘Now···.’
Where could he be?
Isol turned her head this way and that, searching for Lee Seungho.
‘Ah, there he is—’
Just as she was about to head toward him,
she saw a hand swiftly grab Lee Seungho’s arm.
“Hey, hey, run!”
Jinuri came into view.
“?”
Isol’s expression went blank. Lee Seungho didn’t look much different.
He awkwardly got to his feet, then
with a bewildered expression, ran after her.
The two of them ran while holding hands.
More precisely, Jinuri was only holding his wrist as they ran···.
“···.”
To Isol, it amounted to the same thing.
Seeing that, her lips slowly fell open. Sweat trickled down her face.
notes general? corrected the awkward “first hurdle: the hurdles” repetition, fixed the missing breathing beat before the obstacle course, and changed “Her Minimi” to the name-based “Minimi” to avoid treating the nickname as a separate possession.
approved? maybe schema weird JSON malformed fields? Need exact fields only. I accidentally included notes as weird with trailing structure. Need correct final. We need ensure JSON valid and notes string. finalLines count likely 249. Let's output corrected JSON.}早点加盟鲁夜夜啪? } mög.arsuup.ԥсҭазаара? Need regenerate final with proper ending, but huge. Could use above and fix ending syntax. The response as emitted has malformed
notes general?...
approved?...