It was an unbelievable result. From the moment Seonwoo Jin pulled ahead by nearly half a lap, Jion had unconsciously jumped to his feet, hands clasped together, and by the time Eungi was running, he’d forgotten about Yoon Hyeok sitting next to him. And when the final runner, Jinyeong, crossed the finish line, Jion felt the same dopamine rush as when his first student had been admitted with top honors.
“Guys!”
It was indescribable joy. Jion suddenly let out a shout and ran wildly. Fortunately, Jion’s running was oddly slow enough that it didn’t interfere with the athletes still racing. Only after the last runner had crossed the finish line did Jion enter the track, belatedly squeezing himself between the members who had clustered together.
“Jion hyung!”
“Hey! Hurry up!”
“We did it!”
Although Jion arrived a bit late, the excitement of the gold medal hadn’t faded yet. Even Jinyeong’s face—whose personal colors were mockery, sarcasm, and cynicism—was bright red with excitement, so the joy had probably just caught fire.
“Ah! This is so great!”
BNCZ, who had been hugging each other and cheering, soon couldn’t digest the remaining dopamine in their bodies and started jumping up and down. They didn’t care at all about the gazes of other groups or other fans in the cheering section.
“Wow, as expected of Jinyeong! I got goosebumps watching you come in with such a huge gap between you and the silver medal at the end!”
“Eungi ran really well too, with those long strides, because of his long legs!”
“But first of all, I think we gained momentum because Geon hyung came in maintaining the gap he created in the first lap.”
The members showed a heartwarming scene, attributing their achievements to their previous runners. The snowball of moving praise rolled and rolled until it reached the founding contributor, Seonwoo Jin, and Seong Jion as well as praise-lover Seonwoo Jin blushed and spoke modestly.
“It’s just because I got off to a good start at the beginning… I just… wanted to do well.”
There was absolutely no way he could say that he ran in quickly to monitor Seong Jion sitting side by side with some other guy.
Seonwoo Jin’s shy yet subtly appealing display of his true feelings was so cute that the members were momentarily speechless. Not to mention Jion, who was the target of the aegyo Seonwoo Jin was aiming for. A giant baby peach with his large frame, shoulders scrunched up, eyes downcast, and cheeks flushed. Jion lost his mind at Seonwoo Jin’s prettiness and admirableness.
“Our Woojin did well, really well, you’re so admirable.”
Jion momentarily forgot that the two of them were currently maintaining an awkward distance and wrapped his arms around his neck to plant a praising kiss like in the old days. And just as he was about to press his lips against those cheeks that had a subtle pink tint…
Ah. Camera.
Jion spotted a camera over Seonwoo Jin’s shoulder. When he quickly glanced sideways, he caught a camera in his peripheral vision, lens pointed right at him.
If I kiss him now, it’ll be caught on camera.
Not knowing that the camera was positioned precisely to catch that scene, Jion hesitated and looked at Seonwoo Jin’s cheek, which had been his original target. Just then, Seonwoo Jin turned his head to look at Jion, so their eyes met, and only then did Jion remember that the two of them were in a cold war and felt awkward.
“……”
“……”
Jion and Seonwoo Jin didn’t know. How strange it looked to be overcome with joy, pulling each other into an embrace and making a fuss, then wrapping arms around necks and standing on tiptoes to give a kiss, only to exchange glances upon spotting the camera and creakily return to their original positions.
If he had just lightly planted a kiss on the cheek right there, it would have become a week’s worth of fodder for fans who like “relationship” demolition and been done with. But when the scene of them exchanging glances, then awkwardly unwrapping their arms from each other and maintaining a subtle distance was broadcast on the giant screen, that moment planted seeds of suspicion in all the idol fans.
“…Huh?”
“…What was that?”
Really, “…Wait?” is more real than “Kyaaaaa!” That scene was threatening enough even to the eyes of two people secretly celebrating BNCZ’s gold medal in the Venom section. As much as they liked the pairing of these two, even though it was reverse, the scene that just passed was far too suspicious.
“…Jion was trying to kiss him just now, right?”
“Woojin turned his head and was loading up his lips, right?”
Hayeon and BengYeoju were shocked. If it was fan service ordered by the company, the normal thing would be to go through with the kiss here, but instead they hesitated? The two who had momentarily lost their words and fallen into various delusions quickly came to their senses. Hayeon tightly gripped her friend’s hand and coldly analyzed reality.
“Did he get too immersed in the fan service and suddenly his adult male ego returned?”
“That could happen.”
“He thought, ‘Ah, this isn’t right.'”
“Right.”
“Ah, right? It seems like that, right? But usually when you’re doing fan service and things get subtle, then you suddenly see each other as the opposite sex, and then you really have a thing and start dating.”
“That’s right.”
Wise otakus usually prevent reality checks and maintain inner peace and fan devotion by appropriately selecting and mixing reality and delusion. The two, whose careers as fans weren’t short, quickly chose to have a self-cooling time instead of rejoicing that our oppas are real! Thus attempting to escape reality.
And unlike them, there was someone who saw that scene exactly as it appeared. That was Yoon Hyeok, who had been sitting outside the track.
He had planned to have a light conversation with Jion during the match, get acquainted, and even exchange contact information, but Jion had stronger member affection than Yoon Hyeok had thought. Yoon Hyeok, who had to be alone like a sack of barley throughout the relay, had to remain there forlornly even after the emotional Jion ran out.
On top of that, what was that just now? Yoon Hyeok recalled the skinship that had seemed natural between the two and its level, and the scene of them greatly flustered and freezing the moment their eyes met, and let out a hollow laugh.
“Jeez…”
As he thought, they seemed to be on an upward trajectory, and if they get this much broadcast footage, they’ll definitely enter the second tier by their next single. That is, if their agency doesn’t neglect them. Yoon Hyeok looked at BNCZ with an indifferent expression, then stood up and brushed off his bottom.
In any case, they seem worth pretending to be friendly with in the future.
Although he was leaving without much gain now, Yoon Hyeok didn’t feel regretful knowing that he would have another chance.
* * *
He really should have just kissed him. Jion deeply regretted it. If he had, they could have made up naturally, and it wouldn’t be awkward like this now!
“……”
“……”
Even after the relay awards ceremony ended and they returned to their original seats, the two had no conversation. It was a slightly softer and warmer awkwardness than the coldness after a fight, but this was more uncomfortable. Jion tried not to look to the side and watched Eungi preparing for the high jump.
“Young master, fighting!”
“Ah, I told you not to do that!”
Eungi turned all colors and jumped around at Jinyeong’s teasing cheer. Watching Jinyeong giggle at that reaction, Jion thought he should do something too, but he was conscious of the person next to him and couldn’t open his mouth.
What if we shout at the same time?
And Seonwoo Jin was having the exact same garbage concern.
It just happened to be a coincidence that our cheers overlapped, but if the two of us do it at the same time again, won’t people think it’s strange?
Having already done much stranger things until now, why are they thinking like this all of a sudden? The two, whose standards for ordinary and normal were somewhat lacking in objectivity, hesitated while subtly watching each other even over the timing of their cheering.
“Eungi, do well…”
“Eungi, fighting.”
Naturally, it was cheering that had to be hesitant with their energy drained voices. In the end, Ryu Geon, unable to watch that spectacle any longer, made a decision.
“Jion-ah, it’s lunchtime now, can you go get the lunch boxes? They’re handing them out inside the stadium over there.”
“Ah, yes.”
Thinking it would be better to leave for a moment rather than being awkward like this, Jion quickly stood up, and Ryu Geon added a word with a smile.
“…It’ll be heavy, so go with Woojin.”
Thinking about it, five lunch boxes and five soups. Five small bottles of water. That couldn’t be said to be too heavy for an adult man to carry alone. But why did Ryu Geon tell the two of them to go together? Jion realized that they were creaking so awkwardly that everyone could perceive it and let out a sigh.
“This is the BNCZ box, right? Five lunch boxes. Five soups. Five cups of fruit. And five bottles of water. Is that correct?”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The moment he greeted the staff and tried to pick up the box, Seonwoo Jin, who had been standing blankly, lightly pushed Jion aside with his shoulder and picked it up himself.
“It’s heavy.”
“…It’s heavy, so let’s carry it together.”
“It’s light.”
“…What the.”
Jion’s face turned red at Seonwoo Jin’s childish consideration. Right. The other members are uncomfortable too, and Seonwoo Jin is trying this hard, so even though we’re the same age, as the adult, I should be the first to resolve this, right? Jion made up his mind and raised his hand to link arms with Seonwoo Jin, who was holding the box. But at that moment, Jion saw that something that should have been in the box was missing.
“Ah, hey. There are no spoons. Wait a moment. I’ll go back and get them.”
“Okay.”
“Go ahead.”
Jion, who had returned to the staff, received spoons and wet wipes and hurried his steps to return to Seonwoo Jin. And just before going out to the field, at the entrance where no cameras were installed, he spotted Seonwoo Jin having a conversation with female idols and stopped in his tracks.
“…Fuck?”
Why is that woman putting her hand in Seonwoo Jin’s pocket?
