Unfortunately, they lost the second jokgu match, but Lim Sehyun reignited his fighting spirit for the relay race.
“We have to win the running event.”
There was a sense of murderous intent in his hands as he tied his sneaker laces. It felt like if they didn’t try hard, they’d be buried in the back mountain.
“Alright, let’s go!”
And so the relay race began.
OnX’s lineup was Haram, Eden, Doha, Yunbeom, and the last runner Sehyun, in that order. By coincidence, in the lane right next to them was AVN wearing pink athletic uniforms.
‘Why am I getting nervous over something like this?’
He had trauma from field days when he was young. He hadn’t been good at running. Moreover, because of the nature of field days, families would come, so it was a day when he had no energy.
No matter how beautifully he danced the fan dance, there was no one to say it was pretty anyway. They say these days field days like that have mostly disappeared. He didn’t know why such depressing memories were suddenly coming to mind.
He was desperately trying to suppress his pounding heart when—bang!—he heard the starting gunshot. Startled, he looked at the starting line to see Haram shooting out swiftly. Having lightly taken off, he ran at a fast speed.
‘I can’t run as fast as him though…?’
Why is he so fast? He was shocked. Meanwhile, before he knew it, Eden, who had received the baton from Haram, was running nimbly.
Thump thump thump. Was this more nerve-wracking than being on stage?
His heart was churning. He tensed his body and swallowed dry saliva, when Eden passed the baton to the third runner first.
“Ugh!”
Feeling the texture of plastic wrapping around his hand, Doha squeezed his eyes shut and ran with all his might. They were winning in first place for once, but if he got overtaken because of himself, he didn’t know what kind of personality attack he’d receive from Lim Sehyun!
Doha ran for dear life.
His mind was Usain Bolt but his body was a newborn giraffe. It felt like his lungs would tear.
‘Run, run, move faster!’
As he was running, urging his own legs… the moment he turned the corner, his feet tangled and his body swayed. He didn’t fall, but his speed dropped significantly.
“Oops!”
Meanwhile, members from other groups in the adjacent lanes swiftly passed by Doha.
“Ah ah…!”
Fucked! Emergency! Emergency!
Doha snapped to his senses and started running again. It felt like his heart would jump out of his throat.
“Ah, seriously!”
Yunbeom, who had been waiting to receive the baton, hit his chest as if frustrated. Doha was panting as he barely managed to shove the baton into Yunbeom’s hand.
“Catch them! Catch up!”
Yunbeom, who had snatched the baton, started sprinting like crazy. It was explosive speed befitting a physical monster. The gap that had opened instantly narrowed. Yunbeom passed competitors one by one and stuck close right behind the back of AVN’s 4th runner who was running in first place.
“Huff, huff…”
Gasping for breath, Doha watched the final runners’ competition.
It was a close match between OnX and AVN. Of all people, the opponent was yellow-haired Jo Taejin. If they lost this, Sehyun would probably jump into the Han River. This was really a fight they couldn’t afford to lose…!
His palms were drenched with sweat.
And so, with a thrilling 20 meters remaining in the end…
“Sehyun-ah!”
“Lim Sehyun!”
At that moment, Sehyun was suddenly pushed to the side and rolled on the track. It was a sudden accident.
The members ran toward Sehyun.
* * *
“Ah.”
A short groan burst from Sehyun’s mouth. Inside the ambulance that had been on standby, Sehyun sat perched on a portable bed with his pant leg rolled up above his knee.
“It’ll sting. Please bear with it a little.”
The paramedic applied disinfectant over the reddened scraped knee. White foam formed and covered the wound beading with blood. The process of wiping it clean seemed quite painful, perhaps because dirt had gotten in.
“Sss…”
Sehyun was the one in pain, but Doha turned his head as if he couldn’t bear to watch.
“Is there anything wrong with the bone?”
“No. Fortunately it’s not a fracture, just simple bruising and abrasions. But it seems the muscle got shocked when you fell. Don’t move too strenuously for a few days. And apply hot compresses well.”
At the paramedic’s words, Doha let out a sigh of relief. What a huge relief. It was a miracle that this was all that happened when he rolled and bounced at that speed.
“Thank you.”
When Doha bowed in greeting, the paramedic finished up and moved aside. With the ambulance back doors left open, only the two of them remained. The other members were still filming the closing scenes. Doha should have gone with them, but he stayed behind on purpose to use this excuse to disappear from in front of the cameras for a bit.
Sehyun was looking down at his gauze-covered knee.
“That bastard, he bumped into me on purpose.”
“That yellow-haired guy?”
“Yeah.”
Sehyun was quite composed as he said this. As if he’d even expected it.
“His face looked exactly mean-spirited and trashy. Ah, the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get.”
“Then shouldn’t you tell the production staff?”
“Why would I tell them something like that? Making a fuss over this would be a loss for us too.”
“How can you say that? Someone got hurt.”
“That’s how variety shows are. If you get hurt, it’s your own loss.”
Doha took out the cold compress pack the paramedic had left.
“Here, put this on.”
“Ah, it’s cold.”
When Doha pressed the pack firmly against Sehyun’s thigh, Sehyun’s body flinched. It seemed his waist and thigh muscles got shocked when he fell.
“Ah, I should’ve knocked AVN down a peg.”
“They’re receiving their prize all excited about being first place.”
“That pisses me off too.”
Sehyun stuck out his lips. Normally Doha would have cursed him for being immature, but today that expression seemed pitiful.
This kid gets sick to his stomach if he can’t win at anything. You’re going to cheat against a kid like this? Huh?
‘Jo Taejin, that punk bastard.’
Doha ground his teeth thinking of the yellow-haired guy who would be giggling gleefully on the other side of the field.
“It’s so frustrating. Really.”
In this situation, the one more upset was Doha.
“Everyone must have seen it. I’m sure they know they should be embarrassed.”
“Once the video is uploaded, I need to leave hate comments right away.”
At Doha’s response, Sehyun laughed.
“You’re even getting angry on my behalf, that’s nice.”
“What are you laughing about when you’re hurt? Are you crazy?”
When Doha frowned, Sehyun laughed even harder, as if something really was wrong with his head.
“Ah, it’s throbbing.”
“Just stay still. Your muscle got shocked.”
Sehyun made a groaning sound as he tried to move his leg. Doha restrained him while readjusting the compress pack. Naturally, Doha’s hand came to rest on Sehyun’s thigh.
Sehyun stared down at the crown of Doha’s head as he took care of his leg. Eyes full of worry, meticulous hands. This was a scene he couldn’t have imagined before regressing.
They didn’t have bad feelings toward each other, but as they worked together, various rifts formed and they gradually grew distant. He’d thought it was a love-hate relationship or something. Thinking about it, he realized love-hate also requires love.
Seeing how he looked pretty when he tried to see him favorably.
‘Not bad.’
Getting hurt was annoying, but receiving this kind of treatment was quite nice. Sehyun stealthily leaned his upper body and rested his head on Doha’s shoulder.
“Hey, you’re heavy.”
“I’m a patient. Cut me some slack.”
“Your head isn’t hurt.”
“My heart is hurt. My heart.”
Shameless bastard. Doha grumbled but didn’t push Sehyun’s head away.
“Anyway, how should I mess up that bastard?”
Sehyun’s voice became low again. While leaning on Doha’s shoulder, his gaze was directed toward AVN’s tent visible in the distance.
“Leave him alone. There’s a reason for the saying ‘what goes around comes around.'”
“I always get my revenge.”
At Sehyun’s words, Doha’s body flinched.
‘Why did I get scared?’
Mental note: refrain from doing things that would warrant revenge from Lim Sehyun.
The two silently stared outside. Under the clear sky, the team-building event continued.
* * *
Before they knew it, the team-building event was approaching its climax. The long-awaited final game was the ‘flour transfer,’ a classic and the flower of variety shows. That game where you hold paper in your mouth and transfer flour to the person next to you—extremely simple but with tremendous visual destructiveness.
“Now, five people from each team will participate in this game!”
Yungyeom grabbed the microphone and shouted.
“OnX has an injured person, how about I join in instead?”
As if it had been discussed with the production staff, Yungyeom made a proposal to OnX.
“That’s alright, sunbae-nim.”
However, Sehyun firmly declined that proposal.
“Since it’s our team’s match, I want to do it.”
Perhaps because he was in front of the camera, Sehyun politely declined while showing a proper smile. Though who knew what he was thinking inside. At that, Yungyeom made a show of drooping his shoulders as if disappointed. Both of them were detestable in front of the camera.
“Haa…”
Doha let out a deep sigh. Just a moment ago he’d only been thinking about peacefully slacking off in the ambulance, but now he’d suddenly found himself in danger of being covered in flour.
“Hyung, you can do well, right?”
At Sehyun’s question, Doha shook his head. No, he couldn’t do well. He was already finding it funny. His shoulders were shaking.
“I’m a man who can’t hold back laughter.”
“A cheerful man.”
At Sehyun’s words, Doha glared at him.
