episode_0057

“Why are you really doing this to me!? Could it be that it was because he persistently encouraged me to join the club?!”

“…….”

“Ma, you have to say it to understand!! We are intellectuals! Let’s say it in words!!!”

First of all, as I said before, Laon High School is quite spacious. Considering that it is a campus as large as any national university, and considering the additional facilities available for various clubs, the area was enormous.

Of course, the larger the scale, the more likely there are places with fewer people. Fortunately, the area near the reading room was deserted outside of exam period, and thanks to that, I was able to safely(?) play tag with Oh Yoon-ah.

“If caught, you will die.”

“So, why on earth!!”

“Do you think there is time to talk? Okay, speed up.”

“Aaaahaaahhh!!!”

Because Oh Yoon-ah kept asking questions without even taking a breath, she geared up even more and started chasing the Raon Middle School idol. Still, since she was a girl, I was watching her while she was running, but since she was a former athlete on the track and field team, she didn’t seem to need much attention.

“Sigh.. Sigh…! Absolutely.. the worst…!!”

Oh Yoon-ah started spewing out dissatisfied words as if to make me listen, but she didn’t actually slow down.

In fact, once the pace was established, the two seemed to enjoy the act of running itself. It was a sunny day transitioning from spring to summer, and the temperature was quite cool as the red sunset was setting.

Perfect weather for exercising outside. We repeatedly moved our legs in silence, sweating at each other. 10 minutes. 20 minutes. As time piled up like that, we just continued marching without a destination, forgetting even the reason for starting.

“Heo-eok… Heo-eok… Hee-eok…”

But the problem was me. Maybe it was because I underestimated the physical strength of the former track and field athlete, but I tried to match his pace and ended up falling first. Still, before I quit playing, I was at the ace level, so how could I possibly be bluffing and telling myself to run away?

‘Why are you giving up when you’re running so well?’

Deciding that I couldn’t go any further, I collapsed onto the nearby grass. Sweat pouring down like rain obscured my vision, and the heat rising from my body and my breath as if I wanted to vomit tormented me every moment.

But the feeling was strangely refreshing. The cool wind blows and dries the sweat. The smell of grass tickles your nose. Even though I can’t move right now, it doesn’t feel heavy at all.

At this moment, I was able to understand the feelings of people who feel happy about running.

“Are you okay, senior?”

“Huh… Huh… Does this… look okay now…?”

“No? Looking at your face, you look like you’re going to die at any moment.”

Although not as strong as me, Oh Yoon-ah was coming to my side, out of breath. Still, seeing as he still seemed to have plenty of time, he was definitely a player. I heard that he was a sprinter, but despite this, his physical strength seemed to be at a level that the average person could never reach.

I felt slightly ashamed of myself in the past, who had been bragging and asked to run. Still, I thought I could somehow catch up with Lee Ji-woon’s body, but even so, it seemed like I couldn’t overpower him in the professional field.

Well, if that had happened, he would have gone into the athletes’ village and aimed for an Olympic gold medal instead of staying like this. A miraculous situation has been created where studying is actually a loss.

“…Did you hear this from Hong Seol?”

Oh Yoon-ah quietly sits next to me. Oh Yoon-ah, with her butt in the grass, had a serious expression on her face that you don’t usually see.

It seemed as if he was forcing himself to remember memories he didn’t want to remember. A slightly distorted face. How long did it take for the pain, which felt like death at the time, to fade over time?

I have never had a hobby that intentionally brings back unpleasant memories to others. Bringing up painful memories is a constant moment of pain, and it will have a negative impact even on me who sees it.

but.

“I heard everything. Everything.”

I didn’t want to back down. I was still breathing hard and my body was hot, but I had no intention of backing out of this conversation.

Was it for Oh Yoon-ah? No, this was for me. If I let her go on like this, I felt like that guilt would tighten my throat.

At least I already knew the pain that Oh Yoon-ah would experience in the future.

“I told my sister, but I will never do track and field again. So no matter how senior you are, more than that…”

“Why won’t you do it?”

“…I heard everything. It’s been a year since I took a break due to an injury, and another year has passed since I quit. For a youth player, a gap of two years is the same as retirement?”

“But you’re still young.”

“You think kids younger than me are playing better now? Even if you try, it will be difficult to expect the same results as before, and it will take a long time to pull yourself up. My senior says he doesn’t know much, but I’ve come too far to go back!!”

“So, you don’t like running?”

Oh Yoon-ah, who was excited and talking randomly, pursed her mouth as if she was out of breath at my question. Some words keep hitting his uvula, but he looks like he’s desperately trying to suppress them. However, I already knew the meaning of the words I was suppressing.

“I like running. You still love running so much.”

“….What does your senior know? On a subject that knows nothing about me.”

“When I chased after him like he was killing me, if he didn’t want to run, he would have run to the teacher’s office or a crowded place instead of this walking trail. You didn’t have to come this far, and you didn’t have to run and endure such difficult hardships. Taking me away would have been so easy if I had used someone else.”

“…….”

It is true that the reading room was deserted outside of exam period, but that did not mean there were no people around. If you walk for just a few minutes, you will come to a large road where the shuttle bus passes.

Therefore, there was no need for Oh Yoon-ah to play tag with me. If you didn’t want to run, you could just run away to a place with lots of people. I’m not some kind of psychopath, so I can’t chase people to death.

But, that still didn’t happen.

“I guess I still really like running.”

“…….”

Oh Yoon-ah looked like she didn’t know what to do, but then hugged her knees tightly with both arms. Naturally, her head lowered and her back shook slightly, and when I realized what it meant, I just waited until she could calm down.

“…..I was scared.”

“What.”

“The past was always number one and always received the expectations of many people. Hyunjae got injured and everything fell apart. And, in the future, there will be no such thing as the old me that people expected.”

“……”

“Now, I wonder what it would have been like if I were just another player? Then, would he have continued to run instead of retiring? In fact, I wonder if everyone’s attention might have been poisonous…”

“Whew.. are you stupid?”

Feeling frustrated, I immediately raised my upper body and looked at Oh Yoon-ah. The girl’s head turned to look at me without realizing it because of the provocative words. A distance where sincerity can reach. Intuitively, I felt the distance between me and Oh Yoon-ah.

“You just want to run. Why do you need other people’s eyes there?”

“Well, that is! Because my senior doesn’t know this place well…!”

“Yeah, I don’t know. But I have no idea what your desire to run has to do with how the public views you. Don’t you just like running? Running itself has no meaning unless you come in first place, do you??”

“Well, that’s absolutely not the case!”

“Then just run. Why are you hesitating? Whether people look at you pitifully or sharply has nothing to do with you. People who like running and are talented at it say they want to run track and field, but who on earth has the right to interfere with that?”

“……..”

“If there is a bastard who says that, bring it to me. Because I’m really going to kill everyone half.”

As I spoke sincerely, showing off my clenched fists, it was Oh Yoon-ah who was staring at me with a blank expression on her face. When I spit it out, I thought it was a bit of a cringe-inducing statement, but isn’t it true? This level of action would be expected at RUBCO. …maybe.

The awkward silence that permeates the unseasonable walkway. Oh Yoon-ah just stared at me blankly for dozens of seconds. An expression too complex to read emotions. It was around this time that I started to feel worried that maybe I had said something too harsh.

“…peep.”

Fortunately, the self-proclaimed idol’s expression was slowly showing a smile. Eyes that slant like a crescent moon. The corners of the mouth rise nicely. The laughter that had been leaking out like a deflated balloon soon began to overflow to the point where it was embarrassing to say it was leaking.

“Ahahaha!! Senior, do you know what was really cringy just now?? I’m a total squid now. I think someone needs to open my hands!!”

“This person is talking seriously, can you please give me a side? Do you want to die first?”

“Wow, what should I do about this funny thing.. Hahaha!! Ah… It’s been a while since I laughed. It took away my tears, really…”

Oh Yoon-ah, who burst into laughter to the point of shedding tears, soon stood up vigorously. As I looked at her quietly, Oh Yoon-ah finally smiled brightly as she held out her hand to me.

“You ignited a fire in my heart, so now take responsibility until the end! No pulling back??”

The idol-style wink I saw for the first time in a while was a bonus. At first glance, it seems like a flirtatious phrase, but I understand its hidden meaning very clearly.

“It’s nice to see that you understand what I’m saying now.”

I touched Oh Yoon-ah’s delicate fingers with my hand. Of course, there was a significant difference in weight, so during the process of getting up, Oh Yoon-ah ended up coming with me. If I hadn’t caught it, it could have ended up in my arms.

“Wow, you really are incredibly strong. Useless.”

“It’s all useful.”

“Hmm.. Are you seducing a woman with force? Does that work these days too?”

“…I don’t use it that way, of course.”

They don’t look at me like some kind of stone from the Joseon Dynasty. When I asked her that question, Oh Yoon-ah just glanced at me with an interesting look on her face while resting her index finger on her chin.

“Hmm… But it seems like you’re pretty good at seducing people, right?”

“What does that mean?”

“Hihi, secret.”

“Why do these women have so many secrets? Won.”

As we talked, my body got cold and my sweat dried up. Because it was getting bitterly cold, we had to move back to the reading room. At first, I ran like I was going to kill him, but now that I was standing and walking facing him, it felt a little awkward.

What happens now? If Oh Yoon-ah changed her mind because of my words, she would definitely leave the soccer club.

Of course, unfortunately, she was showing interest in me rather than Yoon Dong-gun, so it didn’t really matter at the moment. However, wouldn’t that be denying even the 1% possibility of being connected to Yoon Dong-gun? Still, you never know what happens to people.

‘Well… is that enough now?’

If you think about it that way, there was a possibility that Oh Yoon-ah would meet another good relationship after returning to the track and field team. It’s a club with an even mix of men and women, and doesn’t it also have camp training during the sports season? If you work together, you will inevitably end up missing something, so I have no doubt that you will find a partner on your own.

and.

‘…Was his smile this pretty?’

Oh Yoon-ah’s face, smiling reassuringly as if she had thrown off all her burdens, was shining even more brilliantly than usual.

Yes, I’m happy like that, so I guess that’s okay. No matter how I thought about it, it was wrong for my selfishness to cast a shadow over that face.

Anyway, it’s really pretty. Why does this guy keep drawing my attention because he’s so needlessly pretty?

“Oh, but you know.”

“Yes, senior?”

“Actually, I did the persuasion, but I am always responsible for the mistakes. You know?”

“Profit…!! You’re so mean, senior!!!”

“Hey, hey! This thing suddenly started punching…”

It was Oh Yoon-ah who started swinging her fists boldly, as if she was really angry. Still, she was quite a heroine and her power was powerful. Is this something that Yeji Lee should be nervous about?

“I told you there was no going back!! I’m responsible!!!”

“Hey, be quiet. If anyone hears it, they will misunderstand.”

“Oh, I don’t know!!! Please take responsibility for me!!!!!”

For a while, Oh Yoon-ah’s shouting was the only thing that filled the empty, deserted promenade.