It was before the final race. Soyoo came over to us and went to Jungyoon in Lane 1. He looked completely different from when he ignored those other female idols. Like, completely opposite. He stood in front of Jungyoon with a simpering smile.
“Hello, Jungyoon,” Soyoo said with a bright smile.
“Hi,” Jungyoon said with a smile of her own. She looked very confident and relaxed.
“You were the winner of last year’s track race. Are you confident that you will win again this year?”
“Of course,” Jungyoon replied. The fans then cheered.
“You sure sound confident. I look forward to watching you race!”
At that, all the fans of Ladies’ Generation cheered once more, while the Lovely Girlz’s fans booed.
“Thanks. But is that really all?” Jungyoon said with her a smirk, though her eyes looked anything but good-natured.
“I’m sure you will win,” Soyoo said. He knew exactly what Jungyoon wanted to hear, and the audience went crazy at those words. After talking to her a bit more, Soyoo came to me, but after only staring at me for a few seconds, he went on to the next contestant.
‘Bastard,’ I thought to myself. He only interviewed the three Ladies’ Generation members and ignored us from Lovely Girlz. I wonder if being rude and disrespectful was part of his whole concept.
‘I’m going to have to teach him a lesson.’
I prayed that time would come soon.
“Now we will begin the final round of the track & field race!” Soyoo shouted.
The crowd roared. The contestants all got into position. Just then, Jessican ran over to me and, on the pretense of retying my shoelaces for me, grabbed both my legs. She then let go immediately and ran back to her place, smirking at me from her lane, looking smug. So, I smirked back at her, but I could feel the numbness spreading.
‘Oh, boy, here we go.’
It really is rather impressive. To think there is someone who actually has this sort of skills. People with powers really do deserve a certain level of respect. Too bad, I don’t care.
Soyoo held up the foghorn, shouting, “Now! On the count of three! One! Two!”
Bzzzzzz!
The foghorn blasted and we all began to run. Unfortunately, since my legs were paralyzed, I couldn’t run. Instead, I fell over. Jessican smiled at the sight of me on the ground and began to run. For a while, I remained on the ground, unable to get up. The fans all shouted concerns at me, trying to encourage me to get up, but it wasn’t over yet.
“Hehe.”
With a sly smirk, I used my powers to release the paralysis in my legs. Then, I ran.
***
Whoosh!
That was the sound of me cutting through the air as I ran. Jungyoon was already way up front but by the time she’d ran 50 meters, I had already passed Mina who was 5th. That’s right – 5th. Because at the moment, Yoo-jin and Jia were right on Jungyoon’s tail at 2nd and 3rd place respectively. It was truly impressive. I had no idea that they would be this good. Anyways, by the time Jungyoon had ran 70 meters, I had surpassed Jessican in 4th. Jessican turned to look and the moment she saw me running, her jaw dropped.
“What the hell?” she shouted.
I couldn’t blame her. As far as she knew, she had definitely, without a doubt, paralyzed my legs. That’s why I fell over. So the fact that I was able to run after all would be shocking enough. I gave her a big smile and she, in her shocked state, lost her breath and wasn’t able to stay running. I, on the other hand, kept going and was right behind Jungyoon who was in 3rd…huh, wait a second. Since when was she 3rd? That’s when I noticed that Yoo-jin was now in 1st with Jia right behind her. Wow. Unbelievable…anyways, I ran right next to Jungyoon who turned to look at me. I looked back and gave her a wink before I passed her. And like that, I was in 3rd. Now there were 18 meters left to the finish line. Yoo-jin only had 10 left and while Jia was a mere 50 centimeters behind her. That’s when I began to think. Should I just pass them and get 1st place? There’s really no need, is there? We’re on the same team anyways. It doesn’t matter which one of us gets 1st place because the prize is ours anyway. So in the end, I gave up and allowed Yoo-jin to pass the finish line 1st with Jia right behind her. I came in at 3rd, sealing our victory and successfully beating out Ladies’ Generation.
***
After the Idol Games.
“Oh my god!”
That was me. I never thought I’d be the type to say such words in such a voice. But right now, I was so happy. I had the hanwoo set in my left hand and restaurant vouchers in my right. Today was a good day.
“Now just one more left.”
I looked over to where the archery prize was being displayed: a 6-month all-you-can-eat voucher for the SBA Broadcast Station Food Court. Six months. For the next six months, I get to eat there for free. Oh, boy. SBA was so going to regret this.
“Sian, let’s try to win that too,” Yoo-jin said as she stretched out her shoulder. Yoo-jin, who had just won 1st place in track & field. Binding her chest had actually made her 1.5% faster. But wow, I was really impressed by the other members. They were really fit. So far, we’ve won both games, taking gold in both swimming and track. If we get gold for archery, then we’ll get a sweeping victory.
“But to be honest, I didn’t expect you guys to be that good at running,” I confessed.
Yoo-jin and Jia shared a knowing smile.
I used to be a track athlete in high school.”
“Really?”
That’s why Yoo-jin was so good. I should’ve known when she said she didn’t need bindings.
“Me too,” Jia piped in.
“Seriously?”
With a body like that, it’s not that hard to believe. Wait, so Yoo-young and Ji-hyun were both swimmers, and Jia and Yoo-jin were both athletes. Wow, we had this in the bag from the start. Then what about Hainan? I turned to her with a smile.
“So, Hainan, were you an archer at all?”
“Yeah. I trained up until I started high school.”
“Wow.”
Would you look at that?
We spent some time chatting while the staff set up the targets. Soon, it was time for our lunch break and we were all given bentos to eat.
“Is there more?” I asked.
What? The bentos were so small. They didn’t expect me to be satisfied with just this, did they? Disappointing.
“Here, Sian. You can have mine too,” Hainan said, handing over her bento, but I refused to take it. Even if I wanted more, it wouldn’t be right to take one from a friend.
“No way. I can’t eat yours,” I said, graciously rejecting Hainan’s bento.
“It’s okay. I’m not feeling too good so I can’t eat it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s almost time for the archery match. I’m so nervous.”
“Still, you should eat. You need the energy.”
“Nuh-uh. I can’t eat when I’m nervous. If I do, my face gets blotchy.”
“Sigh…we can’t have that.”
So, I took Hainan’s bento. I know it’s not right, but Hainan herself said she couldn’t eat it. It’d be a waste to just throw it away. Throwing away perfectly good food is the absolute worst sin a person could commit.
“Sian, do you think we can win?”
“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry,” I said, giving Hainan a pat on her head. Then, I dug into her bento. I don’t know whether it was because it was originally someone else’s, but it was more filling and more delicious than mine.
***
After lunch, I went to the bathroom. I sort of needed to go number two. But of course, I had to run into Jessican.
“Hey, Sir Rank.”
Jessican narrowed her eyes at me when I said that. I shrugged. Normally, I’d pull her hair out, but since she’s pretty, I’ll let it go this once.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t your legs get paralyzed earlier?” Jessican asked, looking at my legs. She was clearly still thinking about what had happened earlier.
“They did.”
“Then how were you able to use them?” Jessican said. Demanded, more like.
“You really want to know?” I said with a smirk.
Jessican’s entire face contorted with rage.
“Hurry up and tell me! I need to know!”
She really did sound desperate. I then stuck my hand out.
“Here. Paralyze me again.”
“Okay.”
Jessican took my hand and it instantly became numb. She gave me a victorious smile, but almost immediately, I used my powers to loosen up the paralysis and moved my fingers. The smile was wiped off her face.
“What?”
“See.”
“H-how…”
“That’s my secret.”
With a big smile, I passed Jessican and continued on my way. And again, I bumped into someone. This time, it was Jungyoon. The one who had won gold at last year’s track race, but this year, she had come in 4th.
“Hi, Jungyoon.”
“Oh, hey,” Jungyoon said rather shortly. Looking at her face, I could tell that she was mad.
“Good job today.”
“Yeah. You too.”
“Thanks, but you don’t look very happy.”
“Would you be?”
“Guess not. Well. Bye then.”
With a small bow, I passed her and finally entered the bathroom. Unfortunately, the third time, my path was blocked. This time, by Hye-jeong.
“Hey, Sian.”
“Yeah, Hye-jeong.”
“You’re pretty good,” Hye-jeong said, giving me a light punch on the shoulder.
“You saw?”
“Of course. Both races. You’re a decent athlete,” Hye-jeong finished, giving me the middle finger. I initially thought she was trying to insult me, but then I recalled our 24-Hour Jungle shoot. When we met the Samaran villagers. To them, giving someone the middle finger is a sign of respect…so I gratefully gave Hye-jeong the middle finger as well.
“We just got lucky, but your members look pretty mad.”
“Yeah. They are,” Hye-jeong said with a nod. She added, “They hate you a lot.”
“I figured. My ears were tingling.”
No, seriously. They were.
“Anyways, see you at archery. I doubt you’ll win that one too, though.”
“Didn’t you see me use the slingshot during Jungle?”
“Oh.”
Now, she looked nervous.
“Well, see you later Hye-jeong,” I said with a wave.
“Hey, Sian,” Hye-jeong said all of a sudden.
“Yeah?”
“Can we hold hands for a second?”
“Huh?”
Hold hands? What did she mean? Didn’t she say that she wasn’t a lesbian?
“Just give me your hand.”
“Uh, okay.”
I took Hye-jeong’s hand. A big smile spread across her face.
“You sure you’re not a lesbian?”
“I said I’m not,” Hye-jeong snapped. “It’s just…I feel better when I hold hands with you.”
“Yeah? Well, I have to go number two. So either let go or come into the stall with me.”
“Crazy bitch,” Hye-jeong said, shaking off my hand immediately.
Then she said, “See you later, Sian.”
“Yep.”
With that, Hye-jeong left and I was free to take a stall. Sheesh, going to the bathroom was hard.
