207 – Opening of the Sports Festival
As I worked as a coordinator for the Sports Festival while simultaneously studying, exercising, and secretary of the student council, the remaining time passed in the blink of an eye.
The day of the sports meet finally arrived.
Pipbi Big! Beep Big! Beep Big!
Woke up to the familiar sound of the alarm, rubbing my sleepy eyes and getting up.
Am-
And then, yawning, I pick up the sweatpants I hung on top of the chair.
Crush! Rustle!
The current time is 4 am.
The weather is clear.
After turning off the alarm that kept ringing and checking the weather and time on the main screen of my cell phone, I quietly got out of the house after recovering.
‘The weather is quite cold.’
It seems like just yesterday that I became a sophomore while viewing cherry blossoms in April, but it is already the end of October.
It was mid-fall, so when I jogged in the early morning, it felt quite chilly.
Hook! Hook!
As I was running along the river bank near my house, breathing regularly, a familiar sign approached me.
“Brother!”
“Are you here?”
The identity was Kaz, a colleague at the gym.
I slowed down my running speed a bit and started running side by side with Kazu.
“Something has changed in style?”
Then Kazu said happily.
“hehehe! Do you recognize me? I changed my hairstyle with a big heart!”
Originally, Kazu had the old-fashioned Regent’s hair, but now it has become a normal half-shaved hair.
… If I dye something red, I feel like I’ll be good at basketball.
I gave a compliment while thinking that to myself.
“It suits you well.”
“Thank you!”
After exchanging hellos like that, me and Kazu ran side by side to the Citizens Park.
While we were doing a light warm-up and bare-handed exercise, Kazu said as if he remembered it belatedly.
“Come to think of it, when does your school have a festival?”
“Us? Maybe mid-November.”
“Ah, that’s a relief. If you have time, please come and visit our school festival.”
While saying that, what Kaz held out was an invitation to the cultural festival.
I stared at the invitation he gave me, then shook my head.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll take this.”
“Yes?! Why is that?! Did I do something wrong to you?!”
“No, I didn’t make a mistake…”
As I said that, I pointed to the date of the festival written on the ticket.
“It’s a weekday, how can I go?”
You can’t skip school.
“Oh.”
Kazu’s expression was belatedly enlightened.
I let out a small sigh and asked Kaz to do some exercise.
***
After working out in the morning, I came back home, took a simple shower, and ate breakfast.
Originally, I would eat lonely by myself, but since we started living together, the president eats together every day.
“As expected, the curry my mother made is delicious.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Rather than that, which team did you say half of Yooseong-gun was on?”
“Oh, I’m on the white team. What about the president?”
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s the red team. This time, we’re competing against each other.”
“Please be gentle.”
“Isn’t that what I’m talking about? That’s it?”
After saying that, the chairman covered his mouth and laughed, then looked at me with a serious face.
“Rather than that, Yooseong-kun, there’s something I want to say. Will you listen?”
“Yes? Did you suddenly say something like that while eating?”
“It’s because it’s a story I want to tell when we’re alone.”
As he said that, the chairman put down his spoon and took a deep breath.
“I’m thinking about going home soon.”
“Home, you mean?”
“Yes. I can’t live in Yooseong’s house forever.”
As he said that, the chairman looked at me.
“Will you allow me?”
The moment I heard that question, all sorts of random thoughts popped into my head.
After a while, he finally regained his composure and asked.
“I don’t think it’s something I’m allowed to do. Deciding where the president will live is.”
“You’ve owed something to your father and mother. I thought it was rude to come and go as I pleased.”
“…Can I be honest with you?”
“Yes. As much as you like.”
I hesitated and said.
“I hope the president doesn’t go.”
“Do you want to hold on?”
I honestly nodded.
“Yes. But I can’t be stubborn, so I’ll have to let it go eventually.”
Perhaps this answer was satisfactory, the president said with a smile on his lips.
“Thank you for saying that. Thanks to you, I think I can shake off my lingering feelings.”
After listening to the president’s thanks, I asked carefully.
“So, what are you going to do when you get home?”
“I’m thinking of doing what I said last time.”
“If it’s what you said last time…?”
“It’s about taking control of the family. In the end, it’s a given that if I’m going to enjoy freedom in the true sense of the word, I’ll have to get out of my grandfather’s shadow. Only when I regain my status within the family can Shinji return to my side. “
And for that, I plan to do whatever it takes.
“…It will be a thorny road.”
The chairman nodded with a serious expression.
“It’s because I’ve already made up my mind. If Yooseong-gun hadn’t told me he would be with me, I probably wouldn’t have mustered up the courage.”
Would you support my choice?
I laughed unconsciously at the president’s question.
Because my answer was decided from the beginning.
“Of course. I’m the president’s boyfriend.”
From the time I decided to confess to the president, I had already made up my mind.
So there was nothing to be afraid of now.
“Thank you. Yuseong-kun. I’m happy that you are my boyfriend.”
The chairman, who sat across from me, smiled brightly as he said that.
***
From noble mtl dot com
After a hearty breakfast with the chairman, we went to school separately.
The chairman takes the family limousine, and I take the subway.
When I arrived at the school by taking the subway, which took about an hour including transfers, I saw an unusually decorated playground.
This is the result of the hard work of the organizers of the sports event, including myself, yesterday.
“Hello sir.”
“Yes.”
As the dean of students, I bowed my head to Yamada, who is guarding the front gate today, and was about to casually pass by. I suddenly remembered something, so I turned around and asked.
“Come to think of it, teacher, will teachers also participate in today’s athletic meet?”
“Some sports?”
“Then you’ll have a hard time.”
Because there are a lot of guys who are sharpening their knives on a regular basis.
After swallowing such gossip, I was about to head back to the classroom, but Yamada shouted with an uneasy expression.
“What is it! That significant statement!”
But I decided to pretend I didn’t hear.
You’ll find out when the time comes anyway.
***
Japanese sports festivals are basically not very different from Korean sports events.
Tug-of-war, group jumping rope, two-man triangle, gourd bursting, horse-riding, and more.
Having the characteristics of a semi-match match that properly mixes the tournament rules, the final score of the red team and the white team is added to determine the winner.
Since it was an event that everyone must have experienced at least once during their school days, there was no need to explain how to proceed.
“Let’s go to the Ichijo High School Sports Festival!”
Waaa!!
With students of all grades huddled together on the playground, firecrackers exploded in the sky with the headmaster’s powerful voice.
“Здо́рово!”
Sasha’s words of admiration, saying that such a large-scale sports event is her first experience.
I don’t know what it means because it’s Russian, but it probably means great.
Basically, because it feels good for all grades to work together at the sports meet, all the 1st and 3rd graders, who normally don’t have anything to see, were on the playground.
And like the other classmates, I was squatting on the floor, naturally exposed to all kinds of stares because I was tall.
“Yoo Seong-ah, are you popular today?”
“Shut up.”
I let out a small sigh after saying an annoyed word to Satoru, who smiled and teased me.
‘Well, this isn’t a zoo monkey.’
It feels like people are being treated as rare animals.
Unlike the second graders, who had a lot of contact, the first and third graders, who were from different classes, were staring at me as if they were curious.
Anyway, the first event of this athletic meet is the group skipping rope.
It’s an event that doesn’t mean anything if only one person is good at it, and I was the only one who was treated as a hole, as I was expected to physically shoot all kinds of exercises.
If you’re taller than others, whether you’re standing on the edge or in the middle, you’re easily caught in the line.
“Yoo Seong-ah, let’s go. It’s our turn.”
“…Yes.”
Class 2-B students rise from their seats all at once following the instruction of the teacher who is in charge of refereeing.
Satoru walks in the lead, Sasha follows after him, Rika hums her hum, and the class president pushes up her glasses.
Students in our class prepared for a group jump rope by standing on the rope.
“Then, thank you.”
“Yes.”
I received the line the class president gave me with a solemn expression.
Soon after exchanging signals with the teacher who served as the referee, I began to vigorously rotate my arms as soon as the whistle sounded.
Boom!
“Wow!”
Class 2-B.
I was eliminated from the group jumping rope preliminaries.