Chapter 25 (2/2)

“Including your name, I suppose.”

O Shin looked at him with surprise, but he just unconcernedly snapped his popsicle stick and threw it to the box under the bleachers. He could see his classmates coming back from far. The stick hit the box and bounced off. He stood up with a sigh, but O Shin grabbed him.

“Since when?”

He looked very confused. Myohan had never seen him confused. He looked into his eyes and put a hand on his head. Then he started to stroke the hair, much like how the man liked to do so to him.

“Since the beginning.”

Myohan had never called him O Shin. Not once. He realized that simple fact only then and let go of Myohan. He jumped down the bleachers, picked up the stick, and put it in the box. When he looked up, O Shin had buried his face in his huge hands.

The final game of soccer took place right after the tug-of-war. Myohan’s class had been triumphant so far, but then they encountered Class 2 in the finals. They were determined to make up for their loss at dodgeball, and in the end, Myohan’s class lost, 1:3. O Shin had lost his focus and kept making mistakes, which was another reason for their loss. Listening to Sinsul argue with Seonhan, Class 2’s president, Myohan looked around for Jagyeom. O Shin was now at his side.

“Lee Jagyeom!”

Jagyeom had just finished a three-legged race and was undoing the strap. He looked up after he was called. He saw Myohan coming to him and complained.

“Oh, did you really have to surprise me like that?”

Really, he was always chittering.

“Remember what I told you earlier?”

Myohan helped him undo the strap and it went down. Jagyeom nodded.

“I know, but I don’t feel really comfortable around him. Can’t you make Sajun do it?”

“Do you think it would work?”

“No…”

Jagyeom thought of Sajun and shuddered. The teachers were sending back students to their classes’ designated spaces. Myohan told Jagyeom to do his best, stood up, and looked around. As Jagyeom was in Class 5, Myo Cheong and Jino had to be nearby. Soon, he spotted Jino stretching his calves.

“O Myohan, you should get ready!”

He could hear Yuja calling him. The midday heat was going away. It was time for the relay race.

With the sound of a whistle, the first runners ran out. Thunderous roars went up from the bleachers. Six out of ten classes had failed to pass the preliminaries, and there were only four classes left, including Myohan’s, Jino’s, and Class 2. The student who had given Myohan some fierce throws was now next to him, getting ready.

“So you’ve done enough practicing?” Myohan asked Jino. He looked back at him. He seemed to be eager to say something. His twinkling eyes showed more of joy than hostility, which confused Myohan. Jino didn’t have any reason to be glad to see him.

“Yeah.”

Contrary to his look, he gave a cold answer. Myohan shrugged, thinking it must have been his illusion, and looked at the bleachers. Sinsul, Yuja, Chookjae, and Sajun were there, but Jagyeom wasn’t.

The first runners came in. Second runners started and O Shin, who was Class 1’s first runner, stood at the line. Myohan’s class was in the lead. Jino’s class’s runner was right behind, but still, Class 1 had the lead. Myohan thought that wasn’t good, but then O Shin took the baton and went off.

He was extremely fast. Now Class 6’s runner was way behind him. if he had been the last runner, Class 1 would have won fair and square. Myohan thought so. He stood next to Jino and asked, “Do you know why they put blinkers on race horses?”

Jino couldn’t answer that question since Myohan took the baton and started to run. But Jino caught up with him in no time.