As I balanced academics, exercise, and my duties as the Student Council Secretary while also serving as a staff mber for the sports festival, ti flew by in the blink of an eye.
And finally, the day of the sports festival arrived.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Awakened by the familiar alarm, I rubbed my sleepy eyes and got out of bed.
Yaaawn.
Then, stretching with a yawn, I grabbed the training suit hanging over the chair.
Rustle! Rustle!
The current ti was 4 a.m.
The weather was clear.
After turning off the persistent alarm and checking the weather and ti on my phone’s main screen, I finished changing and quietly left the house.
‘The weather is pretty chilly.’
It felt like just yesterday that I beca a second-year student while watching the cherry blossoms in April, but now it was already late October.
Autumn had reached its midpoint, so it felt quite brisk when jogging in the early morning.
Huff! Huff!
As I jogged along the riverbank near my house, practicing regular deep breathing, a familiar presence approached.
“Brother!”
“You’re here.”
The person was Kazu, my gym buddy.
I slowed down slightly to run alongside Kazu and asked about his slightly different appearance.
“Did you change your style a bit?”
Kazu responded happily.
“Hehe! You noticed! I decided to change my hairstyle!”
Kazu originally sported an old-fashioned regent hairstyle, but now he had a simple buzz cut.
…He looks like he could be good at basketball if he dyed it red.
I thought to myself and complinted him.
“It suits you.”
“Thank you!”
After exchanging greetings, Kazu and I ran together to the public park.
As we did so light warm-up exercises, Kazu suddenly rembered sothing and spoke.
“By the way, when is your school’s festival?”
“Ours? Probably around mid-November.”
“Oh, that’s good. If you have ti, you should co to our school’s festival too.”
As he said that, Kazu handed an invitation to the cultural festival.
I stared at the invitation he handed for a mont, then shook my head.
“Sorry, but I don’t think I can accept this.”
“Huh?! Why not?! Did I do sothing wrong, Brother?!”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong…”
I said that as I pointed to the date written on the ticket.
“It’s a weekday. How can I go?”
I can’t skip school to go.
“Oh.”
Kazu had a look of belated realization.
I let out a small sigh and suggested we continue our workout.
After finishing my early morning workout, I returned ho, took a quick shower, and had breakfast.
Normally, I would eat alone, but ever since we started living together, the President had joined for every al.
“Your mother’s curry is really delicious.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
“By the way, which team did you say your class is on?”
“Oh, I’m on the white team. What about you, President?”
“Unfortunately, I’m on the red team. It looks like we’re rivals this ti.”
“Please go easy on us.”
“Isn’t that what I should be saying?”
The President laughed softly as she covered her mouth, but then she looked at seriously.
“But Yu-seong, there’s sothing I want to talk about. Will you listen?”
“Huh? Suddenly, while we’re eating?”
“It’s sothing I wanted to talk about when we were alone.”
The President set her spoon down and took a small breath before speaking.
“I’m thinking about returning ho soon.”
“Ho, you say?”
“Yes. I can’t keep living at your house forever.”
She said that as she looked at intently.
“Will you allow it?”
When I heard that question, countless thoughts flooded my mind.
Finally regaining my composure, I asked,
“I don’t think it’s sothing you need my permission for. Deciding where to live is your choice.”
“I’ve been imposing on your parents for a while now. I think it would be rude to co and go as I please.”
“…Can I speak honestly?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
I hesitated before speaking.
“I don’t want you to leave, President.”
“Do you want to hold back?”
I nodded honestly.
“Yes. But I can’t be stubborn, so I guess I have to let you go.”
The President smiled, seemingly satisfied with my answer, and said,
“Thank you for saying that. I think I can let go of any lingering regrets.”
After hearing her thanks, I carefully asked,
“So, what do you plan to do when you return ho?”
“I’m thinking of doing what I ntioned last ti.”
“What you ntioned last ti…?”
“Taking control of the family. Ultimately, if I want to truly be free, I need to step out of my grandfather’s shadow. I need to regain so standing within the family for Shinji to co back to . And I’m prepared to use any ans necessary to achieve that.”
“…It’s going to be a thorny path.”
The President nodded seriously with a determined expression.
“I’ve already made up my mind. I probably wouldn’t have had the courage if you hadn’t said you’d be with , Yu-seong. Will you support my decision?”
I couldn’t help but smile at her question.
My answer was determined from the start.
“Of course. I’m your boyfriend, after all.”
I had already prepared for this when I decided to confess to the President.
So there was no reason to be scared now.
“Thank you, Yu-seong. I’m happy you’re my boyfriend.”
The President, sitting across from , said that with a bright smile.
After our pleasant breakfast together, we headed to school separately.
The President took their family limousine, while I took the subway.
After about an hour on the subway, including transfers, I arrived at school and noticed the heavily decorated sports field, different from usual.
It was the result of the hard work that the sports festival staff, including myself, had put in during our breaks yesterday.
“Good morning, Teacher.”
“Morning.”
After bowing to Yamada, who was once again guarding the front gate as the student advisor, I was about to pass by when sothing occurred to , and I turned back to ask,
“By the way, Teacher, are the teachers participating in the sports festival today?”
“In so events.”
“Then it looks like you’ll have a tough ti.”
There are a lot of students who’ve been holding a grudge against you.
After holding back that thought, I was about to head back to the classroom when Yamada called out with an uneasy expression,
“What’s that ominous statent supposed to an?!”
But I decided to pretend I didn’t hear him.
He’ll find out soon enough anyway.
A Japanese sports festival isn’t all that different from a Korean one.
Tug-of-war, group jump rope, three-legged race, ball-busting, and cavalry battle, etc.
The festival features class vs. class competitions with a mix of tournant rules, and in the end, the scores of the red team and the white team are tallied to determine the winner.
Since it’s an event everyone experiences at least once during their school days, there was no need to explain how it works.
“We hereby declare the Ichijo Academy Sports Festival open~!”
Woooohooooo!!
As students from all grades gathered closely together on the sports field, fireworks exploded in the sky alongside the principal’s powerful voice.
“здорово!”
Sasha, who was experiencing such a large-scale sports festival for the first ti, exclaid in admiration.
I didn’t understand Russian, but it probably ant sothing like “amazing.”
The sports festival was essentially an event where all grades cooperate, so even first and third-year students, whom I rarely see, were out on the field.
Like the other students, I crouched on the ground, but my height made naturally stand out and attract attention.
“Yu-seong, you’re popular today.”
“Shut up.”
I snapped at Satoru, who was teasing with a grin, and let out a small sigh.
‘I feel like a zoo monkey or sothing.’
It felt like they were treating like so rare animal.
Unlike the second years, who I interacted with more often, the first and third years, who were in different circles, were looking at with curiosity.
Anyway, the first event of this sports festival was group jump rope.
It’s an event where one person’s skill doesn’t make much difference, and it’s the only event where I, expected to dominate with physical prowess, was considered a weak link.
With my towering height, whether I stood on the edge or in the middle, I was bound to get caught in the rope.
“Yu-seong, let’s go. It’s our class’s turn.”
“…Alright.”
The 2-B class students all stood up at the referee teacher’s signal.
Satoru led the way, followed by Sasha, while Rika humd a tune, and the Class President adjusted her glasses.
Our class lined up and prepared for the group jump rope.
“Well then, do your best.”
“Sure.”
I took the rope from the Class President, who had a determined look on her face.
After exchanging signals with the referee teacher, I began swinging my arms vigorously the mont the whistle blew.
Whoosh!
“Ah!”
Class 2-B.
Eliminated in the group jump rope preliminaries.
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