Chapter 303
The idols who advanced to the 60m dash finals gathered one by one on the track.
I, who achieved the fastest time among the players during the preliminaries, was assigned to the center lane, number 3.
Bae Min-seo, who followed right behind me, took the next lane, number 4.
"It's been a while, junior!"
"...? Oh, yes. It's been a while since I've seen you."
When I was silently turning my wrists and ankles, Bae Min-seo spoke to me first.
To be honest, I haven't interacted much with Connex even on official schedules, and he also had something to do with Chae Eun-gyu, so I tried not to greet him.
Unexpectedly, Bae Min-seo was the first to actively come forward.
Bae Min-seo smiled at me, putting his necklace under the neckline.
"This is the first time we've talked like this since
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Oh, and do you remember what I said back then? I said there's a handsome trainee in our agency."
"I remember."
One of the special benefits of winning first place in
While waiting in the waiting room to appear on a music show, Bae Min-seo, who was active at the time, had a short conversation with us under the pretense of saying hello to Chae Eun-gyu.
At that time, he told me in passing that there was an incredibly handsome trainee in his agency who was about to debut.
"I've talked to Owen a few times. We also practiced together in archery this time."
"You've become close already! You two seem to have a lot in common at first glance, and you're both foreigners, and you're both incredibly handsome. If you weren't close, I would have thought about making room for you, but I'm glad you're already close."
"Thank you for your consideration, senior."
As I kept my calm tone and thoroughly kept the line, Bae Min-seo smiled brightly.
"Come to think of it, how's Eun-gyu doing? I haven't heard from him lately. He doesn't read my messages at all, so I don't know how he is doing."
"...Hyung is always doing well."
"Oh, really? I'm so glad he is doing well. The members and I always worry about Eun-gyu. I guess he has let go of some of the burden on his mind since he debuted."
"....."
I didn't really react to Bae Min-seo's continued words.
I've felt this way since the first time I met him, but Bae Min-seo reminds me of Theodore Brandt, the master of socializing and politics who I had a constant battle with in
His unique way of speaking that gently scratches people, and his rudeness in bringing up sensitive topics while pretending to be innocent.
He's really something to behold.
"Let's introduce the athletes who made it to the finals of the men's 60m dash!"
The private conversation had to end here because so many cameras were moving around us in a flashy manner.
Thank goodness. If Bae Min-seo had kept talking, I might have instinctively and unconsciously hurled harsh words at my senior idol without even realizing it.
I nodded toward the camera that stopped in front of me and braced myself.
'I'm glad you said that. I can trample on you perfectly without feeling guilty.'
When the cameraman moved away from me, I naturally noticed the area where our members were sitting.
Everyone was standing up and cheering.
"Hyung, take all my strength!"
Is he looking straight at me?
I blinked briefly and looked at Yoo Min-ha, who was kneeling on the floor and waving both arms toward me.
It seems like he's giving me strength in his own way.
Well, it's a little embarrassing to keep looking at him, so I think it'd be better to avoid eye contact.
I moved my eyes to the side to avoid Yoo Min-ha and saw Chae Eun-gyu with eyes that were much more superior than usual.
A look that had both earnestness and anticipation.
I thought I knew without hearing it.
I don't know if it'll be visible here, but I nodded my head slightly toward Chae Eun-gyu.
'I'll definitely come back victorious.'
Everything was ready.
The idols standing next to me took deep breaths and bent their stances.
"Players, please get ready."
I planted both feet firmly on the starting blocks and began to concentrate.
I store up all my strength and slowly send that energy down to my lower body.
My toes are sensitive enough to start at any time.
My calves are tense enough to generate explosive speed.
"3, 2, 11"
The countdown begins.
I raise my head and fix my eyes on the white finish line in front of me.
I don't care about the sides.
I never look at others and break my pace.
"Sseueupp......"
At this moment when the tension in the stadium is at its peak.
I quietly inhaled and tensed the muscles in my entire body.
Thousands of eyes are focused on us.
To some, it may be a sense of pressure; to others, a sense of tension.
However, to me, this tension also becomes the driving force for my body to move.
-Baang!
As soon as the gunshot rang out, I leaped forward like a cheetah.
My ankles, which had been concentrating all my nerves, pushed my body forward with incredible reaction speed.
I took over that momentum and began to accelerate by pouring out the strength stored in my thigh and calf muscles.
"Waaaah!"
I could faintly hear the loud shouts ringing around me.
If it had been any other time, it would have been a tremendous sound that sent shivers down my spine.
At this moment, all I could hear was my breathing and the sound of my heartbeat.
As soon as I started, the presence of other idols next to me gradually got further away.
However, when I passed about 30m, I felt Bae Min-seo, who was still standing on my right, chasing me closely.
Still without breaking my concentration, I smiled.
'Can you really chase this further?'
I took a deep breath.
I felt the cells inside my body tremble.
It felt like the feeling of using mana in
Remember that old feeling.
The excitement of the battlefield when I held the holy sword Durandal and broke through the enemy lines in just a few seconds.
The courage when I rushed into the heart of the werewolf army without hesitation to save my surrounded allies.
The sense of responsibility I carried on my shoulders when I stood in the imperial square and faced the imperial people.
And the brutality of cutting off the Demon King's neck.
I will never give up.
The Crown Prince is the empire itself.
And now, I am a proud member of Seleste.
To lose here would be tantamount to tarnishing the honor of our team.
And above all, the person running hard next to me is the one who hurt my precious comrade.
'Run faster! Don't even think about catching up!'
The burning will made my legs push the ground even harder.
I gained more acceleration than before and began to gradually distance myself from the other idols.
I could faintly hear Bae Min-seo, who was breathing heavily next to me and trying his best to catch up, sighing as he looked at my back.
Hearing the enemy's will breaking, I smiled with satisfaction and raised my pitch even higher.
The last 10m left.
What did the commentators say earlier?
They said that it was ridiculous to come in with a record in the late 7s.
Then it would be human nature to completely destroy that idea.
Even though it was indoors, the wind hitting my face felt strong.
I didn't care about my hair fluttering freely, and I ran with all my heart, gritting my teeth.
The white finish line that I had fixed my eyes on from the beginning to the end was getting closer.
Now, I couldn't hear any sounds around me at all.
Maybe because I was only focused on moving my legs faster, everything else seemed to flow slowly.
I squeezed out all my strength until the end and sprinted almost as if I was throwing myself in front of the finish line.
The white line wrapped around my waist, and without slowing down even once, I crashed into the wall covered with thick cushions with a huge noise.
I didn't feel any pain at all because they had prepared safety measures well in advance.
My mind seemed to come back to reality with the sound of my body hitting the cushion.
"Waaaaaaaaaah!"
The moment I crossed the finish line, the indoor gym was filled with huge cheers.
It felt even stronger than the cheers I had heard so far.
I gasped and turned around to check the scoreboard.
"Hyeoooooooo!"
"Karis! Hey, I really believed it!"
"Hyung! Hyung! 6.73! 6.73!"
The members who ran towards me in one stride surrounded me in an instant and beat my whole body.
Through the crazy noise, I barely managed to check the time on the scoreboard.
[1st place: Karis - 6.73]
[2nd place: Bae Minseo - 7.79]
[3rd place: .......]
The commentators said that it would be great if they could just get in under 7 seconds.
Bae Min-seo, who came in 2nd, actually had a great record.
However, he couldn't beat me, who gave it my all.
Didn't I promise earlier?
I wouldn't just win, I'd completely trample on them.
I finally smiled broadly as I looked at my own record of 6.73 seconds.
"Hey guys, what are you doing! Hurry up and toss! We decided to toss! Hurry up!"
"Yubin, grab hyung's leg!"
"Huh, huh? Me? You're telling me to lift hyung's leg?"
The members followed Song Hyung-bin's instructions and tried to somehow lift me up and force me to toss in the air.
However, due to the lack of strength of Heo Yu-bin and Ji Yoon-chul, who were in charge of the legs, my body took on a strange posture where only the upper body rose and the lower body sank.
"Ah, I won't do it. I can't do this."
"I can't do this either. I give up."
"Hyung, hyung! My hand is slipping! Should I put it down? I'll put it down!"
"No, if you put me down in this state!"
In the end, I fell to the floor without any dignity of a winner.
Still, the smile didn't disappear from my face..
Because I was truly happy to see all the members rejoicing together.
"Doesn't it hurt? It seems like Yoo-bin just let go."
"Thankfully, Yoon-chul caught it, so it's okay."
Chae Eun-gyu reached out to me with a face full of laughter.
I gratefully took his hand and got up.
"You were really cool. At the end, Minseo couldn't even keep up with you."
"I'm glad it looked that way. That was my goal."
"You were trying to look cool? Or was it so Minseo couldn't keep up?"
I laughed out loud while hitting Chae Eun-gyu on the back.
"Both."
"You're really too slick."
When I was wearing the gold medal around my neck and giving a brief comment in the interview booth, I felt a strangely warm gaze from somewhere.
I felt it was somehow familiar, so I glanced around to see who it was.
And sure enough, Owen was there, looking at me with a longing expression.
'Owen must have wanted to run with me too. This seems a bit disappointing.'
However, it didn't take long for Owen's regret to subside.
Among the various indoor games that took place after a simple lunch, there was archery, which had many fans' expectations.
"Have you been preparing well since then, Owen?"
"Of course, hyung-nim. I've been counting the days until today when I can stand side by side with you like this!"
"Me too."
The moment when the beautiful two-shot that so many people had been waiting for finally arrived.
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