Side Story 4. One heart field day (10)

Hearing the call, Soram turned to look at him. Soram's eyes were sunken, as if something even more serious than being defeated by pasta had happened.

"Oh, what, you're already here... Ack?!"

Tae-un reached out in that direction, and a white light enveloped Soram, pulling him in. It was someone's power that worked particularly well on Soram. Tae-un strode forward to meet him and embraced the pulled Soram.

"Hey, you're wet!"

Tae-un placed Soram, who was struggling and resisting, on his shoulder.

Then, with Soram slung over him like a sack, he dashed towards the finish line. On the way, he gently pushed the backs of Director Park Jae-seon and Ayoung, who moved according to Tae-un's intention.

Soram, still hanging onto Tae-un, got closer to the finish line. What is this! Put me down! Soram's voice, which had been fluttering in resistance, soon became more desperate.

"Aaaagh, I'm getting motion sickness, the cream pasta is coming up...!"

"..."

"Save Soram!"

Other hunters around also tried desperately to convey something while flailing their limbs, and eventually, many ended up carrying or tucking some of their team members under their arms as they ran.

"What is it, are we all running together? No?"

"Who are you looking for? Say... Huh? Run?"

When those who had barely managed to bring out their team members started towards the finish line, the staff removed the white paper covering the panel. Along with it, the mission content appeared.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<Cross the finish line together with all team members who participated in the relay>

*However, disqualification if explaining the mission verbally to team members!

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–Actually, that's why I, who ran the relay, have to run too!

After the shout, there was a sound of the microphone being thrown away.

"What is this, ah, really a mess!"

"Look at that, hahaha. Carrying four people at once is too funny."

"Isn't the Flight Team flying in a line too cute?"

Team 7 had a relatively quick start. There was smooth cooperation from all team members except one, and that one was also quickly forcibly recruited.

They were fast enough, but there was a team that was one step ahead of Tae-un, who had Soram slung over his shoulder. The gap with them wouldn't narrow easily.

"Team 2, if we don't get first place, we're swimming back to headquarters."

To make matters worse, the sound of another team chasing at a terrifying speed could be heard from behind.

"Soram-ah."

"Uuuh?"

"Want to win?"

Before he could answer, white light gathered around Tae-un. It drew a long path between Tae-un and the team ahead.

Then his body shot forward like when he was running earlier. Soram's scream was buried in the sound of the wind. Tae-un embraced Ayoung and Director Park Jae-seon, who were running slightly ahead, in both arms and instantly arrived just before the finish line.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

"We can't lose!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Uwaaaaah!!!"

Tap–!

Finally, the hunters passed through the finish line, making it ripple. Teams 2, 4, and 7. Three teams came in as the lead runners, and the remaining four teams rushed in with minimal differences. It happened so quickly that it was impossible to determine the order with the naked eye.

"Ack!"

"Who's first?"

The hunters who had finished the chaotic relay sprawled on the ground and all looked at the judge at once. Even Kwon Jung-oh seemed troubled, stroking his eyebrows before saying he would go check the camera. Shin followed him.

"Hmm, this is..."

After checking the screen, the two men let out even more troubled groans. The last mission had produced plenty of interesting scenes, but it was difficult to determine pass or fail based on the outlandish criterion of 'five people simultaneously'.

If it were the usual standard in track and field, the passage of the torso should be prioritized, but everyone was carrying people on their backs and shoulders, making it impossible to determine what came first. They hadn't anticipated this situation, so a high-speed camera wasn't prepared. Even if they had anticipated it, they probably would have run into budget issues.

In the end, after discussion, they settled on a different criterion. Among the three teams that clearly came in as the leading group and couldn't be distinguished, they would consider the team that included the person whose torso crossed the finish line first as the winner. At least that could be proven with regular cameras. The competitors agreed.

When they scrutinized the video again with this criterion, Shin, Kwon Jung-oh, and Park Jae-seon, who had sneaked a look at the results, all collapsed with their shoulders trembling.

"Relay first place, Flight Team!"

"Oh!"

Soram, who had been half sprawled out from the combo of greasy food and motion sickness, opened his eyes wide.

To answer the hunters' questions about how that happened, the judges played the video they had checked.

Among the three teams that had run in forming their own human tableaux, the person whose chest crossed the finish line first was...

Soram, who had been flapping like a flying fish out of water on Tae-un's shoulder. At that moment of crossing, he happened to have his body stretched out straight.

Thus, Soram's chest area passed through before everyone else.

Even those who had been dissatisfied with the judgment due to overheated competitiveness couldn't help but collapse their expressions and sit down on the ground after seeing that video. It was a perfect scene to decorate the finale of the competition.

Even as numerous people were laughing their heads off at him, Soram raised his nose and shoulders high.

"They say it's first place thanks to me! Director, did you see?"

"Yes, huk..., our Soram, you did so, so well."

Even the director couldn't look at Soram properly because he was laughing so hard.

After showing off his pride while receiving everyone's gazes for a long time, Soram sat down with a thud like everyone else and looked at himself in the freeze-frame.

"I, I've seen that pose before. When penguins jump into the sea, they stretch their bodies out and thrust their bellies towards the water surface."

Ayoung, an avid National Geographic viewer, said, half crying. As she said, Soram was stretching his body straight and glaring ahead fiercely like an Adelie penguin searching for food in the water.

"...Well, I never, in all my life..."

It was a situation worthy of the exclamation that came from the mouth of someone who had lived a very long life.

Soram tilted his head back to look at the sky. Tae-un was looking down at him, creating a half-shadow in his field of vision.

"Really, it's ridiculous, and funny..."

"Indeed."

"It's good I lived this long."

Tae-un also showed a slight smile.

With this memorable scene that would probably be included in the epilogue video of the special program, the filming came to an end.

***

"All hunters of the Seoul headquarters, thank you all for your hard work. Uahahaha! Wasn't this more fun than we thought?"

Director Shin, who had smashed the microphone he had been using all day at the end, had to conclude the epilogue with his raw voice. Standing in front of the hunters who had gathered again at the initial location, he burst into hearty laughter. And for good reason, as everyone without exception had flushed faces and disheveled appearances from having fun.

"Let's do it again in autumn."

The one who said this with a frustrated face was the Team 2 leader who had been indifferent until the early stages.

"Hmph, I don't mind, but I wonder if the Flight Team will be the winners then too."

Someone who had raised their nose high despite winning in that state was the main cause of igniting the competitiveness of other hunters.

"Everyone worked hard, now dismiss, dismiss! Greet each other by teams, and team leaders, don't be old-fashioned and organize team dinners on a day like this. Ah, we had fun!"

As they left the stadium, which was even more wrecked than in the morning, in their disheveled state, Team 7 members had their last gathering of the day.

"I really never thought a day like this would come. The field day was really awesome fun!"

"It really was."

Soram answered as if exhaling. Then he looked at the two of them.

"Team 7, let's go home."

"Yes. Oh my, we had fun."

"Woof."

The four blended into the many shadows walking together.

Another unfamiliar and joyful memory that they had never expected was added. A smile didn't leave Soram's face as he kept ruminating on the events of the day.

The sunset fell in a vermilion light over the ruined city. Tae-un, in the driver's seat, dutifully asked his team members:

"We didn't leave anything behind, right?"

"Ah... Physical strength, passion, and a year's worth of laughter. I won't be able to laugh like today no matter what I see for a while."

Ayoung answered, sprawled out in the back seat.

"Soram, what about you?"

"Me?"

After hearing Tae-un's question, it felt like he had forgotten something... but he couldn't figure out what. He didn't have the energy to go back, and if there was actually something he had lost, it could be considered as a monument to Team 7's victory.

"I'm fine too. Let's go."

The further they got from the stadium, the more it felt like he had forgotten something big... but whatever it was, the Flight Team's victory was more important! Soram savored today's result and pushed away the small pebbles that kept nagging at his mind.

Immersed in happiness, he failed to imagine the future that would strike the approaching summer, with Tae-un's wet back spreading far and wide.