𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 | 𝐭𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐲𝐮

༺ 𝟐𝟔 ༻

Thursday, 3:30 PM

Taehyun had practiced like crazy for the last six days. He extended his workout period and followed it flawlessly, using his future revenge as motivation to keep on going every day. On the other hand, Beomgyu just attended his basketball training, not really bothering to make extra effort to guarantee his victory, as he knew he was one of the best of the fifty people that were competing and truly trusted Taehyun's skills to take them to the first place. 

The ravenette boy was standing with his feet spread apart ready to print at any second, while his eyes scanned every contestant next to him: there were some really fit people on the horizontal line, however, strength doesn't necessarily equal speed, so Beomgyu stays cool as a cucumber while waiting for his dear enemy to conclude his last lap. His terrible eyesight doesn't allow him to watch Taehyun with more detail, but he's sure the younger is nailing it, running as if there was no tomorrow.

The running duo's competition consisted of four long laps around the stadium. The first person on each team had to complete the first two laps and then high-five their partner so they could finish the race. If a contestant starts running before receiving a high-five from their partner, they are immediately disqualified. Taehyun was running like hell, trying to maintain a constant rhythm so that he could use all his remaining energy to sprint at full speed in the end. Soobin was on the track next to him as a matter of coincidence and the blonde could feel him running almost side-to-side. But he wouldn't lose to Soobin, not in a million years.

"Just a little more..." Taehyun thinks to himself when he spots Beomgyu's silhouette by the starting line.

And when he's at a reasonable distance from the end, he sprints like a cheetah hunting its prey, running so fast he felt his lower belly part hurt. But everything seems worth it when he's the fifth person to arrive at the finish line, high-fiving Beomgyu so that the older could continue the run.

Taehyun lets his body fall to the ground, his legs hurting like hell and his breath unstable. A few seconds later, Soobin finishes the two laps and tiredly sits next to him, his body aching everywhere.

"Don't make that face, you haven't won yet," Soobin whispers when he sees Taehyun's smugly smile.

"I don't even care about winning anymore. As long as I'm placed higher than you I'm fine..." He then looks at the older's leg. "Is your knee alright?"

"Yep, don't worry."

"Does Yeonjun know about your condition?"

"He doesn't have to."

"I mean, you can always pretend your knee is hurting because you're old and..." Soobin looks at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

The taller jokingly punches Taehyun's arm and they fall into a peaceful silence, both of them fixing their heavy breaths while regaining their strength. Taehyun takes a glimpse of Beomgyu's figure: despite the long distance between them, Taehyun could observe the older perfectly while he ran at a fast speed. He was in tenth place now and Yeonjun was in sixth and it was very impressive how both of them got to the be in the first ten places, considering how many people were competing with them. However, Beomgyu needed to surpass Yeonjun

Beomgyu was calm, contrasting with his accelerated breathing and sweaty forehead that emphasized how hard the last two laps were. He was aware he wasn't in the first place and had spotted Yeonjun a bit far ahead of him minutes ago; he had to hurry.

Deciding he had to take action at that precise moment, Beomgyu starts to run faster, passing a few random contestants and most importantly, Yeonjun. He could feel everyone in the crowd surprised at his high speed and was delighted when some other contestants felt motivated and started to surpass Yeonjun too. His revenge was certainly guaranteed, but Beomgyu felt his perfectionism and competitive side showing, as he sprinted at the last minute, passing the last five people, the echo of the crowd motivating him.

And twenty seconds later, Beomgyu is the first person to arrive at the finish line.

Everybody screams and Beomgyu tries to slow down, his knees hurting like they never hurt before and that's when he starts to think that maybe he should have trained a little bit more for this competition. Grabbing his tighs to catch his breath, Beomgyu watches as a blurry blonde figure in the distance starts approaching him. And everything seems more entertaining when Taehyun throws himself on top of him, his legs wrapped around Beomgyu's waist and arms hugging his neck tightly while his mouth let out the happiest noises. Taehyun was lucky the taller had good reflexes and caught in just in time, otherwise, they would have embarrassingly fallen to the ground.

Beomgyu hugs the blonde back, using all his remaining strength to jump with the younger in his arms, both of them ecstatic they won first place. Everything was just so ethereal and beautiful that they completely forgot the position they were in: clinging to one another like two koalas and celebrating happily together in front of everyone as if they were just two good friends that have just won a big prize. And when they become self-conscious of the situation, they break free from each other, both of their faces instantly cringing and hands cleaning up the invisible remains of each other.

"Congratulations, you two just won 400 thousand Won...."