iKon One Shots (requests open)

Running (Yunhyeong)

Request for @xxRedPandaxx

Today I woke up and realized that I am thankful for being able to walk.  I know, it may be a strange thing to be thankful for because it seems so normal.  Everyone can walk, so who cares, right?  Wrong. Not everyone can walk. I realized that yesterday during school.

We were doing our two kilometer run for physical education class.  It was our post exam for the school year.

I, of course, finished it in ten minutes, being the running champion that I am.  Please don't hate me, I'm just being honest.  The other students were still running around the building when I finished.  That's when I saw the girl.  She was struggling with something.

I jogged over to her to see what was wrong.  "Hey, you okay . . . Um," I tried to remember her name, but it was slipping my mind.  She tried to crack a smile.  "Eunsong, and I'm fine, thanks for asking, Yunhyeong."

I slowed down a little bit.  She knew my name.  I watched her from behind and noticed she seemed to be limping.  Her knees were bent at a somewhat strange angle.  I jogged back up to her.

"Are you sure you're okay? You don't look okay," I pestered her.  She turned and glared at me.  Eunsong's face was contort with pain.  I could see it in her eyes.  She's not okay.

After a few seconds of her not answering, I asked "How much longer do you have to run for?"  She looked at her phone in her hand.  The girl was listening to some strange music.  "I have one more lap."

I was taken aback by her answer.  My eyes glided back down to her legs.  They were still bent funny.  "What's your time?" I asked her.

She huffed, probably annoyed that I kept asking her questions.  "Eleven minutes," she finally answered.  I could hear the waver in her voice.  It sounded as if she was holding in tears.

"C'mon, I'm gonna help you," I said.  She looked at me with a face about ready to give up.  She slowed down to a walk.  I could tell that it hurt more to go slower.

I grabbed her hand and jogged beside her.  Eunsong looked at our hands with shock.  "What are you doing?"

I smiled widely and said "helping you finish, silly." Then she started to pick up her speed.

"C'mon Eunsong, I know you can go faster than that," I prodded her a little.

Eunsong sucked in a big breath of air and sped up with me.  We were full on running around the school, finishing her last lap.  I could see the corner that would lead to the home stretch and pressed her even harder.  "C'mon Eunsong, you can do it.  Let's go!"

She pushed even harder and I helped her stay balanced as she went faster.  I could see the front of the school where others were gathering as we ran.  I yelled "move out of the way!"  The pack of students moved to the sides and let us run over the "finish line."

When we stopped, Eunsong collapsed onto me. Her face landed on my chest and it stayed there.  "Hey, you okay?" I asked her.  She shook her head from side to side and I could hear her crying.  I could feel the water deep into my shirt.

All of her weight was on me.  I decided to pick her up to try to break some of the weight off her legs.  "Do they hurt?" I asked her.

She was still crying and tried to keep her face hidden.  "Thank you for helping me," she mumbled into my shirt.  I smiled and said "it was my pleasure."

Then I walked her to the nurses office where they gave her a knee brace.  Turns out, she comes here a lot.  The nurse scolded her for not wearing her crutches again and told her she would be calling her mother.

I felt bad for Eunsong.  What did she do to deserve to be in so much pain?  She seems so nice.

That's when I decided that the world really isn't fair.  Why should it be? We're tearing it apart and killing it with all the crap we do.

I have more to be thankful for than just walking. I'm thankful for a family, a nice house, and an education. I'm thankful for what I've been given. I just hope I can use what I've been given to help other people.