jungwon
i found myself in the same group as hyejin and sunoo for physical education. it was a typical humid afternoon, and we were supposed to be running laps.
sunoo and hyejin had already taken off, racing each other with fierce determination. unsurprisingly, hyejin was way ahead of sunoo, her strides long and powerful.
i watched them from the sidelines, feeling a competitive spark ignite within me. when sunoo finally finished, panting heavily, he looked at me with a grin.
"your turn, jungwon. think you can beat hyejin?" i shrugged, but my eyes were on hyejin.
"why not? i could use a challenge." she walked over, wiping sweat from her forehead. "hey! that's very insulting towards me." sunoo jokingly says before sassily walking away from us.
"think you can beat me?" she asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice. "let's find out," i replied, my tone a bit more casual this time.
i could see the fire light up in her eyes, the same fire that always seemed to ignite whenever we exchanged words.
"fine," she said, a determined glint present in her eyes. "let's go."
we lined up at the starting line, and sunoo counted us down. as soon as he said go, we both took off, our feet pounding against the track. i could feel the wind against my face, my legs pushing me forward with everything i had.
hyejin was fast, incredibly fast, and she was way ahead of me, which is a bit shocking since she just raced with someone.
i wasn't about to give up. we rounded the corner into the covered courts, where the track was a bit more slippery from a recent rain. hyejin was still ahead, her form perfect, but suddenly, her foot slipped on a particularly wet spot. oof.
she went down hard, hitting the ground with a thud. i skidded to a stop, unable to contain my laughter. whatever happened just now for real played in slow mo.
"nice one, hyejin. couldn't handle the pressure?" i teasingly say. i expected her to say something back, but she didn't. oh shit-
my laughter died quickly when i saw her face contort in pain. she clutched her knee, a bruise already forming. i rushed over to her, my amusement turning into concern.
"hey, are you okay?" i asked, making sure my voice was softer than usual. she winced, trying to sit up. "wha-? no! i am not fucking okay!" she snapped, but her usual sharpness was dulled by the pain.
"here, let me help you." i said, reaching out a hand for assistance.
i saw how she hesitated, but ended up accepting my voluntary assistance, then i helped her to her feet. she leaned on me for support. i could suddenly feel the tension between us start to shift, just a little.
we made our way to the side of the court, where sunoo was waiting, his eyes wide with worry, seeing hyejin in this state.
"oh my gosh! what happened?" he asked, rushing over to us. "she slipped." i explained, still supporting her.
+ ° . ๑・° ⊹ . + ° . ๑・° ⊹ . + ° . ๑・° ⊹ . +
hyejin
"greatttt, just great." i muttered, but there was less venom in my voice than usual.
"want me to get you to the nurse?" iroha suggested.
"i can take her." jungwon offered, surprising both sunoo and i. oh please, watch him just make fun of me in there-
"hey, it would be best for me to take you there, since i was actually able to witness the great fall of kim hyejin first-hand." the gang just couldn't help themselves by laughing. what amazing friends i have.
we reached the nurse's office, and jungwon helped me onto a bed. as the nurse tended to my knee, he just stayed by my side, observing everything.
"okay, so what exactly happened?" the nurse asked, staring at me. all of the sudden- my mind was blank.
"i-uh i just remembered that i slipped and fell on my knee ... everything happened so fast."
"i was able to witness it-" jungwon starts, causing the nurse to face him instead.
"we were racing each other through running, and by the time we got to the covered court, she slipped on a seemingly wet spot. i was able to see how she landed on her knee like this." he then starts demonstrating how i fell, which only made the pain i'm experiencing right now worse.
"does this hurt?" the nurse asks me, putting some pressure onto my left knee around different areas. i can't believe yang jungwon's just there—wincing and nodding as i'm getting sharp pangs from the nurse's touches.
"that's most likely just a sprain, right?" he asks the nurse, causing her to nod.
"just some elevation and ice to help with the swelling ..." the nurse starts before taking a bandage from a box.
"i'm gonna have to wrap your knee for it to provide some mild compression of your joint. this is to reduce localized inflammation." the nurse explains as i just nod.
i didn't even get the chance to speak about what happened, all i could do was listen. jungwon was able to answer all the other questions the nurse had to ask. i hated and liked that at the same time.
when the nurse was done, i couldn't help but look at him, and for the first time, i saw him in a different light. he's actually kinda nice?? this whole thing's definitely not on my 2024 bingo card.
"thank you."
