Chapter 151

<The Summer Camp of Misfortune (3)>

***

A 10-kilometer round trip course.

The flat road is 4 kilometers, and from the entrance of the hiking trail to the summit is 1 kilometer. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. But for Jin-hyuk and his uncles, it was just their daily workout, and since this training was planned to toughen up their friends, they couldn’t half-ass it.

‘This is the last summer we’ll spend together.’

It wasn’t a pleasant thought.

Next year, all four of them would be in different places, attending different schools.

It would be tough, but since they had set a goal, they wanted to give it their all.

While climbing the mountain, Jin-hyuk kept his ears perked to check on his friends’ conditions.

The three friends took turns leading and trailing, volunteering to be the targets of the dog pack’s chase.

“…I’m the future of soccer… My stamina… Ah, am I dizzy right now?”

“Heeek-, wait-, heeek-, grandma-, filial piety-.”

“Park-yang noona-, huff huff! Time to shower-! Huff huff-.”

At least they were muttering. That was a relief.

You had to be careful when their words dwindled and their expressions turned serious, but their faces didn’t look much different from when they usually exercised.

Even as their body heat rose, their heads throbbed, and sweat poured down like rain, the kids didn’t give up.

Proud of his friends, Jin-hyuk didn’t hold back on encouragement.

The second carrot.

“Huuu-. Let’s finish the round trip in an hour. I usually finish this course in 50 minutes.”

At that moment, Jin-hyuk saw it.

The sight of his friends, who usually never gave him a hard time, cursing him with their eyes.

Especially Yeom Byeong-taek’s eyes were blazing.

“Come on, push through. A delicious breakfast is waiting after the workout.”

Byeong-taek even hated the uncles cheering from behind.

He wanted to fart and mess with them, but he was so tired that if he failed to control his strength, he’d end up in a bad spot. So he decided to endure.

When they were almost at the summit, Jin-hyuk, who had been climbing the mountain like he was running in the lead, stopped again.

It was to encourage his friends once more.

“If you do this every day for a month, you’ll get used to it.”

…It was to encourage them.

“…This damn…”

“Son Jin-hyuk, you damn…”

“…A month… When will I get a girlfriend…”

Weird. Motivational speeches didn’t seem to work on these guys.

Jin-hyuk thought.

‘Ah, maybe I…’

Maybe I’ve been so obsessed with exercise that I’ve grown up without ever dating.

It was a rational and fair judgment.

Even Son Jin-hyuk, who never cared about others’ opinions, finally began to realistically hone the skill of self-objectification. It would become an asset to plan more concretely what kind of person he would become.

*

The house is visible in the distance.

“Huuuk! Huuuk! We’re almost there-!”

“Huuuk-, huff huff! Choi-yang noona, legs- are giving out- huuuk-!”

“My girlfriend is still sleeping…”

Maybe it’s because they said they wouldn’t get breakfast if they came in last, but the kids started to push harder.

Jin-hyuk’s house was basically located on high ground, but from the bus route, it was downhill.

The friends showed their determination for breakfast by tumbling and rolling.

“Ouch! Grandma, Seol-chan is rolling-!”

“Huuuk! Damn it! Kang-yang noona! Huuuk!”

“I am… Homo erectus…”

The kids sprawled out in the yard like they’d been poured out.

Moon Seok-il, who was sweeping the yard with a broom, greeted the kids.

“First place is Park Sang-ki, second is Yeom Byeong-taek, third is Jo Seol-chan… Jin-hyuk is last?”

Park Sang-ki, who had played soccer professionally, had decent stamina.

Yeom Byeong-taek, who had been doing track and field for a long time, also had commendable grit.

But Son Jin-hyuk in last place?

“Last place is Uncle Heon-chang, right?”

Kang Heon-chang, who had just stepped into the yard, blinked his eyes with a blank expression.

“Huh-, me?”

Me in last place…

He hadn’t thought of that.

Without showing any sign of exhaustion, Jin-hyuk turned on the hose at the yard’s faucet and sprayed water all over his body.

The icy groundwater hitting his scalp made his whole body tingle like he’d been electrocuted.

“Haaa-, feels good. Really good. This is what summer’s about.”

“Me too, me too!”

He sprayed water on Jo Seol-chan, whose face was beet red, and bestowed a gracious stream of water on Yeom Byeong-taek. Each time, the kids shuddered but wore ecstatic expressions.

“Uuuuh-! Yeah! This is the stuff!”

“Uaaaah-! I’m alive!”

Park Sang-ki, who didn’t want to wait, dunked his upper body into a red bucket filled with water. Though slow to speak, he was quick to act. With such good execution, no wonder he had a girlfriend. Jin-hyuk thought he should learn the art of dating from Sang-ki.

With his head submerged, Sang-ki was thinking something else.

‘Soccer is still the best.’

Blub blub-.

Falling for the promise of skipping supplementary classes and agreeing to this training camp was the biggest mistake of Sang-ki’s life.

He didn’t even know where he was, so he couldn’t run away.

Maybe the military would’ve been better.

***

They didn’t starve the last-place finisher.

With Kang Heon-chang and other monsters sitting around the table, the pot was empty in no time.

“Uuuuh-! So delicious!”

“Uncle, eat a lot.”

Min Yong-rak, who had been tormented for a month, had various vegetables and bracken mixed on his spoon, and Yoo Jin placed bulgogi on top. Yoo Jin, being generous, could place her favorite bulgogi as many times as she wanted.

Jin-hyuk, who was eating lightly, cautiously called his mom, who was checking if anything was missing from the table.

“Mom, what about the bracken and bean sprouts-?”

“We’re out of ingredients. Eat the bean sprout salad.”

“Okay…”

Han Yu-young’s brow was stern.

It was a natural measure for a mother who wanted her son to stay healthy.

‘Just in case, my son will endure.’

No matter how much science and technology advance, humans are still swayed by trivial rumors.

Jin-hyuk felt a pang of disappointment.

He had gathered so much bracken in April and May, but now he couldn’t even taste it. Why was she doing this? He felt like crying because he wanted to eat bracken and bean sprouts, but since it was his mom’s order, he had no choice but to obediently comply.

Chomp chomp-.

Everyone silently devoured three bowls of rice like they were hiding from a hawk.

“How is it? Is it edible?”

When Jin-hyuk’s mom, who was prettier than the school music teacher, asked, the kids responded in unison.

“Aaaa-! Mom, it’s so delicious! I’ve never had such a meal in my life!”

“I want to live here! I don’t even need to see my sisters!”

“It’s better than the soccer team’s diet, ma’am.”

Han Yu-young smiled so brightly her eyes almost disappeared at the kids’ reactions.

Of course, that’s how a mother’s heart is. The best guest is the one who enjoys the food you’ve prepared.

“Let’s digest slowly while heading to the beach.”

At Jin-hyuk’s casual remark while looking at the schedule, the kids, who were eating melons as dessert, had an earthquake in their pupils.

“Is Jin-hyuk trying to turn us into agents or something?”

Jo Seol-chan muttered to Yeom Byeong-taek and Park Sang-ki.

Pretending not to hear, Jin-hyuk handed each of his friends a duffel bag filled with sand.

‘…Makes sense.’

Park Sang-ki, bent over with a duffel bag weighing over 20kg, nodded at Seol-chan. His gaze was solemn, but Seol-chan strangely felt like laughing.

‘I’m happy.’

Sure, the morning training was a hellish time that made your breath reach your chin. But it wasn’t deadly. Running was something they did every day, and since they’d been doing it for so long, they recovered quickly.

What Seol-chan felt wasn’t an urge to escape but a resolve to be diligent.

This was his first training camp, and he’d never experienced staying in one place with so many people for so long. Even though he was pushed out of the 100m and 200m races by Son Jin-hyuk and Yeom Byeong-taek, he began to expect that the training camp itself would become a fond memory.

“Jang-yang noona, did she go on a delivery today too…”

Yeom Byeong-taek, who had chewed and swallowed even his soul along with breakfast, faced reality while looking at the distant tidal flat.

“It hasn’t even been a full day yet. No, not even half a day.”

It was an unusually sharp analysis for a middle schooler.

Kim In-rang, dressed in navy shorts and a T-shirt, quietly gave the signal.

“Let’s go.”

And so, the second march of hardship began.

***

Buzz- buzz-.

As the cicadas grew louder, the shade of the zelkova tree expanded.

Min Yong-rak and Yoo Jin spread a mat under the zelkova tree and sat down. Normally, they would’ve sat on the porch, but this choice was to prevent the young Jeong-won from falling.

Min Yong-rak was excused from the tidal flat training.

He had pedaled like a storm in the morning, so his thighs had no strength left.

“Yoo Jin, this is a pyramid.”

Instead, he decided to stay home and play with Yoo Jin.

“Pyramids are tasty, right?”

“Huh?”

“No, a pyramid. Color it and talk. Uncle has work to do.”

“I’ll try. Jeong-won, you can’t eat crayons, right?”

“Uh-uh-.”

While Yoo Jin took care of Jeong-won and colored with only yellow crayons, Min Yong-rak organized the records to deliver to Jin-hyuk.

‘Daejin Middle School, Chungyang Sports Middle School, right?’

It was data collected and sent by Yoo Se-ra. On the record sheet Min Yong-rak was focusing on, the event name ‘4⨯100mR’ was written.

“45 seconds.”

“What?”

“Uh-uh-.”

When Min Yong-rak muttered, Yoo Jin suddenly looked up.

“Hmm, four guys who are good at running in the province can do a 400-meter relay in that time.”

“Is that fast?”

“Yeah. National competition runners are even faster.”

“Faster than our oppa?”

“Can’t tell. A relay isn’t something you do alone.”

Min Yong-rak often helped measure Jin-hyuk’s records.

On a urethane track by the waterway, similar to a stadium, Son Jin-hyuk ran 100m in about 11.3 seconds.

‘It was terrifying.’

Remembering Jin-hyuk’s posture, speed, and the sound that shook the ground, Min Yong-rak shuddered. His movements were as agile as a cheetah’s, and the sound of his feet hitting the ground was as heavy as a buffalo’s.

Even Yoo Tae-hwa, the most agile and fastest SSS agent, barely broke 12 seconds, so how fast Jin-hyuk looked to an ordinary person like Min Yong-rak needed no explanation.

What’s more surprising is that everyone said it didn’t even seem like he was running at full speed.

Anyway.

According to Min Yong-rak’s analysis, relay records are shorter than the sum of the four runners’ 100m records. Of course, that’s assuming there are no mistakes in baton passing.

“About 98% of the fastest runner’s record times four…”

“Don’t swear.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

To avoid being interrupted by Yoo Jin, who chimed in with every word, Min Yong-rak shook his legs to boost his concentration.

“Compared to the fastest runner, but considering other runners’ records…”

It wasn’t just a 2% reduction but a significant drop.

He looked at the records of Taeyang Middle School’s runners that Jin-hyuk had provided. Although measured on sandy ground, it was sufficient as simulation data.

“This is… It’s going to be tough to even compete, huh?”

“I like spicy bibim guksu.”

“Yeah, Yoo Jin should eat non-spicy noodles.”

“My butt was spicy when I pooped.”

“Yeah… Uncle felt that too.”

Where was I?

Ah, right.

Min Yong-rak summed up the records of Taeyang Middle School’s runners.

Simulating a relay record with Jin-hyuk’s records would be at the level of a national competition final, but the gap with other runners was too wide to apply directly to Min Yong-rak’s hypothesis.

“Ah-, even qualifying will be tough, huh?”

“Even if it’s hard and tough, only by overcoming it can you be called a nobleman. Ahem-.”

“Yeah, the heavens have spoken many good words…”

Min Yong-rak responded to Yoo Jin’s every word while carrying out his assigned task.

Though she chattered, Yoo Jin’s voice was hundreds of times more pleasant than the cicadas’.

“Uh-uh-.”

He also had to make sure Jeong-won, who liked being next to his sister, didn’t eat dirt.

Clearly a specially dispatched company employee.

‘I’m doing babysitting.’

But strangely…

It was doable.

***

“…Digestion seems to be going well. Ugh-. It’s manageable.”

Park Sang-ki was surprisingly positive about the training.

Since it wasn’t just them suffering and Jin-hyuk was also participating, the other friends, though bent over and walking, didn’t complain much.

“Byeong-taek and Seol-chan, how’s it going?”

“I guess this is how it’s supposed to be…”

Yeom Byeong-taek was dissatisfied but didn’t know why, stuck in a strange limbo. This was his first training camp too.

“Eee-. I’m fine. It’s just fun.”

A training camp where they exercised noisily without a coach.

Though their bodies were tired, Jo Seol-chan’s heart was happy.

“About two hours of light exercise, then lunch and rest. After rest, sprint training, then posture correction and recovery training…”

Jin-hyuk, carrying a heavier duffel bag, walked with his friends and shared the schedule.

The unknown is scary, and if you don’t know what terror lies beyond this hurdle, a weak person might lose their mind at any moment. In severe cases, they might even give up on themselves.

That’s why he shared it.

“Jin-hyuk, if we’ve ever wronged you, just hit us instead, okay?”

“Jin-hyuk, can I go to the café for a bit? I think I left something there.”

Weird.

Even after sharing the schedule, his friends seemed scared.

‘Why are they like this? Should I adjust the plan?’