Vegetation was thriving in the midst of April as lush greenery filled the streets. Towards the end of the week, just after the thrills of the midterm examinations, M High organised their two days of sports assembly.
Students were to arrive at school by nine, but the majority set off from home at the usual time. They gathered in their classrooms, chatting until the teachers did a quick roll call. At ten past nine, everyone had to relocate to the field.
“Okay, listen up,” Pan Rita called out before the class could leave. “I know you’re excited, but be careful not to get injured. Your safety is the most important; you all know that, right? If anything happens, call me!”
The class was only half-listening, stretching their voices out, “Yeees.”
“Everyone knows our class cheer, so don’t forget to support your classmates!”
The students couldn’t wait for the day to start. The first thing on the agenda was the opening ceremony.
Due to the warm weather and bright sun, the school had arranged additional awnings around the dirt field. Every class had to gather before the ceremony, so anyone who wanted a spot under the awning could bring their chair to sit on while they waited. Some girls asked for help, and the boys had the opportunity to show off even before the main event started.
After a short speech from the director and the student council, things kicked off with collective warm-up exercises also known as the morning routine.
Fifteen minutes later, the cheerleading performances began, and roughly half of the kids stayed to watch while others ran off.
The class president sent a message from the front, passing it from person to person in the humanities class, “Let’s wait for the girls to come out and cheer for them!”
Now that they had to wait, the boys stood with their arms propped on the back of the chairs, messing around.
Sae leaned forward and asked Minke, “How many girls participate in the performance from our class?”
“Four.” Minke twisted back as much as she could in the middle of female classmates braiding her hair. Now that they could escape the usual uniform regulations, most girls wanted to be extraordinary in one way or another. However, the almost one-size class shirts hardly fit these requirements. The girls made do, adorning their make-up and hair with shiny stickers or other accessories to fancy up.
Minke said, “They’re all part of the dance club. They will perform with the club and individually too, representing our class.”
“Which one is sooner?” Sae kept his half-bent position. His movements got noticed by the neighbouring girls who quickly looked and moved away.
Minke realised why the classmate next to her became flustered. She pushed Sae back with an elbow. “It’s hot enough, don’t breathe down our necks.”
“Oh.” Sae straightened up at once. “Sorry.”
Minke looked back and forth between Sae and the female classmate sitting beside her, giving him a signal.
“Hm?” Sae didn’t pick up on her signal at all.
Minke sighed, dejected. “It’s nothing. What were you saying?”
“Which performance is sooner?”
“I think... the class dance. Clubs are usually left for the ending.”
Sae had to give it to the girls in the humanities class; they were gutsy to prepare a little dance, their black class shirts eye-catching in the sun-dazzled field.
To Sae’s surprise, the girls made a dance cover of Emi’s favourite song. He took out his phone to shoot a video of it, sending the clip to the little girl.
A notification from Deil lit up his phone screen. Come and watch the basketball penalty throw.
Sae sent back a question mark.
Bang: That’s the only event I was allowed to participate in.
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Sae left the cheerleading performances to go and watch the basketball penalty throw in the small gymnasium. He didn’t head there for support as much as to see Deil. What he felt was more than curiosity; it was the need to check with his own eyes how the boy was doing.
Two days ago, Deil had hobbled and jumped around so much with a swollen leg that Sae had to carry him on his back. Now there he was, propped up by the wall, neck bent and eyes focused on the phone in his hands. He had a crutch under one armpit and a walking boot strapped around his leg.
Sae snickered, thinking about how Deil had whined that he didn’t need a walking boot, only to wear one.
After making him the target of his attention, Sae walked straight to Deil. The track pants Deil wore got pushed up on his left leg, sweeping the top of his walking boot.
“How did you convince the school to let you in?” Sae asked.
“Oh, you’re here,” Deil grinned, pocketing his phone. “They didn’t care. I’m here on my own account. The school bears no responsibility whatsoever. I only had to convince my dad.”
“Was it so easy?” Sae turned to watch the others practise on the court.
“It wasn’t.” Deil placed his crutch to the side and swung his arms left and right, warming up his shoulders. “Hey, how many baskets do you think I need to win?”
After their last time playing together, Sae had reservations about letting Deil on the court to shoot basketballs on a whim. It was anything but safe.
The rules were pretty simple. Every participant had twenty balls, and whoever shot the most baskets would win. If a tie happened, they would check who took the least amount of time to decide the winner. Considering Deil’s coordination and accuracy rate, it was near impossible for him to win.
Sae glanced at him. “...At any rate, you’re not gonna win.”
Deil made a wronged expression, but his heart wasn’t in it. “Why are you bullying me?”
“What’s bullying you is the truth, not me,” Sae replied.
They watched as the first person, a short girl with a high ponytail, was called to start. Most of the participants were girls. The boys who wanted to play had signed up for the basketball matches.
“Why did you decide to sign up for this?” Sae crooked his forefinger to point at the scene of the girl missing her second shot.
“There really isn’t anything else I can do with a sprained ankle.” Deil patted his thigh. “I already negotiated with the class pres all throughout yesterday morning.”
“But you said they couldn’t change it.”
“It was difficult to change it at the last minute. I never said it was impossible. Look at me! I’m already left out of the races and the football matches.”
“Okay. I admit there’s not much to do while having an injury.” Sae thought about it. “You could join the chess or e-sport events.”
Deil snickered. “Who wants to join those? I wouldn’t need to move at all.”
Sae nodded. “Perfect for you since you shouldn’t move.”
Deil shook his head at Sae. “I can shoot baskets just fine.”
The girl finished with fourteen out of twenty baskets. When she ran back to her classmates, they applauded and told her she did well. Even before that, they had constantly encouraged her during the shots. Watching this scene, Deil turned to Sae, “Will you cheer for me?”
Sae stilled. “...Do you need me to?”
“Well,” Deil nodded, “Why do you think I called you here?”
“I have not thought about it,” Sae confessed.
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They chatted on and off while the big crowd of students dwindled to a small group. Three girls scored over eighteen, and there were two perfect scores too.
Deil told Sae about the check-ups at the hospital and what drugs and ointments he got. Sae mainly spoke about the second day of exams and how his phone had never gone off with so many messages.
When the time came for the teacher to call out Shum Deil, only four other people were waiting to show what they got.
Previously, the student council prepared a line with yellow tape between the free throw and the three-point lines, so it was neither easy nor too hard to shoot baskets. Before Deil hopped to stand there, Sae called out in a moderately loud voice, “Hey, good luck.” It was the best he could squeeze out of himself.
“Pfft, that was terrible,” Deil snickered all the way until he grabbed the first ball. The red science class t-shirt he wore had double zeros and his name printed on its back.
Sae almost left right then, so he’d never hear a comment like that again. But the opportunity to gloat in the near future made him stay. For starters, Deil didn’t have the right form. Not that not having the right form was so terrible; several girls succeeded despite having no foundation in basketball. But then, why didn’t Deil try to, at least, stay still or concentrate?
As expected, he only scored eight out of twenty baskets, and even those were thanks to sheer luck, if anything.
As he returned, Sae jumped in place and spread eight fingers to wave at him. “What an impressive way to fail! I saw two girls duck at least twice to save themselves.”
Deil shrugged, unaffected. “You suck at cheering on people as much as I suck at shooting baskets.” He took the crutch that Sae offered to him. “Where to?”
Sae took his phone out of his pocket to check the time. It was already ten-thirty. The first day of the sports meet went to individual and team sports, while the second day contained class races closed by the relay as their ending event. If they didn’t have an activity to attend, students could go and watch anything they liked.
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Sae asked, “Don’t you have something you want to watch?”
“Hmm,” Deil thought about it for a moment. “I have to rest for a while. The football matches will start in a bit, but it’s in the other gymnasium. I only get to sit down after walking there. When is your race?”
“Eleven thirty,” Sae replied.
“Okay.” Deil beckoned him to lean closer like he was about to share a secret. “Don’t forget to go out strong with all you can muster in the first five to seven seconds, so you can get into the flow and accelerate. Then, pace yourself! It’s all about mentality and endurance. It’ll be hell after the first three hundred metres, and it’ll only get worse. You just have to keep going.”
“I know,” Sae nodded. Feeling like he should give back some goodwill, he offered, “I’ll take you to watch the football matches. Come on.”
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Eleven o’clock came sooner than Sae expected. After dropping Deil off at the gymnasium, he caught the end of the four-hundred metres dash in which Teo finished in second place. The first place, of course, went to a physical education senior. Although Teo was a little dissatisfied, he cheered up after everyone praised him.
It neared lunch time, so Sae went to buy snacks with Kaikai while Teo made his way to cheer on Susu at the mini volleyball tournament. Susu’s team won their first match against second year class B, so they made it to another round.
“Cheese or basil?” Kaikai asked. Five seconds later, Sae still didn’t answer so he glanced over.
Sae had already taken a bag of salt and vinegar chips and paid for it. Feeling eyes on himself, he raised his head and asked, “What?”
“You’re still eating that?” Kaikai pointed at the bag of chips.
“Mnm.” Sae blinked at him.
Kaikai looked away. “Forget I said anything.”
By the time they paid and made it back, the match was at its break after the second set. Sae and Kaikai walked to the others with snacks in hand.
“How is it?” Sae asked. He offered his bag of chips to Susu.
“They are getting tired. We got this.” Susu took a chip without much thought. After chewing it twice, though, her face twisted. “Ah, you’re still eating this?!”
“What’s everyone’s problem with my chips?” Sae asked.
All three of them stared at him.
“Whatever,” he said, “I won’t ever ask you if you want any.”
Susu drank some water before she got called back to her class. Sae also had to head out to the field.
“I’ll go with you?” Teo asked.
“Nah,” Sae shook his head. “Stay and cheer for Susu. You already missed their first set. Don’t worry; I’m sure the class pres gathered more than half of our class to scream for me.” He turned and smiled at Susu. “Crush them.”
“Thanks. Good luck in the race!” Susu gave him a high-five. She had stuck a tiny red heart under the outer corner of her left eye and it moved whenever she smiled.
Teo clapped Sae’s shoulder, leaning close to his ear. “I’ll run out at eleven thirty on the dot, okay? Kaikai will go with you now, right Kai?”
Kaikai nodded. “Go.”
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A few minutes after eleven thirty, seven brave warriors lined up for the 1500-metre run. Sae stood on the third lane, jumping up and down and shaking his limbs out. As expected, part of the class had planted themselves on the sidelines, ready to scream for him.
The 1500-metre run proved to be unpopular not only in the number of participants but in the number of the audience as well. The prospect of watching someone involuntarily run almost four laps scared most kids, not fill them with excitement.
Over the crowd at the stone stands, a familiar figure leaned on his crutch. Deil couldn’t do much in his state; he only waved at Sae. He gathered his hands around his mouth and imitated a cheering motion. Sae smiled and shook his head. He was surprised to see Deil out here but didn’t dislike it.
The runners got into position. Sae let out a breath and listened intently for the signal.
Pí!
The teacher blew the whistle, and the runners rushed out.
Yidan had been right; these boys were monsters. They weren’t even running on the ground but seemingly leapt off thin air. Sae tried to keep steady, not minding the others. In the second lap, he was in fifth place. Thanks to running with Deil, he finally grasped how to pace himself amidst others. It was about mental endurance.
Unpractised runners always made the mistake of minding others too much, but how could they keep such a breakneck pace until the finish line? If they let it get to them, they would surely fall out without notice.
Another lap and Sae overtook two boys who withered like flowers in high heat.
Every time the runners passed the starting line, the crowd roared. Somehow Sae could hear Teo cawing in that perfect tandem, his voice so inhuman in pitch it separated him from the others.
At the last lap, as they neared the last bend of the track, a sharp whistle split through the air from the direction of the stone stands. Sae instinctively laughed.
“What the fuck is he laughing about?” Teo yelled at the sidelines. He curled his palms around his mouth, a makeshift megaphone emerging in a second. “Don’t laugh! Keep your energy to sprint!”
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When Sae and Deil practised for the race, Deil had a brilliant idea. “I give you a sign when to start accelerating in the last leg.”
“It won’t work,” Sae said, “There’s no way I would hear it.”
“Then listen!” Deil assured him, “You’ll hear it.”
The first whistle meant ‘get ready’ while the second one…
Before the last 150 metres, Sae heard the second whistle and started sprinting like mad. He had always been better at short-distance, his explosive power quite remarkable.
There were only two runners before him, the finish line not far ahead, when out of nowhere, a tangle ensured. The first two athletes fell and started fighting in the middle of the track. At such a close distance, Sae couldn’t stop even if he wanted to and had to jump over them.
Suddenly a part of the crowd broke into the track, yelling and screaming. Amidst the confusion, the other competitors had to avoid the crowd while dashing at a breakneck pace.
In the middle of all that fuss, Sae crossed the finish line first.
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Slowing down after a couple of metres, Sae put his hand on his knees, bent over, and caught his breath. His class surrounded him. More hands ruffled his head than he could count, congratulating him and cheering. Other than his class, no one paid attention to the race’s outcome. The third years were still fighting on the track, and teachers threatened them from the sidelines.
“And here I thought there’s no way you’ll win,” Yidan grinned at Sae. “Do you want a drink?”
Sae shook his head. He swiped a hand under his chin and looked back. “What happened?”
“Oh, that?” A joyful classmate cut in. “The boy in the front tripped the other one when he tried to overtake him. The boy he tripped grabbed his arm out of reflex and they both fell, cursing and going at it in the same breath.”
“Why are they so competitive?” Another classmate added, “So scary!”
“SAE~~~” Teo ran at Sae from the side of the field, picking him up and spinning him in a circle. “You won! We won! I could kiss you!”
“Don’t!” Sae raised his palm, ready to push Teo away if he tried anything funny. “Put me down. You’re squeezing all the air out of me. What about Susu? Is the match over?”
“Susu? Fuck, I forgot!” Teo put him down, scrambling back.
“How could you forget? Didn’t you come from there?” Minke asked. She shoved a bottle of water into Sae’s hands.
“I’ll catch up to you later!” Teo waved at them while running back. “Sae, you are awesome! I’m going! Let’s meet at lunch!”
“Go!” Sae shook his head with a smile before turning around. “Where’s Kai?”
Minke looked around as well. “I don’t know… maybe he went to watch the fight?”
Speaking of… that was just like Kaikai.
Minke told Sae about the sixty-metre and four-hundred metre dashes while he drank a few sips of water. The aerobic event she signed up for was about to start. She congratulated Sae again, then ran away with a few female classmates. By that time, the fight had dispersed too.
Sae capped the bottle in his hands, turned to the strands and started climbing the tall stone steps. Someone was waiting for him at the top.
“You won!” Deil applauded. He didn’t try to hide how proud he felt.
Sae climbed the last two steps and said, “Mnm, somehow I did.”
“Congrats!”
Sae thanked him and asked, “Did the football matches finish? Do you want to have lunch?”
“Mnm,” Deil nodded. They looked at each other for a few seconds, neither of them moving. “What I mean is… I could eat.”
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Lunch wasn’t always this good, but since it was a school festival, the school prepared a special meal as a treat: cheese roast chicken with noodles, salad, and vegetable egg rolls. They even gave out desserts, a small cup of ice cream.
Sae and Deil lined up in the lunchroom, inching forward one step at a time. Since several events were still ongoing, a large portion of the students pushed their lunchtime back.
When it was their turn, Deil tried to handle his tray with one hand while moving his crutch with the other. The only problem was maintaining his balance while heavily leaning to one side; his centre of gravity was off to start with.
“Give it to me,” Sae took the tray from Deil’s hand and walked to the closest table. He put the trays down and went back to pay with his student card.
Sae put down the trays across from each other, so he had to walk around the table to get to his seat. After sitting down, Deil pulled another chair out and put his leg atop it, using it to elevate his ankle. He leaned back with a sigh.
Sae rested his gaze on him. “Are you tired?”
“Not really, but it’s good to sit down for a while,” Deil replied.
The lunchroom became noisy even with the moderate number of students. Everyone had more to share today; all kinds of happenings had to be repeated for further anecdotes.
“Will you have to make up for the exams?” Sae asked. He thought back how Deil had missed two days’ worth of classes.
The boy shook his head. It was warm inside the spacious room, and he pushed his sleeves back to his elbow. “They said it’s whatever. I sat for more than half of my exams. Speaking of, don’t you have to go and report at the registration area?”
“I’ll go after we eat,” Sae said, unconcerned. Feeling a gaze on himself, he looked up. “What? You think someone will say they won and snatch the prize? The teachers are probably still occupied with sorting out the fight. It’s no use going there right now. Let’s eat first.”
Deil shrugged. If Sae was unbothered, it made no sense for him to fuss any more. He placed the cup of ice cream next to his tray.
The only type of dairy Sae had ever seen Deil eat was cheese. He reached towards the cup and said, “If you don’t want it I––”
Before he could finish though, Deil captured his wrist. “What are you doing?”
Sae blinked at him. “I thought you wouldn’t want to eat it...”
Deil cocked his head to the side. “Who said I don’t want it?”
They looked at each other. Sae could feel the awkwardness seeping into his pores. He cleared his throat. “Last time you said you hate sour cream.”
Deil narrowed his eyes, but the corners of his mouth hiked up and up. “So?”
“You never drink milk tea. I thought you didn’t eat dairy,” Sae confessed.
“I ate cheese the last time. Look, I’m eating it right now,” Deil retorted.
Sae turned his eyes downwards at the table and saw his wrist still encircled by Deil’s hand. Deil’s palm felt warm but dry. Three elastic rubber bracelets dangled around his wrist. It had been ages since Sae saw anyone wear one of those.
Sae felt like an ensnared, greedy little squirrel. His fondness for sweets really betrayed him this time.
After a few seconds, Deil let him go with a smile. “I simply can’t bear to drink milk. Sour cream is the same.” He started eating like nothing had ever happened.
“You can’t even drink soy milk?” Sae rubbed his wrist with his other hand under the table.
“I can. Anything plant-based is okay. And cheese. And ice cream. As long as it doesn’t remind me of the base taste of milk.” Deil decided to tease Sae some more. “Just now, you wanted to rob me of my ice cream, right?”
“...I planned to give my vegetable egg rolls as an exchange,” Sae mumbled. Why was he always acting so juvenile when it came to Deil? He lowered his head so much he almost planted it into the table. “You didn’t let me finish.”
Taking pity on him, Deil let it go after a final look shot in Sae’s direction.
They finally started to eat. Considering that one person had just run four laps, anyone would think he was the more ravenous out of the two. And yet, Deil cleared his tray before Sae did.
“I saw you’ve got two zeros on your back.” The tray before Sae still had a good portion of tasty food left untouched. He swallowed before opening his mouth again. “Why the double zeros?”
Deil opened his ice cream cup. “Your class didn’t plan anything for the uniforms?”
Sae shook his head. “Not really. The girls wanted something, but then the idea ‘black looks the most chic and sleek left alone’ spread like wildfire.”
“Well, my class is extroverted. They wanted to demonstrate a bit if we ever won.” Deil pointed at his back with the small plastic spoon in his hand. “The zeros are a part of the slogan designed to make you humanities kids’ ass quake in anger.”
Sae almost spat out what he had in his mouth. “Who even says that?” He took a napkin to wipe his chin. “Besides, you haven’t won anything yet.”
“Yea, don’t mention it. I protested for three days in our classroom, but no one paid me any attention. In the end, they threw the double zeros at me. Real tactless, I tell you.” Deil pinched the shirt’s shoulder, pulling at it while he tried to peer at his back. “Don’t you dare laugh! I’ll kick your ass.”
“It’s... hmm,” Sae had to clear his throat, “Quite frivolous. Can you tell me the slogan?”
“Shut up.” Deil twirled a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. “It doesn’t matter whether I tell you or not. You’ll try to guess it either way, right?”
Sae stayed quiet, but the lift of his mouth was a dead giveaway, the universal tell-tale sign.
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After they finished eating, Sae went to register his winner status for the 1500-metre race. On his way, he kept sneaking glances at the back of the science student t-shirts. A vague idea formed in his mind.
He had to check with Deil before they cleaned up for the day, but if he was right… He hoped the science class would never win a game while they were in the same school. And not just this year. Sae also hoped none of his classmates realised what the science class’ plan was.
He finished at the registration tent, and Teo sent a message telling him to join everyone in the lunchroom.
T.o.T.: Where did you go? Come and eat with us
Sae read the message then headed towards the lunchroom as if he hadn’t just come from there.