Chapter 279: Field Day (2)
"Ow ow ow ow let me go!"
When Ari woke up, it was to a staff member shaking his shoulder aggressively.
Before his thoughts were completely online, Ari wrenched the unfamiliar hand off of him and twisted as his eyes snapped open, only to see an unfamiliar male staff member wincing in pain.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
"I’m so sorry." Ari immediately apologized and released him, but the man just glared at him before turning away.
"Freaking violent green-eyed bug."
As the man muttered an insult under his breath, Ari laughed at the creativity of the insult.
It was his first time being called a bug, and since it was pretty funny, he would let it slide just this once.
Yawning, Ari stepped out of the bus and wanted to admire the pretty sunrise, but was quickly given a breakfast gimbap to scarf down before being rushed to join the loosely assembled line of people, and stared at the five individuals wearing different-colored track suits with captain’s armbands standing by the PD with proud smiles on their faces and stepped paint on their cheeks.
The people who had won an arm band were Jamie, who was wearing a blue tracksuit, William, who was wearing a red one, Rex in a green tracksuit, Mathew, who was wearing purple, and, surprisingly, Benjamin, who was wearing a yellow tracksuit, despite his claim of not being able to see without his contacts.
All of their faces looked more energetic than he expected, but when Ari made eye contact with Jamie, the blonde boy smiled widely while flexing his arm.
It seemed that he was quite proud of himself.
"Good, now that you’re all here, please give a round of applause to your 5 team captains who found the arm bands first."
- woooooooooo
Whistle.
Once the polite applause was done, PD Ji-ho continued speaking.
"Now that the captains have been selected, we will proceed with team selection. The 5 events we’ll be having for our field day are a relay race, 6 vs 6 football, singles tennis, Ssireum which is wrestling, 400m relay race with 4 people, and, for the grand finale, calvary game, so make sure to choose your teammates wisely because everyone has to perform in at least 2 events, and 5 people are needed for the calvary game. And to make the competition a little more exciting, I’ll announce one of the prizes. The winning team members will be taken to a high-quality, all-you-can-eat barbecue spot. In case you didn’t know, Korea has some of the best beef in the world, and we are taking you to a premium spot and allowing you to eat as much as you can."
At the mention of all you can eat meat, the eyes of the contestants immediately got serious, and Ari swore he could see Jamie’s nostrils flare from excitement.
Seeing that he had their attention, PD Ji-ho continued at a much more leisurely pace.
"The teams that come in second and third place overall will be given a food voucher to a local restaurant. And for the remaining prizes, why don’t we go take a look at where the events will take place and have a special guest do the rest of the announcements."
With a happy grin, the PD gestured for them to follow him, and like little ducklings, both the contestants and the camera person walked around the side of the building, which Ari realized was a pretty large school.
When they got to the back of the school, he realized that the production team had set up a mini sports fair-like event with banners and streamers all around.
There was a soccer field with a track around it on one side, tennis courts on the other, and gym mats set up on the basketball court with a small circle for wrestling.
Looking around, Ari realized that this wasn’t some impromptu event that the production staff had set up; this was properly planned out.
But then the question was, why the heck did they decide to wake them in the middle of the night to come here rather than at a normal time?
Since he probably wouldn’t get an answer, Ari just schooled his face properly and followed the PD, who made them walk to the center of the soccer field before continuing his speech.
As they got closer, Ari realized that a group of 5 women were wearing modified tennis dresses with red lace trim added to the sleeves, collars, and bottom of their dresses.
They all had distinct hairstyles, clothing styles, and heights, with the only commonality being that they were all beautiful.
As they got closer, Ari heard some of the contestants begin to get excited as they stared at the girls.
- Oh my gosh, is that Red Lace?
- Mina from Red Lace. She was my first crush.
- Sakura, my cherry blossom princess, is so cute in real life!
- Do you think we can get autographs?
- Leader Areum is as striking as always. I can’t believe she’s in her 30s.
When they stood several feet away, the woman in the center, who had a slightly sharp appearance and bright red hair, began speaking.
"1, 2, 3 Hello, we are Red Lace. Tying the string of love, from our heart to yours!"
5 women bowed their heads while saying their slogan in unison before striking charming poses, causing the contestants to cheer.
"I’m sure many of you already know, but this is Red Lace, one of the first girl groups made from an idol survival show. They could be considered your seniors and will be taking turns MC-ing for us while we’re here in Korea. Please treat them kindly and be on your best behavior. Today, Leader Areum will be taking charge, so I’ll pass it on to her."
- Of course!
- Definitely!
- Mina-sunbaenim, can I have an autograph?
"Thank you so much for your consideration, PD-nim. Hello everyone, I’m Areum, the leader of Red Lace. These are our members, Mina, Nari, Bom, and our baby, Sakura. We heard that you were having a sports day type event, and as veterans in both sports days and idol survival shows, we definitely had to come. I hope I do a good job, and I look forward to working with you all."
As their names were called, all the Red Lace Members, including their leader, bowed politely.
"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, shall we begin picking teams? I’m a fan of the show, so I happen to know all your names quite well, so shall we start off with William? Who would you like for your team?"
"Levi."
"I refuse. Choose someone else."
The area suddenly got quiet as Levi and William stared at each other in strained silence.
The Red Lace members stared at each other with frozen smiles while their leader, Areum, stared at the PD as she wondered how to deal with this never-before-seen situation, especially on an idol survival show where their lives and deaths were in the PD’s hands.
Did this contestant not have any fear, or had he already struck a deal with the PD?
To her surprise, PD Ji-ho simply shrugged, so Areum turned back to William with a slightly apologetic smile.
"Contestant William, it seems that Contestant Levi is a little adverse...would you like to select somebody else?"
William’s eye twitched before he let out a strained mile.
"Sure. Then I’ll choose Jerome instead."
"Awesome, Contestant Benjamin?"
"Carlos."
"Contestant James?"
"I go by Jamie Ma’am. And I choose Levi."
Although he looked a bit reluctant, Jamie called out the name of the person who had a reputation for ripping down doors.
Not hearing his name, Ari glanced at Jamie with a betrayed expression.
"Sorry! The prize is all-you-can-eat beef! I have to snag the athletic people or at least those in a higher weight class first!"
Wow.
Et tu, Brutus?
Are you saying that I’m not athletic?
So you would sell our friendship out for all you can eat beef?
Count your days.
[I told you to hit the gym and add on some muscle.]
[Now look at you.]
[You’re like the last kid to be chosen at the gym.]
Ari just stared at him and didn’t say anything.
Areum, who had caught the interaction, laughed before speaking in a teasing manner.
"It seems that contestant Ari has been hit by the unexpected blow of betrayal by his close friend contestant Jamie. Moving on, Contestant Mathew?"
Ari glanced at Mathew with expectant eyes, but the boy looked away before calling out a different name.
"Sorry, Ari. My choice is Daniel."
"Wow, another betrayal of contestant Ari. Rex, who’s your choice? You get to choose two people since we’re circling around."
"Minho and Minjun."
"Ahh, the twins are being kept together. How Lovely. Back to Contestant Mathew, who do you choose?"
With expectant eyes, Ari stared at Mathew, who looked everywhere but at him as he called out another name.
"I choose Jin. Sorry, Ari."
"Ahhh, another betrayal toward contestant Ari? Will this trend continue? Let’s find out. Contestant Jamie?"
Quite amused by Ari’s facial expressions, Areum let out an honest laugh before she covered it up with a fake cough.
Ari, on the other hand, glared at Jamie, who laughed mischievously before turning to someone else.
"Alfonso."
"The betrayal indeed continues. Contestant Benjamin?"
"Sorry, Ari, I’m going to have to go with Rei."
"Wow."
Ari just watched in silence as other contestants were picked, while he just stared at Jamie with eyes that vowed to inflict a thousand years of pain and suffering if he didn’t pick him.
And finally, when there were only 4 other contestants left-
"I’ll choose Ari."
He finally ended up on Jamie’s team.
After changing into the oversized blue tracksuit and rolling it up as best as he could, Ari stared at Jamie with a raised brow.
"Last?"
"I had to pick the optimal team members. It’s for beef! Pork! Beef!"
"Seriously? Last? You chose me last? James! Jones! The Third!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Jamie immediately stood at attention while saluting, and Benjamin burst into laughter as he ambled over.
"Oi Ari, don’t burn him to a crisp with your eyes. To be fair, you’re not exactly the picture of immense athleticism. I know you’ve got some muscle on you, but...you don’t give off the vibe that you’d be good at sports. Plus, you’ve gotten injured like 3, 4 times already? Man’s is just trying to eat some good barbecue on somebody else’s dollar. I had to do what’s best for me. You get me?" Benjamin joked as he slung his arm around Ari’s shoulder, but Ari shrugged it off.
"I get you all right. Count your days, you blind bat. I guarantee the only barbecue you’re getting is the scent when I walk by you."
"You’re talking a big game, beanstalk. Even if I can’t see, I’ll come out on top. But I appreciate your bravado. We’ll see who’s better at the end, innit?" Laughing wildly to himself, Ben fist-bumped Ari before going to join his team.
"Blue team, let’s huddle up!"
As their team huddled at Jamie’s command, Ari glanced at the other 5 faces.