Chapter 286: Incident On The Track (1)
"Wow, I am so glad that I don’t have to run." Ari whistled as he stared at the people positioning themselves on the track.
"...don’t you run daily anyway? Exactly 5km and not a meter more." Jamie looked at Ari before excitedly waving the cheerleading pom poms at his team members.
"That running is part of my daily exercise checklist, this just looks like punishment with extra steps. I want no parts in it."
"I think it looks fun! It reminds me of the games they play at the county fairs each summer! Or on easter! We should go one day. The one in Tennessee is so fun!"
"Hmmm. I’ll think about it."
The previously empty track was now filled with hurdles and obstacles, while the contestants participating received a quick briefing on what to expect.
The first 100 meters had screaming rubber chickens that had to be attached to the contestants’ feet while they balanced an egg on a spoon.
Each time the chicken squeaked or they dropped the egg, the contestant had to start over from the beginning.
The second hundred meters was a pogo stick race where contestants had to use a pogo stick to hop 100m before handing over the baton.
The third hundred meters had hurdles of various sizes that needed to be jumped over or climbed over.
And the last hundred meters were the only clear section where contestants could just pour on the speed and run.
To Ari, who had been expecting a simple, quick race, this looked like a circus event, and he was glad he wouldn’t be participating.
He was a bit concerned about the pogo stick event, but since there was nothing to be done, he told those participating to be careful.
Wishing his teammates the best of luck, he waved his own pom poms while cheering as they began getting ready.
For the blue team, they would start the race with Choi Woobin, who would be handling the screaming chicken feet and egg balancing.
After Choi Woobin, Justin, who assured them that he had learned how to use a pogo stick in drama class, would be their second leg.
For a brief second, Ari wondered what actually went on in drama class and why you would need to learn how to use a pogo stick before shaking his head.
The less he knew about that strange world, the better it was for him.
Levi would be the third leg, handling the hurdles and obstacles, while Alfonso, who was the fastest sprinter among them, would close it out in the straight portion of the race.
As the racing contestants lined up, Ari once again stared at the pogo sticks in concern before listening to Areum give the spiel about the PPL sponsor for the race.
"Ready?"
BANG!
"Race Start!"
At the fake gunshot, five individuals who had comical-looking rubber ducks attached to the bottom of their feet began running forward while trying to balance the wooden spoons holding eggs in their hands, but to everyone’s surprise
SQUAAAAAAAAK!!
SQUAKKK SQUAK
SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKK
The most horrendous sound of many squeaking chickens rang out as the contestants tried to regain their balance, while the watchers burst out laughing.
Even Areum was laughing, although she quickly schooled her expression into one of neutrality.
"Everyone, back to the starting line! Remember, no squeaking!"
At Areum’s command, all the runners returned to the starting line and then began creeping forward in slow, exaggerated steps.
- Go Red Team!!
- Come on, yellow team!!! You can do it!!
- Slow and steady! Please!
- Don’t drop the egg. Don’t drop the egg!
Each time a squeak was heard or an egg was dropped, groans filled the air as the offending party had to run back to the starting line with shameful squeaks as their background music.
Even Ari had to laugh because they all looked and sounded ridiculous.
Then, in a stroke of genius, Minjun, who had been sent back to the starting line the most, tucked the baton into his back pocket, put the spoon holding the egg into his mouth, and began crawling on his hands and knees, zooming past the others who had to be careful due to the ducks strapped to their feet.
- No way!
- That’s cheating!
- Areum Sunbae-nim, do something, he’s cheating!
Areum glanced at the PD, who shook his head before shrugging and answering the contestants.
"It’s allowed."
- WHAT?
- NO FAIR!
- You should have said that earlier.
The 4 other contestants immediately dropped to their hands and knees and began crawling forward, while Minjun, who had safely passed the baton to Minho, sighed with relief as he stood up amidst the squeaks coming from his shoes.
Minho quickly stuffed the baton into his pocket before struggling to get on the pogo stick.
As he began generating little bounces and moving forward, albeit in a crooked line, Justin, who had just received the baton from a sweaty Choi Woobin, quickly got on and began jumping forward.
Unfortunately, due to Minho, who wasn’t well stabilized and was weaving, the two of them collided and fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
- Oh snap!
- Are they okay?
Seeing what he was worried about happen, Ari sighed in relief as both boys brushed themselves off safely before carefully getting on the pogo sticks again.
By this time, all the other teams had gotten on their pogo sticks and were attempting to hop forward with various levels of success.
The only person who could move forward in a straight line was Justin.
In contrast, the other four people kept weaving around in wobbly circles, at times almost crashing into each other before swerving and hopping away safely at the last minute.
As Justin attempted to hop forward while avoiding another person who entered his lane, William, who was wobbling unstably along with Minho and Daniel, forcefully leaned forward with the pogo stick and crashed into the two people in front of him.
As if they were dominoes, all four people fell to the ground in a tangle of pogo sticks and human bodies.
As they lay there, Vishal, the only person who got away scot free, stared at the pile up with a worried expression before continuing to move forward and continuing the race.
He believed that a whistle would be heard to stop it if a serious injury had happened.
After several seconds of stillness, the pile-up began to clear, as people stood up and started hopping away; the only person left lying on the ground was Justin, who groaned while clutching his leg, tears streaming down his face.
Tossing aside their pom-poms, both Ari and Jamie ran forward to see what the situation was, as the rest of the contestants continued with their race.
"Are you okay?"
"Ow ow ow ow, it hurts." Justin groaned as he clutched his leg with tears in his eyes.
"Where? Ankle? Whole leg? Hip? What?"
"My ankle." A slow lift of the blue track pants revealed that his ankle was quickly swelling up and turning an ugly purple color.
And although Ari wasn’t an expert in injuries, he was pretty sure that a foot wasn’t supposed to bend quite like that.
It was probably sprained or dislocated.
"I think you’ll need to go to the hospital for that."
"Wait, I need to pass the baton so Levi can finish the race." Justin began trying to get up, but Ari pushed him down.
"Who cares about a stupid baton right now. Let’s take your shoes off and have the medical staff examine it. You need to go to the hospital."
"But it’s a relay race, Levi can’t run if I don’t pass it on-"
"Shut up." Ari physically pinched Justin’s mouth before turning to Jamie. "Let’s lift him up and take him to the medics."
"Aye aye."
With a solemn expression, Jamie grabbed Justin by his waist, threw one of his arms over his shoulder, and gently lifted him up so that he was balanced on one foot while Jamie bore the brunt of his weight.
With a furious expression, Ari glanced over at the production staff and medic center, seeing that they weren’t moving with a hint of urgency, despite the fact that Justin was crying from the pain.
Nobody was even trying to come get him; they were just waiting expectantly while watching the race.
Holding back the urge to curse somebody out, Ari helped Jamie take Justin to the medical area, where there wasn’t even a chair for him to sit on and elevate his leg.
The medic squatted down and glanced at the exposed ankle before shrugging.
"That looks rough. Should I get you some ice?"
"Yes, please."
Justin sniffled and winced as the medic carelessly poked at the leg and moved it around.
Biting his tongue, Ari just stared, expecting medical action to be taken, but the man just shrugged again before looking at Justin.
"Does it hurt too badly? What do you think is wrong with it? Can you hold out until the end of filming?"
Hearing the barrage of stupid questions, Ari snapped.
"Is he the medic, or are you the medic? Why are you asking him those questions? Shouldn’t you be taking him to the hospital?"