The pounding of feet could be heard as hundreds of people race towards the grand prize.

Cheers resonated from here and there as the participants neared the finish line.

Cacophony of sounds could be heard all throughout the venue. But these sounds were drowned out by his own heartbeat ringing in his ears. Excitement rushing through every veins of his body as he run towards the end.

"Sir, have some water." Rounding around the corner, a staff had given him some water to drink. He stopped for awhile to drink the offered water and to quench his thirst. There are no words that can describe how thirsty he was. The race had started even before the dawn and now, the sun is slowly creeping up into the sky signaling the start of another day. Thanking the staff with a nod, the man continues to run. When his fellow runner overtaken him while he was slowing down his pace, he smirked, he was up to compete and he won't back down. The game is clearly on.

With the finish line coming into view, adrenaline surges throughout his system. "Just a little more", he murmured to his self as he quicken his pace. Pushing his remaining strength on his lower extremities, he run as fast as he could, slowly catching up with the one that had overtaken him. Fate is really with him during this race. He smirked again when the situation was reverse. He had overtaken his competitor as the other runner slows down his pace to catch his breath.

“Giving up already?” he asked his fellow runner while giving him a friendly and at the same time competitive smile.

The man was clearly on the lead but his friendly competitor was not giving up and was slowly catching up with him. Again, he smirked even more when he heard the siren signaling that he is nearing the finish line with his competitor trailing behind him. Taking a big gulp of air, he already knew who would come out victorious during this time.

The cheering became louder as he neared the throng of people that wake up oh-so early just to watch the race and cheer for them.

“Woah! Woohyun is catching up!” Someone said from the crowd, but the man didn’t mind because he knew what the results will be.

Another minute passed and the two of them were running side-by-side, and the crowd became even more ecstatic not knowing who would when the race.

It was him or his competitor, but he was really confident of himself.

“Go! Go! Woohyun! You can do it!” the same person cheer from the crowd, clearly pegging for his competitor to win. The cheering is pissing him off but he hid it, he has only one goal during this time and that is to win.

Running with all their might, the two of run towards the white line at the same time gulping large amount of air as they run to sustain the need of their system. It etched on their faces, the efforts that the two of them are making just to prove who the best between them is. But fate was really with this man during this time as his competitor slows down his pace, notwithstanding the strain of running to his body and the apparent shortage of oxygen.

Without further ado, the man crosses the white line with a smug and celebratory grin on his face. Of course, he knew it – he knew that he will win the race again. Photographers rush to his side to take pictures of him, emerging victorious from the race again. Woohyun, who have already caught back his breath, went to the man sides with a huge smile.

“Congratulations, Myungsoo!” Woohyun happily said, shaking the man’s hand as a sign of sportsmanship.

“Woohyun, you’re so good.” Several people from the crowd run towards them to congratulate them.

“Myungsoo, congratulations!” it was the same person that congratulated Woohyun.

“Woohyun, you’re really great!” the person said again as he rushed back towards Woohyun side, hugging and jumping with Woohyun with glee. “You were able to catch up. You’re really the best” It really pisses Myungsoo, he was the one that win the race but it was like that Woohyun is the true winner.

“Good one, Woohyun.” This time, it was the CEO of the company that they are working with that congratulated Woohyun.

“Thank you, hyung. Thank you.” Woohyun answered while throwing a small heart gesture to their CEO.

Myungsoo is seething but he can’t show his anger because it would only taint his precious image. Ignoring that matter, Myungsoo focused himself to the media taking his pictures and to a reporter asking for an interview.

“L, can you give some comments, please.” Myungsoo turned his attention to the reporter. To his fans and the media, Myungsoo is known as ‘L’, named after a character of an anime due to his silent, mysterious, and stoic personality.

“Well you know, it always feel s great to win, to be recognize,” Myungsoo started, still catching his breath. “I won because of my Velocity Max shoes. To prove the lightweight technology. It’s lighter and faster. So go to your Momentum store and ahh… check it out.”  L ended with a smile. Of course, he memorized those lines very well, just like how the company he’s working with wants those lines to be delivered to the crowd. Yes, it was his role. He won the race so that the product that he was using will be recognized. It was their way to endorse and to reveal the said item in the market. Since the start of his career, he had been affiliated with Momentum and he had been promoting it ever since. Everything he promoted would result for its demand to skyrocket. He often wondered if it was the product that the buyers were after or the fact that he was the one endorsing it and the free picture that came attached with the product.

“Alright! Thank you. Thank you.” The reporter thanked L after he finished his promotional speech.

“L, good job!” L’s CEO congratulated him and at the same time giving him a congratulatory shake.

“Thank you, Leeteuk-hyung.” It was the brother-like relationship that L has with their CEO that he was allowed to call the aforementioned man with his nickname.

“Oh!... wow!” the reporter exclaimed when she the CEO of L’s company. “Okay, we have the president of Omega Entertainment…of course, Mr. Park Jungsoo. What can you say about this event?”

“Well, it’s good to see a lot of people gathered around here…” Park Jungsoo answered. “For one goal…”

To L, the voice of the CEO was muted by the cheering and the reporters surrounding him. With the cold water he was holding, he slowly washed his face to freshen up for a little.

“L that was a close fight with your fellow labelmate. Did you expect that?” another reporter asked him.

He smiled before he answered. “Well, I expected to win.” He said smugly.

-0-0-0-

It was a brand new day but for a man like Kim Myungsoo, it was like another replication of his day before, aside from the marathon of course. Photoshoots, interviews, TV guestings and the likes…everything he does is just like clockwork.

Waking up from his comfortable king-sized bed, he immediately prepared himself for a jog. He needed to cool off his head. Everything was supposed to be perfect yesterday but the simple dinner with his family to celebrate his father’s birthday ruined everything. And to top it all the ratings result he received was not into his liking.

Recalling the events last night caused him to glare at everything and everyone that he sees that moment. It angered him… and shattered him to his core that he is always overshadowed by his older brother. That in their family his older brother always comes first and him would only be second. Hell, he even felt that he was only on the third, his younger brother taking the second place on the ranking.

Coming in a family that was trained to excel in the world of medicine, L felt left out… he felt out of place. His dad being a famous cardiologist in Seoul and his mom being a pediatrician, people expected that the three of them would follow the profession of his parents. But he proved them wrong, when he enrolled in an art school instead of a med school. The peers of his parents considered him to be the bane in the family…that he was bringing shame to his parents’ name for being an artist. Some may be proud of his achievements but still they looked at him with disdain evident in their eyes. He knew that even his parents were disappointed of him. They may be proud that he was getting the limelight that he wanted but he knew that they were only acting and that hurt him. Up till know, they couldn’t accept the path L is heading to. And their conversation last night proved it all.

“Gyu-ah, this is the best gift that I ever received. You really are my heir son, you know me very well.”

It was the gift of his older brother that was appreciated by his father and not his. His gift was neglected like a piece of trash, after all it was not like the gift of his older brother. It was some latest medical gadget that his father wanted and his gift, a pair of shoes that he was endorsing at the moment. It may be expensive but what purpose will it serve to his dad who often hides in his clinic.

“Congratulations Gyu, being accepted in Massachusetts General Hospital as an intern is no joke. Think about it, I applied their once but they rejected me.”

“Well honey, of course, Gyu is smarter than you”

For his parents, the only one that was worthy to be praised was his older brother, Kim Sunggyu. All achievements of his brother was praised by his parents but his achievements… it was like nothing… it was like a common thing that happen in a normal event.

“L-hyung… how your career? You’re very in demand right now but rumors say that Woohyunnie-hyung is slowly taking your place.”

“L, you still has an option to pursue medicine. Think about it.”

The words that came out from JR’s mouth pierced through his heart. His family doubt about his career… no…they doubt him.  Even Jonghyun, his younger brother which has been supportive in his career from the start was beginning to doubt him.

Shaking of the fragments of the occurrence last night, L continued to jog while silently observing his surroundings. His face and Woohyun’s face were plastered in every billboards and promotional ads around him. Even some morning joggers were greeting him. JR was wrong, Sunggyu was wrong, his parents were wrong. His career won’t go into drain and he will prove it.

Still preoccupied with some things, L didn’t realize that he bumped into someone practically smaller and lighter compared to him. The said person thrown because of the impact and was crumpled on the ground. Being the gentleman he is, L assisted the person to stand up.

“Miss, there’s a piece gum on your shorts.” L murmured as he remove the said object that was sticking on the person’s short at the same time checking the person out. L was mesmerized with the beauty of the person. No word can describe the person he was facing right now. The face he was looking was perfect…ethereal…surreal. But the look in the eyes of the person was haunting and empty. Few minutes past, when a car arrived and a tall man went out of it. The man assisted the other towards the car, gently putting his arm on the other’s back.

As the car drove off, L could conclude that he found his love at first crash.

It has been six months since I've posted an update for this story. 

I have been inactive for awhile since I have to fulfill approximately 160 hours in IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) for my practicum.

This chapter may be a little hard to understand and confusing but questions, comments, criticisms are very welcome and appreciated.

Please feel free to subscribe and comment. and sorry for the errors and mistakes in this chapter.

till the next update.

-Rhay