CHAPTER 23

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Sunday had come and gone in a flash, and Monday finally arrived. It was the day of the tug of war tournament. The way the morning started had me feeling that it was going to go horribly wrong.

I woke up to a pounding on the door. I squinted at the bright light and heard Minseok groan. He was still sleeping too. We lifted our heads to peek at each other. He let his head fall back onto his pillow first, silently telling me that it was my turn to answer the door.  

I shuffled to the door and slowly clicked the lock open. I stared dully at the person on the other side. Luhan stood there impatiently.

“Where’s the fire?” I joked sarcastically.

“It’ll be in your bed soon,” Luhan huffed. “Just get dressed and meet me on the quad in ten minutes. Please.”

I threw my right hand over my heart. “You said please,” I said in light, happy voice.

Luhan rolled his eyes. “Ten minutes.” He pulled the cabin door shut in my face.

I didn’t have much time to get ready, so I settled on changing my clothing beneath the blankets of my bed. I prayed that Minseok would not wake up. At this point, I would have rather dealt with Minseok discovering my secret rather than an angry Luhan.

I hurried out the Jiri Village quad. Luhan and Hyuk stood in the center waiting.

“Good morning, Jisoo,” Hyuk greeted me.

“Hi there,” I said back. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“Luhan wants to have a practice and talk strategy before the event today.” Hyuk motioned to a thick rope lying on the ground near Luhan’s feet.

“That’s a fancy jump rope you’ve got there, Luhan,” I joked in a weird voice.

Luhan gave me a bored look. “Jisoo, it’s too early.”

I let out a small laugh. “Hyuk thought it was funny,” I said, motioning to the boy trying to hide his smile.

Within a few minutes the other Jiri Village first years had arrived. They all looked like they hadn’t slept in weeks. They probably hadn’t. I really got lucky with my cabin-mate.

“Okay guys,” Luhan said. “I thought I’d help you organize a little practice before the tug of war event. It’s just you guys representing the village today.”

“Don’t remind us,” Yoongi mumbled quietly.

I was glad someone else didn’t feel good about this.

“Have any of you played tug of war before?” Luhan asked sounding hopeful.

Jihoon was the only one that raised his hand.

Luhan sighed. “That’s okay,” he said to reassure himself more than us. “That’s why we are having a practice.”

Luhan lined us all up along the rope in the order he thought we’d be most effective. He put the bigger, stronger boys Jihoon and Jimin in the back. Next was Jaehyo, then Hyuk. In front of Hyuk was Yoongi, and I found myself in the very front.

“First rule, don’t wrap the rope around your hands. Just grip it with your hands and lock your arms out. Second, use the resistance of the other team to lean back. That’ll give you the angel you need to push off the ground and walk backwards. You don’t actually pull the rope,” Luhan explained.

He split us up and had us practice our stance and hold on the rope. When he felt we were good, he moved onto the next step.

“Jihoon will be in the loop at the end of the rope. He is your anchor. If he slips, it’s all over for you. He and Jimin are your last line of defense. You all need to communicate so you know when to power walk or to brace when the other team attacks.”

“What do we do in the front?” I asked.

“You, Jisoo, are the intimidation factor,” said Luhan.

I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion. “Are you joking?” I asked, unsure.

“No, unfortunately. You’re a loudmouth, so we can use that to our advantage.”

“So Jisoo, is our smack-talker?” Jimin questioned with a laugh.

“Yup,” Luhan replied. “He is also going to be the one with the best view of the other team, so he’ll communicate which stance you need to take.”

“I don’t know whether to feel offended or honored,” I admitted.

Luhan gave us a few more tips and coached us through some practice before letting us go. He told us to meet in front of the main office at 11:30 am. The event would start at noon.

None of us first years had eaten breakfast yet, so we all went to the dining hall together. We got our food and sat together. It was quiet while we ate, our nerves eating us alive.

“Do you think the village will be mad if we don’t do well?” Jimin asked.

I looked at him to see that his gaze was fixed on the scoreboard on the far wall. No one offered an answer for him, so I decided to speak up.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that. Luhan helped us out a lot already. Plus we’ve all kind of worked together as a team before.”

“If you’re talking about the night in the woods,” Yoongi said, “that was a disaster.”

Technically, he wasn’t wrong. “We can learn from our mistakes. We just have to work together this time.”

“Don’t move unless the group moves with you,” Hyuk added.

I gave him a smile. “Exactly.”

After eating and having a little pep talk, I think the others felt better. I still felt nervous. The position and role that Luhan had given me made me feel like the leader. The team seemed to think of me in that way too. I didn’t know how to lead them for this event. If I said something wrong and the team finished horribly, that loss was on me. I’d be the one getting hate from Jiri Village, not the others.

At 11 o’clock, we all made our way over to the office. We were able to relax for a bit before things started to get crazy. Other teams and campers started to show up. The teams gathered by us and the campers were told to circle around the main quad.

Mr. Moon and the counselors arrived. They talked as a group, before splitting up to deliver the information to us.

Sandeul waved happily as he walked to us. “I heard Luhan had you guys practicing this morning,” he said happily.

“Yeah, he did. I think we’re ready for this,” I spoke on behalf of the group. There were a few murmurs of agreement.

“Basically, the tournament is going to work similarly to how the swim relay did. Two teams. Then the next two. The last place round. Then a final round,” Sandeul explained. “If you make it to the finals, you are allowed to add two more people to your team, but you can only tell them right before the round starts.”

“What kind of rule is that?” Yoongi asked.

Sandeul shrugged. “Moon’s idea, not the counselors. No clue what he’s thinking.”

“We just have to get the flag over our line to win, right?” Jaehyo asked.

Sandeul nodded in affirmation. “That’s all you gotta do. You guys will be in the second round, so you’ll get a chance to check out the competition first. There are some beastly kids on the other teams.”