The greco-roman team was good, but everyone who understood the bare basics of the sport knew Jihyo was carrying the team to their fame, the other schools only started getting invested against them after the ‘olympic drop-out’ joined the team. Before that, they were average at best. Now anyone can understand why everyone, without fail, was frustrated when Jihyo was told to back down for his seniors to have a chance to shine on his show. The other schools had gotten word of coach Zhen’s cowardice, but nobody really believed it, they couldn’t understand how it was fair that the boy was restricted just because his other teammates just weren’t up to par.

Everytime the season began, all the school’s athletes would show up to support each other, this saturday, anyone who could, showed up on their jerseys to cheer for the competitions taking place throughout the day. The football game was in the morning, greco-roman and cross-country in the afternoon (Jihyo was very sad he couldn’t go and cheer for Jeongyeon, who just hit upside the head and said it was just the first meet of the season) and there was the basketball game in the evening. Most families with more children, or who just wanted to support the kids in general had made it a day for picnics and bonding. 

The Baes, Parks, Sons, Ims, Yoos, Chous and Minatozakis (a new and pleasant addition) coordinated and managed a small barbecue for lunch and would be going to mrs Park’s restaurant for dinner, she had closed the place down for that evening and was taking no objections. Not to mention, she had already turned down the reservations for the evening and everyone else felt bad for making the woman lose so much money in vain. Not that she minded, really, unavailability only served to boost the restaurant’s popularity, and she had already dismissed most of the staff for that evening, they’d need just the bare minimum anyhow.

Once afternoon hit, the group got divided, Baes, Sons, Minatozakis and Parks went to the arena for the greco-roman and the rest headed to the field for the cross-country, they would be gathering again for the basketball match in the evening, being joined by the Myouis by then, Mina had a recital that day and wouldn’t be able to arrive much earlier than a little before Nayeon’s game. The boy was bummed, he was missing a barbecue, but his consolation came with having dinner that mrs Park’s restaurant, he was always an avid fan of fine dining, well, eating well in general, but let’s say fine dining so he can keep his expensive image (he wasn’t, he just loved good food in general, but Nayeon loved to call his boyfriend expensive and people seemed to believe him).

Mr and mrs Myoui were also very saddened about not being able to attend a whole barbecue with the group, they were very social people and enjoyed being in nice company, good food was a bonus. The Myoui family was made of gluttons, don’t judge, even Kai agreed to attend his little brother’s recital for the sake of eating out in a high class restaurant, it helped that they were all at a ballet recital and needed to dress nice. Nayeon was very pleased whenever Mina was all dressed up in his suit but will never admit that it got him all hot and bothered each time it happened.

Jihyo separated from the group as soon as they entered the arena, it was a multi-purpose area that held the indoor sports that didn’t need a court, the circle had been placed at the center, the bars and ropes the gymnastics squad used had been removed for the day, and the bleachers had been placed closer to the ring (they were mobile, a clever solution for a place that would host different competitions for various sports). The boy headed to the locker room, Dahyun walked him there and hugged him good luck before leaving.

Now, what many don’t know, is that protecting themselves for boys was a little trickier than it was for girls. The female team had competed that morning when the football game was taking place, they knew Jihyo wanted to cheer for his friends and that Seungwan would go there so the boy would certainly follow, so nobody really got mad at him for missing it. He started getting ready, that meant a tight underwear that would secure everything in place, his very well placed cup holder, which was a headache to put on each time, and then his leotard. The entire process sounded simple, it was infinitely more complicated than that, and it took him longer than he’d ever admit.

The crowd was getting excited, the cheerleaders came to rile them up a little, they were the hardest workers on sports days, the girls usually split in two squads for anything that wasn’t a major game, like football, soccer, basketball and things that would gather a bigger public at the field. Plus, it’s not like the entire cheer squad and their intricate routines would have fit in smaller spaces like this, so half the squad was hyping up the public when the teams got to the ring. There were rumors, but the girls had just seen for themselves the very real danger that was Park Jihyo in an unitard at a match, the wrestlers would practice indoors while the cheering squad was at the field, they never really saw him much, and the previous year the school only held one wrestling competition, which the boy didn’t participate in.

To say Elkie lost herself there for a moment would be an understatement, but the girl was the vice captain and had to take charge there, the captain was with the other half of the squad at the field cheering for the track team. She managed to get her girls back from their daydream and cheering again, good thing the mc was talking and their slip up went unnoticed. What the girls didn’t know, however, was that a post fight Jihyo was even more dangerous to their sanity, a cheerleader gathering was certainly needed that evening.

The fights go as well as one could expect, until it got to Jihyo’s turn, that is. The other school had saved their best fighters for the category Jihyo was previously placed at, nobody really believing coach Zhen had really moved the boy down, it made absolutely no sense doing that, it would just be wasting talent. When the announcer called him one fight before he was supposed to step in, the opposing team, their coach and most of the crowd began showing their frustration with the change. It wasn’t about winning or losing the fight, not with Jihyo, it was about holding the boy back and not allowing him to explore his full potential. All who were there and complaining had come to see what a real national athlete could do, only to get disappointed when said athlete didn’t need to make an effort.

Jihyo fought, certainly won, but it tasted bitter. He knew he wasn’t giving it all, and made sure to cross the circle to go and apologise to his opponent and their coach properly once the competition was over. The cheering squad, however, was too busy gawking at the greek god, sculpted in Olympus, Park Jihyo, he was sweaty and glistening in the afternoon sun, his leotard clinging to his body and leaving little to imagination. They were teenage girls with raging hormones, can you blame them. And it wasn’t like they weren’t admiring the other fighters, but this one in particular never really showed off like the others, so it was a surprise for them all.

Once all the fights were over, Jihyo indeed marched directly to the opposing coach (his own coach never noticed, too busy talking to the seniors) and asked to talk to him and his opponent after they had showered, explaining he was feeling a bit uncomfortable with the cheerleaders ogling him, the woman just laughed and told him he should just swing by their locker room when he was done, they would be waiting. He indeed got ready fast, not in the mood to waste time with his own coach at the moment, plus he wanted to get things solved and head to Nayeon’s game already.

Maybe showering and getting dressed didn’t do much for Jihyo, as they would be going to his mother’s restaurant after, he wanted to look a bit better and switching his suit jacket for the school jersey wasn’t really considered casual. It didn’t matter much, the opposing coach, mrs Jeon, he learned, just complimented him on the looks and his opponent, a boy named Jaehyun, said they weren’t angry at him, but very disappointed at coach Zhen. And explained nobody was believing the rumors, but they should have and should have taken a stand against it, Jihyo assured them he would be making a show of it properly and they parted on very good terms.

The walk to the basketball court would have been very uncomfortable if it wasn’t for the huge group waiting for Jihyo, he was gathering a lot of looks, mostly from the people who had just seen him compete, and the cheerleaders made a point to throw some pick up lines at him as they passed by, hurriedly to gather with the other half of the squad and prepare for the next game. Nobody let the boy live it down, however, especially mr Park, Seungwan and Dahyun, who were having the time of their lives making Jihyo blush a shade darker each sentence that came out of them. 

Jihyo took it, though, it was a nice distraction to how frustrated the day’s competition had left him, if one could call it a competition, that is.