Soundtrack: 4 Minute - Volume Up

I looked away from Yuhee-sshi's smirking expression and huffed a breath to try and calm my racing heart.

A tense air hung upon me as I realized that in this race, I'd be fighting not just against the other class, but also my own classmate.

"Alright, everyone. Positions." I heard the PE instructor for 3-B say, and following his instructions, I proceeded on getting started.

Naeun-sshi, Krystal-sshi, and Yuhee-sshi did the same thing as I did and crouched down to a running position. At this, my heart sped up even more.

I know that both Krystal-sshi and Naeun-sshi run pretty quickly because they had a background of sports before. Yuhee-sshi... I believe she doesn't run fast, but then again I haven't really seen her run with motivation, so this will be the first time I'll see her really run. I've had some practice of running with evading these bullies from catching me, but I don't know if that would be enough to outlast them.

Darn.

"Watch where you're going, , or you'll never walk again." A voice that could probably come from either Krystal-sshi or Naeun-sshi spoke to me threateningly, and not knowing what to do, I just tried to swallow.

Oh gosh. I'm seriously going to die.

BAM!

When the signal gun finally brought me to my senses, I began to run with all the strength I possessed. I have to run because this is for my grade in PE, first of all. But secondary, I wouldn't want to show EXO-K that I was a weak person, especially in front of all these students. I could at least run like how I'm supposed to for them not to be ashamed of hanging out with a former loser like myself... not that I actually grew out of the loser and loner label anyways.

From the bleachers and seats in the school outdoor area, I heard each and every member of EXO-K shout encouragements to me, and I managed to smile in the intense silence of the running event that I'm in. In that moment, I felt thankful for those aliens who treated me not only as their guide, but also their friend.

It was only when an excruciating pain in my right foot and a collision of my left knee with the concrete flooring of the tracks did my smile disappear.

= = =

"Yah!"

Kai screamed as, from the distance, Shirin yelped in pain before falling to her knees. With all of EXO-K standing up suddenly from their sitting positions after his remark, every eye turned towards the scene happening, gasps beginning to be heard when they had taken everything in.

A smirk lined the lips of Yuhee, Krystal, and Naeun as they reached the finish line around the same time as each other's, with Krystal leading and followed by Yuhee and Naeun. Shirin, on the other hand, was kneeling on the ground in pain, blood flowing out from the wound she acquired by her knee as it grazed the surface of the ground. Forcing herself to go into a sitting position, she had a look at her right foot and winced as she took out five