Chapter 5

                                    

                                          
2 years ago
"what!? Why are you participating in a basketball match?" Ji-yo concerned next to me.
I looked at the students coming back which means the break is ending soon and it's time for ji-yo to go to her own class. 
"Because I want to give it a try." But that's not even half of the truth. It's the inconvenience I caused, our immature competitive selves caused. 
"You should go back to your class." I suggested and she got on her feet considering it and then waved goodbye to me. 
She doesn't know about jae-eun nor that We've been competing in every upcoming event, whether it be class tests or running laps. It started due to the previous year's final exams, he got 1st place by two marks. 
I didn't even bother to know who the 1st place was until the class started making unnecessary gossip about how I'm losing myself. And how he crossed me without even trying. 
Someone even claimed that I got 2nd place because of hanging out with Ji-yo. 
She has never been an obstacle in my path of achieving things, if anything she's only being a supporter. 
A little feeling of humility is all it takes to make a bad decision. That was the unsaid beginning of our competition.
It didn't take him long to realize this, watching me join all the competitions that he's participating in. Finding a way to feel better about myself, but his lack of understanding didn't let me win once. Not a single competition. 
Soccer, debate, essays, academic decathlon, tug of war, quiz ball, gosh! I lost the count. 
My  obsession with winning against him was almost overwhelming but it was reasonable.
I'd practice the whole day and win against every other person to compete but him. I made ji-yo run with me everyday for my practice only for him to win by seven freaking seconds. 
My mind was consumed with the idea of defeating him, of being better than him. 
Even in the competitions that I didn't participate in, He didn't let anyone win against him, to the point it was so annoying to see his name on every prize. 
Kim Jae-eun. 
Kim Jae-eun. 
Kim Jae-eun again. 
I was tired of seeing that name from the past two years, Somehow due to my competitiveness he gained his reputation, The ideal student. The winner. The best. 
He always smiled cheeky while receiving the prize. As if it was to mock me, So I'm going to try harder and win against him in the basketball match. 
I was so desperate to win against him, I even learnt all sorts of things that he was already skilled in, whether it be fencing or soccer only to fail at it. 
The basketball match ended miserably, a final cut on the strings I've been hanging on. He won against me. 
I'm not the sensitive type, at least not in the school but the pressure of slowly shifting to the second best thing made my eyes swell up with tears in the court. Almost the whole school watched, they weren't unaware of our silly competitions, I heard that some of them even bet their money on us, and it somehow looked serious at that time.