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“I’ve beheaded the gold medal.”
Ian grabbed the gold medal as if he had cut the enemy general’s head and held it out in front of the members.
“The water has cooled already.”
“Have this drink, Ya Majesty.”
Ian answered “onya1” and drank the water bottle given by Kim Ju Young. Park Seo Dam fanned Ian with his hands.
After the sprint events were over, the singers headed to the waiting room to prepare for the opening ceremony.
The production crews also needed time to run around busily organizing cameras and props.
In the spare time which will take at least 30 minutes or an hour at most, fans picked up their phones and wrote real-time reviews.
-Ian passed running qualifiersㅠㅠㅠㅠ
(Pic) (Pic)
He came first in qualifiersㅠㅠㅠ the kids running around excitedly so cuteㅠㅜㅜㅜ
ㄮAre you on the scene? How are the kids?
ㄮI’m also on the scene, but there are other singers around the kids. It seems rumors spread as mafia hotspot
ㄮ(Author) Heol 6 secs
ㄮWhat?
-Awy Choi Ian sprint 6 secs lolololol
ilympics new record lolololololol
ㄮCrzy
ㄮDamn awesome rly
ㄮHe said his heart swells lolololol ah cute lololol
ㄮThe kids attending to Ian lolol
***
At the opening ceremony, people wearing the same color form a team and enter.
It has been decided that a rookie group member of each team will be the flag bearer for this iLympics.
Of course, Awy takes the lead as the flag bearer of the purple team.
“Who wants to hold the flag?”
“Me me me!”
“Me!”
Ian, who had already won a medal, was excluded. Instead, Ian mediated the situation.
“Let’s play one round of rock-paper-scissors.”
The rest of the members put out their fists solemnly. The sound of their rock-paper-scissors rang loudly.
At the unique energy of rookies, the idols from the same Purple Team laughed as if wondering why they are so competitive at something like that.
“Yes!”
The winner of the rock-paper-scissors was Kim Hyun. He grabbed the flag with excitement.
“Purple Team please enter.”
The staff called them just in time. The Purple Team followed Kim Hyun into the stadium.
As they entered, the fans screamed. They stood in line in the center of the stadium, waving their hands to each fan seat.
“Yes, Idol Olympics Lunar New Year Special! We will take the opening oath!”
A member of I-One and a member of Luna Girls went up to the podium and read the oath.
It followed with a warm-up dance time and a celebratory performance, where the iLympics host sang while performing a comic dance.
All idols cheered, and some others were leaping around as if they were at a club.
Ian acted as if he was enjoying it and roughly danced to the rhythm because he would be dead tired later if he lost his strength already.
‘Reporters are here, too.’
Instead, Ian stared intently at the red cross mark.
***
After the opening ceremony, it was lunchtime because the crew had to set up the aerobics and rhythmic gymnastics events to follow.
“Seriously, it’s only been 1 o’clock?”
“It seems like the recording is a bit delayed, right?”
“Isn’t this going to end past midnight?”
There was a long delay perhaps because something was not working properly. Ian and the members got rid of their lunch boxes as if drinking and came out of the waiting room after a short break.
Members who were trying to get sodas from the vending machine looked around.
“What’s this sweet atmosphere?”
Whispered Jo Tae Woong.
The atmosphere inside the stadium is gone somewhere. Male and female idols were friendly mixed and chatting while smiling. There were even some people who exuded a suspicious atmosphere.
“Hyung, cider for me.”
“Here you go.”
When Park Jin Hyuk threw it, Ian caught it with one hand and opened the can. Ian leaned against the wall drinking his cider.
It was because of the blatant gazes of several people focusing on him.
“Shall we go out quickly and babbling around2 with the fans?”
Whispered Lee Joo Hyuk.
Even in this unexpected happening of being swept away by the pink air current, he strongly wanted to get out.
All the members nodded, and the moment they were about to leave the stadium.
“There
”
Luna Girls members gathered around Awy.
“At that time, at Imjingak
”
“Ah. Hello, Sunbae nim.”
Awy bowed their bodies and greeted them. Luna Girls waved their hands.
“You do not have to be so rigid.”
“We were so thankful for the blanket back then, so we were going to buy you some drinks
 But it seems you already have, isn’t it?”
“Would you like more?”
Awy smiled awkwardly. They raised their hands, saying it was okay.
“We were so thankful at that time. We really want to repay you
”
“We washed the blanket, but we didn’t bring it, right?”
“What should we do?”
It was a word that implied, ‘we want to interact with you’. After that, Luna Girls didn’t leave the place hesitatingly.
What should I do with this. After contemplating, Ian said.
“We just did the obvious thing. Sunbae nims can just use the blankets and throw them away.”
“Is that so? Ah, then coffee? How about coffee?”
Luna Girls glanced at Ian.
Special order! Lee Joo Hyuk put his arm on Ian’s shoulders and brought him closer.
“It is really fine. And it is time for us to meet our fans.”
At Lee Joo Hyuk’s resoluteness, Luna Girls stepped back regretfully.
Awy walked fast as if escaping and headed toward the stadium.
“Hey, did you see the gazes looking at Ian?”
“I thought honey was dripping.”
“Jo Tae Woong, you shouldn’t talk like that. They also looked at you intently.”
“Really? Hyaa~ Really, my popularity.”
At Park Jin Hyuk’s words, Jo Tae Woong swept his chin. Even though so frivolous like that, he was one of Awy’s visual Bermuda lines.
***
“They’re giving us another meal?”
Kim Eun Ha, who even took a leave of absence from the company and headed to Ilsan at the news of Awy’s iLympics, asked the fans next to her.
“They’ll probably give us snacks later, too.”
“It hasn’t been long since I had breakfast, but it’s already lunch.”
“It’s not words that come out for nothing that they’re breeding fans.”
When Kim Eun Ha looked at the lid of her lunch box as she turned over the bossam lunch box to the side, she noticed a memo handwritten by the members.
Eat a lot and cheer up, dear Awydom!]
Kim Eun Ha got a message from Park Seo Dam. She was disappointed that it was not her bias, but she cherished it because the handwriting was cute.
“Omo.”
“Why are you like that?”
The fan next to Kim Eun Ha covered her mouth with her hands. She silently showed her memo to Kim Eun Ha. Densely written words in black.
“Wow
 What kind of letter is that?”
“I think it was good that I came here.”
“Who is it?”
A few fans looked at the memo at the fuss. The name of the member written at the bottom was Kim Eun Ha’s bias, Choi Ian.
“Wow, crazy
”
She truly wanted it, but the person next to her took it. In addition, the carefully written text caught Kim Eun Ha’s attention.
“Sell this to me, please.”
Kim Eun Ha rummaged through her wallet. The fan beside shook her head.
“He’s my bias too, so
”
Kim Eun Ha looked desperate, but the fan put the memo in her bag preciously.
Kim Eun Ha opened the lid of the lunch box with a sad expression. After only nibbling at the lunch for a few minutes, cheers were heard from among the fans.
“What is wrong? Are the kids here?”
When Kim Eun Ha raised her head, Awy was entering the stadium. She forgot to eat and screamed.
***
Even after 30 minutes of babbling around with the fans, there was no sign of the next game starting. Ian and the members lay in the corner of the stadium.
“Sleep comes.”
“We can’t really sleep, right?”
“When you sleep, probably you’ll get 500 memes each and those will go around on Bluebird as idols who take naps in iLympics.”
Said Kim Hyun exaggeratedly. The other members sat up straight even while booing.
“Shall we play mafia again?”
“Let’s do it when MyKit kids come.”
“Well, it’s not very fun with 7 people.”
It will be convenient to have a handphone like a group across the street during the long waiting time, but there is no handphone.
Ian got up after rolling around.
“How about that?”
“I don’t know what that is, but I think I can do that all day long.”
Kim Ju Young answered Ian’s question. The members stared at Ian as if they had been waiting.
Ian felt like he become a recreational instructor.
“Do you know ‘nonsense kung kung ta’?”
“!”
***
Nonsense kung kung ta3 is a game where you make up a really nonsensical word and continue it with the last syllable.
Because the game proceeds with words that do not make sense by mixing strange pronunciations, it was testing Awy’s ad-lib skills just by immediately rushing whenever they caught a similar word.
“Dda-olg-kkikk.”
“Dda-o-gi? Dda-o-gii?”
“Oh? Dda-o-gi4 is right! What’s ibis, is it the name of your secret folder?”
“Take out Jo Tae Woong!”
Eaargh! Jo Tae Woong fell down. Park Jin Hyuk and Lee Joo Hyuk put their hands together and took a prayer posture. It was like a fashion show’s final pose.
“Lord, we are sending another guy like this.”
“Wow, but seriously. Rappers have an advantage at this!”
“What rappers, what’s Choi Ian then.”
Previously eliminated Kim Ju Young raised Jo Tae Woong’s upper body.
“You can’t win him over in logic. How come an American has a better vocabulary than Koreans?”
“Isn’t it a class difference? Intelligence difference?”
When Ian spoke proudly, Jo Tae Woong put a headlock on Ian.
“Hey! Fans are watching! Take care of fans’ hearts! The fans’ hearts are plummeting!”
“I bet the fans who see us will think we’re close, though?”
Jo Tae Woong laughed small and scattered Ian’s set hair. Ian forcibly loosened Jo Tae Woong’s arm and ran towards him, who started running away.
Other idols were slowly entering the stadium.
MyKit was looking around and approached Awy.
“We’re looking for you guys, but are you already out?”
“What are you doing?”
When they answered they were playing nonsense kung kung tta, MyKit sat next to them excitedly. Ian, who finally dragged Jo Tae Woong and fed him headlock in reverse, sat down.
This looks like dĂ©jĂ  vu.]
‘I know right.’
If it’s like this, won’t all the singers flock here?]
‘No way.’5
* * *
And the ‘no way’ became reality.
Other idols gathered one by one and participated in the game, and there were also many people watching even if they did not play the game.
The female idols were unable to get close because of the fans’ eyes and were watching from afar.
“Jjeon-hwo-gwok.”
“Hwo-gwo6?”
“It’s the same name as the Chinese restaurant near our dorm!”
“Out! Out!”
Awy actively participated in the game but rubbed their eyes because they were tired.
“As expected, it’s fun to play it on our own.”
Whispered Kim Ju Young. As they interacted with many people at once, there were times feeling overwhelmed in the middle.
In addition, they had to be more attentive because most of them had never met before and had to be polite to some extent.
“Dunno how far to joke, right?”
“But didn’t you do well with us?”
“It seems ‘cuz you guys are strangely similar to us.”
Awy and MyKit fell back as they gradually reduced the number of participating members.
“Wanna play mafia?”
“Good. Let’s make a bet this time.”
“The next game is going to start soon!”
Shouted a staff member.
“It seems we’ll have to do it next time.”
They walked towards their own color team.
The next games were aerobics and rhythmic gymnastics, but Awy did not participate.
Even so, they had to keep their seats and watch the game, but should never get bored or yawn. There were reporters too and no one knows when they’ll be caught on camera.
Ian passed the time watching the participating idols’ games and also did something else with Jin’s help.
‘How are the fans?’
Coming out in middle? Not much. About five people? But the fans outside came in and filled it up again.]
‘Oh yeah?’
Ian looked at the fan seat and waved. Fans who were watching with telescopes responded with cheers.
No fan went to other fan seats like you suffer.]
‘I see
’
Ian sighed with relief. The trauma of Kim Yong Min’s time lasted longer than he thought.
The sense of defeat and loss that he tasted for the first time. He was also young back then, so it felt even more emotional.
Looking at the red cross and yellow triangle marks that did not disappear, Ian seemed to be able to put down a load of bad memories of Kim Yong Min’s time.