Chapter 1: Behind the Busy Crowd
"Congratulations," The man beamed. He walked towards the young male who was in front of him and took ahold of his shoulder. "You have made it to the finals."
The young male's exotic green eyes widened, forming a sheepish grin against his dark-skinned face. He was a handsome young lad who was congratulated for his passing the Regional Track and Field Meets.
"Thank you, sir." He greeted back to the happy, old man whose big beer belly was recognizable and perfectly shaped onto his neatly tied suit.
The old man chuckled and patted the young man's back, leaving him behind at the resting area for fellow athletes. The boy took a step back and pressed his bottom at the laid sofa in the corner of the room. He sighed, "I wish I could take a break from running all day."
He laid his back down on the lumpy mattress of the sofa, staring closely at the ceiling that was white as an eggshell. The whole resting room was painted with shades of an eggshell as few streaks of sky blue are visible, as well.
"I miss her." He softly mutters, hearing the distinct chatter and cheers coming from the outside. The semi-finals must be starting for those in the next batch of runners.
The loud, beaming music echoed throughout the rooms that were next to the field. It was really loud, making the young male grasp his head suddenly, "Argh.."
His head began to throb from the pain, for a moment he heard something calling out to him. Something that was yearning for him.
He jerked his head off the sofa, turning his eyes from left to right as if he was scanning—or rather, searching the area.
As he was searching the room, he found nothing but a pair of shoes placed on top of the table which was in front of the lockers. He breathes in deeply, concluding that it must have been his imaginations and nothing else.
Then it called out once more, "Ooh.."
This time, the young male jumped from the bulky sofa and began to feel anxious. His palms began to sweat, and so as his pits. He was mortified.
"Am I being hunted by a ghost?" He thought, feeling chills run down his spine.
The scared, young man was standing by the corner as he anticipated the next calling of the unknown voice. For some reason, he thought that it may have been the voice of someone very dear to him, someone he has been missing for a long time: his mother.
He was lost in his thought as another man in his age entered the room, "Shio! You aren't gonna watch?" He asked.
The young, paranoid male, who seems to be named Shio, jumped out of surprise. He instantly shook his head in disagreement.
"But, you've got to see the next participant!" The other male exclaimed. He was feeling nervous, not knowing why it seems that it was because of the competition that was happening outside. "He's challenging you, you see!"
"What do you mean, Kun?" Shio asked, confused as a dog may be during the fireworks festival.
"I mean what I just said. Some were saying that he's here to challenge you and your track record!" Kun exclaimed. Shio's heart suddenly thumped against his chest, he was excited. No one has ever dared to challenge him—his best track record.
Fueled up with immense excitement, Shio rushed towards the door and leaned against the gigantic stadium's post. He was elated. Who would've thought something like this would terrifically excite a young man?
Kun rushed behind him, seeing such a different side of Shio. He had never seen him like that, only once. It was similar to when he had faced defeat for the first time. Shio's eyes were all sparkling and crazy, filled with excitement and amusement rushing through his veins.
Leaning against a post, Shio looked up from where he was and saw the supposed 'challenger' of his run towards the goal with tremendous speed. He watched the man ran with all his might, completely forgetting what had happened earlier in the resting room.
"Go, Hisato! Cross the line!" Cheers began to fill up the entire stadium. They were cheering for the man who 'supposedly' challenged Shio.
Shio watched the man's movements accordingly, with Kun still by his side. Suddenly, the roaring of the crowd became louder—Hisato had finished the 100-meter track and had won against his other competitors, finishing the race first.
"Twelve point two seconds!" The referee announced. Shio felt a sudden relief to him, there was just no way someone would beat him. It was impossible. At least, for him.
"That was a close one, Shio!" Kun said, taking ahold of his arm. He waved Shio side to side, making Shio become annoyed at him. Kun had loved making fun of Shio, ever since they were just little.
Apparently, Shio couldn't be bothered by what Kun was doing at him. He was focused more on the gap between their two scores—Hisato and his.
Amidst Shio's gaze at the enormous stadium, arm still shaking from Kun's constant pestering, for a moment he saw Hisato staring at him. Shio was suddenly taken aback and decided to look at the athlete once again, only to find him being surrounded by a couple of fellow athletes, greeting and congratulating him as such. He was smiling around them and you could easily spot his blonde, flowy hair.
"Shio..." Kun said in a dull manner, he was getting annoyed as to how Shio wasn't paying attention to him. "Why won't you notice me?!" He continued, puffing his cheeks in annoyance.
Finally, Shio looked at Kun, feeling all irritated and confused as to why Hisato was looking at him earlier. "Maybe it was just my imagination", was what he thought.
"What do you want?" He finally answered Kun, looking all irritated with his eyebrows knitted together, forming waves of wrinkles, that appear to look like a WiFi symbol, on his forehead.
"Treat me to lunch!" replied Kun, grinning widely from ear to ear.
"No."
"Hehe... Come on. Treat me too!" Kun cooed, wearing an odd, frowning appearance on his face whilst Shio was simply staring at him with a blank, straight face. It was as if he dreaded being near his friend's presence.
"I don't want to." Shio coldly replied, still leaning against the bleacher's post while watching how the next batch run with determination written in their eyes. They wanted to win the race, just like how Shio feels deep inside.
Turning his eyes away from the stadium, he stared at the man beside him who was constantly, still shaking his arm side to side. Shio took a deep breath and slowly slid his hands onto the shorter male's brown hair, causing it to become a fluffy-looking mess.
"Let's go." He said lowly, walking away from the crowd. Kun's large, orange eyes shone brighter and a smile appears on his light face. "I knew you couldn't resist me!"
"Hah?" Shio scoffed, glaring. He was really annoyed at Kun for his continuous annoying-spree.
"Listen here, you tiny pun--" He was cut off by suddenly crashing into the body of someone else who was a lot taller than him. Shio looked up to see who he bumped with and saw his rival, Hisato.
"Watch where you're going," Hisato remarked, saying those words in a cool yet intimidating demeanor. Shio gulped and rolled his eyes, his attention completely shifting from Kun to Hisato.
Hisato's back was all Shio could see as he slowly walked towards the opposite direction he was heading. He looked at Kun, who was astounded as to what had happened. "Let's go, Shio. I'm hungry already."
He nodded in reply. They both head out of the field as several food stands were visible outside, with people swarming around them. It was lunchtime, people are bound to be starving by this time.
"It's so crowded out here," Shio whined, looking like a fish whose life had left him. "Let's just order online."
"But, I kind of want to try their shawarma. They said it tastes great especially with cheese." Kun said, pointing at the shawarma stall filled with tons of customers waiting around the booth for their orders.
Seeing how many people were there, Shio instantly took a shift and tried to run away from Kun, only to be pulled by the hem of his collar. "Where do you think you're going?"
"It's too crowded! You know my introverted ass can't handle that shit."
"Huh? Introverted? But you like socializing with other cliques." Kun said, taking a few steps and some squeezes through the swarm of people, still holding Shio's collar.
"What..? When did I socialize with other cliques?" He replied, inhaling a mix of different scents coming from the crowd, which was all sweaty and greasy from today's heat.
"You did, though! Especially when the whole team was drinking, you were all around the place trying to befriend everyone," Kun replied, arriving at the busy shawarma stall and giving their specified orders at the cashier.
"But, I was drunk."
"Fine, but still..." Kun trailed off, forgetting what he was about to say and blankly stared at Shio who was waiting for his sentence's continuation.
"What? Still what?" Shio asked, cocking his head sideways, indicating that he was confused.
"Never mind. I forgot what I was about to say." He replied, taking a huge bite onto the warm shawarma that was freshly cooked and prepared. Biting onto it, his mouth was filled with its spicy and salty flavors, while the cheese gave a little more saltiness to it. It was delicious and Kun delightedly enjoyed it.
They suddenly hear the cheer becoming more vigorous, making Shio pumped up to check it out. Running is his passion, after all.
"Y'know, we should probably head back and see what's happening in the field."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
victorioussaira
victorioussaira Hello everyone.
This chapter has been revised a little with few new details here and there. I will continue to edit and revision some of these chapters, in order to provide the best experience with the story. Thank you for reading.
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