Chapter 16: Victory and Rivalry

With that, the two finished drafting their living rules.

Now all that remained was deciding where to post them.

“How about above the TV?”

“Not really.”

Wooju offered the suggestion boldly, but Jitae didn’t hesitate for a single moment and shot it down.

“Let’s put it here.”

Ignoring Wooju’s opinion completely, Jitae chose the hallway leading from the entrance inward.

Wooju immediately raised an objection, as if seeking revenge for what had happened earlier.

But Jitae argued logically, pointing out that placing the rules there would create a visual effect, making them notice it every time they came and went.

Wooju had no choice but to stay quiet and eventually accepted his reasoning.

After sticking the paper neatly, Jitae turned to leave, suggesting they have dinner.

But Wooju remained staring at the paper, lost in thought.

“Why?”

Jitae came back over.

“Well, these are rules we agreed to follow. The mission even said we must follow them.”

“So?”

“So, shouldn’t we think about penalties for breaking them?”

“Hmm… now that you mention it, yeah.”

The two men stood in front of the entrance door, pondering once more.

Finally, Jitae spoke first.

“How about the one who breaks a rule grants the other one’s wish?”

“Like a wish token?”

Jitae nodded.

It wasn’t a bad suggestion.

After all, the penalty was just a mechanism to make them more conscious of following the rules—it didn’t matter what it was.

After finishing the mission, Wooju went into the kitchen.

It was his turn to cook this week.

After briefly pondering, he decided to make seaweed soup with beef he had bought before and a sausage vegetable stir-fry perfect for a kid’s palate.

On a whim, he also made seasoned bean sprouts.

Meanwhile, Won Jitae went into the bathroom to remove his makeup.

As Wooju suspected, whether Jitae wore makeup or not made little difference.

After dinner, as per their rules, Jitae, who hadn’t cooked, took care of the dishes.

Wooju, planning to relax and enjoy a coffee, was suddenly interrupted by multiple short buzzes from his phone.

Looking at the screen, he saw it was a text from Park Hyunjin.

Given Hyunjin’s usual behavior, Wooju’s expression immediately hardened with suspicion.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hey]

[Guess what I found?]

[Link]

[Look, the reaction is insane right now]

The 50th Cheongryong National High School Volleyball Championship

Semifinals [Wonjang High School vs Daehyun High School]

“Yes, we’re finally in the last set of the semifinals.
A fierce clash between two of the top contenders of the Cheongryong National High School Volleyball Championship!
Ah, it’s impossible to predict the outcome!
Kim Kyuhan, who is co-commentating with us, what are your thoughts?”

“Though it’s a semifinal, our young players are showing almost final-level concentration.
As a senior, I have to say I’m really impressed.”

From the broadcast booth overlooking the court, the two commentators exchanged excited voices.

Meanwhile, countless spectators and students prepared to cheer with anticipation.

“Daehyun won the first set, Wonjang the second, making the set score 1-1.
Who do you think will take the final set?”

“Ha ha, that’s a tough question. Both schools have prestigious volleyball programs.
It’s also interesting that both schools have notable freshmen.
Wonjang has spiker Won Jitae, who excelled at Samjeong Middle School, and Daehyun has setter Kang Wooju, a former MVP at Gimjeon Middle School.”

The scoreboard highlighted Won Jitae and Kang Wooju.

The two players, wiping sweat from their brows as they listened to their coaches, wore unusually serious expressions.

“It’s not common for two freshmen to be starters in such a major tournament, right?”

“Exactly. Each team has other players with exceptional skills, so it wouldn’t be surprising if either team reached the finals.”

“Right, and speaking of which, time’s up.
The decisive third set begins now! Both teams have fairly consistent starters.”

The referee blew the whistle.

A Wonjang player served.

The libero received it cleanly and set it to Wooju.

The ball soared perfectly, reaching the spiker on the left at just the right height.

It was destined to succeed.

But as the Daehyun spiker swung…

Bang-

The ball was blocked by Wonjang and crashed mercilessly onto Daehyun’s court.

Wooju whipped his head around.

Reacting swiftly, Won Jitae grinned, mockingly observing the falling ball.

“Whaaa!”

Wonjang’s score went up, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

“An incredibly clean block, completely stopping the opponent’s attack! Won Jitae!”

“Won Jitae is taller than the average high schooler, making his blocking a significant weapon.”

Tch, Wooju silently clenched his fist in frustration at the commentator praising Jitae.

The game continued immediately.

“Daehyun with a good attacking chance! Huh?”

Wooju feigned setting the ball, then casually flicked it over to the opponent’s court.

“Wow! Kang Wooju with a calm, deceptive pass! What timing!”

Too late, Won Jitae rushed to dig the ball, but it had already dropped.

Crouched on the floor, he looked up.

Of course, Kang Wooju was standing there, grinning triumphantly.

“You lucky bastard.”

Wooju clenched his fist.

The match pressed on fiercely.

“Daehyun with a back attack! It goes in!”

“Whaaa!”

“Daehyun wins the third set 29-27, taking the semifinals!”

The gym erupted with cheers.

Students from Daehyun roared, hugging each other in celebration.

“What a battle, pushing it to deuce!
Daehyun advances to the finals!”

After the game, both teams exchanged greetings and walked toward their supporters to express gratitude.

After a brief briefing from their coach, Wooju prepared to leave for school.

The gym was still slightly chaotic with lingering spectators.

Some third-year starters and the coach left first for interviews, while the remaining underclassmen waited.

Naturally, Kang Wooju rose and headed to a corner of the gym.

“Hey, Won-loser.”

Wooju swaggered over to Jitae.

A student filming the gym immediately turned the camera toward them.

The two strikingly good-looking boys facing each other was a temptation hard to resist.

“What did you say? Won-loser?”

“Won Jitae loser. Shortened to Won-loser.”

“Ah, come on.”

Won Jitae smirked and flicked Wooju on the forehead.

“My first win as a high schooler, I take it?”

“Wooju, why care so much about the first-win title? Winning more matters. You’re a kid?
If I’m Won-loser, you’re Kang-little-kid then.”

“Little kid? Then what are you if you lost to a little kid?”

“The setter who fed the spiker for a blocked attack, maybe?”

Jitae smiled mischievously—the expression he always wore when teasing Wooju.

“Hey, that’s—”

And when Wooju was hit at the core, he usually broke down.

“Congrats on the win. But Wooju, you had quite a few errors today.”

“Hey! And you! If it weren’t for your missed serve, your team would’ve won!”

“Hey…! When did I miss a serve? Do you even know how hard jump serves are?”

“Not hard, just that you’re bad at them.”

“You couldn’t even do a losing jump serve.”

“What did you just say?”

Their faces twisted in growing absurdity.

Glowering at each other with sharp smiles, teasing mercilessly, their teammates finally had to separate them.

And the student who had filmed the entire scene hesitated briefly before tapping the screen several times and hitting the upload button.