Chapter XVIII – Sibling vs Sibling REMATCH!

“Alright let’s do this!” Sophie yelled out enthusiastically as she stretched her calves.

“I’ve never seen someone so enthusiastic about losing,” Arthur teased while tying his shoelaces.

“Oh? To think that my brother has gotten ignorant of the fact that he lost last time. Truly this shall be a victory worthy of me.”

While she did have a smile on her face, her eyes were already visualizing the race ahead. The two agreed to simple terms. This time the race would be testing both speed and endurance. Luckily it was early enough so there weren’t almost any people around.

“So let us review the course,” Sophie said, leaning against the outside wall to their garden. “First checkpoint is the closed F&I Cafe.”

“Right,” Arthur confirmed. “After that, we run through the park passing by the bench we monopolize.”

“You do know that’s not actually our bench right?”

“What do you mean? Conveniently it’s always unoccupied.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right. . . Strange.”

“So do you remember the third location?”

“I should be the one asking you that. After all, it’s my favorite store,” Sophie remained smug about it.

“It’s just a convenience store. . .”

“It’s not just a convenience store! It holds the legendary Shin Ramyeon!”

Shin Ramyeon is a popular instant noodles snack. Sophie always eats them when watching K-Dramas, unable to resist the salty, spicy snack.

“You do realize that all the stores have them?”

“Foolish Oppa. These are always fresh and tastiest!”

“I’m sure that’s just pure luck. . .”

“Call it what you may, but your ignorance is astounding,” Sophie teased, shrugging her shoulders. “To think that I’d pass by and not get any. . .”

“We can always end the race there if you’d like.”

“No! If we do that, I’d only be limiting the challenge of our run. After all, the final destination is back here, in front of our house. The final sprint not only decided who will win the race but also who will get to enjoy a long bath. The loser will have enough time only to shower quickly before school.”

“That wasn’t a part of the bet!” Arthur protested.

“I mean, all you have to do is get there before me and occupy the bathroom. Don’t worry, I’ve already prepared spare clothing and towels inside for myself, so I won’t waste even more time.”

Arthur couldn’t wait to wipe the smug grin off of Sophie’s face.

“You cheeky brat. I’ll show you what happens when you look down on your Oppa.”

Sophie chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“This is the first time you’ve called yourself Oppa. Sounds funny when you say it, in a cute way.”

“Hmm, Oppa won’t lose to you,” Arthur boasted standing next to her ready for the race. ”Alright, are we going to do this or are we just all talk?”

“Yeah,” Sophie answered, getting into a running stance. “Might as well, otherwise you truly won’t have time to shower.”

“Ready?”

“Go!”

With an explosive start, both Arthur and Sophie began with a sprint. Typically one would want to start slower and keep a steady pace, then at the end invest all of the leftover stamina into a bursting sprint. However, this was a matter of pride as well. Whoever took the lead first would boast all the way through.

Once again Sophie managed to surprise Arthur with both her speed and endurance. Even though his physique has gotten better, and his endurance isn’t half bad, especially for such a distance, he wasn’t able to overtake her. He could have used Qi to burst past her, but his reserves aren’t limitless and would cause his stamina to take a huge hit long-term. Besides, it would be a form of cheating since it would allow him to surpass the natural limitation of the human body.

It took about seven minutes, record time for both, to reach F&I which was surprisingly opening up. While there wasn’t anyone in sight, a delivery truck was stationed outside, along with the front doors which remained open.

Sophie arrived first, only a few seconds ahead of Arthur. Quickly turning, she ran towards the park. Arthur slowed down just a bit, if he kept up the pace Sophie could potentially run away with a premature win. If either of them were to run out of steam and stop, the other would simply claim to have endured longer, even though they too couldn’t keep up the pace for much longer before succumbing to fatigue.

Before turning towards the park, Arthur was surprised to see Iseul coming out of F&I holding a bunch of papers and pen in hand. She was wearing a tracksuit with her hair tied in a messy bun along with wearing glasses.

“Iseul?”

“Arthur?” she asked surprised.

He wondered what she was doing there before school, surely she’s not the type to skip classes. However, his attention quickly went back to Sophie who was slowly building up the distance between the two.

“Sorry, got to run!”

Iseul observed him disappear into the park before shrugging her shoulders and returning to work.

The park was slowly becoming livelier with dog owners taking their pets out before work. For mid-April, the weather was surprisingly warm, but there was a fair bit of wind, and the humidity level was slightly above average.

The park the two ran through wasn’t the biggest, but it certainly was well kept. With various flowers and trees surrounding the place, it reminded Arthur of the druidic groves he used to visit. Druids were masters of nature and keepers of wildlife. Their gardens would contain plant life from all around the world with which they could also commune. That kind of power was never something obtainable by Arthur.

Other people would often run early in the morning as well. Some of the people Arthur even began recognizing as he kept on running daily.

Just reaching the outskirt of the park, Arthur noticed that he was slowly catching up.

“Getting tired?” he tried poking fun at her.

“Keep dreaming!”

Due to the exerted stress of running fast for a long period of time, the biggest advantage one could have is the breathing technique and maintaining it. The best way to breathe while running is to inhale and exhale using both the nose and mouth in combination. Breathing through both allowed it to be kept steady and engaged the diaphragm for maximum oxygen intake, while also allowing the expelling of carbon dioxide quickly. Though concentrating on proper breathing is harder than one might foolishly believe.

The two already covered a fair distance, and their muscles were burning up. Not having eaten, the run was gut-wrenching. The wind made their vision blurry, and their lungs were bitten by cold air. The worst part about it was the thin layer of sweat covering the nape which Arthur desperately wanted to wipe off.

Running through the streets was vastly different compared to running through the park because of the obstacles that were in the way. While Sophie was better for the entirety of the race, her lead was snatched away as she was forced to slow down to pass around a bunch of boxes being taken into a bakery. Arthur didn’t stop though. Unlike Sophie who’d not risk her safety, Arthur bravely vaulted over them while maintaining forward momentum.

Sophie disapproved of the reckless behavior, but it wasn’t necessarily cheating.

“Too slow!” Arthur yelled but was barely staying ahead.

“Too early to celebrate!”

The two finally reached the third checkpoint, the convenience store. With Arthur in the lead, the last place they had to reach was home.

Nearing the house, both were running toe to toe. Their breathing came in short bursts, and adrenaline rushed through their veins. On the brink of exhaustion, the two had to give it their all. However, neither could commit to a sprint. Start too early and risking gassing out before reaching the front doors was a mistake they couldn’t afford, but start too late and you won’t be able to catch up.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur’s focus sharpened. During his preparation for the sprint, Sophie seized the initiative and bolted for the finish line, gaining a slight lead. Arthur instantaneously gave chase, and even though his sprinting was slightly faster, his heavy breathing was slowly caving in on him, making every step unbearably difficult.

With only fifty meters left, Arthur pushed himself past his limit and increased his speed to the point where he was slightly faster than her. With one final breath, he managed to reach the finish line before collapsing. Sadly for Arthur, Sophie had already reached it a second earlier. Their race ended in her victory, but the race couldn’t have been closer.

“Damn,” Arthur mumbled with a heavy breath, barely able to utter a word.

“I won! I freaking won!” Sophie celebrated by yelling and jumping around.

Even though it was close, the fact that she still had the energy to jump and celebrate showed the difference between the two. It was probably due to the adrenaline rush she felt from winning that gave her the extra energy, but Arthur could not help but be amazed by her. Not only was she fast to the point where if she trained rigorously daily, she would be an elite athlete, but her stamina reserves were insanely high. Even once he reached his peak, if comparing the two his speed would most likely dwarf hers, but endurance wise she’d win the contest nine out of ten times. Simply put, she was just too energetic.

The story would have been quite different had he used Qi, but that just left him wondering what she could achieve if he helped her open her meridian pathways. Qi capacity is something that one must cultivate to increase, but the natural internal Qi capacity that both genetically possessed was fairly high already. Possibly even higher than in his previous life.

“Bath time!” She cheered, entering the house.

“Wait. . . You were kidding about that, right?” Arthur desperately questioned.

“Nope!” She responded giggling.

“Why do you smell like sweat?” Max asked Arthur during their lunch break.

Nabi and Don chuckled, as Ari couldn’t help but notice the coy smile on Sophie’s face.

“It was because a certain someone kept the bathroom occupied for so long!” Arthur complained.

“Not my fault you lost.”

“You were in there for so long that we were almost late for school. . .”

“Well, at least it seems the two of you made up,” Max interrupted. “Here, take this. You need it more than I right now.”

Max handed over a deodorant to Arthur.

“Huh? What’s this?” Arthur asked.

“A deodorant? Spray it on you and it’ll help with the smell and keep you refreshed.”

“Oh, so like a perfume.”

“Just take it. You’ll spoil my food.”

Arthur took it gratefully.

Before lunch break ended, the group sat outside in the courtyard enjoying the warm sunlight while chatting about random things like TV shows and music.

“So. . . Do you guys have any plans for today? I was thinking we could hit the karaoke bar after school,” Max asked.

“Can’t, I got to study for midterms,” Nabi commented, and Ari nodded in agreement.

“Oppa and I already have plans for today.”

“We do?”

“Have you forgotten what you wagered? Don’t worry, I’ll be nice and we’ll visit your favorite place,” Sophie referred to F&I.

“You lost a wager? What was the bet about?” Max asked.

“Turns out Sophie is a better runner than I gave her credit for,” Arthur sighed.

“Woah, you beat this monster in a race? Impressive. . .”

Sophie blushed slightly at getting praised. The others jumped in on the compliments, finding Sophie’s expression priceless.

“Anyway, I guess we’ll go next time then,” Max said suggestively.

“I am still free after school if you want to go,” Don whispered.

“DD? Why are you whispering?” he asked. “Well, if it’s just the two of us it would be kind of weird if we go to a karaoke bar.”

“Oh right. . .”

“But. . . We could hit up a PC cafe or something like that.”

Don’s expression which lacked confidence suddenly flared up with excitement.

“Sounds great! If you want, we can even go to my place.”

“I definitely suggest that Max,” Arthur spoke up.

“Is Don’s place amazing or something?” Ari questioned.

“I mean, I don’t mind all of you coming over if you’d like.”

“Great! That settles it,” Max grabbed Don’s shoulder. “Next house party is at Don’s place then.”

“Right. . .” Don mumbled flustered.

Everyone laughed before returning to class.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.