Snow and Ice || 태국

Inevitable encounter

Being a matchmaker was something that Taehyung did on a whim. He did not spare much energy for advancing his roommates' relationships as he was about to begin competing.

In mid-November, Taehyung was in the full swing of the competition season. Short track speed skating competitions were usually concentrated in spring and winter while summer and autumn were considered off-season. From the University Championship till now, Taehyung had trained for more than half a year. It was finally time to put his skills to the test.

The first competition he welcomed was the Province Winter Games.

There was no particularly outstanding short-track speed skating athlete in the province that Rain City was in. Both Taehyung and Jimin's usual training results were enough for them to rank in the top three in the entire province. Therefore, both of them managed to slay their way into the finals without any issues.

On the day of the 500 meters event, Jungkook and Taehyung's group of sketchy friends all went to cheer him on. Like the head of a fan group, Jungkook produced a banner with the words "Go for it, Taehyung!". Rather than being printed, the words were written by an old man in the park whose hobby was practicing calligraphy on the ground using water. The bold and ostentatious calligraphy was huge. When the banner was unfurled, it attracted much attention.

Jimin had the best result in the semi-finals and was placed in the first lane while Taehyung was placed in the second lane. When the gun went off, Taehyung responded immediately and set off to a good start. He soon charged to the forefront.

For short races like the 500 meters event, a good start would determine half of the success.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, go for it, boss! Boss, you're the best!" Eunwoo shook the banner wildly and shouted.

Taehyung's roommates were extremely agitated as well. "Ahhhhh! Taehyung, go for it!"

Even Yoongi could not help yelling, "Bro-in-law is amazing!"

Jungkook sat up straight, luxuriating in everyone's worship of his boyfriend.

Taehyung led the entire way and everything appeared to be going smoothly. However, in the fourth round, Jimin took advantage of the turn to suddenly burst in speed. Unfortunately, Taehyung choose to skate slightly towards the outer lane at this moment. The result was that Jimin managed to successfully surpass Taehyung through the innermost lane and seize the leading spot.

"Sigh—" Yoongi had just started sighing in regret when he stopped abruptly as if choked. His eyes were wide open.

In the blink of an eye, the situation on the rink had changed again. Taehyung was indeed overtaken by Jimin. However, the moment Jimin did so, his body swung towards the outer edge uncontrollably. And on the other side, Taehyung, after falling behind, had already adjusted his direction and picked up his speed rapidly. He similarly overtook through the inner lane as well.

He retook the lead!

There were too many twists and turns in the process, causing everyone to hold their breaths subconsciously. The crowd only exhaled in relief when Taehyung regained his lead.

Afterward, Taehyung maintained his lead to the finishing line without a hitch.

The group of friends in the stands all leaped to their feet and cheered. Yoongi clapped enthusiastically and said, "As expected from a man that caught Jungkook's eyes."

After he had calmed down from the excitement, Eunwoo asked Jungkook, "Did my boss deliberately let him overtake at first?"

"What do you think?"

Accurately speaking, it was not exactly planned. He had merely anticipated what the other person would do. Jimin's aggressive advance meant that Taehyung faced both the dangers of being overtaken and breaking the rules. Rather than facing his head-on, Taehyung chooses to retreat slightly to advance even further. No one could escape Newton's second law and it was inevitable for Jimin to swing towards the outer edge at the turn. Thus, Taehyung avoided that trap in the beginning and was prepared to re-take his lead in advance.