PUCKD Ch 20

“Oh, totally possible, totally! I think I can reach it if I just stretch out my hand!”

At Park Hyonghoon’s voice, Shin Hojae, who had come back to his senses a little, moved his hands in front of Kwon Junghyun’s calves and crossed his arms. It was to secure him more firmly.

“Hojae-hyung! A little more to the left! Ah, sorry. To your right!”

At Park Hyonghoon’s pointing signal, they shifted their position slightly, and Kwon Junghyun tensed the adductor muscles of his inner thighs.

With the heavy weight, he felt his face being pressed down vertically. It was a feeling of being trapped between thighs, so to speak. Imagining the posture, he couldn’t help but feel his cheeks grow hot.

“Hojae-ssi, a little more to the left…. Ah, a little back. Yes.”

And at the same time, he felt the soft scrotum and penis touch the back of his neck. The more Junghyun struggled, the more his groin and bare legs rubbed against Hojae’s neck and cheeks.

Shin Hojae muttered curses in his head.

If he had known he would have such an unpleasant experience, he would have forced Park Hyonghoon to do it. Shin Hojae let out a small sigh and steeled himself.

It was time to focus on achieving the goal, not on regret.

“Wow! Success!”

Park Hyonghoon spread his arms wide as if cheering and shouted in triumph.

Just as when he had lifted him, he slowly knelt and bowed his head, and in an instant, his shoulders felt light. Park Hyonghoon came running towards the two of them, bouncing excitedly.

“Hojae-hyung, you worked hard! CEO-nim, were you okay? You were up so high because Hojae-hyung is tall!”

“I have a bit of a fear of heights, but maybe because Hojae-ssi supported me so well, it wasn’t as scary as I thought.”

“You have a fear of heights? You should have told us!”

Kwon Junghyun looked at Hojae sideways and smiled slightly.

“Well…. I thought it would be okay.”

At the cryptic answer, a strange ticklish feeling stirred somewhere in his chest.

“Huh? Hojae-hyung, why is it so red under your cheek? You didn’t get bitten by something, did you? Ack, eop-hu.”

Shin Hojae wiped Park Hyonghoon’s face down with his palm.

Ignoring Park Hyonghoon who muttered resentfully, “I was wearing BB cream…!”, he turned his head to the side and met Junghyun’s eyes.

Junghyun was looking this way with a slight smile. Hojae deliberately avoided his gaze. For some reason, his mouth kept getting dry.

“But I wonder if all the flags are hung in such high places? I wonder if the hyungs who went alone are doing okay.”

Park Hyonghoon, who had used his black phone screen as a mirror to smooth out his BB cream, muttered as he put the phone in his pocket.

Shin Hojae looked up at the high branch where the flag had been tied.

He had thought there was a flimsy aspect to a game created to emphasize teamwork, but was this it?

A problem that required the cooperation of two or more people.

Shin Hojae took out the phone from his pocket. Unlike in Korea, the signal weakened as soon as you strayed a little from the path.

Even now, only one bar was lit up to indicate the signal strength. He thought of the three who had scattered, but there was no clear solution to worry about now.

The second flag was hidden in a place with slightly rougher terrain. After passing the same spot three times, the sharp-eyed Hojae finally found the flag hidden in a pile of leaves.

He was relieved for a moment at finding the flag more easily than expected, but the flag, much larger than the first, was half-buried in the ground. It was fixed so firmly in the ground that it showed no signs of coming out with force.

The three of them had to kneel and dig the dirt with their hands. Staying bent over in the same position for nearly 30 minutes made their necks, backs, and legs all ache.

By the time they had collected both flags and returned to the camp, it was exactly 4:30, the promised time.

Alexei Vorobyev was there, waiting alone with a flag stuck in his pocket.

He said he had arrived 10 minutes ago. The flag he found had been under a huge log, but he was lucky enough to get help from people passing by and was able to get it out relatively easily.

Seeing him, Hyonghoon whined around him like a puppy. He said he was impressed by the performance of Alexei, the goalie, during their humiliating first matchup in Canada.

Since their phones had no signal, they couldn’t use the product of civilization, the translator. Naturally, Junghyun became the interpreter. Although Alexei was Russian, he was also fluent in English, so the conversation was in English.

Alexei, who had transferred from a Russian team, was said to be living in a Suwon dorm with his K-pop-loving younger sister and his wife of two years.

Hyonghoon, who liked girl groups, put on a little show, dancing a few moves, and the cold-faced Alexei finally showed a smile.

Shin Hojae, standing a step away from them, chuckled. He thought he understood why Yook Doomin took such good care of the new kids.

“……They’re not coming.”

However, the problem was that it was almost 5 o’clock, and there was no sign of the other two.

“There’s no internet service here, so the texts won’t go through. Phone calls don’t work either.”

『…It looks like it’s going to rain.』

At Alexei’s words, everyone looked up at the sky. The sky, which had been distinctly blue, was now heavily covered with gray clouds.

“……”

Shin Hojae unfolded the map he had put away. He stared for a long time at the spots Moon Seungyeol and Ahn Dongjoo had chosen.

The two spots were a bit far from the camp, but if they walked fast, it seemed they could have checked and come back in about 30 minutes. Hojae folded the map with a snap and said.

“I’ll go.”

“By yourself, hyung? Let’s go together!”

“No. We might miss each other, so you guys stay here. If I’m not back in 30 minutes, come this way.”

“Ah…. that’s true. Okay.”

Park Hyonghoon immediately agreed and briefly explained to Alexei sitting next to him.

He was a kid with good motivation and a sharp eye. Although his enthusiasm had gone too far earlier and caused that incident, he also knew when to back down from his stubbornness when faced with a reasonable point, just like now.

He was a forward. It would be fine to run the line with him. Shin Hojae glanced at Park Hyonghoon once more and then set off alone.

The path, laid out like a walking trail, was a gentle slope, but the rain that was starting to fall was a variable. The dirt, rocks, and grass began to get wet from the rainwater, and naturally, it became slippery underfoot.

Hojae pulled the hood of his windbreaker over his head and quickened his pace. Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps quickly following behind him. Hojae turned around.

“I followed you because I thought it would be better to have two people if something happened to them.”

“……”

“I ran into some staff members earlier and updated them on the situation. The news should have reached the coach and the coaching staff by now.”

It was Kwon Junghyun.

“Don’t worry. I won’t get in the way.”

Perhaps because he had been staring at him disapprovingly without realizing it, Junghyun added another word. Hojae silently walked ahead. After walking at a fast pace for about 10 minutes.

“The raindrops are getting bigger.”

As he said, the drizzle that had been spraying like a mist was now clearly visible. To make matters worse, the surroundings grew darker due to the clouds.

Shin Hojae recalled the map he had imprinted in his mind. The two flags were on either side of a small stream.

The flat map only allowed him to grasp that there was a stream there and the distance. In terms of distance, it wasn’t so far that they couldn’t return in time.

But the flags must have had traps set on them. What kind of trap? A high branch like the first one? Or buried in the ground? Either would be somewhat difficult to do alone.

One fortunate thing was that the locations of the two flags were relatively close. If it was difficult alone, there was a possibility they had met and joined forces.

The best-case scenario would be that the two of them had missed Hojae on the path and had already arrived at the meeting point. But just in case, what if there was an accident and the two of them couldn’t move?

Thinking that far, Shin Hojae’s pace quickened without him realizing it. He climbed the increasingly steep mountain path without once losing his breath.

“Ah.”

Tuduk, tuduk. Over the sound of the rain hitting the leaves, a small sound was heard. Only then did Hojae remember that the person following him was a civilian and stopped walking.

Kwon Junghyun was pushing himself up with his hands on the ground, as if he had slipped on a wet rock. As he went back the way he came, Kwon Junghyun, sensing his presence, looked up with an embarrassed face.

“It hasn’t been long since I said I wouldn’t be a bother, how embarrassing.”

“……”

Shin Hojae examined his appearance carefully.

Kwon Junghyun’s legs were already dirty from kneeling and digging in the dirt earlier, so it was difficult to tell if he was injured or not. As if sensing his gaze, he offered an explanation.

“I didn’t fall, I just almost slipped.”

Hojae’s gaze dropped to the tips of his feet. The problem was the indoor training shoes he was wearing. The soles would be relatively slippery.

He could see several small scratches below his calves. The same went for his arms. Since his skin was exposed, it must have been scratched here and there by grass and tree branches.

They weren’t serious injuries, but they looked quite painful. He tried to pretend he hadn’t seen them, but they kept bothering him. Shin Hojae turned his head towards him again.

Junghyun shivered as if cold. It was June, but the temperature in Canada was similar to spring in Seoul. On top of that, he had been caught in the rain, so if left like this, his body temperature would drop. Looking closely, the color had already drained a little from his lips.

Shin Hojae took off the windbreaker he was wearing and handed it to Junghyun. Kwon Junghyun, who took the clothes in a daze, looked up as if to ask what it was. His hair, wet from the rain, could be seen clumped together in strands on his forehead.

Not only that, but his t-shirt and shorts were also soaked with rain, revealing his body shape without filter. Perhaps because it was soaked, his appearance seemed strangely lewd.

Shin Hojae unconsciously avoided his gaze and said.

“Wear it. Put the hood on too.”

“I’m not that much of a weakling.”

“Just wear it.”

Junghyun looked at Hojae with a face that seemed slightly offended. Hojae ignored his gaze and asked.

“What’s your shoe size.”

“275, but….”

Unfortunately, the shoe size didn’t match. It would be dangerous to wear shoes that were too big, so it didn’t seem possible to switch shoes.

Nevertheless, it still bothered him, and as he stared at his shoes, Junghyun, perhaps thinking he was being pushy, didn’t argue further and obediently put on Shin Hojae’s clothes and even the hood.

Perhaps because the size was large, the hood was too loose. If left like this, it would soon fall back again and his head would get wet.

Shin Hojae strode forward. Their eyes met, but Hojae looked away first. Then he grabbed the hem of the windbreaker and zipped it up. After that, he fastened the Velcro on the hood.

Thinking he had fastened it too loosely, he detached it again and attached it more firmly. In the process, his fingers touched his face and lower jaw. Both Shin Hojae’s hands and his face were wet from the rain, so the surfaces were cold and slippery.

If he lifted his eyes slightly, he could see his lips. Suddenly, the question arose, wondering if those lips were still chapped and cold.