Chapter 81: Run towards the future (2)

He felt like he had seen this female student before somewhere.

‘Who is this? Where have I seen her…’

After searching his memories, Do Wook remembered that he had seen her in a picture that Kang Seo Hyun had sent him in the past.

“No way!”

While Do Wook had briefly stopped in surprise, the girl who had started the conversation replied.

“No. I’m not a physics student. But I am friends with a physics student.”

When the long-haired female student said that, the camera started to film Do Wook and the female student together.

Do Wook was incredibly bothered by the short-haired student standing next to her, whose name was most likely ‘Kim Bo Myung’, but they were in the middle of a shoot right now.

“Ah! Is that so? Then please contact her for me!”

“Yes yes! One moment please!”

The long-haired female student bashfully called her friend on her cell phone.

After the call connected, the female student pestered the physics student to quickly come to the front of the library. She urged her without explaining the situation properly, saying that it was something important, and that if she came it’d be to her benefit too.

Ha Myung Hoon, one of the ‘Run Man’ main members, passed by.

Ha Myung Hoon had interacted with Do Wook over the denim jacket issue during the Limitless Challenge last time.

“What’s this, what’s this? Could it be that the students are helping you?”

“Ahhh.”

“That’s not fair!!!”

When Do Wook laughed, Ha Myung Hoon yelled and quickly went past Do Wook.

While that was happening, the long haired girl, who had finished her phone call, initiated a conversation with Do Wook again.

“My friend is on their way but…before they come, could I have an autograph…”

“Yes! I’ll do it!”

”Kyaaa― Can you please give it to us too?”

The other students who were next to the long haired female student asked. Do Wook happily nodded his head.

“Of course I’ll do it for all of you. I’ll give it to everyone.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

The female students continuously thanked him as they each took out a notepad from their backpacks one by one. Other students, who started to crowd around them, became raucous out of jealousy.

“What major are you guys?”

“English Literature!”

“Ah. Are you all the same major?”

“Yes.”

Do Wook casually asked the students about themselves. The long haired student and her friend took turns answering.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Lee Yoo Ri.”

“I’m Seul Soo Jung!”

Scribble scribble, Do Wook nodded his head while writing their names and the signature he could now sign with his eyes closed.

Now there was only the short-haired student left. Do Wook asked, feeling slightly anxious.

“…What about you?”

“It’s Kim…Bo Myung.”

“Ah.”

Scribble, scribble, As he wrote the name and signed the notepad like he did for the rest of them, Do Wook looked at Bo Myung’s face again closely.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of what he was thinking or if it was just his imagination, but he thought the face somewhat looked similar to his past self.

Even the quiet, not being able to say a single word properly personality was the same.

Do Wook silently looked at Bo Myung.

“Hey Yoo Ri!”

A female student wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a checkered shirt called out to the student who had introduced herself as Yoo Ri. It was the female physics student that Lee Yoo Ri had called.

“Oh, hey come here quick!”

“Gasp. Kang Do Wook.”

The female physics student started to say Do Wooks name including his last name without even thinking, then covered her mouth.

“I told you it’d be something good for you.”

“Gasp, oh man! I’m a fan!”

The pre-mission was to spin in a circle 10 times and clap your hands five times in a row with a physics student. It was a mission with a time limit, so the earlier they started the better.

“Are you a physics student?”

“Yes, I am!”

To verify, the Run Man staff checked the student’s student ID. She was a physics student.

As soon as the verification was done, Do Wook asked,

“Ok, thank you. By any chance…would you be able to play a game with me?”

“A game? Yes, yes. I’ll do it!”

The physics student answered excitedly and energetically said she’d participate. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Then first, let's go to the small gymnasium over there!”

“Ok!”

It was a strange coincidence, as if it was fate.

Do Wook looked at the short-haired Kim Bo Myung one last time then started walking away, disappointed.

***

Those who successfully completed the pre-mission besides Do Wook were Ahn Hyung Seo, Kim Won, and ‘Run Man’ member Kim Dong Gook. They were given a chance to yell ‘5 second timeout’.

‘Run Man’ was a game where people usually got others out by taking off a name tag on their back, and the person who was able to guard their name tag until the end would win.

The ‘5 second pause’ chance could be used to buy yourself time to run away when someone was about to take your name tag or to try to persuade them.

It wasn’t an incredibly useful thing, but if utilized well it could be useful.

The darkened campus.

Once things calmed down and a lot of the students had gone home, the filming progressed in earnest.

“Today’s main mission is ‘find the spy’. Among the KK and Run Man members, just one person has received the role of spy today.”

The members became riled up at the word spy.

“The person assigned as the spy was notified by the production team in advance. The rest of you have to find out who that spy is.”

“How do we find them?!”

Na Jae Suk asked.

“Every 30 minutes we’ll make an announcement. Who was eliminated and whether they were the spy or not. The spy will secretly shoot your name tags with a water gun and get it wet. You won’t know you’re eliminated until you hear the announcement.”

Meaning they couldn’t thoughtlessly take off the opponent’s name tag like before. The last person standing might be the spy.

As many non-spies as possible had to survive.

Everyone quickly started to rack their brains.

Do Wook also nodded his head once he understood the mission. He thought that he would need to try it first then judge on his instincts. It wouldn’t have been odd if someone among them were the spy.

It could be that the production team chose someone who seemed like they’d be good at espionage as the spy, like Nae Jae Suk or Kim Dong Gook, or they could have chosen a KK member that people wouldn’t expect.

The KK members looked at each other.

Jung Yoon Ki frowned at Ahn Hyung Seo as he raised his hands as if saying it wasn’t him.

“Don’t start suspecting each other just yet! I heard KK’s teamwork is good, what is this?!”

Bae Kwang Soo laughed as he teased for no reason.

“What do you mean, we have a good relationship.”

Jung Yoon Ki replied using an awkward Seoul accent.

“Then, we’ll start the mission!”

At the production team’s signal, the main mission started.

The first 5 minutes were used for each of them to hide or get far away. The game started in full swing after 5 minutes.

Do Wook somehow ended up going the same direction as Suk Ji Hoon, the youngest, and Nae Jae Suk.

“You two couldn’t be…right?!”

Na Jae Suk asked even though he was running with them.

“No, we’re not!”

Suk Ji Hoon replied that it wasn’t him, flustered. He was so flustered that one couldn’t help but get more suspicious, but Na Jae Suk laughed.

“Mr. Youngest is super nervous.”

“That’s not it either!”

Because all Suk Ji Hoon could say was “no”, even Do Wook started to get a little suspicious.

However, they were soon able to figure out that he was just very nervous and wasn’t the spy.

That was because the person eliminated in the first announcement 30 minutes later was none other than Suk Ji Hoon.

“Suk Ji Hoon, out! Suk Ji Hoon was not the spy.”

It hadn’t been long since he went a different way than Do Wook. He probably got eliminated during that time. Do Wook opened the door of an empty lecture hall to hide.

The muscular Kim Dong Gook approached him and reached out his hand to take off Do Wook’s name tag.

“5 second chance!”

Do Wook was faster to yell for the chance.

Do Wook yelled as he ran away as far as possible.

“Sunbae, it’s really not me! Unless you’re a spy, you shouldn't take my name tag off!”

“Well, you’re trending the most lately, aren’t you? I’m certain the production staff picked you as the spy!”

“What?”

It meant that it was purely a gut feeling.

The 5 second chance ended, but persuasion was impossible from the start. Do Wook started to run away since he was able to put a distance between them.

Kim Dong Gook frantically chased after Do Wook, who was quickly going down the stairs. He felt like a fowl being chased by a savage beast.

However, from an outside perspective, it looked like a match between two savage beasts. They were so quick and nimble that the cameramen were out of breath.

Do Wook ran around the campus, one step faster than Run Man member Kim Dong Gook.

In the end, Kim Dong Gook got exhausted first and gave up on Do Wook. Do Wook made an alliance with Kim Dong Gook and formed a plan to find the spy by taking other people’s name tags off first.

At that time the second elimination announcement was made. This time it was three people, Ahn Hyung Seo and Jung Yoon Ki, and even Bae Kwang Soo. It seemed that the three of them were suspicious of each other and took off the other’s name tag. Of course all three of them were not the spy.

There weren’t many people left now.

Wondering who among the people left was the spy, Do Wook was wandering here and there, sweating.

Do Wook running around campus dripping in sweat was a nicer picture than they imagined.

The cameraman in charge of Do Wook was working harder than ever before trying to film Do Wook, but he was sure that they would make the best shots.

And as time passed, it was down to three people. Do Wook and Kim Dong Gook, and Park Tae Hyung who was able to survive by staying quiet and out of sight.

Do Wook and Kim Dong Gook met again in front of the central library.

This time, the two of them were certain that one of them was the spy. The two of them didn’t back down and tried to take off each other’s name tag.

The final announcement was made.

“We’ll announce who was eliminated. Kang Do Wook, Kim Dong Gook, out. The survivor, Park Tae Hyung. Victory goes to the spy.”

Those who were waiting after getting eliminated, and Do Wook and Kim Dong Gook who were tightly gripping each other’s name tags, couldn’t help but be speechless.

At that moment, Park Tae Hyung, who had hidden the fluorescent water gun on his chest, walked out from behind Do Wook and Kim Dong Gook with a calm expression.

Because Park Tae Hyung just ran away without really trying to attack anyone, everyone had stopped being suspicious of him a long time ago.

“Tae…Tae Hyung, you?”

“Hurr.”

“Park Tae Hyung, man.”

The KK members were as shocked, if not more, as the Run Man members.

Jung Yoon Ki even suspected Ahn Hyung Seo and asked Park Tae Hyung to take off Ahn Hyung Seo's name tag. So while Jung Yoon Ki was holding on to Ahn Hyung Seo, Park Tae Hyung took off Ahn Hyung Seo's name tag.

For the rest of the people’s name tags, Park Tae Hyung eliminated them by secretly approaching them and shooting them with the water gun.

“You showed a truly surprising performance today.”

The production staff said and applauded Park Tae Hyung.

The Run Man members, including Nae Jae Suk, said their closing remarks, impressed. They seriously hadn’t guessed it in their wildest dreams.

Everyone was making a fuss that they hadn’t seen the water gun until now.

‘I knew that Tae Hyung was good at moving his body but…The finished product is going to be amazing.'

Do Wook thought as he clapped for Park Tae Hyung, who was receiving a gift certificate as a prize.

The filming wrapped up with the cast clapping.

Do Wook felt that as long as at least one member left an impression, it was absolutely worth all the sweat they shed.

Furthermore, for Do Wook it had another meaning apart from the broadcast.

***

Even after they finished filming and had returned to the dormitory, the members were constantly asking Park Tae Hyung how he could completely trick them like that.

Suk Ji Hoon, who was the first to get eliminated and had to wait in the elimination area the whole time, protested to Park Tae Hyung that he was too cruel.

Suk Ji Hoon didn’t get his name tag taken off. He didn’t know that he was hit by the water gun and was running away without realizing he died. He didn’t figure out he was eliminated until he heard the announcement.

“You were too open…”

Suk Ji Hoon seemed to have run away the best he could, but from Park Tae Hyung’s perspective he was too open.

The other members laughed at what Park Tae Hyung said.

Do Wook, who had finished showering as he heard the members laughing, went to his room.

He then went on the internet to the Hyun Sae College English Literature Facenote page.

—

Translator's comment: As a reminder, Kang Seo Hyun is Do Wook's cousin who found information on this world's Bo Myung for him.