“Rolling the ball means rolling the ball! Team 3! Eliminated!”
“Huh?!”
“What?!”
Bang!
Startled, Beilak lost control of his strength and burst the ball.
Pssssss—
The two children and one fat bird stared blankly at the host in front of the deflating ball.
“Oh dear, our little cuties. Unfortunately, you’re eliminated.”
Thanks to Gru’s team, the Red Team, which had gotten a free point, was adding one point to its score.
“Waaaah!”
“We won!”
The children of the Red Team’s Giraffe Class stopped rolling their balls and threw their arms around one another.
With the teachers patting and consoling him, Gru was pushed beyond the outer line. His face filled with frustration as his fists trembled.
Then he shot Beilak an irritated glare.
Beilak sat on the ground, unable to accept reality.
“We lost? Why? What is this ‘chojangdojang’ thing?”
[Blue 10:17 Red]
Starting with the ball-rolling game, the scores began shooting up.
Matches were taking place all over the grounds, while cheers and shouts filled the schoolyard.
Gru’s Blue Team was losing by a considerable margin.
At this rate, the tablet PC would be lost…!
What on earth were his Blue Team comrades doing? Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Would he have to use Gru’s secret technique for certain victory?
“There’s no time for this. Baei, let’s go to the next game.”
Gru pointed toward “Breaking the Piñata.”
*
One of the essential events for the kindergarten division: breaking the piñata!
It was a game where contestants smashed a kind of gourd called a “piñata,” made in the shape of an animal or a star.
The inside was stuffed with candy, toys, and other things, and all the participants had to do was take a stick and hit it as hard as they could.
As befitted an event limited to the kindergarten division, only kindergarten children crowded the grass.
“Gru!”
“Hi, Gru!”
Gru greeted the children who gathered around him, and answered that Beilak was his cousin when the children asked who he was.
In the meantime, Gru’s team’s opponents had been decided. They were attendance numbers 8 and 9 from the Red Team’s Squirrel Class!
Squirrel Class… They sent out some formidable opponents…!
Each class had ten students, and attendance numbers were assigned according to height.
As a result, Gru, who was number 1, and Squirrel Class’s numbers 8 and 9 were in completely different stages of physical development.
In a game of breaking the piñata, where swinging power was important, such a massive difference in size would obviously decide the victor with ease.
“……”
Beilak placed a hand on Gru’s dejected shoulder.
“My lord, I can use my strength to—”
“No dis time.”
Gru shook his head.
He had tried to use a trick during the ball-rolling game, but it had failed.
Gru hadn’t been fair.
Sports were supposed to be played fairly, yet he had only been happy that Beilak had lifted the ball for him.
Gru gripped the bat together with Beilak and stood proudly before the horse-shaped piñata.
He must not cheat.
—Therefore, Gru decided to hide a fork in his sleeve.
“Yaaah!”
Gru pretended to hit the horse with the bat while poking the piñata with the fork hidden in his sleeve.
Bang!
Rattle!
Candy and glittering paper poured out of the burst piñata.
“Waaaah—candy!”
“Gru’s the best!”
“That’s amazing!”
The children rushed over all at once, picking up candy one by one and showering Gru with praise.
“Blue Team victory!”
“H-How did attendance number 1…!”
As the children despaired over their defeat, Gru, who had secured one victory for the Blue Team, realized something.
As long as it looked fair, it counted as fair.
*
Serhi, who had been secretly following Gru around and filming him with his phone, blew a bubble with his chewing gum.
“Gru’s cheating.”
Gidan, holding a camcorder, gave a crooked smile.
“That’s what makes him Hyeonak.”
See? Infamy didn’t arise for no reason. Serhi let out a snort, then suddenly asked,
“But aren’t you going to participate in the games?”
“What about you?”
“……”
“……”
The two clamped their mouths shut and went back to filming Gru.
Gidan had been sent by Jurim, and Serhi by Jin Siwon, to film Gru.
Since Gru had repeatedly insisted that nobody come to the kindergarten today, the mission had been passed on to the older boys who attended the same school.
In addition to them, someone who appeared to have been sent by the Doan Group was also following Gru around and filming him.
Well, there were also the eyes of paparazzi and people who recognized Gru trailing after him one after another, but they posed no major threat, so they were being left alone.
However, the two boys’ behavior was proving to be a disadvantage for the Blue Team, because the school had divided the teams while taking the students’ abilities into account.
With the two strongest members merely filming Gru and showing no intention of participating at all, the Blue Team’s score naturally failed to catch up with the Red Team.
[Blue 119:130 Red]
Gru, secretly armed with a fork, swept through the school grounds with Beilak and continued racking up victories.
[Blue 129:147 Red]
Is this still not enough…?
The gap in the score only continued to widen.
Gru sat in the shade to rest for a while, sticking out his lower lip.
His small shoulders drooped.
Zombie hunters…
Gru picked up his phone.
On Jurim
Make sure you wear your watch, and call me if anything happens. You know that, right?
On Suhyeong
Gru, Grandpa has plenty of time today, so even if it’s later…
Shin Nayeon
You told me not to come to kindergarten, so I’m a little sadㅠ Still, I’ll cheer you on…
Iromi
Our baby, fighting! Let’s definitely meet next time!
Amid the flood of encouraging messages, Gru spotted the Hyeonak group chat.
He looked through the conversation from yesterday, then typed out a message with a gloomy heart.
▶ Hyeonak Minors Group Chat
Yesterday
What team are the oppas on?
Serhi
Blue
Gidan
Blue Team lol
Gru’s on the Blue Team too!
Gidan
Oh ദി ˃ ᴗ ˂
You’re on the same team as your oppa Gru
Let’s fight together!
Gidan
(fighting sticker)
Serhi
(flag emoji)
Today
You know the Blue Team
They’re really bad
Right?
(pouting squirrel sticker)
Serhi
Yeah
Gidan
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Guess the Blue Team isn’t in great shape today (´;ω;｀)
What about you oppas?
Are you winning?
Gru keeps winning hard
But the Blue Team keeps losing (crying)
*
“……”
“……”
Serhi and Gidan.
The blue strings tied around their wrists and forearms fluttered in the wind.
Serhi glanced back and forth between Gru, who was pouting, and the message, then gnawed on his gum and spoke provocatively.
“Why are you being lazy and making the kid cry?”
Gidan answered as though it were absurd.
“Just me?”
“Well… You alone working hard would’ve been enough.”
“Wow, you’re blaming me here?”
“Yeah. It’s a fact.”
Gidan shook his head and loosened up with a stretch.
“You bald junior, stop playing politics and hurry up and follow me.”
“Who’s the junior?”
The two immediately began moving toward the playing field.
*
“Waaaaaaaaah—!”
A deafening roar of cheers rang out from far away.
Gru turned around in surprise, his shoulders flinching.
The high school division?
At the same time, the Blue Team’s score suddenly began to rise at a rapid pace.
[Blue 140:147 Red]
Oppa, oppa!!
Did you see the Blue Team’s score????
Serhi
Yeah
Gidan
Guess the Blue Team’s going to work hard now too!
Lazy Blue Team, my foot ᕙ( ︡’︡益’︠)ง
Right (crying)
Gidan
Was our baby Gru very upset?
It’s okay now!
(squirrel sticker raising a tightly clenched fist)
The Blue Team is fighting hard!
Gidan
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Serhi
That’s good
Gidan
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ah, so cute