Chapter 16: More Than Muscle (Day 2 - Sports Day)
The sun rose bright and wild above the hills, casting a golden hue over the campground. Jake was the first to wake—only because Alex dumped a cold bottle of water on his face.
"Rise and shine, Coach Junior," Alex said with a smirk.
Jake groaned, "I thought we were bonding, not waterboarding."
With breakfast done (Jake's instant noodles vs Alex's eggs, round two), the group moved toward the wide grassy field that would host the day's main event.
Sports Day.
"Alright," Jake clapped his hands, stepping forward like some overly excited P.E. teacher, "we're splitting into teams—Team Phoenix and Team Mammoth. Guess which one I'm on."
Someone muttered, "Chicken?" and everyone laughed.
Alex explained, "We'll be playing football tennis, relay races, tug of war, and a surprise game at the end."
The vibe was electric. Even the shy members who kept to the edge the day before now found themselves slowly moving forward, nudged by Jake's goofy jokes and Alex's quiet encouragement.
One girl named Miki, usually glued to her phone and hoodie, ended up leading her team in the football tennis match. She laughed for the first time in months when Jake missed the ball and landed flat on his back.
"It's called strategy!" Jake shouted from the ground.
Throughout the day:
A guy with anxiety shared how hard it was for him to even join a gym, and now he was laughing in the middle of a sack race.
A once-silent member named Rin helped coordinate team plays and surprised even himself by shouting out instructions.
They did a partner trust run, where Jake purposely paired people who barely talked—and sure enough, by the end, everyone was cheering each other on like old friends.
As the sun started to dip behind the trees, Alex pulled Jake aside.
"You see them?" he said, nodding to the group laughing over a failed three-legged race.
Jake smiled. "Yeah. They're changing."
Alex added quietly, "And so are we."
The second day ended with sore muscles, scratched knees, but full hearts. People who came in as strangers were now cracking inside jokes and exchanging socials.
But just as the stars appeared in the sky, far away…
Kram and his gang stood in a dark alley near an abandoned cake shop.
"Let's ruin something important to them," Kram said, eyes burning with mischief.