The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

“......”

“......”

“...Unnie, what are you doing?”

“I’m photosynthesizing.”

“...Even Mia wouldn’t say something like that.”

I was lying on a bench in Hangang Park.

Not far from me was the park’s iconic bike path, and nearby were various spots for people to hang out. Naturally, there was space for running too.

And here I was, sprawled out across one of the benches, taking it over like I owned it.

“Come on, let’s keep going a little further.”

“I’ve come to fully understand that if I leave you alone, you’ll definitely try to leave Seoul.”

“......”

See?

Look at her avoiding eye contact. It’s obvious she was trying to escape the city.

I sat up.

I hadn’t noticed it while running, but now that I’d stopped, I was freezing. It was December—full-on winter.

The fact that Claire thought it was a good idea to go running in this weather made me question her sanity. But then again, the fact that I followed her made me question mine too.

Why did I do that?

When I was running, I sweated and my legs ached. But the moment I stopped, the sweat cooled rapidly and my whole body started to shiver.

My legs had recovered a little.

I tried to remember the last time I felt this sensation—it was probably back in my early twenties during basic training in the military. Running in freezing weather felt exactly like this.

“We have people coming behind us anyway, right? We can afford to wait.”

“Mia... oh, she’s just now showing up.”

Naturally, Mia, who had the weakest stamina of us all, was trailing the farthest behind.

To be honest, both Alice and Charlotte were faster runners than me, but I was barely managing to keep myself upright, let alone look after someone else.

Eventually, Alice and Charlotte stuck to Mia’s side as she staggered along.

At that speed, you couldn’t really call it running.

“How about the three of you go on ahead? I’ll stay here with Mia and wait on this bench.”

“Why do you hate exercising so much, Unnie?”

Claire asked, her expression full of sincere confusion. I looked up at her blankly.

“Why would anyone like exercising?”

“Because it feels refreshing after you run!”

“It feels painful after you run.”

Some people talk about that feeling of exhaling at the finish line and how rewarding it is—but you can get that same sense of accomplishment from a game, right?

If I ever exercised, it’d be purely for health reasons. And right now, I’m not exactly old enough to worry about that yet.

“Heuh... heuh... heuh...”

Just as Claire and I were locked in our endless back-and-forth, that pitiful wheezing sound echoed from not far away.

Normally, if someone made sounds like that, you’d think they were exaggerating to be cute. But coming from Mia—who looked like a half-dried squid stumbling around—it was tragically believable.

Mia stumbled over and collapsed face-down on the bench.

She laid her head across my thigh and curled up beside me. Claire looked completely dumbfounded.

“Mia, what are you doing?”

“...Photosynthesis.”

“......”

Claire placed a hand on her forehead.

*

“To be honest, I don’t really like exercising either,” Alice said as she slurped ramen, seated on a nearby bench after somehow finishing her run.

“I just don’t want to fall behind others, that’s all.”

“Don’t you feel refreshed after a run?”

Charlotte asked the same thing Claire had, making me flinch in horror.

It seems our group of five could be split like this:

Claire and Charlotte liked moving their bodies. Of course, Claire was a full-blown fitness junkie, while Charlotte only enjoyed it occasionally.

Alice sat squarely in the middle.

Mia and I hated exercise. Though, between the two of us, I was slightly more active.

How had five people with such different energy levels managed to live together for months? And not even in separate rooms—we were all camping out on the same living room floor.

...But wait. Didn’t eating ramen right after running just cancel out all the exercise?

The thought crossed my mind, but when I saw Mia happily blowing on her noodles before stuffing them into her mouth, I didn’t have the heart to say anything.

“...Still, I can’t deny it was fun.”

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

“No, Unnie... are you saying running was fun?”

I frowned slightly.

“I meant that running with you all was fun. Not the running itself.”

“......”

Claire was silent for a moment, then—

“Hehe.”

She let out a silly little laugh.

This whole running thing came from the idea of each of us picking something we wanted to do, and the group doing it together.

I exercised occasionally, too—just not as seriously as Claire, Alice, or Charlotte.

We often came out to the park like this. I’d stretch a little, then sit on a bench with Mia while the others trained.

But since this time was supposed to be a group activity, I had gone all out.

Only to end up collapsing halfway through.

At first, I suspected Claire had roped me into this just to mess with me, but the genuinely refreshed look on her face afterward told me she was completely serious.

“But this isn’t the end of the workout, is it?”

As I said that, Mia froze mid-bite.

Her eyes flicked nervously between everyone at the table—especially toward me. When they met mine, her expression turned pleading. Was it because she saw me as a fellow sufferer?

“Doesn’t matter how you look at me. Today’s Claire’s day, remember?”

“Sorry, Mia. I already made the reservation at the gym.”

“......”

Excuse me, what?

I slowly turned to look at Claire. She met my gaze with a completely casual look, like I was the one being weird.

“What? It’s my turn to choose what we do today.”

“...Right.”

And I couldn’t even argue. It was my idea in the first place.

I avoided Mia’s betrayed stare.

*

“......”

After about an hour at the gym, I couldn’t even speak anymore.

Nothing terrible happened—just that every inch of my body was in pain.

“Would you be interested in a more structured fitness program?” a pretty female trainer asked as she looked at me with concern.

“You’re really out of shape.”

“......”

Excuse me, I’ll have you know I’ve seen real battlefields.

I turned my gaze to Mia, who looked even worse than I did.

“She’s not a member,” I answered on her behalf.

Claire, Alice, and Charlotte were going all out as if they were competing with each other.

Claire especially looked like she’d gained some muscle tone. Not bulky, but that fitness # Nоvеlight # model-type look—exactly like the posters on her bedroom wall.

Well, I guess it made sense. She exercised regularly, after all.

At this rate, by the time we returned to our original world, Claire might be in peak condition.

“......”

Not that I had any intention of following in her footsteps.

*

“Hm-hmm~”

On the walk back home, Claire looked positively radiant, like she was walking on air.

“Did you have fun doing it together?”

“Of course!”

She spun around and looked at me.

“I’d love it if we could do this more often.”

“...Yeah, well, I’m not going to the gym again.”

Claire and Charlotte had just started going regularly. Alice didn’t seem particularly motivated to join, and neither Mia nor I had any plans to, either.

At this point, it was fine to go separately.

“That’s a shame.”

“...But I can run with you, sometimes.”

“Really!?”

Claire latched onto my arm in excitement.

“Unnie, you mean it? No take-backs!”

“......”

I looked over at Charlotte and said:

“...Still, can you let go of my arm? It really hurts.”

“Oh, sorry!”

She released me, but the grin never left her face. Was she really that happy?

My arms were still aching from earlier.

Would I even be able to get out of bed tomorrow?

“Then, it’s Alice’s turn next,” Charlotte said as she turned to Alice.

“Have you decided what we’ll do?”

“Of course I have.”

Alice nodded confidently.

“We’ll be going all over the place tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“A little soreness will fade with time.”

“......”

Mia gave me a wide-eyed look of disbelief.

And I, once again, avoided her gaze.