Chapter 39 – A Smile Amid the Crowd
The sports field was still echoing with the sounds of celebration.
Laughter, applause, whistles, and excited cheers filled the air as students celebrated the race. In one corner of the field, Ford sat proudly on his friends' shoulders while they repeatedly chanted his name. Nearby, groups of students enthusiastically discussed the most thrilling moments of the race, while teachers congratulated the winners with warm smiles.
Yet among the hundreds of joyful faces...
There was one face untouched by happiness.
It was Adam.
Although he stood in the middle of the crowd, a deep loneliness had settled inside him, making him feel as though he were completely alone.
His eyes searched the crowd desperately.
"Where did Jinjin go...?"
The thought crossed his mind.
For a brief moment, he feared that she had left without him.
The mere possibility weighed heavily on his heart.
Slowly, he lowered his gaze.
Beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead to his cheeks, but he paid them no attention.
Then...
A familiar voice suddenly rose above the crowd.
"Please... make way!"
"Excuse me! Let me through!"
Adam immediately looked up.
A slender girl was struggling to push her way through the sea of students.
She bumped into shoulders...
Apologized as she squeezed past others...
And gently moved people aside with both hands as she hurried forward.
It was Jinjin.
Her face radiated pure excitement, as though today's victory belonged to her just as much as it belonged to anyone else.
At last, she managed to break free from the crowd.
Throwing both hands high into the air, she shouted at the top of her lungs,
"My friend won the race!"
"Woooooo!"
"Yeeeeeeah!"
"My friend is the champion!"
The joy in her voice was so genuine that many nearby students instinctively turned to look at her.
But Adam...
He stood completely frozen.
The applause faded.
The cheers disappeared.
Even the crowd chanting Ford's name became nothing more than distant noise.
The only thing he could hear...
Was Jinjin's voice.
Among hundreds of faces...
His eyes were fixed on only one.
The girl...
Who had filled his life with countless colors.
His closest friend.
And perhaps...
The very first person his heart had ever loved.
At that moment, Adam felt as though time itself had stopped.
The wind seemed to stand still.
The noise around him melted into silence.
There was only one girl...
Standing in front of him, waving her hands in excitement as she celebrated his achievement.
Suddenly...
A student running through the crowd accidentally bumped into Adam.
He stumbled slightly.
In an instant, he returned to reality.
By then...
Jinjin had finally reached him.
She was breathing heavily from forcing her way through the crowd.
Tiny beads of sweat shimmered across her forehead.
Yet the bright smile on her face had never faded.
With sparkling eyes, she exclaimed,
"See? I told you that you could do it!"
"I knew you would!"
Her eyes shone with unmistakable pride.
The kind of pride...
That perhaps only a true friend could feel.
Seeing how genuinely happy she was, the weight pressing on Adam's heart disappeared in an instant.
A smile spread across his face...
A smile that perhaps hadn't appeared for months.
The next moment, he laughed like an excited child and shouted,
"I did it!"
"We did it!"
The word "we" revealed what his heart truly felt.
To him, this victory wasn't his alone.
Jinjin had been part of every step that had brought him here.
Overcome with emotion, he instinctively stepped forward and wrapped her in a warm embrace.
It happened so suddenly...
That Jinjin froze for a moment.
Then a gentle smile slowly appeared on her face.
She softly patted his back and whispered,
"I knew it..."
"I knew you would succeed."
Those few precious moments became unforgettable for both of them.
It was the very first time Jinjin had ever seen Adam laugh so freely.
So carefree.
So genuinely happy.
So full of life.
There was an innocence in his laughter that reminded her of a child celebrating the happiest day of his life.
Deep inside, she found herself thinking,
"I wish Adam could always smile like this."
A little while later, the two of them left the sports field and headed toward the school cafeteria.
Along the way, Jinjin couldn't stop talking about the race.
Sometimes she playfully imitated Adam's expressions during the competition.
Sometimes she burst into laughter all by herself.
And every now and then, she proudly said,
"You really surprised everyone today."
Adam remained mostly quiet.
He simply looked at her...
And smiled.
To him, it felt as though this had become one of the happiest days of his life.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the cafeteria.
Since it was lunchtime, the place was packed with students.
Some carried trays from one table to another.
Groups of friends laughed loudly over their meals.
Others hurried to finish eating before the next competition began.
Adam and Jinjin found an empty table and sat down together.
They had only just opened their lunch boxes...
When suddenly, a girl came running toward them.
She was breathing so heavily that she could barely catch her breath.
Without saying a word, she grabbed Jinjin by the hand.
"Hurry!"
"You have to come with me right now!"
Jinjin looked at her in confusion.
"But... what happened?"
The girl simply smiled mysteriously and replied,
"Just come."
"You'll see."
Without waiting for another question, she almost pulled Jinjin out of the cafeteria.
Adam watched the two of them leave with surprise.
A strange sense of unease settled in his heart.
What could possibly be so urgent?
After standing there for a few moments...
He quietly got up...
And followed them from a distance.