YU-JUN shoves another bite into his mouth .The taste barely registers—his brain is too busy screaming in twenty different languages.

He forces down another mouthful.
Another.
And another.

The crowd is screaming.
Someone’s ringing a cowbell.
There’s a toddler on someone’s shoulders yelling, “EAT FASTER, UNCLE!”

YU-JUN’s soul starts floating out of his body.

YU-JUN, thinking, delirious:
"This is it. This is how I die. Not in glorious battle. Not defending my country. No. I die... face-planting into a mountain of food."

Across from him, A-RA is demolishing her plate like a seasoned warrior, calm, focused, deadly.
She tosses a wink his way mid-bite, as if to say, "Keep up, soldier."

He glares back with all the rage of a man betrayed by his own instincts.

His hands move on their own now, robotic, mindless.
Burger.
Hot dog.
Mystery pastry.
Another burger.
Is that... a deep-fried pickle?? He doesn't even know anymore.

The world around him becomes a blur.
Sweat drips down his temple.
Sauce stains his bib.
His jaw aches. His stomach screams.

Time dilates.

Each second feels like a year.
Each bite, an act of pure war crime against his internal organs.

YU-JUN, internally sobbing:
"I should’ve listened to my instincts. I should’ve run when I had the chance. Why am I still eating—oh my gosh, is that a second round being prepared??"

He glances at the table next to him—one contestant has already tapped out, slumped over like a fallen soldier.

Another guy is face-first into his plate, unmoving.

Suddenly, A-RA elbows him sharply.

He jolts upright, a noodle dangling out of his mouth.

YU-JUN’s eyes burn with the fire of a man who has nothing left to lose.

He grabs a handful of dumplings and shovels them into his mouth with grim determination, sauce dripping down his chin.

The ANNOUNCER’s voice cuts through the chaos like a battle trumpet:

ANNOUNCER, shouting:
"FINAL TEN SECONDS!"

The crowd counts down in deafening unison:

"TEN... NINE... EIGHT..."

YU-JUN powers through a monstrous burger, crumbs flying everywhere.
He almost cries.

"SEVEN... SIX... FIVE..."

A-RA  gracefully finishes her last few bites like it’s a casual tea party.

YU-JUN, in contrast, looks like he’s wrestling invisible demons.

"FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE—!"

A deafening buzzer cuts through the air

YU-JUN drops his food, hands trembling.
He slumps over the table, breathing like he’s just completed a triathlon.
Somewhere deep inside, he knows: he’s changed.
He will never be the same again.

The scoreboard flashes.

6th Place.

A-RA sighs dramatically but bows anyway, ever the professional, yanking a shell-shocked YU-JUN along by the wrist like a stubborn child.

At the parking lot, YU-JUN stumbles behind her, eyes glazed over, muttering like a man who just saw the end of days.

YU-JUN in a low and traumatized voice goes,
"What just happened? Until today I didn't even know it was possible to get second hand embarrassment on your own behalf!."

A-RA sweetly brutal, responds.
"Good. You should be embarrassed. After all that hype the announcer gave us... how dare you make us fail after all that build up?”

YU-JUN presses his fingers against his temples, following as she briskly marches toward the car.
He suddenly stops in his tracks, a horrified realization dawning.

"Wait... Elite?!"
(stares at her)
"Like... you win these?! Regularly?! Who are your partners—?! How many victims have you dragged into this madness?!"

(exhausted, defeated sigh)
"I... I don’t even want to know..."
(arms akimbo, head shaking)
"...How—"

(soul-crushing sigh)

A-RA tosses a smug look over her shoulder and responds.
" you’re being overly dramatic for someone who just lost...maybe I should have just risked it and taken you to that dungeon instead, you have tainted my legacy...TCH!.

They finally reach the car.
The drive back is dead silent

They pull up to A-RA’s building.

A-RA hops out casually, but before shutting the door, she leans in through the open window.

A-RA
(innocently)
"You’re not even going to walk a lady to the door? It’s late, you know."

YU-JUN snorts in disbelief.
"You?! A lady?! Those two words can’t exist in the same sentence!"

A-RA just grins, unfazed.
She steps back and taps the car roof lightly.

A-RA
(through the window, wicked smile)
"I’ve set the standard now. If you ever want a second date... you know where the bar is."

YU-JUN
(grumbling under his breath)
"Where? The bottom of a commercial deep fryer?!

A-RA laughs, sauntering toward her building, absolutely pleased with herself.
YU-JUN watches her go, groans dramatically, then slams his foot on the gas and speeds off like he’s escaping a crime scene.

The next morning, the office is crackling with tension.
MIN-JUN, DO-YUN, and HA-JOON are practically vibrating where they stand, eyes glued to the entrance.

Cue: YU-JUN trudges in, looking like he aged ten years overnight.

MIN-JUN
(feigning relief, barely holding back a grin)
"You're alive! How was it?!"

Before YU-JUN can even open his mouth, A-RA breezes past behind him, radiant, sipping a giant milkshake like she didn’t just commit war crimes against his dignity.

A-RA
(chipper)
"Good morning~"

The boys instinctively straighten and bow slightly as she passes, like loyal peasants before a terrifying monarch.
YU-JUN, however, freezes—full-body shudder—like she just brushed past his grave.

MIN-JUN turns to him, eyes gleaming with mischief.

"My man... you're smooth. You guys did it, didn’t you?!"

YU-JUN
(eyes wide, full panic mode)
"Did what?! WAIT—WHAT?! NO! NO!!"

MIN-JUN
(smirking)
"Then why... the way you guys just walked in almost at the same time, trying to act serious like we wouldn’t notice… and the look on your face..."

YU-JUN
(frantic, wild head shakes)
"The look on my face?! THIS is the face of a man fearing for his life! And we—no, we did NOT arrive together! We just—!"
(soul-weary sigh)

DO-YUN leans in, eyes sparkling, hands clasped in excitement.

DO-YUN
(teasing)
"So... are you gonna make us beg, or are you gonna spill? I barely slept last night wondering if you survived."

YU-JUN collapses into his chair like a crumbling building.

YU-JUN
(dramatic, staring into the void)
"She took me... to a food-eating competition."

DO-YUN in a flat, betrayed tone.
"...A food-eating competition...
I lost sleep  over....tch!... How mundane...to think that I had a restless night thinking of what she could have done to you...what a waste of worry...”

YU-JUN
(deadpan, hollow)
“A food-eating competition. She was a contender, and I was her partner!!!.”

The boys stare.
A beat.
Then—

DO-YUN, MIN-JUN, HA-JOON
(unison, horrified)
"WHAT?!?!"

The room erupts in laughter.

HA-JOON
(grinning)
"Man, that doesn’t even sound bad—!"

YU-JUN
(suffering)
"She told me... ‘the rules of ambush apply.’ I had to adapt to survive."

The boys howl louder, nearly falling over themselves.

YU-JUN
(continuing, voice cracking)
"We placed sixth.
And not because of her lack of effort!
She ate like she was possessed—ten people's worth in two minutes—if I see another noodle... or sausage..."
(voice trailing off, gagging)

MIN-JUN
(through fits of laughter)
"How many teams were there?!"

YU-JUN
(muttering, utterly broken)
"...Twelve."

MIN-JUN
(mock awe)
"A DOZEN?! And you halved them! Man, you two are destiny!"

HA-JOON
(pretending to wipe tears)
" But seriously dude why didn't you just bolt out of there...”

YU-JUN
(burying face in hands, mumbling)
"It was an ambu... (long sigh)
I thought we were there to watch... then the announcer was hyping us up... someone tied a bib around my neck... the crowd was screaming..."

(another heavy sigh)

"It all happened so fast."

YU-JUN leans back, staring blankly at the ceiling like he’s recounting a war story.
The boys are doubled over, wiping real tears of laughter.

YU-JUN
(rolling his eyes, resigned)
"And then... she gave me a lecture. For losing.
And since I offered to take her on a date today... she said she’s looking forward to it."

A long pause.

YU-JUN
(muttering, crushed)
"And that’s not even the worst part."

HA-JOON
(whispering, barely containing excitement)
"There’s more?!"

The boys exchange gleeful glances, vibrating in their chairs like kids at a campfire waiting for the scary part of the story.

YU-JUN
(voice heavy with defeat)
"Afterwards, she insisted we make a quick stop... It was a buffet!”

HA-JOON snorts, barely holding in his laughter.

YU-JUN continues, his voice a mix of exhaustion and disbelief. “from the word go, I told her I wasn’t doing it. Like, straight-up not happening. 

Suddenly An old granny—a sweet, elderly woman—just appeared out of nowhere, slapped a bib on my neck, and I almost fainted. Like, seriously, I nearly collapsed right there.

DO-YUN chuckles from the corner, shaking his head.

YU-JUN groans, barely holding himself together. “It gets worse, okay? It was a charity food drive, and we were the servers. Servers!

Trying to look cheerful while my stomach’s doing backflips. You don’t understand the mental gymnastics I was going through, man. Trying to hold a poker face while I’m about to yack at every new dish they bring out.”

Heavy sigh...

“Then, just when I thought it was over—this old granny insists she can’t send us away hungry. I decline politely, thinking she’ll get the hint... But no! She mistakes my refusal for humility.”

MIN-JUN snickers from the back, shaking his head.

HA-JOON bursts out laughing, unable to contain it. “Wait, so you actually ate again?!”

YU-JUN looks up at him with wide, tired eyes. “Yeah... I had to. She wouldn’t let me leave until I did.”

YU-JUN just slumps lower into his chair, his face contorting in pure agony. “I can’t even look at food now. Like, everything’s triggering me—not only food, chopsticks, forks, plates... I WILL BREAK THOSE COFFEE CUPS!!” He points dramatically at DO-YUN’s and MIN-JUN’s mugs on the desk, his hand shaking as if he's about to snap. He holds his temple like he's got the world's worst headache.