Climbing Up to You - Minsung

Chapter 3

"Welcome everyone to our first discipline of the day! First up like always we have our speed round, contestants must scale a 15-metre wall in the quickest time possible, each contestant will get two tries and their fastest score will be recorded" The commentator explained to the audience as the climbers all sat in the back.

Jisung was already a mess, he could easily keep his composure but after not being able to complete his warm-up properly he felt so out of control and unprepared for doing the speed discipline, not to mention it was already his worst skill of the three. Sitting next to Felix did help keep his nerves down slightly, the Aussie boy was nattering on about how he had found vegemite at the hotel buffet just after Jisung had left. Even though Felix seemed fairly calm, Jisung knew the chatter was a nervous trait the boy had and he was trying to think of anything except the climb.

"Minho Lee and Felix Lee, you two are up next, get ready" a member of staff popped their head into the waiting area as they read off their clipboard.

"Good Luck Lix" Jisung gave his friend a fist bump and Felix grinned in return as he slipped on his climbing shoes..

"Just you wait" Felix winked and stood up, grabbing his chalk bag so he could take it out with him so he could chalk up before the speed round starts.

Jisung watched from the TV inside the waiting room as he watched the two boys step out onto the stage and clip in. Felix looked at ease as he got his starting position ready. Felix looked tiny next to Minho and it didn't look like the smaller boy could be so stealth up the wall but it turned out to be true as Felix gained a score of 6.08 seconds and Minho shortly behind with 6.34 seconds.

"Jisung Han and Seungmin Kim, you guys are up" The same staff member called out their names and Jisung slipped on his shoes just as Felix walked back into the room.

"Smash it Jisung" Felix gave back a fist bump for good luck and Jisung gave a firm nod as he walked out waiting to be called onto the stage. –Walking out to perform for the first time in a competition was one of the most nervewracking parts of a climbing contest, particularly the speed round, to win a combined contest you had to have it all, speed, bouldering and lead. And the audience can quickly pick their favourites from just the speed round alone. If you're in the top five, you're always in for a shot for a medal. Jisung shook out his arms and legs and gave his neck a quick click before allowing himself to be clipped in as he chalked up his hands.

Adjusting the small foot panel on the ground, Jisung got into the same position he always starts in the speed round. That was the only bonus about the speed contest. It was the same exact route, every single time, with no surprises, it was all perfectly planned. Which made it surprising that Jisung found the round the hardest, considering everything was the same and so the boy didn't have to think about any changes or new things.

The beeper counted down and within milliseconds of it flashing green both Han and Kim were off. Jisung zoned in on his own performance and tried not to look at how Seungmin was doing.

Left foot up, right-hand grab, jump up, step up, right, left, left...

Jisung's route was ingrained in his head, knowing exactly where each crimp is and where every foothold was, it seemed too easy, and it was.

Jisung was almost nearing the top and he spotted Seungmin make the last jump for the timer Jisung completely lost track of where his feet were going, in no time whatsoever, his left foot moved upwards to step on the last volume before he would jump and he slipped. It was just lucky that Jisung still managed to have a hold on his right hand and quickly regained his footing and took the leap to hit his own timer.

8.79

Pathetic Jisung thought as he was lowered down to the ground. He could hear the crowd mumbling about his slip up which only made it worse, not to mention he could imagine the commentators were talking about how his bad placing on speed was going to affect his overall positioning.