OVER COMING OBSTICLES

Yonghwa joined the group doing twenty of everything it seemed like a small number

but when added up the total number of exercises he did twenty became a hundred and forty

for his first day he collapsed to the grass panting and sweaty with a happy grin on his face

he had done a lot for his first time trying it out his heart was pounding in his chest he felt good

something about pushing himself to the limit was letting out his bottled up stifling

feeling that he had felt since his mother died

"Yonghwa are you alright?" Jhaesun asked gazing down at him lying there worriedly

yonghwa only laughed as he sat up

"I am ready to try that obstacle course," he said "it's super hard right?" he asked

"yes it is" Jhaesun replied "you definitely won't be able to beat it that easily"

"even better," Yonghwa said with a grin getting up his eyes were gleaming

"Is this kid for real? one of the other soldiers complained

the instructor chuckled Jhaesun had brought an interesting friend to stay with him for the summer

on the surface, he seemed like a small spoiled cute rich kid

but there was something in his inner core that drove the boy and gave him this determination and stubbornness

if he had set his mind he wanted to do something then he wouldn't give up on it so easily

he was wondering how he would tackle the obstacle course it was a place that made most adult soldiers weep

it would require all the boy's physical strength undoubtedly

to complete it, the biggest challenge at the end was always climbing the giant wall

now that yonghwa was seeing it in person the wall was tall enough to be the size of a small building it was way bigger

in person than it looked in pictures

Yonghwa exhaled slowly seeing the other soldiers lining up to start the course

the instructor yelled at them to begin and from the start, the men were racing each other yonghwa wisely hung back

letting the men go in first before joining the group at the rare he was going through the course at his own pace

he was required to jump over tires set up as hurdles Yonghwa could run but he couldn't jump high enough to get over them without help but then he thought why do I have to go over them?

I'm small enough to fit through them he thought and then he grinned he had a great idea to beat this

jhaesun run with me watch this he called to him

Yonghwa began his run at the first hurdle pushing his legs to gain the momentum he needed jhaesun next to him

instead of jumping over the tire, he jumped through it his small body fitting through the tires circle center he landed safely in a crouch on the other side

not hindering jhaesun who also made the leap jumping over him and the tire and also landing next to him at the same time

the pair exchanged grins just like in the game teamwork they fist-bumped each other and now with more confidence continued the run

Yonghwa smoothly shooting through the tires while jhaesun made the jump over

the instructors were quite surprised he had come up with a creative way to utilize his small body and take advantage of how

nimble and agile being small enabled him to be showing his intelligence he was a clever boy

their next challenge was to crawl under barbwire in dirt trenches they went in lines of six since there were six trenches one man to a trench each

"Yonghwa there is no easy way to do this except keep your head down and keep crawling forward don't look back dont lift your head up," Jhaesun said

"the barbwire might get snagged on your clothes or your hair or you might get scratched the wire is sharp take your time ok "

"got it," Yonghwa said taking off jhaesun's hat he dragged his hair back and stuffed the hat on backward with determination

he was going to do this

the instructors yelled begin and the first line of men got into the trenches on their stomachs and started to crawl

it was a race yonghwa realized as the men were urged on by instructors yelling insults at them from the side

some of them getting tangled and clothing torn and their skin scratched by the end of the challenge

these soldiers would not do well in harsh conditions the challenge wasn't to crawl under the bard wire

it was to keep one's focus on the goal of getting out from under the dangerous wire even if there were outside distractions

if they wanted to make it safely without getting caught and tangled and hurt

they needed to shut out everything else they needed to focus as if the outside interferences did not exist and go through it to end

eventually, it was their turn at the line

"haha, little baby going to weep under that barbed wire!" the soldier behind him said

"no, I'm about to make the wire my bitch" Yonghwa said with a smirk

the instructors yelled at them to start and yonghwa dropped to the ground on his back and waved at the soldier behind him with a smile

and began to crawl under the wire backward using the heels of his feet to push himself through while sliding on his back

once again showing how smart he was using his small but nimble size and coming up with an alternative means of completing the challenge

he didn't let the instructors yelling get to him either and soon made it out the side without once getting tangled or scratched jhaesun was quite surprised and proud of him

for the challenge of going hand over hand across a long bar over a big muddy pond to the other side without losing his grip and falling in

that was the hardest one because it made your hands sore holding on with your weight and gravity against you

however yonghwa also had a solution for this challenge he used his hands and feet wrapping them both around the bar and hanging underneath it like a little monkey

he easily climbed across the bar to the other side while other soldiers had fallen in and gotten muddy in the pond below now struggling to drag themselves out,

not able to bear their own weight against gravity

"hahaha!" Yonghwa danced and laughed teasing the men who had said he couldn't do it before

"How does it feel getting owned by fourteen year old?" he yelled on the other side

"eat mud losers!" he stuck his tongue out at the men and ran off to the next course slapping high fives with jhaesun instructors thought he was quite amusing

that he was able to make it through the course until they reached the wall

by the time they got there a great deal of the recruits had worn themselves out trying to climb it unsuccessfully

"hey look here comes the kid" someone yelled

he examined the wall there were ropes with knots in them hanging down

"yonghwa you think you can try the wall?" Jhaesun asked him

"I am sort of having a vague idea how to climb it," Yonghwa said still thinking

"ok ill wait for you at the top then take your time," Jhaesun said and began to walk up the wall vertically using the rope

like he had been taught by a navy seal officer once he naturally used their rope techniques because they were easier, faster, and efficient climbing techniques

till he got to the top climbing up till he stood on top of the wall showing his experience

"im taking a bet" a recruit cried "who bets he can't climb it"

"how much is the pot?" another recruit cried

"Twenty bucks he can't climb that wall," one guy said

another soldier laughed "he's proven every time that he can figure out a way why bet against him im betting fifty bucks he makes it "

yonghwa smirked and they started betting

"send the rope down" yonghwa called to jhaesun ignoring the fools

jhaesun threw the rope back down yonghwa caught it

"wow he's really going for it!" one of the recruits cried

"I can't wait till he falls off he's going to cry like a baby"

"arent you guys tired of saying that already?" Yonghwa said

they started laughing

yonghwa ignored them and wrapped himself around the rope arms and legs

with his small body, he began to climb up much like a monkey using the knots as hand and toe holds to climb to the top very easily

"hey thats cheating" one of the soldiers complained

"haha sucks to be topped by a fourteen-year-old again" another soldier teased "we win the bet pay up"

"it's not cheating," the instructor said "the challenge is to get to the top of the wall the one rule is that you must climb"

"but there is no rule against how you climb it just so happens that this kid because

of his small stature and his intelligence, he's very nimble and can climb very well as well as come up with suitable methods to take on the course by utilizing his strengths

which is the point of this course but you guys fail to realize but he figured out right away good job kid the first person to beat this course on the first try"

"thank you, sir" yonghwa replied with a grin he grinned at jhaesun standing on top of the wall next to him the pair slapping high fives before

jhaesun rappelled down the wall and yonghwa climbed down using a new technique going down headfirst climbing down the rope next to jhaesun

" you look kinda creepy like that are you a spider?" jhaesun asked him

he laughed "call me moon spider"

jhaesun laughed as he landed on his feet

yonghwa swung his feet while holding the rope so he flips over and lands safely on his feet on the ground

"tada all done," he said with a grin

"nice dismount" Jhaesun chuckled

"so what next?" Yonghwa asked

"next is combat training!" Jhaesun said