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Prologue (One Last Time)

     Luna shivered as she reached for her apartment door, punching the passcode. Her hair and clothes were drenched due to her bold decision to run through the heavy rain. She didn't bring her car or umbrella today, for she didn't expect the weather to change abruptly by the evening. Just like her emotions.

       Earlier in the evening, her little brother, Vero, had called her from Japan to inform Luna about the current situation of the household and what the 'adults' were planning for her. It wasn't much to her liking. So much that she could feel her blood boil and her energy being drained even by just thinking about it. This had mainly been the reason for Luna's gloom the rest of the day.

        In addition to that, she received a love letter as well. Which surprisingly wasn't her first. Although she doesn't care about it on other days, receiving it on a day like this just ruined her mood even more.

       As she finished her warm bath and dried her hair, Luna heard her phone ring. A melody she knew well, set for none other than her close friend, Ara.

       "Hello there, ungrateful child. It's me, your fairy godmother!" Ara's voice blasted through the phone. Luna didn't even put it on speaker. She shrugs, well, that's Ara.

       "Hey there, the wicked evil queen. How may I help you?"

Luna could hear the deep sigh from the other side of the phone.

       "Are you mad? At Vero I mean."

       Now it's Luna's turn to sigh. She didn't see this coming. Luna knew Ara had a thing for Vero, but she didn't expect her to bring him up like this. It was an unspoken rule to never bring up Luna's family matters. A few seconds passed and felt like an hour.        

       "No," Luna finally answered, "it wasn't his fault. He was simply delivering the message to me. I was disappointed on other matters, not on Vero."        

       She could imagine Ara's worried face, and if she was in front of her then Luna would've smiled. Although Ara could easily see through those fake smiles. After all, they've known each other too well.

        "Well, that's good to hear. Anyways, can you guess whom I bumped into?" Ara asked. Luna raised an eyebrow and shrugged as if Ara could see her, "No, who was it?"       

       Ara could be unpredictable sometimes, and the last thing she needed on her list was another problem coming up.

       "Don't worry, it's not that bad. I promise. So, uhmm, I met your Taekwondo club leader-"

       "EX-Taekwondo club." Luna corrected. There had been unpleasant things that happened in the past and it's best not to get into it any deeper.

       "Yea, yea, whatever. So, he told me that there's a tournament coming up in a few months. He was wishing that you'd join." Ara snorted, "He said that you could enter through their club."

       She could tell from the way Ara chuckled, she was giving this "who are you kidding" face. Luna rolled her eyes, "Ara, all he wants is the recognition and fame for the club." Ara laughed hearing Luna's remarks.

       "Exactly, Lune! But guess what? I checked out the brochure and it states that club isn't mandatory. So, why don't you go out there and show them your true colours? Besides, I think you need some distraction."

       Luna stared into her reflection in the mirror. She wanted to avoid being in the spotlight, but she indeed need to let her mind go off things. She might've hated that one specific club, but deep inside, her love for martial arts never fades. Taekwondo is a part of her.      

        Ara's voice broke the silence once again, reminding Luna that she was still waiting for her answers, "Earth to Luna? So, what do you say?"

        Luna took a moment to hesitate, but then she stated, sure and confident, " You do your parts, I'll do mine. Let's rock the world!" That was sure enough for Ara to let out dolphin-like noises.

       "I knew it!! Alright, manager Ara will take care of everything. You just need to prepare. Now, that's the girl I know."

       "Yes, yes, manager. Thank you. Now, if you please, I'm going to take my beauty sleep. So yea, bye Ara."

       After Ara answered her with another "bye-bye", Luna ended the phone call and then threw herself towards her warm and comfy bed. Staring at the white ceiling of her room, somehow she felt like her life would meet a change. A big change.

       She didn't tell Ara before, but this would probably be her last tournament. At least, her last official tournament. Luna would prefer avoiding any sort of fame, though that doesn't mean she would give up things easily because of it. After all, staying lowkey is also a way to survive, don't you think?

       Tired, her eyelids closed slowly as she drifted into dreamland. It was a weird dream. But she enjoyed it nevertheless. Her worries soon disappeared.

She was unaware of how her life was about to take a turn, soon.

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Ahhh, it feels good to finally publish this story! I've been having all sorts of imaginations that I wish I could share with you guys, and this is one of them ^^

I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to correct me if you spot any mistakes that I made. English is not my first language, and I might make some grammar error somewhere along the story.

See you later~

Love, your fellow ENGENE.