The Crown | myg

twenty-one

The required training time of eleven days has passed, and Beomgyu has been trained in every aspect required. On the agenda today, Beomgyu is to use his training to go against me to prove that he is worth a spot on this team.

"Now remember, maknae," I say as I stand beside him, my hand on his shoulder. "You either bring me down or impress me."

"Are you gonna go easy on me?" His voice comes out as a whisper and he turns to me with wide eyes.

"Technically I'm supposed to make it a fair fight," I respond with a smile. "If you're holding back, I have to barely try. But, if you're not holding back, I don't have to."

Beomgyu sighs.

"But don't not try just because you don't want me to hurt you," I chuckle. "You won't get a position that way."

Beomgyu nods. "Please don't hold a knife to my throat."

"Hopefully, I won't have to."

"Alright ladies," Seojoon says as he walks into the training room. He stands in the center of the ring and begins to speak to everyone that has gathered around it. "As Beomgyu has finished training, he must complete the final phase in order to be considered one of us. Hyuntae has volunteered to be his opponent, but she's also the only one willing to fight someone so young."

Daehyun and Jaesuk walk over to us and pat Beomgyu gently on the back.

"Best of luck, young padawan," Daehyun says with a gentle smile.

"Don't kill this one, Hyuntae," Jaesuk places his arm around me. "I actually like him."

"This isn't life or death like it was with Yoongi," I say as I pull his arm away from me. "This is just a fight."

"Step into the ring," Seojoon calls. Beomgyu and I are quick to step into the ring and stand in opposite corners. "If Beomgyu gives up, he is to tap three times on the floor. If Hyuntae gives up for reasoning of not wanting to hurt Beomgyu, she is to tap twice on the floor. If Hyuntae is impressed by Beomgyu, she is to tap three times on the floor. Does everyone understand?"

Beomgyu and I share glances with each other and then nod.

"Begin when you're ready," Seojoon waves his hand before walking out of the ring and standing alongside the others. He leans over to Taehyung, who is standing beside him, and whispers a little too loudly. "My bet is on Beomgyu tapping out."

Taehyung shrugs. "Mine is on Hyuntae getting impressed."

I watch as Namjoon leans over from the other side of Taehyung. "I'm not betting, but I think Hyuntae will destroy him."

"How much?" Taehyung asks Seojoon.

"A thousand," he whispers.

Taehyung chokes before holding out his hand. "Deal."

Seojoon smirks. "I take my money in cash."

"As do I."

"Can you guys stop flirting so we can get on with this?" I complain as I stand with my arms leaning on the ropes, watching them bargain over the fight to come.

"Sure, sure," Taehyung laughs. "Carry on."

For some reason, I bow at his response before turning back to face Beomgyu.

"Back to back, but no touching," I say as I turn away, my back facing him. The sound of him turning around tickles my ears and I raise my eyebrows a little. He has heavy feet, stealth won't be his strong point.

I peer over my shoulder to see Beomgyu standing with his back still to me. A small breath escapes my mouth as I try to hold back a laugh.

I take a step forward to begin to sneak up on Beomgyu, and I quickly feel a hand grab my forearm, stopping me in my tracks.

Spinning around, I see Beomgyu completely facing me with a smirk on his face. My jaw hangs open before I close it again and smirk, my eyebrows furrowing. The guys on the sidelines chuckle.

As fast as I can, I cock my arm back and ball my hand into a fist before throwing it towards Beomgyu's face. To my utter surprise, he swings his body back and blocks it, his arm quickly flying back in my direction. I put my hand up to block it, and his fist comes into contact with my palm with a hard smack.

Beomgyu scoffs before gripping my arm harder and spinning me around into a chokehold. He places his right hand on my forehead and pulls my head back. Wrapping his left arm around my neck, he pulls as hard as he can.

I didn't teach him that. Where did he learn how to do that?

I feel my blood rushing to my head and my air supply being slowly cut off. I want to see how much he has learned over these past eleven days, but I don't want to stop breathing over it.

While he's pulling my head back and applying pressure to my neck, I notice he's paying absolutely no attention to my hands, his attention focused only on stopping me from breathing.

I jam my elbow into his side and he pulls away, a near silent hiss escaping his lips. Spinning around, I stare at him and we both frown before running at each other, our bodies crashing into each other before we both fall to the floor.

We both get up onto our knees and stare at each other before standing up and lunging towards one another. I throw myself at him and wrap my arms around him before falling onto my back. I can tell I've knocked the wind out of him but, at this point, I know he's playing.

From this position, I fling one leg over his chest and fling my other leg over his neck, my hands gripping his arm and pulling it towards me while my hips push forward to add pressure to the back of his arm.

"Tap out," I grunt, shifting my hips farther forward to add more restraint to his arm.

"Over my dead body," he growls as he shifts beneath me.

"That can be arranged," I hiss as I move my foot onto the side of his face and begin to push it away from me.

Beomgyu slides his body forward before swinging his legs up with such force that he flips over completely.

I sit there for a moment, completely shocked, and, before I know it, Beomgyu is on top of me with his hands pinning mine to the ring beneath us.

I shift my wrist beneath his hand, but Beomgyu only presses harder. I glare at him for a moment and, as his eyes gaze into mine, he lets some pressure off of the wrist I'm trying to move.

With still very little mobility in my wrist, I turn my neck to look at my hand and lift it before tapping it on the floor gently. Beomgyu's body relaxes with the second tap on the floor, but the room was already silent on the first tap.

With one third, and final, tap, Beomgyu pulls himself away from me and stands up beside me, his arm outstretched offering to help me up off of the ground.

"What the fuck," a whisper arises from outside the ring. It's Seojoon. "This has never happened before."

There is a silence in the room before Seojoon walks into the ring, my body still lying on the floor, Beomgyu no longer outstretching his arm, for he is shocked by the reaction of the others.

"Welcome to the team, kid," Seojoon says with a smile as he shakes hands with Beomgyu. "You'll make a great member, I can already tell."