Spellbound

Chapter 4: Gym

After homeroom, my next class was Chemistry. I couldn't tell if any of the boys were in the class since the teacher made me sit in the first row. As I went to sit in my seat, I did catch a glimpse of pink hair. But when the bell rang, he was already out the door.

After Chemistry was Calculus. I was seated two seats diagonal to the white-haired friend of Taehyung's from earlier. Getting a closer look at him, I finally recognized him from his photo in the file: Kim Namjoon, next leader of the Lightning Clan. The professor had called him up to solve a problem on the blackboard. I observed how extremely smart he was, solving each problem quickly and confidently. I took a mental note of his intimidating and focused aura. From my first impression, he had the potential to be a powerful leader one day. Hopefully, he was smart enough not to become a tyrant like my father.

Now, it was time for Gym class. Professor Park had given me a set of two keys earlier on our walk to Homeroom: one for my school locker, the other for my gym locker. As I stood in the girl's locker room, I opened my locker to see that I've already been supplied a set of gym clothes. A black dry-fit t-shirt, some black running shorts, white socks, and black running shoes. I fixed my hair into a ponytail and headed out of the locker room into the gym. There were mats laid out covering the wooden floor, but I was surprised to meet a familiar set up in the middle of the gymnasium. A boxing ring?

"RINA!" I heard a deep voice shout from behind me.

I turned around to find Taehyung running up to me, waving his hand excitedly in the air. He was in a similar outfit to mine, the only difference being his black basketball shorts and the white sweatband around his forehead.

"Hey Taehyung," I returned his greeting. "What's up with the boxing ring?" I pointed over my shoulder to the set up.

He looked over to where I was pointing them back at me. "Ohhh Gym class is for practicing our hand-to-hand combat skills! We have sparring matches in there so-"

"So we can practice kicking some Shadow Clan butt!" A dark-haired boy interjected, putting an arm around Taehyung.

I tried to hide the annoyance in my tone. "Is that so..." I recognized him and internally scoffed. Of course the fire mage has a fiery personality.

Taehyung looked between us and gave an uncomfortable laugh, "Rina, this is Jungkook. Jungkook, Rina."

"Jeon Jungkook." He added to his introduction, looking me up and down with a smirk. "Next leader of the Fire Clan." He extended the hand that wasn't around Taehyung towards me for a handshake.

I took his hand, making sure to give it a firm squeeze to let out my annoyance. "Rina. Just Rina."

Jungkook took his hand out of my grip, shaking it off exaggeratedly in the air, "Geez, why are your hands so cold?"

I scoffed. "Maybe yours are just hot, Mr. Fire Mage."

He took his arm off Taehyung and put both hands in his pockets confidently. He took a few steps towards me, a clear smirk on his face. I didn't move, meeting his playful gaze with an emotionless one of my own. "You think I'm hot?" He teased.

"Man you guys really are like Fire and Ice!" Taehyung forcefully laughed to ease the tension, putting his hand on Jungkook's shoulder and pulling him back out of my personal bubble.

Jungkook still had that smug smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and looked away, noticing a figure enter the gym that made my body stiffen.

It was the same boy from this morning. His face had a natural smile on as he greeted some of his classmates. He was wearing all black like the rest of us, but his presence was still so uncomfortably bright..

Taehyung had noticed my attention shift and glanced over to where I was looking. "Oh, HOBI!" Taehyung waved, motioning the boy to join us.

Hobi looked over and gave Taehyung returned a similar energetic wave, as he jogged over towards us.

Before he reached us, his footsteps faltered, noticing my unfamiliar presence. I was starting to get that nauseous feeling from earlier this morning as he neared. I wondered if he was feeling the same, as he approached us hesitantly.

"Hey guys!" he tried to exclaim happily, although it seemed forced.

"Hey Hobi, this is Rina, she's new here!" Taehyung introduced me excitedly. Hobi turned towards me. I could tell he was uncomfortable with my presence.

"Um.. Hey. I-I'm-" Hobi faltered over his words.

"Wowww is our social butterfly nervous because of a girl? I never thought I'd see the day!" Jungkook interjected teasingly. This kid really likes to interrupt people.

"Hey, that's not it..." Hobi frowned at Jungkook's teasing smirk.

"HEY!" Taehyung exclaimed, "You two better not be going after my new best friend. She's not your prey." Taehyung broke away from Jungkook and stood next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders protectively.

Before anyone could say anything else, a sharp whistle blew, and we all turned our heads to the source. Our gym coach stood in the middle of the gym outside the boxing ring, with a clipboard and a whistle in his hand.

"Alright listen up!" the coach shouted, "Today we'll be sparring as per usual. But first, where is-" He glanced down at the clipboard he was holding, "Song Rina?" He questioned, searching the crowd of students.

I could feel the eyes on me as I raised my hand emotionlessly, unaffected by the attention.

The coach cleared his throat. "Don't think I'd go easy on you just because it's your first day. You'll spar today just like everyone else." the coach explained sternly.

"I respect your decision, sir." I replied respectfully. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's close combat.

"Alright then! Now, the pairings for today are as follows..."

The man began naming pairs of people I didn't recognize. Taehyung and Jungkook's names were announced as a pair, as they high-fived each other. I felt we were nearing the end of the list, and my name hadn't been called yet.

As if reading my thoughts, the coach declared  loudly, "Last, but certainly not least," he read the last pair off his clipboard.

"Song Rina and Jung Hoseok!"