"Alright, I know we've just had a friendly match, but there's no time to rest," Coach Lee announced at our next training, "We've been invited to a regional tournament in Seoul next week."
A commotion of responses formed among the students as our coach hushed us immediately. "Because of this, we'll be having extended training sessions, but the time will be given to full contact sparring."
The murmuring turned into loud cheers and for once, I was excited too. It was a chance to improve using actual situations instead of targets, and I'm actually surprised they haven't done this before.
"Like finally," Haknyeon exhaled beside me as I glanced at him briefly.
After that friendly match yesterday, he rushed up to me and apologised profusely, to which I forgave him easily because I didn't want to fuss over such a trivial matter anymore. We've pretty much been okay now, but sometimes there's still an awkward area where we seem to be walking on tiptoes around each other.
"So," our coach demanded, "Put on your guards and let's start the sparring session." The whole class broke into a mixture of grumbles and rebuttals as they fought back at the sudden request, with Coach Lee gazing over us calmly like he knew this was gonna happen.
"Right now?" One of the blue belts complained, "Coach, you should've warned us earlier!"
"Boo Seungkwan, sometimes you need to be suddenly thrown into the ring to see your mistakes, only then you'll improve," Coach Lee directed and that student pouted, before turning back to the class. "Now quit complaining. Lee Soobin, Sung Yoojin, Jeon Hyewon and Kim Yeolri to the mats for the first round."
My body froze at the sound of my name as I whipped my head up. "What?" I questioned loudly.
"You heard me, we'll start in one minute." His hasty tone caused me to sprint to my guards and strap them on quickly, a shadow blocking my light as I looked up.
"I warn you, those three are more dangerous than you think," Donghyuck commented, although I don't know what level of advice that was. Not knowing how to respond, I gave him a quick nod before hurrying onto the mats, where the other three were already waiting in a square-like position.
"It'll work like this," Coach Lee instructed, "Each of you will spar for one minute with the player in front of you, after which you will rotate so that all of you get a chance to experience each other's skills. Understood?"
"Yes!" We all replied in unison, my heart pounding harder against my chest each second. This was definitely new, and the fact that I don't have anything to expect scared me even more.
"Ready? Start!"
I turned to the girl in front of me and shook her hand nervously, her face only registering in me when I took notice of her familiar features. Wait, wasn't that the girl who betted on my match? I didn't even get to ask for her name that-
Whoosh! A leg came swinging towards my body as I blocked it instinctively, the throbbing pain in my forearm snapping me back to the current match. Before I could react, another swing came in from the other side as I blocked it again, and now both my arms were numb. But that wasn't the end of it.
My opponent continued attacking without a break as I repeatedly dodged her kicks, trying hard to find a chance to counter. She was a little shorter but definitely more aggressive and agile than me. One flaw though, her kicks were kind of... aimless.
That was the only thing that kept her from my padding, and I soon found her way to counter her attacks. I remember this technique, I had opponents use it in the first round before all their energy drains off. But in this case, it probably won't happen considering the match only lasts for one minute. So I went with Plan B.
The moment her next kick came in, I used her inertia to close into her, preventing her from shifting away no matter what. From there, both of us were rather immobilised, and I took her struggling as a chance to swing my leg up to her headgear. Three points. The perks of being taller than the average height of your opponents, is this.
However, that was the only kick I managed to score before the whistle blew and we switched partners in an anticlockwise direction. My next opponent was someone around my height, and I had a feeling I bumped into her once or twice in the toilet. I took a quick bow and began bouncing, trying to shake off the nervousness that was still embedded in me, although a little less.
Maybe it was from the lack of engagement from the previous match, but I had the urge to attack first with a long turning kick, of course, I didn't expect it to hit considering how slow it was. My opponent slid back swiftly before returning it with the same kick, her foot scraping the front of my headgear which created a roar of cheers from the spectators.
Before I could register what happened, another kick came in for my head again as I retreated at least a feet back, mortification filling in me once I realised how dumb that must've looked. Lucky for me, she seemed to have stopped attacking for the time being, giving me a chance to counter.
Without thinking, I raised my left foot above my head and slammed it forward, letting the movement thrust me towards her. However, my foot landed right on her shoulder as she shrugged it off before I could turn my instep into her headgear. Gosh, how did I miss such an obvious target? She wasn't even moving when I charged in.
Just as I landed, her leg swung up again and although I saw it coming, I couldn't process that I was supposed to block it, causing a loud wham right in the centre of my padding. I stumbled back, only feeling the after-effects a few seconds later before she came charging in again. I chambered a checked kick and pushed it out to prevent her from advancing further, but that was the only effective move that I performed.
Unfortunately, the second round ended just like that, and I was starting to get restless. Dangerous, now I know what he meant. That betting girl was full of energy, but her kicks caused me bruises in areas not even close to the padding, while the second one had slower, heavier kicks that can cause you to gas out. Gulping, I made my way to my third opponent, unwanted fear trapped in me as I tried to dismiss it.
"Start!"
One thing that had actually helped me today was my improved stamina considering how I was still functioning by the third match. Either that or I wasn't worn out from the minimal engagement in the first two matches. But I swear, this one's gonna be a blood bath.
Unlike the previous rounds, I tottered about my spot, conserving my energy as much as possible while trying to read her movements. My opponent's stances were similar to mine, which gave me less of a clue on what her techniques may be.
Then it hit me, literally.
Just as I faked a turning kick, she came spinning towards me, throwing out a kick only after the third spin. I skidded backwards, very much astounded by her sudden attack. It was something I rarely saw even during competitions due to its high risks and low probability, but an impact can easily throw your opponent off guard, although I find it unnecessarily extra.
My opponent, fortunately, hasn't really mastered the spinning considering how she flew a least a metre away from me, but it still inhibited me from attacking her.
But I wasn't going to let it go down without me trying again.
Just as she barely managed to recover, I surprised her with a kick to the padding, which wasn't guarded due to her arms trying to stable herself. But I think I involuntarily increased her guard as she repositioned herself with her arms glued to her body. I tried to fake her out again, but this time, it required a full check kick to trigger her spinning.
I skipped back to avoid her scary advance, before extending my leg so that her padding would impact my foot on its own due to momentum.
Pak! Pak!
I scowled at the sound coming from my own body as I spotted her foot on my padding too. A mixture of cheers and groans could be heard from behind me as that happened, and I couldn't help but feel terrible. Dang it, lost two points to a petty mistake.
The last round ended with her attempting a back thrust on me, and all of us shook each other's hands before taking a bow. I ripped off my mouth guard and headgear and headed towards an empty space to take a breather. Youn and Haknyeon approached me at the same time, both of them equally surprised by each other's presence. After a short silence, Youn spoke first.
"You could do better, I guess, but maybe because your opponents are quite unique. You just need more experiences," she said, and I agree. It was obviously not my best work, but my performance today sent me worrying about next week. Haknyeon, on the other hand, said the opposite.
"She did her best, and for a first-timer, it was quite outstanding." I smiled grimly at his attempt to hide my past, but sadly, I can't feel the same about his words. Youn raised an eyebrow, and for a second I thought she was gonna expose me like what Donghyuck did.
"I was being objective." She shrugged. "Compliments can't get you everywhere, you know." She turned her attention to me and gave a thin smile. "Hang in there."
"Gosh, y'all treat me like some kindergartner," I snarled once she walked off, and Haknyeon just laughed it off. That made that all the more demoralising.
"Because you are," a taunting voice chimed behind us as we turned around. Donghyuck appeared in front of our faces, his timing making it seem like he was waiting for Youn to leave. "Not bad, newbie."
I rolled my eyes. "Are you still gonna call me that?"
He paused for a while as if recalling what he said, before replying with a smirk, "You may be experienced, but you're still a junior in this club."
I bet I have more experience than you, I thought to myself, because revealing my childishness to him would just lead to another petty bicker. And I'm too tired to take care of that.
"Lee Donghyuck, Ju Haknyeon, Jung Sungjun and Yoon Hyunbin, get ready," Coach Lee hollered as the two boys' ears perked up. Donghyuck looked at me haughtily as he straightened his uniform. "Watch and learn."
He walked ahead of Haknyeon as I gave a half-hearted thumbs up to the latter. Gosh, and here I thought he was actually changing for the better. I made my way behind the seated crowd, leaning onto the wall to spectate the next few matches. I felt someone creep up beside me before feeling a poke on my shoulder.
"I didn't get to apologise yesterday since you left so quickly, but I really didn't mean what I did, it was merely for fun, so please don't take it to heart," a girl's voice blabbered before I even turned my head, and when I did, I realised who it was.
"No biggie, it wasn't that serious anyway," I muttered, grimacing at that event resurfacing again. She heaved out a quick sigh and I managed to get a glance at her name. "Lee Soobin, you were so aggressive on the mats."
She laughed a little hesitantly, before sighing out loud, "Lots of people say that, but what they truly mean is that I'm too reckless. I just get so antsy that I attack without thinking, and then my stamina runs out, then my speed..."
Oh no, she's a rambler.
I opened my mouth to interrupt, but her sharp tone threatened to cut me if I did.
"I can't seem to control it, it's like if I don't do anything, I'll feel so restless. But Coach Lee said if I could time my continuous attacks properly, I would be able to tire my opponents out..."
I don't know when I started to tune her out, but at the same time, my mind switched to the intriguing match unfolding right in front of me.
Lee Donghyuck vs Ju Haknyeon.
I missed Haknyeon's match that day because I ran out midway, and not Donghyuck's because he knocked out his opponent, so this was a first for me. I tried to focus on both of them evenly, but I found my eyes gliding towards Donghyuck even when he wasn't attacking.
He wasn't lying when he said he was one of the best students here. How can someone look so relaxed yet fierce at the same time? He didn't even falter when Haknyeon hit him on the padding, because he counters right away. He managed to defend most attacks and vice versa, all with the same determined look on his face.
Then a question popped into my head.
Where exactly did he get his motivation from? His winning streaks? His high ego? His dad?
That last assumption rang in my head like a bell as I recalled the day he spoke to his dad, the day he got so pissed off at me and ended training right there. But why? An obvious answer would be to impress his dad, but my gut tells me it's something more.
I gazed at him as he scored another kick to Haknyeon's headgear, with the latter giving him a quick thumbs up and the former nodding back.
Lee Donghyuck, what exactly are you aiming for?
---
ill be honest, this is just one of the (many) filler chaps i may or may not have just so the story doesnt jump here and there, so i hope yall dont mind ಥ╭╮ಥ
also i hope that abrupt ending didnt seem so abrupt hehe