ENTHRALL° s.th

005

✧──────✦ "that's another point for seoul's finest! park jaehwa seems to be on a roll today!"

"you know, today's the last day to qualify for the junior championships. at this rate, it looks like she's going to place on top!"

"wow! that's a 3 point kick to the head- oh and another one! park is up to 17 points now in the second round."

the sweat dripped down her neck as she moved and thought like a machine.

side kick. dodge. hook. side kick. 2 points. dodge.

the referee separated the two girls on the mat as the second round ended. jaehwa focused on her coach and walked straight to her. the cold water bottle felt like heaven as she rolled it around her red face.

"let's end this jaehwa! understood?" her coach hit her shoulders. she nodded in response as a sweat and ice water mixture spilled down the front of her dobok.

jaehwa pulled on her head gear again, pulling her ponytail through the hole in the back. the walk up to the mat was always the best feeling to her. the mouth guard was now situated between her teeth and she felt ready to fight again. she already had all of the kicks she planned to use in her head.

front kick to the torso. side kick to her right side. and repeat. finish with a roundhouse to the head.

"ready!-"

jaehwa jolted up in a cold sweat. her breath slowly steadied as she licked her lips to try and decrease the dryness. once her toes touched the cold flooring, she flinched a little before putting them on the ground fully.

making her way to the kitchen, she tried not to step on the creaky floor too quickly. her pain medicine was nearly out, so she put on her slides and grabbed the house keys. after making sure the door was securely locked, she turned to walk towards the nearest convenience store.

this place seemed a lot safer than the city. maybe she would have a nighttime walk once in a while to destress. while she walked on the concrete road, she did a few of her stretches for her knee.

avoid lunges. avoid squats. avoid putting most weight on the left knee. avoid running. avoid this and avoid that.

the only thing she could really do at this point was take short, calm walks on a paved pathway. at this point, she wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings while deep in thought.

that's why a hand around her wrist nearly made her jump and brought her back to reality. standing in front of her was an oily old man who looked like he hadn't showered in decades. not only that, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"hey pretty girl, where ya' going?" the creature tried to look her in the eyes.

"none of your business. get lost." jaehwa tried to smack his hand off, still playing nice.

"that's not a very nice thing to say." he leaned closer to her as whispered, "so how much for a night?"

she pushed him off and gave him a nasty kick to the stomach. jaehwa should have just punched him because now she could feel her heartbeat in her knee.

she made sure he was still breathing, and continued on to the store. her knee felt like it was about to explode out of the brace. now trying to pretend like she wasn't just limping, the motions sensor door opened in front of her.

the first thing she grabbed was an ice pack, then two bottles of the strongest pain relievers they had, and then an energy drink, since she knew she'd need it for later in the day. jaehwa gave the cashier a bill and stuffed the change into her pocket. lucky for her, the bench was only a few steps away from the entrance. by the time she took off the brace, her knee was swollen and had marks from the seams. she opened the energy drink and chugged half of it to keep her eyes open.

jaehwa opened the package of pills and took two out. while the energy drink washed them down her throat, she propped up her left leg into the bench and put the ice pack on the painful area.

she brought out her phone while waiting for her knee to go numb and reluctantly searched her name. turns out that there were a lot of people still writing about her injury even a year after. reading through a few of them, she learned about some stuff that even she didn't know. there were some people that even put out compilations of her best matches and wins in honor of her retirement.

her thumbs moved without thinking as she looked up recent news in the taekwondo community. nothing much about her, but more about a boy. jaehwa hadn't kept up with the current matches since she hadn't needed to scope out new techniques or competitors.

"New Fallen Prodigy?"

"Sung Taehoon Finally Beat!"

she checked the date they were published and it had only been a few months since. before her injury, she was familiar with the name and was often told that the two of them would be the future of taekwondo. jaehwa had won her match, but this taehoon person had apparently lost.

with the newtube app opened on her phone, she typed in his name. the first video started and she turned her phone sideways so that it was on full screen. jaehwa watched as the mc introduced him. she looked closer to the screen when a face she was all too familiar with walked into the fighting area. the boy from the alley was everywhere yet every time she saw him, she was still surprised

by now her knee had lost its color and jaehwa knew she had to get going before people woke up. she struggled to finish off her now warm energy drink and stuck her tongue out to get the bitter taste out after the can was empty. the ice pack was now a water pack and she threw it in the trash bin next to her. jaehwa pulled her knee brace back on and slowly walked back to her house, stopping at the still sleeping man to kick him again for the trouble he caused her.

the gate now closed with a soft click and jaehwa turned around to take an hour nap before she had to get ready for school.

"where were you?" her sister asked, peeking her head out of her door.

"i had to get stuff for my knee." she explained.

"for two hours?" mina mumbled, still tired.

"i got side tracked, and you should go back to sleep. you're younger and need it," jaehwa pointed out.

"you're only a year older, i can't sleep."

"oh, i'll get you something to help." she turned back around to head to the kitchen. mina sat down at the table while jaehwa boiled some water.

"i'm sorry." the sitting girl muttered.

"for what?" she was genuinely confused. they weren't close at all, and didn't even talk unless necessary, so she had nothing to hold against her. she hadn't made a move to be closer to her and neither had mina.

"for not being there for you. you know, when it happened."

she knew exactly what she was talking about, but it wasn't mina's fault that she had shut everyone out. even if mina had tried to comfort her, jaehwa would have probably cursed at her and told her to get lost.

"it's okay, it wasn't your fault. i'm over it already." she responded telling the half truth.

"i know you aren't. i'm not as stupid as you think i am." mina pushed.

jaehwa pushed a cup of hot tea towards mina who took it gratefully. she let out a long exhale and chuckled a little bit with a small smile. "thanks."

mina nearly spit the liquid back into her cup, "you just smiled."

"am i not allowed to?"

"i haven't seen you smile in like, a year." her hand was now over her mouth in disbelief.

jaehwa simply shrugged her shoulders.

"go take a shower. it's almost time to get ready." mina pushed out her lower lip and got up after finishing the cup.

before she shut the door mina whispered, "i dig the new hair!"

since her grandmother hadn't gotten up yet, jaehwa started to cook breakfast, feeling a little lighter on her feet than usual despite the pain.