by the sidelines • haechan

thirty six

"Calling all players from bout 45 to 54, please make your way to the registration table for weigh-ins." The announcement echoed through the fully packed sports hall as individuals got up from their seat and travelled down the stairs. Meanwhile, I let out yet another heavy breath.

I looked down at my shivering hands before clenching them tightly against my dobok pants, feeling my sweaty palms at the tip of my fingers.

"Relax, won't you? You look like a row of pork chops in the oven." Donghyuck appeared in front of me, laughing away at my nervous state. But I didn't hesitate to acknowledge it.

"That's because I'm about to be roasted," I answered, staring blankly at the heated matches happening below me, my stomach starting to self-impose diarrhoea. Everyone was beyond my expectations, if I even had expectations, to begin with, and that made me feel so unprepared. Not only that, what bothered me most was my first opponent, whose name rang more than one bell, but where have I heard of her before?

"You will if you think that way," he scowled, "Relax, this is not even your first competition." He leaned on the metal railing behind him, turning only his head to spectate the matches as well. He's right, I've been competing for half of my life and I've never felt this nervous at all, so why now?

The next batch of players entered the waiting area and my feet-tapping got worse. "That's it, I can't stay here any longer." I jumped to my feet, looking around for any spare targets. When I found them, I chucked them to Donghyuck, who looked as horrified as he was confused.

"Follow me outside," I ordered before he could retort back, letting the gravity drag me down the stairs and out of the stadium. The summer breeze greeted me warmly as I inhaled its air deeply, finally feeling like I could breathe properly.

"Yah, am I your dog or something?" Donghyuck's haughty voice rang as the metal door slammed open. "You can't just order me around as you like."

"You still came out here," I replied blatantly, earning a resentful look from him. "I needed fresh air anyway. What do you want me to do?" He asked as he spun one of the targets around his finger, grabbing it swiftly after.

"I need to sweat it out, so help me with some target kicking, please," I added a little politeness to unofficially thank him for complying which honestly surprised me that he did. He sighed, holding the two targets in place and locking his wrists, signalling with a nod that I could start kicking.

One, two, three... I jumped right into the practice with full speed, matching my breathing with the pace of my kicking. With Donghyuck's steady grip, I didn't hesitate to throw in as many hard kicks as possible, feeling my anxiety drain out with each one as I grew lighter.

"Change." I gestured to switch legs in a huff, my heavy breathing disallowing me to say any further. One, two, three... another set of kicks eased my mind a little more.

One, two, three... my troubled thoughts were cleared one by one.

One, two, one, two... the worries surrounding me were being sweated out, evaporating into thin air.

"Break." I signalled, bending over as I panted heavily from the intense workout. I felt a force on my sleeve haul me upright again, and I placed my hands on my hips to prevent myself from slouching over.

"You're gonna be exhausted by the time you get in there," Donghyuck informed, his words flowing right through my tired mind that I wasn't able to catch it. I looked at him to repeat it, but he rolled his eyes instead. "No matter how much you train out here, it's not gonna get rid of your heebie-jeebies, so I rather you save that energy for the real thing."

"Gee, thanks for the advice," I replied sarcastically. Before either of us could continue, an announcement rang from inside the sports hall. "Calling all players from bouts 55 to 64, please report to the registration counter." Oh no.