To See The Moon

The Shadow

     The first thing Jeongin heard outside was screaming.

     No, he wasn't back in the Alley, he wasn't hearing another possible break-in/murder. He was in the sunny streets of Nila, walking to school with Seungmin the next morning. The huge building around the corner was the source of the exhilarated yells.

     "What is that place?" he asked Seungmin.

     "That's the sports centre," Seungmin said. "It's usually noisy."

     "Even in the morning!?"

     "ESPECIALLY in the morning."

     Jeongin thought nothing else about it until he heard a very familiar voice as the two boys walked past the sports centre.

     "Phew, that was a good one! We should definitely spar again sometime!"

     "Chan hyung!?" Jeongin blurted out. Even after only one meeting, the cheerful and encouraging voice was easy to remember.

     Seungmin raised an eyebrow. "You know Channie hyung?"

     "He supervises my gym class sometimes," Jeongin said, deciding that the exact details of their encounter were unimportant. "I shouldn't be surprised that he occupies a place like the sports centre."

     "He usually spars here," Seungmin said. "I sometimes come around here because there's a good seating area to do my homework; you know, better than my house. So I usually see Channie hyung, he buys me a soda sometimes."

     "Wait, sparring!?" Jeongin said, actually taking in Seungmin's words.

     "Yeah... like fighting," Seungmin said. "He's surprisingly good at it- Jeongin, where are you going!?"

     By then, Jeongin was already running towards the sporting centre, opening the door. "Let's go say hi!"

     Seungmin didn't know where Jeongin's sudden enthusiasm had come from, but he shrugged. "Sure, let's go."

     The two boys found the fighting room and Jeongin put his face up to the window. "Whoa... you're right, Seungmin hyung, he's good!"

     Chan was in there along with another man. They were in the middle of some sort of fight, non-fatal of course. All Jeongin could notice was how focused Chan seemed, the way he dodged attacks and smoothly came back with a move to finish off his opponent.

     He made it look so easy. Jeongin wondered what it was like, to have your body being able to naturally react to trouble, to be able to defend itself, to be able to-

     Chan looked towards the window, surprise on his face. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and walked outside. "Seungmin!"

     "Hi, Channie hyung," Seungmin said. "I have a guest with me."

     Chan looked at Jeongin and grinned. "I remember you."

     "Of course, I'm unforgettable," Jeongin joked. He became antsy. School would start soon and now that he had the chance to talk to Chan, there was something he suddenly had to say-

     "Teach me how to fight!" Jeongin said before he could have second thoughts. Seungmin looked at Jeongin, shocked.

     Chan just stood there for a moment. "... what?"

     "What you just did! Teach me how to do it!" Jeongin said.

     "You... want to learn how to do that?" The request made perfect sense to Chan but he just couldn't figure out why that request would come out of Jeongin's mouth. "I don't know..."