Love At First Kick

25

'Taegeuk Pal Jang'.

It is a Poomsae for the senior red belt. In some countries, it is for black belt.

I'm cool with this. There is still loads of time until it's my turn. I'm 47th out of 132 it seems. Imagine 132 people competing to get 3 medals altogether. It's slaughter in a way. There are other courts with other belt degrees and such, but mine is the tough one.

The first girl up, bless her, was so nervous she forgot half the Poomsae. She had to restart it. She got out with not a half bad score, but there are plenty of girls after and she could easily fall out.

There are 5 elimination circles. 5th being the last.
In the first circle, 50 girls are cut off straight away.
The second circle, another 30.
By the time the 3rd Pomsae is up, we will be down to 53 girls competing. Then we lose 20 more.
The fourth circle loses another 23. Leaving the final 10 to compete.

It goes by the highest score.

There are some crazy good, talented girls in here. Some of them are so confident it looks scary.

It takes about 1-2 minutes of performance per girl, so it goes fast.
Only 2 more girls before me.

1 more. She is just finishing up.
I look over to the stands and see everyone waving at me, making hearts. I saw Jimin do a huge heart above his head, along with Jungkook.
Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Be professional.

'Min Rin, Taegeuk Pal Jang.'

I straighten myself out, making sure everything is perfect and pretty. I walk out, chin high, looking ahead.
I bow to the judges slowly, holding it for a second, then straighten up. Sharp turn and 10 steps exactly to the end of the court. Another sharp turn to face the judges, bowing again.

'Joon-be!'

I get in the ready position.

The judges raise their hand, giving me a sign to begin.

Nothing to be scared of here. I can do this in my sleep. Make it perfect technically, make it sharp. Make sure you show off the strength at the end of every movement. Every kick has to be almost in a split, looking attractive. Keep the balance.
I can feel a million eyes on me, but I know Jimin is watching me. Just thinking of him makes me want to smile, but I can't do that. It is also pushing me to be perfect.

I finished everything perfectly, coming back to the same exact spot. Yes.

I bow, waiting for my score.

9.8
Fuck yes. 10 is the highest.
I heard all of them scream and shout from the stand, making me almost burst out in laughter.

I bow again and walk to the judges, bowing again before leaving the court. Currently I'm the first in the leader board.

I got through the first round being 3rd in the rank. I can't complain. I haven't done this in ages.

Next Poomsae
'Keumgang'

Number 10. 2 DAN Black belt. Pretty easy.

I looked over again before going out to the court to perform again. I saw Jimin giving me thumbs up, smiling from ear to ear. He was so excited he was jumping in his spot. Honestly, I didn't notice anyone else.

9.9.
I'll take it. Should be enough to go through.
They shouted even louder than last time.

Another circle down. Second on the board. There is one girl who is on par with me. She is crazy good. If I go out, I'm pretty sure she will win it.

Poomsae for round 3
'Pyongwon'

Number 12.
DAN 4 Black belt.

This is a hard one. But I'm good. I've been practising it.