Love At First Kick

139

'That's much better, Sool. Keep it up like that!' Coach Kim smiled with satisfaction at Sool, who did his damn best to fix his mistakes.

Jimin told me about his actual issue, and he told me how he decided to help him with it. He kept giving him pointers on when to and when not to go in for a fight. He also told Sool about his own thoughts and processes in his head during fights, which was refreshing to hear. It certainly helped. Sool wasn't getting told off for it a few days later. He was really improving.

He wasn't the only one. Wonhu also asked Jimin's help with his problem of not attacking enough, so he did the same for him. He is still working on it, though, but day by day, it's getting better. And Imanu... she had sped up quite a bit. But the head situation... is getting to her head a bit. She keeps lashing out on herself. She has this weird thing where she pinches herself when she is frustrated, and it tends to leave small bruises on herself. Mostly on her legs. I've been practising with her on our own, using sponge sticks to help her cover her head better. I hope it works.

As for Hinhyuk, me, and Jimin, we kept it up with doing as well as possible.
We all got scolded at least once during the training for something minor, but other than that, they didn't tell us to fix a thing. I couldn't be happier about it. I just hope I do the same at the games.

'Thank you so much, man. You helped me tremendously.' Sool was thanking Jimin for God knows what time

'Nothing to thank me for. It's your hard work.' Jimin smiled

'Can you please smack me in the face a few times? Maybe then I'll start covering it properly.' Imanu sounds pissed off. Again.

'I'd rather not hit you.' Jimin chuckles. 'There is plenty of time. And your coverage isn't that bad. You wouldn't be here if it was. It just needs a bit of work. Just relax.'

'You should become a coach.' Wonhu says to Jimin. I would have thought he was joking if his face wasn't telling me he's serious about it

'I'm not sure what I'll do just yet, but you never know. Maybe.' Jimin answered him just as seriously

'I am going to retire after this. I've been in this for so long, and honestly, I'm tired. I'm 24, but I feel 70 with how many things hurt. And I don't see how there could be anything better than the Olympics.' Imanu smiled as she said it. She must have thought about this quite a bit

'I'm right there with you.' Hinhyuk raises his hand. 'I don't think anything will top this. I might train purely for fun, but I'm done with competing. I'm too old for that anyway.' He is 27. He is far from old, but in this sport, anything close to 30 isn't ideal. Physical prowlace and all that.

'What will you do?' Wonhu asks me

'Oh, I'm still going to fight.' I saw Jimin smile proudly at my answer. 'I love it too much to stop.'

'Of course.' Sool chuckles. 'I swear you never have enough of the fighting.'

'It's fun. What's there to be bored of?' I grin

'That's my little terminator.' Jimin was still smiling proudly, reaching over to stroke my hair

'I assume you're doing the same as her then?' Wonhu asks Jimin

'Yep. You betcha. Someone's gotta keep her in check.' Jimin teases me, making me chuckle, along with the rest of them

'I'm just happy everyone here is friendly and in a different category. I wouldn't wanna fight you in a tournament. Any od you. Especially you.' Sool points his finger at Jimin

'You got that right.' Hinhyuk giggles and high-fives Sool

'I'm not that bad.' Jimin laughs

'You are a fucking machine, Park. Don't even try to deny it. I don't get how you manage to do half the things.' Sool is not letting this go

'I'm not sure I'm that good, but I'll take that as a compliment.' Jimin snorts

'Was he always like this?' Sool raises his eyebrow as he asks me, motioning at Jimin

'No. He used to be worse.' I chuckle. 'He got a lot better. If you told him this 3 years ago, he would be confused and call you crazy or something.'

'Yeah, just out me like that. I love you, too.' Jimin says in a sarcastic manner, throwing his helmet at me

'You two look like an old married couple with the bickering.' Imanu laughs

'We have been together for a while now, so you're kind of right, I suppose. Minus the old part.' Jimin jokes

'How often do you fight?'

That question was a bit intrusive, but it was even harder to answer.

Jimin and I looked at each other, trying to figure out the answer to that, only to realize that we never really fought. Only once when Jea first came into our gym. Other than that, not a single thing.

'We... don't?' I answer, sounding it out like a question

'Ehh, I'm not surprised.' Imanu chuckles, waving her hand. 'What about you guys? Anyone in a relationship or anything?'

'I don't have enough time for myself, let alone for anyone else.' Wonhu chuckles

'Same.' Sool sighs

'I've got a wife and a baby at home.' Hinhyuk dropped a bomb. No one knew that

'Hold on. You've got a kid?' Imanu almost screamed at him

'Yep. She is not even 1. She is the most adorable thing I've ever seen.' I've never seen Hinhyuk smile like this. His smile was blinding, and his eyes were basically glimmering with happiness

'Do you miss her a lot?' Jimin asks him with a small smile, trying to be considerate and hiding his obvious shock

'Like hell. I already missed a lot of it with all the tournaments and training. I might miss her first steps, too. I already missed out on her first words. That's a big part of why I'm retiring. I can't leave my wife and my kid anymore. I've done that for way too long. They are more important to me than this is.' He explains, almost to himself

'I think I would do the same if I were you. I wouldn't wanna miss those things either.' Jimin smiled at him with understanding

I figured I'd make the situation a bit more relaxed as everyone was still in a bit of a shock from the revelation and such, so I joked a little. 'You better. I'm not changing the diapers on my own.'

Jimin laughed heartily, making everyone else join in as well.
'Damn. I thought I'd be getting out of that.' He jokes back

'Not a chance. We are taking turns.' I threaten jokingly

'I guess I can agree to that.' He sighs dramatically, teasing me a little

We ended up joking a little bit more about that with everyone, just having some fun. It was one of those days where everyone was too tired for anything, so we couldn't even get up and leave. But it's always nice to bond. They are nice people.