Number One // Kwon // Cobra Kai

001. Perfectionist

2020

Park Daehyung. 

Aera narrowed her eyes at the boy, at the gleaming badge he held on his uniform. The dojang's captain. The most powerful fighter among them.

It was hers. It should've been hers a long time ago. 

Her mother had told her to take it from him, to earn it rather than just giving it to the rightful owner of that badge, her. 

Of course her mother was right. Her mother was always right, had made Aera grow to what she was that day. 

Disciplined; Powerful

Aera struck first, her punch swift and aimed at his stomach. He sidestepped it, giving her a cocky smirk. 

"You really want it that bad?"

Aera was unfazed by his taunt. In response, Aera spun into a roundhouse kick, which he dodged, wobbling on his feet slightly as his smile slipped. 

"That's mine," she growled. He grinned, "oh really? It's in on my Dobok, so it's mine."

She advanced again, with a series of kicks and punches. He blocked them swiftly, using the strategies they'd learned in class. He was almost unbeatable, almost perfect.

 Almost.

She saw an opening, saw his hands drift farther than they should, leaving his chest bare. Aera seized the opening, delivering a sharp front kick to his chest, causing him to stumble. He recovered quickly, but not quickly enough. 

She had already reached onto his uniform and pulled the badge off, leaving his where the badge used to be bare. 

He had just been taken down. His position had been overthrown, and his crown had been stolen. 

She smiled then. It was nothing her mother had described, not winning the sekai taikai of course, but that meant she was the best. She had always known it, her friends had all known it; but this was proof. Now, she was number one.

He bared his teeth, advancing on her, "give that back."

"I earned it." She said coldly. 

"You got lucky," he spat, "that belongs to me."

She glanced at her hand that was clutching the badge, feigning surprise. "Oh, it's in my hands, so it's mine."

She turned to walk away, hearing him running towards her. She dodged the attack gracefully, sweeping under his leg and making him stumble forward. She kicked his back again, this time onto the dirt floor.

She walked over to his sprawled body which was panting and glaring, "oh look, it's still mine!"

She walked away. This time he didn't follow her. He knew she had won. 

No one had ever beat her before. And he would not be the first.

🥋

"Good." Was her sensei's reply. Aera deflated a bit, but still kept her back straight and chin high in her mother's hut. 

"Now that you are number one, you are the leader." Daeun informed her, "so, you will now do whatever you need to do to make your group strong. You will need to be the leader I have trained you to be."

Aera nodded, "sensei, what would you like me to do?" 

It had been years since the word "Mother" had been switched to "Sensei". Sensei Kim didn't show the affection or coddling that most mothers did, nor did she act like she was Aera's mother at all. But there was one thing that all mothers did that could not be helped; teaching their young. And Sensei Kim taught Aera how to be strong, which was more important than love.

Daeun smiled almost felinely, "A dojang can only be so strong if the weak is still holding it back, don't you think?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Do you know who's been causing me a lot of trouble lately?"

Aera shook her head.

"Kwon Jae sung."

Aera's brows furrowed at the name. He was a nuisance, interrupting class with his dumb jokes, thinking he was better than everybody else. He was outright disrespectful to the senseis. Everytime she saw his face, her blood would boil. He was everything she was taught to hate, to despise. And she did. She despised him.

"Ah, so you know what type of a boy he is," Sensei kim said, reading her student's expression.

"He's disrespectful, sensei," Aera said, "disruptive and rude."

Sensei Kim smiled, "that's right. I want you to fix him."

Aera blinked.

"Fix him? How?"

Sensei Kim shrugged, "if you were a true leader, you would know. You must figure him out. He can be a formidable fighter if he could just lose his attitude, I just know it. You can do whatever you must-- talk to him, hit him, beat him, whatever you need. But stick with him. Make sure he doesn't make any more of our senseis quit."

Aera nodded slowly, having no idea how she was going to "fix" such a vile man. But Sensei Kim was her sensei, she made the rules. 

Aera would do whatever it took to fix Kwon Jae Sung.

And that started with understanding what made him so disrespectful in the first place.