The weather in Odivelas, in fact in the whole of Portugal, was beautiful on this late January day. The sun shone brightly through the few clouds and tried to warm up the urban jungle with its powerful rays. Not that the weather was of any interest to the judo fans who had gathered at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Odivelas for the Portuguese Grand Prix. After all, all attention was currently focused on the finalists in today's men's weight class:
The public's favorite since his junior years, Hwang Hyunjin, and the newcomer in the world-class of judo, Lee Felix.
And Felix, Lee Felix, had the blood rushing loudly in his ears. So loud that it almost completely drowned out the sounds from the packed rows of the audience. Only his pounding heart, which vibrated in every cell of his body, resounded loudly in his ears as he picked himself up from the floor.
"Fuck," he cursed under his breath and brushed his hair back so that he could immediately look at his opponent again.
It was his first international final and he was losing.
"Stay focused," Felix murmured to himself before letting his breath pass his lips in a heavy but controlled manner. He focused on the tensing of his muscles, the shifting of his weight from step to step. The rustling of the fabric of his robe - judogi - and the way it slid over his skin with each of the deliberate movements he made. And the feel of the cold ground against his bare feet and the fixations of his bandages.
His focus was only on that.
Only on that and on Hwang Hyunjin, who was about to attack again.
Felix inhaled - he dodged at lightning speed and began his counter-maneuver. Felix exhaled - his hands reached for the rich blue of his opponent's jacket, but at the same time he felt the other man's hands clawing into his jacket.
Deep, dark eyes flashed aggressively from under the raven-black hair, paired with an expression that was far too confident of victory. Felix's breath caught, the world stopped, time seemed to stand still for a moment, but his thoughts raced.
They snapped back to the evening a few days ago. Back to elegantly styled black hair and silver jewelery that shone under the dim lights of the opening party. Back to that small, seductive smile on his full lips. Back to those same eyes, so dark and intense that he couldn't look away - didn't want to look away.
He hit the floor with a loud thud. It was a bit painful, but nowhere near as painful as the subsequent processing of what had happened: Ippon.
He had lost.
He had actually lost. Eyes wide open, he stared up at the ceiling as all the external factors came crashing down on him again. The cheers of the crowd washed down on him like a flood, but the cheers were not for him. He took a second not to lose himself in his feelings - reflexively biting his lip.
"Here." With long strands of hair hanging in his sweaty face, Hyunjin stood over him, one hand outstretched helpfully. Still, he looked far too cool - far too relaxed - to have just won. Frustrated, Felix clicked his tongue before willingly taking the hand held out to him to be helped to his feet. "Thanks." "No problem," Hyunjin replied with a smile, the euphoria now written all over his face. And in all fairness and sportsmanship, they bowed first to each other, then to the audience.
"The Winner is Hwang Hyunjin!", the winner's announcement rang loudly through the speakers not a second later. But before Hyunjin was surrounded, he gave Felix a friendly pat on the shoulder as he walked past him.
"I'm already looking forward to our next match. Seeing you in daylight is even better."
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like drowning | hyunlix
Fanfiction[ENG] As soon as Felix entered the room he was like magnetically drawn to Hyunjin. His eyes had spotted him in the crowd in an instant. And when their eyes met, he realized that this was how they both felt. It wasn't love at first sight. It was fa...
