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SLAPPED WITH A WEEK-LONG SUSPENSION, Kwon Jae-sung found himself wide awake in his room, practicing at the crack of dawn before he'd head for the weekend training at his dojang. Through the days, he'd be throwing himself into training with a relentless intensity. The hours stretched long as he pounded the heavy bag, his fists aching, body drenched in sweat, but nothing seemed enough to quiet the restlessness gnawing at him.
He didn't fight for y/n.
He fought because he enjoyed the rush, the control, the satisfaction of breaking someone else's confidence, especially those arrogant enough to mess with him. But now, something wasn't adding up. Every kick, every punch was just a failed attempt to beat back the memory of her bruised face and swollen lips, lying on the ground, looking more defeated than he'd ever seen her. The way she'd looked at him after he'd ignored her... it was like she'd wanted to beat the shit out of him, and hug him at the same time.
It was as perplexing as it was infuriating.
It wasn't like she meant anything to him. She was just his tutor, the one person he put up with because he couldn't stand how easily she let people walk over her. Strong? She wasn't. Not in his book. The y/h, y/b/t girl with the y/h/c hair and y/e/c eyes (help- why does this lowkey look like a periodic table in a sentence😭) was something he'd categorize as weak. If anything, she was more of a bother—a reminder of everything soft and fragile he tried to ignore. But the image of her on the ground, struggling to regain her footing while his mind replayed every cold remark he'd made, every time he'd turned his back on her... it lingered.
He wasn't sure if it was because over the past couple of months, a part of him actually learned to care for her feisty ass... or the fact that the one who threw the ball was someone he'd once considered a friend. Sure, it was a long time ago, and they'd grown apart when Kwon quit the school's taekwondo team to focus on his own dojo, a few years back. But Jae-chul and him were never exactly on bad terms. Well, not until Kwon's ex-girlfriend cheated on him with that guy. The worst part is that they were still together, in the same class, all three of them, and the girl never once stopped flirting with the raven.
That disgusted him. Not because he felt guilty for hurting her... He could ignore her, mock her, call her weak all he wanted. But the fact that she was a target of his extremely jealous ex made him a bit uneasy, for he wasn't sure if he could've unintentionally fueled the already raging fire.
The loud thud of his fist meeting the punching bag echoed in the empty room, his breath coming in hard, teeth gritted in frustration. He should not be thinking about any of it. He should just leave her to deal with her own mess. But somehow, he couldn't. Not until he'd see that she was fine once again. And maybe, just maybe if she'd continue tutoring him after everything that'd happened between them, he too could teach her a few self-defence tricks.
