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"I mean, it's not like we're the ones fighting in the finals anymore," grumbled the y/h/c-haired girl, tossing her towel over her shoulder as she trudged alongside Yoon and Lee. Her face was still red from the grueling training session, and the sweat dripping down her forehead glistened under the fluorescent lights of the gym.
"I just don't see why Sensei Kim would lose her mind because we did one TikTok dance. Like, relax. It's not like we're secretly training to overthrow her authority with our elite choreography." Yoon snorted, trying to stifle his laughter, but Lee didn't bother hiding his amusement.
"That's rich coming from you," Lee said, smirking. "You were the one who suggested it. I mean, 'Kobra Kai K-pop'—seriously? That's like KKK but worse. Did you seriously think we were going to be the next BTS?!"
"Okay, first of all, it's called marketing. We're representing Korea, and most of our supporters are Korea-boos." y/n rolled her eyes. "Also, don't pretend you weren't all-in until she walked in and caught Park mid-twerk. She yelled so loud my ancestors probably felt it."
"I knew I should've stuck to doing the shoulder roll," Yoon muttered. "At least that's subtle."
Park, lagging behind them with his water bottle, grumbled, "You know what? Maybe she was just jealous of my moves. I was killing it until she showed up."
"Jealous?" Yoon shot him an incredulous look. "Dude, she stared at you like you'd personally insulted her entire bloodline. I've never seen anyone look so offended by a twerk in my life."
"Yeah, and the only thing you were killing was my brain-cells with your newfound brainrot-ism." y/n added, unamused.
"Kim Da-Eun versus Sun-woo's rear end, featuring y/n/n's nonexistent braincells..." Lee joked, snickering. "We all got cooked today."
"On the contrary, I think we all ate." Park disagreed.
The group dissolved into laughter, their collective exhaustion making every joke ten times funnier. They grabbed their gear and began making their way toward the breakfast lounge. The allure of food was far too tempting to waste time showering or heading to their rooms.
But Yoon wasn't laughing as much as the rest. His mind had been elsewhere all morning, and as they walked, he finally voiced his concern.
"Hey," he said, nudging y/n lightly. "Did you notice Tory wasn't at training today?"
The girl hesitated, her expression briefly betraying her concern before she shrugged it off. "Yeah, I noticed. She's probably just... I don't know, taking some time off or something."
Yoon frowned. "And you're okay with that?"
Y/n sighed, pretending to focus on adjusting the strap of her bag. "It's not like I'm her keeper, Yoonie. She can do whatever she wants."
"That's not the point, and you know it," The boy said, his tone firmer now. "She's our friend, y/n. I get that you're upset, but you can't stay mad at her forever."
"Who said I'm mad?" y/n countered defensively, though her tone lacked conviction. "I just... Look, it's complicated, alright? She's--"
"Alright," a new voice interrupted, cutting through their conversation with casual authority.
Kwon strolled up beside them, looking annoyingly fresh despite having endured the same grueling training session as the rest of them. As the male captain for the finals, he had done twice the workload, yet here he was, looking like he'd just stepped out of a men's fitness magazine.
"We didn't even speak of the devil yet," Yoon muttered.
"Relax," Kwon said smoothly, draping an arm across both y/n's and Yoon's shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world. He leaned into them slightly, a teasing smirk playing on his lips. "You're all worked up over nothing. Tory's fine."
Yoon raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "How do you know?"
Kwon shrugged nonchalantly. "She's probably got other things to do. You know how she is. Always brooding or plotting or whatever. She'll show up when she's ready."
His casual tone didn't do much to ease Yoon's worry, but y/n couldn't help but snort at his delivery. "Brooding or plotting? What is she, a supervillain?"
"Depends on the day," Kwon replied, grinning. "But seriously, don't stress about it. She's tougher than all of you combined. If anything, she's probably fine-tuning her mastermind plan to take over the world. Or the finals. Do the right thing for once, perhaps."
Yoon sighed, clearly unsatisfied with the explanation but unwilling to push further. "I still think someone should check on her."
"Knock yourself out," Kwon shrugged, removing his arm and stepping ahead of them. "But if you're heading to the breakfast lounge, save me a seat. I'm starving."
He glanced back over his shoulder, his smirk widening. "And try not to stress so much. It's not a good look for either of you."
With that, Kwon sauntered off, leaving Yoon and y/n to exchange exasperated looks.
"Why does he always sound like he knows something we don't?" Yoon muttered.
"Because he probably does," the girl replied, shaking her head.
Despite her earlier indifference, Kwon's confidence left her uneasy. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to his words than he let on. He'd been acting weirdly jolly all morning. And he's a certified grump, so something was definitely not right...
As they entered the breakfast lounge, Park caught up to them, still grumbling about his dancing skills going unappreciated. y/n laughed, but her mind lingered on her boyfriend's cryptic reassurance.
And somewhere, in the back of her mind, she wondered if he was right.
