Silver (Girls of the Wild's fanfic)

13: Friend

       Eunseung sighed, walking down the block to the gym. Her day was a whirlwind of events; at least, more than she was used to. She'd have to explain to Soojin later on, or she'd never hear the end of it.

       Kicking the doors open, she dug around for her wraps and tossed her bag to a corner. She hurriedly wrapped her left wrist and hand, heading straight for the punching bag, somewhat ignoring her cousin and Jaegu as they watched her enter.

       "Hey," Moonyoung greeted, slight worry in her eyes.

       Eunseung grunted in reply. She started wrapping her right hand.

       Jaegu loosened from his fighting stance, turning to Eunseung hesitantly. "Are you okay...?"

      She grunted again, taking position, eyes fixated on the bag.

       "She said she's fine," Moonyoung declared, swinging a lazy gloved fist at his head. "Now let's get back to where we were..."

       Eunseung breathed out slowly, glaring at the bag. She moved forward quickly, arm straightening split second after it hit. It swayed back violently, before getting repeatedly hit by her well-aimed fists.

       BAK. BAK. BAK. BAK. BAK. BAK
BAK...

      Eunseung didn't let up, instead gritting her teeth further, weaving and ducking and kicking.

       Those fucking assholes!!! They think they can control me?! Who gives them the right to say how I do things?! I was only ever defending myself, bastard!!!

       Eunseung panted harshly, eyes lit up with angry fire. She relished the feeling of fabric on her skin, the ever so slight tremble that went through her body as she made contact with the bag, the sound of chain creaking and her fists and legs landing on target, the taste of sweat as it built up on her skin, the lightheadedness she felt with the adrenaline pumped through her body....

       Someone laid a hand on her shoulder, jolting Eunseung out of her blissful hysteria.

       "Yo," Moonyoung's voice cut into her thoughts like a knife through butter, and Eunseung shuddered, coming to. "Are you sure you're okay?"

       The vivid high faded from Eunseung's eyes.

       Eunseung looked at her cousin, and past her to the wary looking Jaegu. "Yeah," she lied, looking straight at Moonyoung. "I'm fine. I just needed to relieve some stress, is all."

       Moonyoung looked at her doubtfully, but it was replaced with a grin so quick Eunseung wondered if she had just imagined it. If she had hoped it. "Whelp, if you're good enough to help me train Jaegu until the shrimp gets here, it'd be welcome!"

       Eunseung let out a breath, feeling it go back to normal. Then she smiled. "Sure. But about what? As far as I can see, all he needs to do is keep practicing the basics before he can get all fancy."

       "Well..." She smirked. "You can help me show him what 'fancy' means..."

~|•|~

       Eunseung panted, leaning back on her arms, legs sprawled out on the ring. "What's the score, Jaegu?"

       "Five-five," he gaped, still somewhat disbelieving of what he just saw. "Moonyoung just got the point."

       "And was everything you saw the boxing style?"

       "No..." Jaegu shook his head. "I noticed that there were some Taekwando kicks you added, and other martial arts as well."

       "Good," Eunseung nodded, while DalDal (who had come the first round Eunseung won) beamed. "I noticed that many fighters in your group were Taekwando fighters. Not that it's that surprising, of course, but its a good thing DalDal is here. You'll need to learn how to defend kicks especially."

       Moonyoung nodded, breath almost back to normal. Her head in Eunseung's lap, she continued. "Next time we'll show you the specifics. I just wanted to show you how the fights would probably be in the preliminaries if you are using boxing as your base."

       Jaegu nodded, looking slightly embarrassed. "I still can't say how much I appreciate this, guys... You too, Eunseung Na. I know we're from rival schools and all, but you still help without a second-"

       "Stop," Eunseung interrupted, feeling embarrassed herself. "You need to stop feeling like you owe us. We're your friends, right? Friends help out friends."

       "You consider me a friend?" Jaegu asked, surprised.

        Eunseung cocked her head. "If it isn't mutual then this is really awkward."

       Jaegu laughed awkwardly. "No, no. I think with all the times you've helped me without asking for something in return...  its safe to say I consider you a friend."

       Eunseung smiled, Moonyoung poking her in the cheek.

       "Oi," Moonyoung interrupted, raising her eyebrow. "Don't be getting all soft on me now. Its embarrassing!"

       "Who says I'm getting soft?" Eunseung snorted, clouting her cousin over the ear. "C'mon. I wanna break this tie."