Against All Odds (Chaeryeong x Male Reader)

Submission

In this chapter, with the exception of text messages, text denoted in bold will indicate the character speaking in *your* first/second language; if you are monolingual you can think of it as the tone or different/specific dialect you use to speak with your parents.

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Thump. Thump. Thump.

You feel your eyes start to glaze over from watching the punching bag in front of you swing to and fro as you jab it absentmindedly. Today was the day you would usually do striking and footwork drills, but your mind just wasn't all there at the moment. In an attempt to break out of your sluggish stupor, you spring into a spinning wheel kick, only to find yourself knocked down right on your butt. It turns out you had attacked when the bag was way too close, causing you to get swept off balance by the bag's backwards swing.

"So stupid," you laugh to yourself.

"Hey Y/N! I had a feeling you'd be here!"

In walks Ryujin, followed by Yeji, who extends a hand to help you to your feet. 

"Yeah, I felt like taking my mind off of things," you respond. "How about you guys? What brings you all here?" 

"Honestly, the same reason as you," says Ryujin, "with finals coming up and all."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Math is stressing me out so much," says Yeji. "No matter how much I study, I feel like I'm still terribly behind. Aren't you worried about our math final, Y/N?"

"Not really," you ponder. "I feel like I've got everything down."

"Look at you; you've come so far since that first quiz," Yeji pouts. "I envy you; everything comes so easily to you... you and Ryujin both," she adds, eliciting a laugh from Ryujin.  

"Bah, all that means nothing when you don't get along with teachers," you wave your hand dismissively.

"That's not true." Yeji giggles. Meanwhile, you catch Ryujin stifling a giggle of her own. "You're not still mad at Mr. Li for what happened that Wednesday, right?"

"Nah, I'm not mad. If I was in his place I'd probably call myself out."

"Now that you mention that, why didn't you invite me to sushi?" Ryujin chimes in. "I drove myself insane trying to finish that Bio worksheet."

"You made it very clear that you did not want to be bothered any more when I left my bag with you." 

"Well, I'm glad you got a proper scolding for not inviting me anyway."

You roll your eyes in exasperation. "All right, I'm sick of this school talk. Let's get some work done."

The next hour or so was spent going through your usual workouts, and by the end of it, you all decide to spar each other just for the heck of it. Seeing as none of you have as much time to train as you used to, you thought it would be fun to see how rusty you all have gotten. Or in Ryujin's case, almost not at all.

"Ahhh, 너무해! (This is too much)" Yeji whines, gasping for air after her umpteenth defeat. "Y/N, can you believe this girl was training in the hotel gym while we were at retreat?" 

You pause your warmup and turn back to the two girls on the mat. "Seriously, Ryujin? During retreat? You really are something else." 

"You're not gonna catch up to me that easily," Ryujin chuckles slyly. "Come out, Y/N, I want to see what you've got."

You oblige, taking Yeji's spot in the octagon and close the gate behind you. You stare into your opponent's eyes across the cage, predicting the possible tactics that would be used against you. Ryujin was somebody who carried a lot of power in her punches, and she knew it. Even so, she would spend a lot of the earlier rounds making reads on her opponents and finding her openings, and once she did, her hands would fly so quickly that you'd get knocked out before you knew what was coming.