by the sidelines • haechan

five

I sat in the dojang alone, performing some light stretches with much scepticism. Both the timetable and the receptionist stated there was another class today, but it has been 20 minutes since I've got here and there was no one in sight. Did I misread the time?

At that moment, the door chimed open as I turned towards the entrance, hoping for another being to entertain me. Unfortunately, it wasn't that welcoming.

I smiled with an attempt to be polite, but he brushed past me without batting an eyelid.

"Don't think you have it easy just because you have an injury," he stated nonchalantly, "Coach Lee would never go easy on anyone."

I scoffed, "Do I look like a pushover to you?"

He scanned me up and down in pure scrutiny, muttering, "Especially without a uniform."

I wanted to fight back, but he caught me right on the tongue. I purposely left all my Taekwondo stuff back home, certain that I wouldn't be touching it again. Who knew I'd be back two weeks later.

Before I could even think of a good enough comeback, more students started piling in. Gosh, the class hadn't even started and he already ticked me off.

"Class, stand up!" A loud voice yelled as Coach Lee made his grand entrance into the gymnasium. "Charyeot! Kyeongnet."

"Alright, Yoojin has officially joined us today, so please take care of her well." Coach Lee gestured towards me as I reacted to my name with a bow. "Shin Youn, can I assign you to help her out for today?"

I looked towards the direction of his words, which landed upon a rather tall girl standing at the back of the class. She glanced at me quickly, replying, "Sure."

"Good, now let's do 10 rounds for warm-up. Everyone line up by the wall."

The class move hastily to the side as I followed in their tracks, placing myself at the back with much nervousness. Shin Youn, if I heard correctly, positioned herself beside me.

"Don't worry, it's easier than it looks," she commented bluntly. I could feel the sarcasm in her words, but I decided to take it lightly.

The run started slowly with Coach Lee leading, picking up the pace as we turned the first corner. I rushed to close the gap that kept forming in front of me, my ankle slowly growing numb.

"By the way, how old are you?" She casually asked, her breathing still stable. Her sudden question stumped me for a second, but I managed to huff out an answer.

"20."

"So you're younger." A small smile formed on her face before she turned to me. "Call me Youn, but remember to add the honorifics."

Her eyes returned to the front right away, while mine narrowed on her. Just when I thought she's being nice, is everyone like that around here?

A being zoomed past us with ease before I could think about it more, glancing at me as he passed. Youn seemed to notice my scornful look.

"Don't mind him, he likes to show off." Her short answer was filled with spite too as she scowled at the figure who had already made his way to the front. I would answer her, but my low stamina had already caught up with me.

The run continued in silence as we circled the mats, my footsteps gradually getting heavier. What made it more bearable, at least, was that Youn was matching her pace with mine despite us lagging behind.

We finally finished off the last round, with me heaving myself against the wall. I looked around with deep breaths, shocked that close to none of the other students looked as tired as I was. I almost felt embarrassed at myself.

"You're not even trying." A voice beside me made it worse, and I didn't even need to turn to know whose one it was.

"Yah, you know-" He walked away before I could even finish my sentence. At this point, I rather he ignored me.

"Okay, we're going to do some techniques now," Coach Lee announced as I shifted my gaze onto him, disregarding the event that just happened.

"We'll start with a basic check-turning combi." He looked around the class for a while, his eyes landing onto someone. "Lee Donghyuck, can I get you to demonstrate?"

I looked over to the being who was striding to the front, only to be met with utter disbelief. Ah, so that was his name?

Our eyes met for a split second, a disdainful look plastered on his face as he got into a ready position. A soft scoff escaped from my mouth.

"For this kick, your attacking leg should be at the front," Coach Lee started explaining right away as his haughty student followed his instructions obediently.

"With that leg, strike with your ball of feet then immediately turn in on the head." He held the targets in position and signalled for Donghyuck to attack.

Pak pak!

The sound of the impact resonated around the hall as he recovered perfectly. My eyes widened in august. So he wasn't all talk at all, but that didn't give him a reason to act like that.

"We'll do 10 sets of each leg, understood?"

"Yes, coach!"

Well, this is new, I thought to myself, eyeing the targets that Youn was holding firmly. I have never tried combinations other than the ones I was proficient at, so I wasn't sure how to go about it.

I sucked in a deep breath and bounced on the spot. Here goes nothing.

I shot my leg out at the first target, before bringing it up and sweeping down the second. A sharp pain shot up my ankle as I landed, the familiar texture of the target still lingering on my foot.

Wait, this isn't so bad.

I continued with the new few kicks, progressively getting used to the motion as I picked up speed with each swing. Adrenaline started rushing through me as I switched to my left leg, ignoring the aching pain that once hindered my movements.

"Let's continue with the next technique."

Time seemed to pass by unnoticeably fast as Coach Lee added more techniques with increasing difficulties. Honestly, I was surprised I could even keep up, given how exhausted I was with just the warm-up. My muscle memory seemed to have revived itself too.

"Alright, let's take a 3-minute break before we continue," He announced as everyone took a bow and scattered to the back. I rested my back against the wall, gulping down a mouthful of water while rotating my sore ankle.

"For someone with little experience, you're not bad," Youn complimented as she strolled over, although I don't know if I should call it a compliment. I gave a tired smile in return, but that wasn't the end of our conversation.

She tilted her head in wonder, before leaning in and whispering, "Be honest with me, you're quite experienced, right?"

I paused for a while, but I guess that already gave her my answer. Or maybe not.

"Then again, why would you lie about your ability? There's no need to be humble around here," She laughed, but I couldn't take her seriously. I'm starting to think the people here lack humility because of her.

"Stop sucking up to the newbie, it won't do you any good," a snarky voice chimed behind her as Donghyuck approached us. And him too. Youn rolled her eyes in irritation.

"What I do is none of your business," she dismissed him easily, folding her arms.

"I'm just making sure she doesn't mingle with the wrong crowd." He stepped closer to her, "And by that I mean you."

Her face puffed up with anger as the offender smirked back. I could see where this was going.

"I'll be going then." I took a quick bow, but Youn stopped me before I could take another step.

"Just a word of advice; you should start building up your stamina if you don't want to get picked on." She glared at Donghyuck, before walking away. I left quickly after in case he said anything to me too.

Geez, I don't like the atmosphere here one bit, but why does it feel so familiar?