home, jaemin

chaper thirty-two

"does your dad really perfect all of your moves?" jiyoung asked jisung, walking out of the elevator behind renjun, nayeon, and donghyuck.

the master levels were pretty empty besides two or so classrooms. each master room only contained one master and two or three students to ensure all students got enough attention to perfect their abilities.

the fire bending floor only used two of those rooms, sometimes four for special occasions where the four or five students of the floor would take individual tests or do individual performances.

it was quiet as they walked, their shoes not even making a sound against the hard pavement.

jisung shrugged, "kinda. but i'm thankful for both of my parents. they hover over me like hawks circling pray," he laughed, "but i'm glad they care about me enough to try and make me meet my highest potential."

"i see what you mean," jiyoung nodded, "i wish i could be a fire bender master. and you're not even at you're most mature state yet. imagine grown-up jisung wiping someone's ass in a fire contest."

jisung laughed, appreciating the girl's enthusiasm. although he was happy with how high he was already ranking and being in a master class, it was still nice to hear words of encouragement from people other than his parents.

"thanks. i hope i'll actually get to use it in a fight but my parents aren't very big on the idea of me using it for anything but self-defense or something."

"what about that one sport? pro-bending? that's really cool. you could do that and go against other benders so it's an even match."

"even? not many other masters here. there are lots above average but not many actual masters. but i have always wondered if my parents would let me do pre-bending for fun. i'm just not sure they'd be too fond over the idea of me getting pulled with four different elements."

the two younger friends entered the room after the three older friends, the girls drifting to the back of the class as renjun, donghyuck, and jisung went to the front to begin warmups.

nayeon filled jiyoung in on a few other things about the academy and everything while watching the boys carefully as they practiced different tricks and flips.

at one point donghyuck had been practicing a mid-air front flip while renjun and jisung were stretching but it seemed as if he was having trouble. after a few attempts, he fell flat on the floor, not being able to drop his legs fast enough while also managing to blow fire from his feet.

jiyoung stifled a laugh, almost inaudible but still getting noticed by the boy complaining on the ground.

"what?" donghyuck quipped as he stood back on his feet, "think you could do better?"

jiyoung shrugged as she stood up, "not really the flipping type but i was quite flexible as a child."

donghyuck moved away to create a space for jiyoung, "please, go ahead and try."

an evil smile found its way to his lips as he watched her take place, cracking a few bones here and there. he had no expectations of her actually managing to do what he had asked but that didn't stop him from preparing many, many comments.

jiyoung stretched out her shoulders one last time as the other four friends watched closely, expecting her to fall on her butt just like donghyuck had.

a minty breath of air was pushed out of her lips as she concentrated on her movements. and just like that, she attempted it.

she expected herself to make it and tried her very best. concentrating on the way her body would have to flow in order to do the action correctly.

the world spun as her arms flew out to her sides to keep her body level in the air, knees pulled tight to her chest.

finally, she registered where she was in mid-air and stuck out her legs straight forward, seconds later managing to land balanced on both feet.

"what the hell?" donghyuck gawked.

jiyoung smirked, finding pride within herself for successfully showing up lee donghyuck.

"impressive," a voice said from the doorway.