Chapter Text
You know it's for the best when you moved out from Chungnam. They say all the dreams you want can be achieved in Seoul. But you didn't want to come to Seoul because you want to achieve your dreams, you wanted an escape– escape from all the troubles you've caused back in your hometown, and the trauma it resulted you.
You spent half of the winter break persuading your father to let you move out somewhere far, not wanting him to bear the shame you brought to your own family. Your father angrily declined that idea, stating you still can't live by yourself given the fact that you're going to enter high school soon, you argued that no school in Chungnam won't accept you anyway regarding of how bad your school records were back in middle school.
Speaking of middle school, that shit was the worst thing you've ever experienced in your life. Despite the fact that you were a kick-boxing silver medalist in a local school competition, girls in your class bullied you saying a girl shouldn't invest in such violent sport. So you showed them what a real violence is by bashing one of the girl's head on her desk because you were so fed up of their bullying since 7th grade– but let's not talk about that, shall we?
Anyway, it took some real persuading effort for your father to let you move to Seoul.. under one condition. He didn't allow you to board a dorm, nor rent an apartment. That shit's too expensive, plus you need an allowance too. So he called a relative that lives in Seoul you didn't even knew you had.
"The hell? I have an aunt from Seoul that I didn't knew about? How come I didn't know? Does my brothers know about them? Dad how can you hide this from me!" You whined as you flail your arms around, staring at an at least 2 decades old family picture from your dad's side. He looked at you weirdly stating how loud you were being.
"Can you stop being overdramatic for once and help me pack your stuff? you're so loud you can startle the whole damn neighborhood." He sighed, "Of course you knew about them. We always visited them when you were five, you were even close to their son." He pointed out.
"How come I don't remember, then? Is this the result of you hitting my head all the time?" You sighed, standing up from your seat to help your father.
Your dad reached for his back-scratcher from the coffee table, threatening to throw it at you, "You- are you saying I'm abusing you now? Instead of complaining there why don't you just call a cab, you rascal."
You gave your father a pout before calling an uber. You're definitely going to miss this neighborhood, and of course your dad. Maybe your two older brothers too, even though they're a bit mean to you sometimes.
"Just remember, okay? Behave yourself in your auntie's house. It's not that they're strict when it comes to shit, but you need to be respectful, still. And stop fighting in school, can you? Don't give them headaches because of your arrogant ass. Don't repeat what you did in middle school. And remember what I told you? No...?" Your dad raised an eyebrow at you, waiting for you to fill out the blank.
"No joining any MMA competition. Got it." You throw him a lazy thumbs up.
He hums in satisfaction. It's not that he doesn't support your passion when it comes to mixed martial arts. In fact, he's overly proud for you. Hell, he was even the one who taught you shits like taekwondo, karate, judo, boxing, and kick-boxing. Sick right? Your dad used to be an MMA fighter back in his prime. He even told you that he was used to be called "Chungnam's mighty" back then, which you still cringe to this day.
It didn't take too long for the uber to arrive, and it didn't take you too long to tear up too, which your father quickly noticed. He embraced you into a warm hug, as you cry to his shoulder, "I'm gonna miss you a fucking ton." You choked a sob.
He sighed as he pat your head, "Give me a call from time to time, hm? Dad's always here for you. You need someone to listen on what happened to your day? Give me a call. You need a shoulder to cry to? Give me a call, then I might give you a hug, even if it's only from the screen." Your father can't help but also tear up. But he knows he have to let go of you. He knows that it's not healthy for you to say here anymore ever since the crazy shit you did, a month before middle school ended, at the kick-boxing finals. It hurts to let go of his only princess– even though you don't really act like one.
You pull out from the hug, sniffing the tears away. Wiping your snotty nose, "I'm sorry for being such a bad daughter, dad. But I promise you that I will change, okay? I won't get into fights anymore, I promise you that." You hold on his shoulders, looking at him with teared eyes.
"You little shit, stop crying, okay? you're making me tear up too." He sniffed, wiping away his tears. "Go on, the cab is waiting. Call me when you get there, alright?" He tapped on your back, signaling you towards the cab.
When you got inside the car, you can't help but burst in to tears as you watch your dad stood in front of your gate, swinging his arms goodbye. Your heart aches at the thought of leaving him, but you know you have to. You don't want to humiliate him anymore because of the accident that you've caused. You don't want those people to look down on your father anymore, by giving him those judgemental eyes, gossiping about how bad of a father he is for raising his only daughter to become a murderer...... which is not true, don't worry! Crazy rumors, huh?
The travel distance between Chungnam and Seoul isn't that far away than you thought it would be. Without even realizing, the car stopped at the given location. When you stepped out, carrying all the heavy bags, you examined the house. Now that you've been staring for too long, you do remember visiting here when you were little. The house isn't big, but it isn't that small either. You knocked on the metal gate gently, not wanting to disturb anyone.
Instead of being greeted by your auntie, or your cousin, the gate was opened by a red-haired dude in a black and red windbreaker, he's wearing a basketball shorts too. Basketball shorts? In fucking winter?
"Oh hey! You must be Gotak's cousin, come on in! We've been waiting for you." The dude said, snatching your bags away from you, helping you carry your bags.
You look confused, "Gotak...?" Who the fuck is Gotak?
"Oh.. I mean Hyuntak." He stared at you. Not long after, he yelled, "Gotak, your cousin's here! help me with her bags, damnit."
Gotak, or Hyuntak or whatever rushed from inside to greet you, "Hi, I'm your cousin." He reached for his hand for a handshake.
You accepted the handshake, introducing yourself to them after. "So! Where's auntie?" You tried to shake off the awkwardness by looking around, both hands on your hips.
"Oh, she went to the farmer's market. She said she's going to cook for us." Hyuntak said, while he and his friend carried all your bags inside.
They even helped you unpack your stuff. You even had your own room, Hyuntak said that this room is where you used to sleep back then when your family used to visit them. The room was still pretty much decorated by kid's stuff. Obvious that it hasn't been touched ever since the last time you visited them, probably when you were six years old or so.
After unpacking, the three of you went to the living room to rest. You also found out that Hyuntak's friend's name is Humin, but he's often called Baku. What the heck are with these nicknames, anyway? You shake those thoughts away.
"So what school do you guys go to? Dad said I should enroll on wherever Hyuntak is in." You immediately reached for the glass of water Hyuntak placed on the coffee table not long ago.
Humin hums, "Eunjang. We've been there since middle school. And lucky for you, it's co-ed." You nod your head, relieved that you already gained two friends.
You were contemplating on whether to ask this question to them, but you still did. "There's no bullies there, right..?" You trailed, careful to ask the question.
Hyuntak and Humin looked and you, then at eachother, then Hyuntak looked back at you again, he sighed, "Don't worry about the bullies, alright? Humin basically keeps the peace in school, he's pretty popular y'know." He pointed out.
Humin stiffled a laugh, "Hey, you're popular too, you dimwit. You do basketball, and you used to do taekwondo too! Woah, amazing, really." He clapped his hands, smiling proudly at Hyuntak.
You raised your eyebrows on the last sentence. You didn't know Hyuntak does MMA too. You look at Hyuntak, surprised, "You do taekwondo too? Cool! I do too." You smiled, kind of happy to know your cousin shares the same interest with you.
Both Hyuntak and Humin looked at you with a surprised look plastered on their faces. "For real, dude? Woah, you're so cool!" Humin raised his hands for a high-five, and you accepted.
"Well yeah.. I used to go to taekwondo competitions back in elementary before I switched to kick-boxing." You explained, "I do judo, karate, and boxing too." You exclaimed, feeling proud of youself. Hoping that you don't sound too arrogant.
Both the boy's mouth just dropped, surprised that you know a lot about MMA. Humin leaned in a bit close to you, he asked, "Who taught you MMA?"
You hum, "My dad used to be a mixed martial artist when he was young, but uh.. an accident happened so he was forced to stop going to competitions. That didn't stop him from pursuing his passion though, he opened a MMA gym not long after. Then, when I was eight he taught me everything he knows about MMA."
Both of the boys look amazed. Then Humin nudged Hyuntak, "Seems like being a mixed martial artist runs in your blood, huh." Hyuntak chuckled as a response.
The day was wrapped up pretty soon, or so you thought. Humin went home around 7 pm, after he ate dinner. By 10 pm, you decided to go out, trying to familiarize the place. Of course you didn't forget to call your dad, you told him what happened and how nice and welcoming your aunt and cousin were. You're quite happy and content so far.
You found a convenience store after walking for about 20 minutes. You bought an ice cream and sat on a red plastic chair outside the store. Since it's winter, it's pretty breezy outside. You're glad you wore a jacket– though, you wished you wore something more warmer. You sighed contently licking up your ice cream.
You heard the bell ding from the convenience store door, looking up to the person who just exited. You stopped licking, and looked at him. He looked... good. He's attractive as hell, he holds up a cigarette between his lips, and a lighter on his hands, lighting up the cigarette. His hair is parted in the middle, kind of frizzy if you'd say. He wore a glasses too, a half-framed one. You've been staring at him for too long, he might've noticed you staring since he looked at you back, "The fuck you starin' at, bitch? What, wanna fight?" He sneered.
You furrowed your brows together. Okay nevermind, you were about to consider him as your first ever crush, but he's mean, so you rolled your eyes, "Arrogant bitch." You finally looked away, whispering to yourself.
You stood up, about to leave, that's when you felt a hand grabbing a fistful of your hair, "What did you say, bitch? me? arrogant? watch who you're picking up a fight with." You can feel his breathing on your ear, then he shoved you away.
You stumbled, still trying to regain your balance. You scoffed, "I wasn't even picking a fight? the fuck are you on?" You said as you're fixing your hair.
He glared at you, "Little bitch like you needs to be taught a lesson, dontcha think so?" He grabbed your hair again, dragging you somewhere more secluded.
You winced as you grab his hand from the back of your head, trying to remove his grip from your hair, "Fucking let me go!" You tried tugging his hand away, but he's too strong.
He rolled his eyes, slapping you in the cheek, "Stop being a bitch, would ya?" He snickered, smiling wickedly. What a weirdo, you thought.
Finally, he let you go. You tried giving yourself a distance from him, but no luck, he's too fast. he grabbed your shoulders, then he punched your stomach. You coughed blood. Fuck, you swore under your breath. You promised your dad not to get into fights again, but if you fought back to this fucker it will be considered as self-defense and not a fight, right?
And that's when you decided. You tried to give yourself a little distance from him again. You just need three seconds. Three seconds to take him down. One for positioning yourself into tackle, one for grabbing, and the last one to turn over and throw him down. But since your physique had changed, it would be quite hard to do this, since it's obvious that you don't have the same weight class as this man.
That didn't stop you though, you quickly positioned yourself to a tackle, grabbed him fast enough he didn't even realized what was going on. Then you turn over, and took him down. Then boom, he's on the ground.
You sighed at the man on the ground, "This is why you shouldn't underestimate women, fucker." Both hands on your hips, you were about to leave and that's when you hear him laugh. When you turned around, he's already standing up, he reached for his forehead, realizing he gained a nasty bruise, he smirked, "Judo, huh? Pretty impressive." He shook his head.
You rolled your eyes, this time you changed your stance. Boxing. But before you can even attack, he raised his hands. He's surrendering?
"Calm down, princess. I getcha now okay? If we don't stop you might break my glasses, and that's going to be a big problem." He snickered a laugh. "Alright you win, I gotta get going now." He tapped on your shoulders, and just like that he left.
You relaxed your tense shoulders as you sigh, "Does all the boys here in Seoul really acts like that? What a fucking moron. Picking up a random fight with a girl, he's a real coward for that."
You decided to go back since it's getting pretty late, you didn't want to worry your aunt either. Your cheek is red from the guy's slapping earlier, but it doesn't sting so you're fine. You just hope your aunt won't question you for that.
When you got on your bed, you stared at the ceiling, sighing, hoping for a change. You fixed your position to the side, hugging a pillow and finally sleeping the night away, not knowing the crazy journey you're about to have.