IM LATE

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May came by and Seohyun had been training harder than ever for the match in June. She'd constantly been hinting about it to Yuri, and the girl even agreed to work with Seohyun more often because the match was definitely one of the most important fights for Seohyun's career. Damn right, it was, and Seohyun was gonna need all the help she could get.

On one particular day, May 19th to be exact, JungKook came into the gym practically jumping with joy. "Hey, what's up with you? Why are you so happy?" Seohyun asked.

"Oh, because I get to see you," JungKook said, kissing her head. She chuckled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his lips.

"You're sweet, but really, why?" She asked again.

"Because, I just got entered as a challenger in the boxing match in June, the one you were talking about," he told her. Seohyun beamed and kissed him again, throwing her arms around his neck to hug him, and he hugged her back.

"That's fantastic, baby!" She said cheerfully.

"Oh great, then you better be training hard too, JungKook," Yuri stated out of nowhere. JungKook looked to her and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll do that, Noona," he answered, going off to the dressing rooms to change. Seohyun felt her arm being yanked back and she was met with Yuri's pissed expression.

"What?"

"Look, I know he's your boyfriend and everything but you've gone soft," she muttered harshly. Seohyun hardened her gaze and glared knives back at Yuri.

"What are you talking about?" Seohyun hissed back.

"You know exactly what I mean, Seo. The way you acted so excited when he said he was going to be a challenger, are you serious?" Yuri scorned. If Seohyun had any idea why that was a bad thing, she may have defended her position and argued back, but at the moment she was lost. Yuri widened her eyes and put her hands on her hips in a sassy pose that was starting to get on Seohyun's nerves. "Oh, don't tell me you're actually happy for him! Seohyun, if he's a challenger, you might get paired with him!"

Once again, she was lost. "And?"

"For the love of god, Seo. Okay, so pretend he's your challenger, right? You can't just go soft on him. He's another challenger and you have to fight him like he's YongHwa and this is your only chance to put that loser in the hospital. You can't tell anyone that you're dating JungKook, got it? Dating in the media is frowned upon and you might actually lose your career as a boxer," Yuri explained. Seohyun's heart stopped and she blinked at Yuri. "Yeah, now you see? It's not such a great idea, is it?"

"Eonni, that sounds like a total lie to me," Seohyun seared, though there was hope in her tone because she hoped it was a lie and that she and JungKook would be fine and please don't tell me that I'll stop boxing if I don't beat the out of my boyfriend. Yuri put on the most fake smile she could possibly have and shrugged, like Seohyun would interpret it as an attempt to take off the urgency of the situation when really, she made it so much worse.

"I don't know, Seohyun, I'll watch you take that risk. And by the way, don't tell JungKook. It would break his little heart, now wouldn't it?" Yuri told her, her tone obviously dumbified by the end with an irritating-as- pout on her lips.

"You know, he's not that fragile-"

"He's not?" Yuri cut her off with a final and snappy tone like she had just cut Seohyun's sentence in half with a pair of scissors, and the words stabbed her like it, too. Seohyun bit her lip, unable to disagree. No, he's not, but I can't tell him that I have to beat him up for my career, she thought. But she didn't say it. "I'm sorry, Seo, but right now, you're starting to look like the weak one."

It was Yuri's job to piss her off, Seohyun was well-aware, and it was also her job to make sure Seohyun could control herself and lit the match of her own fury safely so she wouldn't explode. JungKook didn't have someone like that, which put Seohyun at a distinct advantage.

Was it really so wrong that she didn't want the advantage?

For the rest of the day, JungKook had to block more than ever. Occasionally, he'd take a hit too hard and ease the pain with a breathy laugh, saying something along the lines of, "Man, someone's in a bad mood, huh?" But Seohyun knew she was hurting him, weakening him, ruining his body for the fight, because she could see the dark bruises forming on the outsides of his arms and on his ribs and she could see the smile on his lips faltering whenever he got hit. All she wanted to do was say sorry and stop fighting him because the idea of the match coming up close didn't seem so fun anymore.

Now she didn't get a choice in the matter, as time didn't stop for anything and Seohyun wasn't allowed to back out of her fight. That would mean the downfall of her career as well.

As days crawled on, Seohyun grew more and more nervous, and while JungKook would constantly try to cheer her up, it never really helped. Really, how could he help her when JungKook's affection was the exact reason why she was so worried? Every day until the fight, Seohyun would have to fight JungKook and take him down, and if that didn't put a strain on their relationship. JungKook was preoccupied with the idea that he'd get to fight on TV, at least, and he still had no idea why this was bad.

Come the day of the match, June 5th, the challenger-boxer list was put out on the front table of the same terrible boxing ring