Chapter 2
Sorry for such a late update! I had a hard time writing this chapter because of the hapkido scenes. WARNING: there's a small amount of violence due to the hapkido match. Feel free to skip ahead.

“Hey guys I have to get going to class, my accounting class is on the opposite side of campus” said Youngjae.

Jackson nodded “Yeah I’ll come with, my economics class is all the way there too.”

The other boys nodded and bid farewell to the two.

“Where do you think Jaebum-hyung is? He’s usually here the earliest…” BamBam mentioned

Mark shrugged quickly gathering his things for class “No idea, I’m sure he’ll explain later.”

The two maknae’s nodded.

“Hey! Wait up!” they heard from afar.

Yugyeom, BamBam and Mark all turned their heads to see Jaebum in the distance, running towards them with someone unrecognizable in tow.

BamBam tilted his head in confusion “Oh? Who’s that behind hyung?”

Yugyeom squinted his eyes “Looks like… a girl!”

Mark’s eyes widened “A girl? Chincha?”

Jaebum reached the group and smiled. The lady hid behind his tall frame shyly.

“Hey guys, where’s everyone else?” greeted Jaebum.

The two maknaes tried to look behind him to see who he was with, but the mysterious figure kept shielding herself from them.

Mark grinned amusedly at the sight before him “Jackson and Youngjae went to class and Jinyoung being the keener that he is already went to class a long time ago. Who’s… that?” he said, pointing behind him.

Jaebum smiled widely “Ah.”

He turned around, placed his hands on the girl’s shoulders and brought her in front of him.

“OMO!!!” yelled Yugyeom and BamBam simultaneously.

“Y-Y-Yugyeom… i-is that who I think it is…” said BamBam while clutching onto Yugyeom.

Yugyeom nodded his head slowly in disbelief “N-neh… it is…”

Heejin was confused at the sight of the two boys stammering before her. She didn’t know what to do or how to react so she simply smiled and waved.

“A-anyeong,” she said and bowed towards them.

She felt Jaebum place a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. “This is Heejin” he said, motioning towards her. He pointed towards the rest of the group “This is Yugyeom our youngest, BamBam, and Mark.”

While Yugyeom and BamBam were stuck in utter shock, Mark waved at her with a tiny smile.

“H-hyung… how do you know THE Kim Heejin!?” asked Yugyeom

Heejin felt incredibly awkward and embarrassed having them talk about her so highly while she was right in front them; it made her feel uncomfortable. She didn’t think of herself as anyone special or popular for the matter.

Jaebum could sense she felt uncomfortable and wrapped his arm around her shoulders reassuringly.

“I’ve known her for over 4 years now… She’s my friend from Japan” he smiled.

“Chincha!? She’s the special friend!? It was a girl!?” exclaimed BamBam.

Jaebum nodded happily.

BamBam ran his hands through his hair in disbelief.

Mark adjusted the strap of his book bag “Hey we should really get going, class is about to start soon.”

Jaebum turned to Heejin “Was my tour good enough this morning or do you need me to come with you to class?”

She shook her head, “Ani. I’ll be fine oppa.”

“OPPA!?” shouted Yugyeom and BamBam

Jaebum shook his head laughing. “Araso, lets go. Mark, you and Heejin are both in medicine. Do you mind if she tags along with you?”

Mark shrugged “Yeah sure, no problem.”

Heejin bowed shyly “T-thank you…”

Mark smiled. “No problem.”

---

From her short walk with Mark to the medicine department, she learned that he was very down to earth. She was scared that meeting Jaebum’s friends would end up terribly; either she would embarrass herself tremendously or they just wouldn’t like her at all. He was nice enough not to ask too many questions regarding her relationship with Jaebum, but she managed to explain it briefly; how they met, how long they’ve known each other and why she’s here.

Her parents decided to move back to Korea to open up their own law firm. It was something they had planned for a while but were hesitant to act upon it unless Heejin was ready to move back to Korea, especially with her past. Mark liked that Heejin wasn’t like most girls who came across their group of friends. Most girls were too giddy, girly and just too much for his liking. He appreciated how toned down she was and could easily understand why Jaebum became friends with her. As they separated into their respectful classes, Mark promised he would be at her exhibition match.

Heejin’s first set of classes flew by uneventfully. She was forced to awkwardly introduce herself as she was coming in much later on in the term than most of the students. To her dismay, a lot of the students recognized her from her accomplishments in sports, garnering lots of attention she didn’t want.

Heejin was never the popular girl, she was the target of the popular kids. She found it stupid how changing your appearance and getting well-known over a sport could get you so popular. She refused to act like the popular kids or let her “fame” get to her. She could easily count how many friends she had on one hand, Jaebum being one of them. She had the hardest time trusting people and preferred to keep her circle of friends small. Plus, she knew that a lot of people who wanted to be-friend her were only going to use her – she’s seen it all before.

Before she knew it, it was already lunch time and an hour before her match. She packed up her books, shoving them into her bag and quickly headed for the door before anyone could bombard her. As she headed out the door, she was surprised to see Jaebum standing there.

“Oh, oppa? What are you doing all the way here?”

Jaebum smiled brightly “We got out of class a few minutes early and I came straight here! I wanted to walk with you to the gymnasium. I’m your number one fan after all.”

Heejin felt the butterflies erupt from her stomach once again but forced herself to supress them.

‘Dear heart,’ she thought ‘Please shut up and stop.’

She smiled shyly “You didn’t have to…”

Jaebum placed his hand over her shoulders held her closely “Of course I do. So, you ready for your match?”

Heejin groaned “No… not really... I’m not sure why I agreed to it in the first place.”

He laughed “Relax, you’ll be fine. I see you’ve developed quite the fan base already,” he said while glancing around them.

Heejin was trying to ignore the many stares they were receiving as they passed through the halls, until Jaebum had to mention it.

She rolled her eyes “Ugh.. don’t remind me.”

“Wae? You don’t like all your fanboys?” he joked.

She playfully elbowed the side of his stomach “Oppa…”

Jaebum grinned “I’m joking… you know one day one of these fanboys will be your boyfriend.”

Her heart sank when he mentioned her having a boyfriend other than him.

“Yeah right…” she said quietly.

“Who knows! Maybe you’ll find prince charming here.”

She started to feel uncomfortable from the topic and forced out an awkward cough. “A-ani.. I doubt it.”

He shrugged “Hey, you never know… but obviously they’ll have to go through me first to get my approval.”

“Yah… just stop it.”

Jaebum ruffled her hair “A-ra-so. You get so touchy when we talk about boys!”

“Whatever…”

The two continued their conversation until they reached the gymnasium.  She could already see the large crowd starting to form as staff member were busy getting the mats ready for her exhibition match.

“Where do you need to go?” asked Jaebum

“Coach told me to meet her in the locker room.”

He nodded “Alright, I’ll meet you right before the match okay? I’ll be in your corner, I know how nervous you get before matches, especially today in a new school and all.. ”

Heejin smiled “Komawo oppa… You know me too well.”

He stepped forwards and hugged her, she couldn’t help but wrap her arms around him tightly in return.

“Relax, I know you’ll do great…”

Heejin breathed in deeply, inhaling his scent she had grown to love so much. “I’ll try.”

He let go of her briefly, only to bring his hands up to hold her face. He looked down towards her and smiled reassuringly “No. You won’t try, you will do. You will kick . Make my maknaes proud,” he joked.

She couldn’t help but giggle. Granted she was thrown off by how… forward Yugyeom and BamBam were but she knew they meant well. “Araso… Tell them I'll win this match for them.”

He laughed and stepped away from her, making her instantly miss his touch. “Okay, go see your coach before she starts thinking you got lost in the school or something.”

She nodded “Alright, I’ll see you.”

He waved “You will.”

---

Heejin briefly met her coach in the women’s changing room. Her coach, Jung Seung Eun had been her coach for years. They met in Japan when Heejin started competing professionally. Heejin loved that her coach was hard enough to push her, but patient and nurturing all at once. She taught her to channel her doubts and fears into the game which helped her tremendously. Her coach had moved back to Korea a year earlier, and upon finding out she was moving back she immediately jumped at the opportunity to coach her once more.

In the changing room they briefly went over how the match would go, how many rounds there would be, and all the rules she was already familiar with.

“Who am I competing against?” she asked.

Coach Seung Eun grinned “She’s my top student here.”

Heejin feigned hurt and held her chest dramatically “Ah, coach that hurts. I thought I was your best student!”

Seung Eun rolled her eyes “Yah, you know you’re the best… but she’s the best one I have here.”

Heejin smiled “Araso.. well I guess this match will determine who’s your best student euh!?”

“Yah you rascal, don’t put me on the spot like that…” she leaned towards Heejin and whispered so only she could hear: “You know I’m biased towards you.”

Heejin grinned triumphantly “Of course I know that. I’ve always been your favorite,” she winked.

She felt her ear get pulled by her coach painfully. “AH AH!! COACH STOP!! MIANHE!! I WAS JUST KIDDING!”

---

Before she knew it, it was match time. Heejin’s coach had left earlier to go check on her opponent: Lee Soobin. As she made her way out of the locker room and towards the gymnasium, her heart started pounding realizing how many students were already there, and still coming. She was easily spotted by the students as the crowd started cheering upon her entrance. She smiled towards them as she made her way to the centre of the gym. She spotted Jaebum waiting for her as he promised.

‘He must’ve talked to coach to be in my corner’ she thought.

She made her way towards him.

“Ready?” he asked

Heejin nodded “As ready as I can be I guess.” She turned to the opposite side of the mats and spotted her coach with her opponent, who was in the midst of glaring at her.

Jaebum noticed instantly and scoffed. “Well she seems… nice?” he said sarcastically.

Heejin shrugged.

“I hope you kick her ” he said, glaring at her in return.

“Oppa, stop. It’s fine just ignore her.”

“How! She looks like she’s burning holes in your back. Have you met her before?”

She shook her head. “No but coach says she’s her best student here.”

Jaebum snorted “Not anymore.”

Heejin slapped his shoulder but couldn’t help but laugh. “Yah, stop.”

He sighed “Araso, if you want me to I will. Anyway I’ll be here the whole match but I highly doubt the match will take that long from the looks of it,” he said while giving her opponent the up and down. “The rest of the guys texted me, they’re all here somewhere. If the match ends quickly I can introduce you to the rest of them?”

Heejin nodded “Sure.”

Jaebum then started to get her hyped up for her match and giving her words of encouragement while she stretched and shook out her nerves. She couldn’t stress how thankful she was for having him at her side. It was always like this up until he started university back in Seoul. She was used to spending all their time together during the school year but had a hard time when he moved back for his first year of university. She was happy things would get back to the way they were.

From the other side of the gymnasium, Jackson entered with Mark, Youngjae and Jinyoung.

“Where do you think they are?” asked Jinyoung.

“Just look for the loudest cheering guys” Jackson laughed.

Sure enough, they could see the two maknaes: Yugeyom and BamBam holding makeshift posters they had made with paper from their notebooks. The four of them made their way towards them.

“Where’s JB?” asked Jinyoung.

Yugyeom pointed towards the mats, “Right there with Heejin-ssi.”

“Huh? Why is he there?” asked Jackson

“That’s why he was late today, he was showing her around” Mark explained

“Her? He knows this girl, the one you guys are so obsessed with?” asked Jackson confusedly.

BamBam nodded enthusiastically “Yeah! He’s best friends with her! That’s his special friend from Japan he always talks about, it’s her! Can you believe it!?”

“What? His ‘special’ friend was a girl?” asked Youngjae

Mark nodded “Yeah, she’s actually pretty nice. I walked with her this morning, she’s in Med too.”

Jackson tried to get a good look of her from where they were seated. “It’s hard to see her from her. Plus she has all that gear on… is she pretty?”

Yugyeom rolled his eyes. “Is she pretty? Is she pretty!? She’s beyond that hyung, where can you find a girl that can kick but is pretty at the same time!?”

Jinyoung laughed “You two are big fans of hers…”

“You should’ve seen them freaking out this morning” commented Mark.

Jackson shrugged “She’s probably not as great as you say she is.”

Yugyeom and BamBam looked visibly upset after his comment.

“Whatever, you guys will see how good she is today. Just watch,” said BamBam.

Soon enough, the Dean of the university approached her and greeted her. He thanked her for agreeing to the exhibition match and how fortunate they were to have someone of her level to compete through their school. He then went on to say how much honor and pride she would be giving to their school. She awkwardly thanked him as their conversation ended.

The Dean made his way to the center of the mats with her coach, microphone in hand.

“Good afternoon students and welcome to the match we have all been waiting for!” the crowd cheered loudly, Heejin did not expect so many people to turn out today. She was so focused on her conversation with Jaebum, she hadn’t realized that the gymnasium was practically full.

“Today I would like to introduce to you a new student of ours who I am personally honoured to have as part of our student body! Many of you gathered here may know her from her accomplishments in Japan and all over the world. Please join me in giving a round of applause for the one and only Kim Heejin!”

The roar of the crowd was like music to her ears; it was something that motivated her each match, it was almost therapeutic in a sense. She waved towards the crowd and bowed once more, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of support she already had. She caught a glimpse of Jaebum and saw how proud he looked of her. It made her feel more confident for her match.

More introductions were made. The referees staggered around the mats as another stayed in the middle, signalling for both women to approach him. Heejin made her way over to the centre of the mat and cheers only grew louder. As the screams and hollers drowned the gymnasium, Soobin only glared at her even harsher.

‘Jeez, what’s her problem!?’ Heejin thought. Her opponent’s distate for her only fueled her desire to win.

The referee signalled for both fighters to bow to one another, she could hear Soobin scoff at her as they bowed.

‘Oh this girl’s going to get it…’

Soon, the match began. Automatically, Heejin became alert and raised both her hands up in defense. Soobin ran towards her and kicked straight for her face.

The crowd yelled loudly, causing an uproar.

Heejin, predicting that Soobin was the ‘attack first’ type, easily dodged her kick with a swift tilt of her head. This surprised Soobin, having thought that she could take Heejin down immediately.

Soobin, having not learned her lesson, faced her directly and made a move to grab her Gi (uniform). Heejin quickly grabbed her hand, rotated it and brought it back upwards towards Soobin’s chest. This caused her opponent to groan in pain, until Heejin pulled back her arm, brought her down and flipped her entire body over – bringing her down towards the floor while her arm was still twisted. Soobin tapped out on the floor and the referee separated them.

As the boys watched her first move from the opposite side of the gymnasium, Jackson, Mark, Youngjae and Jinyoung’s jaws were all open in surprise while Yugyeom and BamBam were too busy screaming their lungs out.

“Did you-did you guys see how she j-just tossed her on the floor!?” yelled Youngjae in disbelief

“Yah… I’ve never seen a girl do that before,” exclaimed Jinyoung.

“That looked pretty easy,” said Jackson, not wanting to be easily impressed by the girl. “We’ll see what else she has up her sleeve.” He didn't want to admit but the girl looked incredibly talented. He always had a thing for girls who could fight.

Mark rolled his eyes, even he had to admit he was amazed by Heejin’s strength.

Surprisingly, Soobin pulled a fast one and kicked her stomach. Recovering quickly, Heejin grabbed her right foot, she then kicked Soobin’s only stable leg, causing the both of them to fall down. Heejin wrapped her leg tightly around Soobin’s right leg, applying hard pressure onto it.

‘Let’s see you break out of this..'

Heejin continued to apply a vice grip onto her opponent’s leg until she finally tapped out. She glanced at Soobin briefly and from her years of fighting, she could already tell her opponent was getting tired.

‘Ah come on… it was only starting to get fun,’

The match continued and not surprisingly, Heejin was clearly winning. The referees had awarded all the points to her so far. She knew that she could do one final move on Soobin and the match would probably end.

Another round commenced and Soobin made a move to attack her neck. Heejin unphased by the action, smoothly grabbed her opponent’s arm, twisting it. Soobin managed to get out of her old and latched onto Heejin’s sleeve. Heejin reacted quickly by swiftly kicking her towards her neck and upper chest, pushing Soobin back.

"OH MY GOD!" exclaimed BamBam excitedly.

"YAH! Did yo usee that kick!?" yelled Youngjae, completely in awe by her performance.

Soobin, however, remained latched on firmly to Heejin's sleeve.

Heejin couldn’t help but smirk, knowing she would be ending the match quickly. She pulled herself back, saw an opening and used Soobin’s thigh for leverage. She stepped onto her opponent’s thigh, lifting herself up and wrapped both legs around Soobin’s neck.

As her legs had a firm grip around Soobin’s neck and shoulders, she flipped her body backwards until she felt the mat, and brought Soobin’s entire body crashing down behind her.

Heejin jumped up from the mats and towered over Soobin as she struggled to get herself up.

The crowd was going ballistic. Even the referees and their Dean looked visibly impressed and excited.

It was safe to say she won the match. Heejin removed her head gear and ponytail, running her hands through her hair to straighten it out as best as she could. She could hear a few catcalls and yells from the crowd.

“HEEJIN MARRY ME!”
“HEEJIN YOU’RE SO HOT!”
“HEEJIN YOUR FIGHTING IS SO Y!”

She rolled her eyes and ignored the yells. She saw how Jaebum glared towards the crowd and crossed his arms. She was eager to change out of her Gi and get back to him. As the referees announced the winner, the Dean closed off the match by sharing a few words. Unfortunately for her, as soon as the Dean left, people came rushing onto the mats to see her.

Heejin’s eyes widened as she was overwhelmed by the pool of students rushing towards her. Luckily, her coach was there and grabbed her shoulders.

“Yah! Yah! Students who are not part of the Hapkido team please leave the gymnasium! Get back to class the match is over!” Her coach then had to maneuver their way towards the locker room amongst the throng of people in their way.

Heejin hastily glanced around trying to spot where Jaebum was. He yelled her name and waved towards her, although he was almost swallowed by the amount of students that were trying to reach her.

“I’ll see you later! Check your phone!” he managed to yell towards her.

Heejin frowned, but nodded towards him.

---

As the gymnasium started to empty out, Jaebum made his way over to his friends. He was so excited to see their reactions and find out what they thought of Heejin’s fighting. She had grown so much from the time they first met, he was and always will be her number one fan. Although he also took Hapkido himself, he never took it as seriously as she did – but he knew it was something that she needed to become a better version of herself, especially with all the hardships she had to go through growing up. It was all part of her process.

Yugyeom and BamBam spotted him immediately and ran up to him.

“HYUNG! PLEASE INTRODUCE US TO HER. PLEASE LET US BE HER FRIEND!” yelled Yugyeom

Jaebum laughed and scratched the back of his head. “I already did introduce you guys…”

Mark snorted. “They just want a new introduction because they embarrassed themselves so much around her this morning!”

BamBam scoffed “Y-yah hyung! That’s not true… wait, did she say anything?! Did she say anything about me!?”

Mark laughed “She might have…”

Yugyeom and BamBam’s eyes widened and they both groaned. “We ruined it… she probably thinks we’re weird…” said Yugyeom.

Jaebum couldn’t help but laugh. “Ani, Heejin’s not like that. She actually told me to tell you two she'll win the match for you."

Yugyeom and BamBam looked like they would faint.

"Ch-chincha!?" asked BamBam, he looked like he could cry from happiness.

"Omo I think this is the best day of my life..." whispered Yugyeom in disbelief.

As the rest of the group commented on how fascinated they were with her fighting skills, Jackson remained in a daze-like state.

Mark nudged him. “Hey, you okay? What happened to you?”

Youngjae waved his hand over Jackson’s face. “Yah! Jackson!”

Jackson snapped out of his daze and looked at his friends.

BamBam looked at him questioningly. “Did something happen?”

Jackson shook his head slowly. “A-ani…”

Jinyoung’s eyebrow rose in confusion “Then… why are you being weird?”

Jackson sighed loudly. As soon as Heejin removed her head gear and showed her face, it was safe to say he was completely mesmerized by her. Anyone who knew Jackson, knew he had a thing for girls who took their health seriously. He liked girls who exercised and girls who were tan, he didn’t realize that Jaebum’s friend fit this description exactly. When the match had ended, he noticed how her Gi had been slightly undone from Soobin’s harsh grabs. He could see her toned abs peeking through as she was only wearing a sports bra underneath her Gi.

“She… " he his dry lips, still in disbelief and a little confused of how attracted he was and how he felt seeing her.

"She....?" Asked Jaebum

"She's absolutely amazing..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter~ Sorry if it's a little boring.. I had a hard time writing the fight scene as explained. Next chapter will be more interesting I promise! Please comment and upvote and tell me what you think! <3