For Exopink31

Adonis

Bomi had been training for this day her entire life. She had sacrificed going out with friends on the weekends, eating all her favorite foods and studying hard for school, just to get to this level. Her dad was the driving force that got her started in taekwondo, and it’s what had made their father daughter relationship strong when her mother had died at a young age. She remembers always staying by her side, always choosing her when it was some sort of decision that required her to pick one of her parents’ side, and when she had gone from the car accident, Bomi was forced to rely on her father. Her dad had never forced her, or pushed her to reach the top level, only wanting her to have an outlet for stress and possible aggression and to also learn some kind of self-defence. When her father had died when she was eighteen years old, she swore to retain her only links to him – to hold on to the only other thing that she loved besides her father. She pushed herself even further, training every day and every night, trying to get herself to the top, and if she achieved that, she felt like she had made her father proud and that she could be happy.

Arriving at the centre for the martial arts competition, she thought that she was finally one step closer to achieving her dream, but when she looked around and saw that all the other competitors had brought their families, she felt alone – but she quickly buried that feeling and began her mental preparation for her game. You’ve got this, Bomi. This is end game. Get this, and you’ve made it. She put her bag down on the floor and began to do her stretches. Her legs first – lifting each leg and holding for ten seconds, then stretching her arms across her chest and holding for another ten, rotating her arms and head and then shaking it off.

She began to do some practice kicks, and when she thinks that she didn’t get her angling right, she would take a few steps back and try again, moving forward each time, until she did a roundhouse kick and heard a thud on the floor. She turned around in surprise and saw that a guy was in a push-up position on the floor. He pushed himself up and sprang to his knees. “I’m sorry…did I hit you anywhere?” Bomi moved forward to the guy who had his head down, and when she put her hand against his cheek to check for any damage to his face, jaw, nose or anything that would cause her trouble, but he just grinned at her in response.

“Yeah…you got me…” The boy pointed to his heart. “…right here…” When Bomi realised who she was standing in front of, she pushed him hard and then went back to practice, but he didn’t let her go that easily. “Come on! It’s been a long time! How have you been?” Bomi glared at him when he moved in her way. She was tempted to just kick him, but she knew that she’d get penalised for hitting an opponent. “Go away, Tao! I’m practising!” She swung her leg, but he caught her ankle mid-air and then winked. “You disappeared on me, how many years ago? What happened? I missed my Taekwondo buddy!” Bomi pushed forward, but Tao’s grip on her ankle was strong and they fell on the floor, faces, inches from each other.

Tao and Bomi had been friends at their Taekwondo school. Even if Bomi was a girl, she matched Tao’s skill level, and they became their school’s prodigies, and did a lot of events together. Bomi had developed a crush on him because of their shared interest, but after her father died, she moved away, wanting to be alone, and in the process, left her best friend behind.

“How long has it been since we were like this?” He smirked and leaned up to give her a peck on the cheeks, but she quickly dodged it and used his chest as a springboard to get back on her feet. Bomi huffed and went to grab her bag to find another area to practice, but Tao grabbed her arm. “What’s wrong?” She tried to shake him off, thinking that she was still as strong as him, but he had changed and she could sense that he was physically stronger than her. “Let go!”

“What did I do to make you move away?” She bowed her head. “Nothing…” He took a step closer to her. “Then why did you leave?” Bomi raised her head to look at him. “My father died…” Bomi’s voices trailed off at the last word, and Tao finally understood why she was so guarded. Tao also admired her father. In fact, her father was also his hero, and he wanted to be part of their family, but she suddenly moved away when he finally had the guts to ask her to be his girlfriend.

The announcer said that the initial rounds were starting and Bomi moved away to prepare for her fight while Tao remained dumbfounded. He moved to the sidelines and watched as she got in position. When the whistle blew, her opponent made the first move, but she was able to successfully block it. He began to pace around the playing field, and he knew that she was slightly off her game, but still, the hits and blocks were exchanged between the two players, until Bomi made a decisive blow, and beat her opponent.

Next, it was Tao’s turn, and although Bomi hated to admit it, instead of focusing on her next match, she couldn’t help but steal glances at Tao’s game. He had improved vastly from the last time that she had seen him, and he looked even cooler, his gaze more intense, and power exerted with every move. The game didn’t last that long, Tao was able to win and advance to the next round. He bowed to his opponent, and then turned to her, knowing exactly that she had been watching when she quickly averted her eyes. He walked to where she was seated, and sat beside her and nudged her. “Did I look cool?” She ignored him, but her cheeks were turning red, and the feeble ‘yes’ that escaped her lips was a dead giveaway and enough reason for Tao to smile. “You know, win or lose today, I feel like I’ve already won…”

Bomi went up for her next fight, and although she had put in a good effort, the glances that she stole to see Tao encouraging her from the sidelines had caused her lapse in judgement and she didn’t see the next attack from her opponent. She was pinned to the ground, and she had lost. She couldn’t get back up and it felt like she had lost all sense in her body – like everything she had worked for had just vanished. People began to crowd around her, wondering if she was okay, if she broke any bones or had any other sort of problem that needed medical attention, but before she closed her eyes, she saw the crowd dissipate, and felt her body being lifted up by two strong arms.

The next time that she awoke, she was still on the floor, but she could see the game going on and could make out that it was Tao. He was absolutely killing it – his opponent had no chance against him, and she watched as the boy fell to the ground and Tao was declared victorious. He bowed to everyone, and then ran over to her. “Hey…feeling alright” Bomi gently nodded her head and he helped her sit up. “I’m sorry that I distracted you…” She shook her head this time. “It’s okay, because I got to see you win…and if I couldn’t then I’m glad that you did. Appa would have been proud at how far we’ve come…and I realised that I need to do something other than taekwondo. Maybe something girly where I don’t get hurt…”

Tao her head. “I promise that you won’t get hurt…”

“Alright…but if I do, I can still beat your …”

Bomi’s father was there – instilled in her – instilled in the game that she loved to play. But it was time for her to find another love. She may not have won the championship, but she thinks she has found something even better: a person that she could use as her sparring partner (and it was also a bonus that she could kiss him, if they ended up on the floor)