“Now that I'm through, it's time to get Junhoe through!” Jinhwan plunked himself down on the bench next to Junhoe, still on a high after his victory. “So we watched Jimin yesterday, and we know he's got a style that's very similar to mine. So keep aware of your space, don't let him get inside your guard because he's good at pulling submissions, you saw his reach yesterday, he's pretty flexible. Try to control his back, use your long arms to your advantage.”

Junhoe nodded, grateful for the pep talk, but the nerves were hitting him in an unexpected way. While he felt more confident about his chances with Jimin than he felt about his chances with Jinhwan later, he still felt more nervous than usual. But he'd watched all of Jimin's matches the day before and he knew what he could do, knew what he tended to prefer doing.

Regardless of outcome he had to be content with his results. This was his first national tournament at the purple belt level, and to finish top four was honestly better than he had any right to expect. It was easy to get caught up in expectations around Jinhwan, who had the skill and experience to expect placement in the top two. While Junhoe knew he was good, and he knew he'd definitely fought well in his matches, maybe he'd just gotten lucky to avoid certain other fighters in his group.

Usually when he got to semi-finals he wasn't met with an accompanying sense of dread over how he would place. He already considered top four the best victory possible. But today his stomach was churning with a strange apprehension. He wanted to win, but he also wasn't sure that he wanted to fight Jinhwan again so soon. He felt vulnerable. Maybe it was because he'd lost to him recently, or maybe it was because they were friends. He wasn't really sure.

He thanked Jinhwan for his advice before standing up, but before he could take a step further Seiyeon came to give him a hug.

“Good luck, Junhoe-ya!” She stood in front of him for a moment, like she was studying his face, and Junhoe was suddenly reminded of his own sister. Yejin was stuck finishing an important paper for school and wasn't able to make it today, so it was kind of nice to see Seiyeon.

“Thanks, noona.” Junhoe replied back, and suddenly Seiyeon hugged him again.

“Just do your best and we'll be proud of you, don't be nervous,” she whispered into his ear, and it was almost like she could sense the apprehension. She pulled back and patted his cheek and Junhoe felt a surge of brotherly affection for her. As comfortable and supported as he felt with the guys, sometimes the softness of a sister made all the difference. He was happy she was here today since Yejin couldn't be.

After Seiyeon came Hanbin, who dramatically hugged him and cupped his face.

“If you die, I'll throw the biggest party in your honour.”

Junhoe frowned at him but played along. “Eh, how does this benefit me?”

“I'll make it super exclusive,” Hanbin replied, “everyone will hear about it, but no one will actually be invited, so the whole school will be in a scramble to figure out who's going. I'll call it 'The Koo Junhoe Memorial Meltdown', because everyone will be having a meltdown trying to get a ticket. It'll be legendary.”

Junhoe laughed. This is why he needed Hanbin at these tournaments. He always kept him in good spirits despite the stress. “Alright, I accept your proposal, though I am a little concerned that you've given it this much thought. Are you expecting me to lose?”

Hanbin looked offended. “I just like to be prepared!”

“Sure,” Junhoe replied, rolling his eyes, “what did I do to deserve such a supportive best friend?”

“Probably offended some God in a past life.” Hanbin answered, and they both dissolved into giggles.

“Kick his little shrimp , Junhoe-ya!” Bobby yelled in support when they got a hold on their laughter.

“Are you talking about Jimin or Hanbin?” Junhoe replied, and Hanbin looked like he wanted to hit him, but he managed to hold himself back.

“Yeah, okay if you do end up losing, it better be due to life threatening injury!” Hanbin teased. “I won't accept anything less! Make it worth my while!”

“Keep talking and I'll make it worth your while to shut you up!” Junhoe replied, balling his fists and mock threatening Hanbin.

“That doesn't even make sense.” Hanbin replied, and it just sent them both laughing again.

Jinhwan came back to him just as he was about to head down to his coach.

“You'll have a good fight,” Jinhwan told him, “just remember my advice and be intelligent. Pay attention to everything and try to stay ahead of him. Anticipating his moves is really important.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Junhoe answered, and hearing Jinhwan say that he'd have a good fight was oddly comforting, “I'd invite you down to sit on the bench again but that might look a little suspect,” Junhoe joked.

Jinhwan grinned back at him. “Yeah, I figured as much so I'll just stay here. But you know what you need to do. Remember that when you're in there.” Jinhwan hugged him, and Junhoe thought again that it was nice to have another fighter here as a friend and not just a teammate. It really did make a difference.

As he walked down to meet with his coach he couldn't help but still feel weird about the fact that his usual pre-match confidence was lacking today. He wondered what the actual cause was. He hadn't felt this nervous before fighting Jinhwan the second time, and none of his other competitors from this weekend made him nervous either. Was it the common factor of Eric Kwon? Junhoe hadn't known about Jinhwan's connection the first time they'd met. Was it the problem now? Or was it the memory of losing to Jinhwan, and knowing that Jimin was very similar, right down to his small size?

Those thoughts occupied the back of Junhoe's head as he had a pre-match talk with his coach, discussing tactics. They followed him onto the mat, but Junhoe still couldn't help but grin when he towered over Jimin. He was even a little smaller than Jinhwan. But size meant nothing, after all, as Jinhwan had demonstrated time and again. The biggest difference between Jimin and Jinhwan was that while Jinhwan was all cocky attitude face to face, Jimin was nothing but a friendly smile, and instead of whispering jabs he politely wished Junhoe a good fight before bowing to him. Junhoe almost though he was a little too nice. How was he supposed to want to kick his ?

That concern disappeared once the match got underway and Junhoe kept Jinhwan's advice on his mind, fighting more carefully against Jimin, wary of his dangers. By the time they got to the third round they were pretty even on points, with Junhoe only one ahead. He felt good, though, he felt like maybe he actually could win this thing if he continued being careful? Maybe he ought to use his big size to his advantage a bit more fully in the last round, dominate Jimin a bit more.

Thirty seconds into the round and Jimin was on his back, and when Junhoe tried to step over him to get a standing guard Jimin reached out and balled a fist into the sleeve of his gi, tugging on it to try and throw him off balance. He quickly raised his left leg up into Junhoe's hip, trying to control his forward movement, and when Junhoe reached for Jimin's leg, Jimin pulled himself up to grab Junhoe's free arm, again gripping the sleeve tightly.

Junhoe couldn't believe he'd just walked into another spider guard! Careless, absolutely careless!

Jimin kept him held back at the waist, and Junhoe thought about his options, trying to figure out what he ought to do. He could try to curl inside Jimin's leg and go for a lock, but that would only work if he managed to get both of his arms free. If not, then he'd be right inside Jimin's guard and from the back, no less! He was stronger than Jimin, so maybe if he tried to pull him into a stack pass, use his leverage against him?

As Junhoe contemplated, Jimin put his own plan into motion, curling his right leg up and over Junhoe's left arm, his foot sliding into place between Junhoe's legs, trapping his arm. Jimin let go of the arm as he drove his foot against Junhoe again, trying to kick him forward off balance. Junhoe squatted down, trying to sit back on Jimin's foot to keep himself stable. But suddenly Jimin dropped his hold on Junhoe's other arm and swivelled his body to the side, wrapping his left arm around the bottom of Junhoe's leg near his ankle.

Junhoe was totally caught in Jimin's hold, unable to get his leg free. He cursed when Jimin's left foot kicked into his other leg, the slide putting him off balance so he had no choice but to roll forward, all while Jimin shot over him, locking both legs around Junhoe's left leg and keeping his arms around Junhoe's right leg, pulling in tight into a knee lock.

Junhoe tried to roll himself out of the lock, but every twist had him gasping, his knee held tight in Jimin's grasp, and the grinding was almost unbearable. But it wasn't even the pain in the moment that had him worried—if he moved himself any further he might do damage to his joint, and screwing up his knee was not on his list of things to do.

He looked for the clock, but there was too much time left, over three minutes, and he couldn't hold out that long. There was no way Jimin would relinquish the hold, and the pain just increased constantly.

So with a surge of anger and bitter regret Junhoe made the decision to tap out, and the second Jimin released him he rolled onto his stomach, hands massaging his knee. He kept his face in the mat out of nothing more than wounded pride.

This was the first time in his tournament career that he'd ever tapped out. It didn't feel real, it felt like some kind of bad dream. He'd never been submitted in competition before. Not once. How had Jimin managed it? How had Junhoe allowed himself to walk right into it?

He remained on the floor, he didn't want to get up, didn't want to accept his defeat gracefully. Not right now. The fight had gone well right up until that damn spider guard! It was just like his second fight with Jinhwan! Fine until the spider. He should have been looking for it, should have anticipated it like Jinhwan had advised.

A second later he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up into Jimin's face, irritated at the look of concern.

“Are you okay?” Jimin asked, and it nudged Junhoe out of his post-loss funk. What was he doing, laying on the mat like some bratty toddler who'd just been told no? His own pride had to take a back seat at the moment, because he needed to be a good competitor even in the face of defeat.

“Yeah, just pulled it a bit too much trying to get out, I'm good.” He let Jimin help him up, embracing him and exchanging compliments about the fight. Junhoe tried to remember in the moment that it actually had been a good fight until the end. He'd been leading, after all! It had been a tight match, sure, but he'd done a lot of good things, and he remembered being pleased with himself after the first two rounds. This wasn't a loss that he needed to be ashamed of. It was a learning curve, it was an indication that something was lacking in his training and in his own thought process during the fight.

He just needed to examine himself and figure out what the problem was. Losing was necessary, his coach always said, because if you were lucky in your matches and only ever won over your opponents, then you'd never know if you were doing something wrong. Clearly Junhoe was doing something wrong, and this was an opportunity to sort it out. After the match ended he stayed with his coach for a bit to talk things over, and he was surprised to find that his bitterness over the loss was mostly gone. He'd fought well, and now he had something to work on when he got back to training. There was no shame in this loss.

He made his way back up to his friends with a renewed sense of contentment, wondering if they would be shocked at his reaction to the match or not. Hanbin was waiting for him, no doubt with some sarcastic comment he would use to judge Junhoe's attitude with. Hanbin was good that way, using humour to feel Junhoe out instead of sympathy.

“Hey, Junhoe! After we're done here today we decided we're gonna go watch a movie.” Hanbin greeted him, grinning when Junhoe's narrowed eyes settled on him.

“What movie?” Junhoe played along.

“Arachnophobia!” Hanbin replied, laughing at Junhoe's annoyed expression. Hanbin had told the others to let him figure out how Junhoe was feeling after the loss before saying anything to him. Hanbin was always able to figure him out: an annoyed but snarky response to teasing meant that Junhoe was fine, while a quiet dismissal with no comment meant that he was not in the mood for conversation and needed time to himself first.

“Are you done?” Junhoe asked, standing in front of Hanbin with his arms crossed over his chest.

Hanbin grinned back at him. “We can watch 'It' afterwards, cause that guy totally clowned you!” Hanbin replied, grinning when Junhoe let out a loud sigh.

He was fine.

Jinhwan watched them closely, mindful of Hanbin's explanation regarding Junhoe's response. Hanbin hadn't stopped teasing him, so that probably meant that Junhoe was okay? Jinhwan hoped so, because he wasn't really good with half-sympathy. He was either the type to cuddle a friend while they cried, or to completely forget there was even supposed to be a problem. He didn't do well with walking on eggshells, and he didn't like to pry for information when none was on offer.

But Junhoe didn't strike him as the type who wanted anyone to pry. Either he shared or he didn't. That worked fine for Jinhwan.

“Arachnophobia would help,” Jinhwan spoke up, grinning when Junhoe turned his glare on him, “because I think he needs to be a little more afraid of spiders.” He knew it was a risk, joining Hanbin in his teasing, but this was kind of a test, wasn't it? If Junhoe got offended by Jinhwan's teasing but not Hanbin's, wouldn't it mean that they needed to work more on their friendship? If he didn't get offended, though, then it probably meant that Jinhwan had finally gained his trust?

Junhoe frowned at Jinhwan, but it was only for show. He'd been worried that Jinhwan might try to ply him with sympathy now that they were friends, and Junhoe didn't respond well to that unless he was looking specifically for it. But the teasing... That was what Junhoe preferred right now. He'd accepted the loss, so he'd rather take some jokes at the moment.

“I ing hate spiders.”

Junhoe's gaze flitted between Jinhwan and Hanbin, and a second later he started giggling, and so did Hanbin, which led to Jinhwan and finally Bobby. The only one not laughing was Seiyeon, who was confused.

“Okay I'm lost,” Seiyeon said, looking between them, “why are we talking about spiders?”

Jinhwan looked at his sister before looking back at Junhoe, and two seconds later he and Junhoe were laughing even harder, much to Seiyeon's irritation. Bobby was the one who finally explained Junhoe's continued vulnerability to the spider guard, and finally she understood.

Junhoe sat down in between Jinhwan and Hanbin, and he suddenly felt oddly grateful for losing. Half of his nerves had been focused on fighting Jinhwan again later, and now that he no longer had to, it was like his mind was clearing everything out. He wasn't upset about the loss at all anymore, and he was proud of his top four finish. It was obvious that both Jinhwan and Jimin had more experience than he did, but that knowledge no longer bristled him in any way. It was just a new challenge, instead. He felt like he was finally being tested at a higher level. Even though he still had a lot to learn, he'd done well.

He looked at Jinhwan, who was watching as they set the floor for the brown belt semi-finals. He wondered, maybe, if Jinhwan would be promoted before they ever had the chance to fight again? He wanted to ask Jinhwan for his opinion on the match, but he didn't want to sound like he was fishing for compliments or sympathy. He just wanted the opinion of someone who had first-hand knowledge of fighting him. How had he looked against Jimin compared to how he'd done against Jinhwan?

Jinhwan was only too eager to give him his opinion.

“ty that you lost, but I hope you feel good about the match,” Jinhwan said earnestly, “you did really well against him, you controlled most of it.”

Junhoe nodded. “I do feel good about it, actually. It was a good match, right?”

Jinhwan smiled at him. “Yeah, it really was! You looked a lot better in this fight, I think if you watch this one and our second fight, you'll really see your improvement. Even though you did good against me, it was mostly my fault, I let you win a lot of those mounts because I wasn't fighting you seriously and was just focused on getting your back,” Jinhwan admittedly sheepishly, but Junhoe agreed with him.

“I know, I kind of figured that out after watching the match a few times.”

“But this time you fought a much smarter game, you made better decisions in terms of moves and you really worked hard to always counter his game plan. I could tell that you were anticipating his moves more, you just got a little careless at the end, but it happens to everyone at some point.”

Junhoe was pleased to hear the praise. “You think so?”

“Totally! You took more time to think, I could see that, you didn't rush anything. That's important at this stage, making sure that your instincts are the smart moves to make. Sometimes you instinctively want to do something, but your brain tells you that it's not the intelligent move to make. We just learn so many instinctual habits at training, but training and competition are two different things, so it's important to make sure you're making the right choices.” Jinhwan meant what he was saying. Junhoe really had shown a lot of improvement over the course of this weekend in comparison with their previous tournament. He was thinking differently.

“Thanks, hyung!” Junhoe replied, and he felt even better after hearing Jinhwan's words.

“I guess I'll put it this way. Despite having a lot of skill, I think the last time we fought you were thinking like an experienced blue belt, fighting at the top of his class. This time you fought like a purple belt who had more respect for his opponent, who knew that he had to pay more attention.” Jinhwan hoped Junhoe wouldn't take it like an insult. “I hope you understand what I mean.”

“I do.” It was an interesting way to look at it, but he was certain that Jinhwan meant it as a huge compliment.

“Just because you fight confidently with an expectation to win, that doesn't mean you're going to look like a good fighter. You might just look like an arrogant brat who got promoted too fast. Being cautious can sometimes make you look better.” Jinhwan was pleased that Junhoe seemed to get what he was saying, and he felt proud of himself for saying something that made Junhoe look so happy. Beyond that, though, he was also impressed with Junhoe's response to losing.

Jinhwan had expected him to react with a whinier attitude, moping around after losing and needing a bit of time to himself. That's what he'd been like after losing to Jinhwan both times. Then again, on both of those losses, Jinhwan had greeted Junhoe with arrogance and a superior attitude, so maybe it had been his own fault for bringing out Junhoe's negative response? Now that he was being nice to Junhoe, Junhoe could be nice back without any vulnerable insecurity.

It really made Jinhwan think about himself. Maybe his attitude towards his opponents on the mat needed to be considered. Could he really take another step closer to his black belt if he was copping an immature attitude to opponents? He'd have to pay attention to himself from now on and try his best to cut that sort of thing out. It only benefited himself, but part of succession into higher ranks was learning to be selfless and working to help those below him. That extended to his opponents as well as his juniors.

“I hope you have a good fight yourself later on, hyung,” Junhoe said, “you and Jimin do have a similar style, so it'll be interesting watching the two of you fight.”

Jinhwan fixed Junhoe with a grin. “So, now that you've fought both of us, who do you think will win later?” He couldn't help but ask, mostly just to hear Junhoe's answer.

“Oh you'll win for sure,” Junhoe replied, grinning at Jinhwan's slight look of surprise at the certainty with which he'd answered, “he's good, but you're better.”

Even though Jinhwan knew that he was better, it still felt nice to hear Junhoe say it. Compliments always felt nicer when they came from people that you really liked.
 

A multitude of thoughts ran through Jinhwan's head as he stood there before Jimin, contemplating what sort of approach to take with him. Their styles were similar, but Jinhwan was confident in his ability to switch things up more. There had been a few points in his matches where Jimin had looked loose, not keeping his moves as tight as he should. Jinhwan was always conscious of that himself. He also thought about his contemplations of earlier, about his attitude towards his opponents. Should he start now, and extend a hand to Jimin in a polite and courteous manner, wishing him luck?

It was hard to break old habits, though. “Ah, Jimin-sshi! It's nice to finally be able to fight someone shorter than me!” Jinhwan couldn't help but tease, and Jimin looked a little surprised at it, but he smiled politely anyway.

“I'm glad I can fulfil your dream of being the tall one!” Jimin replied, and he sounded so earnest about it that Jinhwan had to wonder if he actually meant it? Junhoe had said that Jimin had seemed so nice that it had almost felt a little off-putting. As Jinhwan looked at his cherubic smile he couldn't help but feel the same way. Not only was Jimin shorter, but he just looked younger too. Jinhwan felt like he was going to be fighting a kid.

Whatever. Jimin wouldn't be here if he was really as young as he looked.

Jinhwan looked past Jimin, finally meeting Eric's gaze for the first time. Eric didn't make any motions towards him this time (not that Jinhwan had expected him to) but he was sitting forward, ready to give the match his full attention. He held Eric's gaze for a few seconds, remembering their conversation from the night before.

Why do you care so much about my opinion?

It had been a good reminder for Jinhwan that he needed to put his own feelings towards the sport first, that he needed to worry about pleasing himself before anyone else. In the end he was doing all of this for himself, so of course his own opinion ought to matter the most.

The official called them together then, while the announcer called their names out. Everyone was gathered to watch the match, and Jinhwan felt proud to be standing there. He looked out briefly into the stands, finding his sister, his friends, and even previous opponents. Everyone was watching, and it bolstered Jinhwan's desire to do well. Just because he needed to keep his own feelings first, that didn't mean that he wouldn't care about everyone else's opinions too, and right now he wanted to give them reasons to think on him highly.

Jinhwan didn't even give Jimin a moment to think before coming at him, getting down low to the mat and popping up towards him, reaching up to claim Jimin's lapel on both sides, while Jimin grabbed Jinhwan's arms, trying to counter his move. But Jinhwan pulled him closer, tugging to test out his strength against Jimin, before sinking down to his knees and pulling Jimin up and over his back, using the strength of his legs to push up and get Jimin's feet off the mat, propelling him over his shoulder. Jimin landed on his back in front of Jinhwan, who was looking to gain his guard.

Jimin wasn't ready to be dominated just yet, scrambling to get out of Jinhwan's grasp. He shifted around until he was facing Jinhwan, who grabbed for Jimin's legs and tried to roll him to the side to take his back. Jimin didn't let him, and instead balled his fist into the sleeve of Jinhwan's gi and drove his left foot up into Jinhwan's shoulder. He was only able to secure one of Jinhwan's arms, but still tried to get his leg up and around Jinhwan's neck to pull him inside his guard.

Jinhwan was able to dodge the leg, keeping in control while he simply tested Jimin out for a bit. He wanted to see how strong he was, wanted to see how dangerous he would be if they got in a tighter spot. Jinhwan twisted the arm that Jimin had a grip on, eventually breaking Jimin's hold, and as soon as he did he grabbed for Jimin's leg, attempting to control it down and maybe get an early leg lock in place. But Jimin pulled his leg out and tried to grab for Jinhwan's arm again, but Jinhwan kept it just out of his reach.

They grappled for a minute back and forth until Jimin was able to get Jinhwan in a half guard, his fists holding tightly to Jinhwan's lapel. Jinhwan carefully got a bit closer and pulled Jimin towards him, getting his knees in underneath him, attempting to elevate Jimin slightly to keep him from trying to go around to his back. When he had him in the position he wanted Jinhwan stretched back and grabbed Jimin's belt, pulling him closer to get his own guard. Jimin managed to execute an inverted roll, escaping Jinhwan's grasp and landing on his back and sliding his legs up to Jinhwan's hips, and suddenly they were right back where they started.

Jimin got his legs up around Jinhwan's arms and reached for the sleeves of his gi. But Jinhwan managed to block the grab by sliding his knee into Jimin's armpit in a sliding pass, and then he pushed himself up and sprang forward, pressing his full weight down on top of Jimin's side, eventually gaining side guard. He remained there for a bit, applying pressure to Jimin, trying to tire him out a little while he caught his own breath.

Eventually Jinhwan tried to go for an armbar, and while he secured it he didn't quite manage to get it high up enough around the clavicle, so Jimin was able to pop his arm out of it, grabbing Jinhwan's foot and nearly getting him in a bad position. But Jinhwan quickly scrambled up and the end of the first round found them in a deadlock position, neither of them able to get inside the other.

They separate and head back to their coaches. Jinhwan was quiet as Youngbae offered him water and rubbed his shoulders, discussing vital points so far in the first round.

Jimin did better than Jinhwan had expected him to. He was stronger than he looked and he'd anticipated Jinhwan's moves. Not surprising, of course, given who he was training with. But still a little concerning in Jinhwan's opinion. He didn't like fighting a mirror of himself.

“Do you think I should change things up for the next round?” Jinhwan asked Youngbae, curious to get his opinion.

“He is anticipating everything, it's almost like you're fighting yourself,” Youngbae agreed.

Jinhwan was thinking of trying something that he'd never done while training with Eric. Something he didn't think Eric trained on himself. “I've never attacked from turtle when I trained with Eric,” Jinhwan said, and Youngbae nodded. Recently he'd started studying attacks popularized by Eduardo Telles, and while he hadn't quite perfected them yet, he felt like he might end up having to do something unexpected in order to get the kind of result he wanted.

“You've looked good doing it in training,” Youngbae said, “you'll just have to make sure that you don't let him get too locked in with his mount.”

Jinhwan nodded, knowing that he would be taking a huge risk. But in the end tournaments were the best training method to really test what he was learning. What would show better to Youngbae? Sticking with the safe routine, that would probably get him a victory (but by decision and last all three rounds), or testing out a new technique that would possibly get him a submission?

Jinhwan liked to avoid going the full distance whenever possible. Submission it would be.

They lined up again and this time Jinhwan didn't look at anyone else. He kept his eyes on Jimin, staring hard. It's not that he was trying to be intimidating. Maybe he was.

Jinhwan knew it would be a little dangerous to let Jimin get him in the position he wanted—it wouldn't be enough to stay two steps ahead, he'd have to stay five.

He started the attack again, going down for Jimin's legs and attempting a take-down leg lock, which he surprisingly almost got locked in. But in the end Jimin managed to pull out of it, rolling away and standing up. Jinhwan remained on the floor, waiting for Jimin to come back to him. He'd been up on points at the end of the first and was leading still in the second, so he had to be careful that he didn't look careless, because that wasn't his style and Jimin might realize something was up.

Jimin came back in and Jinhwan reached for his arm, grabbing one sleeve and pulling him closer, trying to get his legs up so he could attain a guard. Jimin didn't get too far inside, but eventually Jinhwan managed to get both feet up at Jimin's hips, still reaching for his other arm, giving the appearance of going for a spider guard.

It was a tactic Jimin recognized, of course, and he twisted his arm out of Jinhwan's grip quickly before taking hold of his knees and trying to roll him to the side. This was the tricky part. He let Jimin slide close to him, trying to go for side guard. Jinhwan retained awareness of Jimin's hand on his lapel as he rolled away from him, ending up on his knees in turtle guard, with Jimin's arm slung across his back and holding to his gi. Jinhwan waited just long enough for Jimin to scurry forward, looking to take Jinhwan's suddenly exposed back.

That was proof enough for Jinhwan that Eric definitely wasn't teaching Jimin what he was currently learning with Youngbae, otherwise he might have questioned Jinhwan's move. Jinhwan timed it perfectly, waiting for Jimin to start looping his other arm around Jinhwan's back. Before he had a chance to do that Jinhwan reached back and grabbed Jimin's left leg, holding tight while he executed a shoulder roll, Jimin's left arm getting caught underneath Jinhwan's back as he rolled over him.

As they rolled out Jinhwan locked his feet around Jimin's leg and gripped his foot tightly, sitting up and bringing his other arm up to trap Jimin's leg. He pressed the bony part of his forearm into Jimin's Achilles tendon, while hyperextending his foot forward.

Jinhwan knew he had it locked in perfectly from the sounds of distress Jimin was making. Jimin tried to sit up, tried to shuffle forward to relieve a bit of pressure on his foot, but by then Jinhwan had his left foot shoved tight against Jimin's hip, blocking him from moving forward. Jimin struggled, trying to get leverage against Jinhwan's blocking foot, but Jinhwan kept it locked in tight and twisted Jimin's leg until the pain was unbearable.

Jimin tapped out and Jinhwan dropped his leg, rolling quickly to his side and springing to his feet. Youngbae was standing up, proud applause meeting Jinhwan. He shared a quick hug with his coach before returning to the mat, meeting Jimin in the middle with the official. Jinhwan was announced as the winner, and after that he turned back to Jimin, bowing in his direction before offering his hand. Jimin shook it before unexpectedly surging forward to envelop Jinhwan in a hug.

Jinhwan hugged back, a little surprised but going with it. When they pulled back Jimin smiled at him. “Ah, Jinhwan-ssi, that was an honour to face you!”

Jinhwan grinned and laughed a little. “It was a great fight! You were actually better than I expected in the first round.” Jinhwan admitted, and he grinned again when Jimin looked a little shy at the praise.

“Thank you! I've heard so much about you, and now that we've fought I understand the hype.”

Jinhwan was surprised at the comment. Who was talking about him?

Jimin seemed to notice his confusion. “Everyone at the club talks about you, about how good you are. They made a lot of comparisons when I joined, it honestly made me a little nervous about fighting you!” Jimin admitted with a laugh.

Jinhwan just smiled at him, amused at the news but also feeling a little bad for the kid. It was tough to shine when you were in someone else's shadow. It felt a little weird to think that he was the shadow. Jinhwan didn't realize he'd left such an impression. They moved off the mat together, standing on the sidelines as they set up for the brown belt final next. The medals would be presented after the black belt final.

They were joined by their respective teams, and Jinhwan couldn't help but grin at the look of surprise on Eric's face. “Been studying Telles, have you?” Eric asked.

“I'm surprised to hear you don't!” Youngbae teased.

“I guess we'll have to start now, won't we?” Eric replied, slinging an arm around Jimin's shoulders. “You guys both fought an excellent match, be proud of yourselves!”

“Thank you, hyung, but Jinhwan-ssi fought better in the end!” Jimin replied, and oddly enough it actually tugged at Jinhwan's protective instincts a little. Which was weird. He was never in the habit of feeling sorry for his opponents. Then again, he usually didn't have personal connections to them either.

“He did, but don't feel like you were lacking.” Eric told him. “You pressed him to try something new and unexpected, after all.”

“That's true,” Jinhwan added, smiling at them, “I took a chance with that, I hadn't quite perfected it in training, but I felt like I needed to do something special. You matched me too well in the start.” Once again Jimin looked a little shy at receiving the praise, and it actually warmed Jinhwan's heart a little.

“What have you done to this kid?” Eric laughed, looking at Youngbae. “I don't think I've ever heard him say something so nice after a fight!”

Jinhwan laughed at the comment, but then it made him wonder—did he really have that kind of a reputation?

“I don't know, to tell you the truth,” Youngbae replied, “did you fall in love recently, Jinan-ie?” Youngbae teased, and Jinhwan shook his head in protest.

“No!” He laughed in reply, looking from Youngbae to Eric. “I'm not in love, I'm not with anyone!”

“Are you sure? Because you're not usually this nice.” Youngbae replied.

“Hyung, you're making me look bad!” Jinhwan laughed, shaking his head at the both of them.

“Maybe it's because Jimin is smaller than you,” Eric replied, “makes you feel like you have to be nicer.”

“Ah, hyung!” Jimin whined, and it didn't sound quite so annoying to Jinhwan this time. They stayed together and chatted for a bit longer before Jinhwan left to go find his friends and family. He accepted a hug from Eric before going, and the warm feeling in his chest followed him all the way up into the stands, where he was finally met with his group.

Seiyeon was the first one to him again, and Jinhwan could tell from her eyes that she'd been crying. He was pretty sure they'd been happy tears, though.

“Jinan-ie,” she kissed his cheek before wrapping him in a hug, “I'm so proud of you! I can't believe how good you are!”

“Thanks, noona!” Jinhwan replied, kissing her back.

“Junhoe explained the moves to me during the match,” Seiyeon said, “it was really helpful! It's hard to understand what's going on a lot of the time.”

Jinhwan looked at Junhoe, who just tried to shrug it off. “Ah, it was no problem! I wanted to make sure she knew how good you really are.”

“Okay I just have to ask one thing,” Hanbin interrupted, reaching out to lay his hand across Junhoe's forehead, “are you well?”

Junhoe batted his arm away. “What? Of course! Can I not do something nice without you questioning it?”

“You're never this nice, though! You don't even explain moves to your own sister!”

“That's what you're supposed to do when she comes to watch me!”

“You don't have some ulterior motive, do you? I'm just concerned.” Hanbin caught the punch that Junhoe tried to hit his arm with, laughing as they struggled with each other.

Bobby looked at Jinhwan, sharing a grin as they shook their heads. “Why do I feel like we're the parents, taking our kids out for the day?” Bobby teased.

Hanbin abandoned his struggles with Junhoe to turn around and face Bobby. “Does that day out include you buying us dinner?” Hanbin grinned mischievously at Bobby, who knew what he was hinting at.

“Not if I can help it!” Bobby replied, but it was starting to look more and more like Hanbin might just win their bet. Bobby wasn't even really sure if he should be trying to win. Maybe he just ought to accept the loss and help Hanbin set them up. It looked like it was going to happen anyway, given how close they were getting. He was still surprised at how close they'd been during the weekend, especially after Junhoe's semi-final loss.

Was it really mutual attraction? Or just friendship that was developing a little more rapidly on the mat? Maybe he'd have to ask Jinhwan for an update on his feelings. He'd leave Junhoe to Hanbin.