With a smile plastered on her face, Rena let the referee raise her hand in the air. She ran her tongue across her lips, tasting the blood and sweat, and her heart throbbed on her ears as the audience screamed for her name. 

Another night, another victory. 

She walked down the ring, back to the restrooms, cleaning her neck and face with a towel. 

“Good fight.”  

The unknown voice made Rena stop on her tracks and turn. The girl, a head taller than Rena, with broad shoulders and buffed arms, leaned against the wall, looking down at her with the corner of her lips raised. 

“You fight pretty well for someone your size.” 

Rena clenched her fists and took a step closer. “The  d’you just say?”  

“Why do you do it? Fame? Money? To raise your ego?” The girl continued. 

“That’s none of your ing business.” Rena spat. 

“Look out, we have a bad girl here.” She laughed. 

“Get out of my ing face before I-" 

“Before you kick my ? I’m not here to fight. I’m here to make you an offer. Join our kickboxing team.”  

Rena held her gaze and scoffed, shaking her head, and turned, resuming her way to the restrooms.  

“Is that a no?” She asked.  

“Of course it’s a no.” Rena glared back at her.  

“And why is that?” 

“And since when do I owe you an explanation? Now get the out. You can’t even be here.” 

“Are you worried about my well-being?” The girl giggled, crossing her arms.  

Without an answer, Rena flipped on her heels.  

--- 

“Another spectacular performance.” 

Rena stopped. That voice…  

“What the are doing here outside?” 

“You said I couldn’t be inside yesterday, so I was waiting for you here.” She gave her that smile.  

With her jaw dropped, Rena sneered. “I won’t join your stupid loser kickboxing team.” 

“Oh, I know. I came here because I realized I haven’t introduced myself yesterday. My name is Kim Minkyung. Nice to meet you, Rena.” She took a step closer and offered a hand.  

Rena stared at her hand, then at her eyes, and then walked away.  

“You sure are a rude brat.” 

Rena’s body jerked back, her hand aiming for Minkyung’s collar. But she was fast enough, reaching for Rena's hand and locking it in a hand shake. 

“Predictable.” She smirked. “Typically aggressive fighter with the rough past who snaps on just about anyone who challenges the mask she puts out for others. That’s a bit of an overdone persona, don’t you think? You can do better.”  

“W-What the you on about? What do you even know?” Rena drew her eyebrows together, unable to let her hand free from hers.  

“Your attitudes speak in your place." 

Nothing came out from Rena's throat, except a low frustrated grunt, as she finally released her hand from Minkyung's grip. 

"If you think you know a thing about me, you're dead wrong." Rena said close to her face. 

"I'll find out. Well, it was a good conversation, Rena. Go home and rest. I wanna see your fight tomorrow. I've heard Friday night fights are... intense." Minkyung winked, bumping into Rena's shoulder as she walked past her. 

With a dropped jaw and a deep frown, Rena found not blurting out a single word once more. She turned, and in the exact same second, Minkyung turned too, meeting her eyes. 

"Good night." Rena heard her voice before she walked away. 

Rena stood every day in front of women twice her size to fight them, but still, Minkyung's presence and aura was way stronger and much more intimidating.  

--- 

Rena entered the ring and looked at her opponent. A short haired woman at least two meters tall, arms that might be capable of snapping her in half. Gulping, she told herself she could do it. She had to do it. There was no way she would lose the reward of the night.  

She was almost a hundred percent sure more than half of the people there that night bet on her opponent. And that only boost her determination to do good, to show all those who watched that she was the best fighter, no matter who her opponent was. 

Before the referee counted down for the match to start, Rena scanned the crowd. Was she supposed to be surprised by Minkyung leaning against a wall, staring at her with a crooked smile?  

And if her heart was already beating hard, now it hurt on her chest. She would not disappoint the ones rooting for her, and certainly Minkyung. She had to show that nosy who she was trying to mess with. 

--- 

Rena was faster, she was smarter, and that was what most fighters lacked. 

That was the reason why she, once again, was the winner of the night. Her agile, small figure worked wonders in her advantage against an opponent much taller than her, who obviously struggled with balancing after Rena’s blows to her knees and center. 

Her eyes wandered to where Minkyung was before, and her smile faded when she didn't find her. 

After washing her hands and face, Rena rushed outside, her head turning to where she was the night before, waiting for her. 

"Looking for someone?" 

Rena almost tripped on herself from how fast she turned.  

"N-No, why would I?" 

"Sure." Minkyung smirked, crossing her arms. "Congrats on winning tonight. Such a shame you're wasting your talent on these fights." She sighed. 

"Is this about me joining the kickboxing team?" 

"I didn't say that, but, are you interested?" 

"No."  

"Why?" 

"Because I'm not a kickboxing kinda gal." 

"You fight just like a kickboxing kinda gal." 

No answer for that one, and all Rena could do was look away. 

“Imagine what you could do with proper training. You would be our best fighter, you could represent our country and be a true hero for those who love this sport. Why don’t you just give it a shot? You have nothing to lose.” 

Rena tapped her foot on the ground, biting on her cheek.  

“I’ll think about it.” She said, not meeting Minkyung’s eyes and walking past her. 

“What about a fight?” Minkyung blurted, making Rena stop on her tracks. “If I win, you come with me and you’ll let me show you what our team can do for you. Do you do it for the money? Once you go professional, you can make a lot more than you do here, and you won’t be risking your health and your freedom. We have access to the best sports medical teams in the country and we’ve recently gained considerable funding. It’s the best choice you can possibly make.” 

A smirk crept on Rena’s lips, as she turned around. “About this fight... What if I win?”  

Minkyung took a step closer, standing right in front of Rena, so close she had to look down at her. “You’ll get a kiss.” 

Rena scoffed in an attempt to hide the fact that she was about to choke on her own breath. “A kiss?” 

“Yes, a kiss. Do you think I didn’t notice what kind of effect I have on you? You may fool everyone with that cool attitude, but you don’t fool me.”  

Without a word to say, Rena let her eyes widen. 

“Meet me here tomorrow evening. Good night.” Minkyung winked, and just before leaving, she leaned and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.  

She was right. Minkyung was so, so right, it made Rena want to punch her for reading her so easily. Gladly she would have that opportunity the next day.  

--- 

Maybe Rena wanted to lose on purpose, because going with Minkyung to a kickboxing practice seemed less scary than a kiss.  

Pff, scratch that.  

She hated to admit it, but a kiss seemed like a great reward. Plus she absolutely had to prove to her that she did NOT have an effect on her. 

And Minkyung wouldn’t be such a strong opponent, right? 

Rena wished. 

Minkyung was fast and could somehow predict her every movement. Right, she had watched Rena fighting before. It wasn’t fair, but Rena liked a challenge.  

She didn’t normally attack first, instead, she waited for Rena to launch, so she could block or dodge and then retaliate. And it didn’t matter how fast Rena tried to be, she couldn’t avoid her punches. 

Sweat dropped from Rena’s forehead as her chest rose with each heavy breathing. 

“Is that your all?” Minkyung smirked, after punching her ribs and kicking her thigh so fast Rena couldn’t even try to block. “I thought you were better from what I saw.”  

Rena bit on her tongue. Why was she so intimidated by her? She looked straight into Minkyung’s eyes and gulped. 

“You’ve seen nothing.”  

“Show me, then.” 

Rena balled her fists and drew her eyebrows together, ready to strike again. Since Minkyung always managed to block or dodge her blows, Rena tried to fake a kick from her left side just to punch her from her right. She thought for a second she could finally land a blow, but she could only feel the world around her spin as her body fell to the ground with the punch Minkyung hit right below her jaw. 

“You did well.” Rena heard her saying close to her ear. “Can you stand?” 

With her head still spinning, Rena opened her eyes to find Minkyung squatting next to her.  

“I-Is this over already?” 

Minkyung chuckled. “Yes.”  

Rena sat on the ground with her legs crossed and face down. Instead of helping her stand, Minkyung sat beside her. A hand came to rest on Rena's leg, making her meet her eyes. 

"I didn't lie when I said you're a great fighter, Rena. I wouldn’t be trying so hard to convince you if I wasn’t so sure. You're strong, fast, and you have the determination a fighter needs to have. But you lack technique. You're still too reckless, your punches and kicks could be much fiercer and precise with the help of a good coach. And I can be that person for you. Will you come with me?" 

"A bet is a bet. I lost, I'll go." 

"No. I don't want you to come just because you lost. I want you to come because you want to." 

Rena stared into her eyes until a small smile crept on her lips. 

"Wanna know why I started fighting?” Rena blurted. 

Minkyung remained silent and looked away for a few seconds before looking back at her, nodding.  

“I was one of the top student back at high school, but it wasn’t enough for my parents. They wanted me to be the best, always number one. The pressure was suffocating. I couldn’t do anything else but study, but still, my parents were never happy. If that wasn’t enough, I was bullied at school by the other kids. They either took my notes and if I refused they would beat me up, or they made fun of me because I was just a short and weak little girl who couldn’t stand up for herself. If I tried to report them, I would end up being the one to blame because their rich parents would come to school to protest and defend their poor child, and of course the principal didn’t want the rich kids’ parents to get a bad impression of the school.” 

Only when Rena stopped to breathe for a second, she noticed Minkyung was holding her hand. She tried not to smile too widely, but too late, Minkyung was already smiling back at her. 

“A-As I was saying,” Rena cleared . “I was going mad, really. I didn’t know what to do. It was a nightmare at school, it was a nightmare at home, I couldn’t sleep because of the anxiety. There was a time I wanted to actually die, but I thought why did I have to be the one suffering, when I did nothing wrong? I didn’t deserve it, did I?” 

Rena took another breath and gulped. “I rebelled. I promised myself I would get strong and wouldn’t let anyone hurt me again. So one day I went up to this really large kid who always seemed to beat bullies into a pulp. We got along and he was the one who introduced me to this whole... business. He taught me everything he knew every day after class, when parents thought I was going to cram school. It was the first time I felt good in a long time. Fighting and working out released so much stress. The day the kids messed with me again, they regretted it. I was not the same as before, I knew how to defend myself, so I got my revenge. I beat them up, just enough for them to understand they couldn’t mess with me again.”  

“What a punk.” Minkyung teased, earning a punch on the arm. “I was joking!”  

Rena gave her a small smile and continued. “It didn’t take long for their parents to show up. They demanded a meeting with the principal and my parents. Well, they weren’t happy, and adding that to the fact that my grades were dropping, I got scolded at home. They were furious, they yelled at me and told me to apologize to the kids. What the did they know? I laughed at them, refused to apologize and said I didn’t care about the grades. Then my father hit me. That was the last night I spent at home.” 

Minkyung shook her head. “How can a father do that?” 

“I ask myself the same. I decided I didn’t want to live under the same roof as someone who didn’t respect me anymore, so I left. I had my savings, so I would be able to survive until I got a job or something. But then I thought that maybe I could earn money fighting, so I asked that friend of mine if he thought I was finally ready to fight by myself, and he gave me his blessing. I haven’t stopped since then.” 

“What about school? Did you drop out?” 

“No. I actually wanted to finish high school, but every time I showed up with my face or hands bruised, my teachers would ask me what happened and why I was getting myself in problems, until they told my parents. They asked me to come back home, that they were sorry, but I didn’t. I was living better alone, to be honest. I had my own money I earned from the fights, I didn’t have them bugging and pressuring me all the time. I could even study better and got my grades back up. I finished high school but decided not to go into college, because I truly liked fighting. It made me feel good because there, I could be the best.”  

Rena looked straight into Minkyung’s eyes and smiled. “Until you showed up and proved me I’m not really the best. I never lost a fight so fast, you know. It can only mean I'm not good as I thought I was, and I wanna get better." 

Minkyung returned the smile and moved closer. The proximity made Rena's heart jump, but her body stayed still. Only her eyes moved down to her lips for a split second, but that was enough for Minkyung to smirk and let out a small chuckle. Rena rolled her eyes and was about to look away when she was stopped by a hand on her face and a pair of lips on hers. 

It was so sudden Rena didn't have time to react. 

"I knew you were not that aggressive and cold person you made yourself look like. Your story is really inspiring, how you had to fight your way alone when you were about to hit rock bottom. You were your own hero, and I’m sure you’ll be our new hero.” Minkyung grinned, standing up and giving her hand to help Rena. 

Rena felt her face burning, as she held her hand, sure that Minkyung was laughing from how silly she looked. 

"Let’s go, Rena. I can’t wait to show you around and train with you.” 

“Y-Yebin.” 

Minkyung stopped and looked back. “Hm?” 

“It’s my real name. Kang Yebin.”  

The smile that always made Yebin’s heart race showed up in Minkyung’s lips. “Cute.”