Throughout her twenty-one years of life, Joohyun had never been in a serious romantic relationship despite having been courted by numerous suitors, male and female alike. She had given them chances, yet she had never felt anything more for them. Besides, Joohyun was certain that if they knew about Joohyun’s weirdness and her love for staying at home, they would become bored of her easily. Yet, one person made her want to try for a love relationship, and this person was extremely talented in something which Joohyun was interested in, martial arts.

“Come on! Follow up with a right hook! Do it!” Joohyun shouted as she watched the intense mixed martial arts match, nearly leaping up from her sofa in frustration.

Joohyun had not expected her action to startle her usually calm junior and friend, Seulgi.

Seulgi jumped a little and spilled some popcorn from her bowl. Bad idea to watch a martial arts match with Joohyun and eat popcorn at the same time.

“Unnie, really! If only the guys knew you were such a martial arts enthusiast, they would have steered clear of you,” Seulgi whined.

“I know, that’s why I steered clear of them first,” Joohyun said smugly and jumped again as she shouted, “that could have been blocked with her forearm! Why is she like that?!”  

“Joohyun, seriously, you should sign up for some classes,” Seulgi commented as she shoved a fistful of popcorns into .

“You know I am as soft as a marshmallow, I won’t be signing up for any classes, especially not anything like boxing, that is too intense,” Joohyun declined and waved the girl off.

Little did she know that Seulgi already had something in mind.  

“We can go for something safer then… like Taekwondo! Look, there are a lot of safety precautions and rules for Taekwondo…” Seulgi exclaimed as she pulled out a coloured pamphlet from her bag.

With all smiles, Seulgi waved the pamphlet before Joohyun before reading through it herself.

“I am surprised you have something like that with you all the time,” Joohyun commented, peeked over but looked away quickly, feigning disinterest.

Seulgi clicked her tongue before proceeding on to tempt the senior. “Oh look… they have a school nearby and they are one of the most established clubs.”

Joohyun rolled her eyes and shifted herself away from Seulgi. However, for some undisclosed reasons, Seulgi was exceptionally persistent in her efforts to persuade Joohyun. “They even have free trial sessions.”

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Joohyun finally gave in and asked. “You sound very practiced, Kang Seulgi. Tell me truthfully, why do you want to pick up Taekwondo all of a sudden and why that school?”

Seulgi’s eyes darted about but Joohyun had clamped her cheeks and forced her to look at the senior. “Why?” Joohyun demanded again.

“U-Um… because they have very cool-looking club members,” Seulgi said and Joohyun could tell it was only a partial confession.

“Who in particular is cool-looking?” Joohyun pressed on but Seulgi had squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

“Fine, I will find out for myself then,” Joohyun said and released the girl’s face.

Which was why, Joohyun had signed up for that cursed Taekwondo trial lesson with Seulgi.

Joohyun felt like escaping upon seeing the members of the club. Almost all of them were tall, slender, and looked extremely fit. Then she felt slightly more relieved when she spotted a female with a shorter stature amongst them. Joohyun could not catch a good glimpse of the girl because she was really very small-sized and was always behind the other taller Taekwondo members but when Joohyun finally did, her heart began beating oddly.

The girl was so adorable, so much so that Joohyun could not help but stare at her.

Joohyun soon found out that her name was Son Seungwan, as per embroidered on her Black Belt. Black Belt?! Joohyun took a double take at the tiny-looking girl.

Joohyun would have laughed at the absurdity of the image of this Seungwan girl kicking other people’s asses. Then as if to mock Joohyun’s thoughts, Seungwan was pushed forward by the others to do a short demo which involved a lot of complicated moves and flips. Later, Joohyun found herself laughing at her own stupidity for thinking that this short girl was non-lethal.

Seungwan was… for a lack of better description, incredible.

Every single move she made was sharp, powerful and swift. As she leapt into the air and did consecutive spinning kicks, Joohyun’s own heart leapt and her mind spun along with her. 

Thoroughly enraptured by Seungwan, Joohyun had completely forgotten to find out which cool-looking member had caught Seulgi’s attention and the lesson went on with Joohyun trying her very best to catch glimpses of Seungwan. Be it whether Seungwan was teaching others or simply taking a sip out of her bottle, Joohyun found her eyes following her and Joohyun only peeled her gaze away from Seungwan when she had looked back. Seungwan looked back at her!

That trial lesson was Joohyun’s first encounter with Seungwan and also the first time Joohyun had fangirled over someone. However, Joohyun soon realised that she would see Seungwan many more times because she discovered that Seungwan studied in the same university as them. It was a crude but rather beautiful discovery, for Joohyun at the very least.

Joohyun hated dramatic situations or anything that  casted too much attention on her, but it still happened. It always happens because as Seulgi would describe, Joohyun’s beauty was otherworldly. She had won in the genetic lottery. She had bright, almond-shaped eyes accentuated by equally beautifully arched brows, a rather prominent nose, and to top it all off, a rosy, cupid-shaped lips.

Seulgi had said it was unforgivable for anyone to walk past Joohyun and not take a second glance but Joohyun did not want second glances, at least not by the general public. But perhaps… she had found someone she wanted a second glance from…

Joohyun shook her mind, it was exactly a week since they had gone for the trial lesson and they only had two more to go. This meant that she would only see Seungwan two more times. Seungwan who was entirely focused on her demo but stayed quiet throughout the remainder of the trial lesson. Seungwan who was so naturally charming, staying in Joohyun’s mind even after a week had passed. Seungwan who seemed… a little melancholic… It bothered Joohyun a little why Seungwan had appeared that way and Joohyun became curious.

During that moment of fleeting thoughts, Joohyun had not watched where she was going and almost accidentally bumped into someone, someone whom Joohyun would want to avoid at all cost. The popular male in school, Donghae. As untimely as it was, Donghae was with his bunch of popular but rowdy male friends.

Joohyun had had a run in with the male earlier in the year after the boy had brazenly confessed to her before everyone else but Joohyun had rejected him coldly.

“Hey, where are you going,” Donghae asked, a sly smirk playing over his lips as he repositioned himself to block Joohyun’s pathway.

“Class,” Joohyun replied curtly.

“’Class’, she says, still so smug after all these times,” Donghae remarked, acid dripping from his words.

Joohyun was in no mood to deal with men like Donghae, never was she in the mood.

“Please excuse me, I need to get to class,” Joohyun said again, more firmly this time round.

Donghae did the unexpected and grabbed her hand, roughly, “what class? You can afford to miss one lesson, go out with me.”

His male friends, instead of intervening and dissuading Donghae’s ridiculous acts, only stood around and snickered, passing equally scathing remarks at the girl.

“Hey, it’s Donghae asking you out, you should be honoured.”

“Donghae rejected two girls yesterday, doesn’t that say something?”

“Come on, Joohyun, a girl as beautiful as you would fit Donghae.”

Joohyun was so done and was about the give those sneering men a piece of her mind before someone else beat her to it.

“Girl says she needs to get to class,” a voice, rich in its tone and authority, echoed from behind.

It was Seungwan. Joohyun had to take a double take to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her. Son Seungwan?!

“Which part of it do you guys not understand?” Seungwan said again.

If this was a drama, Joohyun was glad she was in it. Seungwan was like her knight in shining armour coming to her rescue, or perhaps not.

“Who are you?” Donghae asked enunciating each syllable clearly as if in mockery.

Seungwan gave a wintry smile, “someone who cannot stand acts of bullying.”

Seungwan… Despite knowing that Seungwan had a Black Belt in Taekwondo, Joohyun could not help but fear that the girl might agitate the men and invite harm to herself.

Donghae’s eyes widened for a second, along with the other males at the girl’s bravado. One of them grabbed Seungwan by her wrist and he shook it as he whispered a warning. Before the man knew it, he was a squealing mess lying on the ground as Seungwan had counter grabbed his wrist and twisted it so hard it made a crack sound.

“Self-defense,” Seungwan stated menacingly before she strode up towards Joohyun and stared at Donghae’s hand which was still on Joohyun’s one. Some sort of recognition entered Donghae’s eyes and murmurings broke out amongst the other males.  

‘Black belt, Son Seungwan’, they seemed to say.

Donghae released Joohyun’s hand immediately, as if dropping a hot potato, after getting the hint from Seungwan’s deathly looks.

The males left them alone later, with one of them cradling his injured arm. Joohyun was about to mutter a ‘thank you’ to Seungwan but the girl had simply turned to leave.

Since then, Joohyun had seen Seungwan several more times over the week in campus and Joohyun’s heart would pick up speed every time. However, Seungwan merely gave a nod or tilt of her head to acknowledge Joohyun’s presence whenever they crossed paths.

“Seulgi, do you remember Seungwan?”

“Oh, the Taekwondo pro? Yes, what about her?” Seulgi asked innocently.

“Do you know she is in our university?”

That caught Seulgi’s attention for a moment but not for the reason Joohyun had expected, “of course, Joohyun! She got a lot of medals for our school and is in the Taekwondo national team besides being in the club!”

“Eh?!” Joohyun responded with unmasked surprise.

Seulgi nodded her head and continued on excitedly. “She is in the same batch as me, and is doing very well academically too. I also heard that she actually practices other martial arts, but I don’t know specifically what else she does. Whatever it is, Seungwan is pretty much like a Superstar amongst the cohort. I thought you already knew all of that.”

Joohyun absorbed all the information and realised it only piqued her curiosity even more. Before she spoke, Seulgi teased again.

“Oh! Are you interested in Seungwan? Maybe she practices boxing too! Then she would totally be your type,” Seulgi exclaimed, not caring if they were in the school canteen.

Joohyun had to tug at her friend’s sleeves to quieten her down.

“Anyway the next trial session is tomorrow, you can get to see Seungwan again.”

That was true, she could see Seungwan soon but Joohyun denied that she had a crush on Seungwan, especially not after Seungwan seemed to not have any interest in her.

Sadly, Seungwan was not there at the next trial session and when Seulgi had asked for the Taekwondo expert’s whereabouts on Joohyun’s behalf, they found out that Seungwan was down for competition that day.

Fortunately, without Seungwan there as distraction, Joohyun learnt that the cool-member that had attracted Seulgi was a man named Jongin.

Jongin, like Seungwan, was pretty reserved as well. However, when he was forced by the other club members to do a tour of their School, he had not rejected. It was during the tour of the Taekwondo School that Joohyun got to learn just how big of a superstar Seungwan was. There were rows and rows of portraits of her. Seungwan had medals hung around her neck in almost all of them.

“Impressive right? Senior Seungwan is a natural at sweeping medals,” a fellow Blackbelt by the name of Joy said. “She was so good at Kyorugi but too bad she only sticks to Poomsae Competitions now.”

During their first session, Joohyun had learnt that Taekwondo had two main types of competition, Poomsae, which referred to the execution of a patterned series of Taekwondo techniques and Kyorugi, which referred to a sparring competition between two individuals. 

“W-Why?” Joohyun found herself asking suddenly.

Joy seemed surprised at Joohyun’s interest in Seungwan but only gave a shrug and an ambiguous smile after.

Seungwan had been there for the third and last session but perhaps it did not matter because Joohyun had already decided to sign up to become a member at their school. Seulgi had joined her too. It was not surprising since Seulgi had told Joohyun of how much more charismatic she found Jongin after the trial sessions.

Joohyun even went a step further and joined the Taekwondo club in school because she knew Seungwan was in it. It was all Joohyun could ask for, to be near Seungwan as often as possible but at the same time, Joohyun was finding it difficult to bear. Seungwan was… to put it mildly, distant but undoubtedly a person with very good character and that made her fall harder for the Taekwondo senior.

After Joohyun had gotten her Yellow Belt, skipping a belt-level, she had joined the others in more intensive training. Once, Joohyun got so exhausted from one of their first physical training, the girl had puked and almost fell unconscious. That was when their series of interactions became more intimate. Seungwan had rushed Joohyun to the school’s clinic, carrying her on her back and looked after her tenderly, or as tenderly as Seungwan was capable of. It was evident that Seungwan was slightly pissed and Joohyun had to find an opportunity to speak.  

“You should not have pushed yourself so hard,” Seungwan had said firmly.

Joohyun took the chance and smiled sheepishly as she replied, “but I want to keep up.”

Seungwan shrugged, “well… you are doing fine as you are. If you injure your body, it will take even longer for you to catch up.”

“But I…” Joohyun tried to argue but her attempts were stopped by Seungwan.

“No more buts… just rest.”

Seungwan had stayed with Joohyun until she had gotten better albeit having fallen asleep. Seungwan had been seated in the attendant chair and had pillowed her head on her arms which were on the Joohyun’s patient’s bed. Joohyun had awoken to Seungwan’s face almost next to her and felt her heart beating so quickly it was nearly bruising her chest and making her light-headed once more. Goodness… Seungwan is so… beautiful…  

Seungwan woke up soon after and found Joohyun staring at her as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Feeling better already?” Seungwan asked before a yawn broke out from .

So beautiful and cute…  

Joohyun nodded her head urgently and for the first time, she saw Seungwan’s lips curve into a smile because of her. “Good,” Seungwan had said as she helped Joohyun carefully down from the bed.

This moment was forever engraved upon Joohyun’s mind because despite Seungwan’s constant nags, the girl had showed that she was very concerned about Joohyun through her actions.

It occurred later to Joohyun that despite Seungwan being her senior in Taekwondo, Joohyun was still a senior in the campus but Seungwan had treated Joohyun like a little girl to be cared for nonetheless and to be truthful, Joohyun liked it.

The second time Joohyun had received Seungwan’s care was because she had injured herself, in their Taekwondo school. Joohyun had already obtained a green belt by that time, having skipped another grade and was moving on to practicing more advanced kicking techniques.

Everyone had gathered around Joohyun but Seungwan had put herself in charge of taking care of Joohyun’s injury because she was the most senior member that day.

Joohyun had squealed when Seungwan tested her injury and saw the Taekwondo senior’s eyes widened.

“Normal icing won’t work, call a cab, Jongin, I am taking Joohyun to the clinic,” Seungwan had instructed and the tall, tanned male sprang into action immediately.

In the meantime, Seungwan had gotten a cold compress from their ice box and pressed it against the area of swelling gently. During that entire time, Joohyun’s eyes had not left Seungwan’s face, her beautiful and caring side profile was drawing the already-bewitched Joohyun even closer. Even if time had stopped at this moment, Joohyun would not mind a single bit despite her ankle hurting.          

Like before, Seungwan had stayed with her throughout and even offered Joohyun her arm to grab on as the doctor bandaged her ankle. Joohyun wanted to appear braver before Seungwan but it was so painful, especially after the adrenaline had worn off and was thankful that Seungwan was really patient with her, even offering words of comfort during the entire process.     

Seungwan had sent Joohyun all the way home and was nearly flustered when Joohyun’s mother had invited her in for dinner. A flustered Seungwan was new and extremely adorable to look at. Joohyun had thought it would be a quiet dinner but it had turned out much livelier than expected and by the end of it, Joohyun’s younger sister, Yeri, was so fond of Seungwan that she had wanted to join Taekwondo too. Fortunately, Yeri was all talks and no action if not Joohyun would have prevented it herself.

Still, the dinner had turned out pretty well and Seungwan had thanked her family politely for their generosity. Joohyun limped to the doorsteps in spite of Seungwan’s protests to see their guest off. It was a special moment and the two of them lingered at the doorway as Joohyun looked into Seungwan’s eyes. Seungwan looked troubled, as she usually was, but even more so that night. 

“Go home safely,” Joohyun spoke softly, there was a tinge of longingness in her voice.

“Rest your ankle well, and seriously stop pushing yourself so hard,” Seungwan cautioned.

“I just wanted to improve myself really quickly,” Joohyun defended.

“You are so incredibly stubborn,” Seungwan scolded then added something in a lower voice which Joohyun thought sounded like, ‘just like her’.

Joohyun had wanted to clarify what Seungwan had said at the end but the Taekwondo senior had given Joohyun a pat on her head, told her to rest well and turned to leave.

That night, Joohyun did not rest well. Firstly, because she was so frustrated with Seungwan’s cloistered self and secondly, she did not know what that pat from Seungwan had meant.

Before long, six months flew by. Joohyun was already a Blue Belt holder by then. She also got super close to Seungwan but there were still some parts of Seungwan that remained hidden from her and Joohyun was dying to know. Joohyun eventually found out part of it unintentionally.

It was a Sunday and the Taekondo school was usually closed on that day but Joohyun had keys to the school and she somehow learnt that Seungwan always went back for extra practices. A special visitor had been waiting outside their Taekwondo school one day. Joohyun had bumped into the person at the school’s doorsteps.

Usually, Joohyun would have minded her own business but it was impossible to not ask this person who had looked so hesitant about her reason for being at that place. Joohyun really did not mean to be rude but it was really unusual for the girl to be there, especially since… she was in a wheelchair.

“H-Hi, may I help you with anything?” Joohyun asked uncertainly.

The girl’s brows rose a little, “oh… hi… actually… no, not really. I am just waiting for someone”

Joohyun could not help but find this girl oddly familiar and the girl seemed to be examining her as well. Joohyun soon found herself observing the girl more closely and realised that the girl, despite being in a wheelchair, had looked pretty athletic. She could perhaps pass off as one of the members in the Taekwondo school if only she was not in the wheelchair. Before Joohyun could recall however, Seungwan had appeared at the doorstep and froze upon seeing Joohyun.

“Hey Seungwan,” the girl in the wheelchair greeted with a wide smile.

“Hey, you’re earlier than expected,” Seungwan replied the girl then turned to Joohyun and said, “why are you here on a Sunday? You should be getting plenty of rest for your upcoming tournament.”

Joohyun’s heart leapt at Seungwan’s words. On the surface Seungwan might have sounded harsh but Joohyun had been with Seungwan long enough to know that that was Seungwan’s way of showing concern. Joohyun wondered if she should have said something but the girl had replied to Seungwan instead.

The girl in the wheelchair giggled and Seungwan whipped her head around to cast her a death glare. “What are you laughing about.”

“Well… Seungwan still nags at others as much as ever,” the girl teased. “Anyway, can we go in already? I’ve waited out here for so long.”

Joohyun could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy at the girl’s easiness with Seungwan.

“Well… who asked you to be so much earlier,” Seungwan scolded and was about to push the girl in before the girl halted her with a raised hand.

The girl gave Seungwan a wry smile before speaking, “I can help myself.”

Seungwan shrugged and stood aside to let the girl through the door.

“By the way, I am Jennie, I was a member of this club,” the girl stated and wheeled herself in.

Joohyun looked to Seungwan who had pursed her lips. Seungwan seemed to be considering something before she spoke to Joohyun. “Come on in but try not to pay too much attention to Jennie’s… condition, she does not appreciate it.”

Joohyun nodded like an obedient child and was thankful for Seungwan’s warning because Joohyun later learnt about Jennie’s rather feisty temper.

“Seriously, Seungwan, stop trying to help me around, I still remember this place plenty well,” Jennie had scolded Seungwan.  

Later Joohyun also found out why Jennie had looked familiar. It was because she was in some of the framed photos in the school as well and Joohyun felt her stomach going queasy. Jennie had been a blackbelt and like Seungwan, was a medallist. It made Joohyun wonder why the girl had ended up in a wheelchair but reckoned it would not be polite to ask during their first meeting.

“I looked pretty cool back then, don’t I?” Jennie had asked Joohyun as she stared up at a portrait, of her holding up a medal. Seungwan was in it as well, it was for a group Poomsae competition. The date beneath it was 2016, two years ago from today’s date.

“Oh, don’t you start reminiscing,” Seungwan said, her expression darkening. Jennie regarded her with a raised brow and was about to say something before Joohyun interjected them.

“You still look cool.”

Jennie’s brows rose even higher then the girl sputtered into laughter. “Seungwan, you should have told me Joohyun was a humorous person.”

Joohyun blushed at first but later became surprised at how Jennie had known her name. When Joohyun looked towards Seungwan, she saw that the Taekwondo senior had acquired a look of discomfort.

“Oops… I guess Joohyun did not know that you spoke to me about her? Sorry, Seungwan,” Jennie said cheekily.

It was the first time Joohyun saw Seungwan’s face redden, along with the tip of her ears and her neck.

Joohyun did not realise that she had been holding her breath until she gasped from the lack of air. 

“Hope I did not make things awkward for you two. Seungwan was just telling me how much you resembled me, in some way or other,” Jennie later clarified.

“Thanks Jennie, but damage done,” Seungwan hissed through her teeth.

The action from Seungwan was so cute that Joohyun began laughing and the two turned to her.

“Yeap, she does resemble me, laughing during inappropriate situations,” Jennie said with a toothy grin.

That night, Joohyun could not sleep as she was reminded that Seungwan had been talking about her, to her friend. Joohyun was so close to exploding with joy and she had to cover her face with a pillow to squeal into it. Even so, her mother who had just walked past her room had heard her and asked if she was alright.

Joohyun had replied that she was okay but was feeling a little too excited about her upcoming competition. That was a half-truth because her mentor for her upcoming Poomsae competition was Seungwan. However, something still nagged at the back of Joohyun’s mind as she figured how Seungwan’