Chapter 13

“You played so wonderfully,” Yuri gushed as she looked at Yena lovingly. The twelve girls all sat in a circle, each with a small table in front of them. They had decided to celebrate their school ranking first overall in the arts competition.

“I did say I was great at games,” Yena said not so modestly. She felt she was on cloud nine as remembered the looks of admiration from all their peers in the martial arts world when they announced the winners.

“I’m surprised you did so well,” Sakura said, shaking her head. “When we passed by, you didn’t look like you were doing too great.”

“That’s because you distracted me with your ,” Yena shot back, miffed. “You’re supposed to be quiet when you watch, and you didn’t even stay to see the end when I came back to win.”

“We were in a hurry to get to the archery range and you were playing so slowly.” Sakura drawled out the last word to emphasize how slow she had thought Yena was playing.

“We only left after Saku-chan told us that you regained the upper hand. You probably didn’t hear her, but she cheered so loudly that we had to cover . We decided to leave so that we wouldn’t distract you again.” Nako could see the two older girls narrowing their eyes at each other and knew that she should step in. Saku-chan was such a tsundere when it came to Yena Unnie. She was rewarded with the two girls looking away from each other blushing and each having a sudden coughing fit.

Wonyoung giggled at the cute interaction between her two older unnies. “I thought you played great too, Yena Unnie. It was thanks to you teaching me that I was able to understand just how great a player you are.”

“I think it was more amazing that you understood all those difficult strategies so quickly and then you were able to get Chaewon to understand it. It’s almost as if you willed it to happen.” Yena still couldn’t understand how their youngest member was able to pull off such a feat.

“The teachers at our school always said that our Wonyoung was special,” Yujin spoke up at overhearing the others talk about her maknae. “They said that she was one in a million. She was naturally gifted in divine arts and especially attuned to qi flows.”

“Nako too,” Sakura smiled, speaking up for her kouhai. “She was recruited by my mentor as soon as she saw her for those very same qualities”

Both Nako and Wonyoung looked at each other, blinking, not sure what their respective senpais were talking about. “I guess I do remember our teachers saying that, but I didn’t really appreciate what they meant by it. Doesn’t it just mean we mean we can learn and do some martials better?” Nako spoke up first, asking the question on both her and Wonyoung’s mind.

“They mean that you two are exceptionally good at synchronizing with other people,” Eunbi interjected, sending a warm smile to the two girls.

“Mmm, mmm!” Hyewon was in the midst of a giant bite of food, when she remembered her training session with Nako and pointed frantically at both Eunbi and Nako.

Eunbi grimaced at Hyewon’s unladylike mannerisms and was glad that they were given a private room at the high-class restaurant. “What I think Hyewon is trying to say with food in is that we both saw Nako’s amazing synchronization ability first hand.”

“That’s right! I think I felt the something strange when I was playing go with Wonyoung. But it was fleeting so I didn’t really think about it again, but I felt as if she was right in my head, showing me what to do,” Chaewon added, remembering the day that she practiced go with Yena and Wonyoung.

“Does that mean Nako and Wonyoung are the best candidates for when we decide who will be the central component when we do formations?” Hitomi asked aloud the question that was already being thought of by many of the others.

Eunbi shook her head. “Synchronicity is an important factor for sure, but not the only one. Every formation is different and how each of them work would change how we practice it and who goes where.”

“Yeah. If we did a formation that was heavier on the physical arts and lighter on qi arts, we might use Eunbi Unnie as the central figure for example. Sometimes it’s important for the central figure to be the person that best exemplifies the style of the formation.” Chaeyeon had been a martial artist for quite a few years and had moved around different schools, so was quite knowledgeable when it came to this topic.

“Even I could do it once,” Minju said timidly. She was just happy just being able to be a member of this team, but somewhere deep inside her dreamt of being in the forefront and leading their members into battle.

“Yeah, I thought you had what it took back then, and you still do even now,” Chaeyeon agreed enthusiastically, remembering when she and Minju were still examinees fighting for their lives and future.

“I always think of what kind of formation I would be good at leading,” Hitomi said, again putting to words that the quieter members were too shy in saying.

“Hitomi, you are so acrobatic and flexible. I think if we were practicing something that was stronger on the physical arts side with lots of movement and variations you would be great at it,” Minju blurted out as ideas started to come to her.

Hitomi was surprised at how in tune she was with Minju at times. She couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s enthusiasm. “I think we both have the same ideas.”

“Hitomi and Minju, you two are so creative,” Chaewon said adoringly to the two members she felt the closest to. “The last formation you two invented we haven’t even showed to the rest of the group yet and you guys are already thinking of a new one.”

“Yeah, you guys will be so impressed with what they came up with,” Yuri agreed. “We practiced it during our training trip. We were going to surprise you with the five-member version of it the next time we practiced together.”

“Hey, we did the same,” Wonyoung spoke up at the mention of their special training trip. “Me, Yujin, Sakura Unnie, and Chaeyeon Unnie worked on something new too. We changed a ‘solo’ martial arts technique that Sakura used to do into a ‘paired’ one.”

“If only we can decide on the name,” Yujin said wryly. They had probably spent more time arguing over the new name of the martial arts than on practicing it.

“I still think I’m right. It used to be called Maiden’s Kiss, so I think we should call the new one Maidens’ Dance,” Wonyoung pouted.

“And I still thinking Maiden’s Lament sounds more romantic,” Yujin argued back, before she realized it. “Sorry, sorry, I know we agreed to put it off for now.”

“Me, Nako, and Eunbi Unnie weren’t so ambitious to do anything like create our own martial arts skill. But, I do I want to say that we learned something new that Nako taught us. I’m so grateful that she and Eunbi Unnie put up with my selfish request.” Hyewon said, not wanting Nako and Eunbi’s efforts on her to go unacknowledged.

“Hyewon Unnie, that wasn’t selfish at all. You wanted to get better not for yourself but for us. And the skill I taught you two was very advanced. I was impressed with how well you two did by the end of the training trip.” Nako had been impressed with how high Hyewon’s and Eunbi’s qi levels improved when they challenged themselves in learning such a difficult and advanced technique. The gap between the rest of the girls and the two of them in terms of qi power had been quite high before the trip. However, if one were to look now, they would see that the gap was becoming non-existent.

“Hyu-, I mean, Hyewon Unnie has changed so much recently,” Yuri said while looking at Hyewon softly. “She used to be so stand-offish. But now, she’s so diligent. Even when she was supposed to be practicing for the poetry competition, she was practicing her martial arts.”

“Hyewon, I’m so proud of you.” Eunbi had felt ashamed for feeling hurt when Hyewon said she was training on her own. “You made me realize how selfish I was for not working on my own deficiencies. I used to think that it was okay that I was bad at qi arts and that I could make up for it by being good at other things. Seeing you work hard has made me want to work harder on the things that I lack too.”

“Unnie, we’ll get better together. And I’ll ask for help when I need it this time,” Hyewon promised.

Chaewon smiled as she watched her two unnies. The two of them had aired out their concerns one night at their dorm and it had brought them closer together than ever before. It was one of the few times that Chaewon had ever teared up. “Stop it you two. You’re going to make me cry again.”

“Chaewon cried?” Minju asked, taking a sudden interest in this turn in the conversation.

“She did,” Eunbi said affectionately. “She loves us a lot, more than she lets on. A lot of stress was piling up on her and she let it all out.”

“Eunbi Unnie, stop it,” Chaewon whined as everyone in the room directed their attention to her. She sighed as it looked like they were going to keep staring at her until she said something. “I think our late-night chat did bring up something that I think we’ve all been thinking about, but we haven’t really said out loud. I know that it’s been stressing me out a lot and that’s probably why I had my outburst that night.”

“That this won’t last forever?” Chaeyeon asked after a moment as silence filled the room. Although, she wasn’t there that night with Chaewon and the other girls, she knew what was always on her own mind.

“Yeah. I owe my old school a lot for all they’ve done for me. After I’ve learned all that I can from this school, I’ll have to go back and repay my debt to my teachers from that school.” Yena looked down, unable to meet the gazes of the other girls.

“Yena Unnie will leave?” Yuri asked in a little voice even though she already knew the answer. In truth, she also had to leave as her own former school was also expecting her to be back. She then looked over at their Japanese member who all stared back at her sadly. She found that she could look at them in the eyes and looked down. “I guess I knew that this couldn’t last. I guess I’ve always known that.”

“I-I-I don’t think that it’s a secret that I will need to go back to Japan and help rebuild my school when I’ve learned all I can as well.” Sakura was already normally an emotional girl and seeing Yena and Yuri with their heads down, brought tears to her eyes. Each of the girls were like family to her and she hated to see any of them in such a state.

Nako looked worriedly at Sakura as the older girl was still recovering from injury. “I will be of course going back with Saku-chan. While I love being here, I know it’s only temporary. I won’t forget any of you when I leave.” Nako found her eyes drifting towards their leader as she said the last sentence. She had always been drawn to powerful women, the first being her mentor, Sashi. Just like how she became a martial artist because of her mentor, she knew that she fell in love with the Korean style of martial arts because of Eunbi and her influence will forever be etched in Nako herself.

“My old school needs me too. We’re not very big or very famous, but they’ve made me who I am today,” Hitomi said as she smiled sadly at the other girls. Her eyes lingered over at Chaewon and she wondered how her life would have been different if the older girl had not broken her out of her shell.

“I think it’s fair to say that we all owe our former schools and that we will all be going back to them after this is all over,” Chaeyeon said as the other Korean girls remained silent with their heads bowed. As someone who had barely made it into the school, she was acutely aware of how incredibly amazing it was for the twelve of them to be there today. “Let’s just appreciate the time that we have left.”

“Guys, Chaeyeon is right. Let’s not worry too much about it right now. That time when we split up is probably still years away. While you all might be geniuses, there’s no way you can learn everything right away. Well Wonyoung might, but not the rest of you, right?” Yujin asked as she looked up. She knew first hand how dangerous it could be to be in a depressed state of mind and she didn’t want their members to go through the same thing that she did.

Minju looked up and managed to give a smile while looking at her roommate. This was the Yujin that she had come to adore. She was the mood maker of the group and she could see other girls start to look up as well. “Let’s listen to Chaeyeon and Yujin. The time that we have together could be short or it could be years and years in my case. I’ll probably be the one blowing out the candles when it’s all said and done.”

Wonyoung also smiled adoringly at Yujin. “I doubt I will be the first to learn everything. Yujin has my vote for being the first to do that. Minju might really be last though.” Wonyoung was surprised to find herself feeling pain in her chest at saying that last sentence. Even for the girl Wonyoung saw as a rival for Yujin, she felt the intense pain of separation even though it had yet to happen. She knew she would be a mess when it actually happen and all her unnies went their separate ways.

“Hmm, well what does everyone else think? Who will be the last to leave here? On the count of three, point at the person you think will be last,” Eunbi said, smiling as she watched the three younger girls turn tragedy into comedy. Even though she knew it must have hurt them a lot to talk about it, she was happy that they were able to face it head on. “One two three!”

Minju sighed dramatically as nine fingers were pointed at her aside from Sakura and Yena pointing at each other. “Uh, I feel empty winning this one.”

“I would keep you company. I wouldn’t leave until you left too. I might even sneak into your school after you,” Chaewon said, finding herself able to find the humor and laugh at her poor friend.

“Hmm, that’s a good one, Chaewon. Ignoring the school that you belong to, if you had to choose one person to chase after, who would it be?” Sakura asked to a chorus of ‘oohs’ as everyone looked at each other, some shyly, some mischievously. “One two three!”

A jumble of fingers shot out crisscrossing the room except one who didn’t point at anyone. “Uh, I can’t just choose one I want to go after. I want to chase after everyone. Can’t I do that?” Hyewon asked in a soft voice. She got her answer when everyone’s fingers suddenly switched and pointed at her.

“I got one. Who will be the one that cries the hardest when the first one leaves?” Chaeyeon cackled. “One two three!”

Author’s note:

This one was difficult to write. The most in a scene before this was six so going to twelve was hard. I didn’t actually expect this to be the last chapter since I have a few scenarios in my head still. But as I was writing it, I felt anything else after would be filler as I got to tell the story I initially set out to write. I never like to say anything is over for sure, but if I ever write more on this story, it would be a different story. So, I decided to end this ‘arc’ until something inspires me to go further. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Let me know what you thought!