Seulgi woke up early that morning. She prepared her backpack with a bottle of water, her kimono, her phone charger and a few things she thought she might need. Sooyoung arrived right on time, being all nice with her, just like her parents. 

The gymnasium was big. There were two open mats for the competitions, a bunch of people wearing suits, who she thought were the referees, and the students were reunited in one of the mats. “Come on, we need to do the Dojo Kun.”

They got up to the mat just like the others, taking a place behind since they were the last ones to arrive. An older man spoke the Dojo Kun on the mic and everyone repeated out loud, there was a woman taking pictures of them. The man said something else Seulgi didn't quite pay attention to, and everyone left the mat.

She noticed a wall with the flag of the association, with medals inside boxes next to it. There was also a man selling the association’s t-shirt for the athletes. Seulgi noticed almost everyone had one, even Sooyoung, but she forgot to bring money, and only had enough for food.

“Huh?” She bit the tip of the lollipop’s stick she had in , and threw it inside the nearest trash can, noticing how Seulgi was looking around. “You want a t-shirt?” 

She denied. “No, no, Sooyoung. There's no need.” 

But the girl turned back to her backpack and picked her wallet from it, shaking it in front of Seulgi's face. 

“Do you want a white or purple one?” Seulgi didn't answer, only denied, saying she didn't need to buy it. “I know you’d like purple the most!”

“Sooyoung, no!” She followed her to the salesman, whispering nonstop until they got there. “Sooyoung, no, no, no… Don't buy it for me…”

“What's up, Andy?” Seulgi didn't stop pulling her t-shirt back, trying to get her attention without being rude in front of the man. “Get me a purple one.”

“Same size?”

“Yup, exactly.”

“There you go, my friend.” He handed her the plastic bag with the clothing inside.

“Thank you very much.” She turned to Seulgi, seeing her roll her eyes but smiling at the end.

“You didn't need to.”

“It's a gift, Seulgi.” She was happy to receive it, the t-shirt was pretty and thanked Sooyoung by giving her a small peck on the cheeks.

“Does it make a difference if I wear it now?”

“Hmm, I would tell you not to wear it. We'll need to change to our kimonos in a few minutes.”

In a few minutes.

That made Seulgi shake, she was nervous. She finally realized it was her first time competing into something, with opponents just as good as her— or even better. 

Sooyoung called for her. “Come on, let's see our opponents.” They headed to the guy with the mic. “How long until the 20's turn?”

“Huh, it's gonna take a while, look… we have a lot of kids in front, but the advanced guys are going first.” He showed them the notebook with everything noted. “But I would say, change clothes once you hear the 18’s announcements, it takes some time to give the medals and take the pictures.”

They smiled at him and thanked, walking away. “What should we do now?”

“We could watch the advanced guys doing katas.” Sooyoung suggested, and so they did. They got their backpacks together and sat by the other side of the gymnasium. Seulgi sent her father a message to come later than what was planned.

The students were really advanced, they seemed like professionals. “This guy went to another country last year for a competition, with me."

“Really?” Seulgi asked without taking her eyes off of him. Sooyoung nodded.

Of course Seulgi would always be amazed by Sooyoung’s skills, but she was in love with katas and seeing someone that strong performing on the mat was marvelous. He had a serious face even before getting up to the mat, already fully prepared. The kata he performed was the Gankaku, one that lasts about two minutes.

His kimono was just fine and seemed to be heavy. He was perfect, the hips position was always on point. Seulgi could hear his uwagi hitting the air even in the middle of all those loud kids around, due to his strength. But even with heavy and hard steps, his feet didn't make any sound against the mat.

Seulgi was so intimidated. What were those guys doing there, anyways? They were on a higher level.

“I'm not sure if I want to do this anymore.” She whispered with a half smile to Sooyoung and rubbed her wet hands against her pants.

“Don't be so silly, you'll do great! You'll get to their level some day.” Sooyoung giggled and patted her back. “My mom is calling us to talk with our Sensei.”

At the other side of the gymnasium, her parents were talking to Dominic and called them to join the conversation. They chatted and discussed for a while, talking and asking about the other students and Sooyoung.

They spent a while more with Sooyoung's parents, analyzing the performances and sparing of the advanced students. The little kids were the next ones to get to the mats, and it was the cutest thing to watch.

Little humans wearing gloves and fighting each other, almost caressing their opponents, and performing katas to the referees that were being serious besides all that cuteness. Two or three kids cried because they were too shy or nervous.

Seulgi's dad and Yerim arrived when the grown ups' turn began. The little one had her phone in hands, recording Seulgi from afar and commenting on the whole situation. “That is my sis, she's competing for her first time and I'm saving everything for later!”

“Stop it…” She messed with her hair. “Thanks for coming, you two.”

“Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss it for anything!”

“True, he was very excited to come.” Yerim pointed. “But we would have to wait for God knows how long, so… and you're not even close to performing, right? Or are you against these small kids?”

“Funny joke! As if you were a giraffe. Come talk to Sooyoung and her parents.”

The Dad's seemed to get well together, just like Sooyoung's mom, and herself with Yerim. It was something Seulgi really enjoyed seeing. A while passed, and they were finally announcing the 18’s scales. They thought it was better to wait, at least two duos finish to finally get changed.

Sooyoung led her to the bathroom, and they wore their kimonos after using the toilet. “Look, about the belts. The colors will be different each time so you'll eventually have to switch.”

“Okay.” Seulgi was shaking, her hands were cold and she already felt like peeing again.

“So I bought two more for you, they usually give theirs but I want you to use mine.”

“Ahh, Sooyoung…” A little smile grew on her face.

“Don't even start.” She winked. “I checked and you'll first get in with Ao.”

“What about you?”

“The same, but it'll change.” Sooyoung handed her the belt. “Do you remember how to tie it the way I showed you?”

“I…” Seulgi was so nervous she wasn't even sure if she knew how to breathe. 

“Yeah…” Sooyoung scoffed and walked behind her body, excused herself, and passed the belt around Seulgi's waist, slightly touching her body. Sooyoung's breath was hitting her neck, and that caused goosebumps. “As I know, we may be busy at the same time, I won't be there to help you again. Follow me in the mirror, okay? The way your kimono is tied also makes a difference on your score, a messy uniform doesn't look good.” 

“Mhm.”

“Anything can be hard until it is easy. Let's go.”

---🥋---

After they finished, they left the bathroom and Sooyoung told her to wait in the corner. She came back with her mother, Yerim and her bag of equipment. She wore everything, starting with boots and gloves, then she began to warm up and Seulgi followed along, on her own square. 

Sooyoung was already transformed even before her name was called. Serious, focused and prepared. It was kind of… hot. She made quick stretches and jumps to warm up, not even paying attention to what the girls were talking. 

Seulgi believed that she only called the others to keep her calm. And it was working. They managed to keep her distracted for a while, until Sooyoung was called to the mat and her mom tapped her shoulder while Seulgi was giving a thumbs up. 

The fight was quite simple. Sooyoung was charismatic and still showed so much power, even while bumping gloves. It was 6 points to Sooyoung and 1 to the other girl when it ended.

The time for kumite was shorter than usual, because most of the kids here had never experienced sparring before. So, Sooyoung was just playing.

The girls were talking about Sooyoung's match when they called for Seulgi's name, it was her turn. She got cold and felt her body shaking again. “Good luck, you'll do well!”

She took a deep breath before starting to walk. Outside the mat, she greeted her opponent by bowing and bumping fists, then she put her serious posture on, because she was the first to perform.

She presented the kata she would make by saying it's name out loud, so everyone could hear it. “Heian Sandan!”

It was the second one, for the red belt exam. It wasn't the easiest, you could take a long time to make certain movements perfectly. And by perfect, I mean by strength, breathing, precision, timing, and technique. It's hard to make everything perfect. And Seulgi believed that she was not so far to perfection, and it was more than enough for her. 

She finished it in the same spot she began, and it was satisfying to know. The other girl, although, didn't seem to be so confident. She looked down to check her feet positions a few times, and it was a terrible mistake. Seulgi won the match with all the flags. “Congratulations, Ao!”

She left the mat all happy, having to wait for her next key to go on again, against someone else. Sooyoung was already busy again sparring with her duo, and her mom was watching while Yerim was waiting for her with a water bottle.

Seulgi waited until Sooyoung was over to run to the bathroom with her. She won by 3 points. “That girl was so scared, she wouldn't even make a move. She could've lost by yellow cards.”

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