The wavy-haired girl tugged at her uniform uncomfortably, the snow-white belt blending in with the stiff starched fabric. Clearly, this wasn’t a boxing class outfit – but Suhee had changed her mind about taking up boxing the moment she saw the bruises on that one male student. It was self-defense skills that she was after, not beating the crap out of someone.

So here she was, at her first taekwondo class. The other students were bare-footed like Suhee, and similarly clad in oversized martial arts uniforms. The belt colours varied though – from basic green, blue and yellow to the highest-ranked black- and black-red belters. Some of them looked younger than her, but actually ran the classes as instructors.

In the lines of fresh, innocent white-belt participants right at the back of the hall, Suhee appeared to be the oldest. When her weak smiles at some of them went unreturned, it wasn’t long before she found herself feeling ridiculously out of place. The newbies couldn’t have been more than middle- and high-schoolers, chattering away in their groups.

 Ah well, Suhee consoled herself. I came here to learn. I have all the time in the world to get to know these people. If she actually wanted to get to know them in the first place.
 

“Hi,” a voice chirped from behind as someone tapped Suhee’s shoulder. Taken aback, Suhee turned around to face a young smiling girl, with large eyes and a cute button nose. She looked as if she was still in middle school. Weren’t those kids iffy around elders, though? “Don’t worry about not being able to fit in, unnie. We’re all new around here. I’m Abby,” she continued confidently, extending a hand.

Suhee’s new acquaintance was tiny, her height only reaching the older girl’s chest. So, frankly, it was quite surprising how she was handling the situation so calmly. Suhee shook Abby’s hand graciously, introducing herself as well. “You’re really pretty by the way, Suhee unnie,” the shorter girl complimented before squeezing her hand, making Suhee smile.

Before class began, there was a short demonstration of some instructors breaking boards with cool-looking kicks and swift punches. One guy particularly stood out, judging from the crowd’s overwhelming response. Lithe but muscly, he looked slightly younger than Suhee, but was able break two blocks of stone using several consecutive flying kicks. Next to her, Abby was cheering at the top of her lungs. Well, she had to admit, his skills were pretty impressive.
 

The same black-belter happened to be their instructor as well, as Suhee quickly found out. She stared numbly at the small-eyed man standing in front of the new recruits. There was a shy, awkward grin on his face. When he wasn’t breaking boards, he seemed more like a lost puppy than anything else. The instructor gave the group an once-over, nodding appreciatively at Suhee, who stuck out like a sore thumb in the group. It made her turn pink.

“Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Jongup, your instructor.” The boy’s words came out in a quiet mumble and Suhee had to strain her ears to catch them. “Now you guys need to split up into pairs, so I can teach you some of the basics. Are you all in an even number?” Abby turned to Suhee and winked with an unspoken agreement of partnership, but quickly deflated at the next statement.

“It would be better if you get a partner who’s about your height.” Abby was about as tall as a typical 11-year-old. Suhee gave the younger girl a sympathetic pat on the back before she walked away disappointedly to find someone else.

Unfortunately, tallest Suhee found herself standing alone once everyone else had a partner. Typical, she sighed. “Oh, is it an odd number today?” Jongup tapped his chin in thought. “It’s okay, I’ll help you practice then,” the instructor smiled and stepped over.

Suhee bounced on the balls of her feet nervously as Jongup walked around, correcting the stances of the students. Once he was done, he raised a polite eyebrow at Suhee, who was still in a standing position. “Do you need me to show you how to do it again?” The girl scrambled to move, opening her legs and bending her knees a little into the stance he had just taught.

Jongup frowned and shook his head slightly, sticking his foot next to hers and pushing her feet wider until Suhee was almost sitting on air. It was painful. After only a minute or so, her thigh muscles were aching. Suhee squeaked as she tilted forward slowly, legs unable to hold any longer.

The instructor steadied her with a smile. “You’re doing great, nuna. This is something you’ll have to get used to if you want to learn taekwondo.” Wait. Did Jongup just call me a nuna? Suhee snapped her head up and blinked at the other. An awkward few seconds passed before the students were jolted with the loud ring of a bell.

“Break time!” Another instructor hollered from the front of the hall. “5 minutes to drink water and to go to the bathroom! Don’t be late!” In a flash, Jongup stepped away from Suhee. The brown-haired girl bowed respectfully to him before scampering off to grab a drink.

Abby nudged into her from the side, holding her own water bottle. “How is it? Was it fun?” The young student questioned excitedly. “No, just painful. I’m not the exercise-type of person,” Suhee admitted, rubbing her aching legs.

“Haha, well Jongup is from my school!” Abby declared. “All the girls are after him and all. Not me though, he’s kinda overrated.” Suhee smiled and ruffled the young girl’s hair. “Some high standards you have! Are you in middle school?”

Abby looked rather insulted. “No, I’m a freshman in high school!” She pouted. “Jongup’s in his last year. You’re so mean, unnie.” The university student put a hand to and giggled lightly as she got smacked by the younger. “Oops,” Suhee sang.

Before long, they had to make their way back into the hall. They must have seemed an odd pair with the age difference, but Abby didn’t seem to mind in the slightest, which encouraged Suhee as well. Separating into pairs again, Jongup continued to train them. While practicing, the long-limbed boy held up a polite conversation with Suhee, but didn’t call her nuna a second time.
 

At the end of the class, as the lithe boy was wiping the sweat off his forehead with a towel, Suhee limped over to Jongup, smiling uncertainly. Might as well get it over with. Abby tagged along beside her. “I-I’m Suhee by the way.” Jongup looked up at them, a confused expression on his face. The older girl quickly clarified, “So you have something to call me by, I mean.”

“Ah, that.” Suhee was amused to see a pink tint beginning to color the instructor’s cheeks. He was such a bashful person – it was actually quite adorable. “Sorry about earlier… the term nuna just slipped out.” Suhee shook her head. Abby just grinned cutely throughout the exchange.

The black-belter picked up his things, bowing shyly.. “So… See you at next week’s class, Suhee-sshi?”

“See you, Jongup-sshi,” Suhee waved. 

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And finally Jongup appears! All the nuna feelz! *__*
Sorry for gargantuan photo, I'll find a better one tomorrow~