Voice lessons were rather boring but ended without any issues. At least I was flying under that teacher's radar. In that class, she still doesn't know my name.

I know that I wouldn't be so  lucky in the next class with my favorite instructor or should I put the word drill in front of it.

I filed in with all the younger guys and quietly sat cross-legged on the floor.  The older guys were laughing and horsing around as they entered the training studio. Most of them sat and simmered down to wait for Kang Bok Gu to enter.

"So, it looks like you girls are admitting your defeat in yesterday's challenge." the idoit, Yoo Ah In laughed and motioned for the boys in front of me to move. To my annoyance, they did and he sat right next to me.

 "Hey, Canada! Missed you at lunch..." he threw his arm around my neck, " Oh! Thanks for the intro! We had lunch with the same pretty girls from yesterday. They send their love. " He squeezed my neck a little harder. 

"I'm glad I was able to help you out," I quickly switched to English, "knowing how pathetic you are with girls." The younger guys tried to hold their laughter.

"What was that?" he asked. I grabbed his arm and ducked out of his hold. He tried to maintain his grip. But I knew what I was doing, I was out and now standing up a good five feet away from him. I was tired of this guy thinking he could put his hands on me whenever him wanted to.

"Well, what an interesting show you boys put on?"

We all jumped at his voice and instantly the group stood up and bowed to Kang Bok Gu.

"Please, don't let me intrude,"  he slowly walked over to the class. "Continue." 

Nobody moved. Silence.

"So... if you're done..." he stopped directly in front of me. "Line up now!" he shouted in my face. We scurried into our positions, oldest to youngest.

"Push-up position!" he barked. We dropped down and held that position."Hold!"

 Sweat was starting to run down my back as time went on. 5 minutes. A bunch of the boys had dropped and were struggling to get back up. 7 minutes. More than half the group had dropped at some point. 10 minutes. My back was wet and my arms were starting to shake.  I can do this. Only two left.

"Who would have guessed that it would be the two Kims fighting it out, again!" Kang Bok Gu half laughed. He let 5 more minutes pass. 

"Okay, you show-offs. You can stop now with another draw," he motioned for us to stand.

We both got up and quickly stretched our stiff muscles.

"You're all probably wondering about yesterday's results. Which group came out on top?"  He looked straight at me then at Hyun Joong.  "There were strong performances in both groups... But since it was a group challenge, the whole group's effort was evaluated. Surprisingly, it was quite a close battle. But, there can only be one winner.." 

He walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. "The victory goes to...Hyun Joong's group." 

I wasn't surprised. I knew it would be like this. The older guys whooped a couple of times and congratulated each other with high fives and chest bumping  while the younger guys dropped their heads in disbelief.

"So with any competition, the winners are awarded and the losers are penalized." he raised his handed to silence the victors. "Victors form up on the right and the rest form up on the left. ..Turn and face each other...Bow... To the victors, you will be dismissed half-n-hour early. You can leave the class for free-time or stay and watch the other's punishment."

"Now, let's get down to work. I am pairing you up with the person who is your closest physical rival. " He looked at his clipboard and started calling out names. Most of the pairing were with people of the same age, and size.  The only exceptions were with Kevin and my pairing. Kevin was stuck with the idiot, Yoo Ah In and I was partnered up with Kim Hyun Joong. 

"From now on, whenever we do training that requires an opponent or a partner, this is who you are to chose." I bowed to Hyun Joong. He nodded his head at me. I was actually glad that he was my training partner, even though he was going to be hard to beat, I knew he would treat me with respect. I felt sorry for Kevin because as we already know, Ah In is an arrogant jerk.

"To start off Today's schedule, we will be doing some stretching followed by a short run.  Let's get started." 

I felt a little sorry for the boys because I knew what to expect. Kang Bok Gu's idea of a short run and what most people consider short were two different things entirely.  

 After we stretched, we headed out of the J.Tunes building through one of the side doors. Amazingly, the sidewalk was empty as we tailed out. Kang Bok Go led the way with Hyun Joong and I bringing up the rear.

The pace that Kang Bok Gu set was not difficult for Hyun Joong or me, but a few of the boys were sounding like old steam trains, huffing and puffing after only 10 minutes.  

"Come on, Ladies! If that's all you got, we're going to have a lot of long, hard days ahead of us," he barked. And with that, he picked up the pace. 

After another 10 minutes at that grueling  pace, most of the group was labouring.

Kim Hyun Joong and I appeared to be the only only two who could keep up to Kang Bok Gu physical demands without wavering.

"Is he trying to kill us or what?!" Hyun Joong mumbled under his breathe. "Let's slow down. I'll take the heat." 

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I questioned him. "He doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who will takes kindly to someone else interrupting his reign of terror."

Hyun Joong chuckled at my comment, "Will you follow my lead?"

 "I guess," and with that he started to pass the boys in front of him so I did the same.  We slipped in behind Kang Bok Gu. 

"What are you boys doing? Get back to your positions." he barked.

"Sinsangnim, be - yen - nida." Hyun Joong pace slowed which caused all the boys behind him to slow down too. I did the same on my side.

Kang Bok Gu was none to happy about our interference but he too slowed down.

Thirty-five minutes later, J Tunes came into sight. I let out a sigh of relief but I knew there would be a price to pay for our slow-down. 

We entered through the same door we exited from and headed back down to the training studio.  Kang Bok Go kicked the door open.
 
"Stand by your partner!' his voice flat.

”So...the Mighty Kims want to run the show!..." he was nose to nose with Kim Hyun Joong. "Think you have what it takes to be the leader?! ...Making decision that affect everyone here!"  Kim Hyun Joong didn’t move or back down, he stared straight ahead. 

Next, Kang Bok Gu stopped in front of me, "Are you one of his little puppets? Or are you the real mastermind behind all this?!"  I stood my ground as well, and I kept my mouth clamped shut.

He looked at his watch, it was almost 4:00pm. " Well, look at the time. Let's have all the winners from yesterday line up here behind the older Kim and the others behind the young Kim."

Everyone moved silently. 

”I've decided to change it up and cut some of the losing team some slack. All of you may leave except for the two Kims...See you all tomorrow." He pointed to the door.

There was a slight hesitation from the group. "Better move before I change my mind." and with a quick nodded from Hyun Joong, the boys quickly move to the exit. 

"So...What kind of fun should the three of us have?" he asked. The two of us remained silent, staring straight ahead.  He was walking around us. "There's no doubt that you both are in the best physical shape in this group and maybe you can even give the other male probee group a run for their money...But, you have a long way to go if you think you can make it in on those merits alone." 

He walked over to the closet and grabbed a couple of small free weights with each hand.

"Here, take one with each hand then park yourselves against the wall in the horses stance..."  We did as he asked. "James, lower. I want to see 90 degrees. That's it. Now, hold the weights out straight in front of you. Good. Let's hope you can maintain that position for 10 minutes." He set his watch and walked over to the water cooler and grabbed a drink.

What a freak! 

I knew I could handle this normally, but the last few days training had taken its toll on me. I managed the first 5 minutes without much effort. My legs were burning, of course. That was a given. I was covered in sweat. You could actually see it running down off my out-stretched arms.

At the seven-minute mark, my hands were shaking. I was fight to keep my wrists locked. Focus! 

At least I wasn't the only one, Kim Hyun Joong was battling his own demons as well. 

By the eight-minute mark, we both were breathing hard and noise was starting to escape us in the form of grunts as we battle to hold our position. 

”Only a minute to go!" Kim Hyun Joong growled through his locked jaw. ”We can do this!" 
"Silence!" Kang Bok Gu unhappy voice barked.

We were both vibrating from head to toe. It seemed like every muscle in our body was screaming for us to stop. Thirty seconds...twenty...ten...

I screamed as the last few seconds ticked away... Then that wonderful sound of beep,beep,beep...beep,beep,beep.  

We both dropped to the floor, exhausted.

”When you're quite done relaxing... You can start with fifty sit ups, then fifty push-ups. Followed by five baselines. Then you can finish off with some light stretching," the jerk said matter-a-factly.

We both looked at him like he was crazy. "I'd start moving if I were you. Your muscles need to move to get the oxygen level balanced out."

Crap! I knew what he was saying but my body didn't want to comply. I was struggling to stand when Hyun Joong extended his hand and pulled me up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll manage...I'll hold, you go first."  and with that we started to do our cool-down exercises.

As we were finishing the last of our stretches, Kang Bok Gu hands us both a bottle of water, "Remember in the future, that I run the show here... You're dismissed." He turned to face the new group that was entering.

"Yeah, we love you, too." I mumbled under my breathe as he walked away. 

Hyun Joong patted me on the the back as we headed out. "We might make it, if we can survive his class," he chuckled.