Chapter 6

(Listen to the song Punch while you guys read XD)

Prior to the first lesson, Ryan was teaching everyone how to wrap their hands properly with the hand-wraps. Amanda watched happily as he was teaching the guys. As soon as they were finished, they made their way onto the mat to wait on Ryan as he made his way over to Amanda to assist her. “So, you excited about your first lesson?” he asked as he took her hand in his.

Amanda beamed and nodded. “Of course I am,” she said. “Why wouldn't I be?”

He snorted, looking back up at her. “Well, you are gonna be in for a treat, missy,” he said.

Amanda frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?”

He finished up, looking back up at her. “You'll see,” he finally said, patting her head then proceeded to make his way onto the mat.

Amanda gaped at what he'd done. Slowly, she reached up to touch the top of her head. “Did he just pat my head like a dog?” she told herself. She wasn't sure whether to swoon or feel offended. There were so many things going on in her head at that point. It was mainly frustration. However, she had to brush those thoughts aside since everyone was clearly waiting for her to join them. She could tell by the looks of annoyance on the boys faces as they glared back at her. She sneered back at them as soon as she was on the mat with them.

“Nice of you to join us,” Daehyun sneered.

“Shut up,” Amanda barked back.

Ryan cleared his throat to garner their attention. “Alright, let's warm up,” he announced. Then, he proceeded to lead them into doing some warmup stretches.

They did some normal leg and arm stretches to warm up before beginning the intense workout. Amanda watched on and listened intently for Ryan's instructions, oblivious to Yongguk's own gaze. She found herself smiling as Ryan stared back at her with his own smile. Soon, someone entered the room making his way onto the mat. Amanda grinned even widely as Anthony made his way over to join them.

“Hey, Anthony's here!” Ryan acknowledged the prize fighter as soon as he saw him.

“Hey guys!” Anthony waved over to them.

“Alright, now that you're here. Let's start the first lesson,” Ryan announced. “I'm gonna need you guys to partner up.”

As expected, Amanda was without a partner as she saw Jongup and Zelo partnering up. Of course, Daehyun and Youngjae made a beeline for one another and lastly the two oldest guys paired up even though Yongguk appeared to be irritated about it. Much to her relief, since Anthony had arrived, she found herself partners with him instead. “Hey partner,” he said, grinning back at her.

“Hey,” she greeted him shyly.

“Are you ready for your workout?” he asked.

She hesitated a bit before nodding finally.

As if sensing her reluctance, he gave her an assuring look. “It's gonna be okay, Amanda,” he said reassuringly. “You have me.”

She smiled weakly before nodding. Amanda could have sworn she heard fireworks going off in her head. As soon as Anthony said that, she was swooning like crazy. She had to prevent herself from smiling widely.

“Oh gosh,” Daehyun groaned in disgust.

“What?” Youngjae perked up.

Daehyun tilted his head over to Anthony and Amanda. She was trying her best to contain her smile but the boys could clearly see right through her. Youngjae rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Of course,” he muttered.

As Ryan proceeded to teach the class, it felt as if Anthony was the one teaching Amanda as he was walking her through the routine. “You know, I really appreciate your help, Anthony,” she spoke up, attempting at small talk. “Even though you didn't have to come out to help us.”

“Hey, I don't mind at all,” he assured her. “I'd be more than glad to help you out.”

Amanda chuckled. “Thanks,” she said, pausing for a moment. “I heard about your fight in March. I bet you're excited about it.”

“Hey, you remembered,” he remarked with an astonished grin. “Good memory.”

“Yeah, Aber told me,” she said, chuckling softly.

“I am pretty excited about it, actually,” he chuckled, looking back at her. “Are you going?”

“I don't know,” she coyly responded. “Am I invited?” She asked teasingly.

He playfully pretended to punch her. “Of course you are,” he said, glancing over at BAP. “You should also bring your friends.”

Amanda paused to glance over at her friends in speaking. “Okay,” she nodded. “I'll ask them about it. I'm sure they'd love to go.”

“Great!” he grinned widely. His smile never ceased to amaze her. “Then, I guess I'll see you there!”

“Remember to knock 'em dead!” Amanda exclaimed encouragingly, holding up her gloved hand.

In turn, Anthony chuckled, holding up his own gloved hand to bump hers. They both laughed together, garnering the attention of the other guys. As Yongguk watched on, he clenched his jaw angrily as he turned to punch the giant punching bag, catching Himchan off guard.

“What the hell, Bang?” Himchan said, noting the leader's agitation. He sighed and shook his head when he found Amanda and Anthony laughing together.

Eventually, Ryan decided to change up the pace a bit going into a new routine. The music began to change and a new song started to play. Amanda recognized the melody right away as she glanced over at her friends, who all perked up upon hearing their own song. Soon, Yongguk's voice could be heard from the speakers, echoing throughout the room:

Yeah return to battle field

Pay attention everybody

The line was soon followed by Daehyun's vocalization before Yongguk's shout out:

Hey my fellaz take a look around

Everyday strugglin’, ready to rumble

It was next followed by Zelo's voice:

Ay ladies and gentleman

Follow the leader BAP

And then, Yongguk's rap proceeded to echo throughout the room once again:

Hit it yo bring it on

There’s nothing that you should give on up, because you lost your way

Small scars are just gears to me

Get down

I scream at the top of life

Round the clock

Realize it

I stand up again

I’m the Ijak-do Mountain that even ignores curses

King kong

Everyone attack me, I’m still strong

Youngjae's voice proceeded to chime in:

Through the eyes that are looking at me

Erase those worries

Then, finally Daehyun's part came up along with another high note:

I won’t fall down

I won’t show any cracks

Then, as soon as the chorus began to play, Amanda noted the mischievous looks on their faces. “Oh no,” she uttered, her eyes widening.

“Why? What's wrong?” Anthony asked out of concern, for her horrified expression.

And right when the chorus began to play, the guys all got into position and started dancing and singing along. Himchan contributed to the chorus while Daehyun wrapped it up, with a usual high note.

Err Err Errbody punch

(Get em up get em up get em up high)

Err Err Errbody punch

(Hit em up hit em up hit em up)

Err Err Errbody burn

(Burn it up burn it up burn it up ho)

Spread your wings, everyone scream! Make it loud

Oddly enough, the choreography of the song went along with their whole kickboxing regimen. Amanda's seen them practice the choreography a few times to know exactly what playing this song meant. Realizing they were getting carried away, Yongguk and Youngjae, wearing amused grins on their handsome faces, managed to continue on with the workout while the others continued dancing along to Punch.

Once the song wrapped up, Amanda buried her face in her hands. “Oh gosh, kill me now,” she whined, peeking from behind her gloves, she saw the boys snickering. After a moment of regaining their composure, she heard another chuckle, this time coming from Ryan and Anthony, followed by a round of applause.

“Not bad,” Ryan remarked, chuckling lightly.

“Hey, that was pretty good,” Anthony chimed in with a nod of approval. “Good job, guys!”

“Thanks,” BAP murmured cheekily.

Amanda's eyes widened. They enjoyed it?! She thought, gaping at all of them. They seriously liked it. Ryan glanced over at her and smiled. Amanda's heart soon softened. In turn, she smiled weakly before chuckling to herself. She glanced over at her friends, shooting them a death glare. They all simply shrugged in return. She'll just brush this off for once. They did nothing wrong. They were all just simply enjoying themselves, that's all.

“Alright,” Ryan announced finally. “That's it for today. See you guys again tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Ryan,” they all said at once, proceeding to leave.

Soon, the students from the next class proceeded to make their way inside. The majority consisted of some very attractive women. Having witnessed the little performance, the women giggled and smiled over at BAP. Himchan gave them his best charming smile. “Hey, ladies,” he said. “How's it going?”

They all giggled and sighed in return. “Hi,” they all managed to say.

“You did great, by the way,” one of them said.

“You saw that little performance?” Himchan asked.

They all nodded and giggled once again.

Amanda face-palmed herself, shaking her head. Leave it to Himchan to charm the ladies, she thought. She had to see it coming. As a matter of fact, the female audience had increased upon seeing BAP. The boys didn't seem too aware as Amanda observed. Brushing the subject matter aside, she took this opportunity to approach Ryan once again.

“Hey,” he grinned as soon as he saw her. “What'd you think so far?”

Amanda nodded. “I like it a lot,” she said, grinning widely. “You're a great teacher.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “You're too kind, Amanda,” he said. “So does that mean I'll see you again tomorrow?”

“You betcha,” she replied earnestly.

“Great,” he replied, grinning widely.

“Listen,” she spoke up once again, garnering his attention. “I was actually wondering if you'd like to grab a bite to eat.”

He seemed to be taken aback by her sudden request. “Tonight?” he asked, sighing as he glanced around. “I am actually taking over Master Andy's class today. Rain check?”

Amanda managed to hide her disappointment well before nodding in understanding. “Sure,” she said, grinning widely. “I'll hold you to it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder before walking away to greet the other students.

As soon as he was gone, Amanda couldn't hide her disappointment any longer as she proceeded to make her way to the other guys. From the look on Yongguk's face, she knew. He had witnessed the whole exchange. She gave him a wide smile. “Are you guys ready to go?” she asked.

“Yeah,” they murmured and nodded.

“Could we go grab a bite to eat? I'm hungry,” Daehyun spoke up.

“You're always hungry,” Youngjae scowled. “Before we eat, can we just go home and shower? We could all use one.” He glanced over at everyone else, looking particularly at Yongguk, who clearly had his attention on Amanda.

Yongguk stood up straight when he realized the attention was on him. “Yeah,” he nodded. And with that, the others proceeded to make their way outside leaving Amanda and Yongguk behind momentarily.

Amanda glanced over her shoulder one last time towards Ryan. She felt a tug at her heart when she saw him laughing with Sue as he helped with her hand-wraps. Amanda felt Yongguk's observing her. Taking a deep breath, she allowed him to lead her outside to the van where the others were expecting them.

“I'm okay,” she said softly before getting into the van.

He sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry,” he said.

She shook her head, blinking back her tears. “Don't be,” she told him. “He said he'd take a rain check. So I'll be fine.”

Yongguk stayed silent, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as he opened the door for her.

“Thanks,” she finally said, giving him a weak smile before stepping inside.