The Boy with a Dragon Tattoo 2
February 2010.
His father told him that a friend of his used to do MMA at a gym somewhere around Yongsan-gu, which is across the river from where they live, Dongjak-gu. He told him that he should search for a person called Kim Jongkook. Yonghwa already knew who Kim Jongkook was, and he was excited about meeting him.
He was able to watch a match of Kim Jongkook's before he busted his knee. He cannot forget the smooth evasion that Jongkook did when his opponent released a spinning back fist. After the amazing evasion, Jongkook clinched his opponent, and sent his knee flying to his face. His opponent was stunned, and his nose was blasted. The memory of that beautiful victory will always stick to Jung Yonghwa's mind. That fight put Kim Jongkook alongside Georges St. Pierre as his favorite fighters.
He soon arrived at Yongsan-gu, but he cannot find the gym on the map that his father gave him. He tried calling his father, but his phone was off. Yonghwa turned his phone off in frustration.
"Aish, Abeoji," Yonghwa remarked, sighing. He wandered around the streets of Yongsan-gu, hoping to catch another person that can tell him where Kim Jongkook's gym is located. He woke up at about 5:30 in the morning, so that he can reach the gym by the time it opens. That's the reason why his father's still asleep: it's still too early. His father's work doesn't start until noon, and he should've though about his father getting more time to rest. But all Jung Yonghwa cares about is MMA. He can still be held accountable on times that he is needed, but the rest of his time is devoted to mixed martial arts. His father doesn't have any complaints regarding this matter, as long as he can still function as his child at home. He actually watched his training sessions at his MMA gym in Japan from time to time, saying that he could have joined him if not for his aching hips.
He walked around, and he soon found a commercial building, where a woman was opening her store on the ground floor. She looked annoyed and exhausted, even if it's so early in the morning. Raised as a courteous and helpful child, he couldn't help but be concerned for the woman's well being. He approached her.
"Are you okay?" he cautiously asked.
"Do I look like okay?!" the woman snapped and answered him.
He suddenly felt so scared that he let out a small whimper. It was thanks to his whimper that the angry woman has seemed to have woken up from her angry trance. She soon looked at Yonghwa. She was pale, but beautiful, nevertheless. She has big bean eyes, straight black hair, a very cute nose, and red lips that stood out even more because of her pale complexion. He stared a bit more, his face showing a difficult rendition of fright and wonder. His struggling eyebrows were noticed by the pretty woman, and she let out a small chuckle. Her warm laughed warmed him through the cold morning.
"Ah, miahanda," she told him, knocking him off his silent trance. He looked at him.
"I could help," he offered.
"Ah, yes, please. I can appreciate the help," she told him.
As he helped her open her store, he soon noticed the goods that were on display: boxing gloves, hand wraps, dumbells, tennis rackets, basketball shoes, shinai. She owns a sports shop.
"Wah, noona, you own a sports shop?" Yonghwa thought out loud.
She looked at him, and laughed. "I guess my looks can still fool people," she told the blue skies.
He looked at him shocked. "Noona, shincha, you really look like you're 27. How old are you?"
"I'm 30."
"I mean, you look like you're 24."
They laughed.
After a few minutes, they have finally fixed everything needed for her to start the shop. She looked at him.
"Young man, thank you for your help," she told him.
"No problem, Noona," he quickly told him. She smiled, and her face lit up, as if she thought of something.
"So why would a handsome young man be here in front of my store at this ungodly hour in the morning?" she teased him. "Are you a stalker?"
He blushed. "A-a-aniya, Noona! I'm not a stalker, believe me!"
She laughed. "I'm just joking. So, what brought you here?"
He took deep breaths to calm himself down, and looked at her. "I'm looking for Kim Jongkook's gym."
She let out a sigh. "Such a lovely face that is going to be wasted on MMA," she said to the air.
He felt his blood running again. "Noona, I assure you, I'm not hand-"
"I'm joking," she told him off. "You can't ride a joke, can you?"
"Miahneyo," he quietly said. This woman was playing with him. It's not like he hates it.
She laughed again. "Aigoo, you're so cute," she said and pinched his cheek. His eyes widened. He never had any memory of his father pinching his cheek. He doesn't even remember his mother's face, so any memory of his mother doing that is out of the question. He has never let his girlfriends back in Japan pinch his cheek. As soon as she let go of his cheek, he touched the spot where she pinched him. It was warm.
"The gym you're looking for is a floor above mine," she happily told him.
He looked up, and the "Kim Jongkook MMA Gym" sign welcomed his eyes with bold red text.
He looked back to her. He completely forgot the fact that his pulse was sent through the roof by the same woman a couple of seconds ago. "Is Kim-ssi upstairs?" he eagerly asked.
She grinned wider. "You're joining his gym?" she asked. He violently nodded. She laughed at his eagerness. "So you're another musclehead. No wonder you have a beautiful body," she nonchalantly said. He felt embarrassed by what she said, and started hugging his body in cover from her stares.
She quickly realized what she said and looked at him. She laughed it off, saying, "I didn't mean it that way."
Back to his question, the woman told him that Jongkook was out jogging with his fighters.
"Who are they?" Yonghwa asked. He might have watched them fight before.
"There're a lot of them," she said. "But if I have to name two that Jongkook-oppa is most proud of, it has to be Lee Gwangsoo and Kang Ga..." she mumbled off.
He noticed that her sweet smile immediately turned to a sour frown when she tried saying the name of the other fighter Jongkook was proud of.
He was starting to feel concern for the beautiful woman. "Are you okay, Noona?"
She shook off the bitter frown, and gave him an even more bitter smile, "I'm okay."
She stormed to her store, and no less than five seconds later, she went back outside. She gave him chocolates. He was about to say a joke about how White Day was still a month later, but he held his tongue. The pretty noona was breathing fire.
"Give it to Kang Gary-ssi," she told him menacingly. "Tell him that I do not accept chocolates that are given by breaking and entering into my store!"
Yonghwa was shocked both by the revelation of how she got the chocolate and how angry she is when she talks about this Kang Gary. He gave her a nod.
She smiled, and soon started walking back to the store. She soon turned her head to him, as she remembered something.
"Oh, my name's Song Jihyo. If you need equipment for your career, please don't hesitate to buy quality goods from my store."
***
"Ah, so you're the one that Sukjin was talking about! He was indeed right that your parents have good genes running in the family," Kim Jongkook told him, and patted his back. Yonghwa couldn't say a thing. His day couldn't be any better than this: he met a beautiful noona downstairs, and now he's rubbing elbows with his idol.
Jongkook toured him around the gym. It was a pretty straightforward place. The boxing ring was in the middle, and all the apparatus that the fighters need surround the ring. He soon got to know every fighter that he will be training with for the rest of his time in MMA. He has already decided that he will fight for this gym during the entirety of his MMA career.
Jongkook has introduced him to everyone save the two people Jihyo told him. When he asked Jongkook where they were, his idol laughed.
"I guess you bumped into Jihyo-yah this morning," he calmly said. Yonghwa nodded a reply.
"Since they're fighters that are actually competing overseas, I made them do extra roadwork." Yonghwa's mouth opened wide.
"Th... th... they're at ONE FC?" he asked. Jongkook smiled and nodded.
"They don't look like they compete for it, though. When you see them for the first time," he said, wearing training mitts.
The door soon opened, and two sweaty people entered. The first one who entered was a stocky man, with very Korean features. The next one who entered was a tall person. Height is indeed a big asset in MMA, as it is in other sports. Yonghwa knows how to beat taller people, as his first fight was with someone who was taller than him. He smiled as the two were looking at him, clueless.
The stocky person soon saw the box of chocolates that Yonghwa was holding.
"Yah!" the stocky person shouted as he grabbed Yonghwa by the collar of his shirt. "Why do you have Jihyo's chocolates? Did you break into her store and steal those?!" he threatened.
Jongkook sighed and slapped Gary in the face with his mitt. Gary flew and crashed to the ground. "That's the reason why he has it, pabo! How many times have we told you that you're lucky that Jihyo hasn't put a restraining order on you!" Jongkook reprimanded an unconscious Gary.
Yonghwa was scared. He was fine with seeing slapstick on TV, but slapstick done by muscular men are scary. He wondered if Gary was still alive.
The lanky one stood near him. "Don't worry, this is the way we show our love to each other," he coolly told him. Yonghwa nodded.
He offered his hand in greeting. "I'm Lee Gwangsoo, lightweight."
Yonghwa accepted his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Jung Yonghwa, welterweight."
Jongkook was happy to see that the two have given their formalities. "Gwangsoo, he is our new ace."
Everyone in the gym became silent and looked at Gwangsoo. Jongkook told him that Gwangsoo firmly believes that he is the ace of Kim Jongkook's gym, and that he is the only one who can bring a UFC title to the gym. He takes great pride in that, and he makes it a point to every new member that they know who is the best. Jongkook did find Gwangsoo as a capable fighter, but his skill was not enough. He said that as a form of motivation for Gwangsoo and as an evaluation for his new fighter that got tons of praise from the man that he respects.
Gwangsoo tightened his grip. "So you're the ace?" he asked. The friendly tone he used earlier was nowhere to be found. "You're too tiny to be the ace," he belittled him.
Yonghwa didn't want the attention, and he quickly got the reason why Jongkook said what he said, but he wasn't going to let this one go after he bickered him about his height. He met the force that was applied in their handshake.
"Oh, you think I'm small? I beat the shit out of big, lanky guys like you for breakfast."
They let go of their handshake. They had a stare down. Their faces were close. A yaoi fangirl would be squealing her heart out if she saw the tense scene that was happening between the two.
"We'll settle this in the ring, shorty?"
"Bring it on, toothpick."
Gary soon woke up from his sleep. "What happened?" he asked.
"Stay down," Jongkook said as he smashed Gary's face with his mitts. He was knocked out once more.
Jongkook smiled. He loves it when his plan comes together.
"I'll lend you my trunks, Yonghwa."
***
Jihyo, the pretty store owner got wind of the fight and closed her shop for a while so that she can see the fight. She sat close to Yonghwa, who was obviously tense.
"You're feeling pressured?" she asked.
Yonghwa managed a nod. He didn't feel pressure from the fight, as he knew that handling him would be easy. What made him tense was the fact that Jihyo was massaging his shoulders to help him relax. To add to that was Gary's deadly stare at their direction.
"Ah, Noona."
"Hmm?"
"Gary-ssi..."
Jihyo laughed.
"He won't be able to do anything. He knows that once he hits you, he gets a restraining order."
She looked at Gary, and playfully said, "Meeeeerong!"
Gary didn't know what he would do that time. He wanted to kill the guy Jihyo was giving a massage to, but he knows that it's bad. He just grabbed his hair, and screamed, "AISH SHINCHA! GWANGSOO, YOU BETTER BREAK HIS LEGS!"
The entire gym laughed. Even Gwangsoo and Yonghwa laughed.
Jongkook stood in the middle of the ring. "You two, in here."
Gwangsoo entered the ring and took off his shirt, showing off his six pack. He flexed, and the people laughed and cheered.
"Noona," he said.
"Hmm?" she answered, she was still looking at Gwangsoo's abs.
"You can stop it now."
She stopped. He stood, and took of his shirt, and laid it on the bench. Everyone started buzzing.
"Nice body, bro."
"Perfect combination of fat and mucle."
"Those arms would have tons of crazy punching power, I bet."
"Awesome dragon tattoo."
He stepped inside the ring, and positioned himself in the corner where he can see Jihyo. But when he looked at the spot where Jihyo once was, she wasn't there. He looked around, and she wasn't in the gym. He soon realized that Gary wasn't around either. He immediately thought about Jihyo's merong. Could it be...?
But he pushed the thought aside as he prepared for his small tussle with Gwangsoo. Soon, he noticed the door opened, and she saw a girl. He didn't pay much attention as to who she was because Jongkook gave the instructions. The bell soon rang, and the fight has begun.
Gwangsoo tried using his reach against the smaller fighter, but he easily dodges it, kicks him at the tibialis anterior of his left shin, and moves away.
'This is going to be easy,' he thought.
Gwangsoo tried finishing him with his wild roundhouse kick, but again, the angelic fighter easilty dodges him and kicks him at the same spot.
'That was a close one. He does have crazy long legs.'
Gwangsoo tried connecting a straight but his opponent immediately closed in, gave him a body blow, and moved away.
Gwangsoo lost his temper. "I'm going to dislocate your feet! Both of them!"
'He bit the bait.'
Gwangsoo dived for his legs to take him down. He moved to the side, and released an uppercut. The punch connected beautifully: his head jerked, and was soon rendered unconscious.
The gym exploded in cheers. He relished the moment, until he remembered that his uppercut connected well. Too well, for that matter.
He soon rushed to Gwangsoo's side, worried that he might've killed his sunbae. Jongkook was beside him, nursing Gwangsoo back to consciousness. Gwangsoo soon woke up, and the moment he saw Yonghwa, his expression went blank. Yonghwa was nervous with what Gwangsoo will do next. His sunbae soon smiled.
"That was one hell of a punch, Yonghwa," he said.
Yonghwa was clueless. "Ha?"
Jongkook laughed. "Everything I said about Gwangsoo was a lie."
"I'm really fighting at ONE, though!" he quickly added.
He soon understood what was going on. Everything was an act in order to get Yonghwa to fight seriously. Even though they knew that the boy might become shy with Jongkook, they used Gwangsoo's abilities as a theater actor to provoke Yonghwa to fight seriously.
"You're a good addition to the team, Yonghwa-yah," Gwangsoo told him.
"Welcome to Team Jongkook," his idol, now coach, said.
Yonghwa flashed a boyish smile. "Gomawo, Hyung!"
He soon looked at the direction of his shirt. A girl was sitting on his shirt. He was about to shout to the girl when he noticed the girl's looks.
It was a sunny morning that day, that soon turned cloudy. It drizzled a bit, but it didn't pour. He thought that the sun won't peek again. But as soon as he looked at her, the sun shone through, and it hit the glass windows, giving the girl a shining effect. It brought out the warmth of the girl's eyes. Her straight hair was shining. She has a beautiful figure. And she gave him a stare of wonder and adoration.
Yes, she was beautiful, but since she was sitting on his shirt, he might as well let this girl know that her bottom is kissing his top.
She was random. She also assumed quite a bit. She's funny, but she didn't intend to be one. She was nice to talk to, and she has this warm smile that rivals Jihyo's.
***
He met two very beautiful women today.
"Yamato Nadeshiko," he told himself.
Both Seo Joohyun and Song Jihyo are embodiments of his Yamato Nadeshiko.
He smiled to himself as he boarded the bus home.
He is going to have a very interesting year.
***
"So you say that this boy with a dragon tattoo is a fighter?" Lee Jieun, Seohyun's best friend in the tennis club, asked her. She nodded. They were doing ladder drills to improve their footwork. They were in line, thus Jieun talked to her while they were waiting for their turn.
"And he's hot, to boot?" Jieun asked, confirming what Seohyun told her. She nodded furiously.
"That's impossible, Seohyun," she laughed. "I've seen the fighters you adore, and there ain't one of them who are good looking!"
"But Jieun-ah!" Seohyun protested. "He's really-"
"Jieun! Seohyun!" Taeyeon, the team captain, snapped at them. "20 laps around the court!"
As they were jogging, Jieun complained.
"Yah, Seo Joohyun! If you just waited until we were having a break," Jieun whined.
"Miahne," Seohyun flatly said.
They kept on jogging until she heard someone say, "Joohyun-ssi!"
She looked at the direction of the source of the voice. When she saw who the owner was, she tripped. Jieun also saw who the owner of the voice was and tripped over her. The entire tennis team heard the racket and Taeyeon was about to reprimand Seohyun again when she saw the man standing by the fence.
It was Jung Yonghwa, wearing a white tank top, black pants, and black shoes. He was holding his jacket. His hair was straight this time, styled downwards. His dragon tattoo was visible. The cold weather became hot and humid because of his presence.
She and Jieun sat down and looked at him. He waved. She waved back. Jieun pulled her ear.
"He's that guy?!" she whispered panickly.
"Yes," she sighed. She gave him a look. "And wait 'till he takes off that top."
A/N: I think I'm slowly starting to understand how to think like a woman. HAHAHA.
Anyway, Monday couple JJANG! IU JJANG!
Oh, IU playing tennis. My nose is going to bleed. One second.
Ten buckets of blood later...
And I'm back! After bleeding because of imagining IU in a tennis uniform, chapter two's finally out. Don't worry about Jihyo, she won't get in Seohyun's way. It's the future characters that you should watch out for. Especially the muse behind Yonghwa's... I'm spoiling too much already. Haha. Later.
OH OH OH! I'm totally into Busker Busker nowadays! They have an amazing sound. This song helped me create this chap:
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