"Aaaaah, I'm home!" Yeona Jin yawned. "Mori, where are you? Did your school finish already?" Suddenly she felt a presence behind her and spun around, knocking the person behind her to the ground. A familiar voice groaned on the ground. "I can never win against you, huh." She looked at him. It was her twin brother, Mori Jin. She helped him up.
"Sorry Mori!" she kept apologizing sheepishly. "What can I do as apology?" Mori stood up laughing.
"It's fine. You could make it up to me by......" Mori trailed off with a grin. "Sparring me again."
Her mouth gaped open. "Mori, we both just got home from school!" And then she yawned. "I'm tired, have homework, and all that....." Mori then interrupted.
"You said you'd make it up to me...." Mori begged. "Just one five minute round? You're so strong, it's fun sparring against you."
Yeona looked at her brother's begging face and sighed. She could never say no for long. She ran a hand through her choppy dark hair and yawned.
"Fine." she sighed. Mori's face brightened. "But only one round, and I want to eat something first. I bet you're hungry too." Just then, Mori's stomach growled. He looked at her again sheepishly. Yeona bit back a laugh.
"Just wait, I'll make you something." She grinned and went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was empty. She paled. 'Do I really have to go to the grocery store again?!' she thought in annoyance. She went back towards Mori.
"Moriiii...." Yeona said. The look on her face made Mori go pale in fright. "Y-yeah?"
"Did you finish the food in the fridge again?" She looked at him coldly. Mori gulped and nodded.
"You idiot! Next time actually get some food from the store next time we're out." She yelled, acting like she was going to punch him in the face. He winced, awaiting the blow. But Yeona didn't hit him, and just walked off, muttering under her breath and grabbing her bag and wallet.
"I'm going to get us food, that you'd better not finish in two days." She said the last part pointedly walking out the door. Mori suddenly felt a random chill in the air, and there was no window open, and the AC was off. He nodded meekly. There was no way she was going to spar with him now. He sighed.
Just before Yeona closed the door, she peeked in. "Hey Mori."
"What?" He looked up.
“Make sure you get warmed up before I get home, so we can spar,” she said with a yawn. Mori’s face brightened.
“Yes! Thank you!” he cheered. Yeona smiled, then closed and locked the door.
.
.
.
Yeona walked into the grocery store, deep in thought. “Hey Yeona!” a familiar voice called She looked up. It was her classmate and one of her two best friends Daewi Han. Her face broke into a grin, and she walked over.
“Hey Daewi, I forgot it’s your shift at this hour.” She yawned, and rubbed her eyes.
“Tired?” Daewi asked.
“Yeah. Mori has the nerve to sneak up on me, and I end up taking him to the ground, then I feel bad and I say that I owe him. Then he asks me to spar with him, and I can’t say no to him for long, then we were both hungry. I look in the fridge, and all the food is gone! I bought a week’s worth two days ago, and he ate all of it! In two days! And we had exams today! Anyway…..I’m going to get a week or two’s worth of food that Mori will finish in a day or two….” She sighed.
“A lot on your plate, I guess.” He nodded at her as she went over to the other shelves, grabbing the foods she wanted. Daewi stifled a laugh when Yeona realized that she couldn’t fit all that food in one bag.
“N-need more b-bags?” His voice trembled with suppressed laughter. Yeona scowled, then laughed, which caused Daewi to burst into laughter as well.
“Yes please.” She grinned.
“Just a moment, I’ll go help you.” Daewi got one of his coworkers to take over his shift for a bit, then Daewi came over with a few paper bags. Silently, they both started putting the food into various bags.
“How’s Seungtae?” Yeona murmured. “I haven’t heard anything about him in a while.”
“If anything, worse,” Daewi replied, looking at the bags and continuing to put food in them. “You should visit him. He misses you, you know.”
“.....” Yeona avoided looking at him. “I doubt he’ll want to see me.”
“Yeona…...he’s not mad.” Daewi said. “He forgave you the day you guys fought.”
“......” She sighed. “Fine. I’ll visit him tomorrow.” Daewi nodded in approval.
She finished putting the food in the bags and stood up. Daewi finished his part and stood up as well. They both went over to the checkout counter. Daewi switched again with his coworker, and he checked out Yeona’s purchases.
Right before Yeona walked out the door, Daewi called to her. She turned around.
“Have fun with your brother and all.” He looked teasingly at her. She groaned and replied, “Oh I sure will. Then I will save your beating for school tomorrow.” They both laughed.
“See you tomorrow,” Daewi said. Yeona answered with a wave and a smile, then walked out the door.
.
.
.
When Yeona was halfway home, she saw someone she knew heading towards her. It was Commissioner Q, one of the judges for the God of Highschool competition. Him, the other commissioners, and the Six, some of the most powerful people she knew, trained her from time to time. She walked towards Q, trying to balance her bags as she did so. Once she reached him, she set the bags down.
“Hey Commissioner.” Yeona said with a smile. “What do you need?”
“I’ve told you time and time again to just call me Q. I’m not the only commissioner, you know. Anyways, as you know, the God of Highschool tournament is approaching,” Q started, blowing a puff of smoke from his cigarette.
Yeona nodded. “What’s that got to do with me?”
“I would’ve figured it would be obvious by now.” Q sighed. “I was one of the ones who trained you after all.”
Yeona yawned. “I’m not in the best state of mind right now. Exams, having to spar a little bit after I get home, and getting food for me and my brother takes a lot out of a girl.”
“I’ll make this quick.” Q said, then put an envelope in Yeona’s hand. She turned it over. It read: 'Invitation'.
In a monotone, Q recited, “You are invited to the God of Highschool tournament, where if you win, your wish will come true, blah, blah, blah, you should know all that by now. Anyway, congratulations.”
Yeona stood there stunned for a moment. “No….way….” she murmured. Then a wide smile split across her face.
“Yes, yes, yes!!!” she cheered, giving Q a tight hug. Q looked embarrassed. He cleared his throat, straightening his tie. “Could you let go?”
“Oh, s-sorry.” She laughed sheepishly. “I was just so excited and all. And you’re one of my favorite teachers, so...yeah.” She pulled away.
'Like that older brother that I never had.'
“A-anyway,” Q said, recovering quickly. “I can tell you’re too busy for training today, so would tomorrow be fine?”
“I’ll let you know, see you later!” Yeona smiled, then a split second before she bent down to pick up her bags, a look of exhaustion crossed her face, then she lifted the bags up to hang on the crooks of her elbows, and turned around to go.
“Wait.”
“Huh?” Yeona turned back, her forced smile back. She wasn’t expecting Q to put a hand on her head and ruffle her hair, looking a bit embarrassed as he did so.
“Take care of yourself, okay?” Q said. “Don’t overwork. You look exhausted.”
“....” Yeona just stood there, not knowing what to say. Then, her face shadowed, she lifted her arms and rested her hands on top of his hand. Q looked at her questioningly.
Then he saw the look on her face when she looked at him. She looked very tired, but grateful. She smiled widely, then said softly, “Thank you.”
Q smiled slightly, then took his hand off of her head, then started walking away, puffing smoke from his cigarette. Then once he got a few feet away and paused for a moment. He gave a small wave, his back towards her, then continued walking. Yeona smiled and headed home.
.
.
.
“Mori, I’m back!” She called once she got back. “Mori?”
“Yeonaaa….” Mori crawled towards her, too hungry to stand up. “Did you get food?” She startled and stepped back. “Don’t scare me like that! I’ll make us both something once I put the food away.” She walked into the kitchen, putting the various food in different cabinets, and the refrigerator.
‘Salmon and rice might be good for dinner.’ She thought, taking out a container of salmon, and a bag of rice.
‘I do wish I could’ve gotten a small strawberry shortcake or something. But I had no timee…’ She lamented in her mind. Once she took everything out, there was something at the bottom. Yeona peered in and saw a strawberry shortcake. She gasped and picked it up. On the bottom was a note: Thought you might want this, so I paid for one. Good luck with everything and see you at school tomorrow. -Daewi
“He knows me so well!” She laughed, placing the cake on the counter. Then she started to work on the food.
.
.
.
“Dinner is served!” Yeona placed a plate for her and Mori on the ground near the wall, since they had no table. They both sat next to each other, leaning on the wall. Then they started eating.
“Ish sho good!” Mori said through mouthfuls of food.
Yeona swallowed her food then laughed. “Thanks. Glad you liked it!”
Mori finished his food and grinned. “Let’s spar now!”
Yeona sighed, knowing that she could delay it no longer. She finished eating, and stood up. “Ah whatever, let’s get this over with. I’m tiiiired.” She opened the door and gestured for him to follow. Mori walked with her to the clearing next to where they lived.
They stood on opposite sides. “Ready?” Yeona asked. Mori nodded. “Then you know when to start,” she said. She took a coin out from her pocket and flipped it. They both watched the coin as it slowly turned over and over. Yeona relaxed into a casual fighting stance. She didn’t need to make the first move. She knew how to win. Then, as soon as she finished the thought, coin hit the ground. In a blur of movement, Mori rushed towards her, head on.
She chuckled. “Never learn, do you Mori?” Yeona smirked, and once Mori got close enough, she grabbed his shirt collar and pushed him to the ground. “You got to do better than that.”
“I am already!” Mori said with a grin.
“Huh?” Then she realized what Mori was talking about. He put one of his feet on Yeona’s stomach and pushed up, lifting her off the ground. Yeona let go of Mori’s collar and tried to get down, but Mori grabbed her collar before she could do so. Then he backward rolled, making his leg carry Yeona over him, until she was slammed into the ground, forcefully. She groaned as Mori pinned her down and drew his hand back and punched her in the face. Stars exploded in her eyes for a moment, then Yeona stopped being dizzy, and lifted her arm. Mori looked confused and drew his hand back for another hit.
Yeona smiled slightly, and poked different parts of the top of Mori’s torso. Pressure points. She learned this move from that old man in the Six who used acupuncture. Mori stiffened, and his body gave out and fell on top of her. She pushed him off and sat up. She had a few minutes to figure out how she wanted to finish the fight because of Mori’s temporary paralyzation. She thought for a moment.
'Aha', she thought. 'That’s how I’ll do it so I can finally get some sleep!' She smiled and stood up. Yeona walked around the area for a bit, stretching as she prepared. She was relaxed enough that she almost didn’t notice when Mori overcame the paralyzation and did the move he used the most: Re Taekwondo: Triple Kick.
She got hit by the first two kicks, but she managed to duck to avoid the third kick. She counterattacked by using one of the moves she got from Daewi: Kyokushin Karate Secret Arts: Kick of Red Phoenix. This particular kick ended up hitting Mori in the chin instead of in the stomach, but it was effective nonetheless. Mori fell back from the force of it and stayed down.
“You win,” he laughed. “We can’t keep going until we knock each other out.” He sat up and rubbed his chin, a bruise already forming. Yeona sat next to him and agreed.
“I’m probably going to have two bruises in the morning.” She smiled, rubbing her head. “I was never the best at that triple kick.”
“That Kick of Red Phoenix was pretty powerful as well.” Mori argued. The two siblings stayed sitting next to each other, trying to convince the other that the other siblings’ moves were better.
The conversation died down eventually. Mori noticed Yeona was leaning her head on his shoulder. “Yeona? Are you ok?” He asked. He looked at her face and noticed she was asleep.
'I guess she was pretty exhausted before we sparred. I feel kind of bad now…..' Mori thought. He let out a small breath, then stood up, taking care to not let Yeona’s head get onto the ground. He then carried her on his back and went inside. Gently, Mori put Yeona into her sleeping bag and got into his own sleeping bag. As he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, he thought, 'I should make her breakfast tomorrow. She’d like that.'
Comments (1)
See all