by the sidelines • haechan

eighteen

"So, what am I supposed to do?" I walked towards them as Haknyeon explained detailedly.

"Right now, we're training on our shifting because I'm rather bad at it, basically when the target comes, we'll slide either left or right depending on the placement of the target. It'll train our reflexes too."

He proceeded to demonstrate the following technique with Donghyuck as the holder. As the latter brings up the target, Haknyeon brought up his right foot and slid towards his right, swinging in a kick with the same leg almost immediately. It took only a second for him to recover before the next set came in, and the cycle repeated with alternating sides. I could only stare in awe.

"So, you wanna try it?" He asked, panting heavily as an anticipated smile formed on his face. I switched places with him without a word, finally facing Donghyuck who wore an emotionless expression on his face. My heart started thumping loudly against my chest as I tried to shake away the fear I had in me. Gosh, why am I even afraid of him?

Getting into a fighting stance, I bounced on the spot, preparing myself for the exercise. It took a few seconds before he shot the target up as I lagged a little, shifting to the side and throwing in a kick. He clapped the targets together without a word, signalling me to recover to my original position to which I did. The target came in again and I shifted to the opposite side, kicking with my other foot.

Just as I slowly got used to the speed, he picked up the pace and started adding in feints. I was thrown off by the majority of them at first, sliding at the slightest movements of the targets, but eventually, I learnt how to read his arm movements and time my shifting perfectly. Before I could even give my full potential, the set ended as he heaved out a heavy sigh and stretched his shoulders. Meanwhile, Haknyeon clapped in awe from the side.

"Are you sure you're a newbie? That was some next level shit right there," he praised as he gave a double thumbs up to me, but his choice of words made me wince a little.

"It wasn't that good, I lagged a lot at the beginning," I muttered softly, but he probably saw that as an act of humbleness and brushed it off.

"She's right, don't need to sugarcoat your words," Donghyuck butted in, earning a light-hearted scoff from Haknyeon.

"I'm just motivating her, is it that bad?" The latter shrugged before turning to me with an assuring smile. "Don't take it to heart, you just need to work on your reflexes, that's all."

"No." Both of us turned to the guy beside us, who was stern with his voice, "You're quite slow, and your shifting isn't smooth at all. And just by being your holder, I can see you're rather hesitant as well. You have a lot to work on."

I was left speechless by his ruthless feedback. Did I come here to get lectured or what. Haknyeon darted his eyes between us as if wanting to cut in, but I could handle this.

"Fine, then what do you propose I do?" I raised sarcastically, highly expectant for whatever his reply would be. He may act almighty, but that doesn't mean he's knowledgable on skills as well. To my surprise, he smirked at my enquiry, stepping closer to me as I resisted moving back.

"Do I really need to tell you this too?"

I saw a familiar glint in his eyes, the exact same one as the first time we trained together.

---

"What you need to work on first is not speed, but stamina, seeing how weak your endurance is," he shouted from across the gym as he placed the last cone onto the mats, strolling back to where Haknyeon and I were standing. Cones were lined up neatly in front of us, and I didn't need his explanation to know exactly what he wanted us to do.