by the sidelines • haechan

one

The crowd cheered loudly as I scored another head kick right before the time was up.

"Time!" The referee called and I strode over to Coach Yoon, the adrenaline still rushing through me. I whipped off my headgear as she passed me my water bottle.

"Good job." She pat my sweaty shoulder as I took a sip of water, gargling it in my mouth before gulping it down. My heart was still throbbing in exhilaration as she continued on with her advice. "But be careful of your inward crescent, she almost got you a few times."

I wiped off the sweat above my lips. "But she didn't," I blatantly commented with a smirk. We were going into our final round with an 8-point gap, and of course, I was winning. I couldn't have felt any more confident.

Coach Yoon didn't look as pleased though. She heaved a sigh, "Yoojin, just be careful, you wouldn't know what might happen." I frowned upon her words.

"Don't worry, I don't make mistakes."

The timer sounded again and the referee called us back to the mats. I gave my coach an assuring nod before wearing my headgear once again, walking back to the centre of the mats. My opponent stood opposite me, her face flushed with exhaustion. I have a good feeling about this.

"Ready, start!"

I started bouncing relaxedly, doing a little feinting as she flinched at every movement. I can't blame her, being on the losing side makes you edgy. Maybe I should give her a little chance.

"Right leg!"

She swung her right leg into my body, but I shifted right and countered with turning kick, scoring another two points. I decided to follow up with an inward crescent, however, stumbling back a little. A foot impacted my padding hard before I could regain balance.

"Yoojin! Be careful!" Coach Yoon shouted from her seat in peak anxiety, but it didn't waver me one bit. It's just a small mistake, I can make up for it.

The round continued on with one minute left and I could already sense my victory. I could easily play defence now, but I knew I could score more. I waited for the right time to attack, and the moment I saw her body unguarded, I went in. Feinting with my left leg, I spun in with a back thrust, hoping to score and set her off balance.

Pak!

My face came into contact with the sole of her foot as I fell backwards and off the mats. Wait, what just happened? I gritted my teeth as I stood back up, blinking back the throbbing pain on my cheek.

"Chung, gamjeon!" The referee announced as we took our places on the mats. Ah shit, another point wasted. I glanced towards the scoreboard subconsciously, hoping that it didn't affect it that much.

16:18

My eyes grew wide in utter shock. How did the gap minimise this much? Don't tell me...

"Don't panic! Just focus!" A familiar sharp voice shot me out of my thoughts. Right, I can still salvage this, I can't possibly lose like this.

I started bouncing again, but my mind was still dwelling on the past. I dodged her attack mindlessly, missing my chance to counter back as she slid back to her original position. I tried to redeem myself by attacking first, but she blocked all of my kicks.

"Sung Yoojin! Concentrate!"

But I couldn't. I was starting to get antsy.

Bam! Another kick contacted my body as the timer went off for the last time. I turned to the scoreboard immediately, only to be smack with disbelief. No way...