“Alright. Take hold of your opponent.”
Lobster head producer and I both put our arms around each other.
“I won’t go easy on you, Sian,” lobster head whispered in my ear.
“I’ll go easy on you,” I whispered back. Lobster head was not happy.
“I’m not going to let you get off just because you’re a girl.”
“So you think I’m a girl?”
“Huh?” Lobster head said, sounding shocked. I smirked. Soon, Byung-hoon lowered his hand.
“Start!”
Lobster head immediately tried to push me down. Unfortunately for him, I didn’t move.
“Hng! Hnnnng!”
He pushed with all his might. At this point, he was going to shit himself.
“Aw, come on! How are you so weak?” the main producer shouted, sounding quite disappointed. But it wasn’t that lobster head was so weak. It was because I was too strong. I’m sure lobster head feels the injustice right now. Anyways, lobster head kept trying, and I just remained in my spot. Producer Lee watched the whole thing with a snort and a shake of his head. Even the other staff members seemed to give up on the assistant producer. And the ones who had been on my side went from half-hearted support to full-on cheering. Especially the women.
“Go, Sian!”
“Sian Lee! Sian Lee!”
“You’re amazing, Sian!”
The sound of the women shouting cheered me up and I picked up lobster head. He was really light, and I threw him down just as easily.
Whoosh!
Wham.
And with that, lobster head had lost. It was rather too quick of a match. My fans cheered and shouted my name, and I gave them a modest shrug afterwards.
“Hmph.”
I looked over at Sung-hwan. I began to crack my knuckles. My fans immediately cheered louder.
“Haha. Sian, you’re not challenging me, are you?” Sung-hwan said, giving me a sardonic chuckle.
“Who else is there?”
“Huh?”
Sung-hwan snorted at my response. Then he shook his head.
“If I fight you, I’ll only get criticized. I can’t go against someone as weak as you,” he said, pretending to look charitable.
“Just be glad that you beat lobster head,” he added. “That in itself is already impressive.”
Sung-hwan gave a patronizing smile and everyone nodded. My female fans all agreed, trying to stop me. Only one person seemed doubtful, and that was Junho. He’s the only one who had a true taste of my full strength. For a while, he was silent before he finally spoke.
“I don’t think…”
“We don’t need your opinion,” Byung-hoon cut in.
Junho visibly withered. Suddenly, Byung-hoon grinned.
“I’m just kidding, Junho. Go ahead. What is it?”
“Oh, okay,” Junho said with a nod. He tried again.
“I don’t think…”
“I said we don’t need your opinion.”
“….”
“Hehe. I’m sorry! I’ll stop. I promise.”
With another pout, Junho tried once more.
“I…”
He paused, in case someone else would interrupt him.
“…don’t think so!” he finished quickly. Everyone stared at me. Sung-hwan’s face looked especially hard, as if he couldn’t believe what Junho was saying right now.
“What do you mean?” Byung-hoon asked, still smiling.
“From what I’ve seen…Sian…is incredibly strong. I’m not kidding.”
“Since when?” Byung-hoon asked.
“When we were in that river. Sian was definitely stronger than me.”
“Bullshit. Oh, sorry,” Byung-hoon immediately apologized, but I doubt he’s the only one who thought that. Just look at my arms. And my legs. I’m super skinny with no sign of muscle on me. Then, there’s Junho with his broad muscles. Who would believe what he just said? Sung-hwan especially laughed the loudest at what Junho had just said.
“That’s funny. I didn’t think you had this sort of humor,” Sung-hwan said.
But Junho’s face remained serious. Sung-hwan continued.
“Alright then. Since you said that, Junho, I’ll bite. You won’t regret it, will you Sian? I don’t care whether you’re a boy or a girl. It doesn’t matter how pretty you are. I’m just going to fight as I usually do.”
“Go ahead.”
“Oh?”
Sung-hwan raised his eyebrows at my aloofness.
“Okay then. Let’s go,” Byung-hoon said.
Sung-hwan and I moved to stand in front of each other. People immediately began to voice their worries.
“Be gentle!”
“Sung-hwan, go easy on her!”
“Sung-hwan, don’t get crazy.”
“If you’re too rough on her, I’ll make sure you regret it!”
Everyone continued to express their concerns for me. Only one was silent, observing us closely, and that was Junho. He looked more like he was waiting for some form of confirmation, because he didn’t look away for a second.
“Alright. Face your opponent,” Byung-hoon shouted.
Sung-hwan and I turned our bodies squarely towards one another and both gave a slight bow. I took this moment to observe Sung-hwan. He was very tall, and he looked sturdy. You could feel the strength radiating from his large muscles. He is an 8th heavyweight champion, after all. To put it simply, his strength was in the Top 10 regarding the world.
“Get in position!”
At that, Sung-hwan and I both crouched and took hold of each other. Everyone immediately began to shout their worries again. For me.
“Sung-hwan, please be gentle,” Producer Lee said, especially approaching Sung-hwan to say so.
Sung-hwan smiled.
“Don’t worry. What kind of person do you think I am? I’ll go easy on her. Actually, Sian, just go ahead and attack me. Just keep going until you want to give up. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Soon, Byung-hoon brought down his hand.
“Start!”
I immediately kicked my foot under Sung-hwan’s and pushed him to the ground.
Wham!
In seconds, the match was over.
***
Seconds passed. I’ve never heard such a tense silence.
Sung-hwan remained on the ground, clearly wondering what just happened. He looked up at me while the cast members continued to stare with their jaws open. The crew members were also staring in shock. I simply shrugged, merely disappointed that the match was already over. Only Junho looked satisfied as he nodded.
“Um…Sir,” I said to Byung-hoon.
Byung-hoon remained frozen.
“Hello?” I tried again. I gave Byung-hoon a little push on the shoulder. He then fell backwards and fell on his butt. That shook him out of it.
“Oh! Sian wins!” Byung-hoon shouted.
That seemed to lift a blanket and everyone immediately began to cheer and clap. Sung-hwan, on the other hand, looked on in disbelief.
“No way!”
“Huh?” everyone said, looking at Sung-hwan. No doubt he looked incredibly petty right now. So what if he couldn’t accept the situation? But Sung-hwan kept shouting.
“I want a rematch!”
“Alright then.”
I stood in front of him and we both crouched down again. Everyone watched us with rapt attention, ready to see if I was really that good, or if it was simply a beginner’s fluke.
“This time, I’m really not going to go easy on you,” Sung-hwan whispered.
“As you wish,” I answered with a smirk. Sung-hwan grit his teeth. Byung-hoon began his count down.
“And…start!”
Sung-hwan immediately picked me up. This put me in the perfect position to do a flying knee kick, but see, here’s the thing. I had merely thought it was the perfect timing. Unfortunately, by the time I had thought that, my knee was already in his face. Basically, my body moved on its own accord.
Whack!
Sung-hwan’s head flew back 120 degrees. His hands loosened their grip on me as he fell backwards.
Crash!
***
“He’s not dead, is he?” I asked the medic.
“No. It’s just another concussion.”
“Oh, dear. That makes two today. Will he be okay?” I asked, feeling slightly worried.
I mean, this was kind of my fault. I’m only human – it’s natural that I’d feel apologetic. I’m rather sensitive too, you know.
“Luckily, it’s not that serious. He’ll be fine,” the medic said reassuringly. I let out a sigh of relief. I clicked my tongue as I glanced at Sung-hwan who was still out cold.
“This is why you need to be more careful.”
After confirming once more that Sung-hwan would be okay, I stepped out of the first aid tent.
“Is he okay?” Byung-hoon asked.
“Yeah. It’s just a light concussion.”
“That’s good. But really, Sian. It was a wrestling match. Why’d you have to knee him in the face?”
Contrary to the serious question, Byung-hoon was grinning, finding the whole thing rather amusing.
“I’m sorry. It was so perfect and I just…”
It’s true. It was so perfect with the way my knee was lining up with his face that my knee just moved before I could stop it. Again, nothing to do with me. It’s all my knee’s fault.
“Well, it could have been worse, but your knee kick was awesome! Can you teach me?”
“Hold out your face.”
“Huh? Uh…”
Byung-hoon began to fidget.
“Heh, I’m just kidding. It’s nothing really. It’s like this.”
I jumped up and did a flying knee kick. Byung-hoon clapped at the sight.
“Wow!”
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
“This is why you have so many martial art fans!”
“Thank you,” I said with a modest bow of the head. I then walked back towards the campsite. The sky was beautiful. The air was great. The waves sounded magnificent. The food was delicious. This really was paradise. Of course, I wouldn’t choose to stay here forever, but it was a nice spot to get away from life’s troubles.
But this place was in the southernmost tip of Africa. Who knows when I could come back here?
I looked up at the night sky. Jia’s lovely face immediately came into sight.
“I miss you…”
I really do miss her. The absence of her pouting and whining made me feel rather empty inside. Of course, I had Hye-jeong for the time being, but it wasn’t the same. I looked up at the sky again and the faces of the other members popped up once by one. Yoo-young, Ji-hyun, Hainan, Jumi, Yoo-jin, Rhinzi, and finally Jinwoo.
“Huh?”
I tilted my head. What was Jinwoo doing here? But that reason soon became clear when his face shifted into a more enticing plastic card. The unlimited credit card.
“Oh.”
I smiled at the thought of that card. If someone were to ask me what I wanted in the entire world, it was that unlimited credit card.
