Chapter 44: Chapter 45: Am I Really Fighting Against Eun-Soon? (Part 3)

“Ah…ah…”

Jong-woo howled in pain as he clutched the side of his face with both hands. I guess he didn’t want to show me how much pain he was in because he turned away from me.

“Are you okay?” I asked with real concern. Of course it isn’t because I was worried for him. I just didn’t want the sparring match to end so quickly.

“Oh…haha…yes..hahaha!”

Once he could get his face under control, he turned to look at me. Then again, the side of his face was so swollen, it looked like a sack was growing on the side of his face.

“It doesn’t look okay.”

“Really, I’m fine. Your kicks sure are strong though.”

Jong-woo smiled as if nothing was wrong. I wanted to show him a mirror, but then I was afraid that would really make him want to stop.

“Then, should we keep going?”

I clenched my fists and saw Jong-woo visibly gulp. This time, he stood in proper form.

“Come at me.”

“Okay,” I said with a smile. Then, I brought my fist forward.

Jab. Jab. Jab. Right hook, left uppercut.

Wham!

“Argh!”

Jong-woo’s chin flew up and sent his head back a full 120 degrees. Surprisingly, instead of falling backwards, he simply stumbled a few steps. He shook his head multiple times to regain focus. But by the time he did, I was gone. I was now standing behind him as he looked from left to right, trying to find me.

“What…where..?!”

He quickly spun around and found me, and I gave him two jabs in the shoulder. But, he immediately spun counterclockwise, so I brought my own hands clockwise and got him on the side of his face again.

Wham!

Jong-woo’s head turned to the other side and he went out cold. He’s lucky that it was just my hand – had I used my full strength, his head would’ve done a full 1080.

“Ah…ughhh…ooohhh…”

The man began to groan in pain again, clutching the side of his face. Plus the look he was giving me was that of absolute fury. I probably wounded his ego as well. He’s a long-time champion, who just lost to someone he thought of as an amateur. And a girl at that. A young, pretty girl.

“I won’t go easy on you!” the man shouted.

I shrugged in response. Good. Maybe it will become more fun.

Jong-woo jumped up and crouched down, getting into a position to grab me by the waist and do a take-down.

“Hyaaaah!”

The guy flew forward with a warrior cry to try and lift me by the waist…only that he couldn’t. The take-down is normally done by grabbing the opponent’s waist before falling with them or simply lifting them up and throwing them flat on their back. Ideally, once they’re down, you can climb on top of them and pound them mercilessly. But this guy couldn’t even lift me, which was probably freaking him out.

“Hyaah!”

With another cry, Jong-woo gave it his all and tried to lift me up again…but to no avail. I was simply not budging.

“What are you doing?”

I reached down to stroke the man’s hair as he continued to squeeze me around the waist. Just so you know, I’m not doing it because I thought he was cute or something. You know how soccer players stroke the grass with their feet before their kick the ball? Well that’s what I’m doing – stroking the grass. I immediately opened my hand and went down on his head.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

With each hit, his head got lower and lower. Just one more and…

Thwack~!

After exactly five hits, the guy finally gave up on the take-down and stumbled backwards.

“Urgh!”

The man stumbled all the way until his back hit the cage, with both hands clutching his head in pain. His expression worried me. That is, I was worried that he’d tell me to stop. I’m using my full strength here. I really don’t want the match to end so quickly. I’m giving it all I got, so I really owe it to myself to keep going.

“You…you crazy bitch…” he growled under his breath. He probably didn’t think I could hear. Unfortunately, I could hear everything, even the lowest of whispers. Really, it can be pretty burdensome.

“How does it feel to be hit by a crazy bitch?” I asked with a smirk.

Suddenly, the man’s eyes widened and he immediately turned around and ran away from me.

“Where are you going?”

I ran after him, laughing. Now this was what I’m talking about. Out of all the people I’ve fought against, Jong-woo was turning out to be my favorite. Maybe it’s all that muscle. The feel of every blow was stirring something inside of me. That’s why I decided to bring out Tagu Kwon.

(*타구권법 – Tagu Kwon is a special form of Tagu Bong. Tagu Bong uses a bat to attack, whereas Tagu Kwon uses fists to achieve the same results. It is considered one of the most powerful attacking methods in the world.)

“Where are you going?”

As I approached him, the man suddenly aimed a high kick at me. How rude. And on top of that, at someone who is way younger, prettier, and (seemingly) more fragile than he is. How could he just attack me like that? I blocked his kick with one arm and lifted my right arm to deliver a sharp blow to his jaw.

Thwack!

“Argh!”

Jong-woo lost his focus and began to stumble. I took the opportunity to go in once more with my fists.

Jab. Jab. Jab. Feign to the right, then hit him with the other.

Bam!

“Urrgh!”

I’m not finished yet.

Jab. Jab. Jab. Pretend to do a low kick, come in with a high kick, then bring a downward chop to the head.

Thwack!

“Aaaah!”

I hit him so hard that his neck had sunken in. So, I did an uppercut to bring it back out. I also grabbed his Adam’s apple with my thumb and index finger. Then, I paused. I considered whether I should take out his apple to see if it contained the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil that was passed on from the apple that Adam and Eve were told to not eat (God had told them to never eat it. But Eve was tempted by Satan and eventually ended up eating it, and gave it to Adam because it was so good. In the end, they offended God.), but did, bringing out the wrath of God who had sent calamity in his anger. Adam was so surprised that he swallowed the rest of the apple whole, creating that large bump in the middle of his throat. Well…that’s how the Adam’s apple supposedly came about.

Anyways…

“Like it could tell me.”

I let go of his Adam’s apple and instead gave it a smack.

Thwack!

Bop!

There was a sound of something breaking…Jong-woo clutched his throat with both of his hands as he fell to his knees.

Thud.

“Get up.”

The man obeyed. With a stumble, he got into position again. His face seemed determined. Alright. Now, he looked like a champion.

As he stumbled, he tried a right hook. I dodged his right hand and gave him a blow to his left cheek.

Wham!

And again, he stumbled. This time, he came in with a left hook. As always, I dodged the blow and went in for his right cheek.

Wham!

I gave him a punch in the stomach. Then his head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. And~ again! Head. Shoulders. Knees and toes. Knees and toes. Knees and…head! Shoulders. Toes. Knees. And toes. Head! Shoulders. Knees. Eyes. And nose. And lips.

Wait a second, those are the wrong lyrics.

Head. Shoulders. Knees. Ears. Nose. Ears.

After one last blow to the side of his head, Jong-woo finally conceded.

***

“I heard you turned down the opportunity to coach Sian. May I ask why?”

“Um…well…there wasn’t really a reason…It’s just…”

“Is it because you think there’s no chance of her winning?”

“No chance? Pffft.”

Jong-woo suddenly began to laugh during the interview. The reporter asked another question.

“MMA supporters are saying that the chances of Sian winning against Eun-soon is as low as 5%. Even the public thinks she only has a 10% chance at winning. Isn’t that why you gave up?”

“5%? 10%? Pffft.”

Jong-woo continued to laugh. The reporters were definitely confused.

Finally, Jong-woo took a deep breath.

“That’s bullshit. The way I see it, Sian has a 100% chance of winning. No. 200%, 300%, 1000% of a chance.”

“Really?”

The reporters’ eyes widened at Jong-woo’s declaration and the interview ended.

“How can he be so sure?” Jia asked after watching the interview on TV.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug.

Jong-woo Lee. He quit being my coach after losing that match to me. He was probably embarrassed or something. He made me promise that I wouldn’t tell anyone that he had lost to me. I promised him I wouldn’t. Not that I explicitly told him I wouldn’t. But all the pizza, chicken, sweet and sour pork, and chicken feet that were currently laid out in the living room were all courtesy of Jong-woo’s.

And just as the reporters had said on TV, most people think I only have a slight chance at winning. Which means that the ones who actually bet for me are going to make a killing in a few days. It’s like a special insider’s trade secret.

“Make sure you guys place your bets on me.”

The only people who actually believed me were Jia and Hainan. Oh, and Ji-hyun as well, though she pretended she didn’t care. Aside from those three, the others placed their bets on Eun-soon. I can’t believe they’d rather listen to a bunch of other people who were spewing nonsense than me. Now I’m starting to know how Jesus felt when nobody believed all the wisdom he had shared.

“Shouldn’t you try and get another coach?” Jia asked worriedly.

“It’s fine. I can do this myself,” I said, stuffing a pizza slice into my mouth.

“But you need to analyze Eun-soon’s fighting style as well…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I tore a piece off a seasoned chicken leg. Why is everyone so worried? Then again, she’s not the only one. The moment Jong-woo quit, Jinwoo said he’d try to find another coach. I told him I don’t need one, but no one listens to me.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Ding dong~

“Who could that be?”

Jia walked over to the door and opened it. A man walked in. It was Manager Lee.

“Hi, Mr. Lee.”

Everyone greeted him, though no one really looked at him. We were all too busy eating. Manager Lee looked rather offended by that.

“Oh, hi…”

“What brings you here?” Jia asked him.

“Oh, I have to talk to Sian. Sian, do you have a minute?”

“Nope,” I answered with a firm shake of my head. Can’t he see I’m busy eating right now?

“Just wait a bit. I’m almost done eating.”

“Let’s go out and eat. I’ll buy.”

He must have been in a real hurry for him to say that. Then again, he’s never actually seen how much I can eat.

“Are you in a hurry?”

“Mr. Park wanted me to ask you something…”

“Really?”

Was there something else other than the upcoming match with Eun-soon? Well, he said he was buying, so…

“Hey guys, I’m going to head out. Leave some pizza for me.”

“Okay~”

With that, I followed Manager Lee outside.

***

We ended up going to a pizza restaurant nearby. The name of the restaurant was Pizza Huck. It’s pretty popular with its cheap prices and good quality pies.

“I’ll have the Rich Silver.”

“Huh? Oh…okay…”

“Is it too expensive?”

“N-no…”

That’s what he said, but judging by his face, it was the opposite. How could I eat after seeing such a pitiful face? This is why being nice is so hard.

“You should place your bets on me.”

I shared a piece of important information. Though this bastard clearly didn’t believe me.

“What did you want to say to me?” I asked.

“Oh, the thing is, SBA wants to cast you in their sitcom drama.”

“Me?”

“Yeah,” Manager Lee said with a nod.

I honestly didn’t know what to say. A casting request? How do I respond? Well yeah, it was something I’ve always considered, but I didn’t think that the opportunity would come this quickly. But more than that, I couldn’t help but wonder if I even had the right. I’ve never taken acting classes before. I don’t even know if I can act.

“What kind of role is it?” I asked. Though I was pretty sure I’d be the lead…

“It’s just a small role. A girl next door who can fight and is trying to retake the entrance exam…”

“Oh.”

A little disappointing but also a relief.

“Mr. Park wants to know what you think, if you want to act that is.”

“But when I debut, will I have time to film a drama?”

I spoke as if I actually cared about causing trouble for others. But then, I just realized that in my effort to do so, I had accidentally stated myself as a member already.

“You won’t be in that many scenes so it’s fine. So, what do you think? Do you think you’ll do it?”

“If he tells me to, I guess,” I replied.

To be honest, I never really thought about why I came into this life and into this female body. I’m simply waiting to meet the Grim Reaper so I can demand to know why he did this to me as I beat his sorry ass.

“That’s good. Mr. Park felt like he was asking too many things from you so he felt bad about it. With the MMA fight and all.”

“Right.”

Yeah, right. Liar.

“He signed the contract already, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Thought so.”

I knew it. Jinwoo always acts first, thinks later.

“I’ll pass your answer on. He’ll call you tomorrow. He’s also getting you a new coach for the match so don’t worry.”

“I really don’t need one.”

Our conversation ended. But a sitcom…I guess I’ll know more when I talk to Jinwoo about it tomorrow. To be honest, I’m kind of excited for it as well.