The afternoon sun baked the courtyard of Haneul Boxing Academy ( iron tigers) until the air shimmered in waves. Training mats lay scattered across the stone tiles, already too hot to touch. Most of the beginners were sprawled in whatever shade they could find, gasping for breath after Senior Lu han's merciless footwork drills.
Soon Hae collapsed onto the narrow bench under the lone persimmon tree like a sack of rice thrown from a cart. Sweat dripped down her temples, tracing salty lines across her cheeks. Her hair clung to the back of her neck in damp strands, and every muscle in her calves burned.
From her left came that familiar, irrepressible voice.
"Well, well… if it isn't the Ice Bath Queen herself. Should I fetch Lu Han to bring another bottle?"
She groaned and didn't even bother to open her eyes. "Fang Yu, I swear, if you say anything about that again.."
Fang Yu flopped down on the bench beside her, leaning back with his arms stretched over the backrest like he owned it. A towel was slung loosely around his neck, and his grin was positively devilish. "Hey, I'm just making sure you stay hydrated. Wouldn't want our clumsy champion fainting on us."
On her other side, Bai Cao set down a bottle of water with quiet precision. Her calm gaze slide toward Fang Yu, and with a small shake of her head, she said, "Enough. You'll scare her off before she even lasts a week here."
Soon Hae cracked one eye open. "I'm not scared. And I will last a week. Maybe even two."
"Two?" Fang Yu burst out laughing, loud enough to turn a few heads. "Ambitious."
They sat in companionable exhaustion, the distant sound of mitts smacking against gloves drifting from the senior's training area. Somewhere, a gull cried overhead.
"You know," Bai Cao said, twisting open her own water bottle, "you've been keieping up better than I expected. Most first timers drop out after the second day of drills."
Soon Hae blinked, unsure whether that was meant as a compliment or a warning. "I'm not here to quit. I've got a reason to be here."
Fang Yu leaned forward, eyebrows arched. "What reason? Besides the obvious Lu Han crush"
Her cheeks flamed. "It's not a crush! And even if it were, it's not why I'm here. I… I want to be a boxer. Like my mom."
The words came out more firmly than she expected. For a heartbeat, the three of them just sat there.
Bai Cao's gaze flicked toward her hands. The skin over her knuckles was raw, reddish from the constant friction of mitt work. "That explains the bandages," he murmured.
Soon Hae flexed her fingers, wincing. "Doesn't matter. I can handle it."
Fang Yu leaned back, his usual teasing grin softening into something almost respectful. "Didn't think you had that kind of grit, Guess I was wrong."
"You were definitely wrong," she said, but her lips twitched upward.
"Don't get cocky yet," Bai Cao said, though her tone was warmer now. "Training's only going to get worse."
****
The bell signaling the end of the rest break rang sharply, echoing off the courtyard walls. They groaned in unison, standing up and stretching stiff limbs.
As they headed back toward the main hall, Fang Yu was in the middle of miming an exaggerated limp from "serious calf injuries" when a sharp voice cut across the corridor.
"Soon Hae!"
They turned to see Xiao Tong, one of the more senior trainees tall, poised, with her long hair tied in a severe braid. Her eyes were sharp enough to slice bread.
"Come here," Xiao Tong said, standing beside the gear rack. A heavy duffel bag filled with gloves sat at her feet. "Help me carry this to the storage room."
Soon Hae hesitated, half turning toward Fang Yu, who was making a ridiculous fish face behind Xiao Tong's back. She smothered a laugh, lifted a hand in a half wave, and kept walking.
It was a decision she regretted almost immediately when she caught the icy narrowing of Xiao Tong's eyes.
The rest of training passed in a blur of push-ups, mitt work, and endless pivot drills. Soon Hae's legs wobbled under her as the class lined up for dismissal.
"Soon Hae," Senior li li shan said, voice clipped. "Since you thought you were too busy to assist Senior Xiao Tong, you can clean the entire training hall tonight. Alone."
The murmurs that rippled through the other trainees carried a mix of sympathy and schadenfreude. Fang Yu mouthed Sorry from the back of the line, while Bai Cao gave her a subtle nod that said Don't argue.
Once the others left, the hall felt unnervingly empty. Without the usual chatter and the rhythmic thump of gloves hitting pads, the space seemed larger and quieter.
The tall windows let in the last orange streaks of sunset, painting long shadows across the polished wood floor. Soon Hae grabbed a broom from the corner and began sweeping, her footsteps echoing in the stillness.
She worked methodically at first, focusing on the scrape of bristles against the floor, trying not to think about how much her shoulders ached. But every now and then, she'd glance at the far end of the hall where the equipment storage sat. The door there was ajar, just slightly, and in the fading light, it looked like a mouth waiting to swallow her whole.
Half an hour later, she switched to mopping, humming under her breath to keep herself company. The sound seemed too loud in the emptiness, bouncing back from the high ceiling.
She was halfway through the far corner when movement flickered at the edge of her vision.
Her head snapped up.
A shape tall, and broad-shouldered figure was standing near the storage room. The dim light caught nothing of their face, only the faint glint of something metallic at their side.
Her grip on the mop handle tightened. "Hello?" she called, her voice wobbling despite her best effort.
The figure didn't answer
Her pulse thundered in her ears. The smell of sea salt hit her suddenly, sharp and cold, mixing with a faint metallic tang like rusted chains.
The figure stepped forward, slow and deliberate.
Her mind jumped to every ghost story the fishermen back in her village used to tell: drowned sailors who wandered the shore at night, searching for someone to take their place in the deep.
"G...Ghost!" she yelped, stumbling backward. The mop clattered to the floor with a wooden thud.
The figure didn't stop.
She stumbled again, her back hitting the wall, heart hammering against her ribs. Her breath came in shallow gasps as the shadow closed in.
And then.....
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