Chapter 24

Joon: 12.23.15

I tried to ignore the heat in my cheeks by turning my gaze to Yandy “Is there anywhere with free space? Hae-In wants to show me a few moves.” I said.

She blinked “Th-”

“Moves?” Someone asked from her left.

I looked away from Yandy and to her left “Yes.” I gave her Aunt Janet a small smile “We practice martial arts, ma’am.” I answered, everyone Ohed.

“Are you any good?” Her Aunt Belinda asked before drinking from her mug, I picked up a hint of mocking in her tone.

I gave her a shrug “We’re pretty decent.” I lied then turned back to Yandy.

Yandy nodded “There’s room in the backyard, next to the basketball court.” She smiled.

“Lamar can show you.” Her Aunt Sandra offered, making Lamar frown up at her “He’s headed out that way anyway.” She caught the frown Lamar gave her and glared at him, he quickly looked away.

“I’ll show you.” He said with pursed lips.

I smiled back “Thanks.” I said to him before kissing Yandy on her forehead then nodded goodbye to everyone and left the kitchen.

We went through the living room and I signaled Hae-In to follow us. Lamar took us down a hallway then another room that led to the backyard. We stepped onto the patio and followed him further into the backyard.

“Here you go.” Lamar said as he gestured to open space “If y’all want, y’all can join in on a game.” He offered “Unless you trash, then we don’t need you.” He said.

Hae-In smirked “We’ll see who’s trash after I get done with him.” He taunted.

Lamar rolled his eyes “Come to the court then.” He then ran off to the court where 5 people were waiting on him.

I scoffed at Hae-In “Like you can actually beat me.” I fold my arms.

Hae-In smirked at me “Hyung, I’ve been getting better lately, I finally took down Lee.” He boasted.

“Really?” I asked, he nodded proudly “So that’s like 1-89 now, right?” I teased.

He gave me a blank stare “After I show you these moves, how about we do a one on one?” He suggested.

I stared at him with a smirk, “If that’s what you really want to do.”

“Bet.” He said before taking off his hat and throwing it on the nearby porch, I shook my head at him. We started off with stretching before getting into anything.

“Alright.” Hae-In said after 20 minutes of of pre-warm up, “I’ll show you fast then slowly, yeah?” I nodded “Ok.”

I watched him jump into the air and went into a roundhouse kick. I dodge it quickly but on my way back up, his other foot was coming toward my face. I threw my arms in front of my face and braced for the impact, my stance wasn’t grounded so the kick he landed made me stumble back a bit.

I removed my arms and met with his smug face “When did you come up with this?” I asked.

“Around three weeks ago.” He answered, still smug.

I ran my hand through my hair “Was this how you won against Lee?” I asked

He smirked at me “Maybe.” He waved me closer “I thought I would share my wealth and already taught Lee so it's your turn.”

I said Ok and stood next to him, he did the moves a couple of times so I could see the transition. After getting the transition down, we went over the movements a couple times until I got it right.

“You know they’re watching us, right?” Hae-In said after I land it for the third time.

I took my sweatshirt off “When are they not?” I reiterated.

He looked thoughtful then nodded in agreement.

“Alright, hyung.” He clapped “You got it now.” He praised “So,” he paused and cracked his knuckles “you ready for our match?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

I looked over at him in mock shock “You were serious about that?” I asked sarcastically.

“I was serious about whippin that ass.” He taunted as he stretch his arms.

I gave him a crazy look then scoffed at him “Give me your best.”

Since I went over Hae-In’s and Lee’s talents, I guess I’ll go over mine. Like I’ve said earlier, being in a crime family you had to learn combat training and weaponry at a young age. I started my weaponry training at age 10 and my combat at age 12. Weaponry was a breeze for me but I didn’t enjoy the combat training, I wasn’t motivated in it at all. I would rather kill with a weapon from a distant than up close and personal. My dad’s Uncle, was training my brothers and me in Hung Keun-or Hung Ga since he was a Grandmaster. He was relentless in it, day in and day out we would train to be the best but my mind was elsewhere. None of it interest me so I didn’t give it my all which caused me to get punished. I didn’t get serious about combat until age 14 when I saw the movie Ip Man, it peaked my interest to the point where I wanted to learn it. So I asked Granddad, my mother’s dad, to teach me since he was a Grandmaster of Wing Chun. It took me two years to master both of those styles and I’ve been told it was uncommon but I did it.

Hae-In and I got a great distant from one another, bowed respectfully, then got into our stances. He went with his strongest style, a kokutsu dachi, a Judo back stance. I stared at Hae-In before deciding to go with Taekkyeon. Unlike Lee and him, I’m a offensive fighter so I attacked him first. I lunged for him and went with the heel of hand. He blocked it and bent my arm, I escaped it before he could lock it. We blocked and dodged each other blows trying to find a way to defeat the other. Then something changed, he swiped for my feet. I jump spin and as I was about to land, I saw him go in a handstand with both of his feet aim for me. After I blocked him, I stared at him as he landed on his feet with a slight smirk. We stared at each other before he got into a stance that I only know from Hung Ga. Since when did he practice Hung Ga?, I asked myself as I matched it with Wing Chun.

This time he was the first one to attack, basically remembering all the moves from Hung Ga I decided to dodge all of his attacks. At some point I closed my eyes and listened for his movements, I knew it would piss him off but he knew better than to do Hung Ga against me. When I noticed he wasn’t moving, I opened my eyes to see him red faced, I couldn’t help but smirk. All that did was set him off and he came to me with full force. It slightly caught me off guard but I couldn’t let him know that so I masked my facial expressions and decided to actually fight. Block. Dodge. Hit. Hit. Dodge. Dodge. Block. Hit. Dodge. Hit. Hit. Dodge. Block. That was how the next 3 minutes went until we ended in both of us being locked around one another. We threw ourselves off of each other and landed on the ground. We quickly got up and assessed each other.

"Yandy, yo boyfriend out here fightin!" I heard one of her cousins yell from behind me.

Hae-In smirked "Hyung, your woman is about to watch you lose." He teased.

I rolled my eyes before dodging his punch and countered it with an elbow to the back. We stood at a distance again, he stared at me with intense eyes until he smirked and got into the stance for Wing Chun. He was being stupid now so I decided to end it, I attacked. I was impressed that he kept up with me but he let himself open a lot.

“Oh shit! Them niggas boxin.” I heard from behind me. Hae-In lip twitched in amusement before focusing back on me.

“Maybe we should tone it down, yeah?” I suggested as I glanced around “Last thing we need is a recording of us on the internet. You know what’ll happen if I’m found out?” I added.

He tensed but nodded nonetheless “Here I come.” He over dramatically lunged for me.

I dodged and caught his leg when he went for a roundhouse kick, I threw him on the ground and quickly turned him on his back then punched his knee. He grunted in pain and tried to get me off of him, I added more pressure until he stopped moving.

I got close to his face “I don't want to embarrass you in front of everyone so let's call it a draw.” I suggested

He never took his eyes off mine but nodded nonetheless. I let go of him and helped him up. We respectfully bowed to one another.

“Since when did you learn Hung Ga?” I asked curiously.

“Early August.” He answered smugly.