"Hey, Jewoo, is she really as strong as you say? How could she be stronger than Teacher?"
Taebong, Wooseok, and Hyungjae sat in a circle, and Taebong asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
Jewoo snorted. "You don't get it! She's not human. She's an elephant! How is Teacher supposed to beat an elephant?"
Wooseok thought about it. "What if Baki-hyung and Teacher go together?"
Jewoo considered this seriously. "Hmm... yeah, if Baki-hyung and Teacher team up, they should be able to take the Empress of Two Seconds."
Hyungjae had heard enough. "Aren't you guys way overthinking this? She's just a girl our age. How could she beat Baki-hyung or Teacher?"
Taebong nodded in agreement.
Jewoo shook his head. "You don't understand. She could take Baki-hyung down by herself without even trying. Teacher would have to help just to win."
The other three said nothing. Jewoo made a satisfied sound, assuming he'd finally gotten through to them, and opened his mouth to keep going — then someone tapped his shoulder.
He turned around.
Park Baki was standing right behind him, grinning in a way that wasn't particularly friendly.
"Looks like Seongji hasn't been working you hard enough if you've got time to sit around comparing people."
Baki grabbed Jewoo by the back of his collar and lifted him clean off the ground.
The door opened and Yuk Seongji stepped outside. "What's all the noise?"
Baki heard his voice, dropped Jewoo without ceremony, and said, "Your students are slacking. Instead of training, they're out here ranking us against some Empress of Two Seconds."
Seongji walked over and laughed. Calling them kids wasn't quite right anymore — they were teenagers now.
"Empress of Two Seconds?"
Jewoo picked himself up and brushed off his clothes. "Teacher, you won't believe it. A girl joined our judo class and she throws everyone in two seconds flat. No exceptions. She even demolished our judo instructor, that's why everyone calls her the Empress of Two Seconds."
Baki's brow creased. "Tch. You little punks. Your classmate is better than you, so you go around calling her an elephant? Aren't you embarrassed?"
Jewoo shrank slightly. "She really does look like one, Baki-hyung... If you don't believe me, I'll bring her here tomorrow so you can see for yourself."
Seongji watched the whole thing and sighed quietly.
Baki waved a hand. "Fine. Bring your Empress of Two Seconds. I want to see what she's got."
---
The next day.
Jewoo, Taebong, Wooseok, and Hyungjae walked up the mountain path. Behind them followed a figure a full head taller than any of them, blonde hair, white judo uniform.
"Jewoo, how much farther?"
Jewoo glanced back, nearly said the wrong name, and caught himself just in time. "Almost there, El— Mary Kim."
After a while, the wooden house came into view. In the yard, a dark-skinned man with deep red hair was holding a one-armed side crow pose, both legs suspended in the air without a tremor.
At the sound of footsteps, Baki stood up. His gaze swept over the group and settled on Mary Kim's frame.
He walked over, the corner of his mouth pulling up. "So this is the classmate you were talking about? The one you called an elephant?"
All four of them felt a chill run down their spines simultaneously.
Taebong jumped in first. "Not elephant, hyung. Empress of Two Seconds."
"Oh?" Baki looked completely innocent. "I'm pretty sure Jewoo said he was bringing an elephant today. Must have been mistaken."
Jewoo started sweating.
The door of the wooden house opened and Seongji walked out, looking slightly drowsy, an axe resting on his shoulder. "Baki, I'm going to chop some wood, alright?" He took a few steps, then stopped when Mary and Jewoo came into his line of sight. He scratched his head. "Oh. Jewoo, is this the classmate you mentioned? What did you call her... an elephant? Yeah, that should be it."
Jewoo's feet hadn't even moved yet when he left the ground.
One second later he hit the earth. He stared blankly for two full seconds before the pain registered. By the time he came back to his senses, Mary was walking slowly toward him. He immediately called for help, only to find that every single one of his friends had vanished.
He had no choice but to accept his fate.
A series of pained sounds came from the corner of the yard for a while. Then silence.
Taebong peeked out from behind a tree. "Hyungjae... she didn't actually kill Jewoo, right?"
Hyungjae didn't answer.
Fortunately, after a while, Jewoo came staggering back, Mary following behind him.
He walked up to Baki and made the introduction with what little dignity he had left. "Hyung, this is Mary Kim."
Baki looked at Jewoo's condition and, unusually, felt something close to sympathy. "Alright. No training for you today. Go rest."
Jewoo limped away. Taebong and the others moved to help him and got a withering glare for their trouble.
Baki turned to Mary. "Pretty strong. So what did you come here for? Train with them?"
Mary looked at him directly. "No. I want to fight you."
Baki's eye twitched.
"Alright," he said, then raised a hand. "Hold on though. Since you're best at throws, I'll give you a chance. If you can throw me to the ground, you win. If you can't, you lose. Deal?"
Mary thought about it, then nodded.
She stepped forward and gripped his uniform with both hands.
Baki stood there, a faint smile on his face, completely still.
She loaded her weight and pulled, the same motion that had worked on every single person she had ever faced.
Nothing happened. He didn't move an inch.
'...What?'
She reset her footing, changed the angle, tried again.
Still nothing.
It was like wrapping her arms around a boulder. Her force went into him and disappeared, as if the ground itself was holding him in place.
"Come on, Empress," Baki said easily. "Is that all?"
Mary stepped back and stared at him. In her entire life, there had never been a person she couldn't throw. Not once.
'How...'
"Your form is fine," Baki said, rolling his shoulders. "It just doesn't work on me. Try again."
She went at him again. Different grip, different angle, every variation she knew, one after another.
Every single time, the same result.
The minutes passed. Then nearly half an hour. Sweat soaked through her uniform, her arms burned, but Baki stood exactly as he had from the beginning.
The kids watched in silence.
Hyungjae said quietly, "Baki-hyung isn't even trying."
Wooseok said, "That's the scary part."
Seongji came back carrying an armful of logs, set them down, and stood watching for a moment. "Baki. That's enough."
"I'm just standing here," Baki said, the picture of innocence.
Mary finally stopped. Her breathing was ragged. Her arms were shaking.
'This... is impossible.'
Baki took a step closer. "Want to know why you can't throw me?"
Mary looked up at him.
"You're strong and your technique is good," he said. "But that alone isn't what makes someone powerful. The most important thing is knowing when to use what. Because every technique has a counter. Nothing is perfect." He shifted slightly, his body seeming to drop half an inch lower. "One last time. Come at me."
Mary took several deep breaths and charged, pouring everything she had left into it.
For just a moment, it looked like it might work.
Then Baki made a small adjustment, his weight sliding sideways, and her force found nothing to push against. She went down with it.
She lay on her back staring up at the sky, the air knocked half out of her.
Baki crouched down and held out a hand. "Not bad. You almost had it, but I shifted my weight at the last second. That's why it fell apart."
Mary slapped his hand away and pushed herself upright on trembling arms. She stared at the ground for a moment, then looked up — not at Baki, but past him.
At Seongji.
"Teach me," she said.
Seongji raised an eyebrow.
"I want to learn from you," Mary said, her voice steady despite her exhaustion. "Jewoo said you're stronger than him. I want to learn what it means to be truly strong."
Seongji glanced at Baki. Baki shrugged with a look that said don't ask me.
Seongji looked back at Mary. "Why not just train judo harder on your own? You're already strong."
"Because today I felt completely powerless for the first time in my life," Mary said. "I hated it. But I also—" she paused, "—I want to chase that feeling. Knowing there's someone that far ahead means I still have somewhere to go." She met his eyes. "So teach me."
Silence sat over the clearing for a moment.
Baki broke it by laughing. "Did you hear that, Seongji? This kid's something else."
Seongji was quiet for a moment longer, studying her face. Then he said, "Alright. But once you start, you don't quit." He pointed at Jewoo. "And you two sort things out first."
Jewoo stepped forward immediately. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have called you... you know..."
Mary finished for him. "An elephant."
Jewoo said, "...Yeah."
Mary bowed deeply. It was a proper judo bow.
"I'm sorry for losing my temper over a stupid nickname. That was wrong of me."
Despite everything, laughter broke out. Even the corner of Mary's mouth moved slightly.
Seongji extended his hand. "Welcome to the Cheonliang fam."
Mary shook it firmly. "Thank you, Teacher."
Taebong leaned toward Hyungjae. "You think she can actually learn to beat Baki-hyung?"
Hyungjae shook his head slowly. "Beat Baki-hyung, I don't know. But..." He watched Mary step in among the others. "She's going to get really strong trying."