The three of them were now dressed in the white dojang dobok.
Hansu approached with a gentle, almost paternal smile.
"Alright, guys. Is this your first time practicing a martial art?"
Dowoon nodded immediately, stiff as a statue.
Hansu observed him patiently, but when his gaze fell on Byeoto, curiosity appeared in his eyes.
"And you?"
"I don't know any martial arts either" Byeoto answered bluntly.
"I see…" Hansu adjusted his glasses. "May I?"
Byeoto raised an eyebrow but nodded. He was curious to see what the hell this guy wanted to check.
Hansu began pressing muscles, shoulders, arms, waist, legs. He even made him flex his feet. It was a meticulous, almost professional body assessment. Taehun watched from the side with his arms crossed.
After about five minutes, Hansu straightened up.
"Incredible" he murmured with sincere amazement. "Do you work out?"
"Yes" Byeoto replied simply.
Taehun clicked his tongue.
"Is this dramatics really necessary?"
"I'm evaluating him. His body is… surprising" Hansu said, adjusting his glasses again. "A developed musculature without losing flexibility. You haven't gone through professional training, right?"
"Not at all" Byeoto said. "Two years at most… though I think it's actually been less, maybe a year."
Hansu's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
A year…? With casual training he reached this?
"Your musculature isn't exaggerated… but it's compressed. Dense fibers for explosive strength, stable posture, and wide mobility... It's innate. Even professional athletes would struggle to reach this level, or even if they trained their whole lives, they'd never get this far."
Taehun clenched his jaw in frustration. A physical prodigy?
"But," Hansu continued, "I also notice something else. You have undeveloped potential. Something latent in your body…"
"I guess. I didn't have a proper place to train" Byeoto said indifferently.
Taehun scoffed.
"So this guy is a 'prodigy,' according to you? Tch…"
"I can't deny it" Hansu answered.
Dowoon looked at Byeoto with a mix of amazement and confusion. Beside him, Taehun clenched his fists with a crooked smile.
"I see…" he said slowly. "Then hey, 'prodigy,' how about a little spar?"
Byeoto smiled, relaxed, almost amused.
"That's fine with me."
Besides, he thought, this guy isn't like the idiot bullies I've fought before. He's a real monster. A good test to measure where I stand.
Hansu covered his face with one hand and let out a soft laugh.
"Ah… youth gets intense every day."
.....
The two stood in the center of the dojang, staring at each other. Taehun cracked his neck and lifted his chin slightly, wearing a challenging, arrogant expression.
Byeoto simply waited.
Taehun was the first to move.
He lifted his knee straight forward. In a single motion he extended his leg upward, aiming a kick with the top of his foot toward Byeoto's face.
Byeoto raised a hand and caught the leg before it could hit.
"You're pretty fast" he commented.
Taehun frowned hard, clenching his jaw at the feeling of being underestimated. He shifted his weight back and yanked his leg sharply, forcing Byeoto to release it. The moment his foot touched the floor, he attacked again.
He spun to the side, lifted his other leg, and launched it in a quick arc. His heel struck toward the side of Byeoto's head.
The impact was sharp and sudden.
Byeoto managed to block with his arm, but still stepped back.
Taehun lowered his leg, visibly irritated.
"Don't underestimate me, bastard."
He didn't give him a second to breathe. He lunged again. Taking a long step, he dropped his center of gravity and launched a low kick.
Byeoto blocked it with his shin.
The clash was direct, bone against bone. The sound echoed through the room. Taehun's eyes widened slightly, surprised and annoyed. The impact hurt him more than expected, and Byeoto didn't seem to feel anything.
"You block that too, huh?" he muttered through clenched teeth, knowing exactly how strong his legs were and annoyed that this guy handled it so easily.
Byeoto stretched his neck lightly, relaxed with a smile on his face.
"Alright, I'm warmed up."
Taehun's expression darkened. He charged with more aggression, twisted his torso, and fired a side kick toward Byeoto's body.
Byeoto lifted his arm to block and immediately countered with a straight punch to Taehun's ribs.
Taehun stepped back, holding his side, angrier than before.
Byeoto advanced and threw a punch straight to his cheek.
At the same time, Taehun lifted his leg and struck him with his heel on the opposite cheek.
Both attacks connected at once. The sharp sound echoed, and blood splattered from both.
Shaking with rage, Taehun launched a direct kick to Byeoto's torso. Byeoto took it head-on but still smiled, raised his arm, and struck Taehun's solar plexus with a firm punch.
They stepped apart… only to rush in again.
Taehun lifted his leg toward Byeoto's head. Byeoto also launched a kick. Their shins collided violently.
But learning from last time, Taehun didn't get caught again. He used the momentum, dropped his foot, spun quickly, and fired a spinning kick to Byeoto's side.
This time it landed clean on his head. Byeoto fell to the floor from the impact.
Taehun stepped forward and lifted his left leg, preparing to bring it down hard on him. But Byeoto arched his torso back, making Taehun's heel crash into the mat.
Still supporting himself on his hands, Byeoto pushed upward with his hips and launched a downward kick toward Taehun's jaw. The impact made him stagger.
Using the same momentum, Byeoto let his body continue rotating backward. His hands pushed off the mat at the exact moment, lifting his torso. He followed the motion and stood up smoothly.
Taehun, still dazed, immediately fell into disadvantage.
Byeoto lunged, wrapped his arms around Taehun's waist, and with his muscles tensing, lifted him off the ground. Veins bulged as he carried him.
In one motion, he hoisted him fully and slammed him against the floor.
The sound filled the entire dojang.
Byeoto kicked him hard while Taehun was still on the ground, giving him no chance to recover.
Still down, Taehun crossed his forearms to block, but still rolled several meters from the impact. Dust lifted around him.
"Can you keep going?" Byeoto asked, walking calmly.
Taehun gritted his teeth, feeling his arms burn.
He stood up abruptly, irritated by the tone.
"Tsk…"
As soon as he was standing, he rushed forward.
Without hesitation, he launched a forward kick, the top of his foot smashing into Byeoto's abdomen.
Without giving him space, he twisted his hips quickly and fired a side kick in an arc, slamming Byeoto's ribs.
Then he accelerated his spin even more, briefly turning his back to Byeoto, and fired a backward straight kick.
Byeoto crossed his arms in time, taking the heel to his forearms. Even so, he stepped back from the force.
Before he could stabilize himself, his head was violently shaken. Taehun chained direct kicks to his face, each top of the foot cracking against him. He continued with the sole of the foot smashing into Byeoto's jaw, making his teeth clench.
Taehun spun short and finished with a sideways heel strike to the cheek.
Byeoto spat blood. His face hurt… but a small smile curved his lips. He was enjoying this.
He blocked Taehun's next high kick and countered by driving his left fist into Taehun's liver. Taehun folded instantly from the pain.
Byeoto followed with a kick to the thigh, forcing him lower. Taking advantage of the position, he launched an upward kick to the jaw, lifting Taehun. Then he connected a straight punch to his face, sending him backward as blood streamed from him.
Both readied themselves again, breathing hard, staring intensely.
Taehun clenched his teeth, stepped his right leg back slightly to build momentum, and loaded weight onto his left. With a quick twist of the hips, he leapt explosively.
In the air, his body began to rotate with speed,
one spin, another, and a third.
On the final rotation, he extended his right leg. The top of his foot aimed straight for Byeoto's head.
Byeoto stepped forward firmly, channeling all his strength into a punch.
The timing was perfect, the kick passed inches from Byeoto, missing by centimeters, and Byeoto's fist stopped just before hitting, mere centimeters from Taehun's face.
Silence lasted only a second.
"What are you doing?" Taehun panted angrily. "Are you underestimating me, bastard?"
Byeoto, with a crooked smile and blood on his lips, answered calmly.
"Funny… I could say the same. You made it pretty easy for me."
Taehun was still breathing hard when he said, with a mix of anger and irritation.
"Come on… let's keep going."
But before he could step forward, Hansu's calm voice cut through the air.
"That's enough" he said gently. "It was a somewhat violent spar, but not bad."
Taehun clicked his tongue, annoyed, while Byeoto wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
At that moment, Dowoon approached Taehun timidly and offered him a tissue. Taehun glared at him.
"What now? You here to bother me?" he growled.
Dowoon, nervous but excited, spoke quickly.
"That fight was amazing! Especially those kicks… how did you do that?"
Taehun's expression shifted. His annoyance turned into his natural arrogance. He lowered his shoulders slightly and answered, letting out a proud sigh.
"Of course it was amazing. I'm a genius, after all. That bastard just got lucky."
Still, he took the tissue begrudgingly and began wiping the blood.
A few steps away, Hansu approached Byeoto.
"You did pretty well, considering you don't know martial arts" he said in his calm voice.
Byeoto scratched his cheek, a bit uncomfortable. He knew perfectly well what Hansu was implying. A normal beginner didn't move or take hits like that. Even if he considered himself a physical genius, what he showed came from experience fighting.
He coughed lightly and answered.
"Well… that's what you call talent, right?"
Hansu looked him straight in the eyes, expression unchanged. Byeoto glanced away for a second and sighed.
"Alright, the truth is… I've fought some thugs before. My old neighborhood wasn't exactly peaceful."
Byeoto knew he couldn't fool someone like Hansu. With his experience, he had probably seen plenty of real "monsters." He wasn't going to swallow such a simple excuse.
Even so, Hansu nodded and smiled gently.
"Alright. Then tell me… do you want to learn Taekwondo?"