Forever & Ever (Showki fanfic) [Discontinued]

Ch. 7: Close Proximity (Part 2)

Kihyun

"Umm, you- I- Right, swords," he mumbles before grabbing two wooden swords from the large container next to the wooden platform and throws one at me suddenly. I was not expecting it so it hit my chest straight on. I groaned softly as it did hurt before looking at him with watering eyes. 

"Oh, shit! Are you okay, Kihyun ah? I didn't mean to hit you with the sword. I am so used to tossing swords to my sparring partner and they are usually trained in the ways of the sword. It's like a second nature kind of thing, you know," he rambles with a panicked look on his face. 

"It's okay, Hyung. I won't die," I laughed to make him feel not guilty but by laughing, the area that got hit ached a bit. 

"Haha, okay. Erm, then let's start off with the basics. I'll show you first," he says while laughing awkwardly in the beginning. After he takes a deep breath to calm down his nerves, the look on his face changed as if he was a different person when he holds a sword. As I watched him, I noticed that every move was concise, not wasted, strong, and flows like water in a river. 

Although the moves weren't very fancy or complex, it was clear that he has mastery in them. That isn't entirely surprising as he has been training from a young age and has nature talent. Not to mention, he is the son of the God and Goddess of War. I tried my best to memorize each move to the t but I found myself distracted by...something else.

"Now, your turn," he says when he stops. 

"Eh? Just like that," I asked as I looked back at him in shock. 

"...yes," he says in a questioning tone as he tilts his head to the side slightly. 

"...if you say so," I said and got into position. I held onto the wooden sword with both hands and got in the ready stance. 

"You're right handed, right? Switch your hands' position," he says. 

"I'm actually ambidextrous. So, it doesn't really matter which hand is in front," I replied. 

"Oh, really? That's so cool. Um, then, show me the first five moves," he says before moving out of the way. I slashed downward before slicing diagonally upward to the right. Then, I stepped forward and made a slash as I turn back, moved one hand to hold the back of the blade, and pretended to block an attack. Shit, what's next? Just make it up. From that position, I  did a front flip without using my hands and slashed at where my opponent's ankles would have been. 

I gasped inwardly as I hadn't thought I would able to pull that off. Then, I tried to get up by jumping backward but I inadvertently stepped on the edge of my clothing and fell on my ass. "Owie," I whined. 

"Aish, I should have given something else to wear before I started training you, Kihyun. I'm sorry," he says when he comes over to help me get off the floor. I grabbed onto his hand and was just about to get up. He pulls me up toward him but he uses too much strength. So much that my body crashed into his. However, we didn't fall this time as he stepped back with one foot to resist the momentum. 

I looked up at him shocked at this turn of events. A second later, I smelled wood sage and sea salt again. "Thank you," I muttered under my breath as my heart began to beat weirdly at this close proximity.