Daydream » VKook

3. Painful Mind

I wasn't able to focus in school the next day.

Through every lesson, I stared at the clock. The needle steadily moved every second. Even though there wasn't any sound coming from the clock, I could hear the ticking sound in my mind. It made me quite anxious. I tapped my foot to the second, while thoughts of me training in Kendo gave me such excitement. Time went by incredibly slow and I could sense my heart wanting to burst out.

Once the final bell rang, I didn't hesitate to rush out of the classroom with my belongings. I had this cheesy, but gleeful smile on my face as I dashed out of the school and down the main streets. I ran so fast that I thought I was Flash from the comic books. Many people stared at me and wondered why and where was this boy running so fast to. But I didn't care. My only focus was on becoming a Kendo trainee.

I believe I made the world record for sprinting 5 miles in under 10 minutes. When I reached the entrance, I coughed and heaved needed oxygen through my lungs. My mouth was so dry that I was quenched for water. I entered the antique store and found no one to be managing the store. I figured that my father was back in the training facility. I dropped my school bag behind the counter and opened my father's personal fridge. I smirked at the stash of Soju, wishing I could just steal one bottle. But I know my father would realize if one bottle became missing. I sighed disappointedly and took a cold water bottle instead.

On the other side of those double doors were the sounds of young kids grunting and shouting. When I meant young kids, I meant like little kids between 5 and 8 years old. It left me to think about whether I was actually going to train with little kids. In my mind, I knew I was beyond the basics. I guess I could put myself at a more intermediate level. One would say I was a bit cocky, but no. I was just confident.

When I pushed through the double doors, the sounds came to a silence. While drinking water in one hand, I saw every face staring at me like I was forbidden to be here. I didn't like this serious, unwanted type of stare, so glared back at those small kids. They didn't intimidate me. Hell, they should be the ones feeling intimidated.

"What are you all looking at?"

It was the first thing I yelled to the kids. Sure I had a rough tone to my voice, but I wasn't afraid of hurting anyone's feelings. When anyone came into this type of environment, no pain meant no game. I was ready to work hard and to prove that I'm strong and worthy.

"Son. You're late."

I immediately turned around to see my father stand there, eyeing at me with great discipline. I glanced over at the clock, thinking that I wasn't late at all.

"I came here on time."

I firmly rejected his assumption. I knew I wasn't wrong.

"You're five minutes late."

I rolled my eyes at the old man.

"Well, I'm here now." I scoffed at him.

My father smirked at the corner of his mouth, then turned his attention to the kids.

"Students, what happens when you arrive late for training?"

A little boy raised his hand and firmly answered the question.

"You have to run a lap around the gym for each minute you are late."

I widened my eyes to the punishment. In my mind, I thought that one lap for every late minute wasn't so bad. I eyed back at my father and saw his nod, indicating me to exercise my punishment.

Without a word, I dropped my water bottle and started to run around the gym. Although I already ran about 5 miles from school to here, running another 5 laps wasn't difficult for me. As usual, I sprinted through every lap as if it were a casual jog around the neighborhood. I didn't even break a sweat.