𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍 //𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝑭𝑭//

~𝟲𝟭~

"So what are you two doing here so early in the morning?" Lee Know asked. My stomach churned at the slight rasp in his voice.

"We were just thinking about some stuff up on the balcony, and then we decided we might as well train to get our minds off of it," Changbin said rather nonchalantly, removing the tape from his hands.

"Sounds fun. And I'm actually glad you are already here, Ava. I have some training we can do today, if you're up for it?"

"Sure. Sounds fun," I said softly.

Changbin got his stuff together again, getting up and going out of the training area, leaving me standing there in the awkward tension between myself and Lee Know. He took a few steps closer to me.

"Did you manage to sleep some more after I left you last night?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, I got in another hour or two. I still ended up waking up early though."

"That's okay. I'm sure it'll be better tonight. And if you want me to stay with you when you fall asleep or something like that, you can just tell me."

I smiled at his suggestion, my heart going mushy. I nodded, considering it. He tilted his head and smiled, his hair falling into his face. He brushed it back, his smile replaced with a playful smirk.

"So, you ready for some fun?" he asked.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought we could do some hand-to-hand combat variations if you want?"

I nodded once more, putting down the towel I had picked up earlier. Lee Know took a few steps away from me and I in turn walked a bit closer to him, moving away from any nearby equipment. We got into fighting stances. I waited for him to attack first, which he did. And I was reminded why he was the best at hand-to-hand combat in the team. 

The first time he attacked, he knocked me off my feet, grabbing my hand just before I hit the ground. I winced when his fingers pressed against my bruised knuckles but covered it up by smiling at him as he pulled me back to my feet. But I had barely gotten my balance back when he was coming at me again. The longer we fought, the better I got at deflecting his blows, but that wasn't going to be enough. I had to be able to push him away for long enough to be able to get away. 

So the next time he came for me, I acted. I kicked towards his head, just missing. I threw a punch, managing to get a hit to his abdomen. Pain shot up my arm, and I shook my hand to get rid of it. However, he wasn't bothered by it at all. He just kept coming, and I was getting tired. Come on, you have to beat him, I repeated to myself.

So I scraped together all the strength I had left and fought back. I kicked, hitting him in the side. He was slightly stunned by the blow, and I took advantage of it, throwing a punch to his ribs. It hurt, but I pushed the pain aside. I threw another punch. And another. But he recovered quickly, grabbing my wrist. 

He spun us around, pushing me up against the wall. My back pressed against the rough surface as he held my wrist above my head. He towered over me, his warm breath fanning over my cheeks. I stared up at him, his eyes finding mine. We just stood there, staring at each other. 

His grip on my wrist relaxed slightly, but I didn't pull away. It was like his presence froze me in place. It was like everything around us held their breath along with me. My eyes scanned Lee Know's, the rich brown colour addicting to look at, drowning out everything else besides him.

He slowly brought his free hand up to my jaw, leaning in. His nose brushed up against mine, my eyes falling shut at the touch for a second. When my eyes opened again, I saw his eyes glued to my lips. His eyes moved back up to meet my gaze for a second, as if to ask for consent. I made a small nodding motion with my head, him taking it as the green light.