simon says | 02

.eighteen

eighteen | finally

"Are you down?" Jisung questioned as he and Yizhuo exited the bus.

"Tomorrow," Yizhuo nodded, "Same place, same time."

"See you there, then," Jisung replied before leaving her side, making her call after him.

"Don't be late this time!" she yelled, making Jisung shake his hand dismissively.

"What are they talking about?" Gaeul asked Matthew, who was standing close to her.

"I don't know," Matthew replied, "Nobody does."

"Do you want to know?" Gaeul questioned.

"Not really," Matthew shrugged, "I trust Yizhuo and her overthinking skills enough to know that she won't do anything stupid or unnecessary."

Thankfully, Yizhuo managed to get some training before Saturday, which meant she was a little more prepared to lose to Jisung, again.

It was starting to get on her nerves, the fact that he was so much better than her. She couldn't understand why, but every time they'd fight, he'd always end up victorious, and he'd never let her forget that he was better.

"Where are you going?" Matthew asked her as Yizhuo was getting her stuff from his room.

"I'm meeting Jisung later tonight," Yizhuo replied, "We're fighting again."

"Fighting? Fighting as in sparring or as in being in a conflict?" Matthew questioned after sitting up on his bed to look at her.

"Sparring, obviously," Yizhuo weirdly furrowed her eyebrows, something she'd do whenever she thought something was a well-known fact, "I'd tell you if we were in a conflict."

"You haven't been very open with me lately," Matthew noted, "Any particular reason?"

"There has been nothing interesting going on in my life lately, so I didn't feel the need to tell you that." Yizhuo shrugged.

"You know that I like it when you tell me how you're doing, right?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, I know," Yizhuo nodded, suddenly feeling bad about not keeping him updated.

"It's fine, don't stress about it," Matthew stated, a small smile appearing on his face.

She left soon after, wanting to get some sleep before she went to the training grounds.

"Where have you been?" Jisung didn't even bother greeting her properly.

"Well, hello to you too, Park." Yizhuo smiled sweetly, making the boy scoff.

"You weren't here when I came," Jisung stated, "Where were you?"

"Matthew and I didn't train today, we trained here yesterday," Yizhuo replied, finally understanding his initial question.

Jisung could only nod at her answer. They didn't converse until their fighting stances were taken, both waiting for the other to finally say something.

"Same thing as usual," Yizhuo decided to break the ice, "No powers, only hand-to-hand combat, and then if you want we can go over some power moves and help each other out."

"Sounds like a good plan," Jisung replied.

The thing was, even if they weren't using their powers, they still got a good workout from sparring.

Jisung was the first to strike. Usually, a right fist punch would be a good first move, but Yihzuo had already predicted that, and managed to slip under his hand just in time to grab it and use the boy's momentum to flip him over.

Jisung didn't fall, however, since the momentum wasn't enough to knock him to the floor.

"Good try," Yizhuo nodded for him to launch again, but this time, Jisung was more cautious.

She had improved a lot over the years, there was no reason to deny that. But Jisung improved a lot, too.

Sure, Yizhuo wasn't on his level, but she was pretty damn close.

"You're not striking?" Yizhuo asked him.

"What do you think, dumbass?" Jisung asked, clearly annoyed at the fact that she decided to strike up a conversation in the middle of their sparring session.

"Sorry," Yizhuo mumbled. What was she sorry for? She was sorry for the fact that she annoyed him.

And she was sorry for what was about to happen next.

Before Jisung could even blink, Yizhuo was already in front of him, her fist inches away from his face, making him duck.

He tried striking her side, but that was what the girl had predicted.

Transferring her weight from one leg to the other, she got enough momentum to round-kick the boy on his back, making sure she hit as large of an area as she could, making him fall to the ground from the unexpected impact.

Jisung didn't have time to get back up before Yizhuo put him in a chokehold, making him tap three times after a few seconds of struggling to get out of her grip.

The boy fell to the floor from the lack of oxygen in his lungs, taking the girl down with him.

"I won!" Yizhuo yelled, throwing her hands up in joy before rolling off of the boy, who remained on his back, too stunned to even look at the girl next to him.

"You won," Jisung mumbled, pure shock evident in his voice, "You beat me for the first time."

"Don't be mad," Yizhuo chuckled as she turned to her side to face the boy, using her palm to keep her head up, "You beat me over a hundred times, this should mean nothing to you."

"It means a lot to me," Jisung replied, turning his head to look at her, "Just as much as it means to you."

"Why would it matter to you, though?" Yizhuo questioned.

"Look at it from my perspective," Jisung told her, "You beat me, which means you're improving faster. That means you might be better than me, and I will never be second to anyone."

"Because second is the first to lose," they both said at the same time.

"I don't know how it is for you, but I'd hate myself for not being able to be the best," Jisung stated.

"I'm fine with being second, not everyone can be a winner," Yizhuo shrugged, "And if you are the only person who's better than me, I have no problem with that, either."

Somehow, the two were able to lay on the floor in silence for a long time, neither of them uncomfortable. That was something they had never been able to do before, be in each other's presence without feeling annoyed by the other, fighting or just silently hating each other.

But someone was watching them from the shadows, and they weren't at all happy with what they were witnessing.

_

do you have any ideas on who might've been watching them???

also guess what?
that oc idea is out the drain (ik ik so unexpected 🤭)
BUT
I kinda wanna start that riize streamer/textfic au
BUT
I  also kinda got the idea of having nct members (probably 99 and 00  liners, or the dreamies) in a fanfic that would be based on 90's love (hockey, maybe even  basketball if I feel like it, more than one girl in the mix as per  usual)

so please tell me what you'd like to read the most

AND
omg this is so long wtf 😭
please vote and comment if you like this story, it helps me with motivation ☺️🫶🏻