Genesis

Chapter 27

The guys came around to see what the commotion was, as I finally managed to compose myself "I can't believe this. It's nothing compared to what you guys did, but still.......Fuck my hand hurts."

We all laughed together for a moment, before Jay spoke up "I'm Impressed. Now you see why watching you do all that basic training was pissing me off. It's a waste. No need to rush it for now, though. There's a fine balance between conditioning your body, and just tearing it to pieces. We'll head back for now, take the day off."

"An early day? You're too gracious, boss" Goon interjected, saying with a hint of sarcasm "Yeah, yeah, shut up before I change my mind" Goon pressed his lips together, and made a zipping motion, before we all headed back to the bikes.

After the ride back, we went our separate ways for the day. As I was making my way through the plaza, I stopped to get a breakfast burrito from Uncle Hector's.

As I sat there eating, replaying this mornings events in my head, I realized something. All the guy's accept Jay as their leader, no problem. So he's gotta be the strongest, right? I mean I guess he doesn't have to be, but something tells me he is. Yet I didn't get to see him display it this morning. Why wait?

My thoughts were interrupted by the call of a familiar voice "Hey hey. How's it going?" Ana walked up from behind me, and sat in the chair next to me "Good training this morning?" She asked, leaning back in the chair.

I grew excited to share my progress with her, a big smile forming on my face as I said "This morning I went with Jay, and the rest of the guys in to the forest, they're knocking down trees, clearing a path for David. Jay is gonna help me grow stronger, and take down a tree, too. I punched one today, and took a piece out. Not a very big piece, but still."

Ana smiled lightly, before responding "Yeah, I know the place. I help them out sometimes, when I'm bored. I'm glad you're getting at it, though. I knew you were a lot stronger, than you were giving off"

Honestly, finding out Ana helps clear the forest out, isn't even slightly surprising. "You know, Ana? I haven't seen you do a single thing, but for some reason, I believe everything you say."

She shrugged, and said "Sometimes you can just tell. And sometimes you've seen more than you realize." "Well that was ominous. Thanks for that" "No problem"

We sat together for awhile before going up to the rooftops of our apartment together. We sat up there, just talking for awhile. Jasmine ended up coming up, too, bringing cards with her, to pass the time. Ana kicked our asses at every game we played. Uno, go fish, war, all of it.

The sun set, and the night sky filled with stars, further than the eye could see. The three of us sat together, for a couple more hours, enjoying the sky, and sharing stories, before Ana walked Jasmine home, and I headed in for the night.

The next morning I went over to Jay's apartment, and got together with Tae "Good morning, I'm glad you made it. I've been eager to help you improve your kicking. Also, using these heavy bags, is a great way to condition your body. Although it's slower, It's less dangerous. Performing conditioning on harder objects, should be done sparingly, until your body gets to a certain toughness. I'm rambling, forgive me."

Taeyoon talked the least out of all these guys, but I could tell that he enjoyed talking about stuff like this "I certainly don't wanna destroy my body, so I appreciate the concern. What's on the list for today?" I asked.

Tae stepped up to the bag and just as he was about to say something, he looked back at me with a confused look on his face "You stretch in the morning, right?" "Uuuuuhh....No?" I said, with a nervous laugh. Tae shook his head, and sighed "Never workout until you stretch. Follow me."

After about a ten minute stretching session, we made our way back to the bags. Tae put his hand on the bag and said "This will be your best friend, from now on. I'll start you off with something simple, watch me." Tae took a step back, and stood to the side. "Low, mid section, high" in one seamless sequence, he demonstrated three perfect kicks "Easy enough, right? Take it slowly, and you'll get it in no time. One of the most important things to remember, is your balance. Watch me a few more times. The positioning of my feet, the angle of my body, my arms, take it all in." I watched Tae demonstrate some more, and tried my best to mimic his actions. He corrected my form, and worked with me for about an hour on this.

After that he showed me a few more basic moves like, proper front kicks, back kicks, and even got me started on learning roundhouse kicks. It's a lot, I can't lie, but as we worked out together, we talked here, and there, casually, and he told me how he used to be a Taekwondo champion. So i'm definitely learning from the right guy.

I spent the day training with Tae, and was absolutely exhausted, when it was all said and done. My legs were jelly, as I walked home, and got right into a hot bath.

My next few weeks were filled with quite a bit of structure, that I honestly enjoyed. I woke and stretched every morning, before going to work out with Jay and the guys, switching between Goon, and Tae. I even talked to Jay about giving the four of them a name, because I was already sincerely tired of calling them "Jay and the guys" He just shrugged and said "Sure, I don't care" and left it up to me, so now I'm spending my free time thinking about that, too.

We'd take a couple days a week, to rest up, and I'd hang with whoever was around. About a month has passed since I started training. I can feel my body getting stronger, already, training with these guys is grueling, but worth it. While I was making my usual walk to the apartments, I ran into David, sitting in the plaza.

After finding out where I was headed, he said he wanted to show me something, and came with me.

"Morning, yah fucking bums!" David called out, as we stepped in. "Ahh man, they'll let anyone in the walls, these days" Crow called out jokingly. They all gathered around, and Jay spoke up "You don't come here often. What's up?"

David, feigning like Jays word hurt him, replied "I'm appalled, sir! I can't just come see a friend?" They just stared at each other for a moment, Jay's face serious as could be, while David smiled, like an ass, before finally "Fine, whatever! Don't like you anyway, tree huggers" "We're not hugging trees, you're the one-" "Anyhow! I know you've all been doing great work, and I wanna contribute a bit. I'm gonna teach Carly the Serpent's hook"

the other guys all stopped what they were doing, and a look of surprise washed over their faces, with Jay asking "Such an advanced move, already?"