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Ryujin was excited.
There was no point denying she had practiced a little for the next event, because she had a reputation to maintain. Her twitter feed all said the same thing about her participation in the wrestling event at this years ISAC tournament, and from what she had managed to read during their short breaks in the rest room, she was the favourite to win.
Seeing the expectations, she had dragged Yuna to the practice room as soon as it opened to try and train some wrestling skills she wasn’t even sure she had.
So far, it seemed to be going well.
“Ugh- have you had enough now unnie? Seriously I don’t think anyone has a chance against you.” The youngest member was crumpled against the floor mats, breathing heavily as she looked up at Ryujin.
The older girl just smiled and helped her stand, “Thanks Yuna” She dusted her off gently, “I just wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing”
With that, they left the room and walked down the long hallway back to the others. By the stressed looks on people’s faces as they ran past, there must have only been a few minutes left until the live broadcast started.
“I hope lots of people watch us” Yuna spoke, deep in thought as they watched yet another staff member dash past, this time holding three bows.
“They will” She smiled, holding the door to the break room open for her.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Okay Ryujin-ssi, you’re up next”
She looked up to try to find whoever was talking to her, but failed, The crowd of idols and their staff was impossibly large, a mass of makeup and co-ordinated outfits. Everyone was trying to act as natural as possible, like there wasn’t a stadium full of fans and a livestream watching their every move.
Ryujin found herself pulled up by Yeji, who stared at her with a small smile. The leader had a knowing look, dark eyes catching on to the self imposed anxiety running through Ryujin. A small squeeze of the arm was all she got before her own body betrayed her, dragging her up to the mat.
For once, she didn’t recognise the idol she was up against. It wasn’t someone she had seen online, but she could make a few guesses based on the sky blue colour of her tracksuit.
The girl smiled widely, waving to Ryujin before mouthing something excitedly to the fans.
Whoever she was, she seemed to be popular, and comfortable with it too. A sharp pang on envy burned inside her, wishing for not the first time that the relaxed interactions of being an idol came easier to her.
It was hard to hear the words of the referee for their match, but it was easy enough to know what he was talking about. She had memorised the handouts given to her the other day, and knew the rules already.
Preparation was what would win her the match, and hopefully maintain the tough, strong reputation she had with fans.
Before she knew it, the countdown was starting.
3
2
1
A whistle started the round, ringing in her ear just louder than the thudding of her heartbeat.
Her first thought was of her stance. She had frozen momentarily in the starting position, arms around the girls waist and hangs gripped on the fabric. Now, the girl had started to step back, pulling Ryujin with her.
She waisted no time following, pushing forward with a burst of speed to try and throw the girl off balance. Her long blonde hair brushed against her face, strands sticking in the humidity.
It wasn’t enough though, her opponent just spinning and regaining control within seconds.
The crowd were louder now, the big screens choosing to display their fight instead of the archery going on. It made sense, this was probably the first real match up of the day.
Ryujin wasn’t going to lose in front of everyone.
She planted her right foot and twisted her body hard, violently pulling at the material and knocking the girl sideways. She heard the gasp from beneath the blonde hair, and stumbled to the side with her.
She saw out of the corner of her eye her own group, four faces watching intently. Lia’s was frozen in a state of shock and confusion, with Chaeryeong talking fast in her ear. She almost smiled realising that the younger girl was probably just explaining the rules yet again, despite Lia having read them many times like the rest of them.
Ryujin didn’t have time to watch her members though, feeling her opponent pull as she regained her balance.
A huff of air left her as she caught her breath. The girl had seemed so small at first glance, but now beating her was becoming a genuine problem.
The red clock on the side of the mat ticked down rapidly. Only 10 seconds left of the round.
She had to do something.
Finding a last burst of strength, Ryujin shifted her weight, trying the same technique she had practiced with Yuna earlier. Stepping forward, she hooked her inside foot behind the leg of the girl, and planted it down.
If she realised was Ryujin was about to do, she didn’t react quick enough.
It only took half a second for her to twist, and trip the girl backwards so hard she fell on top of her.
A warmth spread through her veins as she fell, realising she had won. Trying to prevent any injury, she let go of the girl as she fell, letting her arms come back in to cushion her fall.
The blue mat was spongy, and she found herself face down with her cheek pressed against the plastic cover. She turned her face to the side, a smile forming on her lips as she began to laugh-
An impact caught the breath in her throat.
She should have seen it coming, and moved out of the way, but she hadn’t turned over in time.
As they fell together, the opponent landed first on her side, and Ryujin landed just a second afterwards. What she hadn’t realised though, was that the girl wouldn’t stay still, and her fall had placed Ryujin right in the spot where her elbow would land.
It wasn’t preventable in any way, all happening too fast to see.
What Ryujin did see though, was a blur of something towards her face, before a blinding pain spread from her nose.
It brought tears to her eyes immediately, a burning sensation filling her sinuses followed by a sickening crunch as the girl put her full weight on her.
The weight was gone as soon as she landed, the other girl flying up in a panic. Ryujin couldn’t face her though, she couldn’t speak. She got to her knees in a scramble, hands already covering her face to try and hide the pain.
It was only when she felt the steady dropping of warmth on her palms that she realised her nose was bleeding.
“O-oh my god! Are you okay?!” The girl’s voice wavered, “I’m so sorry!”
Ryujin reeled away, scrambling up to find someone, anyone, one of her members to take over and tell her what to do. She had never had a nosebleed before, and the panic that started to fill her was a fair indicator she wouldn’t cope well with it.
She looked down, finally able to blink away the tears, only to see she was now kneeling on a red mat, not a blue one. Her hands were dripping with blood, legs smeared with the liquid as it dripped from her nose.
A shuddering breath left her.
Then a wheeze.
Then a sob.
“Ryujin.”
She was falling, this was it. The edges of her vision began to blur and she was sure she would pass out at any second, but she didn’t dare to speak.
To look up would be to show the cameras her face, bloody and tear streaked, and that would be career suicide if she had ever seen it.
“Ryujin you need to calm down. Breath.”
Familiar hands found her waist, and pulled. She let herself be dragged to her feet, stumbling beside Yeji as she guided her off the mat.
Ryujin was sobbing now, she could hear herself through the muffled sounds of the crowds. Talking echoed through the stadium, from the other idols, from her opponent still on the mat. She wanted to sink into the ground right there and have the world forget about her.
“It’s okay, you’re okay honey” Lia’s voice was smooth, calm and even as she joined the other side of her. One hand came under Ryujin’s face to collect the blood, the other gripped the back of her head hard and pushed down gently.
“This way” Yeji’s voice was firmer, and Ryujin could see her out of the corner of her eye. She wasn’t looking ahead, but upwards, staring at the big screen as it followed them out of the stadium and into the tunnel.
“Jesus could they not have turned the cameras off?” Yuna’s voice came somewhere from behind, thick with annoyance and lacking the normal charm she put on around cameras.
Ryujin was starting to feel sick, blood pooling in the back of her throat. Her warning came out as a whine, footsteps faltering as she gagged.
“Nope. Shit” Lia caught on fast as always, “Just spit it into my hand otherwise you’ll be sick.”
They weren’t out of the stadium yet, but far enough away so that the persistent cameras wouldn’t catch what Ryujin was doing. She opened her mouth, letting the blood that had pooled there spill out onto Lia’s hand.
“What- oh my-“ Chaeyryeong’s voice sounded weak, even quieter than Yuna’s
“It’s okay don’t worry she’s not being sick” Lia chimed, hand pushing down harder on the back of her head, “Just spit it all out it’s okay”
In her blind panic, Ryujin had forgotten all about Chaeryeong’s fear of people being sick, and for a second felt guilty. It didn’t stop, a flood of guilt over the whole situation that brought fresh tears to her eyes.
She coughed, letting the last of the blood spill out and tried to form words.
“M- sorry”
A flurry of reassurance came, now safely away from sight and just a few steps away from their break room.
“It’s no problem at all” Yeji sounded calmer now they were away, opening the door and leaving a red handprint on the wood.
Ryujin let herself fall into the bathroom, clutching the side of the sink. Within seconds the white porcelain was covered in red drops.
“I think it’s slowing down” Yuna mumbled, hands already full with toilet roll and a damp cloth. She smiled as she shoved the paper in Ryujin’s face.
“You’re going to suffocate her” Chaeryeong’s voice was lighter, as though she was fighting a laugh
“She’s survive, she’s got another round left to fight anyway”
For the first time, Ryujin took a deep breath, sighing at Yunas words loudly. Small chuckles filled the room as the tension eased.
Slowly, Ryujin began to straighten up.
Lia was first beside her, running the cloth over her face as she pulled the toilet paper away.
“Yeah, I think it’s stopped…”
She looked concentrated, rubbing the damp material harder in her places the blood had dried in. Soon, Ryujin looked like herself and not like a murder scene.
The shake of her hands still persisted, but with less panic, just the residual intensity of what had just happened. The small bathroom was quiet, the crowd of members and managers seemingly waiting for Ryujin to speak.
“Y-yeah, I think it’s good now” she nodded, brushing her hair back behind her ears, “thank you”
That seemed enough for most of them, people slowly filtering out to continue with the rest of the day. Discussions had already started about who would replace Ryujin in the next round, what would they say on social media, if this should be reported as a medical incident or not.
It was all so much trouble to go through for something she could’ve avoided.
“I-“
“Don’t” Yeji was the only one left in the bathroom with her, and she spoke with such confidence Ryujin could only listen.
“You’re going to apologise but you don’t have to. This isn’t your fault. It’s no trouble. It’s not going to ruin anything.”
“This is all anyone’s going to be talking about” Ryujin mumbled, wiping the blood of her lips with the cloth.
“Okay so what” Yeji came behind her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders gently, “they’ll say that you won the round and survived a life threatening injury. Your reputation is saved.”
“I just sobbed in front of a whole stadium”
“Yeah” Yeji laughed, “Welcome to the club, at these this one didn’t have a stadium full of midzy and a microphone in your face. Yuna had to deal with that, remember?”
They laughed, recalling the sight of their youngest’s face whenever she saw a video of the night she cried on tour.
“Okay yeah” Ryujin huffed with a smile, “That would suck”
Yeji nodded, taking the cloth from Ryujins damp hands and throwing it in the bin. Together, they washed the sink, hands swirling water round it as the red slowly ran down the drain. They worked in silence, slowly restoring the bathroom back to its normal condition.
“How are you doing now?”
“Better, thanks”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Oh my god look” Ryujin whined, holding her phone up for the rest of them to look at. A video played of a fancam taken after the event, showing in clear detail of them all dragging Ryujin away.
“We look like we’re your bodyguards” Chaeryeong laughed, mouth full of food.
“No. Wait….”
A chorus of “ewwwww” and gasps filled the room as the video played on. It zoomed in on Ryujin right as she spat into Lia’s hand, the camera capturing the older girls grimace of disgust despite reassuring with her words.
“That’s literally so disgusting” Yeji laughed, rubbing her back.
“My reputation is ruined” Ryujin shook her head, sinking back into the sofa with a smile.