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Piercing pink eyes, glaring at the opponent ahead. Wooden sword held straight out in front, unwavering, prepared to pierce the enemy. His weight lies in his legs, and he lunges forward to deliver the final blow to his foe… the training dummy.
Cheong Myeong relaxed his stance and straightened his back, while he glared down at the floor. No one could know what thoughts were going through the young boy’s mind for him to make such an expression after such perfect form. The school bell interrupted his thoughts, breaking his contemplation. With a neutral face, he walked back inside the school, away from the outer training grounds.
The grounds were quiet, aside from the racing thoughts of a certain redhead who happened to be watching.
Bloom’s heart was racing right along with her thoughts. She had only wanted a moment of peace and quiet, and she didn’t mean to intrude, but she heard some swishing sounds and then…
She couldn’t get that image of him out of her head. Absolute focus. Absolute perfection. Then his expression… of failure? Intrigued was certainly one word to describe the feelings rushing through Bloom at this chance encounter. She hadn’t realized how long she had been standing there until the next bell rang, signaling the beginning of the next class. The straight A student that she was, she sprinted straight to class.
***
The bell rang again, for the final time today. The students rushed through the doors and through the streets, anything to get away from that building as fast as possible, to be honest. Bloom had stayed back to tidy up her classroom a bit, as a favor for her hardworking teacher. On her way out of the school, she heard those swishing noises again, this time, accompanied by groans and shouts of pain. She was moving towards the commotion before she knew it.
There were three other students lying on the ground, bruised and bloodied, in front of a man with a piercing pink gaze, and a heart as black as his hair. Before thinking, Bloom intervened, positioning herself in between this man and the other students.
“I’m not going to let you keep hurting them.”
His eyebrow cocked up and he looked her up and down, assessing her threat level first, then assessing exactly who he was looking at. This was Bloom, like, the Bloom. The one everyone wanted to get with, to be liked by. Knowing this, he still didn’t back down quite yet, afterall, he had a reputation to uphold, didn’t he?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“What do you mean? It’s obvious that you beat these three up!”
“I did?” He pointed to himself, “Lil ‘ol me?”
Bloom was a bit shocked by his obvious ploy to avoid responsibility.
“Oh please. You’re not weak, don't try to lie to me.” Bloom spat at him then turned around to the other three, “You should head out now, I’ll handle him just fine .”
These three didn’t need any more convincing to get up and leave. In a matter of seconds, Bloom and he were alone, glaring at each other.
“Who do you think you are?!” They both said in unison, but the boy answered first.
“I’m Cheong Myeong, and I think you’re a little out of your depth.”
“I am just trying to protect some innocent students!”
“Innocent? Yeah right! You should have seen their awful form. I was teaching them.”
“Teaching them what? How to cower in fear correctly?”
“Maybe. And maybe you need a little lesson in that too, huh, Blooser.”
“Oh yeah, give me your best shot little Myeonggi.”
No one had ever called Cheong Myeong by a nickname like that. They were too scared to even try. Cheong Myeong should be infuriated. In fact, he could feel his body heating up at that nickname, and he found himself lunging towards Bloom before he could even think.
Rather than a punch, Cheong Myeong found his lips in contact with hers, and he didn’t think twice before doubling down on that kiss. Bloom, obviously flustered, returned this kiss with equal fervor. This man was an asshole, and clearly didn’t care for anyone other than himself, so why was he so hot??
Neither of them knew how much time had passed before they separated, fiery eyes still staring the other down. Bloom glanced down briefly, trying to collect herself, but when she looked back up, Cheong Myeong was gone.
***
Everytime Cheong Myeong spotted Bloom, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, even outside of school, it only took a glance for her to drop everything and come running. Something about that first kiss intoxicated some part of Bloom, making it impossible for her to refuse any of his calls. Each time they went a little further, crossing forbidden boundaries that are there for good reason. Before long, Bloom found herself missing more classes from illness, and skipping lunch from nausea. The symptoms led to a clear diagnosis: pregnancy.
“I’m pregnant.”
“You’re what.”
“I’m pregnant.”
“Why does that have anything to do with me..?” Cheong Myeong said, like the idiot he is.
“YOU GOT ME PREGNANT YOU BASTARD.”
“...no?”
“YES YOU DID.”
“...” With his silence, Cheong Myeong walked out the door.
…
Wait what. He walked out? Why did he just leave?? Doesn’t he know that you’re not just supposed to leave??? THAT NOT HOW THIS WORKS YOU- Oh he’s back.
Walking back in the room, Cheong Myeong looks Bloom in the eyes.
“I’ll take care of you pookie whiskers.”
Bloom's eyes clouded with tears. She was filled with fears and doubts mere moments ago, but words like these from her love warrior was enough to make that all go away.
“Okay, *sniffle* you’ll take care of mwe.” Bloom said, voice falling to tears by the end of it. Cheong Myeong held her in his arms as he consoled her through these emotions. This isn’t what he signed up for. All he wanted was the most admired girl in school to be his so he could be respected. What the fuck was this?!?
***
Panicked breathing, intense pain, all alone. Bloom didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t get up to get her phone and call for help. She had to wait for Cheong Myeong to come back home, which wasn’t for a few hours still. She realized she had to do this by herself.
“Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths…” She repeated this like a mantra to herself, and she felt the pain skyrocket. At some point in the process she must have blacked out, but she came back to hear herself screaming, and to hear another, much quieter cry.
There was a lot of blood, but there was also a baby. A little guy, if you will. Bloom was able to pick him up and hold him in her arms. She could hear his cries getting softer, but she couldn’t tell if that was her or the baby that was getting weaker. Before she blacked out, she saw a figure at the door.
“Myeonggi…”
***
Black clothes. They suited him. They matched his hair and his attitude. They covered up the blood from beating up his club members. They covered up the blood of his dead child . It suits him. He stared down at the coffins laying in the dirt. One large, one small. He felt some raindrops flow over his cheeks. One large, one small. He felt his heart beat. One large, one small. Gripping his shirt, he wished for a moment that it would stop beating. He knew better than to keep thinking that though. It’s not like he needed her anyways. This was just one small step towards the greater heights he had to achieve. One large step back, one small step forward.
Cheong Myeong turned away from the half buried coffins, stepping away. One large, one small.