Chapter 46 - The Birth of the Ultimate Girl-Group (Part 1)

Eun-soon got into a fighting stance and began to approach me. She looked ready, ready to fight and to win. But, I saw the nervousness and knew I had to make a decision. I decided to draw this out as long as I could. There’s no fun in beating someone too quickly. I have to give the audience some sort of show if I wanted to win their sympathy. A come-from-behind victory. Yeah, that would be good.

‘But what is she doing?’ I wondered as I watched Eun-soon. She looked like she was ready to attack, but all she did was keep circling me. Is she afraid because of all those comments she got? Or is this some sort of tactic? The only person who would know is Eun-soon and she wasn’t letting her guard down anytime soon.

Anyways, since she wasn’t approaching me, then I’ll charge in. That was all it took for Eun-soon to let her fists fly.

Jab! Jab! Jab! Right hook!

“Ah! Oh my god! Kyaaah!”

I screamed loudly as I let myself get hit by Eun-soon, and flew myself backwards to hit the cage. The effect was immediate.

“Hey!”

“Foul!”

“Eun-soon, you bitch!”

If the audience members were like this, I could only imagine how the netizens would react. They were probably writing awful comments about Eun-soon by the thousand. She just earned herself even more haters.

‘Three hits, I counted to myself.’

Three hits. I planned to give it back twice as much so that just meant she got six hits for herself.

The moment I fell, Eun-soon must have seen it as an opportunity because she immediately ran over, ready to hit me in the face. I immediately got up and dodged, with Eun-soon’s foot hitting the cage.

Wham!

“Argh!”

Jesus, how hard had she intended to hit me? Did she hate my face that much? Blood started to come out of Eun-soon’s foot. But Eun-soon paid no attention to it and came at me again with a left hook, then a right hook. I dodged all of them...but I did let her get me with an uppercut.

Thwack!

“Ah!”

I threw my head back as far as I could before I dropped to the ground.

And once again, the audience didn’t let me down.

“You fucking bitch!”

“Somebody stop her!”

“Go to hell!”

The audience continued to spew out curses at Eun-soon, and she immediately drew back. Of course, there were people cheering for her as well. But more people were cheering for me, and they were much louder. A celebrity’s career is truly all about image. You can really do anything if you earn the public’s love.

I got up and once again, Eun-soon came at me. With every successful attack, I could see the nervousness give away to her confidence.

I ducked immediately at Eun-soon’s first punch, but then she aimed for my stomach. And suddenly, it was a takedown! She threw me flat on the ground, climbed on top of me, and immediately began to throw punches at me.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

I blocked my face with both of my hands, trying to look as pitiful as possible. This time, even the father figures in the audience couldn’t hold themselves back.

“Stop it, Eun-soon!”

“Gentle! Be gentle!!!”

“What the hell is the referee doing?!”

“You fucking bitch!”

Was it because I was so sexy and pretty? I had no idea so many old men would be here to support me. But it wasn’t just old men. There were a lot of female fans too, calling out my name as loud as their feminine voices would allow them to.

“Go, Sian!!!”

“You can do it, Sian!!!”

“Sian! Sian!”

The sound of those female voices seemed to motivate me and I opened my arms to grab Eun-soon. Eun-soon immediately tried to kick me, but it was no use.

I got on top of Eun-soon and grabbed her by the hair. Then I leaned in towards her ear and whispered, “Having fun?”

At those words, Eun-soon stared at me. Her eyes trembled just a bit before she composed herself and shouted, “You bitch! I’ll kill you!”

Eun-soon’s exclamation was immediately picked up for everyone to hear. There really are no words. Maybe she just doesn’t know about public perception. You should say things like that quietly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Bitch.”

I let go of Eun-soon and she immediately started attacking my face once more, which only made the worried audience members get louder. The referee watched us carefully, probably thinking that he should end the match soon. If I had just let myself get pounded, he would’ve ended the match a long time ago. But since we kept going back and forth between our attacks and defenses, the referee saw no point in ending the match just yet. We just kept going back and forth. It’s a skill of mine. You need to be clever like me to pull something like this off. Anyways, I got a submission and the first round was finally over.

***

“Sian, are you okay?”

Jinwoo demanded as he ran over to me with a bottle. To say he looked worried would be an understatement.

“I’m okay.”

I did my best to look weak, like a sweet, young girl who was doing her best to be strong. There were tons of cameras, so I knew at least one would have gotten a photo. That photo was probably circulating around right now, rousing up even more sympathy for me. More sympathy means more supporters.

But Eun-soon’s fists were like water. They didn’t even hurt at all.

‘Is there anyone in this world who can actually fight properly?’

I couldn’t help but wonder. Then again, no one had inner force like I did.

“Sian, should we just stop? You’re getting pounded out there!”

“I’m fine.”

I smiled. And again, the cameras got photos.

“Ugh! I can’t believe this! I should have never agreed to this!”

And now he says that.

Jinwoo always does this – make a decision without thinking about it properly, only to regret it later. He’ll lose all his hair that way.

“If it’s too much, just tell me! I’ll throw in the towel right away!”

‘You can wipe your ass with that towel.’

Luckily, I only said that to myself.

Soon, it was time for the second round, and it started in a similar fashion to the first round. One memorable thing that happened was when Eun-soon had me in an armlock and my arm wouldn’t bend, but that was my bad. I had just kept my arm in place without much thought, but later, I was told it had been an impressive sight. How could I be in such a position without letting my arm give way?

Anyways, that was the second round and soon, it was the third round. Now it was time for me to think. The audience members were about to have a collective heart attack out of worry for me and Jinwoo was getting pretty agitated. The other members of Fifteen were practically begging me to stop, and I just gave them a brave smile in return.

Once again, Eun-soon stood in front of me and the referee stood between us. But Eun-soon herself looked very tired. Made sense since all she’d done was fight.

The referee gave us the go sign as Eun-soon and I went into fighting position. Well, she did. I just stood. And the chorus of worries hit me again. Even Eun-soon looked confused for a second before she got a hold of herself and came for me.

Jab! Jab! Left hook! Knee strike! High kick!

Eun-soon threw out each blow as hard as she could, but I dodged them all easily. The crowd went wild. The commentator seemed excited as well as he shouted into his microphone. Eun-soon didn’t take this too well. She began to look puzzled, and even embarrassed. I smirked at her reaction and began to approach her. Eun-soon sent a kick my way, which I blocked with my fist.

Thwack!

Crack.

“Ah!”

The sound of bones breaking mixed with Eun-soon’s shouting. Oops, I wasn’t supposed to hit that hard. If so, the match will end too quickly. I’m supposed to get my revenge before that happens.

But, Eun-soon’s leg must have hurt a lot because she was limping when she approached me again.

When I started for her again, Eun-soon bent down and aimed for my hips, attempting another takedown. But I leapt forward and with both of my hands on her shoulder, I managed to leap frog over her head.

Then again, I guess I pushed too hard because Eun-soon fell flat on her face.

Boom!

Well...Eun-soon isn’t the world champion for nothing. She got back up and faced me again. Even her leg wasn’t limping anymore. Eun-soon ran for me again, this time trying to attack me with whatever move she could think of.

Thwack! Thwack! Wham! Slam! Thwack!

I could just imagine how dramatic it looked as I managed to block each blow with my hands. The crowd was roaring in anticipation. The commentators as well. Even Jinwoo was shouting like crazy. Bet he’d never shouted like that before, even during sex. Oh wait, Jinwoo has divorced for about five years now, I think. There are rumors that he decided to become a monk, but it’s his life so I don’t know. Anyways, Eun-soon reached out with her left fist and aimed for my head. I dodged it and grabbed onto her arm as leverage to shove my shoulder into her torso and kick her down.

Swing~ Thwack!

Eun-soon’s body arched in the air before landing flat on the ground. The crash rang throughout the stadium. I climbed on top of her to straddle her. As for the pounding…well, to be honest, it was kind of embarrassing. I’m not saying I hated it. But I didn’t want to be in this position with a girl like Eun-soon since it was...well...wkward. If it had been Jia, maybe I wouldn’t have minded. So, I quickly got off of Eun-soon’s body and stood up. Everyone cheered for me when they saw me get up. It was the perfect chance to knock her out and win, but when I got up, I started getting this weird feeling.

Eun-soon took a deep breath as she stood up and came at me again. She aimed a middle kick to my waist, which I blocked with my arms. I then did a low kick and knocked out both of her legs from under her.

Whoosh!

She almost floated for a second before landing flat on her back once more.

Boom!

She tried to get up but I stepped on her head with my foot.

Pook.

“Ah! Argh!”

She couldn’t get up. She tried, twisting her body this way and that way to get out from under my foot, but to no avail. I only stepped on her head for a moment before taking my foot off. Eun-soon then tried to grab my foot to take me down again, but I jumped up and landed on top of her for my own take down.

“How many minutes are left?”

Looking at the clock, I saw that there was only one minute left, but I didn’t get to hit her as much as I wanted to. Because she was young and a girl, I couldn’t get myself to hit her. I’m a rather sweet (mostly) and soft (debatable) guy.

Eun-soon then stood up and this time, she began to back away slowly. Looking at her, I could tell she just wanted to get this over with and she seemed to be stalling. I mean, yeah, she got a lot of blows in so if the match ends now, she’d be declared the winner.

But I wasn’t about to let that happen.

I cornered her against the cage and Eun-soon sent a low kick to try and get me to back up. I blocked it with my own leg. It was shin against shin and of course, my shin won. Eun-soon couldn’t ignore the pain from the impact and began to clutch her leg. I sent a kick to her other leg and she fell to her knees. She was once again flat on the ground with her legs spread wide. But as I’ve said earlier, being on top of her while she was in that position felt really awkward and just plain wrong. So, I just grabbed her by the ankles and threw her in the air.

Whoosh~

“Ah!”

She went up maybe 3mm from the ground and absolutely freaked out as a result. The crowd and the commentators were all wild at this point. This was something unexpected. To think I just grabbed a person by the feet and managed to throw them into the air. Eun-soon fell onto the floor with another crash! Her face planted against the floor and I rolled her over. Now, there were only two seconds left. I grabbed her by the jaw and punched her right in the face.

Thwack!

And with that, Eun-soon went down in the last round with one second still left on the clock.

***

After that match with Eun-soon, my popularity just… skyrocketed. And the ones who had taken a leap and placed their bets on me had made a killing. There were even rumors that all of my former coaches had purchased bigger and better houses and cars.

I also became friends with Eun-soon. There’s a special bond you create when you face someone in the ring. I felt bad for Eun-soon as well – she was only twenty years old – so I took a selfie with her and posted it on SNS.

Finally, when KJOBBAB asked me to formally join them, Jinwoo turned them down. He said he didn’t want to see me get hurt anymore. Basically, everyone got their happy ending. Aside from the fact that Eun-soon now had some tarnish on her record.

“So, you’ll really do it?” Jinwoo asked.

“You already signed the contract.”

“That’s true.”

“So why are you asking me? You’re just going to do whatever the fu…whatever you think is best.”

I almost cursed at him.

“I know. But I suddenly feel really bad.”

Jinwoo really had no shame, did he?

“But a neighbor who fights while retaking her entrance exam?”

“Yeah, she’s trying to pass her entrance exam, but she’s also just really pathetic. Always wearing sweats. Eating cheap convenient store ice cream.”

“Right.”

Isn’t that just a bum?

“You’re not really central to the plot. You don’t have that many lines, either.”

“But shouldn’t I at least take some acting classes?”

“I guess you should. After you’re done with Fifteen, you should take some classes with the trainees studying to become actors. I’ve already signed you up for some classes.”

“Wow, I’m busy. I’ll have Lovely Girlz events I have to do and act as well.”

“You’ll have commercials to film and other activities to do, too. But you know, you’re already talking like you know you’re going to make the group,” Jinwoo pointed out with a grin.

“I mean, at this point, isn’t it a given?” I said confidently.

It’s okay. Jinwoo knew that I was saying the truth. Look at how much he’s used me already.

“Hmm, that’s a good point. But the auditions haven’t ended yet, so don’t be too sure.”

“Okay.”

“Anyways, there’s the acting. You’ve also been booked for an ad and a publishing company wants you to write a diet book.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. Let’s start once you’re done with auditions.”

“I sure have a lot to do.”

“You’re really lucky. You should take advantage of it while you can.”

“So am I not fighting anymore?”

“Absolutely not. I can’t risk any more damage to that pretty face of yours. This is enough. Everyone knows you’re good at fighting now so there will be more requests in that regard, but you don’t have to do that anymore. Besides, I doubt you liked it that much.”

“That’s too bad.”

“What?”

“Oh nothing.”

It was really too bad. I wouldn’t have minded fighting some more, especially with men.

“To be honest, you had another request for a match. This one was from Miyeno, the Japanese MMA champion. She sent you a message on SNS.”

“Oh.”

That was fast.

“But she’s a lot bigger than you. 80 kg. So, I turned it down.”

“But I’m okay with it though.”

“No. No more MMA fighting. If you get hurt, we’re screwed.”

Jinwoo sounded firm about it. That sucks. 80kg, you say? That would’ve been a nice challenge.

“For now, just focus on the auditions. I won’t book anymore activities for you during the program.”

“You got as much as you needed from me, huh?”

“That’s right! Wait…no, that’s not....”

Jinwoo became flustered. He was probably pretty happy right now, though. Because of me, the show was getting more popular as well. Everyone was already anticipating the successful debut of Lovely Girlz. Even the members who were likely to be eliminated would be assigned to other girl groups. But more than that, Jinwoo’s own public image has improved significantly. Since he had been my coach during the match, he had managed to appeal himself greatly to the public.

“So what’s the next mission?”

“I’ll tell you that next week. Until then, get some rest. And here.”

Jinwoo held out his credit card.

“This….”

“I promised you, didn’t I? If you win, I said I’d give you my card.”

“I didn’t think you were serious.”

I took the card. He was really giving it to me. I guess he wasn’t so bad after all.

“I’ll use it well.”

“You don’t have to use it too well.”

“No, I will.”

“Alright...”

With that, I took the card and left Jinwoo’s office. I immediately went back to the dorms to tell my precious teammates the good news.

***

Time passed and it was the last week of auditions.

Looking at the results, if nothing dramatically different happened today, then the lineup was pretty much set.

Me, Yoo-young, Ji-hyun, Jia, Hainan, Jumi, Rhinzi, and Yoo-jin.

First rank was Yoo-young, second was Ji-hyun, and I was in third. Aside from the first few weeks, I had won first place every week which was how I was able to get all those stars to put me in third. Of course, with the online voting, I was first. My fandom was already going strong. I especially had a lot of female fans.

“I’m so nervous,” Jia said while sitting next to me. The stage was completely dark.

“Why are you nervous?”

“It’s live.” Jia reminded me.

This is true. Since this was the last audition, they were taping it live. I could see why that would be more nerve wracking, but I wasn’t nervous at all.

“I wonder what the last mission will be.”

I was curious. What kind of mission was it that they couldn’t even tell us until the day of?

“I want to know too.”

Typical. Jia had always been inquisitive.

Just then, the spotlights turned on, showing both the stage and the judge’s table. Surprisingly, Jinwoo wasn’t alone. There were familiar faces, including C-Night and Snake. Mi-hyang was also there, along with the second generation girl group Angel Five’s dancer, Hye-jin Oh. In total, there were five people sitting at the table. C-Night, Snake, and Mi-hyang both had blank expressions, whereas Hye-jin gave us an excited wave. She really was an angel. We all bowed in gretting and Jinwoo took the mic.

“Hi, guys.”

We all said hi again. Jinwoo gave a bright smile.

“Did you guys have a good weekend?”

“Yes, sir!”

“That’s good. I’m glad.”

Jinwoo looked at us indulgently. Just the sight of us was enough to make him happy. I mean, we already have a pretty strong following, commercial bookings, music program invites – this guy was in heaven. Once the members were finalized, our schedules were going to be packed.

“Today’s episode is live and it’s the very last one. You guys know that, right?”

“Yes!” we all shouted in unison.

“And we’re also going to announce the mission today.”

We all nodded. The last mission. What was it?

“I’m sure you guys are dying to know what it is. So I’ll tell you guys. For the last episode, your mission is...”

The seconds ticked by, until…

“Which of the members should be in Lovely Girlz?!”

At that, we all looked at each other, each face more confused than the last.