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There were days that gap between each round of the tournament wherein the participants were provided with free time. There is no better way to spend it than to train and improve, everyone’s here to take one step closer to victory, after all. The young fighters, Hwoarang and Steve Fox, are no different.
The two found themselves in a small, private training area where they stretched together, conversing as they did so. They were reminiscing about a recent event they went to, it was a relatively small gathering of a few of the younger portion of the tournament’s participants.
“I still can’t believe you did that in front of everyone.” Mused Steve. The blonde recalls of how some of the people in that gathering praised him for how reserved, calm and collected he was compared to his “rather close friend” Hwoarang.
“I already told you, I’m sorry, I had one too many to drink.” Hwoarang responded, though he didn’t sound apologetic, there was a slight tone of pride in his voice, as if he was actually sober when he did the action Steve seems to be in disbelief about.
That night, when Steve received compliments for his seriousness and composure, Hwoarang went behind him with quite a flushed expression. He wrapped his arms around the boxer’s waist and gave his nape a small, soft kiss, much to Steve’s surprise. For a brief moment, in that one instance, people got to see the blonde lose all composure within him. Steve jolted and looked back at Hwoarang, who only had a cheeky smile on his face. Though there were no negative reactions from anyone in the room, some were probably not surprised, some were amused and there stood Steve, whose heart raced too fast that it practically pounded out of his chest. He had to rub the heat out of his ears, and now, he’s still doing it as he recalls the memory.
Hwoarang snickered at the sight of Steve still rubbing his ear as he stretched. “It’s not like we’re trying to hide it anyway, they probably have an idea of what’s going on.” He added to his previous statement.
“Well,” Steve released a little sigh before continuing, “You’re right.”
A tolerable silence filled the atmosphere of the room as they finished their stretching routine. After a short break, Steve walked towards the bench press and started using it, lifting as much as he can handle.
Hwoarang only watched Steve for awhile before standing up and going towards him. “Excuse me.” He piped up.
“Huh?” Steve sounded out, he was extremely focused on lifting yet hearing his voice all of a sudden caught him off guard.
Hwoarang noticed that his body eased up a tad bit and saw this opportunity to elaborately lift his legs up so he could sit on the bench as well, putting Steve’s legs down to rest on his lap. Hwoarang then wrapped his arms around his waist once again.
Steve was pretty confused, but he knows Hwoarang and his antics well. He laughed lowly, “I guess you wanted to watch me up close.”
“I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to be this close to this world-renowned boxer.” He told him as a retort, keeping that mischievous grin he always seems to sport.
There was another bearable silence after a chuckle was shared between the two of them. Steve kept on lifting, yet he kept his eye on Hwoarang. He then spoke up, “Since when were you this pretty?”
Hwoarang’s eyes widen and his eyebrows furrowed as a warm and soft blush gradually spreads on his cheeks, “Sh-shut up, I’ve always been this pretty and you know it.”
Steve smiled and hummed in satisfaction. Seeing him flustered like this felt like some type of revenge for what Hwoarang did to him a few nights ago, but he was glad that only he got to see this side of him. People see Hwoarang as this arrogant and cocky young man, but only Steve knew how to make him stutter.
Seeing Steve’s reaction to him only fuelled how flustered Hwoarang really felt, “C-come on, we still have to spar after this.”