43: Testing Wooin

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Just, exactly, how did it come to this?" asked the Shinhwa's Chairwoman, Jiyoung Yoo, with an unsure face.

"Well..."

****

The day before...

Jiwoo left his house with a yawn, not having enough sleep last night from Kayden's stories while being trained by him.

He jogged, feeding some stray cats he spotted. After a few minutes, he was stopped by a short-haired girl. Beside her was a familiar face to the light-cream-haired teen.

"Hey." spoke the girl.

"Yoohoo~." the boy beside her waved.

"Huh? Subin? and... Mister Shinji?" voiced out Jiwoo, confused.

"Oh, please. Just call me Shinji. You're making me sound old with a "mister" title~."

The boy's face brightened up, and replied, "Alright! What are you guys doing here? And- Subin! Did you get home okay yesterday?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm your friend! But- Cut the crap. Call Wooin here." said Subin in a commanding tone.

"Why?... What are you trying to do to Wooin?"

"Hey, hey. Don't worry, Seo. This runt of a woman just wants to talk to him. Take my word for it." Shinji chimed in with a smile, ignoring Subin's retort.

The teen seemed to hesitate for a moment, but hearing Shinji's voice eased his worries.

"I don't-"

"It's you again?" said a recognizable voice.

"Wooin!"

"What is your business with Jiwoo? I told you that if you have business with me, talk to me," said Wooin, getting riled up.

"I just wanted to te-"

"She wants to test you, to see if you were worthy of Seongha's recommendation. Are you going to fight or not?" said Shinji, wanting to speed up the conversation.

"Stop cutting me off, you bastard!" shouted Subin, punching his shoulder.

"Why should I fight?..." asked Wooin.

The short-haired girl replied, "Well if you don't, I'm just going to make do with your little friend right here."

That seemed to upset the teen, as red energy started emanating from his body. Subin didn't back down and started emanating cold energy, herself.

While this was happening, Shinji looked on with a grin.

"Wa- Wait!"

"What is it, snowflake?!" the woman questioned angrily.

"Awakened Ones shouldn't fight on the streets! Y-your Grandfather is the Union's Chairman! Plus..." Jiwoo stammered.

"Plus what, Jiwoo?" asked Wooin.

"Plus, I want to fight Si- Ahem- Shinji too!"

"EH?!"

****

Back to the current time...

After hearing it, a sigh escaped Jiyoung's mouth as she said, "You guys want to use our facilities?"

"Yep. Sorry for the bother, but this little idiot snuck out of the Union. She'll get in trouble if she comes back with two Unaffiliated teenagers after she snuck out." Shinji replied, lightly smacking Subin's head.

The door then slammed open, and an excited Jisuk came in, with some popcorn kernels in hand, "Subin and Wooin are having a fight!? That's going to be so fucking fun!!"

Jiwoo was going to say something, but Jiyoung asked him first.

Jiyoung nodded and turned to look at Jiwoo, "Are you sure that you want to fight Shinji?"

"Yes!"

"Wait, what!?" Jisuk shouted in shock.

...

A few minutes later, they could be found inside one of the Shinhwa's Training Facilities.

Subin and Wooin faced each other. They were talking, but inaudible to the spectators, consisting of Jiyoung, Seongha, Inhyuk, Jiwoo, Jisuk, an orange cat, and Shinji.

"I still can't believe you want to fight Shinji, you moron," Jisuk said to the light-cream-haired teen, munching on some popcorn.

"Hehe, I just wanted to test my limits towards the Strongest Rookie of Korea," he replied, scratching the back of his head.

"Hey, c'mon. You're making me blush over here~." Shinji chimed in, to which he got a grunt from Jisuk.

Jiwoo then turned to Inyuk, and asked, "Is Subin strong?"

"She is. Subin's one of the few Awakened Ones in the country who's a match for Jisuk."

"Huh!? Who said that?! She's no match for me!" Jisuk shouted, hearing their conversation.

Shinji then retorted with a smirk, "You're right... It's cause she can beat you."

Jiwoo ignored their banter with a nervous smile, and asked Inyuk worriedly, "If Subin's strong, wouldn't it be too hard for Wooin?"

"That depends... Seongha, did you give Subin information about Wooin?" Inyuk asked the man beside him.

"No. And neither did I give Wooin information about Subin, meaning, both of them don't know each other's Abilities." the man replied.

"Hmm, but if he's smart enough, he should be able to figure it out, even without seeing her use them." Inyuk added.

...

A few seconds later, Inyuk announced, "Ahem- As you all know, the battle will begin at the starting sound!"

-Beep!-

"Don't think you're special for getting Seongha's offer!" Subin shouted toward her opponent.

-Beep!-

"But, from that energy, I can see that your Ability is pretty useful!"

-Beep!-

"But, I'll show you. I'll show you the difference between us!" she continued.

'I just felt Deja Vu...' thought the teen, but shrugging it off and raising his hand, waiting for the signal.

-Beeeeep!!!-

*****

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Note:

Sorry for not posting the past few days. :P

Our pet dog got lost in the path of life, and we had to look for him...