Win Cleanly. I Promised Arin.
A few days after the title bout was set—match day.
Alone in the waiting room, Kang Seoyeon clenched and unclenched her bandaged fists again and again.
"…Hoo."
A breath that was neither pure tension nor pure excitement kept slipping free. Her heart had been hammering like mad for a while now.
Whenever she closed her eyes, the man from the spar rose before her—the one who had stood like a wall no matter how hard she tried to slip past him. That overwhelming movement. The distance she had closed again and again without ever quite reaching him.
…Can I win?
A weak little voice lifted its head without warning.
Honestly, she had no confidence.
In that spar she hadn't landed a single clean punch of her own.
But—
…No.
Kang Seoyeon shook her head hard.
…I can win. No—I have to win.
She clenched her fist tight. She swallowed the weak voice and filled the empty place with pure stubborn grit.
She had spent her whole life as the number two, living in Yoon Arin's shadow.
So today—right now, up on that ring—she would prove it.
That she, too, had the right to stand at the top. That she wasn't just the eternal runner-up; she could become a real champion.
And for that, she had to get past that man.
The monster who had overturned the most obvious common sense of this world—that men were weaker than women. The man who had even broken the Queen herself, Yoon Arin…
While she fretted over the match that was about to begin, another emotion slowly raised its head.
His face rose again.
But this time it wasn't the face of a fighter.
It was the face that had laughed so openly once the spar was over. That casual kindness. The eyes that had simply looked at her as a fellow fighter.
Just remembering it made a strange, tingling ache bloom in a corner of her chest.
Kang Seoyeon pulled a small pill bottle from the corner of the waiting room. The moment she opened the clear plastic lid, a familiar scent hit her.
Contraceptives.
They were standard kit for handling the aftermath of a loss, yet she had never once used them. The tips of Seoyeon's fingers trembled ever so slightly as she held them.
…Just in case.
Just-in-case feelings.
Maybe it was less professional awareness—If I lose and that man takes my body, I'll at least handle the consequences properly—and more a final defense mechanism aimed at herself.
The man whose overwhelming physique had reduced Arin to utter helplessness.
If she, too, ended up in his arms after this match—whether she won or lost…
…No. What the hell am I even thinking right now.
Kang Seoyeon shook her already-flushed head hard, tossed the pills into her mouth, and washed them down with water. A bitter taste lingered on her tongue.
…Haa. Get a grip, Kang Seoyeon.
She slapped her own cheek hard.
What kind of insane thought was that?
The opponent wasn't just anyone—he was Yoon Arin's man. The person her irreplaceable childhood friend loved with her whole heart.
Even harboring feelings like these for a man like that was already a sin.
…Don't think about anything else. Today you're just fighting as a fighter.
Kang Seoyeon forced the feeling down. Then she gritted her teeth and tried to focus only on the match again.
…Win, and finish it clean. I promised Arin.
She rose from her seat.
In the mirror stood a red-haired fighter who had steeled her resolve. The wavering light in her eyes had hardened into something solid.
"…Let's go."
Once every preparation was finished, Kang Seoyeon opened the waiting-room door and started walking.
Toward the ring at the end of the corridor, under the bright lights… where that man would be waiting.
I headed for the ring.
As I walked down the corridor, Yoon Arin kept stealing glances at me from the side.
She had come along as my manager, but her expression was complicated as hell.
She looked like she had something to say, yet kept her mouth tightly shut.
"Why do you keep staring like that?"
When I asked, Yoon Arin flinched.
"…No reason. Just…"
"Trying to cheer me on, maybe?"
I tossed the words out lightly. But Yoon Arin actually fell into serious thought over them. Her lips moved a few times before she finally managed to speak.
"…Sorry."
"Hm?"
"…I can't cheer for you. Not this time."
Yoon Arin glanced at my face, then carefully continued.
"You're precious to me… and of course I want you to win. But Kang Seoyeon is my friend too… and when I think about the fact that it's Seoyeon stepping into that ring, not some stranger… I honestly can't figure out whose side I'm supposed to take."
She hung her head low.
"…So for this match, at least, I won't cheer for either of you. I'm sorry. I'm a really terrible girlfriend, aren't I?"
She said it with such a dejected face that I couldn't help laughing.
"…Why are you laughing?"
"What do you have to be sorry for?"
I ruffled Yoon Arin's hair.
"You're stuck between your boyfriend and your friend. That's completely normal. If anything, the fact that you're agonizing over it makes you a better person, doesn't it?"
"…Does it?"
"Yeah. So don't apologize. Feel free—don't cheer for anyone."
When I said that, her face loosened a little. She still looked worried, though. And somehow that expression was cute all over again.
…Honestly, this woman.
Instead of blindly taking her lover's side, she was fretting over her friend too. Far from making her worse, it only made me like her more. She was affectionate and loyal to a fault.
In the end, that was why I'd fallen for her.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to lose."
I left the words to reassure her and walked toward the ring.
The moment I climbed up, cool air washed over me.
That unique underground-arena atmosphere.
No flashy lights, no roaring crowd. Instead of people, cameras quietly ringed the canvas, their red recording lamps glowing like scattered points in the dark. Invisible eyes watching the match from somewhere out there.
In the opposite corner stood Kang Seoyeon.
She brushed her red hair back and lightly tapped her bandaged fists together.
The look in her eyes was different from the spar—sharper, hotter. The face of someone who had staked something serious on this single fight.
"…You came."
Kang Seoyeon grinned at me.
"Today won't go like the spar. Brace yourself."
"Looking forward to it."
I smiled faintly. I always welcomed opponents like her.
Right after that, the bell rang.
Ding—!
The instant the match began, Kang Seoyeon charged in first.
True to her infighter style, she didn't bother measuring distance or testing the waters—she simply threw her body forward and closed the gap. Far more aggressive than during the spar. From the very first exchange you could feel the resolve to pour everything out at once.
Thud-thud-thud!
Her fists came in a rapid flurry—jab, jab, then a hook as she stepped inside.
Definitely sharper than the spar.
But—
…Still, I can see all of it.
Every punch was readable to me.
Where her fists would go, what her next move would be. The trajectories painted themselves clearly in my eyes.
I'd faced this pattern hundreds, thousands of times in the game, and more importantly—there was a fundamental physical gap between Kang Seoyeon and me.
I swayed my upper body lightly and slipped every punch. Slip, weave. Her fists never even came close to my face.
"…!"
Kang Seoyeon's eyes wavered slightly. When her prized combination all missed, a flash of panic crossed her face.
But her grit, at least, was something I could respect.
She didn't back off. Instead she gritted her teeth and drove in even deeper.
Thud-thud!
She threw a short jab and hid a right straight behind it. A feint. Draw the eye with the jab, then the real right hand. Not a bad combination.
But I had already taken half a step back before the jab even came out. Her straight cut empty air.
Whoosh!
The recoil from the missed punch pulled her upper body slightly forward. I didn't miss the opening and lightly planted a body shot.
Thud!
"Kh…!"
Kang Seoyeon let out a short groan and stepped back half a pace.
I could see her breathing falter from the punch to the gut—even though I hadn't put any real power into it. Just a check.
Still, she closed the distance again right away.
No time to worry about the place she'd been hit. She gritted her teeth and drove in once more—right, left, hook again. She kept throwing punches without rest.
I slipped them, parried them, stepped back, erasing them one by one. In the gaps I tapped jabs into her. I wasn't putting much force into them, yet those jabs slowly ate away at her.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Kang Seoyeon's face was swelling redder and redder. Her footwork grew heavier. The speed of her entries had clearly slowed compared to the start.
Keep missing, keep eating light shots, and both stamina and focus get nibbled away bit by bit.
…About time.
I read her rhythm. Even as she tired, there was only one thing this woman was hunting for.
A counter.
Even if she had to take hits to do it, she was looking for the chance to plant that one clean shot.
…That counter is your best weapon.
I'd been caught by it plenty of times in the game.
Kang Seoyeon's real threat came exactly in that moment—when the opponent got careless and extended a punch, and she slipped into the gap with a return strike.
But that only worked if the opponent actually got careless.
I deliberately let my right hand drift a little. I gave her an opening.
In that instant her eyes flashed.
—Finally hooked her!
She drove her prized counter straight into the gap.
Exactly what I'd been waiting for.
…It's bait.
I slipped the counter and at the same time stepped inside.
In the split second her fist cut empty air—while her guard was gone—my counter landed first on her face.
CRACK—!
"Ghk…!"
A dull impact snapped Kang Seoyeon's head sideways. Blood sprayed from her mouth in a bright red arc under the lights.
At the same time her knees buckled. Her body, unable to stay upright, staggered backward—and then collapsed onto the canvas.
Thud!
…Clean hit.
I slowly lowered my fist. Taking a counter like that flush meant she wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. The match was over.
Kang Seoyeon lay motionless. Blood from her nose was already spreading dark across the canvas. Anyone could see she was in no condition to rise again.
I let out a short breath and turned toward my corner.
…It's done.
The outcome was settled. Nothing more to see. I started walking to leave the ring without looking back—right then.
"…Not yet."
A voice came from behind me.
…?
I stopped. Half-disbelieving, I turned around.
Kang Seoyeon had her hands planted on the canvas. With trembling arms she was gritting her teeth and shoving her upper body up.
Blood from her nose dripped steadily off her chin. She looked completely wrecked.
And still—
"…It's not over yet."
She forced herself onto both feet.
Staggering, she raised her guard again.
Through a face covered in blood she stared straight at me. In those eyes the word "quit" still didn't exist.
She roughly wiped her bloodied nose with a glove—and right then Kang Seoyeon grinned.
…Ah.
For a second I blanked out.
Those eyes that refused to break even after being beaten to a pulp. The grit that made her stand up no matter how many times she fell. That savage fighting spirit that could smile while covered in blood—my heart thumped hard before I could stop it.
…What the hell is this.
It threw me off.
It was a little different in texture from simple fighter's admiration.
For just a moment I sincerely thought she looked cool. I almost stood there staring, lost.
…Get a grip.
I shook my head inside. I had Arin. Even so, I couldn't deny that her fighting spirit kept catching my eye in a strange way.
…She's a good fighter.
The skill gap was obvious. But that fighting spirit alone—I had no choice but to acknowledge it. Fighting someone like this was dangerously fun.