Chapter 28: Entering the APEX for the first time (part 2)
Though he and Juwon were put in different groups, Gyun was in the group guided by Haneul to be shown the gym amenities first.
Gyun kept his cool as the class was led around the massive training complex.
However , he was pleasantly surprised as the equipment was all top-notch and even included weights and workout machines.
Fortunately for Gyun the guide didn't seem to recognize him.
'Well, it doesn't matter if he's seen the video or not, theirs's no way he'd know I killed Sungmin. But the video was probably spread between them, it's a pretty big deal after all they were probably coworkers, but it's not like he'd care they probably don't even know each other that well.'
However before Gyun could further deliberate, Haneul walked over to the pull-up bar,
"Now who wants to try to set a new gym record, it was set by one of our old champs, a girl actually, who moved on to ONE FC last year Baek Ji-Won. The number to beat is 37 so if you think you can beat it come on up,"
Gyun stayed at the back of the group, he had no reason to risk anything despite his confidence that Haneul wouldn't know.
While several people enthusiastically tried to break the record.
But most couldn't make it past 5, eventually, a male student whom Gyun recognized walked towards the bar taking off the school uniform jacket, revealing well-developed shoulders and developed biceps.
He was cheered by the group, and the girls were especially loud
"Oh, it's Park Junho"
"Let's go Junho!"
"Come on Junho, get at least 20!"
"Take off your shirt!"
Gyun raised his eyebrows at that, and the crowd got noticeably quieter as many turned to look at the girl.
Who'd so passionately screamed out such a bold statement.
"What?"
She coughed, and her face flushed with embarrassment as she hid her face in her palms.
After a few more moments the crowd of students turned their attention back to Junho as he jumped up grabbing hold of the bar.
Cheers erupted as Junho started cranking out pull-ups,
"12,13,14,15,16....17....18"
Junho slowed down as fatigue began to set into his arms, he hung onto the bar as he tried to get one last pull up.
"GO!GO!GO!"
"You've got this"
Junho kicked his legs as he managed to get his chin over the bar for his 19th rep as he dropped to the ground exhausted.
Haneul complimented Junho, "That was pretty good, boy, you do any sports?"
Junho, panted as he sat on the ground, "No but I go to the gym 4 days a week for a few years"
Haneul pursed his lips, "You've got some strength boy"
Haneul reached up and grabbed the bar quickly without having to jump, he started to perform pull-ups with perfect form.
"You're pretty good for a high schooler but you've got some years until you can beat this old man"
After quickly hitting Junho's pull-up number of 19, he dropped to the ground slightly winded, "But maybe in a few year's you'll get to my level"
"Whooo!" the group of students cheered
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After an hour or so of touring and trying out several
different exercises and machines, with Junho being able to do the most reps and weights of anybody who tried.
Before they finally left the training complex and went to join the other groups at the arena, Gyun walked in with the rest of his class through the entrance that the fighters entered.
Gyun had to admit that the interior was as modern as the exterior, there were only 2 thousand or so seats.
But in the center of the arena was the instantly recognizable octagon.
He could even see Juwon waving to him from one of the seats,
Gyun gave a short nod, as he glanced at the other two guides who were standing near the octagon talking to each other.
Both were well-muscled and had the aura that one would expect a professional to have.
They waved over at Haneul to join them, who nodded.
"Ok....why don't you guys go ahead and find some seats in that row with your classmates, we'll be starting the demonstration in just a bit."
There were some murmurs from the group, Junho chatted and flirted with the girl who had made the embarrassing shirt remark.
Flexing his bicep as she felt it, Gyun watched the interaction from a distance, he felt internally annoyed for some reason.
As Gyun sat down at the top of the stands, he studied the trio of guides who were all top-ranked and champion fighters of APEX FC, as they seemed to be discussing something important in the octagon.
Though they looked seasoned, Gyun didn't get a feeling of danger neither did they have that look in their eye of someone willing to bleed for a victory.
'Though I'd have to see them to really know, but look above average, they don't have that composure that makes or breaks a fighter from the elite and the mediocre. I'd give them a 25 out of 100, they'd probably take a few seconds to find a good shot to end them, but they don't look much better than Sungmin.'
"Hey, what the fuck?!"
Gyun turned his head as he heard angry murmurs and shouts, he saw Juwon making his way toward Gyun
"Sorry sorry, my bad"
Juwon shoved his way through the bleachers squeezing through until he, sat down with Gyun. Gyun sighed, as Juwon started babbling his head off,
"Isn't this awesome Gyun, these guys are professionals and on their way up to the big leagues, I searched it up and that guy next to Haneul."
Gyun looked at the tan guy with a large neck tattoo, "That guy?"
"Yeah, the foreigner, his name's Eric Barbosa he's a Brazilian, current APEX FC middleweight and light-heavyweight 2 diviosn champion. he trained with Franco -the Eraser- Costa, the number 1 ranked middleweight in Legend FC. He's supposed to be moving to Legend FC after one more fight here, he's the current Middleweight and Light-heavyweight champion of APEX"
Gyun, looked at him again with more interest, now that Juwon pointed it out he could see how Barbosa had a different air about him.
He studied him from afar as he kept up a conversation with Juwon, he was somewhat surprised when Barbosa turned to look at him and made eye contact with him in the midst of his conversation.
"Hey, you see that?" Gyun said to Juwon
"See what? HOLY SHIT HE'S LOOKING AT US" Juwon waved franticly, Barbosa smiled and waved.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! He waved at us"
Gyun rolled his eyes, "Quit fangirling and tell me what that guy specializes in"
"I don't know"
"What? You actually don't know" That was not the answer he expected to hear, Juwon always seemed to know the answer to these sort of things so he was visibly caught off guard.
"Pffft! you think I know everything martial arts just because I'm a super fan"
"You really don't know?"
Juwon looked a bit annoyed at Gyun repeating the question, "Wow, you're quite the conversationalist, it's like talking to a brick wall. But to be honest, if he trained with -the Eraser- he probably is a volume striker like Costa is."
Gyun smiled at that, "So he's someone who likes to overwhelm his opponents with strikes, ok I can work with that."
A voice from a microphone came over the speakers, Gyun saw that Haneul had grabbed a microphone from somewhere and was speaking.
"It seems our CEO is a bit late and will be here in a few minutes, so we're going to put on a little entertainment."
There were some murmurs from Gyun's class,
"What?"
"What are they talking about?"
"Entertainment?"
Haneul continued, there was a tinge of anger in his voice, "It's my understanding that you have all signed a waiver."
"What, where's he going with this?" Juwon asked looking from Gyun to Haneul
After a brief pause Haneul looked across the students before settling his eyes on Gyun,
"We would like to invite students who have some martial arts experience to have a friendly spar with us."
'FUCK, I knew he took that video personally, just my luck he happened to know Sungmin-
Haneul, walked up the bleachers as he talked, and the students made way for him.
"Now I didn't think we'd be lucky enough to have a viral social media sensation today but it seemed, that we were lucky, and I was lucky. That someone as famous as you was here"
He stopped in front of Gyun,
"I've seen your video, to think you'd knock out a former Olympian so easily and a silver medalist at that, though he was well out of his prime. How about you, Mr.....uh?"
"Gyun, Sung Gyun"
"Mr.Sung Gyun would you mind stepping up and exchanging some blows with me, we can use headgear if you want?"
Haneul leaned close to Gyun turning off the mic, "But from what I've seen you don't like using headgear, we can just strap on some gloves and go full contact if you want." There was a darkness in the eyes of the usually cheery Haneul.
Gyun thought to himself 'You must've known Sungmin quite well to be this angry'
"Sure why not, I was getting bored"
Haneul smiled devilishly flashing his white teeth, "Great, I happen to have brought an extra pair of gloves and wraps today" he shoved them into Gyun's chest
"Here you go, I assume you're already familiar with how to put them on"
Gyun looked up at him, his eyes showing a slight bit of boredom "Yeah I know how"
'Let's hope you last more than one hit'
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Author's note: Just a reminder Sungmin was an Olympic silver medalist in Taekwondo
Paulo -the eraser- Costa is a UFC fighter who is from Brazil and currently ranks 7 in the middleweight division. (BTW one of the most badass nicknames there is, the eraser just sounds badass so I had to use it)
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