There were fourteen members in total, including the leaders, gathered for the championship elaboration. There are rules and regulations explained by each of them, while Justin was in charge of writing down important notes during the session.
While Diana...well, she only listened to the elaboration with full attention, with a mixture of dissatisfaction due to the fact Justin kept a secret from her.
Once the elaboration ended, everyone got up and left for their classes and activities. Meanwhile, the leaders tidied up the space and returned the equipment they used. Then, Jae-Geun cleared up his things and said, "I'll be heading home. See you tomorrow!"
Kyung-min, Na-Yeon, and Justin waved at him. Sometime later, only Justin and Diana were left in the main lobby. Diana then approached him with a feeling of resentment.
"Justin, how dare you!" She said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Justin asked with a confused face.
With her arms crossed, she said, "You didn't tell me that you're one of the Taekwondo Club members. But that's not all; you're even the Secretary as well. That explains why you asked for my ID."
Justin chuckled all of a sudden. It looks like the secret about him being the Secretary of the Taekwondo club was revealed. With a slight embarrassment in him, he said, "Okay, I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you. You see, I did that because I don't want anyone else to know that we're a couple."
Although Diana understood the reason he kept it a secret, she began to sulk. Yeah, because as a couple, there shouldn't be any secrets between them. But Justin broke the rule.
Seeing his girlfriend sulking, he comforted her by saying, "Never mind. To make it up to you, what if I take you to have some bubble tea with me? Does that make you feel better?"
Diana's eyes began to shine when she heard her favourite drink, "Bubble tea?"
"Yeah, bubble tea! How's that sound?"
Upon hearing her boyfriend saying it, Diana started smiling again brightly, and said, "Alright, I forgive you. Let's go!"
~at Gong Cha restaurant~
While Justin and Diana were enjoying their bubble teas, Diana then began to speak up, "Babe, before the club meeting was dismissed, I heard the club's vice president say my name is already registered for the championship. Who did that?"
"I did it because I've always wanted you to keep going with what you've dreamed of. You want to become a taekwondo athlete, right?" Justin said.
This made Diana a bit surprised. "I knew it! It was Justin all along. Well, I'm grateful for that, though. At least, I got the chance before anyone else could," she thought. Then she nodded, agreeing to become a taekwondo athlete.
Before long, Justin continued, "Okay. Just to make sure that you don't fall behind in taekwondo, I want you to enter this championship so that you can become a master. The last time you learned taekwondo from me was 10 years ago, then you stopped doing so after I moved back to South Korea. This is the best opportunity to pursue your dreams, no matter how hard it gets. Do you agree with me?"
"Yes!" Diana replied, with confidence.
This made some drops of her drink spill from her cup. Luckily, nowhere is stained with bubble tea except her hands. "Oops, my bad. I gotta go get some napkins," she said with embarrassment. Who knew she could get so excited that her drink spilt?
As she got some pieces of napkins in her hand, she suddenly bumped into a girl with blonde hair. The girl then turned around to see who bumped into her. Surprised, she said, "Oh my lord, are you okay?"
It seemed that Diana was a bit clumsy, not knowing what was disturbing inside her head. So, she immediately apologized to the girl, "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry."
The girl smiled, and then she said, "That's okay. Be careful, sweetie." Diana then nodded before returning to her seat.
This was when she noticed the guy who Diana was sitting with. The guy she meant was Justin, and she thought with a frown, "Wait! That guy looks familiar." She may or may not recognize Justin from a distance.
So she decided to go to the table herself until she suddenly realized she stepped on a purple hairpin on the floor. Luckily, the hairpin was not damaged at all, but her heart whispered with a sigh, "I guess she didn't notice her accessory has fallen off."
Once she picked up the hairpin, she approached Diana and said, "Hey, you just dropped your hairpin. I believe this belongs to you." Diana was surprised to hear the girl's words.
"Oh my, thank you so much. I guess I was in a hurry that I didn't realize it fell off," she said. As she pinned her hair with it neatly, the girl's eyes are focused on Justin's confused look.
Justin then started to remember her. To him, she was someone who he hated most. "Ari?" He said the girl's name.
"Justin!" With a slightly surprised look, she could sense that Justin still recognizes her.
Diana was confused. She had no idea what is going on in front of her, so she remained silent.
"What a nice surprise to see you here. So…I'm guessing this girl with you is your friend, right? She should be extra careful when she walks ahead of her," said the girl with a mischievous grin.
Justin looked confused. He then turned to Diana and said, "Wait! Did you just bump onto her, Diana?"
"Yes, I did. But quick question, though. Do you two know each other?" She was curious about what was happening in front of her.
With a kind yet sinister smile, the girl replied, "Yes, honey. We do know each other. By the way, the name's Ariana, but just call me Ari for short. I have known your friend, Justin, here since the Under 15's Junior Taekwondo Championship. I bet you remember what happened, right?"
When Ariana mentioned the championship she participated in, Justin then suddenly remembered something traumatic that happened to him as a teen.
~flashback, 2012~
It was the Grand Finale of the Junior Taekwondo Championship being held at Global Cyber University's Grand Hall, featuring finalists Justin representing Shingu Middle School, against Ariana representing Baekyang Middle School. The environment during the finale was super intense with all the crowd cheering for the participants, followed by the prediction of who will bring home the Grand Prize.
The final battle began with Ariana doing attacks on Justin, although most of them were successfully dodged by him. But when she did a strong kick onto Justin's face, he dropped down in pain.
The rest of his school's participants were concerned about the massive attack done on him, especially when he was hit in the face aggressively. But Justin didn't stop there just yet. He got up from the drop and did a final attack on Ariana, making her twist her ankle and fall onto the floor.
Once Shingu Middle School was announced as the Champion, the whole school cheered, while his teammates rejoiced along, thanking Justin for saving the school's taekwondo team.
The team's coach, Mr Jung said triumphantly, "Great job, team! It looks like the Taekwondo Club lives on in our school."
The whole team cheered happily after hearing the great news.
~end of flashback~
Justin turned silent when he remembered the pain he went through during the championship. It's been seven years since the Junior Taekwondo Championship, but surprisingly, Ariana couldn't forget his embarrassing moment. Why would Ariana say that to him? But even worse, right in front of Diana!
"I just don't get you, Justin. I thought you are done with taekwondo after everything that happened to you. Why are you so stubborn?" Ariana said.
Upset, Justin stood up for himself and said, "Hey, watch your mouth, Ari! I may be traumatized by your attack back then, but I'm not the person who gives up. No matter what happens, I will always stick to what I love to do, which is taekwondo." To him, as long as something is what he loved most, he will keep going.
Ariana grinned cynically until her eyes were suddenly focused on an advertisement about the National Taekwondo Championship. To her, the advertisement was similar to the one she found on her university's notice board. So, she said arrogantly, "Huh, it seems like you will be participating in the National Taekwondo Championship in a few months. I tell you what. I may have defeated in the Junior Taekwondo Championship, but hey! I will be there too, taking over the win from you."
Justin was devastated. It seems to him that his rival will be in the championship as well to tear him into pieces. Before long, Ariana said her sinister farewell to Justin and Diana before leaving the restaurant.
Diana could see how angry Justin looked, with his fists clenching and an angry sigh. "Well, that was so mean. Ari shouldn't have said such things to him," she thought. She did feel a bit upset after everything Ariana said to him, but being calm was the best option for her than ranting.
Not long after, Justin said with a serious tone, "Come on, babe. Let's get out here." He then picked up his bubble tea from the dining table.
"Oh okay," she obeyed. Soon, they exited the restaurant to Justin's car.