04 | Attack
21 March, 1915
"Do you know how to use knives?" Na-Rae spoke, holding the dagger in her hand with fragility.
Chan, who had already taken a defensive stance, undid his position to arrange the dagger in her hands correctly, "I know how to attack."
She gripped it tightly, determination evident in her eyes, "And that's enough for me."
He grinned at her resolution, and then the two fifteen-year-olds stepped away from each other, her imitating his stance. Chan kept one of his feet behind the other with a considerable gap between them, and she mimicked it, eyes focused on his movements and posture.
"I'm assuming that you don't have experience with knives and daggers?" he questioned, and she did not let the spirit die in her eyes as she nodded, "This is the first time I'm doing this."
"Then let me teach you," he spoke, eyes unfocusing from her as he looked at his stance, "Left foot back, and put most of your weight on the foot behind you."
Na-Rae followed his instructions, placing her left foot behind her and burdening it with her weight.
"Then," Chan said, "Hold the knife tightly. Grip onto the far end of the blade, where the backside of it begins; no, not on the blade itself, that'll hurt you."
"Alright," she spoke, as he displayed to her how to hold it in a slow motion of his hands.
"Now, pay attention to the enemy. Watch out for that one moment when his focus deters, and..." he said, eyes concentrated on hers, and the second she averted her eyes to look at the dagger in her hand, he proclaimed, "Attack!"
Na-Rae, unalarmed, raised her dagger to protect herself from his attack, the clashing sound of the two blades echoing in the dawn of the sun. Dongpyo, who was inspecting the candidates, paused to look at Chan and Na-Rae fighting, with him obviously on the verge of defeating her.
The two candidates ruthlessly fought each other, Na-Rae reacting to every attack from Chan with a defensive response, until he flicked her dagger away. Her weapon fell onto the ground, and now, it was supposed to be an easy win for him.
Dongpyo sighed, "Of course, it's just a girl."
Just as he was about to move on to inspect others, Na-Rae evaded Chan's supposedly final attack and ducked, rolling over to grab her dagger off the ground. Dongpyo paused yet again, watching how perplexed Chan was by her unprecedented move.
Na-Rae got up from the ground, running towards Chan with her dagger in her hand, and this time, she was the one attacking. He failed to judge her movements, as it was too late for him to attack when she flicked his dagger away. She pushed him to the ground, pinning him down as she placed the dagger against his neck, a few inches far so that he did not hurt himself.
Chan breathed hard, his chest rising and falling with every inhale and exhale, and a smile formed on his lips, "You're a quick learner."
"You're a good teacher," she replied, a grin evident on her mouth as well.
Dongpyo chuckled, shaking his head. He approached the two, "Candidates Bang Chan and Kang Na-Rae."
She stood up first, lending him a hand to stand up. He grabbed it, hers much softer than his, and the two faced the commander, standing in attention.
"You two have passed the test. Welcome to the trainees' troop."
As Dongpyo walked off, Chan and Na-Rae looked at each other in absolute glee, with him almost about to jump on the spot. Instead, in his puerile zeal, he excitedly hugged her, exclaiming to her, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Na-Rae, who was as excited as him, hugged him back, bouncing on the heels of her feet, "I should be the one thanking you, Chan! Thank you!"
The two parted, cheeriness still overtaking any other sort of emotion, smiles as big as gardens on their lips.
"I can't wait," Chan gushed, "To fight beside you in the frontlines soon!"
"We have a long way to go," she reminded him, even though she was drenched in excitement as well, "But I have faith that we'll make it."
"And that's enough for me," he spoke, mimicking the statement she had previously made before their fight.
She chuckled; this was all that she had dreamt of.
(a/n: the way I had to study the art of fighting with knives for this T_T
how was this??
thanks for reading! i love you!)
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