Leaves fell with the rhythm of the wind and crashed to the ground like snow.
The ground shook as Kai’s body lood over the shimring grass. His black and blue hair fluted as he watched the movent of Yung Mai.
Kai’s hands moved like a legless dragon, pushing the wind under its movents.
For countless stances, he slipped, got back, fell, stood up, and managed to go in line with Yung Mai, until Yung Mai stopped.
"Shhew," he sighed, then lowered his head slightly.
’At long last,’ a smile tore on his lips as he wiped the sweat dripping from his face.
Thinking that Yung Mai was going contrary to his words, Kai’s face saddened when he saw the look on Yung Mai’s face.
"We are pausing the Ma Bu – the horse stance – with push-ups." Yung Mai straightened himself, placed his hands at his back, and took three steps closer to Kai.
"Stand up!"
Kai followed, breaking the horse stance and standing up. His legs trembled every second, promising to let him fall on his knees.
He gritted his teeth, clenched his knuckles, and inhaled, letting the small intake of air fill his empty stomach.
When Kai managed to keep his body still, he felt Yung Mai’s arm grab his back, and within a second, saw himself falling to the ground.
"Don’t use your hand, let your body slam on the ground like a tree."
A loud voice bood in Kai’s ears as he quickly pushed his arms forward, using them as pillars to help himself.
"Again!"
With a fast pace, Kai stood up. Tiny cut lines and dots filled the center of his palms as he brushed them on his black trousers, clearing the grass from them.
This ti too, he saw himself falling. Imdiately, the thought of using his hands struck his mind. Kai exhaled as Yung Mai’s voice bood again.
For ten minutes straight, Yung Mai kept on saying "Again!" until he saw the boy not using his arms.
The late morning sun rays fell on them, letting their evaporated air gush out of them.
...
Two hours of slamming his body on the ground without using his arms as a pillar, tiny drops of blood beading on Kai’s forehead, arms, his bare chest, and the dirty-white cloth covering the left side of his chest.
Straightening himself after being instructed to, Kai’s blue and black hair flipped upward as a cool wind swelled them upward.
"It’s ti to continue with the Ma Bu," Yung Mai said, moved to the front of Kai, and began planting his feet in the ground.
Kai’s vision turned blurry, letting his body beco frail, and his planted leg move sideways like a tree without roots.
A growl sound erupted from his stomach as he swallowed hard, forcing his vision to turn clear.
Seeing the look in the boy’s eyes, a sinister smile appeared on Yung Mai’s lips.
The more they trained, the more Kai felt sothing moving out of his left shoulder, where the wound mark was.
...
Morning turned to evening, and back to days. Yet, Yung Mai and Kai remained at the remote part.
Kai’s fair skin reddened as his legs scread with every step. Although he forced himself to remain rooted in the bow stance, his muscles burned as if he were stepping on live wires.
Yung Mai kept his gaze on Kai’s movents, noticing every twitch of Kai’s fingers, every tremble, and every falter, but never spoke a word.
As dust spiraled up from the grass, Kai’s palms slamd hard after he fell, Yung Mai paused and grinned.
"Gong Bu," he said, his voice sounding calm but carrying the commanding tone.
"Lower. Deeper. Feel the earth pulling under your push."
Kai gritted his teeth as he bent his knees deeper. He stretched his right leg as far as his sinews allowed him to.
Air slamd on the sweat trickling down his forehead, shifting it to fall on his left shoulder.
Breezes erupted from his mouth as his chest rose unevenly.
A great surge of pain seared through his knees, thighs, and ankle. Yet, he didn’t stop, knowing how much Yung Mai’s gaze kept intensifying with every mistake he made.
Yung Mai moved to Kai to push up after he noticed the boy had been able to hold onto the stance.
The ground shook slightly as Kai’s palms landed on the ground, sending the small stones that scattered around him upward.
With every rise and fall, Kai counted the push-ups in his head, feeling every joint in him protesting and screaming.
"Tighten your legs," Yung Mai’s voice echoed the mont Kai’s legs began shaking.
"Don’t fight the ground, beco part of it." his voice moved with the wind and flew across Kai’s face like a word.
The more Kai pushed, his body quivered, yet he obeyed, letting his muscles fire in an unnatural coordination.
Dust and leaves spun upward after Kai’s body flickered to his right side.
"Good." Yung Mai smiled and clapped.
Kai gasped, pushing both the leaves and the dust forward. Now he felt his own breath mixing with a green taste as tiny pieces of the leaves flew into his nose.
He sneezed, coughed, then jolted from the ground.
The mont Kai cleaned the dirt from himself, his face saddened as he saw Yung Mai’s expression.
"This is just the introduction," Yung Mai turned his back to Kai and walked toward the no-door building.
He sat there, sighed, then smiled.
...
"Is that a break?" Kai whispered, but threw his arms in the air when he saw Yung Mai shaking his head.
’Did he hear what I said?’ his eyes widened as thoughts reeled in his mind.
Seeing Yung Mai’s index finger move up and down, Kai exhaled and then followed the direction by squatting.
His waist moved in a slow but precise pace, almost like water flowing over rocks.
After he watched the boy squat for ten minutes, Yung Mai stood up. His hair flared like flas the mont he began closing in on the boy.
At the boy’s side, Yung Mai placed his hand on Kai’s shoulder, almost as if trying to let him remain stuck in the half squat stance.
"Now," Yung Mai’s face shimred with a smile as he looked eye-to-eye with Kai.
"I’m letting you go on a short break." He stared at the boy for a couple of seconds, then tilted his head sideways.
At first, relief fell on Kai, but as he spotted the direction Yung Mai moved to, dissatisfaction dressed him.
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