Chapter 11: Huzzah-2

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The next few weeks were more tense than usual within the Calvetti residence. Dominic was more volatile, and it was obvious that he was going out of his way to avoid me.

Great! I mean, I was not expecting us to be all happy happy joy joy after the kiss. But the fact that our interactions had all but ceased really bothered me. I did not think that us kissing would have created such a distance between us.

"Focus! Your stance is sloppy!" Jee-min reprimanded, as he hit my shoulder with a mahogany cane to pull me out of my thoughts.

I was currently practicing my Wing Chun forms against the Muk Jong. The wooden dummy had three arms and one leg, which represented an opponent's body in various positions.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as I picked up the pace, the pain helping me concentrate.

I had been training with Jee-min since I was nine years old. Once I had turned twelve, he then became my full-time body guard.

"Don't think I forgot about that stunt you pulled with your hair for your birthday! The boss was seriously pissed at me, so naturally I'm going to torture you in our daily gym sessions until I feel satisfied," Jee-min smirked as he looked around the well-equipped home gym that was located on the first basement level.

I inwardly groaned as I hit the Muk Jong harder, my words coming out a bit raspy, "You know, I was watching this K-pop group the other day, they had a singer with the same name as you but his was spelt as Ji-min. Why is your name spelt differently?"

"It's because I was born in America and not Korea. My parents thought it would make pronouncing my name easier," he said before hitting me with the stick once more, "now stop talking and focus!"

Though he looked younger in age, Jee-min was actually twenty-six and had been with Dominic since he was fourteen. Jee-min's father had been working for the head Italian family that had previously run the mafia in Aelbank City.

One of the underbosses had become infatuated with Jee-min's mother and had his father murdered. He then took her to be his wife in exchange for sparing her son's life. When Dominic came in and took over, he allowed

Jee-min to exact his revenge, and as a result, the young man was forever indebted to him.

"Do it again!" Jee-min instructed as he hit my shoulder another time,

"Didn't you tell me you wanted to become stronger so that the boss will take you more seriously?"

Gritting my teeth, I tried to focus even more, wanting to prove that I had what it took.

"I may not be able to help you win his love, but I can help you become so strong that he won't be able to ignore your abilities!" Jee-min's eyes hardened with concentration as he continued, "Now that you're nineteen, I say we decrease your archery and knife training and focus more on showing you how to use the high calibre guns."

At his words, my form fumbled, my excitement evident, "Really?" Hitting my shoulder harder, Jee-min simply replied, "Focus!"

"Gods, you're such a hard-ass," I mumbled.

"You know you love it! And just for that smartass comment..." his eyes narrowed as he instructed, "You earned yourself an extra five hundred pushups!"

"Aww man!" I complained and continued practicing my forms.

"Stop whining..." Jee-min said before adding, "If I did not think that you could handle it, I would not push you this hard. You have what it takes to surpass us all and become an irreplaceable asset within Dominic's

organisation."

To hear Jee-min speak such words caused my movements to falter. He was not usually the sentimental type, but the fact that he held me in such high esteem only made me want to train even harder.

At this point, I could easily sneak up on someone and kill them before they even knew what was happening. But where my gun handling was concerned, I sought to know how to use as many different types of

weapons, wanting to be as efficient as humanly possible.

I wanted to show Dominic that I could protect him, and even though he may be avoiding me for now, I would use this time to grow and show him that my place was indeed by his side, in more ways than one.

It was my desire to be the best that I could be, and the fact that Jee-min believed in me and wanted to help me fulfil those dreams, made my body surge with renewed energy.

With a nod, I refocused on my training, giving it everything that I had.