The tournament was about to start in two days, Juri was done packing all of her stuff and got ready to leave around 19:00 pm. She was waiting for John but he was running a little late for unknown reasons. After being an hour late, John arrived at her house and rang the doorbell.
"I'm sorry i'm late, but I had to take care of..." John said but Juri pushed him quickly out of the way.
"No time for fairytales we are late, the plane is leaving in an hour, come on!" Juri said quick when she ran away.
"Ok ok i'm coming." John said when he followed her.
They both took a cab to the airport, while they were in the cab, Juri was starring out of the window.
"So Juri, how do you think the tournament in Korea will play out?" John asked curious but Juri was ignoring him completely and still watched outside.
"Hello Earth to Juri hello?" John said when he touched her shoulder.
"What do you want?" Juri said.
"I asked you how you think the tournament will play out."
"I don't know, the same as here in America."
"What about that boy you were talking about... Hwoarang right?"
"Honestly, he's the only one i'm seeing as a threat, I was thinking about how I can beat him. He probably trained day and night for this tournament and learned some new moves like me. He was always that person to memorize my moves that quickly, so I need to suprise him somehow."
"I can't wait to see you two fight." John said excited.
The cab arrived at the airport and stepped out of the cab, they went inside the building and looked for the plane to Korea. Juri saw that the plane to Korea wasn't leaving at 20:00 pm but 21:00 pm, so she had to wait an hour for the plane to leave.
While they were sitting in the lobby, a little boy ran up to Juri.
"Juri, Juri can I have your autograph?" the little boy asked excited.
"Sure kid, here you go." Juri said when she signed the boys' paper.
"Thank you, thank you so much, you are awesome. Look dad, I have got autograph from The Juri Han." the little boy said when he ran away to his dad.
The kids father then approached Juri.
"Thank you for the autograph, my son is a big fan of you." the father said.
"You're welcome sir, take good care of him." Juri said.
"I will, good luck in South Korea. We are rroting for you from home." the kids dad said.
"I'll give you a nice show to watch, I can assure you that." Juri said.
"Goodbye." the kids dad said when he left.
An hour later, the plane was ready to leave, so Juri and John grabbed their stuff and went to the boarder. The plane left and they were both on their way to South Korea.
While Juri was on her way to Korea, Hwoarang was relaxing at home before the tournament started. While he was laying on the chouch, Hwoarang received a message from Steve.
He wrote: Hey man, it's Steve. I got your message and I have enough money to make the trip, i'm already on my way but I missed my plane and the next one leaves 5 hours later. So i'll see you later, I hope I won't miss the fight between you and Juri. Steve.
"Damn, he missed his plane, I hope he can make it, then he can see me win. I wonder what Juri is doing right now." Hwoarang said.
A couple hours later, Hwoarang got a call from Tara.
"Hey Hwoarang, how are you doing?" Tara asked.
"Oke I guess, what's up?"
"Well I was talking with your gang and we need to tell you something, can you meet with us at the meeting point?"
"Yeah sure, i'll see you at the meeting point." Hwoarang said.
He got his motorcycle out of his garage and left his house, when he was there, he got off of his bike and approached Tara and his crew.
"Hey guys, how are you doing, where is Hyun?" Hwoarang asked.
"Oh Hyun? Well... I asked him to come too, but he said that he didn't want to." Tara said.
"Oh well, I don't care about him anyway, what did you guys want to tell me?"
"Hwoarang... we are really sorry, but we can't see you fight in the tournament." Kyu said.
"What? Why not, you guys are my boys, aren't you supporting me at all?"
"Of course we are, but we have a big fight deal with a couple guys, and if we win all of the fights, we get a fast sum of money." Kyu said.
"How big is the deal man, about how much money are we talking right now?"
"In the 10.000 man, you have got to understand that."
"All right fine, but you guys better win the money. You can... go ahead and do the money deal, i'll go the the tournament alone and by myself." Hwoarang said disappointed.
"Thanks man, we won't disappoint you, we promise." Kyu said when he left with the rest.
Hwoarang and Tara were left alone on the meeting point.
"Hwoarang, you know that i'll be there for you right?" Tara asked.
"I know Tara I know, but just you isn't enough. Steve is coming later, so I only have you for support."
"What about Juri?"
"Hmph, you're right, she's my friend after all, she'll be there for me if I had trouble like when I have been beaten up by those thugs. I know for sure that I can count on her."
"I'm sure that she will, come on, let's get you ready for the tournament. Wait, what were you saying about thugs beating you up?"
"Nothing, forget about that. Nah I don't need anymore training, i'm finished so i'm relaxing until it starts."
"Great, well then i'm going home, i'll see you in two days then, bye." Tara said when she walked away and waved goodbye.
"Later Tara, see you at the tournament." Hwoarang said when he left on his motorcycle.
The next day, Juri finally arrived in South Korea around midnight the next day.
"South Korea, even though I had problems here, it feels good to see my homeland again after these months." Juri said satisfying when she stretched out.
"So this is South Korea, it's more beautiful then I heard." John said.
When they were outside with their luggage, a black limousine appeared before them. The driver stepped out of the car and approached Juri.
"Mrs. Han, my name is Chrone and i'm your driver. I'm here to bring you to the hotel where you'll be staying at before the tournament starts." Chrone said.
"A free hotel room for me and a personal driver? I think i'm gonna like this a lot." Juri said.
She stepped into the limousine, when John tried to get into the limousine, Chrone holds him tight and prevents him from entering.
"Wow wow wait a second, you are not allowed in here." Chrone said.
"What, but we are here together." John said suprised.
"Don't worry man, he's with me, let him in." Juri said.
"Fine maddam, go ahead young man." Chrone said.
"Thanks Juri, that was really cool." John said when he got in the limousine.
"No thanks, let's just go." Juri said.
The limousine took both of them to the hotel, they eventually arrived and entered the building. Juri walked up to the registrationdesk and spoke with the reception.
"Hey my name is..." Juri said but the woman at the desk interrupted her right when she tried to introduce herself.
"You're Juri Han the famous fighter, we have your room ready, it's on the third floor, number 21. Here are your keys, enjoy." the lady said.
"Wow, you guys are really dedicated to your work. Thanks though?" Juri said when she went to her room.
"Wow wait ma'am, you can't have guests staying in your room."
"Oh he is leaving in a couple minutes and gets his own room, right John?"
"Uhh... yeah. Can I rent a room for myself?" John said.
"Well... we do still have one room left." the lady said.
"Oke then i'll take that one."
"Oke, sign here and the keys are yours sir."
"Here you go, thanks for the keys." John said when he went to his room.
Before he went to his room, Juri told John to wake up around 10:00 am before the tournament starts.
The day has finally come, the tournament was about to start around 12:00 am. Juri and John got themselves ready to go, because it was a little cold, Juri puts on a poncho with a hood on her head.
They eventually left the hotel and went to the big tournament. Hwoarang was at home taking a shower and getting ready for the tournament, he eventually puts his favourite bikers clothes on and left his house.
While he was on his way, he got a message from Steve again that his plane was canceled and that the next one leave next week.
"Damn, so Steve's out of the picture, I only have Tara and Juri now." Hwoarang said.
He arrived at the place where the tournament was being held, he saw that there were thousand of people here to watch it. He walked around a little bit when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him away.
"Hey you, you're Hwoarang right?" the stranger asked.
"Yeah that's me, who are you now?" Hwoarang asked curious.
"Nevermind who I am, I know who you are, you are that Taekwondo fighter. I heard that you were going to fight in this tournament, aren't you?"
"Looks like I'm already known for my skills, It's nice to meet a fan. Yeah i'm fighting in this tournament, and i'll probably win."
"Oh really, I heard that the finalist is none other then Juri Han."
"Her, I can take her. I admid that she is very strong, but i'm obviously stronger then her."
"Hmph, you sure are confident. What makes you sure that you are going to win...?"
"Well first I'ss start of with..." Hwoarang said but the stranger took his hood off.
"From me?" Juri said.
"Juri, it was you all along?" Hwoarang asked worried.
"Oh yeah it was me all right, what are you thinking? You are obviously stronger then me, seriously?" Juri asked mad.
"Uhh nah, come on girl I was just kidding. Haha, come on laugh with me hahaha... No?" Hwoarang said worried.
"You know what, because I haven't seen you in a while and because i'm in a good mood, i'll let this one slide." Juri said.
Hwoarang then whiped the sweat off of his forehead and sights.
Then suddenly, John approached Juri and gave her something to eat.
"Thanks John." Juri said.
"Huh, hey who the hell is this guy?" Hwoarang asked suspicious.
"Hey i'm John, a friend of Juri. You are Hwoarang right? Nice to meet you." John said when he tried to give him a handshake, but Hwoarang first looked at his hand and then at John.
eventually he approached Juri
"Juri, you and me... We need to talk right away." Hwoarang said
"I'll be right back John, this won't take long." Juri said when she followed Hwoarang.
When they were both alone, Hwoarang started his interrogation.
"Who the hell is he and what is your business with him. I don't know why, but I don't think I can trust him?" Hwoarang said.
"Ease up, he's just a friend of mine who lives next to me. Are you jealous?" Juri asked.
"What me, jealous? Hey, i'm not jealous... at all. I just don't thin you can trust him."
"We are just friends, nothing more."
"How can I believe that?" Hwoarang asked with his arms crossed.
Juri then grabbed his jacket tightly towards her and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She then let him go.
"Do you believe me now?" Juri asked.
"All right I believe you." Hwoarang said.
"Now let's go, they are announcing the matches in a couple minutes."
"Ok then, let's go take a look." Hwoarang said when he left with Juri.
They went with John to the tournament registration to see who is fighting who.
When they were almost at the registrationdesk, Tara saw them coming and waved at them.
"Hey Hwoarang, over here!" Tara yelled.
"Hey Tara, do you know who is fighting who?" Hwoarang asked.
"No, they heven't brought up your name yet. Hey Juri nice to see you again."
"Hwoarang... you and me, we need to talk again." Juri said to Hwoarang.
They went to a quiet place again to talk about it.
"Why is she here?" Juri asked.
"She is here to support me, I had to bring her with me or else she was going to tell Baek." Hwoarang said.
"Support, what about Hyun, Steve and Jin, aren't they coming too. And your crewmembers Chin, Dae, Hae-Jung, Kwang and uuhh...?" Juri asked.
"Kyu Juri, you mean him right?"
"Yeah him, I forgot his name, but why aren't they here?"
"It's like this, Steve missed his plane, so he is coming later. Jin is nowhere to be found, and Hyun, well Hyun is just being a little baby so I can't expet him to come. My crew is having some money matches so they had to miss the tournament unfortunately."
"Hmmm all right, but you're better not lying." Juri said mad.
"Juri, lie to you, that's like throwing gas on a fire."
"Hahaha, oke i'll give you that. Hey listen, I have to go do somethign for the tournament, i'll see you later sweetie." Juri said when she laughed and left him.
John went somewhere else but it was unknown for both of them. Hwoarang then went back to Tara and waited for the tournament to start. Then suddenly, Hwoarang felt a hand on his shoulder again and turned around.
"Twan it's you?" Tara said suprised.
"What do you want now Twan?" Hwoarang asked.
"I'm here to fight and defeat you for what you did to me." Twan said.
"What did I do to you?"
"Taking my love away from me, or beating me senceless in the alley five months ago!"
"Twan how can I say this, Juri was never really in love with you, she actually told me that you were incredibly annoying and that you never shut the hell up."
"You are lying, I know you are, she likes me more then you and because she is here, I can take her back for myself."
"Man, Twan you really need to get a life and move on, forget about Juri, take Tara or something." Hwoarang said when he scratches his head.
"Hey, I don't want to go out with such a weirdo like him!" Tara said offended.
"You won't talk that tough when I have beaten you, see you later loser hahaha." Twan said when he walked away.
Juri was talking with the tournament manager and he decided that Juri can announce the beginning of the tournament and who is in which bracket. She approached the stage and turned the microphone on.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, i'm Juri Han and welcome to the South Korea Fighting Tournament. All of the competitors are divided in two brackets, bracket A and bracket B. From the ten people who are in the bracket, only one fighter can advance to the semi finals. There he will meet the winner of the second bracket. The one who wins that fight, will face the final challenge, me. So everybody, do your best and show your opponent what you got. Good Luck!" Juri said as she walked off the stage.
The brackets have been chosen, Hwoarang was in bracket B and Twan was in bracket A. While Hwoarang was getting ready for his first fight, Twan went to his first opponent, but before he got there, John approached him quietly.
"You are Twan right?" John asked.
"Yeah, and who are you?" Twan asked.
"My name is John, I need a favour. I heard that you hated Hwoarang, make sure that you win all of the matches. Then you have to face Hwoarang in the semi finals... and kill him!"
"I was already planning on doing that, but what is your plan then if I may ask and why killing him?"
"I need Juri for something and the only one who can mess up this plan is Hwoarang, I need him exposed as quickly as possible."
"Don't worry then, i'll do it anyways, but let us work together to take care of him once and for all."
"Sure, I think my boss will appriciate some extra help. I'll tell you the plan later, but first go to your first match and don't lose." John said when he tried to give him a handshake.
Twan gave him a handshake and walked away to meet his first opponent.