"I can't fucking believe it." Eli was standing in the Barcelona hotel, waiting for the room keys.
"I can't believe Cobra Kai is here. I thought we wiped them out for good." Demetri huffs.
"I can't believe Tory is with them." Devon looks at the floor.
"Or that Kreese is here." Miguel thought of the wanted man.
"No, none of that. Their male captain is Kwon. The guy that Lee was hanging out with in Korea." He shook his head.
"What?" Demetri's jaw dropped. "She needs to stick strictly to women. She picked good ones there. She's got Moon and Natashia. With men, my friend picks disasters." He shook his head looking at Eli.
"You know what Demetri…" Eli moved forward.
Robby came back with the room keys. "Sam and Devon." He gave the girls their key. "How do you guys want to do this?" He looked at the guys.
"I'll go with you." Demetri wasn't going to be stuck with Eli.
"Really? I thought Robby and I would…" Miguel thought them rooming together would help them solve their problems.
"No, I'll bunk with you, El Serpiente." Eli put his arm around Miguel. "Besides you fart in your sleep." He glares at Demetri.
"Erroneous. And he who observed it, served it, by the way." He put his key in his pocket.
"Whoever said the rhyme did the crime." Eli shot back.
"You just rhyme." Demitri points at him.
"You said the rhyme first." Miguel put a hand on Eli's arm to try and get them to stop.
"But you also rhyme." He waves his hand in his direction.
Their fight was cut short. "Whoa!" They turn to see the males of Cobra Kai. "So you're the famous Miyagi-Do. We heard about you but I do not know why. You do not look like much." Kwon looks them up and down unimpressed.
"Yeah?" Eli steps to him. "You'll see better when you step on the mat."
Kwon smirked in his face. He looked above Eli's shoulder, the smug left to be replaced with shock. It made everyone look in the direction of Lee. She was wearing a white short sleeve peasant top, a short sunflower skirt with a slit on the left, and white pumps, with a string of pearls. "American Psycho." Yoon, Min-Seok, and Chung-Hee yelled out while making the stabbing motion.
"What the hell?" She put her finger to her lip while rushing over to them. "Shut up. They know my mom here… what are you guys doing here?"
"Lee, what are you doing here?" Eli loosely grabs her arm wanting to get her away from Cobra Kai.
"Hawk, I'm…" She began to explain.
Kwon wasn't so gentle. He wraps his arm around her waist to pull her to his side making Eli lose his grip. "She was talking to me." He looked Eli up and down. "Hawk… ha, you're the ex-boyfriend." He had a good laugh at that.
Eli went to launch at him when Miguel pulled him back. "It ain't worth it. You would get kicked out and we would be down a member."
Tory walked past them to go to the elevator. "Tory." Robby ran after her to get the elevator door shut in his face.
"Come on, we'll talk in my room." Kwon pulls her through Miyagi-do to get to the elevator. Yoon made sure to bump shoulders with Robby when they passed him.
"Cobra Kai." She noticed the emblem on his jacket. "Since when I thought you were part of Dohk Sa."
"Still am, but we're Cobra Kai to be a part of this tournament." He looks down at her. "Why are you close with Miyagi-do? I thought your dojo was Eagle Fang."
"There was a merging." She explains.
"And, you didn't make the cut. How is that possible?" He tilts his head.
"I didn't try." She couldn't meet his eyes. She wasn't ashamed of it but knew he would be disappointed.
"You leave my side and you lose all confidence, huh?" He grabs her chin to tilt it up, forcing her to look into his eyes. "At least you got rid of dead weight. You made my trip much better."
The elevator opened and they walked out to find their room. Kwon and Yoon were sharing. Lee sat on a bed as they put their stuff away. "So, Lee, are you here because your mom works here?" Yoon asks.
"My dad is a sponsor. So, I'll be able to see you guys fight." She told them. "There's a sponsor meeting sensei thing I'm supposed to go to."
"Nah, you'll come with us to the aquarium." Kwon corrects her.
"That's for competitors. I don't know if I'm allowed." She shook her head.
"Huh? There you go again letting people tell you what to do. We'll see who tells you no when you are with me." He pulled her up from the bed by her hands.
"Kwon, the rules still apply to you. Don't be getting kicked out of the tournament." She lets him hold her hand as they walk out of the room.
"Jae. Call me Jae." He tells her.
"Huh?" Yoon and Lee were surprised. Kwon never let anyone call him by his first name, Jae-Sung. He was telling her to call him by a nickname.
"Are you both hard of hearing?" He rolls his eyes.
"Now, everybody smiles and says, Barcelona. One. Two. Three." The cameraman got the captains together to take a picture in front of a large tank.
"Barcelona." Was said but not many smiled. Lee scoffed, they probably thought they were too tough for that.
"Louder, Barcelona." He made them repeat. "Sexy, Everybody, come on." They were making the cameraman earn his money. "A sponsor of the car company is here. Tell me what you think." He turned to her.
"I think I wouldn't put someone in the commercial that looked like they were taking a mugshot for stealing the car." She answered honestly. "Smile, Robby. You look gloomy. It's worse than everyone else posing for a rap album." He smiled weakly like a shy kid introducing himself to a crowded class. "Oh jeez." She walks off not wanting to watch any longer.
"One more." He held up the camera. Tory walks off. "Never mind we're done." Robby took after Tory.
Kwon cursed Tory while taking off in the direction that Lee went in. "I don't know why they took us here. Like I want to look at animals." He threw an arm around her shoulders.
"I love the otters." She smiles at the fluffy creatures swimming along.
"Come on. Come on. We make our own entertainment." He pulls her along.
"You're always tugging on me." She complains.
"If I let you lead we would be in front of tanks all day." He stopped in front of the dolphin cut out mid-jump. "Let's have a kicking contest." He yelled out to the crowd that was around. His challenge made them gather. "I'll go first." Everyone moved back to give him some room. His kick reached the middle of the dolphin's top flipper marking it.
"That's not even your highest." She whispers when he joins her side.
"I know, but I don't want to scare them." He snickers. A few people tried but no one came close or did it hard enough to mark it. Kwon was getting cockier with each failure.
"I can do it." A tall Russian teen stepped out of the group. "Watch me, car lady." He winks at Lee.
"Vlad. Vlad. Vlad." His dojo got the group to chant for him.
"I'm going to regret the cameraman pointing out that I'm a sponsor." Lee huffs.
"You'll be fine. We got your back." Yoon nods to her.
Vlad cursed in Russian when he was a few inches too short. His kick was the second to leave a mark. "Not even close." Kwon puts his hand between the two lines. "No one beats mine." Miyagi-do joined the crowd wondering what they were doing. "Team USA. Everyone knows America's best at everything, right?" The other countries had a good laugh at that. "Let's see. Let's see. USA! USA!" He got the crowd to taunt them with the chant. "Come on, I have an American girl with me. I want to see what else her country has to offer. Don't tell me she's the bravest you guys got. Come on, don't be scared! Come on!" Lee was surprised by how hesitant they were being.
"I'll do it." Eli took the bait.
"Of course, you want to try." He smirks at the beta that was desperate to prove he is an alpha. "This is the guy you wasted years on." He scoffs at Lee.
"Enough, Kwon." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"What?" He puts his hand by his ear like he can't hear.
"Give me the chalk." Eli took it from Vlad. His friends surround him while he covers his shoes with it.
"Jae, enough. Don't use me to taunt him." She crosses her arms. "Don't use me. Period."
"I'm not using you. I'm curious about what you saw in him." He shrugged.
"Does it matter?" She didn't want to talk about her ex with him.
"I suppose not. You are by my side, not his." He shrugged.
"You're being possessive for a friend." In Korea, him wanting to dominate her time was nice because she didn't have anyone else. Here, when she wanted to explain herself to her friend it was a hindrance.
"With our connection, we were never meant to just be that." He knew that she felt it. She did. Looking into his intense brown eyes she felt a strong pull within her that she never felt before. She was like a moth and he was the flame. Unlike the moth, she knew he was dangerous. He could hurt her in a way that Eli never would. But, like the moth she wanted to be as close to his warm as possible even if it meant basking him in would be the last thing she did.
"Yo." They were pulled out of their intense stare-off to see Yoon approach Eli. "Are you the best your dojo has to offer?"
"I'm tough enough to kick your punk ass." He got into the taller male's space.
"Please, you are not even captain." Know scoffs. "Where is he?"
"I'm right here." Robby walks out from the crowd. "Come on, guys. We're leaving." He nods to Eli. They were following him out.
"You always walk away from challenges? Or is it because your girlfriend is on our team?" Kwon smirks when Robby turns around at that mention of Tory.
"Robby." Miguel tried to talk sense to him.
"You got this." Eli hypes him up. "Show them what's up." He hands him the chalk.
"What, I gotta kick above that line?" Robby nods to the cutout.
"What, too easy for you?" Kwon steps to him. "Okay, let's make a bet, then. You kick." He pokes Robby's chest. "Then I kick." He points to himself. "You win, you get my room. I win, I got your room." He takes his room card out of his pocket to hold it up.
"You're on." He holds out his hand.
Kwon gave it a firm shake. He joined Cobra Kai to rub chalk on the bottom of his shoes. "You're not bunking with me if you lose." Lee watches him.
"Huh? Please, you know I got this." He hands the chalk to Min-Seok.
Robby got a running start to mark the top of the dolphin's flipper with his foot. The crowd ooh, clearly impressed. He nods to Kwon, who did it back. He fist-bumps with Eli when he joins his group.
Kwon hands Lee his jacket. He looks over his shoulder to smile at Miyagi-do. He did a warrior scream before jumping up to do a spinning kick marking the top of the dolphin's chest. A good two inches above Robby's. "No way." Demetri's jaw dropped.
Kwon puts his hand out for him and Robby to hand over their key cards. "Don't worry. I leave your bags in the hall." The crowd laughs. "Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai." Everyone but the Americans cheered.
Lee knocks on the door with Robby and Demetri's things. "I can't room with you?" Demetri opens the door.
"No way in hell." She rolled their suitcases that had their duffle bags attached to them inside the room.
"Well, this sucks." He follows her in.
"Not a very smart gamble, boys." Sam is sitting on the small dining table.
"Yeah, somebody said it wasn't going to be a gamble." He glares at Robby.
"I didn't want to get involved, remember. I told you to stay away from Cobra Kai. It's so simple." He shook his head at them getting him into this.
"If it's so simple, then why don't you take your own advice?" Eli was lying on his bed.
"What are you talking about?" He asks.
"We saw you talking to Tory." He waves to the room.
"Come on, she's his girlfriend." Devon points out the difference.
"He's dealing with her decision. Same as the rest of us." Miguel nods to him.
"I wouldn't say that exactly. He knew Kreese came to Tory." Sam revealed what she found out. Everyone looked at Robby in shock.
"What? You did?" Miguel asks.
"Yeah. I mean, I knew Kreese went to Tory. But, that was before her mom died. He was trashing Miyagi-do saying she wasn't going to have a fair shot. She told him to get lost. Come on, I didn't know she was going to do this." He reasoned.
"Really? This is what Kreese does. He played her. He played you. You lied to us." Sam accused. "Did Tory ask you not to say anything?" Lee asks.
"Yeah, she did." Robby nods.
"Alright, then of course he didn't say anything. As his girlfriend, he owes her loyalty. Sam, would you tell us a dark secret that Miguel told you? Or, you Miguel? Demetri, what about you? Tell us something about Yasmine." She challenges them. "Cut Robby some slack. He trusted Tory to do the right thing. We all did."
"What about you?" Demetri nods.
"What about me?" She looks at him.
"You've been on Cobra Kai's side all day." He points out.
"Hey, what's up with that?" Devon tilts her head.
"She's with her boyfriend." Eli scoffs. "Is that little speech to say that you won't tell us anything about him?"
"It wasn't. But, I'm not going to. I wouldn't talk to him about any of you. Not, that he would ask. He wouldn't think needs advice to beat you." She knew he would be insulted if she even tried. Demetri made a face that said that was worse. "Anyways, I'm going. This hotel room is crowded." She walks to the door.
"What to see your boyfriend?" Eli yelled.
"If I had a date, it would be in my right. I am single." She slammed the door.
"She is." Devon shrugged while walking out.
"She was dressed for a hot date all day." Sam hops off the table to follow her roommate.
Lee and Kwon were sitting at a small table in a restaurant down the block from the hotel. She had been there a few times before. "Let's get one thing clear, you are not making advances at me to get to Miyagi-Do under Kreese's orders, are you?" She leaned across the table.
"When have you known me to listen to authority?" He tilts his head.
"I've seen Kreese manipulate strong rebels before." She tilts her head in the same manner.
"You make like you and I haven't been on this track since I saw you kick that girl." He leaned in closer so their breath was on each other's lips. "It's your move, Yeobo." She closed the distance. He stood up but didn't disconnect. He hovered over her, massaging her neck as he dominated the kiss. The clinking of dishes made them separate, two dishes of fideua were on the table.
"So?" She asked after he took a few bites.
"You're right. It's good." He hums while eating.
"What…" She shook her head at him thinking she was talking about the food. "How far can this go? I mean, when this is over we go back to different countries." If this was a fling, she wanted to keep that in her mind.
"Same way we've been, on the phone. One of us can do an exchange program. Then there are visitor visas, work visas… marriage visas. If there is a will there's a way." He didn't see it as an obstacle.
"You want to work that hard for a relationship when I'm sure you can get a pretty girl locally." She wonders.
"Presley, I never felt this way about any girl… no person ever. I have never been on the phone for hours before you. I never craved being around anyone before you. I don't see it as hard work. And, I don't care to get to know anyone else no matter how pretty." His brown eyes had that intensity that made Lee want to roll on her back in submission.
She was speechless. It was everything she had been wanting to hear for weeks. "I… I like you too." She stuttered out.
He laughs. "I'll take that for now." He smiles while continuing to eat.
Lee and her dad were on the interior wrap-around balcony that made up the second floor. "The time has come." Gunter stood in the middle of the mat. "Welcome to our first event. I hope you're all well-rested and ready for a new and unique competition. We call it the captain's war. We told you how important your captains will be. So, let's see how well you protect them. Four dojos will take the mat. Only one will be left standing. If you hit the mat, you're out. If your captain hits the mat, your team is out for this round. Check the boards to see your group. It was decided by random draw. Group A, you're up." Lee looked at the board to see Group A was Falchi Della Notte, Iron Dragons, Cobra Kai, and Miyagi-Do.
"Your two dojo are facing each other." Tom points out.
"Yeah." She watches the group gather to talk about a game plan. As the bell rang, Tory ran at Miyagi-do. Miyagi-Do started dropping like flies.
"Which one is Kwon? Your mom keeps talking about him." Tom asks.
"The spikey hair." She points to him. He throws Robby down to the ground.
"Miyagi-Do captain is down, Miyagi-do is out." The announcer said.
"You got a type, huh?" He smirks at the odd hairstyle.
"Falchi Della Notte captain out. They're out. Only Cobra Kai and the Iron Dragons remain alive." The intercom tells everyone what they are seeing.
"All of them are still on the mat." Lee was surprised when the four left to leave their captains on the mat. "That is a baller move."
"I'll say." Tom nods.
Kwon and Yoon went after the big guy, but their hits didn't faze him. Once he grabbed them he was able to muscle them to the ground. Tory went to the girl. While she was small she was flexible. Tory grabs her to throw her over her shoulder. But, the girl was able to spin herself and get a chokehold on Tory. She brought Tory to her knees. "She would look good in a car commercial," Tom comments as she waves at the cheering crowd.
"Maybe we can get him a sports car… oh no a big truck." She thought of the tall male.
"That's my girl. She's a genius." He beams with pride while talking to the people around them.
"Okay, Dad. They'll find out on their own. You don't need to tell them." Lee smiles, reminding herself to appreciate his affection. He did say that after seeing how she packed her suitcase.
"You're right." He nods. Iron Dragon was announced as the winner of this round.