Chapter 9: 7
J H O P E
After seven days Namjoon was finally better and was cleared to continue training by the nurse. Thankfully I didn't catch what Namjoon had so we were in the gym on the eighth day, Namjoon learning how to fight with knives, throwing and up close. I taught him how to hold the knives and how to throw them, he was a very fast learner.
Namjoon was very good at throwing knives, I would call out a spot on the target and Namjoon would hit it every time. He was a natural. Some of the other men that were there crowded around to watch him, impressed at his skill.
"Aim for the throat." I said beside him and in one swift motion the knife left his hand and landed in the wood painted to look like a human, right in the throat.
I laughed and clapped him on the back, "Wow, good job. Lets work on moving targets now."
We moved to another area that had moving targets. Namjoon had no trouble hitting those, getting where ever I told him too every time.
"Amazing, lets try something else," I said moving us back to the stationary targets.
"What are we doing now?" He asked. He was getting more vocal, not so afraid to talk to me anymore.
"You are going to throw knives at me," I smiled, the idea was fun and I knew it would put on a good show for those who had gathered around to watch Namjoon.
Namjoon didn't seem so confident in himself anymore, "Are you sure about this?"
"You haven't missed a single one yet. I'm very sure about this," I said and walked to the targets, positioning myself so that my body was over the painted outline on the wood.
"Ready," I called to him.
He took a deep breath, held the knife in his hand like a taught him and threw it just as smoothly as the other times.
The knife stuck in the wood with a loud thud, I looked down to see that it was a foot away from my leg, "Come on, you can do better than that," I taunted.
He seemed nervous now, either scared of hurting me or anxious around the crowd. I thought about telling the other men to go but this was entertainment and that was hard to come across unless we got to go on a mission.
He tried again, this time a few inches from my head. Some of the men clapped and laughed.
I smiled, "That was good."
Namjoon seemed satisfied with my comment and relaxed. "But I think you can do even better," he tensed up again.
I laid back against the wood and instructed that he throw three in a row now. He did as I said and threw them, fast. The first one landed next to my arm, the cool blade barley touching the skin. The next one landed by my neck and the last one landed between my legs, a little too close to my groin. The last one got the crowd laughing and me as well when I stepped away from the target, pulling the knives out as I went.
I walked up to him and praised him, "You did really well."
"Thank you."
"Now I think it's time we work a little more on your close up skills since you obviously don't need help with throwing knives."
Every one dispersed and I taught Namjoon how to hurt someone quickly and efficiently with a knife. A few hours later and I was confident enough in him to spar.
We got into an empty ring and I made sure he was ready before making my first move. He dodged quickly but didn't make a counter attack which I made very easy. I went for him again and he didn't take the opportunity to strike back.
"Come on, Namjoon," I encouraged, "You're not going to hurt me."
This time he made the first move, and I blocked and when back at him but he successfully countered it, making me smile. We went at it for a while, Namjoon improving very well.
A few cuts and slip ups later, I Namjoon finally had me beat, with the knife at my throat.
"This was fun," I smiled and took the knife from Namjoon , "You can go on and take a shower, we're done for the day."
Namjoon went towards the showers and I went to clean and put the knives back.
I had just finished and planned to go take a shower myself when Showun came running up to me, "Somethings wrong, it's Namjoon."
I took off in the direction of the showers, hoping nothing too awful had happened.
When I got in there Namjoon was in the corner, huddled up still fully clothed, there was a shower still going on him. I looked around to find the cause of his behavior but only found a few equally concerned men.
I asked them all the leave as I crouched down near Namjoon , slowly approaching, I didn't want to startle him.
"Namjoon , what's wrong?" I gently asked.
He was shaking, I had never seen him like this awake. It scared me.
"Namjoon," I tried again and gently touched his shoulder. He jumped and turned to look at me, fear in his eyes. "It's just me," I said calmly.
He calmed down after he realized it was me and wrapped his arms around me, something I wasn't anticipating so I lost my balance and nearly fell backwards. I caught myself and slowly wrapped my arms around him. I was starting to get worried that maybe I had pushed him to hard or maybe said something or done something that had brought up bad memories.
I don't know how long we stayed like that, neither of us saying anything. Namjoon finally pulled away, "Sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for," I reassured, "Lets go home and get a shower."
We walked out, some of the other men watched us as we exited the gym. When we made it back to our room I thought about asking him if I had caused what had happened but I figured I'd give him some time and ask after we both showered.
As I was making dinner I decided to ask.
"Namjoon?" I called out, making sure he was awake on the couch.
"Hmm?" He hummed as a response.
"Did I... do something to, you know... trigger you?" I asked timidly.
Namjoon turned to look at me as if I was crazy, "It wasn't your fault, don't blame yourself. I just saw someone that reminded me of my dad."
I sighed in relief, "I was worried I maybe pushed you too hard today."
He shook his head, "You've done nothing but help me."
I didn't say anymore, just finished dinner and called Namjoon to eat when it was ready.
Sorry it took so long for me to update.
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