#mma articles

[thesportswarriors]

"Two promotions. One lesson: Without money, dreams die in the cage."

When Ambition Outpaces Reality: The Global Fight League and Affliction MMA’s Costly Collapse In the high-stakes world of MMA promotions, ambition can be both your greatest weapon and your ultimate downfall.Two organizations — Affliction MMA and the recent Global Fight League (GFL) — are prime examples of what happens when bold visions collide headfirst with harsh financial realities. Affliction…

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 94- MAMA Awards 2016 Part 1

Summary: BTS win their first Daesang! Tensions run high when Jen's friendship with Hyuna ends abruptly due to sneak dissing and a scrapped performance. BTS attends the Mama Awards making iconic moments that leave the world shooked.

Words: 13,000+

Genre: Big Jungkook Fluff. A little chaos never hurt anybody :)

Click here for PART 2 of this chapter

Author's note: OK the 3rd Muster chapter isn't done yet, I'll post that next since this was done. The 3rd Muster chapter is basically a filler chapter anyway. So once I come back from taking a smol break I will start writing that and then the following story chapter. This was done and I didn't want to keep it waiting. Kind of been anxious to release it. 

As I addressed during the Bon Voyage season 1 chapter, this should be the last time I write about Hyuna. This idea came up recently and I rolled with it. My ideas changed a bit but I wanted this to just be chaotic af. I wanted to think outside the box and I like what I came up with. Again this smol girl ain't that much of a lyric writer but A for effort. Decided to combine the chapters and make it into the Mama Awards chapter.

I would like Jennie to always have a cool stage for the MAMA Awards. And have fun moments. It's only 2016 in the story and Jennie still has a lot of growing to do but I think this moment I have planned for this chapter is an interesting start to how she speaks up for herself. We got 2017, 18, 19, and the rest of the years for even more character development, wins and failures along the way for her.

Hope you enjoy it! I'd say Beyonce's 7/11 is the inspiration for her stage at MAMA. I love the song so much and the instrumental. Especially the Coachella version. Always a banger. I also loveeee Beyonce's laugh at the end of the Coachella version. So I had to add it for Jennie. It might just be her signature. 

Whenever there are scenes with BlackPink and BTS' Jennie (My character), I'm going to keep BlackPink's Jennie as Jennie during the dialogue while BTS' Jennie will just be called Jen. Hope that won't be too confusing.

Throwback to this funny video when they won at MMA 2016. I remember this video like it was yesterday. Timeless. As I continue to write, I get a little emotional. It was so fun seeing all this in real time.

Again this chapter is split into two parts because I couldn't fit all of it in one post. So this is part one.

Have an awesome day! Super excited for Jin to return from enlistment! Not much longer now!

------------

'BREAKING! MAMA 2016 Collaboration with Cube's Hyuna and Big Hit's Jennie scrapped!'

Jennie frowned at the article as she sat by her desk in the Smartie Factory. It was crazy how things abruptly changed. Lately, Jennie and Hyuna weren't on speaking terms and issues have been occurring for a while.

It all started with the sneak dissing that Jennie had found out on her Tumblr. She loved scrolling through the tag of her name and came across a fairly popular post regarding Hyuna attending a few variety shows and interviews.

"Unlike the others, I don't need to repeatedly say I'm the best from head to toe. You already see it," made ARMY think about Jennie's War of Hormone lyrics.

"Some rookies can be a bit much. Some like to try to overshine a veteran,"

"Some girls in this industry are a bit too fragile. I don't need to call myself bulletproof,"

"You mean the original version of How's This,"

These were just a handful of statements said by Hyuna and ARMY immediately speculated she was throwing shade at Jennie.

'Uhhhh did Hyuna just sneak diss, Jennie? Am I freaking out over nothing? That bulletproof and glass line was SUS,' one comment said.

ARMY went on to do more research and they immediately figured out that there was some sort of animosity in Hyuna's words and it caused confusion in the fandom.

"The hell...?" Miss Bangtan murmured as she read about it and even saw her and Hyuna trending on Twitter.

Her stomach dropped and she felt hurt by the words. It confused her as to why she would say these things. Deciding to go straight to the source, she messaged Hyuna on KakaoTalk.

Jen: Ummmm what's going on sis? We got a problem or something? If so let's address it now. Call me when you're free

But hours later, still no reply. What officially solidified the fact that there was an issue was when Jennie facetimed Hayoon about it.

"I'm trying to contact her so we can settle this shit now instead of over the internet. But I haven't gotten a response. I don't know how this happened. I didn't even do anything. I know we haven't talked in a while, but damn,"

And that was when Hayoon informed her what was going on from what she heard. She and other people have been overhearing her talking about how upset she was that she would be sharing the stage with Jennie for How's This. She wanted to perform it alone and on top of that felt bothered by the fact that the duet music video with Jennie started to get way more views than the original video.

"I mean it got more views because ARMY loves to support every member of Bangtan. They were bound to have the views boost," Jennie exclaimed on Facetime while Hayoon nodded. "That's one of the amazing things about them. They watched that video for me and I'm grateful but damn, is it that deep? So, she doesn't want to share the stage with me and is feeling some type of the way that her original music video didn't have that many views? Ma'am, if that was a problem, instead of throwing shots, why not talk to me face to face and express yourself? All this childishness for what?"

"I know. It's ridiculous," Hayoon said with a frown. "I had to distance myself from her. I didn't like the things she was saying. And I even talked to her about it but she blew me off and said she didn't care,"

Jennie sighed and shook her head. "Annoying...thanks for telling me...wow...the switch up is crazy...I just don't understand,"

"Of course. Still no reply?"

Jennie went to check back on the app and scoffed. "Did this bitch block me?!"

"What?! No way!"

"Wowwww. So, it's like that? Okay. I can't even contact her anymore...this is making me start to have trust issues a little bit. Like we were so close. We would hang out and talk often...I trusted her with a lot of shit, too. I hope she doesn't spill anything personal. Because now I'm thinking about my relationship,"

"As much as I dislike her attitude, I don't think she'll spill anything especially when she is dating E'Dawn privately,"

"Yeah...I'm not going to air her dirty laundry and talk about how she got a rookie boyfriend and shit. That's unfair to E'dawn and his future career as an idol,"

"Agreed. No need to get him involved. I believe she won't involve Jungkook as well, so no need to worry,"

Jennie sighed. "When I see her at one of these award shows I'll confront her. This is ridiculous,"

"Some kind of girl's girl she is. So close to award season, too? She should not be trying to paint you as this bad person,"

"Yeah...I just don't know how long it's going to take for the public to understand how grimy she is,"

As the news of her performance with Hyuna wasn't happening anymore, Cube Entertainment and even Mnet made the excuse that they felt like Jennie was not ready to perform with Hyuna and was a bit difficult to work with. Which was a load of bull and lots of fans saw through the BS. However, Big Hit responded in defense of her saying that she was ready, was very easy to work with and it was their loss on the collaboration.

It warmed her heart to see the company come to her defense and say she would prove doubters wrong on BTS' stage at the MAMA Awards. Hearing the news that the collaboration was scrapped made her feel down since she had been so excited to perform with someone she looked up to for many years. G-Dragon's words still rang through her mind that not everyone is your friend in the industry and the switch ups are crazy.

Now back to reality, Jennie continued to sit by her desk, deep in thought about the situation. All she wanted to do was speak to her like an adult and squash whatever issue she had with her. But with her being blocked, it was clear she wanted nothing to do with Jennie.

It had been days since the first set of disses along with lyric changes to throw shots at her and the lack of response from Jennie had everyone talking.

People commented:

'Unbothered. I like that,'

'Hyuna cooked you!'

'Everything she said about Jennie was true,'

'Rookie! Hyuna is better than you!'

'So, are you going to respond to HyunA?'

'Damn, still no response?'

'Jennie is known for her impressive stage presence at MAMA. They could have been a powerful duo if egos didn't get in the way. Something ain't right,'

'LOL Hyuna won by default. She is taking forever to respond. Is she scared?'

'Get in the booth, Jennie. Or are you taking the L?'

'So, you just gonna let her talk shit about you like that?'

'Jennie doesn't have to respond to anything.'

'I hate how you guys are instigating this drama.'

'No response is a response, Jennie!'

'Does Miss Bangtan need her bulletproof boy scouts to help her with this one?'

'I bet Jennie is the problem. Because she and Hyuna were great friends. She must have done something wrong...'

'Time to stop hiding behind your boys, woman up and respond to your senior.'

'Respect queen Hyuna!'

'You should be lucky she even asked you to collaborate.'

'ARMY gets on my nerves. They like to spam and stream everything for bragging rights. That music video didn't deserve to get higher views than the OG!'

'Yikes...going after one of the chillest people in the K-Pop industry is not wise because if Jennie responds I bet not hear shit that she was disrespectful when Hyuna started this first. And don't try to say respect your seniors.'

'Y'all are a little too comfortable being rude to Jennie on her page...'

'Hyuna started it and Jen will finish it. Watch!'

'Hyuna is being a bit too bold running her mouth.'

'Of all people when you have Bangtan backing her? And other idols who are close friends with her? I don't understand the logic.'

'Hyuna is untouchable in the industry, no idols will come to her aid,'

'I doubt any idol will defend Jennie from Hyuna. She should handle this herself.'

'Bangtan shouldn't always have to fight her battles. She should handle this by herself,'

'Jennie handles business. She'll respond,'

Still, on social media, she saw herself getting tagged in a lot of Hyuna stuff. Come to find out she was still sneak dissing and her stans were eating it up and defending her. However, ARMY was not too happy about the abrupt attitude change and shade thrown at Miss Bangtan.

"Do you want me to say something?" Yoongi asked, who sat next to her, ready to defend her honor.

"Yoongi...no," she firmly said as she turned to him.

"The situation is so grimy. Like damn, the bitch can't share the stage with you on her song that she wanted you to be on in the first place? Why bother asking to collab?" Angelina spoke up, sitting on the couch with Namjoon. "Did she think it wasn't going to go well? She underestimated the power of ARMY's support and your talent as an artist. Those comments on that YouTube video were mainly about you, Jennie. You outshined her in the music video and she was mad about it and has been holding it in for a while. The bitch is jealous,"

"I'm just confused and thrown off by everything. Like I thought we were friends—"

"Well, she's not your friend," Angelina firmly cut Jennie off, getting upset about Hyuna. "A friend doesn't sneak diss. Fuck her,"

"Are you going to let her just bash your name like this in public?" Namjoon asked.

"She is South Korea's IT girl. Everyone loves her. And if I respond...I have a feeling I'll be public enemy number one. You know how the media is gonna twist this and make me the bad guy," Jennie reminded.

"Jen, I love your calmness. You know I'll be ready to fight somebody if someone did that to me. Diss tracks would already be on standby to release," Angelina added. "I wish I had your calmness, right now, as we speak. But stop being nice,"

"I'm not trying to be! I'm not! I'm not being nice, I'm trying to wrap my head around being blindsided! I'm getting annoyed, now..." she sighed out of frustration.

"Good. Write about it,"

"Listen, I shouldn't cause Bangtan any drama. Award season is coming up...I can't be taking the attention off of us at the award shows. I don't even want to be involved in this drama...why can't I just have some genuine celebrity friends, that won't get mad over petty shit, like this? I'm getting PTSD from Hailey and that took a while to heal from,"

"Munchkin, you're not causing drama for us," Hobi spoke up with his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, next to the couch. "I know you're thinking of the negatives but the positives outweigh it. You should respond,"

"And you know that people love you, too. She is not the only beloved K-Pop idol, in the world," Yoongi affirmed. "You've been making a positive name for yourself with us as BTS. ARMY and us will not stand for the slander. I want you to write about it all,"

"Turn this negative into a positive," Namjoon reminded.

"Diss track incoming?" Angelina smiled.

Jennie let the rappers' words sink in as she glanced at all of them. They had a point. She couldn't just let her bash her name like this out of nowhere. On top of that, she didn't want to hear anything about being respectful to her seniors when she was getting disrespected unprovoked. It bothered her when people think they can talk to younger people in any type of way. Respect should be a mutual thing.

"For now, don't bother engaging in the drama on social media. Don't respond to any of it online. Continue to go about your day like normal," Namjoon suggested.

"Yeah...okay. You're right. All of you," Jen replied. "I can't let her just get away with talking shit and not saying it directly to my face. Especially when she didn't even want to respond to my messages and blocked me. She needs to get checked,"

"Good. I'm looking forward to this," Hobi smiled.

"You and I both," Yoongi revealed his gummy smile.

Jennie chuckled and turned to Namjoon. "This reminds me a little bit of the Bobby situation and your diss at MAMA 2014. But yours was more of entertainment. Unlike this,"

The leader chuckled at that and nodded. "Yeah. Well, what are you going to do, now?"

"Handle it," she firmly responded and grabbed her notebook.

"Best news I've heard all day. Get writing," Angelina broke out into a big smile, as the others agreed.

"Mama Awards 2016. Speak your truth, there. Let's talk to the staff later about everything," Namjoon recommended.

"Okay," Jennie nodded, liking that idea. "I'll show you what I have when I'm done. Can I be alone, please? To work?"

The boys respected her decision and left her to work while Angelina stayed behind with Namjoon waiting for her outside the studio.

"Word of advice? Try the 8 Mile method. The stealing thunder strategy. You remember the movie and the final rap battle with Eminem?" Angelina asked as she got off the couch.

"Yeah. I've watched it a few times. That's not a bad idea. I'll work on it,"

"Good. Happy writing. Just make sure you eat, okay? Don't be stuck here, all day. I'll be with the others,"

"Don't worry, I'll take breaks. See you,"

After Angelina left, Jennie got started with writing. She also began going through her vault of music files she created over the years to pick which one to perform her rap with.

Rapping…kind of scary to think that this is what it would come to. Yoongi had been an amazing mentor. If Hobi could learn how to rap when he had no background in it, she could too. The amount of faith the rap line had in her to encourage her to respond to Hyuna in this way was a big deal. It was a deal that she could not mess up.

As she proceeded to work, her dog Tony slept quietly on the dog bed in the corner, tired out from playing around with the members a few hours earlier. Jennie occasionally glanced at the adorable dog with a smile while she worked. Miss Bangtan worked for hours, doing research, writing, and analyzing Hyuna's recent interviews regarding her. So engrossed in her work, she jumped slightly when she heard a series of knocks at her door.

"Who?" she asked out loud.

"Your Golden Boyfriend. Jeon Cena!"

"Enter my realm, my love," she smiled and turned her seat around to see him walking in with a few bags of food. "Hey!"

"Hi. I figured you were hungry so I bought food for us," he set the bags on the desk and grabbed a seat to sit next to her.

"It smells so good, thanks," she kissed him sweetly.

Getting a good look at her, he noticed she was wearing one of his hoodies which made him smile. The way it was oversized on her made her look even more cute.

"Any time. And your package of Smarties came. I grabbed a few bags so I can fill up your bowl,"

"You are the best!" she squealed happily and kissed him again before planting multiple kisses all over his cheek, making him giggle.

After he filled up the bowl, he gently grabbed her hand to stop her from reaching out to grab a few pieces.

"Ah-ah! What are you doing?" he called out.

"Helping myself to my smarties?"

"Nah. Food first. Let's eat,"

"What? Oh, come on. Babe, don't do that,"

"Food first. Smarties after," he released her hand.

"They're small, they're not going to spoil my stomach,"

"Food, honey," he grinned, opening the platter of chicken for them to eat. "Take a break,"

"Fine. I should take a break, anyway," she stretched and closed her notebook, placing it to the side. "Game of Thrones?"

"Yeah, we stopped at Season 5, right?"

"Hm hm. The first episode," she set everything up on one of her monitors.

"Hyung told us what you're working on. I'm glad you're going to go through with it. It's not fair,"

She smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah…I just wished she talked to me,"

"She'll realize the mistake she made when you respond. I'm looking forward to seeing what you say. You always have a way of showing off your craft during the MAMA Awards. ARMY will be in for a treat,"

"Thanks. I hope to do it justice. I've been thinking about a lot…especially with the new year coming up. I think my New Year's Resolution for 2017 is to…be more cautious of who I trust and who I open up to. To see my childhood friends again when we go on tour and write songs in a more positive light. I think that'll be a pretty good start,"

He leaned over to kiss the side of her head. "I like that. That is a good start,"

---------

The day of the Melon Music Awards was finally here and backstage was lively as everyone went through rehearsals. Jen was excited to see familiar faces again as she strolled backstage. She let out a deep breath when she finally saw Hyuna who had finished talking with a staff member. Jen had been seeing her all day but whenever she'd get close, Hyuna would rush off.

Not anymore.

As Jen approached her, she knew people were watching her every move, wondering what might happen. Keeping her head up high, she finally came face to face with her.

"You got something to say to me?" Jen questioned as she looked at her with a frown.

Hyuna looked a little surprised and took a step back.

"Nothing at all," she replied with a fake smile.

"Are we going to talk like adults or are you gonna run, again? Where's that energy when you were taking shots at me on that variety show?" she asked and tilted her head to the side when she didn't reply. "If you don't want to be friends anymore, that's cool. I don't care. But I don't appreciate you going out of your way to talk shit about me and lying on my name. Blocking me so we can't speak on the phone? That is mad corny,"

"Jennie, you're causing a scene," she brought up as noticeably more people were being nosy and watching the confrontation.

"I do not care, stop trying to change the subject. What is with you throwing shade like ARMY and I wouldn't notice? Even talking about how difficult I am to work with? The fuck? Do we have a problem?"

"Do we?"

It took all the strength Jen had to not pop her in the head right then and there with the way she sarcastically responded. Hyuna was playing games and it was getting harder for Jen not to put her hands on her. MAMA Awards couldn't come fast enough.

"Keep my name out of your mouth. I'm not telling you again. Are we clear?" Jen demanded with a glare.

"Crystal."

After walking away and calming down, Jen informed the members about the nonsense. It annoyed them with the way Hyuna responded and highly anticipated Jen's performance at the MAMA Awards to set her straight. It was going to be worth the wait.

As the show was about to start, Jen went to the women's bathroom and as she came out to wash her hands, she saw BlackPink primping in the mirror and talking amongst themselves about how excited they were for the show.

Jennie gasped in happiness and turned around with a bright smile. "Hi! Oh my gosh, we've been looking for you!"

The sudden burst of excitement surprised Jen as she stood by the four girls who were happily smiling after she dried her hands. Once it officially registered that she was in front of BlackPink, Jen grinned widely.

"Hey! You're BlackPink! Wow! Hi! Oh my gosh, wow, y'all look so beautiful!"

"So do you!" Jisoo beamed as they all bowed.

"Hi, I'm Jennie. Jennie Walker," Jen introduced herself.

"Nice name. Hi, I'm Jennie. Jennie Kim," Jennie giggled with her and held her hands.

"Thank you. Nice name!"

"Thanks! It's nice to catch you before the show. It's really nice to meet you,"

"It's nice to meet you, girls, too!"

"Hi~! I'm Rosé!"

"I'm Lisa!"

"And I'm Jisoo!"

After releasing Jennie's hands, Jen spoke, "You girls are amazing! It's great watching you ladies thrive. I love your songs and I can't wait to see you perform, tonight,"

"Thank you! We've seen your dance videos of our songs. You perform it so well. Maybe you should be the fifth member," Jisoo giggled.

"I'd love to but Bangtan would be upset," she teased, as the girls laughed.

They were all so sweet. Their friendly energy matched so well with Jen's as they all vibed and immersed themselves in bathroom girl talk. As Jen had her eyes on Jisoo, she pointed out that her beauty was on a whole new level. Photos and videos didn't do her justice.

"Can we hug? Are you ladies ok with that? I'm like such a hugger these days but I like to ask before touching," Jen asked kindly.

"Of course!" Lisa beamed and went right in to embrace her with the rest of the girls.

"Are you ladies excited for tonight?" Jen asked.

"Nervous! But very excited. It should be a fun show. The dress rehearsal went well," Rosé replied.

"You ladies are gonna kill it. Have fun with it! Go out there and show them that BlackPink ain't playing around,"

Jen's encouragement seemed to have pumped them up as they smiled brightly and thanked her.

"You're close with Bam Bam, right? He's one of my good friends," Lisa spoke up.

"Yeah! I love him! He's the best and one of the funniest guys ever. He's a piece of work, huh?" Jen chuckled.

"He is! I hope we can all hang out sometime,"

"Yeah, I'd love that. We have a 97 Liner group chat we can add you and Rosé in! We're trying to see when we can have another get together. Even if it's just a handful of us. I have the WINGS tour coming up so it'll probably be a long while until Jungkook and I can participate in any hangouts. But we'll be there in spirit if the group plans something in our absence,"

"Being in the group chat sounds like fun. It'll be nice to get to know the others who were born in the same year. You'll introduce us?" Rosé asked.

"Yeah! I got you! You have to meet Hayoon. She is one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet. So down to earth. She can be a little shy but give her some time and she'll open up to you. When you see her show off her real personality she gets very intense when playing games. Especially card games,"

Lisa and Rosé giggled at that.

"G-Dragon speaks highly of you. I always see him at YG and when we catch up he always brings you up," Jennie added.

"He talks about me to you?" Jen's eyes lit up.

Jen remembered that Jennie worked with G-Dragon before, being in one of his music videos. And Rosé even worked with him, on a song. It made her heart soar that he spoke highly of her. She hoped that one day she could collaborate with him as well. They brought it up a few times but she wanted to continue to improve her craft as an artist before working with him on music. She wanted to be at her best to sing with someone as legendary as him.

"Yeah! He told us he took you under his wing. I remember him saying how determined you looked when you approached him at K-Con. He admired your drive to take action. The way you did not hesitate to ask for advice on how to be a better performer. He also told us you are someone he trusts and that you are authentic," Rosé added.

"Wow...I am honored, my gosh," Jen let out a breath and placed her hands over her heart.

"Can I just say I love the move that you do with Jungkook during Blood, Sweat and Tears!? That flip and spin? It's so good!" Lisa said excitedly. "I want to try to do it during a dance practice but your chemistry with him is something that cannot be duplicated. I've studied dance covers of your little duet and it's clear that the move was meant for you two. I admire your passion when dancing,"

"Aw really? Thank you! I admire your passion for dancing, too! You be killing it on stage! You move with such grace and power, I get blown away every time, girl. I need to learn a thing or two from you,"

"We should practice together, sometime!"

"I'd be down!"

Their conversation was cut short when they heard an announcement that the show was about to begin.

"Before we go to our seats, can we take a selfie?" Jisoo suggested.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Jen cheered.

Jisoo took out her phone and held the camera up high while the girls crowded around Jen. With all of their face cards on point, the selfie turned out beautifully as they posed with peace signs, kissy faces, and bright smiles.

"Oh, we cute, cute! Send this to me!" Miss Bangtan requested.

After exchanging numbers with the girls, the five of them went to their seats with fansites filming and noticing them together. Seeing the sight made ArmyBlinks excited that they finally met and hoped they take pictures.

---------

As the show began, Jennie sat with Bangtan as the camera occasionally caught her exciting reactions which would make Armies cheer. Jennie happily cheered and lip synced Blackpink's lyrics with fans noticing how Rosé biased she was.

When it was time for Bangtan to perform BST, audience members and idols anticipated JenKook's signature move but they didn't perform it this time and did different choreography. The disappointment was evident on some idols' faces as they whispered amongst themselves about them not doing their move as well as fans.

"No~! I wanted to see the spin," Lisa whined. "Why didn't they do the spin?"

"I know! I wonder why they decided to change the choreography," Jisoo pouted.

"Damn, no spin?" Zico wondered.

"Darn, they didn't do it? What changed?" Kai wondered with EXO.

Fans tweet:

'Are you fucking serious!? Jennie and Jungkook wtf!? I am PISSED!'

'JenKook y'all had ONE JOB!! ONE!! We wanted the spin!'

'I know these damn babies did not skip their highly anticipated dance move of BST,'

'I stayed up all night only for them not to do the spin!? Big Hit, I'm about to sue! Count your MF days!'

'Who scrapped the spin!? I wanna fight! #BringBackTheSpin'

'LISTEN!! If it ain't broke don't fix it! Nothing and I mean NOTHING needed to be changed in JenKook's duet. Keep it like it is! It was perfect! #BringBackTheSpin'

Backstage after their performance, Jungkook laughed at the flooded tweets from Armies and other fans. They all were complaining about them not doing the dance move and it surprised him to see how much viewers enjoyed the unique move. The couple wanted to do something a little different for the Melon Music Awards but clearly, their decision did not sit well with everyone which amused them.

Jungkook tweeted for damage control, 'Ah...we didn't do the spin this time. Sorry ARMY. We will do it next time,'

Immediately fans replied:

'Y'all better! That move is generational!'

'What were y'all thinking switching it up!? We better get nothing but sexiness the next time y'all do it! I am so serious!'

'Bullying works guys!!'

'Y'all know better!'

'OH ARD! That's what I thought. You two better raise the bar next time!'

'GOOD! It better be sexy af the next time you two perform it! I need my JenKook crumbs!'

'I hope the next time they do the move they take it up a notch. Their chemistry has me glued to my screen!'

'THANK YOU!!'

As the show was drawing to a close, she sat in between Yoongi and Taehyung while they watched the presenters call the nominees for album of the year. In Jennie's mind, she assumed EXO was going to win it. EXO had been powerhouses for their albums and the big 3, JYP, SM, and YG always swept these big awards. However, it was an honor to even be nominated in the category for The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever album.

She sat, relaxed, already ready to applaud EXO for winning the award as she waited for the presenter to say it.

"2016 Melon Music Award Best Album of the Year goes to...BTS!"

The sound of the group's name caused Bangtan to widen their eyes, looking at each other in utter disbelief.

Did they REALLY just call BTS the album of the year winners!? WHAT!?

Idols around them stood up, equally surprised that a group not from the big 3 won the award as they applauded them. GFriend cheered happily, bouncing up and down as Hayoon yelled cheerfully for Jennie. Namjoon immediately stood up, stunned by the announcement.

"Oh s—" Hobi shouted in shock.

Jennie sat in her seat dumbfounded as she looked around, glancing at the members who equally had the same shocked expression.

"What the f—" she stopped herself as she covered her mouth, trying to process the news that Bangtan had just won their first Daesang.

Daesang...they won a Daesang!

"We won? We won!?" she slowly stood up once the rest of the boys did.

Armies around the venue cheered and screamed as they waved their ARMY bombs in celebration.

"Ahhhh Jennie looks so surprised!" Hayoon giggled to her group before quickly rushing over to embrace her.

It started to become a tradition for these two to find each other to hug, high five, or do something whenever they won an award. Hayoon grabbed her hands and jumped up and down excitedly with her.

"BTS did it! BTS won! I'm so happy for you!" she beamed, pulling her in for another tight hug.

"Holy shit, what the hell is happening!? Is this real!?" Jennie exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

"Yes! Go up there!" she laughed and lightly pushed her forward after pulling away.

Jennie adjusted herself and began walking up to the stage with the rest of the group as they bowed to everyone. She walked with Hobi and Suga as a bright smile came across her beautiful face, feeling her heart pound. As they made it to the stage with Namjoon holding the award, she stood in between Jin and Hobi.

"ARMY! Thank you!" Namjoon shouted on the mic with a big smile as he tried to control his overwhelming emotions.

Seeing Jin start to cry made Jennie begin to rub his back to comfort him. She did her best not to cry herself as she soaked in this moment with the boys. Noticing Hobi looking like he was about to cry, she went to rub his back too, comforting him.

"We have received the best award since our debut here at the Melon Awards. Bang Sihyuk PD-nim, Big Hit Entertainment, parents and friends who have helped us, I want to thank them again and ARMYs, I love you! ARMY, I LOVE YOU!" Namjoon shouted with elation.

After he finished his speech, the members all went in for a big group hug. They all had big smiles on their faces, feeling euphoric from this victory. When they make it backstage, they are still stunned and thrilled that they won the award with a Bangtan Bomb camera filming them.

"Wow really...wow," Namjoon spoke, still processing everything.

"I was so surprised," Jungkook said on camera.

"We weren't anticipating it. We really weren't expecting it. We weren't even expecting it one bit,"

"Thank you so so much. We were so shocked,"

"We won! We won~! I still can't believe it!" Jennie squealed and shook the camera. "Thank you so much!"

Noticing Hobi's tears running down his cheeks with the foundation running down too, Jennie embraced him tightly while the camera filmed them.

"I know...I know..." she murmured. "I'm so proud of us,"

"Army, thank you so much!" Jin said on camera with his tear stained face while Jennie released Hobi. "Thank you, Army! Thank you, Army!"

"Bring it in," she outstretched her arms for Jin and he immediately kissed the top of her head and hugged her tightly.

"She gives the best hugs," he told the camera.

After they returned to their seats, Jennie sat in between Hobi and Jin to continue to watch the show while pulling themselves together. As EXO closed the show, she watched their performance in admiration.

"I wonder what it would be like to close an award show," Jennie wondered out loud with a smile.

Jin listened and began to speak as she looked up at him. "I believe that one day we will get the opportunity. If we can get this Daesang then this is just a step forward in achieving more as a group,"

"Yeah. We will, for sure,"

After the show, they took photos with the trophy and hugged the staff members as they continued to celebrate. Once Angelina found Jennie, she ran and jumped on her, making them both fall to the floor as they laughed.

"Ah~! I am so proud of you! BTS did it! BTS won album of the year!" she began giving Jennie multiple kisses all over her face as she continued to laugh.

After they got up, they embraced tightly, getting emotional.

"Wow, look at you! Thriving in BTS! That album deserved album of the year! It has bangers on top of bangers. This is your motherfuckin' moment, sis! Enjoy it!"

"Thank you! And thank you for being here to support us," Jen murmured against her shoulder.

"You know I'm always going to be there for you just like you are with me. You're stuck with me for life, sis. This win is only the beginning. Watch Bangtan soar to new heights after this! You better enjoy the damn ride, it's gonna be a fun one!"

After pulling away, Angelina wiped Jennie's tears.

"I'm not gonna lie, I thought EXO was gonna win it. When they said BTS I was like what!?" Jen continued to ramble as the camera person for the Bangtan bomb began to film the other members to get their thoughts.

Later on, Jennie sat down on a chair and took in some deep breaths to pull herself together while Jin and Jimin rubbed her back.

"I'm okay...I'm alright...wow...this feels like a dream. This feels like a freaking dream," she sighed.

She shook her head and started praying, thanking the Lord for this moment as emotions came over her again. Tears ran down her cheeks as she whispered to herself, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

After she was done praying, she looked up and smiled at the guys when they all went to comfort her. "We did it. We really did it. This is amazing. Wow...over the big frickin' 3!? Blessed! I am so proud of us! Thank you. All of you for making this experience so fun and rewarding,"

"Your family is on the line!" Angelina beamed and handed Jen her phone to reveal her parents and sisters on facetime.

It was wholesome hearing them scream and cheer for Bangtan. The boys even jumped in to say hello and thanked them for their support.

"Ok now that we got the celebrations out of the way, why in the hell didn't you and Jungkook do the spin!?" Jennie's mom complained causing Bangtan and Angelina to laugh.

"Yeah! We were looking forward to it!" Alani frowned.

"You guys need a redo! ASAP!" Vienna added.

"I admit I was looking forward to seeing it and felt my world crashing down when it didn't happen," Jennie's dad spoke up.

"You are so dramatic!" Jennie laughed. "Not you all mad we didn't do this spin, tonight,"

"We'll do it next time," Jungkook grinned. "We promise!"

"You two better. I'll be watching," Jennie's dad pointed at them.

--------------

Days later, Namjoon was in his studio doing a V-Live to catch up with ARMY. As the live went on with fun and engaging moments, he then started to talk about Jennie. A proud smile appeared on his face as he thought of her.

"Jennie is the best. She has been improving a lot behind the scenes and continues to keep a good head on her shoulders. When I first saw her, I was watching the audition for the Bangtan Girl for BTS. She stood out to me because of her outfit choice." He chuckled. "She looked like she was going to wreck someone. I had my head down, so I would listen closely to each person's lyrics created for bulletproof, while V was next to me. As soon as I heard her verse, I had to look up. I know she was probably a bit stressed getting hit with a bombshell of creating a verse for the song over a weekend and presenting it on a Monday but she made it work and she impressed me. When I met her, I thought she was very determined and cute. She's like a little sister to me. And I feel like a proud big brother watching her improve every day in her skills. Ah...I'm getting too personal, am I? Sorry,"

His eyes scanned the comments flowing in.

'Awwww keep going, it's okay! This is so cute!'

'NamJen forever! Best bond in Bangtan!'

'Awwwww he looks like a proud big brother!'

'Thank you for always taking care of Jennie!'

'My baby Jennie and the best leader Namjoon! Thank you for being there for her!'

'Thank you for being a great leader to her!'

"I just want to be the best leader for her. And I want to be that strength she needs to keep pushing forward. She has improved so much over the years. She was so timid when it came to filming music videos, but after filming videos like Dope, Fire, and Blood, Sweat & Tears, I've seen her confidence and charisma grow. I may not understand what it's like to move and work in another country like she did but she has really opened up and become more comfortable here. She's fully adjusting to South Korea. And I'm very proud of her. All of Bangtan is,"

As he continued his live, someone knocked on his door and he turned around. Announcing the person to come in, Jennie strolled in with a bright smile and a plate of cookies.

"Hey! Here, I just made them. I'm going around delivering cookies before working in my studio,"

"For me!? Really!? Oh, this is a great surprise. I'll help myself to these now," he thanked her and took the plate to place on his desk. "You need to open up a bakery,"

"I want to! I wouldn't mind going to culinary school or something. I'd love to make my own business and open up a bakery, one day. We'll see what the future holds. Oh, you on live? Hey, ARMY! I miss you, guys! How are ya?" She waved and read the comments.

'Jennie!!'

'Hi, mom!'

'She baked again!!'

'Jennie, I love you!'

'Do the spin with Jungkook!'

'Do the move with Kookie!'

'JenKook spin for MAMA!'

'JenKook move!'

'Why didn't you do the move at Melon!?'

'Ma'am we want answers about Melon! What happened to the spin!?'

"Yo...." she began to laugh out loud at the comments. "Not y'all roasting me again for not doing the spin. It's been a week! Is it that serious? Oh my gosh,"

Namjoon started to laugh at the comments too, amused that this has become such a big deal in the fandom. When he heard even idols were asking about the spin, it was clear that JenKook had a chokehold in the industry with their strong chemistry.

"ARMY has been a little upset about that," he brought up.

"A little? They spamming my Instagram, too. I didn't think it was going to cause this much of a fuss. You guys really like our signature move?"

Comments rushed in:

'DUH!'

'The way you two dance together are goals!'

'YES GIRL!'

'I can't with her lmfao.'

"Look forward to MAMA, okay? I gotta go but cheer us on at MAMA. Everything will be worth the wait. See ya!" she beamed and left.

----------

The day of the MAMA Awards was finally here. The day Jennie anticipated the most. She had a good feeling about this show and was excited to show off her hard work with what she had planned. The morning of the show, she decided to tweet one simple word along with an eyebrow raising hashtag.

'Bet. #GonBeAnInteresting24Hours #Jen' 

Jennie had been a trending topic on Naver and various K-Pop news outlets, which caused people to anticipate the MAMA Awards even more to see what might happen and if she may respond to Hyuna. Her silence on the matter had been a hot topic and now with her tweet going viral, fans stirred in a frenzy.

People tweeted:

'Uh oh!'

'Woke up and chose violence I see. Now I have to stay up and tune in. What time does the show start again EST time??'

'She broke her silence!'

'She's about to get her lick back!'

'Hyuna has not realized what she had done and is about to face the consequences,'

'Aw, shit...'

'She is about to piss people off and I'm going to love every second of it,'

'No matter what happens and no matter what you do, we will always love you, Jennie!'

'You about to respond!?'

'Hyuna is attending the show, too!! Uh oh....'

'Guys...I think something big is about to happen. Bigger than what we may think. Something is gonna go down tonight,'

'I'm so scared for tonight. Jennie, what are you about to do?'

Already in her short ruffled white dress, her hair was put up in a bun with hair on the side as she sat to get her makeup done. She also wore a small daisy pin for good luck thanks to G-Dragon gifting it to her on her birthday.

"Jen, what can viewers anticipate from you, tonight?" J-Hope asked with a grin as he was getting filmed for their MAMA 2016 Bangtan Bomb.

Glancing up, she smiled. "Expect the unexpected,"

-----

As the members got out of the car for the Red Carpet, they were met with loud screams, photography, and cheers with the MCs announcing their arrival. Jimin held out his hand for Jennie to take and he aided her out of the car.

"Thanks, Chim," she smiled warmly.

It was awesome to see international fans travel to the MAMA Awards. She tried to wave and make eye contact with every fan she could. Peeping some of her fansites made her heart soar. The dedication they had for her did not go unnoticed. Miss Bangtan heard her name get shouted, making her turn to who it was as the fan giggled excitedly and waved. She waved back and grinned as the fan was happy to have caught the moment on their phone.

The group proceeded to walk and made it to where the MCs were, standing on the stage.

"It's BTS, who are taking the world by storm, that is entering, right now. They're a group with perfect performances and won an award for producing their own albums,"

No matter what, Jennie didn't think she'd get used to all the screaming and cheering. It was like each event they attended, the screams got louder and she came to realize Bangtan was really moving up. It was a beautiful thing.

As Jungkook walked closely behind her, he caught a whiff of her perfume. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, smiling softly, enjoying the scent.

"You smell nice," he murmured, opening his eyes.

She glanced back at him and smiled. "Thank you. Hayoon got me some new perfume for my birthday. I like it,"

"I like it, too. You should keep wearing it,"

"I will,"

She stood in between Jimin and Jungkook as the group did their greeting and struck a pose just for the fans.

"Today since we are here at MAMA, we personally would like to hear some good news," Namjoon said on the mic.

"We are just one month away from 2017. Can we ask what plans you have?" The MCs asked.

"We're planning a fanmeet in Japan," Jin answered. "And we're working hard on music production so please look forward to it,"

Just a short while away before the show began with idols heading to their seats, Hyuna made her way to the stage and sat in her seat which was front row. There was tension in the air as anticipation filled to what Jennie might do as a response. Everyone was interested to see how this was going to go and idols were living for the drama. Gossip went all around the idols as they had private discussions on what might happen and who might win this.

"Where is Miss Bangtan?" Chanyeol wondered as he looked around, seeing that she wasn't sitting with the rest of BTS.

"Probably still getting ready?" Sehun assumed.

"I just want to see what she has planned tonight. Hyuna is already seated," he pointed out.

With Jennie, being the social butterfly and eager to meet her favs, she had strolled backstage to find the three men she wanted to meet. First up was Timbaland. He had been invited to perform with Eric Nam and to receive an award. Timbaland had worked with so many artists and was one of the many inspirations to her. She still believed he, Nelly Furtado, and Justin Timberlake were one of the best trios ever in music. They mixed so well.

He was so chill in person and they took a few photos. He even looked pleased to see a black woman here as she thanked him for all his work. Perhaps one day she'll get a chance to work with him. She shared that she DJs and has been making songs for herself that are not quite ready to be released. He encouraged her to keep at it and gave her advice on making music which she took to heart, feeling grateful for his words. One day she will share her passions with ARMY. 

Meeting Wiz Khalifa was a fun experience, with them sharing a hug and him having a big grin on his face. She expressed her admiration for his song with Charlie Puth and that she couldn't wait to see him perform tonight.

Meeting THE Quincy Jones had her starstruck. One of the greatest music producers of all time was in front of her as they shook hands. Her face warmed when he called her gorgeous and it was sweet of him to take time to talk to her. He listened to her talk about making music and he gave her lots of words of wisdom on creating.

She could listen to Quincy talk all day. He had a way with words that made her feel like she could do anything her creative mind envisioned when producing. But what stuck out to her the most was when he told her some of the best advice he had gotten.

"Your music will never be more or less than you are a human being,"

And it stuck with her. Being an idol is exhausting at times but she loved the work and the way it paid off. She wanted to remain happy. She wanted to continue to thrive with Bangtan and enjoy life. She wanted to speak her truth. She had to be vulnerable tonight when she got on that stage for her solo. She truly needed to dig down deep tonight when responding to Hyuna.

After tonight, she wanted to remove all negative thoughts and move forward with everything. And to take a break from social media. A break from social media was needed. Breaks were good and she could always see it assisting her mentally.

After speaking to these men, she felt a fire light in her and felt even more musically inspired. She posted the photos on Twitter with the caption, 'An honor to meet these amazing & talented black men! Night has been made! Thank you for your kindness and words of wisdom! #Jen'

After going to the bathroom, Jennie made her way to the stage, earning loud cheers from fans when they saw her. She smiled and waved, heading over to where Bangtan was sitting. She ignored Hyuna's presence as she walked past her and acknowledged her idol friends sitting around. Fansites filming her caught some reactions of some idols watching her in awe, admiring her look for the night as she took a seat next to Jungkook at the end.

"Welcome back!" Jungkook grinned.

"Yeah, glad to see you smiling, brighter. Did something happen?" Hobi asked.

"Thanks! And yeah, I got to meet Wiz, Timbaland and Quincy Jones! My heart was racing a bit! They were awesome! I took photos with them. You'll see on our Twitter," she beamed.

The members were surprised and happy as she talked about the interactions she had with each of them. They could tell she was creatively moved by their words of wisdom. Soon after, the boys were all immersed in their own conversations while Jennie tried to adjust her bracelet which was put on a bit too tightly. She accidentally dropped the bracelet and both her and Jungkook aimed to kneel to grab it.

"Thanks, I got it," she glanced at him with a smile, grabbing it first as they both rose, still sitting quite close.

Jungkook got caught in 4K with the way he kept his eyes on her while her focus was on the stage and audience members as the show was preparing to start soon. The way he glanced at her up and down as a small smile came across his face with his lingering gaze did not go unnoticed with fan sites filming them.

Feeling his eyes on her, she turned and looked at him up and down, with them both occasionally glancing at each other's lips. Then they began to smile as she found herself getting lost in his blue contact colored eyes.

No wonder things felt like something was missing. The two of them realized they hadn't kissed each other all day. They'd been so busy preparing for the show and making sure their dances were fine that they didn't even get a chance to share one kiss today.

"Do you two need to be separated?" Yoongi asked teasingly while covering his mouth to avoid getting his lips read by fans watching them. This became a reoccurring thing to cover their mouths so they could speak more freely at these shows.

Jimin and Taehyung started laughing since they had been watching the couple this whole time.

"They haven't kissed at all, today. Jungkook might just go feral," Jimin giggled.

"Yeah, you two need to be separated," Yoongi advised with an amused smirk, making the 95 Liners laugh again.

"We really don't," Jen replied. "We'll be on our best behavior,"

"Are you sure? You two are distracted by each other," Taehyung teased.

"Do you remember where we are?" Jimin added to the teasing.

"Did we fail to mention we caught Jungkook's pleased expression when smelling her new perfume? He can't get enough,"

"Hyung!" Jungkook glared, feeling his face warm.

"We've moved to you two enjoying each other's smells and scents you use? You two need to relax," Hobi laughed.

"Oh my God, can you leave us alone and stop watching us?" Jennie exclaimed, feeling her face flushed.

"Should I be concerned?" Jin asked, listening to the conversation. "Maybe you two should switch seats," 

"Seriously?" Jungkook frowned.

"We'll be on our best behavior, Jin," Jennie reassured.

"Are you sure? Because I do not believe that,"

"Neither do I," Namjoon spoke up with a light laugh.

"You guys are exaggerating!" Jennie exclaimed. 

"This time, I don't think we are," Jin chuckled and let out a sigh, already knowing they were going to drive him nuts tonight. "Just please try to behave yourselves and stay professional tonight,"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Once the show began, Jennie jumped for joy and found herself getting emotional when IOI won Best New Female Artist. Cameras caught her looking proud and ecstatic for the girls with her eyes getting watery.

When GFriend and Seventeen performed for their collaboration, Hayoon was paired up with Vernon. The synchronization of the two groups blew Jennie's mind as she had her jaw dropped at their dancing. When Gallant performed, she smiled over at Taehyung since he was a big fan and cheered loudly with him, overjoyed with his performance.

As Baekhyun and Suzy performed Dream, Jen watched him, mesmerized as the camera caught her singing along to his parts. The members would glance over and smile at her being so into the song, knowing how much she adored him. It caught a lot of attention from Exols and ever since Jennie started meeting the EXO members, Exols took a liking to her. They loved how vocal she was about her admiration for the group and how highly she spoke of them. The EXO members would always have nothing but good things to say about her and enjoyed their sweet moments together. Armies and Exols wondered if they'd share another moment tonight.

Later, Bangtan managed to win Best Dance Performance. However, Jin and Taehyung weren't with them when they announced them as the winners, causing Jennie to laugh. They were probably in the bathroom. Nonetheless, she stood up with the rest of the boys, bowing and thanking everyone with big smiles.

"Yeah! Go, Jennie! Congrats guys!" Bam Bam shouted and approached them with Yugyeom.

The two Got7 members high fived her, Suga, and Jimin before they went up to the stage. Rapmon gave the award to Hobi and stood behind him so he could do the acceptance speech. Jennie smiled proudly as she stood next to him and listened to him speak.

"Wow! Thank you so much for such a huge award," Hobi said on the mic. "And since it's the best performance award for us, there is a larger meaning behind it. Thank you so much. And to the ARMYs who are always supporting us, thank you so much. And I would like to thank Teacher Son Seung Deuk who created this best performance,"

Jennie chuckled once Taehyung and Jin rushed on stage to join them. They both gave her a look as the three of them tried not to burst out in laughter. The trio smiled at one another while Jin placed his hands on Jungkook and Rapmon's shoulders, smiling at them.

"Thank you so much!" Hobi ended his speech, earning loud cheers.

"Thank you, ARMY!" Suga shouted.

"I love you!" Jin added with Taehyung and blew a flying kiss.

----------

As Zico performed Boys and Girls, Jen sat in between Hobi and Taehyung, vibing and doing the choreography. Once he made his way over to where Bangtan was sitting, the members danced in their seats while he took a seat near Rapmon on the arm of the couch. When Bermuda Triangle came on, she stood up with Hobi and Taehyung, getting hyped as they watched Dean and Zico back on the main stage.

"This is my shit!" she started dancing and vibing to Dean, singing along with Hobi and Taehyung.

Don't let 'em in, let 'em in

Get out my zone

We, we, we never know

We, we, we never talk

'Cause we, we, we criminal

Don't let 'em in, let 'em in

Get out my zone

She laughed out loud when Taehyung began dabbing and she followed his movements, making him happy. Once Zico summoned Crush, Jennie immediately turned and locked eyes with Jungkook who was still sitting as they pointed to each other and lip synced his verse.

Nuul jaril jedaero bogo nuwoyaji

Y'all fake bitches tryna act like me

Anjaseo meongman ttaeryeodo nae sopa wie (ssodajineun)

Mula, mula, we gon' pour up

Murder, murder, sumeul jungnyeo

Sangkwaehae ne meori wie gonggi

Nobody can't come over here

Dean, Crush, and Zico killed it on stage, hyping up the crowd. It was one of her favorite performances of the night. Later on, Jen switched seats again and found herself sitting at the end with Jungkook. She grinned as the next act consisted of a collaboration between Got 7, Monsta X, and NCT 127.

Get it lifted

As soon as NCT's Firetruck began to play, Jennie began nodding her head to the beat, enjoying the song. This song was a banger and one of her absolute favorites.

"Firetruck," she mouthed, beginning to lip sync the song while dancing in her seat.

"Ey, yea, yea, yea, yea!" She fan chanted with the audience and Jungkook.

The camera showed Jennie and Jungkook both on the screen as loud cheers occurred and they looked at the camera, headbanging. Bangtan giggled at their enthusiasm and so did some other idols who peeped them on screen.

Fans tweet:

'Why they matching each other's energy so loudly?'

'Their face cards!'

'They're making the same facial expression, so cute'

'JenKook!!'

'I think she does a little bit too much at these award shows. Just sit and enjoy the show, not all the excessive dancing, taking attention from the artists on stage,'

'These two are so beautiful. Wow!'

'Lmfaoooo they are a mood!'

'I'm really happy Mnet is showing Jennie on screen. Her reactions are always so lively instead of others just sitting there,'

'I love how excited she gets about all these groups. Still a K-Pop fan at heart. I'm happy she still reacts this way at shows,'

After NCT performed, Jennie cheered on Jooheon who rapped with Taeyong. His flow and attitude were amazing and she paid close attention to how he performed. Once Monsta X began to perform Fighter, she ended up cheering for Wonho when he was shown singing. She passionately sang his lines while fans had tweeted how Wonho biased she was. After their performance, it was time for Got7 as they performed Hard Carry with her dancing along.

As the show went on, she was proud to see Seventeen win the World Performer Award as she was the first to stand and applaud. Seeing The8 made her smile widely and wave as he waved back.

"Gosh, I hope one day I'm chosen to present an award at one of these shows. It would be fun," Jennie thought out loud.

When the presenters began to announce the nominees for best female vocal performance, Jennie jumped in her seat and cheered loudly when Ailee was shown on the screen. Bangtan glanced at her with knowing smiles, loving her excitement for the woman she had admired for years.

Once Ailee was announced as the winner, she applauded, jumping up and down, excitedly. Just before going up to the stage, Ailee caught a glimpse of Jen and smiled widely, waving at her. When she gave her acceptance speech, the camera caught Jennie watching her with admiration. The angle of where Jennie was filmed caused Twitter to geek over how beautiful her face card was and point out the love in her eyes as she watched Ailee.

With the show getting ready for the next segment, Jennie suddenly received a few packs of smarties from Jungkook.

"How'd you know I was about to ask?" she happily accepted them with surprise in her voice.

"I brought some with me just in case. I was paying attention to your facial expression. When you're about to ask for smarties or say that you wish you had them, you make this cute face. It's like you're pouting,"

"What? I was not pouting..." She turned away, feeling her face warm as he giggled.

"You just did it again,"

"Stop looking at me," she playfully pushed him away, making him laugh harder.

Lately, with the members, her smarties are always on standby. Over the years of getting to know her, they started to understand and know exactly when she wanted the candy and managed to always hand them to her before she opened her mouth to ask.

"Still, thank you," she added and began eating them.

As she ate her smarties, she ended up tossing them up in the air to catch and eat. Wanting to challenge her, Jungkook decided to do it too with his pack of smarties to see who could catch more in their mouths. In the end, Jungkook won as he grinned victoriously while Jennie caught any smarties that she missed from her mouth with her fast hands.

Rule Number One: Do NOT waste Smarties

Next up on the show was Twice and IOI performing. Jennie looked and felt like a proud mom watching IOI perform Pick Me. Fansites caught her entire reaction to the girls performing and thought it was wholesome seeing her get emotional. Being a trainer at Produce 101 to seeing the girls thrive as a group made her heart feel complete. Whenever Jennie was shown on screen, loud cheers would occur and sometimes idols reacted positively when they saw her on screen, with some smiling and commenting that she looked nice.

Once IOI began to perform Very, Very, Very, Jennie began to do the choreography while lip syncing.

nal neomuneomuneomu

neomuneomuneomu neomuneomuneomu

neomuneomuneomu neomuneomuneomu

After they performed, Twice was up to perform Cheer Up and then TT as she watched happily, cheering her friends, Mina and Jihyo, on.

"Just like TT! Just like TT!" she performed the choreography with Taehyung.

-----------

It was time for Hyuna to perform, as some idols were anticipating if anything was going to happen. They hadn't found something this entertaining in a while and hoped something would go down between her and Jennie. Hyuna strutted on stage and performed U&ME. Then she performed How's This with her backup dancers.

Jennie thought it was extremely petty of Mnet to keep a camera right in front of her to film her every reaction but she remained unamused and watched with her head up high. Bangtan didn't even like the fact that the camera was basically in her face nor did Armies.

Suddenly, Hyuna had changed some of her lyrics, not looking Jennie's way as she danced.

Not a high and mighty girl scout in the club behind some fake bulletproof glass. How boring.

Some idols widened their eyes while others glanced over to where Jennie sat.

Yet another diss? This was getting out of control.

Bam Bam cringed and glanced at Jennie with worry, hoping she'd be all right. Hayoon frowned at the diss and shook her head slightly.

However, Jennie only smirked as she continued to watch, knowing that all eyes were on her to see how she'd react. Bangtan glanced at her and as she met their eyes, she gave them a nod. They nodded back and remained calm as they continued to watch the performance.

Suddenly a switch flipped in Jennie's demeanor as she rolled her neck and stared at Hyuna.

'This bitch got me fucked up...' she thought as she kept her cool.

Fans tweet:

'Not again!! Enough already!'

'Is she trying to provoke Jennie?'

'Don't be mad if Jennie catches her in an alley to stomp that ass!'

'The neck roll! I repeat! The neck roll! Jennie just did the neck roll! That is BAD! She got something planned! Get ready!'

'I don't like how she's acting. This is bullying at this point. Hyuna needs to chill,'

'Jen better than me because I would have ran on stage and popped her shit,'

'From the looks of it, Jennie is so bitter and jealous,'

'That smirk means business. I'm not ready,'

'I wish people would stop judging Jennie,'

'Jennie looks like she's plotting,'

'Why does she look so hot when she's upset?'

'Bangtan knows something that we don't because they don't look bothered at all,'

'Bangtan isn't even phased?! What is Jennie planning tonight?'

Little did they know Jennie was listening closely and analyzing what she was saying to use it against her.

'High and mighty...' she thought, making a mental note.

----------

Timbaland arrived on stage to perform with Eric Nam.

And boy was it...awkward.

She sat next to Namjoon during this performance and covered her mouth to murmur to him, "Yo, Timbaland looks so confused. This whole performance is hard to watch,"

And he agreed. It was hard to watch. And she wished the crowd was more excited for Timbaland. It was THE Timbaland and the audience wasn't that loud for him in comparison to Eric Nam. No offense to him.

After being told they were needed backstage, Bangtan got ready for their performance. She changed out of her dress to wear black pants and a long-sleeved ruffled white shirt that hugged her body nicely. With her hair out, she wore a black suit jacket with some silver designs around it, and the daisy pin was placed on the jacket for good luck. As she got ready, she watched on the monitor to see that EXO had won best group and Twice won best female group.

Waiting to get on stage, Jennie ended up posting G-Dragon's iconic diss on the MAMA Awards on her Instagram story, which sparked even more interest in what was going to happen tonight.

"I got a little solo stage. It's going to be pretty fun. I hope everyone likes what I have in store," she beamed at the Bangtan Bomb camera after warming up her voice.

She looked ahead to see Jin checking out the special effects makeup on Taehyung's back to show off his broken wings. He went on the touch it but began to freak out, causing her to giggle.

"It feels like pudding!" Jin exclaimed.

"Why is Jin Hyung so childish?" Namjoon wondered, causing Jennie to laugh again.

The laughter loosened her up and made her less on edge about tonight's big performance.

She was ready.

After everyone was ready and went over last minute rehearsals, the eight of them gathered around and put their hands in the middle.

"All right, fellas! Let's make it a memorable one!" Jennie cheered.

"Indeed! Mama 2016, let's make it a legend. Bangtan! Bangtan!" Namjoon shouted.

"Bang-Bangtan! Fighting!" the group shouted and pushed their hands down.

----------

Backstage with the rest of the boys, Jennie watched with a smile as Jungkook looked ethereal while hanging from the ceiling on stage. He really did his thing. And it was harder than it looked.

She turned to the backup dancers who were patiently waiting for their cue to come out after they performed BST. She greeted them happily and asked if the cookies she made for them yesterday tasted fine. They raved over their love for her baking and appreciated her kindness. She wanted to thank them for being such a great support system for Bangtan and wanted to give them something nice.

"Let's have some fun! See you out there!" She beamed and bowed at them.

On stage, next up was J-Hope performing Boy Meets Evil, hyping up the crowd with a blue background. Then Jimin was revealed on stage, featuring a red background as he danced to Lie while blindfolded.

"The camera work though~?" Jennie watched in awe while the camera did a full circle as he danced.

Then the two had an epic dance collaboration on stage while performing the rest of the choreography for Boy Meets Evil. After they were done, the rest of the group met up on stage and began to perform Blood, Sweat, & Tears as the audience cheered loudly.

wonhae mani mani mani mani

wonhae mani mani mani mani mani mani

wonhae mani mani mani mani

wonhae mani mani mani mani mani mani

Here we go, the most anticipated part. The audience had been waiting to see a MAMA Award version of their duet. As the rest of the members were on the floor, only Jen remained standing with Jungkook. Like always, Jungkook stared at her with love and desire as he slowly made his way toward her from behind. With his presence behind her and face near her neck, he held her in his arms. She leaned into his arms as she began to sing with her mic.

How much longer before you consume me?

No matter how much I resist, I can't fight what you're doing

He turned her around and tried to get closer but she backed away. Persistent this time, he pulled her straight into his chest as he smirked and held her gaze with the audience screaming at their closeness.

My mind is telling me to break free but my body is freaking out

No, I can't want you, get out of my head

As you love every inch of me you see that I want it too

They continued to dance sensually with him mirroring her movements.

Breath on my neck, I bit off more than I can chew

Reflecting on my choices, I'm wonderin' if there's any way out of this

"Here comes my favorite part!" Yugyeom pointed out with the rest of Got 7 agreeing.

"Are they about to do the spin, this time?" Somi asked the IOI members as they were hopeful.

"Are they gonna do it?" Baekhyun wondered.

"The part is coming~!" Yuji giggled with the rest of GFriend.

"The spin coming?" Mingyu asked in anticipation, leaning forward, studying their movements.

"Let it be the spin," Mina had her fingers crossed.

"Here comes the spin!" Wonho cheered.

The idols got excited and so did the crowd as they began screaming and cheering when JenKook did their signature move. Everyone watched in awe at how they moved and thought about the amount of trust that was needed to pull it off. They weren't called The Golden Duo for nothing.

Jennie was pulled back into his arms as she continued to sing.

I'm losing this battle, I just can't resist. 

The music changed slightly from the original instrumental of BST. Jennie and Jungkook were supposed to dance a little more for this instrumental but they remained close and pressed up against each other with her in his arms. They held each other's strong gaze and suddenly their lips met as they drowned out the loud pandemonium around the venue.

With their eyes closed, Jungkook gently lifted her chin and turned his head to deepen the kiss as they both smiled into it.

With the idols, Bam Bam began shaking Jackson while their jaws were dropped, looking shooked. Jay B and Mark widened their eyes while the rest of Got7 acted chaotic as they all enjoyed every bit of the surprising moment.

"What!? What!?" Jackson shouted as he fell dramatically.

The boys laughed at his reaction. Yugyeom grinned immediately once he saw them kiss and let out a chuckle. It made him proud to see Jungkook be so open about Jennie like this. The amount of guy talks they had about girls and how Jungkook's eyes would light up whenever he mentioned her made Yugyeom understand that these two were serious about each other.  

The kiss fit so well with the performance and her lyrics. But there was no denying the love in their eyes as they looked at each other and how they kissed.

With IOI, various reactions occurred as some dropped their jaws, widened their eyes, covered their mouths, and giggled to themselves. Some filming them even caught a few of them mentioning how happy and cute Jennie looked with Jungkook. With EXO as they watched the kiss unfold, Chanyeol covered his face, giggling at the sight. Baekhyun smiled genuinely, watching Jennie kiss the man she loved dearly.

"Full of surprises," Sehun chuckled.

"Very," Xiumin added.

Twice looked at one another, surprised at the sudden kiss. They were excited to see their signature move but a kiss on top of that? Blown away. Mina and Jihyo glanced at each other with big smiles, happy for their friends.

"Did you think that was going to happen?" Jihyo asked.

"I didn't think it would but look at them. So cute! Jennie truly loves him. She smiles so brightly with him,"

"Mm hm!"

With Monsta X, the boys reacted dramatically and were in awe at their chemistry.

"I was waiting for a kiss!" Hyungwon pointed out.

"Me too, I was like, they have to do something big," Shownu chuckled.

"I wasn't expecting that at all, like damn!" Jooheon exclaimed.

All of GFriend gasped and then began jumping and squealing in their seats after seeing them smooch. Hayoon giggled with the girls and pointed out the kiss.

"It's happening! It's happening! I cannot stay calm about this! Finally~!" Hayoon cheered and began clapping with Yuji and Eunha.

"They kiss so passionately, my gosh," Sowon looked on, amazed.

Seventeen looked surprised while Mingyu and The8 happily smiled, enjoying the fact that their friends kissed openly on stage.

Meanwhile, Hyuna rolled her eyes as her reaction was filmed and she began to frown. She had her fair share of kisses on the MAMA Awards stage but the way the audience was screaming and cheering was a much louder reception than hers over the years.

With Bangtan, the boys were caught by surprise by their kissing. No one said anything about a kiss on stage. Jimin and Taehyung did their best not to freak out as they focused on the performance. The way they grinned and glanced at each other while they remained on the floor. Their hearts felt full to see their ship this open with each other in public. They especially loved how the kiss was a deep and passionate one and not just a short and sweet one.

Yoongi had enlarged his eyes a little at the bold move, wondering if this had been planned privately in advance. Getting over his initial shock, he became amused.

'These kids...' he thought.

Namjoon wasn't too surprised about it. He knew Jennie and Jungkook loved to be extra. He felt proud to see them show affection to each other on stage, not having a care in the world. They looked happy and that was all he wanted for them. To be happy like this privately and publicly. He found himself getting amused as he glanced at their passionate lip lock.

Mnet was having a field day with this. Ratings were definitely through the roof now with this shocking moment along with them raising the bar on this passionate kiss.

Jin and Hobi screamed internally when they saw them smooch. They weren't expecting it and thought they'd go along with their routine. After getting over the shock, it pleased them to see them be this bold in public and thought it fit well with the performance.

Back with Jennie and Jungkook, they pulled away as she bit her bottom lip lightly, returning his smile.

But then...reality set in.

'Oh...oh shit,' They both thought and realized what just happened.

They both remained "In Character" for their performance although it was pretty clear their feelings were showing out. It was bound to happen. The kiss was not planned at all but they moved to each other by instinct. And it felt good. So good. She kissed her boyfriend in front of the entire world, solidifying a MAMA Awards moment.

Remembering her last line, she finally sang the end of her verse.

Only a matter of time before you screw me up and I'll be stuck reminiscing. 

Jungkook had to refrain from kissing her again as they both leaned back in which caused more screaming from the audience to occur. Then they reluctantly pulled away as he blew out air and shook his head a few times, trying to control himself from making out with her on stage.

'We're on stage. We're on stage,' Jungkook reminded himself as he kept backing away from her and went to the next dance position for the song.

With the screaming still occurring around the venue and fansites of Jennie and Jungkook catching their every facial expression, this moment was on its way to going viral.

People on social media were going crazy over the timeline with memes and various tweets:

'JENKOOK STANS RISE!'

'It wasn't even a quick kiss! That kiss was longer than anticipated!'

'My man did NOT want to let her go.'

'They both looked like they didn't want to let each other go. They were both in a trance!''

'We said spin not kiss wtf wtf AHHHHHH!'

'WHY DID SHE KISS HIM!? WAIT!'

'Oh...OH! They playing this BST sexy persona a little TOO well!'

'The way he had the GRIP on her?! Jungkook PLEASE!'

'The way he backed away!? She got him straining!'

'Jungkook saw an opportunity and took it! That smile into the kiss!? Oh, my man wanted to do that for a LONG time!'

'Why is he kissing Jennie!? Why!?'

'I'm fine...I'm totally fine...'

'We shipped the right ship! They kissed! They fucking kissed in front of everybody!'

'Were they acting!? Because that looked too real!'

'Jennie looked so dazed after kissing him!'

'Rookie King Kiss on STEROIDS!'

'That kiss was too American!'

'Do you see how happy the 97 Liners are looking?! Something is up!'

'Cries in Taennie!'

'The kiss that was meant for Taehyung nooooo!'

'And to think this was supposed to be Taehyung in this position instead,'

'How to be Jennie? Had sexy scenes with Taehyung and now gets to kiss Jungkook on stage? Lucky!'

'It's happening! Everybody stay calm! Stay fucking calm!'

'That tension is something that cannot be replicated because I was going crazy watching them on my screen. I was like KISS! And when they did I screamed! I didn't think they would do it!'

'How can I be Jennie in this moment?'

'A stage kiss!? Is this a stage kiss!? This looks so real!'

'Jennie's acting lessons are paying off. She is playing the part well of slowly giving in to temptation. Jungkook is hard to resist!'

'THE TENSION! THE BEDROOM EYES!? OH MY GOD!'

'WTF WTF A KISS!?'

'WAIT A DAMN MINUTE!'

'JENKOOK POR FAVOR!!'

'I have no choice but to Stan. Jennie show me your ways. First it was Taehyung, now it's Jungkook!'

'We got a man down! Jungkook get up! He is obsessed!'

'The way I felt like a third wheel I–'

'Jennie STAND UP! Ma'am you're supposed to be resisting temptation!'

'He down baaaad! What is happening!?'

'AHHHH'

'SKSKSKSKS'

'WTF JUST HAPPENED!?'

'They taking it to a whole new level!'

'OH MY GOD'

'Lives are about to be CHANGED!'

'Y'all can stop being in denial now! JenKook forever! Better than your other ships!'

'They are stressing me out! Can they PLEASE confirm it!?'

'Do you know how long we've waited for a kiss!?'

'JenKook stans we up!'

After performing the rest of the song and heading backstage while Jin and Taehyung do their final act together, Jungkook pulled Jennie into his arms and looked down at her.

"No turning back now," he grinned.

"I know," she grinned back. "I feel relieved and happy,"

"Me too. Kill it out there. I'll see you, soon. I love you,"

He cupped her face and pulled her in for a deep kiss, followed by multiple short kisses.

"I love you, too,"

"Was that planned?" Namjoon laughed.

"It just happened. I don't know who leaned in first," Jennie admitted.

"I don't know either but I'm not complaining," Jungkook added.

Jimin and Hobi jumped excitedly with Yoongi.

"JENKOOK~!" Yoongi shouted, making them all laugh as he started shaking the couple.

"Oh my God..." Jennie chuckled.

"JENKOOK~!" Jimin shouted. "Do you know how happy Tae and I were!? Our ship is soaring! Finally! That kiss was everything! You two know how to make us proud, huh?!"

The staff members had to step in to get them to separate so they could get them to their next location for the main stage while Jennie remained where she was. She waved goodbye and got ready.

"Jennifer."

She turned to see Yoongi.

"Control your emotions out there and wreck her life. You got this," he nodded in reassurance.

"Thanks, I will. See you out there," she nodded and saw him walk away, only leaving Namjoon.

Namjoon smiled down at her and held her hands, giving them a gentle squeeze.

"Jennie, you are undeniable. You are so good that they can't ignore you. This is your moment. Show them who Miss Bangtan is,"

Her eyes got glossy as she looked up at him and broke out into a grin.

"Thank you,"

He pulled her in for a big hug, kissing her forehead.

"I am so proud of you. And I am proud to be your leader. I'll see you out there,"

Once he left, she let out a deep breath and waited for her cue as she gripped her mic. The backup dancers were currently on stage, some in white cloaks and black cloaks while a Bangtan Bomb had been filming her all this time.

'Why did you and Jungkook kiss on stage?'

She was asked as a smile crept up on her lips at their lip lock. Turning to the camera she responded with a wink, "I did say no matter how much I resist I can’t fight what you’re doing. I officially fell into temptation. It was worth it though,"

Once the staff told her she could go on stage, she touched her daisy pin, thinking of G-Dragon. As soon as she got back on that stage...she knew everything was about to change.

"I hope I continue to make you proud," she murmured.

PART 2 OF THIS CHAPTER

[redtsundere-writes]

mmafigther!sukuna ryomen x femcoach!reader

Chapter 10. Doubt

Beginning. ← Previous | Next →

Summary: Sukuna is a world champion with anger issues. It's believed by many that he is untrainable. Yeah, you can't train him, but you can dominate him. More Info.

Aoi Todo, the champions’ destroyer. In the beginning, he was just another boxer on the big MMA scene. One more rookie among the candidates desperate for a fight. No one seemed to be impressed by his skills until he stepped into the octagon for the first time. Overwhelming victory after victory, climbing steady until he reached the champion of his division, Toji Fushiguro, a feared opponent due to his great career in the UFC. For being 40 years old, he still moved as if his bones were made out of rubber.

The first fight for the title of the heavyweight division was on everyone's mouths, the stakes went through the roof. A complete rookie threatening one of the most talented champions in the industry to take his place. Aoi defeated him on his first attempt by unanimous decision. Toji took it personally so he asked for a rematch that same night and the rest is history.

“Aoi Todo is a strategist by nature, we must plan this fight carefully,” Gojo commented while reading a sports article about our future opponent that Yuuji had found on the internet.

The official Sukuna team was back in the meeting room to plan what we would do to defeat the threat that attempted against the kingdom of the king of the ring. Sukuna couldn't take his eyes off the screen that was playing the last fight Todo had against Toji, the one we watched in the penthouse a month ago.

While he couldn't take his eyes off his opponent, I couldn't stop looking at him. He looked very attractive when he was focused. His crossed arms, his slightly raised eyebrow and his penetrating eyes caught my attention every time. Sometimes I just wanted to come up behind him, hold him against my body and… “What the fuck am I thinking?” I scolded myself, forcing myself to snap back to reality.

I was trying my best to get rid of my feelings towards Sukuna. It was unprofessional, and it was obvious that it wasn’t going anywhere. He still doesn't give me any signs of romantic interest in me, he avoids me when we are in the penthouse sometimes, and he still has his “special sessions” with Shoko. I feel like a fool for getting my hopes up just because he makes me to live with him and gifted me pajamas. It didn't help that I found him attractive long before I met him in person. “Just ignore it and the feeling will go away on its own,” I thought.

“He is a boxer by specialty like Sukuna, it would be best to stay in that area. Gojo will be in charge of training this time,” Nanami wisely recommended, attracting me again to the conversation.

That was good news for me. I would still be in training, but I no longer had to be helicoptering all the time to get him to do floor exercises correctly. Plus, I could watch him train and make mental notes on how to improve my boxing skills for when I make my big comeback to the octagon. It was a unique opportunity to learn from one of the best boxers on the scene.

"That seems fine to me,” I nodded.

"He will not be an easy opponent," Yuuji commented. "Not everyone can send a legend to retirement.”

After the legendary 3 out of 3 fight, Toji Fushiguro officially announced his retirement to the press. He wasn't doing it for Aoi Todo, but because he is already over 40 years old and knows his own physical limits. In addition, he wanted to give the spotlight to the next generation of fighters, especially his son, whom he will personally train from now on. Which means Megumi had to quit Team Black immediately to return to his father's gym. Yuuji was a bit sad because he won’t see him as often anymore, but they promised to talk to each other daily.

As we left the meeting room, we saw that almost all the members of Team Black were gathered by the entrance, watching as several delivery men left large packages at the lobby. All professionally packaged. Sukuna didn't pay any mind to them and went to train with Gojo so as not to waste time.

"What are they giving away or what?" I asked Yuuji.

"Today is the best day at the gym! Tomorrow is Sukuna's birthday,” he answered with a twinkle in his eye.

I already knew that. For a week I have been looking for the perfect birthday gift for him, but it was more complicated than I thought. When Sukuna wants something, he just buys it without paying attention to the price, an enviable custom. What can you give to someone who can pay for almost anything with their black card?

"Every year he receives hundreds of gifts from sponsors, important gyms and other athletes who want to work with him,” Yuuji explained to me.

When I used to be the champion, I also got gifts like that, but they were 10 or 20, not 80 boxes that you can turn into a tower if you stack them. Yuuji excitedly took my arm to approach the pile.

"But those gifts are for Sukuna, why are we standing in line?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sukuna never wants their gifts because he says it's a ‘waste’ of space, so he gives it to us," Yuuji explained with a smile.

Once the delivery men finished their work, everyone rushed over to the boxes to see what they had inside. Everyone opened the boxes and exchanged the loot depending on what it was. There were expensive sports clothes, top brand protein powders, energy drinks, cutting-edge electronics, flashy watches, leather wallets, etc. It looked like a crazy Black Friday sale.

"Nikes! Good thing I share shoe size with Sukuna," Yuuji commented as he opened a pair of red sneakers with his brother's initials engraved in gold on the heel.

I took one of the boxes that were at the bottom. It had the Adidas logo printed in black all over it. I opened it to take out a black t-shirt with “Ryomen” and the number 1 written on the back. It looked like an average soccer player's jersey. It was size L, so it was too baggy for me, but I could wear it as pajamas.

"What are you going to get him, Yuuji?" I asked him directly while hanging my shirt on my shoulder.

"A compression shirt like every year, Sukuna is a simple man," he answered without giving it much importance.

That was great advice. He always wears neutral-colored clothes, the penthouse has a minimalist style, and he sticks religiously to his routine. His only hobbies are swimming in his large pool and watching old movies at night. He doesn't go out with friends, eat sweets, nor go on dates. If Sukuna wasn't a talented fighter, he would be a very boring man.

Sukuna cornered Yuuji against the ring. His fists flew towards his face, sides, and abdomen. Yuuji raised his gloves towards his face to prevent him from knocking him out. He was among the other fighters who looked up to Sukuna as if he were the new messiah. His posture was perfect, his movements were balanced, and the power of his fists were impressive. My eyes analyzed the position of his feet, the distance between his torso and his fists and the slight curvature of his back.

Yuuji has a love-hate relationship when it comes to training with his brother. He likes training with him because that way they spend more time together, and he learns to fight better, while he hated it because Sukuna never holds back. He treats every training session as if it were a championship fight. Yuuji was hurting inside, but he was doing a good job of holding on. The older one focused on getting the knockout, so Yuuji put his guard up. Bad move. Sukuna changed his strategy mid-move and began to hit him at full power in the abdomen. His little brother doubled over in pain and fell against the floor.

"Son of a bitch, I can’t breathe," Yuuji murmured, taking off his helmet.

"Don't be a crybaby. C’mon, get up," Sukuna asked him, annoyed.

"The crybaby can't fight anymore," Gojo announced. Sukuna sighed exasperatedly.

"Fast. Someone get in the ring,” the king ordered his subjects.

Since Megumi was not there to replace Yuuji as usual, the fighters looked at each other to see who would be brave enough to go up to face the monster. They all knew that they would face the same fate as Yuuji or worse. Since there were no volunteers, I decided to get into the ring.

"Really?" Sukuna asked me with an evil smile as I helped Yuuji take off his protective gear. He seemed to be in a good mood.

"I can learn a thing or two from you," I said as I put on the protective helmet.

"Aren't you going to hurt yourself?" He scoffed. He spoke as if we were in a showdown at an official weigh-in. Sukuna was trying to intimidate me, but I was going to erase his smile.

"My doctor said that my neck is completely healed, do you know what that means?" I asked him as I put on Yuuji's boxing gloves.

Sukuna and I approach the center to continue training. Sukuna started with a hook to the liver that I evaded with the body. Our feet moved simultaneously, making the canvas squeak.

"Are you going to leave?" He asked me before punching me in the face. I pulled up my gloves to avoid the impact.

"I already told Nanami, I'll leave after the fight and find you another coach," I told him before throwing a hook to his cheek. It didn't connect.

"Who gave you permission to leave?" Sukuna spat, approaching me suddenly.

"Myself," I backed away.

"What if I tripled your salary?" Sukuna hit me on the shoulder.

"It's not about money," I told him once to regain my balance. "I want to return to the octagon and get back my title."

"Are you going to fight or what?" Gojo scolded us with his arms crossed. We talked a lot and fought little.

Sukuna hit his gloves together and threw a killer combo at me. I barely evaded it and went ahead to close the distance, entering his territory abruptly. I threw the best punches I could, but it wasn't enough. I was so used to using my legs to win fights that I felt completely helpless if I could only use my fists. My hooks, jabs, and uppercuts were no match for Sukuna's powerful punches. They were direct and fast. With each blow, my resistance decreased. I could barely stand.

"Coach Gojo, it's time," Shoko asked out loud so we could both hear her. Gojo ended the fight. I was saved by the physiotherapist.

Sukuna pulled himself aside from my body to sigh heavily. I took off the helmet to lighten my body. He took off his gloves without looking at me, he was focused on his thoughts. Maybe processing the news I had given him.

"When I saw you in the ring after beating Naoya, I realized that I miss fighting a lot," I explained as I approached him shyly. What he was going to say next would only be for him. "I want to be like you," I whispered without looking at his face out of embarrassment.

Sukuna’s POV

It's been a couple of months since I've been living with Y/n, and I've learned a few things about her. She is direct, strong, knows what she wants, independent and… she is extremely cute without even trying. She walks around the house in giant shirts that look like short dresses, drags her slippers across the floor in the morning before drinking her coffee, and dances with her headphones on when she thinks no one is watching. How can a girl be so docile but so dangerous at the same time? She was like a cute kitten that can transform into a fierce cheetah in a second.

Little by little, my eyes have been drawn to her daily actions. How gently her hands move when putting on another fighter's boxing gloves, how her eyes move quickly when analyzing me from head to toe and how she pulls hair away from her face, tucking her unruly hair behind her ear. I would like to stop time, so I could admire her all as long as I wanted. I was starting to like her, but there was a problem…

"Do you think Choso and Y/n make a cute couple?" Yuuji asked me through the phone.

I removed the wet towel from my face to look at him through the camera with a frown. The hot water caressed my skin, the bubbles reflected my profile in a blurry way and the flame of the aromatic candle moved subtly. It was a great evening in the comfort of my tub, but Yuuji seemed to be in the mood to ruin it.

"What the hell is that question?" I scoffed.

"Do you want to know what Choso just told me?" Yuuji asked me while raising his eyebrows.

"Someday they are going to kill you for gossiping," I sighed in annoyance. My little brother is a good guy, but he often shares things that he shouldn’t. That's why I prefer to keep my thoughts to myself instead of telling him.

"It is not gossip, it called being informed," he defended himself. "But you really want to know this. Maybe your relationship with Choso will get better soon.”

Since we were kids, Choso and Yuuji have followed me like loyal soldiers. They accompanied me anywhere at any time, we were the powerful Ryomen trio for as long as I could remember… until that blonde bitch decided to ruin everything with her poisonous presence. Every time I think about what happened, my head hurts. I miss having Choso in my life, but I wasn't going to beg him to come back. It's not my fault he doesn’t want to believe the truth.

"Choso told me that Y/n would call him when she's the protector again. Basically she confessed to him!” Itadori exclaimed excitedly.

I closed my eyes and put the warm towel back on my face. I knew Y/n liked Choso since I saw it in her eyes when we were at the bar after my victory against Fushiguro, but I didn't see Choso as in love as he was with the unmentionable. Maybe it was because I was constantly seeing them, Choso tends to get nervous easily.

When Yuuji first told me, I didn't give a damn, but I overlooked one small detail. “…when I'm the protector again.” What the fuck that’s supposed to mean? Did she perhaps believe she was a superhero, chosen by God or a WWE wrestler? I thought it was a dumb joke between them or something, but I was wrong.

"When I saw you in the ring after beating Naoya, I realized that I miss fighting a lot," Y/n approached me without looking at me, her eyes looking at the floor. It was strange to see her act so shy. "I want to be like you," she whispered so that only I could hear her.

My heart skipped a beat in confusion. I knew this would happen one day. She would be leaving soon. I didn't know whether to be offended or flattered by her words. Did she really have to tell me something as cheesy as that? She is the only coach capable enough to teach me how to do floor techniques, the only one who makes me give my 110%, the only one who pays attention to the details and makes sure I achieve perfection. I couldn't lose the only coach who tolerates my attitude.

But I knew I couldn't stop her. She is a free and wild soul, she will always do whatever she wants. There was nothing to fight if she had already made a decision, I knew it why she is similar to me in that aspect. She is a champion before being my coach. If the world doesn't move, she will move it.

"That's why I want to ask you to let me train with you," she bowed in respect. It was a sight worth capturing in my mind and admiring.

"I'm not going to be nice just because you're my coach," I warned her.

"I didn't expect you to be," she told me with a smile. Y/n looked relieved for some reason.

"We start tomorrow," I told him before leaving with Shoko to the therapy room. The last thing I saw when I looked back was her sweet smile that her lips let escape thinking I wasn’t looking.

The fucking alarm woke me up at 5 in the morning as always. I turned it off with a smack and sat on the edge of the bed to fully wake up. I checked my phone and the screen was flooded with happy birthday messages that people had sent me since midnight. I threw the phone on the other side of the bed to go get some breakfast.

The crash of a metal pot caught my attention. I peeked into the kitchen expecting to see the cook, instead I found Y/n in front of the stove wearing an oversized t-shirt with my last name on the back and her hair in a messy ponytail. My eyes couldn't help but roam the length of her legs. I knew she was wearing shorts, but the length of the shirt made it look like she wasn't. It was like she was my girlfriend wearing one of my t-shirts. My face flushed at the thought. “Shit, my last name looks great on her,” I thought.

"Good morning, birthday boy," she greeted me upon realizing my existence.

"And Mrs. Kim?" I asked her as I looked over to see what she was preparing, pretending that I hadn't spent a good time looking at her. On the stove there was an egg white omelet with spinach, the toaster had a couple of breads and in the blender a green juice.

"I told her to take the day off. I will be your cook today, that will be my birthday gift,” she responded with a smile.

"And this shirt?" I asked pinching the fabric.

"Adidas sent it to you, but since you don't want it, I kept it,” she answered without further ado.

“Well, it looks better in you than me,” I thought, looking at her thighs when she wasn’t looking.

While we were having breakfast, the doorbell rang. Y/n went to see who it was, there were 4 delivery men ready to delivery more boxes full of gifts. By winning 2 consecutive championship fights, sponsor gifts tripled. Y/n watched open-mouthed as the gifts continued to accumulate at the entrance. All this was a nuisance.

“More garbage,” I huffed once the mailmen left. “Take care of this," I ordered Y/n before I left to get ready to go to the gym.

"Why me?” she wondered, offended.

"I don't have time to send everything to the gym," I answered without paying attention.

"But I'll be late for training!" She exclaimed annoyed.

"So what? We don’t need you much,” I answered with a mischievous smile, I knew that answer would upset her.

"Sukuna!" She squealed in annoyance once I locked myself in my room.

End of Sukuna’s POV

I made myself a cup of coffee to start opening the boxes and putting the gifts in plastic bags so it would be easier to transport to the gym. I sat on the floor to carefully dissect each box. Backpacks, accessories, and hundreds of special socks for athletes. I felt like a little girl opening presents on a crazy Christmas morning.

I opened a box that felt extremely light. Inside was a small red leather box with the Cartier brand engraved in gold. It seemed to be really expensive. Inside was a thin gold chain with a pendant with the initials “S R” engraved on it. Quickly notice that there was a note taped to the cover. This gift wasn't like the others, it gave off a more personal vibe. My curiosity got the best of me and I opened the note.

"Happy Birthday. I hope you take advantage of this.” - Yuki

"I'm leaving." Sukuna caught my attention.

"Wait!" I exclaimed before he opened the door. If this was a special gift for him, I'll have him wear it. "This bracelet will look great on you," I grabbed his left hand to put it on his veiny wrist.

"I don't like bracelets,” He released his hand from my grip and took it off.

I was going to tell him that it was from someone called Yuki, but when he grabbed my hand, my brain went blank. His large, veined hand held mine, so I wouldn't move it. His fingers brushed my skin and I could barely breathe. My heart was beating a mile an hour and I didn't know how to react.

"It looks better on you," he said before turning the chain so that he could see the initials on it. "Matches with your shirt," He winked at me and disappeared through the door.

He closed the door and left me with my mouth on the floor. Did I dream, imagine or wish it? Sukuna had bewitched me with a spell I didn't know existed. I looked at the thin gold chain decorating my wrist in disbelief. It jingled when I turned it to read and saw the engraving again that shone in the light. Sukuna, what does this mean? I don't want to get hurt again.

Next →

Masterlist.

Tag list: @maskedpacific @thepurpleempath @mazzd4 @charlie-xo @s0uldarling @sunako-0120 @berranurates @00frenchfries00 @crowned-gemini @alialucille @azuremyst99

Let me know if you want to be tagged in the next one! :)

[armpirate]

Anti-romantic || JJk | Ch. 39

Pairings: Boxer!Jungkook x fem!reader || Enemies to lovers, neighbors

Genre: smut, angst, fluff, curse, illegal boxing, violence

Warnings: fuckboy!Jungkook x reader, smut, dirty talk, curse, mention of tarot and fate

Summary: Jungkook had always been carefree when it came to love. He always believed he was worth sharing himself with everyone, and thought it was selfish of him to ever think of keeping himself exclusive to just one person.

And maybe that was exactly what got him into the big problem he was in.

A curse that kept him away from love didn't seem an issue for him. The fact that his ex-girlfriend thought he'd be affected by the idea of the girls he slept with running away from him after sex was ridiculous. She actually did him a favor, and took a burden away from him.

At least that was what he thought at first.

He had never found himself thinking of the possibility of repeating with neither of his hook ups, because they disappeared before he was able to even think about it. But when he makes the mistake of sleeping with the sexy neighbor that lives in front of him, he finds himself hoping to get the chance for a second round every time their paths cross.

Y/n hated him the second he set foot inside the building by the way he started making her life a miserable mess for no reason. Sleeping with him was a big mistake she wasn't thinking of repeating. At least not until he came up with the excuse that she rejected him for a curse. Not only she thought he was annoying, but she was also convinced he was crazy. 

There was no way she could take him seriously.

Aprox. time of reading: 12 minutes

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Jungkook stood on one side of the huge abandoned complex, the roar of the underground crowd thundering around him as fighters warmed up near the ring. He clenched his fists, the weight of the situation sinking in as he stared at the concrete floor. He had come there with a plan -to infiltrate that fight for Y/n, to give her the breakthrough she needed for her article and the investigation into her brother's death. But now, as Elijah approached, everything seemed to slip out of control.

—I'm glad you finally came back to your senses —Elijah smirked, stopping just a few feet away—. As you might've seen, this type of fight will be a bit different to the ones you're used to —his gaze flicked toward the ring, where a fighter landed a vicious kick to his opponent's ribs, sending him crashing into the metal fence—. No boxing rules here, Jungkook. They've brought in the real killers tonight. MMA guys, trained to break bones, not just bruise faces. And, to be fair, the future of this.

—This isn't what we talked about —he quickly glanced back at the suited man in front of him—. They'll eat me alive in the first round.

—You've been playing with fire for so long, yet you draw the line at MMA fighters? —his eyes narrowed.

He thought that, maybe, he could play around long enough to catch Alessandro coming up and call the cops just in time, but Elijah made sure to erase that simple thought from his mind.

—You have one choice, Jungkook —his head tilted to the side—. Either you get that ass in that ring or your girlfriend will be paying all the consequences of testing Rossi's patience.

His surprised expression didn't need to stay there for long enough for Elijah to mock him for it.

—You should've known better than anyone that it isn't a good idea to go around asking for information, especially when it's one that can damage us —he let out some air out of his lungs—. And you better keep it up for, at least, two or three fights. You're the new thing here.

Jungkook's stomach tightened. He'd boxed his entire life, but mixed martial arts? That was a different world entirely. The fact that he was also expected to do more than one just fight had him looking back at the improvised ring with horror.

Those fighters were the most mediocre in their field, yet Jungkook knew he didn't stand a chance against them -strikes landing with sickening thuds and grappling that turned the opponents into ragdolls. He couldn't out-jab or out-dance his way around those men.

—I'll go through four fights if you want —Jungkook muttered, though his voice lacked its usual confidence—. But leave Y/n out of this —Elijah's smirk only widened, clearly enjoying his discomfort.

—We won't touch a single hair in her head —Elijah's eyes glinted with a fake promise—. I'm sure she'll back off once she sees what they'll do to your pretty face.

Jungkook's heart pounded -not from fear for himself, but from the thought of failing Y/n. He knew he didn't owe that fight to anyone but her. After everything, he couldn't just walk away. He had come here to make up for it, to be the one to give her the lead she had been chasing for so long. He needed to clean all the karma he had pending to be able to be with her, that was what the curse was about, that was what was expected from him.

He took a deep breath, his mind racing with memories of Y/n -her determination, her stubbornness, the fire in her eyes when she talked about finding justice. If she could risk everything for the truth, there was no way he could back out now.

—You won't ever get near her —Jungkook said, locking eyes with him—. If something happens to Y/n, I'll be the one to finish you all.

—Sure —Elijah shrugged and turned on his heel.

Inside the ring, the brutal exchange between fighters continued, the crowd feeding off every punch, every broken bone. Jungkook could feel the gravity of what was about to happen. His body tensed, but his mind sharpened. If there was one thing he had learned over the years, it was how to survive. That might not be his kind of fight, but he wasn't walking away because the rules had changed.

He took a step toward the ring, his thoughts drifting to Y/n. He had to do it -for her, for the truth, for the mess he had helped create. Even if it meant stepping into a fight he had no hope of winning.

The bell rang. Jungkook pulled on the bandages tighter around his hands, set his jaw, and climbed into the cage.

There was no turning back now.

Y/n's heart pounded in her chest as she parked the car in the shadow of the enormous, run-down complex. The rumble of engines and distant shouts spilled out into the night. Elia had overheard there was a big fight planned for that night, one where she could finally catch Alessandro Rossi in the act and nail down the final pieces of the puzzle about her brother's death. And Alan confirmed her suspicions with some of his insiders.

Beside her, Elia shifted nervously in the passenger seat.

—You don't have to come —Y/n assured her, knowing how difficult it could be for her to go back to a place like that.

Elia looked unsure when asked, her pupils shaking as she glanced toward the entrance, where guards stood like statues, watching every move.

—I want to —Elia replied, determination hardening her voice.

Y/n couldn't back down while being so close, and Elia wasn't going to let her do it alone. It was their chance, the moment they'd been waiting for. It didn't matter how dangerous it was -they needed answers, and they needed Noah's dead to be honored.

They slipped through the throng of people milling around the entrance, their heads down, avoiding eye contact as they made their way inside. The roar of the crowd hit them instantly, the overwhelming energy of the fight nearly taking Y/n's breath away. The place was a maze of bodies, the air thick with sweat, smoke, and tension. In the middle of it all, the cage loomed like a gladiator's arena.

Y/n pulled out her phone, feeling a sense of deja vu as she tried to hide it with her sleeve, snapping pictures of the crowd and the men surrounding the ring. The hosts -men in suits too clean for a place this grimy- watched from the sidelines, their faces lit up by the flashing lights of the ring. Her heart raced as she spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

Alessandro Rossi.

He was there, watching with a satisfied smirk as the fighters tore each other apart. And he wasn't alone. The police chief was there, cheering for one of the fighters, she could even spot some familiar faces related to the Town Hall of the city of Chicago.

—Scum —Elia whispered, eyes aimed at the same group of people Y/n was looking at.

She nodded and continued taking photos, moving closer to the ring without attracting attention. She focused her camera on the faces of the VIP crowd watching in awe how those people were risking their lives for their entertainment, capturing as much evidence as she could. Just a few more shots, and she would have enough to expose them all.

When she looked at the ring, she couldn't help but flinch at the way a kick flew to the tall man with black hair, forcing him to fall back to the ground, where he had been ever since she stepped inside the place and paid attention to the fight.

But then, something caught her eye. She went deaf as she tried to deny in her head what was evident in front of her. As much as Elia had tried to get her out of there, Y/n got away from her grip to walk among the people that kept pushing her back.

Her eyes locked onto a familiar tattoo, half-covered in blood. The romanic cross on the inside of his forearm was covered with the blood he had tried to clean up from his face. And when she was close enough, their eyes met.

Jungkook.

Her pulse stopped. He was in the ring -his face bruised, his chest heaving with labored breaths, his body barely able to stand as another opponent circled him. His arms hung low, blood dripping from a cut above his eye. She couldn't believe it. She didn't expect he'd ever be there.

—Jungkook? —she whispered, her voice barely audible over the chaos.

But it was definitely audible for him, who managed to lift his head only to look at a horrorized Y/n.

When he started the first fight, he didn't expect it to be as bad. He thought he'd be able to dodge the kicks, to move faster than the fighter in front of him, but it was as if he was predictable, as if his movements were able to be seen seconds before he made them. But he still insisted on going for the next fight after recovering for a few minutes after being knocked out. Getting strength from somewhere he didn't know, ignoring the pain on his torso and his face to go back for another fight.

After two fights, he was dealing with the third one, barely able to walk, barely able to go on. He couldn't even open his eyes, but he still managed to look at Y/n as soon as he heard her voice, just to confirm it wasn't a sound made up by his head.

—Y/n, we gotta go —Elia whispered, trying to break the connection their eyes built, holding tight on her arm.

Y/n's heart shattered as she watched Jungkook stagger back, struggling to stay upright after a brutal punch to the ribs. How had he ended up here? How had she not known this was what he was doing?

Her phone slipped from her fingers as she stared in horror, her mind racing. She had to do something, but she was frozen in place, her feet glued to the floor as her heart hammered in her chest. All the anger, all the frustration she had felt toward him over the past few days vanished, replaced by pure fear for him.

She kept shaking her head, trying to stop him from getting up, but his body moved automatically, before he was forced back on the floor after another kick landed on his face. Jungkook fell to his knees, blood pouring from his mouth. He tried to stand, but his body betrayed him.

Before Y/n's instincts could kick in, Elia pulled from her jacket to finally get her to move away from the ring, dragging her among the crowd with heavy steps. She followed her, she allowed her to take control of her body, she allowed Elia to do what she was sure Noah would've done in her place.

They were almost there, almost by the door, almost finishing that countercurrent path, but Y/n stopped again. She handed her the phone, and who was her brother's girlfriend noticed something in her eyes that she knew she'd regret.

—All the proofs are in my phone —Y/n let her know—. If they get you here, they'll make sure they disappear. And I'm sure the cops will delete all the evidence if they ever get it —her voice was shaky—. Drive far enough and call 911.

Elia couldn't stop her when Y/n ran back in the same direction everyone was walking in, heading back inside.

Before she could think, she was moving toward the ring, her mind a swirl of panic and desperation.

—Stop the fight! —she screamed, her voice drowned out by the deafening roar of the crowd.

Jungkook's eyes flickered toward her -just for a second- but it was enough. Their eyes met, and the pain in his expression was unmistakable.

—Please, stop —the panic was clear in her voice.

Jungkook stumbled back, barely able to keep his legs under him. His chest heaved with ragged breaths, each inhale sharp and painful. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, mixing with the sweat that poured down his face. His eyes were swollen shut, only slivers of dark lashes visible under the bruising that consumed his face. He couldn't see, couldn't hear over the roar of the crowd, and his body screamed in protest with every movement.

Another hit. His head snapped to the side, and his knees buckled, but somehow he stayed on his feet.

In the chaos, Y/n was hysterical, her voice hoarse from shouting as she pushed through the crowd, shoving past the onlookers that stood between her and the cage. She screamed, but her words were drowned out by the thunderous cheers of the crowd, who were too absorbed in the violence to care.

She reached the edge of the cage, her hands gripping the cold metal as she looked up at the men in charge, the ones standing smugly in their places as they watched Jungkook get beaten to a pulp. She pleaded with them, her voice cracking.

—Please! He can't go on! Call it off.

But they only glanced down at her with mocking smirks. One of them looked directly at her, a cruel smirk playing at the edges of his lips.

—Don't worry, sweetheart —Elijah said, his voice dripping with mockery—. It'll be over soon. But he signed up for this. Ain't no stopping it now —his eyes moved to Jungkook—. Deal with the consequences if you dare to give up.

Y/n's blood boiled. Her desperation turned into helpless fury as she turned back to the cage, pounding her fists against the metal. She was so close to hit him, but his hand was faster, gripping on her forearm tight as he remained her still in front of him.

—Please —she begged—. He'll die there.

—Well, seems like you're familiar with that.

Inside the cage, Jungkook swayed on his feet, his body unable to take much more. He tried to lift his arms, but they felt like lead. The world spun around him, a hazy blur of lights and noise. Every nerve in his body screamed for relief, for it to end, but he knew he couldn't give up. Not yet. Not while Y/n was there, her life was at risk more than ever.

Another blow landed -a sharp jab to his ribs that sent him crashing to the floor.

Y/n let out a strangled cry.

—Jungkook! —she managed to get rid of Elijah's grip, her hands clenched around the bars, her nails digging into the cold metal— Jungkook, please, don't stand up. Please.

The hopelessness hit her like a wave, and Y/n's legs wobbled. She couldn't get through to them. The crowd was a mindless mass, cheering for blood, oblivious to the life that was draining from the man in front of them.

And then, as if the world shifted in a single moment, there was a sudden commotion at the back of the complex. Shouts, followed by the unmistakable blare of sirens. The doors burst open, and police officers swarmed in, yelling commands and waving their guns as they rushed to break up the fight.

The room descended into chaos, yet her attention remained focused on one person.

The crowd scattered like ants, running in every direction to escape the raid. Even the fighter who was inside with Jungkook, getting his door opened by -probably- his trainer. She didn't care about the people that were getting arrested, who was or wasn't handcuffed, her eyes were locked on Jungkook, who was lying motionless on the floor of the ring, blood pooling beneath him.

She pushed past the metallic door, scrambling up to the edge of the cage as she opened it. She fell to her knees next to him, her hands trembling as she gently touched his bruised face.

—Jungkook, please, say something —she tried to run her hand through his hair to move his bangs back.

He stayed still, his chest moving weakly as he breathed, before he was moved to an ambulance by the paramedics. She wasn't going to let him fight alone, she wasn't going to leave his side, holding his hand tight through the drive.

—You're going to get well —she assured him—. I promise you will get well —she repeated—. I love you, please, stay with me.

He groaned, his swollen eyes barely fluttering open at the sound of her voice, at the meaning of her words. She sobbed in relief, brushing his hair back again from his sweaty forehead, while he still tried to speak.

Her fingers made a relaxing movement on his scalp, helping him accept the fact that he wouldn't be able to say out loud everything that was going through his head ever since she found out the truth about him.

Taglist: @jk97bam @ttanniett

[theanticool]

Because there’s a lot of bad information and terrible takes (looking at you Miesha Tate and DJ), here is a quick explainer for everyone:

The UFC is facing a class action antitrust lawsuit. It has taken 10 years to go to trial. Earlier this year, ZUFFA and the fighters reached a settlement that paid out the fighters just north of $300 million. Judge Boulware decided that he did not agree with the settlement and denied it, giving the trial an actual start date. The fighters and ZUFFA sat down again and renegotiated for like $50-60 million more dollars and a few concessions. Yesterday, the judge preliminarily approved the settlement for like $375 million.

Recently, you might have seen official fighter statements about the lawsuits asking the judge to approve the settlement. Many of them are asking the judge to approve the settlement because they need the money because the fighters suffered injuries so grave, they are unable to work normal jobs. Shane Carwin, an engineer during his time as a UFC contender, came out with a statement where he says he’s been unable to hold down a job because of the brain damage. According to Schaub, Carwin can’t even tie his own shoes anymore it has gotten so bad. In this article, former UFC strawweight Felice Herrig talks about how she is a high risk pregnancy thanks to all the weight cutting and how despite being a top 15 ranked fighter in the UFC she was forced to borrow money to train and compete from family and friends.

It’s important to note: this lawsuit is not a personal injury lawsuit! The fighters are not submitting these statements in an effort to sue the UFC for physical damage. This is an antitrust lawsuit. The argument is that the UFC’s unfair business tactics killed a competitive MMA landscape that would have led to higher paydays for fighters. The fighters are writing to the judge trying to emphasize that the money they had ALREADY gotten out of ZUFFA was necessary for them right now because many of them are too physically damaged to function in normal jobs. What fighters like Tate and Johnson don’t seem to get is that, from the fighters perspective, they had already won. They got their money. The judge actually believed the fighters did not receive ENOUGH concessions. The fighters are arguing while that might be true, they need their money now because if they go to trial, they might not receive anything.

That is the heart of this matter.

[nso-csi]

231122 Melon twitter update

📍 12/2 17:00, Inspire Arena

SHINee to perform at MMA 2023 Celebrating their 15th anniversary this year, SHINee has been working tirelessly on their group and individual activities. They will return to MMA to present a special stage to reflect their 15 years from their debut to the present. cr. source: Newsen article

[thistledropkick]

A while back, I got pretty frustrated trying to figure out what people meant when they used the phrase "strong style." I’d seen people throwing it around frequently in English language wrestling discussion, but I’d never been able to get a real, clear definition for it from anyone, especially not one with actual citations or sources.

I decided to try reading about it on my own. And I immediately learned that people use the phrase "strong style" very differently in English than it’s used in Japanese. 

Strong Style has it’s own Japanese-language wikipedia page. Here are the first couple paragraphs, translated by me:

"Strong Style" is a concept / -ism of professional wrestling. It’s a style in which one expresses one’s "emotions (rage)" in one’s wrestling. [The source for this sentence is given as a now-private Youtube interview with Shinsuke Nakamura.] It was conceptualized by Antonio Inoki, and passed down primarily within New Japan Pro Wrestling.

In Antonio Inoki’s "Autobiography of Antonio Inoki" he said that "Strong Style" is the fusion of the Karl Gotch style of offensive and defensive wrestling techniques and the Riki Douzan style that displayed the fearsomeness of pro-wrestling."

The article goes on to say that in addition to the raw emotion and the stylistic amalgam of Riki Douzan and Karl Gotch, Strong Style is also associated with a specific style of wrestling gear - short black trunks, black wrestling boots, and bare elbows and knees.

When I’d heard people use the term "Strong Style" in English, it had felt like it had a completely different, completely unrelated meaning: "something hard-hitting, MMA adjacent, pro-wrestling that’s similar to a real fight." "Strong" taken literally and simply, as physical strength behind physical blows. But the term as conceptualized by Antonio Inoki had a completely different meaning. The "strong" here was at least as much emotional as it was physical, and the inspiration wasn't so much MMA as it was wrestling.

It’s not unusual for this kind of disconnect to occur between Japanese pro wrestling and the English-language fans, but I was still surprised to learn that the meaning of a term this widely used, and this foundational to Japanese wrestling, had been so profoundly lost in translation.

The Japanese-language wikipedia page also addresses this alternate English-language definition of the term. Towards the end, they include a quote from Shinsuke Nakamura, where he says that unlike in Japan, in America people think of Strong Style as "shoot style" with elements of boxing and amateur wrestling. It also includes a section towards the bottom of the page for "Shoot Style" pro wrestling, which it defines as completely separate from Strong Style, with a European origin and unrelated history.

In any case, reading this gave me a real sense of clarity when trying to understand how the phrase is used within New Japan Pro Wrestling.

[darkmaga-returns]

Gather ‘round, young ‘uns, and hear tell of the days of yore. When I tell younger people that I didn’t start using the internet until I was out of high school (c. 1999), I’m usually met with the look they reserve for great grandpa’s story about trading in his horse-drawn cart for a rootin’ tootin’ Henry Ford Model T. The internet was a different place back then. Most people were still offline, and the early adopters were not exactly a neutral cross-section of the world’s English-speaking peoples. The user base skewed young and male compared to the general population. Social media didn’t exist yet, so the vast majority of users were set to read-only. They didn’t blog, post, comment, or DM, they read articles, looked up information, occasionally bought something, and that was about it. The users who were creating content - posting in message boards and comment sections, blogging, creating their own personal websites, etc. - skewed young and male even compared to the already young and male overall user base. The libertarian, even anarchist, idea of the internet as an unassailable bastion of free expression still held over from the hippie days of Silicone Valley, and it was taken for granted that, short of explicitly illegal activity, there were no rules. People who tried to impose rules were identified and eliminated.

I cut my internet teeth on MMA (mixed martial arts, or “ultimate fighting” for the uninitiated) message boards c. 1999-2002 - the UG, Sherdog’s Off-Topic forum, Ironlife after the crew got mass-banned from Sherdog, and our own board, Upstanding F*cking Citizens (UFC, get it?), after we all got banned from Ironlife. We were a bunch of guys who loved fighting and were fanatical about MMA back when John McCain was still calling it “human cockfighting” and the sport was still banned in 49 states. There was a time when MMA was also known as NHB (no-holds barred), and smaller fight organizations typically had names with “Extreme,” “Blood,” and “Gladiator” in them. The music was “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor”-style heavy and nu metal (the UFC still uses a riff that sounds straight off an early KoRn album), roided out fans attended fights “dressed up” in Ed Hardy or Affliction t-shirts, and there were often more fights in the stands and parking lot than there were in the cage or ring. The UFC’s original tagline was: “There Are No Rules!” So, if internet users were already heavily weighted toward the young, anarchic (some might even say antisocial), and male, MMA message board users were the distilled essence of that demographic. We were cruel to each other without any of us ever feeling like the object of anyone’s cruelty. For the last twenty years, I have made fun of my best friend because his mom is deaf; he invariably responds by throwing shade on my dead father. Neither of us has ever felt insulted even though they are objectively outrageous things to say to another person.

[stupittmoran]

ESPN did an article about the most influential women in mma history and they left out Gina Carano. Even Dana White called them out in the comments of the post. “Gina Carano not being on the list is INSANE,” White wrote on Instagram. Cris Cyborg also called them out for this. For those who weren’t following the sport 15 years ago, Gina Carano was called “the face of womens mma”. She was the first woman to main event a card, she was in the first major women’s mma title fight for a worldwide mma brand, she was the first woman to be featured in a trading card for a major international brand. Gina was a mix between brawn and beauty that made fans pay attention. Her popularity is what lead to the women’s revolution in mma. Without her, there may not be a women’s mma today. Gina walked so Ronda could run. Gina made Dana pay attention and Ronda made Dana decide to being Women’s mma to the UFC. Those two, Cyborg and Nunes are the 4 women who can’t be left out when discussing the most influential in womens mma. Why did ESPN snub the person who should arguably be number one? Well, heres my guess. ESPN is owned by Disney. Disney fired Carano from their show- The Mandalorian for a political post she made. Gina is currently suing them. So, i believe Its pretty clear that personal issues with Gina lead to ESPN writing a clearly biased and false artical. At the beginning, Gina Carano was mainstream womens mma. -MMA Outsiders on Facebook

[luimnigh]

So in Cyberpunk, you can find "Shards" around the place. They're basically USB sticks that give you snippets from articles and books, or records of text conversations between people. Classic open-world game stuff.

Last night while playing, I found a Shard with a snippet of The Illiad.

And my immediate reaction, even before reading it, was "Oh yeah, that would be thematically relevant, wouldn't it?"

The question posed at the beginning of the game is the same as the prophecy surrounding Achilles, which the shard relates: Whether to live a quiet life, or go out in a blaze of glory.

But thing is... the way this world is presented, there is no quiet life. There's so many people reaching out for their blaze of glory in Night City that a quiet life is impossible. Because everyone looking for a quiet life gets caught in the crossfire, or eaten up by those looking for their blaze or glory.

I found this shard in a martial arts dojo, rescuing an MMA coach. He did nothing to bring the torture he faced down on himself. Instead, his pupil grasped for a blaze of glory, got it, and skipped town to try to avoid retribution for his actions.

The coach was simply caught in the crossfire.

In the Edgerunners series, Gloria Martinez didn't die because of her shading dealings, or her ambitions for her son. She was caught in the crossfire of an assassination attempt.

There's been so many missions where people just looking to survive have died or been destroyed by those looking to be exceptional.

It kind've creates a self-perpetuating cycle. If the quiet life has just as much chance of ending in a hail of bullets or a torture chamber as the blaze of glory does, why not reach for the blaze of glory?

[orange-demons-deactivated2024]

Avatar Voice 3

Buckle your seats, everyone, this post is gonna be a doozy.

So I was in the process of making a post of the VAs behind avatar's voice and I stumbled upon this one. In the Credits, they're credited as 'KIMO' with no last name, so I went to the Behind The Voice Actors to find more information about them.

Turns out their full name is Kimo Leopoldo, at least according to IMDb and behind the voice actors website. He didn't have any other works besides this game so he struck my interest.

KIMO (Kimo Leopoldo) is an American retired mixed martial artist and actor. He made his MMA debut at UFC 3 in 1994. A professional from 1994 until 2011, he also competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, and the World Fighting Alliance.

He was credited with a black belt in taekwondo in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 3.

He was most known for carrying a cross with him to the ring.

Leopoldo has worked since 1996 as an actor in independent productions. He starred in the Femme Fatales  episode "Family Business", the direct-to-video production R.I.O.T.: The Movie, and the films The Process, The Dog Problem, In the Closet, Bullet and Avengers Grimm

Although Leopoldo isn't new to acting, this was his first Voice Acting gig according to www.behindthevoiceactors.com.

Also, I think it's kinda cool that he's one of the VA that Voices Avatar in Street Fighter 6.

But here's the weird thing I found:

(Source 1) (Source 2) (Source 3)

All of them mirroring the same thing:

"The former UFC fighter Kimo Leopoldo reportedly died due to complications from a heart attack at the age of 41."

And that it may be due to "having tested positive for anabolic steroids at the end of his career, and later being charged for possession of marijuana."

He was reported to be dead on July 21, 2009. But as you all know, Street Fighter 6 was released on June 2, 2023.

(Source 1)

But doing some further digging, some websites provided an update retracting their original statements or pulling their articles off the internet.

And in during a phone Interview with Yahoo! Sports, he said "I knew I wasn't dead, So when I was reading this I wondered if I was jinxed or something was going to happen."

Leopoldo even appeared at the Orange County Sheriff's office in Santa Ana, Ca. to put an end to rumors of his death that spread rapidly across the Internet.

"It was really strange," Leopoldo said. "I was surprised at how nasty it was. I guess it wasn't a good thing. … I've always had strange things written about me but nothing this bizarre. I couldn't believe it when I searched for my name and I wrote in 'Kimo Leopoldo' and it added the word 'death.' "

Rumors of Leopoldo's demise first appeared on MMA.tv's popular forum, "The Underground." The post reported that Leopoldo died in Costa Rica "of complications from a heart attack."

The report quickly was picked up by the celebrity website TMZ.com, which "confirmed" the death. It later pulled the story without comment. 

But despite this, Leopoldo ended up returning to his life as normal.

I'm not going to go in-depth about Leopoldo's use of certain drugs like Stanozolol or methamphetamine because there's enough information about his business online. So if you want a more in-depth explanation, you're free to look yourself.

Now even though he was listed in the credits, I was still wondering if Kimo Leopoldo is the actual VA. Mostly because the last name wasn't included in the end credit. And there are no other sources that linked to Kimo even mentioning it on his platforms or in previous interviews. Nor any mention of the Street Fighter games in general.

In the game, he is supposed to be voicing a Young (Age) Normal (Tone) Avatar. And Kimo is now 56 years old.

The videos I found of him talking are Here and Here

The first video is 5 years old around the same time that Street Fighter 6 was in production. And his voice slightly resembles Avatar's, a little bit, especially when you're fighting.

Then in the second video, it's a scene when Kimo was on the show Cyborgs which was released back in 2020.

The most recent video of him I could find on YouTube was from 3 years ago in a Video interview. His voice has definitely gotten more raspier. So I think he probably would have done his lines about 4-5 years ago, but who knows.

I personally think it may be someone else, mostly because of how young the VA sounds compared to Kimo. And with new content dropping the VA has a consistent tone to their voice.

But it's possible for Takayuki Nakayama to know of Kimo.

Because Kimo was a pro wrestler who took jobs out in Japan and was undefeated. And since the Street Fighter devs are so well-versed in different styles of fighting, it wouldn't be surprising that they would've heard about Kimo when he signed a contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

The Street Fighting devs know about the NJPW because the New Japan Pro Wrestling superstar Kenny Omega stared in the Street Fighter 5 Cody reveal trailer.

But, this is just my theory and speculation. And I wanted to know the VAs behind the Avatars in SF6. I didn't think I would be doing such a deep dive here because my post with the other VAs is nothing like this.

This was all just useless rambling and I'm pretty sure no one really cares but I thought this was interesting and I wanted to talk about it. I also contacted Kimo through IG DMs to ask him personally about it, so I'm still waiting for a response from him. If he does ever get back to me I'll post an update. Thank you for reading to the end.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

BTS/K-Pop Highlight Posts (2021-2023) - Former Bangtan Media Thoughts

Subversion of expectations in Set Me Free Pt. 2

BTS In The Soop 2 - Friendship Island

The body as a site of potential subversion: Jimin’s Filter and Jungkook’s My Time

Framing Gender Identity Through Masquerade. Hybrid Masculinities in Jimin’s Photo-folio

HYBE Surveillance Content and Self-Monitoring Behavior. Jungkook’s Camping Vlog

Queering of MMA Black Swan

GCF in Tokyo and the validity of interpretation

Manufacturing and handling rumors in the BTS Fandom

Thoughts on Permission to Dance Concert

BTS and Shipping Culture Part 1

BTS Documentaries and Ethics

BTS and the Billboard Article

Louis Vuitton show in Seoul with BTS and the French cinema inspiration

BTS Bangtan Bombs and Authenticity

K-Pop and the camp aesthetic

The reception of Permission To Dance by its fandom and what it means for the BTS American Journey

BTS and friendship dynamics

BTS and solo stans

BTS and The Beatles Comparison

Hate vs Constructive Criticism debate in the BTS Fandom

Jimin & Jungkook's Queer Performance of Adult Ceremony

Reporting in BTS/Army/K-Pop

Old and new dance practice videos: erotic bodily labor and socioeconomic capital

Jimin - Garbo/Hepburn Face

[allgoldenelite]

i realized this talking about it with somebody the other day, but wrestling interviews tend to be extremely frustrating for me.

every time i read an interview by a promotion or a major content mill wrestling site it just makes me realize we still haven't shaken the MMA curse. we're still in the times where a major article on a character worker has to be like "mmmmmaybe wrestling....is art??????!!! BUT ONLY MAYBE" because they don't wanna offend the oldheads who think this "shit goes so hard" and that it has nothing else to say. like those dreadful articles about sukeban by artnet and vogue just proved that yet again. wrestling has such a high glass ceiling and it's still seen as a dumb sports where ppl hit each other until one of them can't get up anymore, despite the literal near fatal efforts by all kinds of wrestlers all around the globe to make the mainstream see that it is a legit art medium with stories that go deeper than "i don't like you" or "you beat me in the last tournament" (it's received heavy praise from fans due to the supposed """right direction""" it will shift the company in, but if i personally ever see the phrase SpOrTs BaSeD pReSENtatIOn again i might throw up). don't even get me started on how little attention joshi stories receive.

interviews are just one victim of the curse. the questions are boring. they just are. western interviews are almost all shoot-ish interviews and in 99.99% of cases there will be 2 maybe 3 lore based questions that ACTUALLY ask about the character and the stories they are in (shoot interviews are cool dgmw. it's cool getting fluff and tidbits about your fav! but if it's all there is it's literally so unsatisfying). japanese interviews are shackled by the kinda sorta taboo of discussing shoot topics (unless you are kaminoge, god bless em), which can actually be rewarding and fun if you fully dive into kayfabe and corner the characters but even weekly pro with their stiff adherence don't seem to understand what that means. like there are so many things that a character worker will do or that will happen in a story, and nobody asks about them. nobody even thinks about bringing them up despite them being immensely lore relevant. there is only so many times i can read "what are your plans for the future?" before i keel over.

which is why i'm so happy every time i see an interview that actually does care about the characters and the art of it. an interview or q&a that has respect for the performers beyond their accolades. it takes time and effort to do that and swim against the stream, so those types of efforts will always at the very least have my interest and support.

[theanticool]

Igor Vovchanchyn Highlights

By: Lewis

It's always kind of funny when people bring up Fedor being an undersized heavyweight. He was, but he wasn't a small man. He was like 6'0, 220-ish lbs. Not big by heavyweight standards, but not tiny.

You know who was tiny? Igor Vovchanchyn. A former kickboxer turned no holds barred/MMA fighter in 1995, Igor stood at only 5'8. By modern standards, I'm pretty sure Vovchanchyn is a welterweight. Maybe even a 155lber. But back in the mid to late 90s up to the early 2000s, he was the scariest puncher in the sport. This tiny Ukrainian man was knocking out guys who were coming into fights at over 300lbs. Sometimes, as many as 3 in a single night (IFC 1: Kombat in Kyiv - John Dixson, Paul Varelans, and Fred Floyd). Absolutely terrifying human being.

If you'd like to learn a bit more about the guy, check out this article from The Fight Site.

[gaykarstaagforever]

Business Insider article about "drama" in Congress.

By which they mean, lawmakers threatening to fight people.

Every single example they cite but one is a REPUBLICAN instigating it against ANOTHER REPUBLICAN.

And the one that isn't is that Republican lunatic Markwayne Mullin challenging a union president to an MMA match for making fun of him on Twitter.

Which was broken up by Bernie Sanders, a DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST.

The article is, strangely, not interested in pointing any of this out.

It DOES mention Trump's "rhetoric" as part of the cause of all this. No mention of his failed insurrection / January 6. Again, suspiciously.

Keep in mind that these are the same people who want the military to be deployed to arrest peaceful leftist protesters for "terrorism," while those people are exercising a CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED RIGHT.

They can't even pretend to have any consistent standards anymore.