Zelo twisted away from Sanha’s punch and grabbed his wrist, twisting it around. Sanha stumbled, but managed to yank his arm away. He punched Zelo in the stomach and Zelo felt the breath knocked out of him

He stumbled backwards, trying to regain his breath, while ducking Sanha’s strikes. He managed to drop to the ground and do a roll, moving away from where Sanha was standing.

Sanha spun to face him, but Zelo had just enough time to get to his feet. He launched a kick at Sanha, who jumped back to avoid him.

Zelo felt he’d gotten the upper hand, and he knew he had to keep it that way. He went after the man and managed to get close enough to wrap his arm around the back of Sanha’s neck. Using his other arm, he brought his elbow down on Sanha’s collarbone.

“!” Sanha yelled and shoved Zelo off him. Right then, Zelo made his final move.

While Sanha was still distracted by the pain in his collarbone, Zelo aimed one last kick at him, catching Sanha’s jaw. Sanha fell, hitting the ground with a loud thump. 

Zelo immediately kneeled on him and twisted his arms behind his back. He held them there, breathing hard. 

“Okay.” Sanha said, his voice slightly ragged. “Okay, you win.”

Behind them, someone started clapping. Zelo let go of Sanha and stood up, spinning to face the person.

It was Taewoon. He was leaning against the doorframe, a small smile on his face. Though he had been friendly enough since Zelo arrived, Zelo couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the man. He ducked into a small bow.

“Nice.” Taewoon said. “You did really well.

“Thank you.” Zelo said softly. Behind him, he could hear Sanha stand up. He looked back at the man, who was rubbing his collarbone, a slight grimace on his face.

“I always hate that.” Sanha said. “Whenever I get hit there. First time I ever lost a fight was because of that. I’d never been hit there before and I cried.” Zelo covered his mouth, trying to hide his smile. “Oh don't you laugh at me.”

“It's kind of funny.” Taewoon said and Sanha glared at him.

“Traitor.” He said and Taewoon grinned.

“You've done a nice job teaching him how to fight, though.” Sanha shrugged.

“There was less to teach him than I thought there would be. The kid’s a natural.” There was a bit of a weird look on Taewoon’s face after Sanha said that, one that Zelo didn't understand. 

“A natural?” He repeated. “Well, that's good. Hopefully, he’ll be able to protect himself well, then.”

“He will.” Sanha assured him. Taewoon nodded.

“In that case, do you wanna start going with Zico on border patrols?”

“Border patrols?” Zelo questioned.

“Most of the city has a gang in some area. There are borders where gang territories meet. In our territory, we basically offer protection for small fees. We intimidate them if they don't pay, but we try to keep from hurting them. And if they don't need our protection, then that's their loss. But anyways, we keep patrols along the borders to make sure that other gangs aren't causing trouble. We also try to make sure that there's no troublemakers around.”

“He means muggers.” Sanha said. “Or if someone’s in a fight, we stop it. We don't like too much trouble. It gets annoying.” Zelo nodded.

“I think I understand.” He said. “I’d like to go along.” 

“Then come on.” Taewoon said, motioning for Zelo to follow him. Zelo did, and Taewoon led him to a door, which led outside. Pushing it open, it revealed a small group of gang members. Zico, Kyung, P.O, and Taeil, Zelo remembered.

“Yah, Zico.” Taewoon said and Zico turned to him.

“Yeah?” Zico asked.

“Zelo’s going with you.” Taewoon said and Zico raised his eyebrows slightly. Taewoon gave him a look though, and Zico held up his hands defensively.

“I wasn't gonna say he can’t.” He said. “Did Sanha gave the okay?” Taewoon nodded.

“Basically. I mean, Zelo elbowed his collarbone and kicked him in the face, not to mention he didn't object when I asked Zelo if he wanted to join the border patrol.” Zico looked at Zelo in surprise.

“You kicked Sanha in the face?” He asked.

“I mean- I kicked his jaw.” Zelo said and Taeil looked impressed. 

“Did you win?” He asked. Zelo nodded. “Jesus Christ, remind me not to with you. Anyone who can beat Sanha must be a terrifying force of nature.”

“Not to mention he threatened a tall, probably kind of scary, person with a knife.” Kyung interjected.

“Zico?” P.O asked and Kyung nodded.

“Yeah. Neither of you were on the border patrol but it was pretty impressive. Especially since Junghyun had already threatened to shoot him.”

“I was scared.” Zelo explained. “And I didn't know if he’d attack me or something, and I wasn't about to go down without a fight.”

“Anyways.” Zico drawled. “As impressive as Zelo is with his fighting and stuff, we need to get going. The west border has been bad lately, and I wanna check it out.” The others nodded and Zico turned to Zelo. “Do you have a mask?”

“Yes.”

“Put it on.” Then he and the others started out. Zelo pulled his mask out and put it on, following after them.

As they were walking, Zelo felt a sudden jolt of recognition. He knew this street. About a block away, was where the orphanage stood. Suddenly feeling very vulnerable, he pulled his hood up. P.O, who was next to him, gave him a weird look.

“You okay?” He asked. Zelo nodded.

“Yeah. It's just… I know this place pretty well and I don't want anyone to recognize me.” P.O nodded.

“Okay.” He said and they kept walking. As Zico turned the corner, Zelo winced slightly. They were heading right down the road that the orphanage was. They were across the street from it and Zelo couldn't help but stare as they walked by. On the steps, a boy was sitting, his face turned down to a notebook he was writing in. As they were walking, the boy’s head went up for a moment and Zelo immediately turned away.

It was Jung Daehyun, the son of the orphanage owner. Of all people he wouldn't want to recognize him, Daehyun was definitely near the top of the list. He had been nothing but nice to Zelo when Zelo had lived there, giving him candy sometimes and trying to make him smile. Most of the orphans had been kind of depressed, but apparently Zelo had always seemed the worst. He hoped Daehyun didn't know about how he had pulled a knife on someone.

When they turned the next corner, Zelo let out a small sigh of relief. P.O gave him another odd look, but didn't question it. Zelo stayed silent, following the others, and his mind full of old memories.

A/n thank you to everyone whose commented or subscribed this far. I'm glad you can put up with my writing.