w  a  r  r  i  o  r | {11}

Zitao laid on the ground and let Miyeon pin him down. “Kim Jongin…and your abusive mother.”

Miyeon looked at him. “Why…why now?”

“I like you, Miyeon…and there are things I should know about that I don’t. Why did you even take on mixed martial arts?”

Then it seemed as if something shattered inside of her. “Why…I took on martial arts?”

Zitao put his hands on her waist. “Miyeo-“

She pushed him back down again and this time she slammed a fist into the ground next to him. “Jongin had OCD.” She whispered.

“Is that…is that what you couldn’t tell me? That he had a mental illness?”

Miyeon looked at him in disbelief. “A mental illness? How could you say that? Like it’s no big deal…”

She continued. “He had OCD…and the night he died, it was my fault.”

Zitao could almost feel the pain she was in as she retold the story for the first time. “Miyeon…”

“I…I asked him to do something for me…and he ended up in the kitchen with a knife. They said it was a utility knife.” Miyeon said softly. “I…I don’t know why he…I don’t know what he was doing with a knife.” Her sentences ended with a tremble in her voice.  “They said he got a little cut on his wrist…and that he had to make it even so it did it on the other side. Jongin had obsessive compulsive disorder…and he needed things to be perfect so he never stopped cutting.”

Zitao looked at her; her eyes were rimmed with tears now. “Miyeon stop it.”

“I walked into the kitchen to see him sitting in a puddle of his own blood.” Her body shook now. “He said…he said that he was sorry…and that he wouldn’t be able to be there anymore. He said to protect myself because no one would be there to shield me from my stepmother’s hits.”

He felt his stomach turn as he realized that Miyeon had watched her beloved step brother die in front of her.

“He was always the one who stepped in front of me when my step mother got angry…he protected me and made sure I didn’t get hurt.” She whispered. “He sat there…in a corner of the kitchen holding onto his wrists… He said not to come near and to call the police …” Miyeon furrowed her brows and let a tear slide down her cheek.

Zitao listened in silence.

“Jongin just…kept on saying that he’s sorry, and that if he didn’t make it, he wanted to be buried in a nice cemetery by the ocean. He told me to protect myself because he wouldn’t be there in the future anymore…I hated the image society put up of women; that they were weak and that men had to be their protection. I took on martial arts for my brother, I learned self defense and went on to teach tons of young women that they shouldn’t depend on others…that they should only depend on themselves because they’re strong too.”

Then everything seemed to fall in place, everything suddenly made sense. Zitao watched as Miyeon let go of his shoulder. She sat on his abdomen and took off the boxing gloves. She covered her face and cried. “I wish Jongin was still here, because he would’ve been so proud of me.”

Zitao sat up and pulled her into his arms. He held her close and shook his head. “Miyeon stop it, Jongin didn’t die because of you. It wasn’t your fault.” He whispered.

She shook in his arms as she cried. It was something she held in for the longest time and it felt scary to suddenly let it all out. Miyeon wondered why the first person to know of her bitter past was Zitao, but she didn’t care because he made her feel safe at the same time too.

“If …If I didn’t ask him to make me lemon tea that day, nothing would’ve happened.” Miyeon whispered.

Zitao continued to rock her side to side, he took off his boxing gloves too and pulled away to wipe her tears. “Let’s not cry about this.” He said softly. “You took on martial arts and look at you now, you’re one the most well known fighters in South Korea. Jongin is very proud…”   

Miyeon looked at him reluctantly.

“I’m positive he’s proud of you.” He said. “Did he get buried by the ocean? Let’s visit him.”

She glanced at him and shook her head. “They said he got cremated…and that his mother spread his ashes in the Atlantic Ocean.”

“Is that why you didn’t even cry at his funeral? Because there was nothing there that reminded you of him? Because the only thing left of him was a box full of his ashes?”

“How’d you…”

Zitao pushed her bangs out of her face. “Your father.”

Chanyeol stood outside and dropped his duffle bag on the ground. He felt angry, jealous, confused and defeated at the same time. Zitao had beaten him to confessing, and more importantly, he cracked her shell first…something no one’s ever been able to do.

He sighed and left the gym, leaving his bag behind. Chanyeol almost didn’t care that his competition was in exactly four days.

The boys stopped on the way in when they saw the glum expression on Chanyeol’s face. He was in tears and he looked quite mad too.

Yixing silenced the others as he walked up to Chanyeol. “Hey…what…happened?”

“Zitao …cracked her shell.” Chanyeol whispered.

Luhan gasped. “Are…you…really?”

Sehun raised an eyebrow. “Why are you crying?”

Chanyeol looked up and nervously wiped his eyes. “It’s just that…that her story was very sad and heart wrenching.” He said; a white lie that only Sehun saw through.

“Right…” The youngest nodded.

Luhan peeked behind Chanyeol. “Are they in there?”

Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah.”

Yixing grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the gym. “We’re going to a coffee shop right freaking now so you can tell us what happened.”

Chanyeol only walked along, defeated because there was nothing he could do now to impress Miyeon.

On the day of the competition, the boys were quite antsy in the stadium. After finding out about Miyeon’s dark past, they couldn’t get over what she had gone through.

“Zitao’s the only person now who could make her happy.” Yixing whispered.

Luhan nodded. “Thank God that Kris guy dragged him over here.”

Sehun sat there silently and sipped his bubble tea as he watched Chanyeol warm up in the ring. His opponent didn’t seem as strong and as skilled, Miyeon was confident that Chanyeol would win but Sehun had a terrible feeling about all of this.

When Chanyeol was about to lose, Sehun got up and dragged Zitao out. “Hyung, I need to tell you something.” The youngster said, getting all serious.

They got up to the roof and talked.

“Why the roof?”

“I just needed to get out of there before Chanyeol lost.” Sehun said. “And I know exactly why he lost.”

“What are you…”

Sehun held his hand up and pointed to the door. “Listen…”

DING DING DING

“CONTESTANT PARK CHANYEOL HAS LOST TO HWANG KI HAN. CONGRATS HWANG KI HAN.”

“How’d you…” Zitao looked at the door and wanted to run back down to the stadium.

“Chanyeol’s been working really hard all this time because he wanted to impress Miyeon. He likes her, and has been in love for years now. But so do you, so confess and get her already because the only way Chanyeol will get his together is if he realizes that Miyeon is impossible to get.”

Zitao looked at Sehun. “Sehun…”

“I’m serious; Miyeon will never look at Chanyeol the same way she looks at you. I’ve known Chanyeol for a while now and the only way he will get his together is if he realizes that Miyeon is happy and taken with someone else.”

Sehun smacked his arm. “Go get her…” He simply said before walking off.

Zitao ran down the steps and into the stadium to see the boys and Miyeon huddled around Chanyeol.

“What happened?” Yixing asked.

“He’s so tiny!” Luhan said.

Sehun just stood silently and sighed.

Miyeon looked at Chanyeol from head to toe. “Channie, how’d this happen in the first place?”

Zitao pushed through the crowds and grabbed Chanyeol’s arm. “We need to talk.” He simply said as he dragged him to the roof.

“You…You like Miyeon.” Zitao whispered.

“And so do you.” Chanyeol looked up, there was a bruise by the side of his jaw.

“You’ve been there longer than I have-“

Chanyeol grabbed him by his shoulders. “Does it matter who’s been there longer? It’s about who Miyeon likes, and it’s you.”

“But-“

“I don’t care about the excuses…I’ve known her longer but so what? She’ll never like me the way she likes you.” Chanyeol whispered. “You make her happy…and you know so many things about her.” He said. “I heard what happened a couple days ago in the gym. Miyeon cried…she never does that and she cried in front of you.”

Zitao pushed his hands off. “Chanyeol…this isn’t…”

“What? Fair? Nothing matters now because the one Miyeon chose is you.” Chanyeol said. “She grew up without her mother…her step mother was a demon and her father …you know how that went. She’s been neglected all her life; ever since her brother died she’s been alone. Motherly love, brotherly love, fatherly love…you’re all of it if. You’re her mother, her father, her brother, her boyfriend, her best friend, her lover…you have to give her all the love she’s never gotten growing up.” Chanyeol whispered. “I love Miyeon too, but if I let her go and let her go to you…she’ll be even happier.”

Zitao looked at him speechlessly.

“You love Miyeon….I know you do…so please, just go on…and …and make her happy forever.”

Then Chanyeol heard something he would never want to hear.

“I…I’m going to the US.” 

[a/n]: GAAAASP.

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