Mingyu walked the familiar path to get to the abandoned warehouse. In the sunset, the building almost looked creepy, especially with the run-down appearance. Taking the staircase to the next floor of the building, the noises and sounds of people chattering became louder. 

The sight of two men getting ready to brawl greeted him as he reached his destination. He walked over to Seungcheol who was standing next to the fighting ring. 

"Hey," his friend greeted. "Anything interesting happened today?"

"Nothing much, I just got rejected from job applications multiple times continuously today."

Seungcheol frowned. "Mingyu, I don't know how many times I should say this, but—"

"I just have to wait a little longer. There's bound to be someone willing to take me in," Mingyu interrupted before Seungcheol could go on another rant about how the younger should just ask him for help.

Seungcheol still seemed as though he wanted to keep arguing. However, Mingyu was distracted as his eyes found its way to the man who was now in a white shirt and blue trackpants. 

Mingyu pointed over to him. "Do you think he'll be able to fight?" He enquired Seungcheol. 

The older looked at him, then at Mingyu curiously. "I'm not sure, but he said he will. Why? You know anything about him?"

Mingyu looked away. "Nah, I just thought he looked unwell..." 

Seungcheol shrugged, and told him that he was going to start the next fight. The younger nodded and made his way a distance from the fighting ring, where there were only a few people standing around. He eyed two suspicious-looking guys, whispering and exchanging something. Not wanting to be involved in anything wrong, he ignored them.

From where he was standing, the man from before had his back to him. He still doubt if the man was okay. He shouldn't even care.

Soon, Seungcheol was calling Mingyu over to fight the next round, and just so happened to choose the man to be his opponent. Mingyu greeted him for the second time that day, smiling, albeit awkwardly. Like before, he simply ignored the greeting. 

As Seungcheol loudly announced that the fight had begun, Mingyu went into action. 

He started off simply by defending himself first, dodging fists and kicks. The man was throwing punches at a rapid speed which was impressive. A few managed to land on the younger's face and stomach, but he didn't let that deter himself. 

Just when Mingyu was about to start attacking, there was something that bothered him. 

The man's eyes had started to become unfocused, as he shook his head and got back into the fight, as though nothing was wrong with him. Mingyu had wanted to call off the fight, but as the man landed a powerful blow to his side, he decided to fight him back. 

Mingyu blocked off one of his outstretched hand and swiftly delivered a punch to his abdomen. He recoiled slightly, giving the other the chance to hit his face once before kicking him in the shin. 

He wasn't sure if his kick had been that strong, but the next thing he knew, the man was on the ground. Knowing something wasn't right, Mingyu kneeled down next to him, but he suddenly hooked a leg around his torso and threw the boy down. The man straddled him as he landed repeated punches to keep him down. Garnering his lower body strength, Mingyu managed to throw him off. 

As he was about to throw another punch, the sound of police sirens suddenly filled the air. He looked around, puzzled, seeing many people starting to run away. 

What the hell is going on?

"What's going on? Why are the police here?" He saw Seungcheol ask someone running past looking panicked.

"The police caught whiff of either illegal betting, or drug trafficking going on here. Whether we're involved or not, we're screwed if we get caught!"

"!" Seungcheol cursed, running a hand through his hair. "This place was supposed to be safe. Those bastards..." He turned towards the remaining people who were still confused. "Everyone, I know of another way to get out of here, follow me!" He then turned to Mingyu, gesturing him to follow as well. 

Still in a daze, Mingyu quickly got off the ground to escape, when he realised the man he was fighting was still on the ground. His eyes were shut tightly, as though in pain. Looking back and forth towards the running Seungcheol and the man who was now in pain, Mingyu decided to help the latter.

"Dude, get up! The police are coming and we'll all be screwed if we get caught!" 

The sounds of the sirens wailing grew louder, and Mingyu knew he had to act fast. Grabbing the man by the arms, he slung them over his shoulders, carrying him up and on his broad back. With that, Mingyu mustered all the strength from his leg muscles to run towards the exit. 

They were already nearing the exit, when Mingyu had realised one important fact: He had left his bag.

Mingyu had forgotten to store away the money from the day before at home, which meant that his rent and money for food was still in that bag. A string of vulgarities spewed out of his mouth as he contemplated if he should go back and grab it, or just simply escape. The former would mean he could risk himself getting caught, while the latter would mean that although he escaped, he wouldn't have any money left.

As he reached the exit, he fina