She had been staying home all these time in the dark waiting for Thursday to come. That morning she ate for the first time since the funeral. She did not even bother to try contacting her father to inform him of the death of his wife. Furthermore, her dad had not been home for a month or so. She finally stepped out of her house to go to the convenience store. The sudden exposure of sunlight to her eyes caused her some discomfort but shook it off and got herself some instant noodles along with two bottles of energy drinks – her attempt at fuelling her body before the fight tonight. That evening, on the way to the location, she made a stop at the hospital. She went to the counter and looked for the lady that had been serving her prior. She was told that the lady was out for her break and would be back in fifteen minutes time.

“It’s fine, I’ll just wait for her over here…”

She was simply staring at the floor her while waiting when she finally heard the familiar voice. Wanfahmai looked up to see that the lady she had been waiting for was back from her break and she went over to greet her.

“Hello, good evening.”

“Oh yes…. Khun Wanfahmai…”

“I’m here to make the rest of the payment…”

“I’m sorry to hear about your mother….”

There was momentary silence before Wanfahmai replied, “It’s okay… I’m sure she’s at a better place now… So how much is left out of that bill of hers?”

“Let me check for you…”

With a few clicks to the system, she informed Wanfahmai of the total bill left that she had to pay. Upon hearing the final total amount and the balance that she needs to pay, Wanfahmai who had always been thrifty with her words remarked under her breath,

The bill is definitely lesser than what was first quoted. I guess mae loves me more than she loves herself.

Once again, Wanfahmai took out the stack of cash and gave it to her. She had initially brought all of her money that she had intended to save to ensure that she could pay off everything. However, due to her being eligible for some subsidy, she managed to retain some of the money, substantial enough for one person living and housing.  After the transaction was completed, Wanfahmai thanked her and as she was about to walk off, the staff stopped her,

“Remember, the offer to treat your wounds still stands, should you ever need it…”

Wanfahmai simply smiled and took her leave. She was now making her way to the location and the sun had set fully. Under the guise of the night sky, she made her way towards a secluded location. The place looked like an abandoned warehouse. When she finally got to the entrance, one of the men immediately escorted her to the ‘locker room’ where the boss was.

“Thank you for doing this…”

“It’s my honour…”

She preps herself and was called out once the match was about to commence. The crowd that night was not made up of betters but was filled with men and a couple of women scantily dressed flanking the respective gang bosses.

The rival gang boss had something to say causing some tension to rise, “You seriously called a girl to fight for you? This is the best that you have? Is this truce a joke? If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have chosen the best man for this match…”

The boss that Wanfahmai is fighting for simply smiled, “Let’s just start the match, shall we?”

Wanfahmai did not feel intimidated at all. All she felt was hollowness. They finally rang the bell and the match commence. Her opponent was a male gang member from the rival gang. Without any inside info or the will to feel or think about anything, she had no idea what to expect out of him, and her opponent was looking at her as though she would be an easy target. That was the purpose why the boss called Wanfahmai for this match, so that his rival would underestimate her capability.

Wanafahmai allowed her opponent to attack her first so she could study his movements. She dodged some of his punches and kicks but some of those did manage to find her body. And before her opponent got the better of her, she started to unleash her skills on him, catching not only her opponent by surprise but also the members of the rival gang since her opponent is known to be a good fighter among his comrades. She was doing so well until flashes of memories about her mother came into her mind which caused her to lose her focus, making it easier for her opponent to attack her back. It was a similar sight to the match that she was told to lose. She was thrown all over the ring like a sack of rice and she did nothing to retaliate. The real reason why she even agreed to the fight finally caught up with her conscious mind. She had a death wish. The rival gang was basking in the idea that their man was going to win when suddenly, the door to the warehouse busted open!

“All of you have been surrounded! No one makes a move!” warned the police. But none of the members from each group adhere to the warning and there was an open confrontation between the underworld gangs and the police. In the midst of the chaos, Wanfahmai continued to lay down without moving but was quickly carried off by someone familiar.

“Gosh you’re a crazy girl, Wanfahmai…” as he ran with her on his back to somewhere safe and away from the location. He hid her and kept a lookout on the outside to see if anyone had followed them but the coast was clear. She finally regained her senses and takes a good look at the boy sitting by her side,

“Aran? What are you doing here?”

“To save you…”

Wanfahmai let out a chuckle with her busted lips, “I don’t need saving… I am capable to take care of myself…”

“I am saving you from yourself…”

“What do you mean by that?” as Wanfahmai feigned ignorance.

“I just heard about your mother… And I was worried… I was worried that you might…” as Aran hesitated to finish his sentence but Wanfahmai did not minced her word by then,

“That I might have myself killed?”

There was an immediate silence as soon as she finished her question, but Wanfahmai went on, “I guess that’s what it was… Too afraid to take my own life so I guess I had to let someone else to do it for me… Either by the opponent or at the hand of the Boss because I lost the fight…”

“How can you talk about death so lightly?”

“How can I not? I mean here or the netherworld… What’s the difference? And were you the one that called the police? You’re going to get yourself killed if they ever found out.”

Aran was hesitant to answer but he did anyway, “Yes, I did…”

“Have you really lost your mind Aran?!”

“No, I have not… I still have my sanity intact…” came a reply from Aran as though he was pleading with Wanfahmai not to scold him any longer. She who noticed the change in his expression decided to stop before asking further,

“But wait how did you find out about today’s match?”

“One of the P’chai told me… He’s a nice guy. His situation was like mine, and was trapped too at a young age… He wanted out but it was too late…. He said that you’ll be participating today, and was hoping that you will no longer be involved in their world, since he said that it would be dangerous if you stay around any longer.”

“If it is as dangerous as he said, then what are you doing here?”

“Because you are here…”

“What if you got hurt? What if the gang found out about this? Did you even think what could have happened?”

Aran without uttering a word to Wanfahmai’s barrage of question then gave her a hug, “I miss you Wanfahmai… I do… And I think I’ve fallen for you…”

Wanfahmai was stunned and did not know how to react. She never once thought about love and she certainly saw Aran as a fri