The Rejected

Scene 14: Show Down

AN: So, I´m no pro at writing fighting scenes so please use your imagination, alright? I was amused when the drama version of wolf was released because it reminded me of this story. Well, the girl is a bit different though. Now, Enjoy!

Lay takes the lead as the five young men moves towards the decided place for the well planned show down. The sky is getting darker slowly, and it feels like a cold night is waiting for them around the corner. White clouds take form in the air as they breathe. Some people moves out of the way as they walk down the street. It seems like they can sense something bad is going to happen. Like they could smell it in the air around the five young men.

Their feet take them to an abandoned factory building in the outskirts of town. It´s eerily quiet, and every noise they make echoes loudly. It´s impossible to move around quietly. Walls are decorated by all kinds of colorful graffiti although it´s hard to see in the darkness. It seems like kids usually hang out here when they skip school, do drugs, or just want to get away.

Suddenly, a loud clicking sound can be heard and the lights go on.

“Nghh…” Chen groans as his eyes hurt while adjusting to the sudden light. He tries to ease the pain by holding his hand in front of his eyes as he squints towards the source of sound.

In front of them stand their six former friends. It seems like they were able to move into the building silently like ninjas, using the darkness to stay unnoticed.  Chen´s eyes widen once they´re adjusted to the light. How were they able to do that? He looks at them coldly.

Suho stands in the front with his arms crossed over his chest. At his side stands Kai who regards the other team with a pair of slightly hesitant and nervous eyes. At Suho´s other side is Chanyeol who has an eerie calm and confident grin on his face. Since he´s wearing his cap, those big ears of his stands out. Sehun, who is in the back, stares at them with a pair of icy cold eyes. There´s no fear there. D.O has his hands in his pockets, and it´s impossible to read his face. Baekhyun seems to think about something deeply, because his eyes are distant and unfeeling.

“Long time no see.”Xiumin´s voice echoes between the metallic walls of the factory.

“Indeed.” Sehun comments with a frown.

An awkward silence fills the void for a moment.

“We´re one person short. I suggest you let one of you stay back so we´re an even number.”Lay says as he tries to get rid of their disadvantage.

“Getting straight to the point, I see. But you being one person short is not our problem.” Sehun answers coldly. “Kris was on your side but left by his own choice, why should we take that in consideration?”

Lay snorts angrily at this. Although it seemed like both teams wanted a fair fight, Sehun must be a bit afraid and wants to use the fact that they´re one more person to his advantage. Lay and Xiumin has still not regained their health fully either, which is yet another disadvantage. Kai gives Suho a glance but no words escape his lips. It seems like the usually sweet guy also is against this but doesn’t have the guts to complain. Suho, the leader of the other team, seems to agree with Sehun and stays quiet.

Tao grit his teeth. It seems like they have no choice but to fight like this. He clenches his fists as he gives Kai a stare. A thought takes form in his mind. He doesn´t know why someone like Kai approached her but he don´t like the possibility that Kai might have wanted to use her to gain an advantage. Tao decides in that moment that Kai will be his opponent tonight.  

“We´ll fight until the last man standing.” Suho breaks the silence. “Whatever team that person belongs to is the winning team.”

“Understood.” Tao replies with an almost animalistic voice.

Everyone seems to hold their breaths and shift their positions at this point. A shaky breath leaves Luhan´s lips as he thinks that this is it. There´s no turning back now. His lips tremble a bit as he starts smiling at the whole situation. He never thought it´d actually come to this.

All of the 11 men get ready to charge but stays put in hesitation. No one wants to be the one who starts the attack. After what seems to be an eternity of hesitation, Lay shrugs and exhales deeply before he starts running across the floor with a raised fist. Suddenly, the silence is filled by ear piercing sounds produced by moving feet and ragged breaths. The empty room intensifies the sounds greatly. Loud thuds echo as fists connects with jaws.

The fight has started.

Tao has a frown on his face as he runs towards his target who´s standing in the other side of the room. His quick steps echo loudly, as he pumps his legs up and down with all the power he has. Kai swirls around just in time to avoid Tao´s first punch. He was saved by those ballet lessons he took way back. A groan of frustration leaves Tao when he realizes he missed. Kai avoids his kicks and punches, but just barely, but he doesn´t charge.

“Stop being such a coward!” Tao hisses through his teeth.

Tao almost bites off his tongue as Kai, all of a sudden, connects his fist with Tao´s chin from below. A painful gasp leaves Tao as he flies up in the air and then backwards.

“I am no coward.” Kai breathes. “But I´m not as hungry for a fight as …you.”

Tao glares up at Kai from the ground as the other is towering over him. Warm liquid runs down his corner of the mouth, and Tao wipes it away: blood. He must have bit himself after all. However, although he is angry, Kai´s comment bothers him. He´s not hungry for fighting: he´s just defending what he cares about.

“You hurt her.” Tao spits out of the blue.

Kai looks confused for a moment, and he stares at Tao as the other man gets up on his feet slowly. His eyes focus as he understands. It seems like all Kai wants to say is that he didn´t mean to, and that Tao hurt her as well, but he swallows his words. With a shake of his head Kai clenches his fists as he finally decides to attack.

On the other side of the room, Chen is fighting at a disadvantage. It´s a two against one situation and D.O and Sehun won´t leave him alone for enough time for him to regain strength after every punch they deliver. D.O stares at Chen with a pair of serious eyes as he has his fist raised to protect his face. Sehun is the active attacker of the two, and with an indifferent face he and D.O corner Chen as Sehun attacks him. A ragged breath leaves Chen as he focuses on his defense. He knows he won´t last if he don´t attack. However, D.O and Sehun gives Chen no chance to do that. Frustration builds up inside of him.

Chen reaches his limit of patience. The young man starts giving up on only trying to defend himself, and starts attacking without caring if he gets hit in return. This makes D.O frown, since he´s forced to take a step back when Sehun is hit. A terrifying sound echoes at Chen punches Sehun straight in the face. Sehun let his guard down thinking the fight was already won, and Chen said otherwise by crushing his nose. A sound much like a hurt animal emerges from Sehun as he backs away in surprise.

“!” Sehun exclaims as he covers his face with his hands.

There´s hesitation in Chen´s eyes for a second before he shakes it off and prepares to face D.O. He can feel blood dropping down his forehead, coloring his sight red.

“Give up, you know I´m stronger than you.” D.O calmly tells Chen.

Chen smirks and he lets a chuckle leave his dry lips. “I´m not like back then. I´m stronger now.”

D.O shifts his weight a bit as he keeps on eying Chen with suspicion.

“And… if you´re so sure you can beat me, why don´t you fight fare, huh?” Chen nods towards Sehun.

D.O is starting to get angry although he knows Chen is right. Two against one is wrong, and a cowardly way of fighting. However, if he doesn´t fight he´ll get in trouble later.

“Hey!” Sehun gets angry. “Don´t talk as if I´m not here.”

Chen is about to answer but is interrupted by a punch to his jaw. He sees stars for a moment, and he loses his balance. During the time Chen regains his balance D.O continues to hit him. Chen can’t focus because his head is spinning. He needs help, but he knows he can´t get any so he won´t ask for it. Chen bites his lip. He´s corned, just like a pray cornered by hungry wolves. Sehun is back, but his nose looks deformed, and he helps D.O with the punching.

Lay gives Chen a glance as he continues to fight Suho. It´s bad. A surprised gasp leaves the unicorn´s lips as Suho almost lands a punch to his stomach. Using his skills to move quickly, Lay creates a distance between himself and his rival. Eyes glance in Chen´s direction once more. He´s worried about Chen and all he wants is to rush over to him.

“Do you really have time to worry about someone other than yourself right now?” Suho taunts with a grin on his face.

Lay gives Suho a dangerous stare and he use no words to make the other shut up. Suho has changed. Lay regards him with caution as the two men simply stands there, without moving. He used to be so kind and gentle but all Lay can see in him now is a hunger for power and dominance. Lay waste no words as he´s the one to attack. Since Lay is smaller and more agile he´s able to avoid Suho´s more powerful attacks, and it drains the other of his energy. But, if Suho hits him, Lay is in big trouble. Lay sends a kick to Suho´s leg as he tries to make the other lose his balance. Suho doesn´t budge, as he takes a hold of Lay and pushes him to the ground.

“So, if I remember correctly… last time you got pretty hurt…here.”

Lay shouts out in pain as Suho put weight on his knee, piercing his already injured back. The yell of pain makes almost everyone stop and look for a short moment. Intensive pain invades Lay senses and that´s all he can think of for a long moment as Suho continues to put weight on his old injury. He needs to get away, quickly.

“Lay!” Chen utters his friend´s name.

Although Chen is in a pinch himself, he still worries for Lay. This gives Lay the energy and power he needs to break free from Suho´s hold on him. As Lay rolls away, Seho loses his balance and his knee hits the ground. A frustrated sound leaves his lips. With a frown, Lay delivers a kick to Suho´s chest which makes him fall backwards.

“Tables has turned…”Lay murmurs as he, with a dangerous face, kicks Suho once more.

However, Lay´s injury slows him down a great deal and it doesn´t take long until Suho regains the upper hand. Utter sadness can be seen on his face as Lay takes a deep breath the moment fall to the ground. He doesn´t get back up. Suho dusts off his clothes a little before he smiles. He won, just like he knew he would.

“Chen!” Tao shouts in fear as he runs to his friend after Kai acknowledged his defeat.

Tao jump kicks Sehun out of the way and interrupts the unfair battle. Chen looks up at Tao with appreciation in his eyes as he is finally somewhat safe and out of harm´s way. Tao stands in front of Chen in a protective manner as he faces D.O. Chen fall down to his knees.

Kai, Chen, Lay and Sehun are now down, which means that Tao, Suho, Luhan, D.O, Xiumin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun are left.

Tao gives Chen, whose face is slowly turning blue from all the hits, a worried glance before turns to glare at D.O angrily. As he sees what kind of pain his friends is in, Tao forgets about his own aching body. He knows that the times he got home hurt and bleeding, his friends were worried about him. It was always him who got in trouble, but Luhan and Chen were always there. Now when Lay and Xiumin are out of the hospital Tao felt happiness.  

Tao´s eyes grow distant for a short moment. He has something to fight for, and someone waiting for him. That´s why he can´t lose.  A shaky breath leaves his lips as he remembers the touch that was on them just an hour ago. Soft lips, wide surprised eyes: …her. He finally met a girl who sees him for who he is, and doesn´t care about the rumor, or his bad image. A girl who saved him in more ways than one. Tao can´t lose because if he does he´ll lose everything.

D.O looks at Tao in silence and he seems to understand that the other is determined to win.  Unlike D.O, who is fighting because he was told to, Tao is fighting to protect.  D.O frowns, as he prepares to fight Tao. He´s not interested in having power or being respected by others out of fear. He casts a glance in Suho´s direction and a deep sigh leaves his plump lips. Although it might seem as if Suho´s group is thigh and all thinking the same, it´s …wrong. D.O knows that many disagrees with Suho but are too afraid to oppose him, or to hurt him. They are friends, they should keep together. D.O just wishes this fight to be over with.

When Tao attacks, it´s clear who will win. Although Tao is already hurt and tired, the fact that he has people to protect and return to urges him to use a strength he didn´t knew he possessed.  A gasp of pain mixed with surprise leave´s D.O as Tao jumps at him, knocks him over, and ends up sitting on top on him as he lay on his back on the ground. Wide eyes stare up at Tao as the other leans back, gathers power, and starts hitting him. Tao is like an animal, and D.O has to cross his arms over his face to avoid getting punched to pieces. It´s only a matter of time until D.O gives up.

Luhan looks at Chanyeol with a pair of wide, deer like, eyes and the man with the big ears stare back as he´s not sure what to do. They´ve been fighting for a long time, but since they´re almost equally strong, and they´re both starting to get too tired to continue. A hesitant smile grows on Chanyeol´s mouth as he seems to find something amusing in the situation. A chuckle leaves Luhan as well.

“What´s the point…?” Chanyeol asks in a tired voice.

“I really don´t want to fight you.” Luhan answers.

The two men looks at each other while smiling weakly. Both of them has missed hanging out with each other, and they don´t have the energy or motivation to hurt the other.

“Ah, I´m tired…” Luhan sighs, as he sits down stretching his tense back.

Chanyeol smirks, as he sees this. He sits down at his friend´s side as a silent protest to the others on his team.  Xiumin gives them a surprised glance, but a smile grows bigger on his round face. However, he can´t be relax because he can feel Baekhyun´s eyes on him. An awkward laugh leaves Xiumin as he turns around to look at his opponent.

Baekhyun is standing in front of him with his hands in his pockets. He sends Luhan and Chanyeol a glance as the two´s laughter fills the air.

 “Are you still hurt?” Baekhyun ask Xiumin with something close to guilt in his voice.

“I´m… fine.” Xiumin answers with a pout.

The ones that hurt Xiumin and Lay and sent them to the hospital were Baekhyun and Chanyeol, and it seems like the two of them regrets it. They acted on Suho´s order, Xiumin thinks, as he regards Baekhyun with suspicion in his eyes. He doesn´t want to be sent to the hospital again.

“I´m not fighting someone who´s already hurt.” Baekhyun states, looking away from Xiumin as if he´s not interesting at all.

Xiumin´s eyes widen. “Huh?” And he lowers his arms. Is Baekhyun worried about him?

“This is stupid.” Baekhyun´s voice can be heard echoing through the room. Suho turns to stare at him. Baekhyun´s eyes doesn´t waver has he looks at the leader. “I´ve got enough. Let´s stop it here.”

Kai, who´s recovering from his fight with Tao, looks up at Suho and Baekhyun with hope in his eyes. It seems as the dancer agrees with his friend, and wants the fight to be over. It´s not worth it.

“We are so close to winning. We can´t stop now.” Suho answers coldly.

Baekhyun gets angry and grabs Suho by the arm and forces him to look at him. The two men have a staring contest for a long moment, and time seems to stand still. Everyone ´s attention is on the two. All of a sudden Suho hits Baekhyun and sends him flying. A pained groan leaves him as he hits the ground, and he sends Suho a stare. D.O, who admitted defeat in the fight against Tao, hurries to his side. After checking is Baekhyun is alright, he also stares at Suho.

“You hit one of your own…?” Tao breathes in disbelief.

That´s when Tao realizes that it´s only Suho and him left, and that it´s up to him to end the battle. Ragged breaths leave Tao as his chest moves up and down. He´s already close to exhaustion but his eyes are full of emotion end strength left. Suho stands more composed, chest moving up and down quickly, as he catches his breath from fighting off his own team mate.

“Tao, you have to…win.” Lay urges on as he lays there on the floor, bleeding.

“….Suho!!!” Sehun groans, but no one seems to know if he´s urging Suho to hit Tao or to stop fighting.

Tao and Suho charges at the same time, delivering punches and kicks, in a steady rhythm. The panda, however, has the upper hand because of his training. With a skillful twist of his body, Tao lands a kick at Suho´s neck. The man stumbles backwards as he loses his breath. Tao realizes this is his chance and repeats his move but Suho predicted it and is able to take a hold of Tao´s leg midair. This makes him lose his balance completely, and Suho throws him to the ground. A painful grunt leaves Tao as he hits the cold floor and rolls around. Everyone stares at him while holding their breaths. If he can´t get up, Suho and his friends has won.

“Get up!” Chen shouts in a shaky voice.

Tao’s legs trembles as he forces his body up from the floor slowly.

“You can do it.” Luhan cheers his friend on. “Suho needs to learn his lesson.”

It seems like even the people on Suho´s team agrees with Luhan at this point.

Tao is back up again, and he wipes away some sweat from his forehead as he stares at Suho. It seems like he has already decided it´s his victory as he stands there, smiling, quite calmly. Although Tao is fuming with anger on the inside, he swallows and tries to focus on a way to beat the other man.

“It´s scary how… a hunger for power can change a person.” Tao says with venom in his voice.

“Hm…?” Suho sends him an irritated stare.

“Deserting his friends, making them fight until exhaustion for his own personal gain…” Tao looks at D.O, Sehun, Baekhyun, Kai and Chanyeol that are all on the ground.

“Is that any different from what you are doing?” Suho looks at Tao with a smirk.

“We defend ourselves.” Tao spits. “Every living creature would defend themselves when threatened.”

Suho snorts. “So you guys are the victims here? Don´t you think we´ve been through hell too?”

Suho, who seems to let his anger get the best of him, approaches Tao in a threatening manner. Tao doesn´t move, but his whole body language tells of how tense and ready to fight he is. It´s a bit comical how Suho is the one picking a fight, moving in close to Tao, while it´s actually Tao who´s taller and towers over the other. A grin makes the corner of Tao´s mouth move in a twitching manner. Suho raises his arm to hit him suddenly, and since Tao isn´t prepared, he braces to get hit.

Someone suddenly appears from the right. Both Sehun and Tao stop in their tracks and turn to look at whoever appeared. Eyes widen. Although the two men were able to spot him, and tried to evade the attack, both of them are hit and thrown to the ground. Tao, who knows he won´t be able to move much, groans as he once again rolls on the ground. Suho does the same, but is up quicker and gives the intruder a stare.

“Kris!” Suho grunts his name in pain.

“What are you doing here?” Tao asks in disbelief, suspicion and confusion.

“I came to stop you.” Kris tells them in a loud frustrated voice.

Kris´ face changes into sadness as he scans all 11 men with his eyes. All are hurt, bleeding, and close to exhaustion. Thoughts like how did it turn out like this? and weren´t we all friends once? seems to pass through the old leader´s mind at the sight.

“Stop us? You have no influence anymore.” Suho tells him as he foolishly tried to go back to fighting.

However, as he takes a step forward, his body objects and he falls to his knees. Kris turns to him, and gives him an indifferent glance. “Since I´m the only one left standing I guess I´m the winner.” Kris announces.

“Are you kidding me!?” Suho shouts wide-eyed.

“Whose side are you on?” Tao asks him boldly, but there´s a hint of fear in his voice.

“….I´m…. neutral.” He sighs, tired, as he gives Tao a glance.

Tao frowns as he grows irritated. “Are you Sweden or… Switzerland… or… what?”

Kris ignores Tao´s comment.“As the winner I decide that all gang activity will decrease.” His voice echoes between the walls.

“Why should we listen…?” Suho says through gritted teeth.

“So, are you saying you can get up and fight me?” Kris glares at Suho, who is clearly too tired to get up. “I guessed so.”

Suho turns quiet and looks down in shame. He is too tired to fight Kris in his current state, he is aware of that, and he won´t make a fool out of himself.

“No more fights. No more power struggle.” Kris continues as he looks at each and every one of the men in the factory . “Got it!?”

“….Yes.” Suho answers.

“….Yeah…” Tao answers, as his chest feels lighter. Is this the end? A fraction of a smile can be seen on the corner of his lips.

Kris nods, before he suddenly leans down to bring both of the men up on their feet again. Suho swallows his pride after some inner struggle. Tao eyes both Kris and Suho with suspicion in his eyes for a moment, before he looks at Lay and Chen for approval. Both of them nod with tired smiles on their faces.

“Shake hands.” Kris orders them sternly.

…And they do.

With a slightly trembling hand, Tao opens the door to the apartment and steps inside. The others follow silently, all of them are deadly tired after the fight. A pair of dark brown daunting eyes search the apartment for something and the last hint of worry fades as he spots what he was looking for laying at the sofa, sleeping.

Chen, Lay, Luhan and Xiumin take care of their injuries silently while Tao moves deeper into the apartment.

Tao takes of his leather jacket, dusts it off with his hand a bit, before he puts it over you gently. He does his best not to wake you up as he sits down at the edge of the cushion. A proud smile graces his lips as he looks at your sleeping face. With bruised fingers, he pushes your fringe out of your eyes.

“I´m home…”He whispers softly.