My whole body was aching but in a good way.

I felt as if I could take on anyone even an army.

I grabbed my water bottle off of the table then walked over to the corner of the room and collapsed.  I hastily chugged from the water bottle which was exactly what I needed.

I needed to be careful not to push myself too far since Infinite's debut date was in two weeks. I couldn’t have another injury or worse pass out.

I looked down at my watch, there was only another hour left of free time. The rest of the members were sleeping in the next room but I couldn’t sleep not when debuting was so close.

The door slammed open shattering the quiet room.

A tall skinny figure ran into the room and fell to the floor. He kicked his feet against the floor and let out a muffled scream.

I slowly stood up then quietly walked over to the screaming boy.

“Are you okay Sungjong?” I asked bending over to see the crying boy.

“H-hoya,” he sputtered out as he quickly wiped away his tears.

“What are you doing kid?” I asked sitting down next to him.

“I-I was just getting some fresh air,” he replied sitting up.

“This is how you get fresh air,” I pointed out. “How is that working out for you?”

“Fine. I’m fine sorry for um interrupting you,” Sungjong apologized.

“It’s no problem kid but you're going to have to tell me what this is all about.  Is Sunggyu nagging you again?” I asked him hoping that I didn’t sound too pushy.

“No,” Sungjong swallowed.

“Then what is it? You can tell me?” I playfully shoved his arm.

“N-Nothing,” he sighed.

“Your words say nothing but your face says a whole lot more,” I told him.

“It’s j-just I don’t think I can do this,” the tears had started again. “I don’t think I’m g-good enough.”

“Good enough? Who told you that?” I asked crossing my arms.

“No one has to say it I just know,” he admitted. “Sunggyu and Woohyun hyungs are good at singing. Dongwoo hyung and you are good at dancing and rapping. Sungyeol hyung is tall and Myungsoo hyung is handsome. What am I supposed to be good at?”

“What does this have to do with not being good enough? Can’t you see you’re good at so many things. You’re tall and you have big eyes! Plus no one can deny the fact that you can dance,” I told him.

“That’s not true most of the steps look awkward when I do them,” he pointed out.

“Not last night when you did a cover of Girls Generations Gee,” I admitted. He was so on point that I forgot that I was watching a boy cover a girl’s song.

“That was only to make you guys laugh,” Sungjong sighed.

“So own it. Be the best male dancer who can dance girl group songs,” I told him.

“But the Hyungs will really make fun of me,” Sungjong winned.

“We only do it to show that we care,” I told him truthfully. We always teased Sungjong but we never meant any of it. “Listen Sungjong you wouldn’t have been in this group if you were horrible. Plus you’re still young which makes you dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

“Because one day you're going to leave all your hyungs in the dust,” I pointed out.

Sungjong smiled. “Your wrong hyung,”

“I’m wrong, come here you kid!” I shouted then I jumped on top of Sungjong and playfully pretend to hit his stomach. I could hear Sungjong laughing loudly and I knew everything was going to be alright.

Ouch.

I was looking at a calendar where a half- girl was sitting on a motorcycle.

How long have been staring at this wall blankly?

Why did my whole body hurt?

I blink which sent a shot of pain up my spine. Why does my face hurt as if I was ran over by a car?

My eyes scanned over the room most of it was covered by half girls. There was a small desk on the other side of the room that was covered with books and random pieces of paper.

Oh god what is that smell.

I covered my mouth as I stood up shakily.

Even my legs felt sore like I had just worked out and forgot to stretch.

Where was I?

I could hear grunting coming from behind a white door.

What?

My whole body was shaking as bad thoughts past through my mind.

How did I get here?

Should I try to leave?

Oh god it finally happened, some crazy fan has finally snapped and kidnapped me.

I bit the corner of my lip and grabbed ahold of the cold door handle and turned it.

The first thing I noticed was there was about nine or ten guys all sweaty and letting out grunting noises.  Most of them were standing in one spot swinging their arms back and forth as they hit a punching bag. Each punch they let out a grunt as the bag swung back. On the right side of the room was a boxing ring where two men were going at it. There was photos of boxers and girls posted on the wall.

What was this place?

I should leave?

I shouldn’t be in a place like this.

There was a loud bone crunch snap that sent my attention to the boxing ring..

I took a step closer.

A bald man who was much larger in size was holding a skinner man by his collar and smashing punches at his nose. His face was covered in red as he let out screeches of protest.

I could hear the crunching of bone even from where I stood.

I looked around the room to see that no one had taken notice that this guy was going to murder someone. They were all still hitting the punching bag or wrestling with their partner.

No one cared.

I took a step forward as my hand formed a fist.

“Like what you see?”

I turned my head to see a foreigner wearing a black hoodie and a pair of light blue jeans that clashed with his bright red shoes. His brown hair was placed in a ponytail that matched the freckles that covered his face.

“Elloo” I spoke in english.

He smiled at my broken english than shake his head.

“I can speak Korean,” he spoke with no accents whatsoever.

“What am I doing here? Aren’t you going to stop them?” I pointed over to the ring.

I knew I should be curious to why this man could speak Korean so well but I had so many questions that needed to be answered.

“Stop what?” he asked.

I looked over to ring to see the two men hugging as if they were two friends. They were both laughing as they exited the ring.

“But they were just,” I looked back at the guy who was just smiling as he shake his head.

“What type of place is this? Why am I here? Who are you?”

The man placed up his hand. “Woah slow down with all the questions. My name is Matt and you're at the cave.”

“The cave?” I repeated.

“Yes it’s full of sweaty men who uses their primal instincts so hence the name the cave,” he told me.

“So what am I doing here in your cave?” I asked him.

“What’s your name kid?” he asked me.

“Why?” I asked him.

“I told you my name now you should tell me yours?” he pointed out to me.

“Minwoo,” I lied.

“Well Minwoo you have quite a punch,” he replied placing his hand on his hip as he stared my body up and down.

“What does that-”

Then I remembered I was heading to go see Gwangsuk then I got into a fight.

I took a step backwards looking at the men who were now scarier than before.

“What do you want?” I asked him. “Why won’t you let me leave?”

“Leave? You can leave any time you want but before you do I want to talk to you,” he informed me.

“I don’t want to talk to someone who would beat up a poor kid,” I told him.

“Beat a poor kid,” he laughed. “That kid.”

He pointed to the right of the room where the guy from before was now laying on a couch reading a book. His face was black and blue but he was still laughing at what he was reading.

“But how...”

“To join the group you must do some sort of initiation,” he informed me.

“So you're a gang?” I asked him biting the corner of my lip.

“We’re not some sort of low rank gang that steals purses or prey on innocent women,” he informed me. “No we’re better than that.”

“How so?”

“We try to only fight inside of the ring,” he pointed towards the old boxing ring.

“So you're some t-type of um fight club?” I asked him.

“You could say that except everyone here is like family. We eat together, sleep under the same roof, and train together. We fight against different clubs in the area and if you win you get prize money. Of course I take some of your income for living expenses.”

“You want me to fight for you?” I asked in disbelief.

“Like I said before you have a good punch and with a little training you will be able to do wonders around here. Of course we can skip initiation since you already proved yourself,” he said grabbing my face to look closer at it.

I pushed his hand off. “Who said I wanted to fight?”

“I’ve been doing this for almost ten years and I know when someone has fire in their eyes. You son have enough fire in your eyes to light a whole city on fire,” he told me.

“Listen I don’t care about fire in my eyes or anything like that I just want to leave,” I told him.

It was the truth this whole situation made me feel uneasy as if in any second I would be carried off to a jail cell. This whole operation looked illegal and something I didn’t want to get involved in.

“Fine you can leave,” he stepped back as he pointed to the door on the other side of the room. “But before you leave promise me that you’ll think about it. Here take my card,” he told me handing me a white piece of paper.

“Fine,” I shoved the paper in my pants then I ran as fast as I could out the door. I swear I could hear some of the fighters laughing at me but I didn’t care. I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could.

I took a while to realize that I was only ten minutes from my house. I pulled out my phone from my hoodie and was glad that those thugs didn’t steal it. Except I was missing my gym bag and I doubt I would ever get that back.

I clicked the home button but my phone’s screen stayed black. I clicked again this time harder but still it stayed black.

.

It must have died while I was passed out.

The skies were now turning black and I knew I was already late coming home.

My Father is going to kill me.

How am I going to explain this?

I looked into the driveway’s safety mirror and stared at the man who didn’t look like me.

The right side of my cheek was swollen and black, blue and a little purple. My lip was now swollen and had a little cut in the middle.

I knew I was involved in a fight but I looked horrible.

How was I going to explain this to my Father?

.

I placed my hood up and started to make my way towards my house. If I kept my head down and lock myself in my room no one would know.

No one will notice.

I open the front door and quietly took off my shoes. I could hear my mother cooking in the kitchen and Hojae playing video games in the living room.

I quietly made my way through the hallway praying that no one would notice me.

My heart was beating quickly as I passed the living room with my head down.

A couple more steps and I would be in my room.

“Howon put down your hood when you’re in the house,” I heard my father say then suddenly the hood was ripped off of my head.

“Appa!” I shouted as I turned around to face my Father.

.

!

My Appa’s eyes grew wide.

“What’s wrong with your face!” he shouted.

I turned around covering my face with my hands.

“Nothing,” I replied.

My Father grabbed my arm and turned me back around.

“What’s wrong with Howon-“ my mother stopped as she looked at my face. The cup of water she was holding splattered against the ground.

“Umma are you okay?” Hojae ran out of the living room. He bent down and picked up umma’s cup and handed it to her.  “Are you okay?”

He turned his head and looked at me then did a double take. “What the hell happen to you?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

“What did you do Howon?” my father asked me.

“Why do you think I did anything?” I questioned him.

“You had to say something to end up like this,” he scolded me as he pointed to my face.

“This isn’t my fault,” I shouted pointing to my eye.

My Father crossed his arms and let out a sigh.

“Why don’t you tell us what happen?” my umma said grabbing my arm.

“No so he can blame me more?” I asked.

“Howon I’m not going to blame you,” my appa told me.

I crossed my arm, “You’ve been scolding me for everything since I got here!”

“Stop being so sensitive!” my appa shouted.

“I’m not being sensitive I’m being honest. Do you even want me here! Sorry I don’t have a stable career like Hyojin or choice the life of a soldier. I’m sorry that your son is an entertainer. Can’t you see how well I’m doing because of all the hard work! Most parents would be proud if their child were in my spot. But you don’t care you’ve never cared because I didn’t want to be like you. I never want be like you!” I yelled trying to hold in the tears.

Slap.

It came so fast that I wasn’t even ready for it. Pain was pounding from my cheek as quiet tears slid down my face.

“Appa!”

“Yeobo!”

“Howon I didn’t mean-“

I pushed past my father ran towards the front door. I grabbed my shoes and ran barefoot onto the streets. I didn’t know where I was going but I couldn’t be here.

What was I doing here?

How did I get here?

I bit the corner of my lip as I held onto the pay phone tightly.

This was wrong but it’s cold outside.

Ringgg….Ringgg….Ringg….” Hello?”

“Matt this is Minwoo,” I replied.

“Ah Minwoo I knew you would call,” he replied.

Oh that’s right I didn’t want to be homeless but I couldn’t go home.

There was bright lights’ blocking my view of the whole room. People were screaming which I was used to but this was for something completely different.

It was as if they were egging me on to kill someone.

I need to leave like right now.

“Are you ready?” Matt asked as he finished strapping on my gloves.

“I feel like I’m going to puke,” I told him truthfully.

“Do it after the game,” he told me.

I nodded my head.

He playfully slapped my arm. “You’ll do fine!”

Why did I feel like he was lying?

“Oh one more thing,” he leaned in closer. “There aren’t any rules or time outs. So give ‘em hell kid.”

Authors Note:

So after writing and editing this whole chapter I realized that it was Sungyeol’s chapter not Hoya’s. Opps! I hope you guys aren’t that disappointed. Next chapter will be Sungyeol’s! Well enjoy and thank you for reading.

-Morgan