Part Twenty-Four: Hoya
The Words Unsaid
Part Twenty-Four
Hoya
Happy One Year!!
Reminder:
Hoya lied about his real name and he is going by Minwoo.
Don’t show any fear.
I threw a jab smacking him roughly on the cheek. He grunted as he threw his head back wincing at the pain.
One more.
One more time Hoya.
I could hear the crowd screaming encouraging me to hit once again.
I cocked my fist back and with all my might I sent it forward.
His nose made a sickly cracking noise when I made contact then suddenly he was on the dirty ground and the crowd was screaming even louder.
I let out my breath as I step back staring down at my opponent. He was bloody and I assumed that I was too but it didn’t matter because I had won.
“There you go Minwoo!” Matt shouted as he pushed his way into the ring.
The rest of the members of cave were around me clapping their hands against my back.
“Good job! I knew you could do it!” Matt shouted then he hugged me tightly.
For once again in my I felt like I was a part of something big something that was bigger than me.
“A thousand dollars and that was just for a low ranking fight,” Matt pointed out as he pulled away from me.
“So I did good?” I looked up at him smiling even thought it hurt.
“Yes you did!” he laughed. “Now let’s get out of here and get some food!”
The cave members shouted as we exited the ring. I looked over to see that the opponent’s team members were now surrounding him.
“Don’t worry about them,” one of the cave members said as he patted me on the back. “It was a fair fight!”
I knew that but why did I feel guilty? I knew that my opponent wouldn’t take a second look if I was in his position.
“Minwoo you have a call,” Joonshu one of the youngest members told me.
“Thanks,” I grabbed my phone from him and placed it up to my ear.
“We will meet you in the locker room,” Matt told me then he and the rest of the family entered the shared locker room.
“Can we go to Norebang afterward?” Joonshu whined as he entered the room.
Soon it was quiet something that I hadn’t experience in a while. Living with twenty different boys was messy and too loud at times but I liked it.
“Hello?” I said.
“H-Hoya?” a voice sounded strange but it seems very familiar.
“Who is this?” I asked then I looked down at the phone number but it was nothing I recognized.
“It’s me Hojae. I thought I had the wrong number some kid called you Minwoo,” Hojae rambled on.
“I’m hanging up,” I sighed.
“Wait please don’t hang up!” he plead.
I gritted my teeth using all my power to not throw the phone on the ground. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“Please just listen to me. Appa didn’t mean to hit you! He would never hurt any of us you know that right?” he pointed out.
I rolled my eyes not wanting to deal with this right now. I just won another match and I should be in the locker room celebrating.
“Just get to the point,” I scoffed.
“We want you to come home. Appa has a really good job set up for you and it will make Umma feel better that your home.”
I would never put on a suit and sit in a stuffy office all day. Just the thought of it made my skin crawl.
“Tell Umma I’m doing fine,” I told him. “Tell Appa that I’m not coming back home just to work in an office.”
“But you don’t understand we-“
“Listen Hojae I get it that you want to fix things but it’s too late. Just go back to your perfect life!”
I hanged up the phone and placed it in my pocket. I had to remember to tell Joonshu not to answer any calls from my family members while I was fighting.
I open the doors to the lockers and was about to join the cheering when I saw something that stopped me in my tracks.
There they were my new family all sitting around in a circle as if they were worshiping a devil. I guess in a way they were because in the front of them laid a small table with a metal platter on top. Matt grabbed ahold of a needle and slowly placed it into one of the fighters cheek. Once he injected the fighter he called the next person to bend over to receive the shot.
“Oh Minwoo,” Matt smiled standing up with the needle still in his hand.
“What are you doing?” I asked even though I knew the answer.
“The winner should go next,” Joonsu shouted from the back of the line.
My heart dropped even Joonsu was behind this too.
“I need to go,” choked out then I took off running out of the room.
“Minwoo,” Matt called after me.
If it wasn’t for the fact that I had just fought for my life a couple minutes ago I would have out ran him. But I was already aching and it didn’t take long for Matt to reach me.
“Minwoo,” he called for me grabbing my arm.
“Let go,” I shoved him off.
“Why are you so upset? Everyone is going out to eat lets head back and meet them,” Matt suggested as if I didn’t walk in on him injecting the fighters.
“Why am I so upset,” I turned around and looked at him. He was sweaty but he still held that bright smile. “You’re cheating!”
“Ah you’re upset about that?” Matt sighed.
“Yes!” I shouted.
“Come on Minwoo it’s not cheating when everyone is doing it,” he told me.
“I’m not and I can win my fights fair and square,” I pointed out.
“Yes you won this time but what about next time? We both know you barely survived that fight so what happens next time? When you lose you are wasting our money which means we can’t eat or-“
“Shoot up?” I interrupted.
“Yes shoot up if you want to put it that way but what makes you think that your opponent wasn’t doing just that?” he pointed out.
“But I wasn’t,” I told him crossing my arms.
“Yes you weren’t but imagine if you were? With your skills you would never lose a fight,” he pointed out.
“Yeah I would just get a heart attack and die,” I snapped.
“Woah Minwoo this isn’t any type of drug. It’s better than steroids or any other performance drug. It’s called the boost and it will take you to the next level. It will make you faster, stronger and more importantly give you more stamina. You could fight three rounds and not even feel a sweat!” he informed me raising his arms in the air.
“What about side effects?” I asked him because there had to be a catch.
“Some people’s hands shake while others do not,” he told me.
“Is that it?” I asked him because I was sure that he wasn’t telling me something.
“There is also a change you will experience an infection if the shot are not performed right. But I swear that no one has gotten sick in the club,” he promised me. “Lastly if you inject too often then you have a slight chance of well dying.”
“No. There is no way that I’m going to do that!” I pointed out. There is no coming back from dying!
“No one in our family had died!” he pointed out.
“I can do it without it,” I shouted pushing myself away from him.
“Just think about it,” he pointed out as I started to run.
♦♦♦♦♦
I didn’t think about the drug until the day I lost my first match.I knew it was going to happen someday but I was dreading the day it would happen. There was nothing that I could do against this guy. His name was Park Chen and he was a monster. His arms were the size of my head and that was saying something. He was fast even faster then me. Each punch I threw he threw three back. It didn’t long for me to fall on the cold floor and in the split second I wonder how I looked to everyone else.
Did I look pathetic?
I sat up which maybe wasn’t that good of an idea because suddenly I saw a fist flying towards my face. I closed my eyes tightly and let my body fall to the ground.
As I laid there I could hear the silence then suddenly cheers. They were cheering because I lost because I was hurt.
“Winner Park Chen!” someone screamed as I laid there.
The crowd cheered as I picked myself up. I expected someone to come to me and see if I was alright but the rest of my family was now heading to the locker room.
I pushed through the crowd exhausted while trying not to bleed on random people. My nose hurt and I couldn’t feel my right arm but I knew I needed to get to them.
I had disappointed them but maybe if I explained that it wasn’t my fault they would understand.
“I’m sorry,” was the first thing I told them. They didn’t say anything and kept walking into the locker room.
“What are we going to have for dinner, I’m starving?” I asked them and once again they acted as if I wasn’t there.
“Minwoo why don’t you get lost,” someone said and I turned my head to see who but they were all quiet again.
“What? Come on guys you saw that other guy. He was twice my size!” I pointed out.
“Minwoo,” a voice said and I turn to see Matt.
“You know why they’re upset?” he asked me.
“Because I lost but Joonha lost yesterday too,” I pointed out because it wasn’t like we always won all our fights.
“Yes he lost but he’s a lot younger and cuter then you so it’s different. Also considering that we lost out on eight thousand dollars and Joonha lost us fifty dollars,” he pointed out.
“I’ll work harder and show them that it was just a mistake,” I promised him.
“You can work harder but that doesn’t change the fact that your brothers are hungry and you lost them a meal,” Matt told me crossing his arms
“But we still have money right?” I asked looking around the room.
“We used it to pay for the gym and I had to pay for Hoon’s hospital bill for his nose. So no Minwoo we don’t have any money.”
I looked at each of their faces and I felt destroyed because I honestly didn’t mean to lose it just happen.
“You better go,” Matt told me.
“What?” I asked shocked.
“We can’t feed another mouth let alone a losing mouth,” he told me looking disappointment.
“But-“
“Just go before you make a fool of yourself,” Joonha shouted from the floor.
“Fine if that’s the way you want it,” I sighed then I walked out of the locker room calmly.
Where was I going to go?
♦♦♦♦♦
I was walking the streets with no idea where I was going to go.Do I go home?
No I can’t not after talking to my brother.
I needed to make things right with them but how?
How can I take back that fight?
I couldn’t but I could do something to change their mind.
Food.
That’s the one thing they each cherished even more than fighting.
I patted my pocket realizing that I had no money and even if I did I wouldn’t have enough for all twenty fighters.
What am I going to do?
“OMO are you Hoya?!” someone screamed.
I turned around to see a girl with long black hair and tan skin staring at me. She was wearing a skinny jeans and a black Infinite sweatshirt.
“Your Hoya right!?” she asked me in a thick accent.
No.
“Yes,” I smiled flakily.
She jumped up and down letting out a scream. “I’m such a huge fan!”
“Thanks!” I laughed.
She stopped jumping and looked me up and down. “But what happen Oppa?”
.
I had forgotten that I was covered in blood and cuts.
“I eh got mugged,” I lied.
She gasped while covering with her hands. “Omo are you okay Oppa?”
Say yes.
“No. You see they stole my money so I can’t afford a taxi or food,” I lied.
When did I become such a good liar?
She frown then the girl reached into her pocket book and pulled out a wad of money. She glanced at the money one more time before she handed it to me.
“Here oppa! It’s only hundred dollars but that should help right!?” she told me.
“But I eh-“
“I know you can’t accept it but just take it. You can pay me back later,” she winked. “That way I can see you again.”
“I eh I mean okay,” I sputtered out then placed the money in my back pocket.
I shouldn’t have taken it and everything in my brain was telling me to hand it back but I couldn’t.
“Yuna!” a voice scream making the girl jump.
“Ah! I have to go! Bye Oppa I hope you get home safely,” she told me taking a step back.
“Wait Yuna!” I called after her making her scream.
“I eh don’t tell anyone about this you know how rumors are started. This could ruin my career,” I told her because it was true. An idol gets mugged and takes money from fans. Not exactly the best news for an idol.
“You got it,” she agreed then took off in the opposite direction.
Just like that I had succeeded.
♦♦♦♦♦
I promised myself that I would make it up to the girl in any way I could even though I knew I would never see her again. I knocked on the door before opening it.
The members of the Cave were sitting on couches watching a drama. It was only till I closer that I realize what they were watching.
!
I ran forward throwing myself in front of the TV making the fighters shout in protest.
“I ah!” I shouted hoping they didn’t see the scene. It was of my cast members from Answer 1997 on the set of Reply 1994. We were on a bus reliving our famous characters one last and it as one of my favorite moments. But not now when I’m trying to pretend I’m someone else.
“I thought I told you to leave?” Matt stood up from his seat.
“You did but I thought you guys might be hungry,” I smiled as I brought the food in front of me.
The fighters shouted then suddenly the bags were ripped from my hands and the wolves I mean members were consuming the food.
“Ah so you found another way back?” Minwoo asked wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
“Yeah I just thought I should do something to make it up to you guys,” I told him my voice quivering.
“Oh yeah,” Matt said while he looked at the members eating happily.
I took a deep breath because I knew I was going to regret what I was about to say next.
“So about that drug...”
Matt’s attention turned to me quickly. “Are you in?” He smiled widely.
I nodded.
Matt let a hoot and brought me into a tight side hug.
“Now your apart of the family,” he told me.
For some reason after I agreed these members did really feel like a family.
Maybe I’m where I belong after all?
♦♦♦♦♦
Hello everyone!
So a year ago I posted this story! Happy one year birthday! So I want to thank those who have been there for me since the start and those who are just joining. I’m glad that you are enjoying my story. From the start I have been very scared to write online but you guys have given me the confidence to do so. I just want to say thank you and I really love you guys!
-Morgan
Ps. By the way vocab will be put up tomorrow. I literally wrote and edit this story within 2 hours! Yuck!
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