“Wha-?”

“Follow me” he said. I blinked several times to let my eyes adjust to the brightness. As my eyes finally adjusted, I looked up around the so-called arena, my jaw dropping along the process. Why is there a coliseum here?

There were I think hundreds or even thousands of people inside, all facing the center. I tiptoed to see what’s going on. I saw a caged ring in the middle.

“So, Kwon Jiyong is really involved in undergrounds fights?” I asked aloud but no answer came. I panicked but when I looked up, I saw Seungri’s face amidst the crowd.

I squeezed myself through the crowd to keep up with Seungri. He walked to a different direction, through a door at the left. He left the door open for me to come in. I can hear laughter from the inside. As soon as I entered the room and Seungri closed the door, the laughter died down. All eyes were on me – five pair of eyes to be exact.

“What are you doing?” one of the girls asked.

“She wanted to talk to Jiyong” Seungri answered. “Oh come on guys, don’t give me that look. I just thought it’d be funny to bring her here. I mean look at her, really LOOK at her”

I felt their heavy gazed upon me again. Then they started laughing. I felt hear crawled to my cheeks.

“Seriously?” the taller girl laughed. “A garlic necklace?”

“She even brought a bible and rosary!” the chinky-eyed guy added, though his tone was more surprised and amazed than insulting.

“Let’s scoot out!” the shorter girl announced, laughing. “Nice joke, Seungri”

The four of them went out, closing the door behind them. I was left alone with Kwon Jiyong, who was grinning from ear to ear.

“You look like sh*t” he chuckled.

“It’s really rude to-“

“- curse in front of a girl” he finished, rolling his eyes. “So, why are you here?”

“I want to talk to you”

“Let me guess, if I say I don’t want to talk you, you’ll insist, right? And if I ask you to leave, you won’t?”

“That’s right”

“Get on with it then” he said and leaned against the wooden table, arms crossed.

“I’m. . . .” I trailed. Why am I suddenly going blank? Ugh! I don’t even know where to start. “Why did you-?”

“-kill Yunhwan?”

My eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t going to ask about that. I already know the truth. He died from snake bite”

His face went blank and then he sighed. “Take that off your neck”

“I’d rather not” I said. His face lit up with amusement as he straightened up and walked towards me. I instantly froze. He stopped a few inches from me. His hand reached out and took the “necklace” off me.

“You really look stupid” he said with all seriousness. He backed off, tossing the thing aside. “Does Jaejoong know you’re here?”

I flinched guiltily. “No”

He nodded slowly. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Are you. . . are you angry at me?”

He stared at me with disbelief written all over his face. “You came all the way here just to ask me that?”

“I know I’m quite annoying sometimes but. . . . when you were fighting with Yunhwan and the time when I followed you at school, you snapped. I’m also sorry for what Jae did to you; he just got mad with what he saw. I know you didn’t mean it and I just want to know why you did it. Did something happen?”

“Jesus!” he breathed. “Can you hear what you’re saying? You sounded like you’re defending me. I already told you, I AM the person everyone thinks of. I’m actually much worst than that, Dara. I-“

“Not everyone” I quietly cut off. “I don’t think you’re like that”

“Huh! Do you want me to kill you too so you’ll believe me?”

I shook my head. “You can’t”

“Don’t underestimate what I CAN do”

“I’m not underestimating anything; I’m merely saying my opinion”

“Was me slapping you and half-strangling you NOT enough proof?”

“I believe something might have happened to make you act that way” I reasoned.

“You don’t really give up, do you?”

“No” I firmly answered.

His jaw clenched and for a moment, I was sure he was going to argue hen, he sighed. “You’re leaving me no choice, then”

“What are you-?”

He put his arm on my shoulder and pulled me with him to the door. Once again, the deafening shouts of the people overwhelmed me.

“I got a match” he said. “I’ll walk you to your car after. Wait for me”

I felt my heart skipped a beat. Why did he change all of the sudden? “Are we friends now?”

He chuckled. “Consider this night as a prize”

“A prize?”

“Yes” he grinned. “For making my friends laugh out loud like that. I haven’t seen them so amused for. . . quite some time now”

He led me to where the others were, ordering me to stay put. He disappeared through the crowd after that.

“I thought the cops already raided-?”

“No” Seungri answered. “The place they raided was far from here”

“We just did that for fun” the chinky-eyed guy said. “We just wanted to know what it feels like to be in jail. Plus, we wanted to see what Jiyong would look on television. I’m Youngbae by the way”

“I’m-“ I started, lifting my hand up for a handshake.

“We already know who you are” the tall girl cut off. “You’re Jiyong’s neighbor”

“This is Bom and this is CL” Seungri introduced.

“Hi” I greeted. They didn’t greet me back. I turned back to the boys since they seemed to be more accommodating. “So, you just got yourselves in jail for fun?” I cleared.

“Yep” Youngbae answered.

“You’re crazy” I exhaled.

“Not as crazy as you” Bom snided.

“Don’t mind her” Seungri said and leaned down on my ear. “She’s having her period that’s why she’s being cranky”

“Oh” I mumbled. “So, how does this whole match thing work?”

“You can use any fighting style you want” Youngbae joined in. “No age and gender limits”

“If you can’t go on, just say ‘I quit’ and the match will end” Seungri added.

“And of course, there’s some bet involved, too”

“Do you guys always bet on Jiyong?” I asked.

“Err, no” Seungri said. “he always quit in the middle if he finds the fight boring or if he finds his opponent not worthy. No one bets on him nowadays but the people love him. He’s one of the best”

“But what’s in it for him? And how can he be the best? He’s not that well-build” I asked.

“It’s because Jiyong’s not-“

I wasn’t able to hear the rest of Seungri’s words as the crowd erupted to a chorus of shouts. I looked up and saw Kwon Jiyong up in the ring. He had his shoulder-length hair tied in a ponytail. He was shirtless, making me gasp as I saw the scars across his chest and tummy. As he made a circle around the area, I found out that there were also scars at his back.

“What happened to him?” I asked aloud but no answer came. Everyone else had their eyes and ears on the ring. I was surprised as I watched him move around the cage. He seemed at ease, relaxed. He was even smiling! He doesn’t appear rude and brooding to me.

He smirked and raised his hand, inviting his opponent to come near him with his middle finger. I grimaced at this. With a cry of war, his opponent attacked but he quickly dodged and avoided the person. He smirked again.

“Is that all you gout?” he asked loudly and arrogantly opened his guard. “Come on, big guy. You’re going to let a skinny teenage boy like me humiliate you?” he finished loudly. It’s as if he’s speaking on a megaphone.

“He’s going to chest. That guy’s too big for him” I heard Seungri said to Youngbae.

“Jiyong don’t cheat” Bom knowingly said.

“He will” Seungri insisted, then turned to me. “What do you think?”

“Think of what?” I asked back.

“Do you think Jiyong will cheat?”

“Err, how can he cheat a big guy like that?”

“he’s going to use-“

“Seungri!” three voices stopped him.

“What?” Seungri chuckled. “I’m just having fun. And did you really think I’ll tell her?”

“Tell me what?”

“That you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen” Seungri grinned. “Oops, me and my big mouth!” he added, pretending to look horrified and embarrassed. I can’t help but feel different towards him now. I don’t think I can hate him, really.

The crowd suddenly erupted to a series of boos. We all looked back at the ring and saw that Jiyong was going out of it already.

“What happened?”

“It’s already done?”

“He quit already”

I looked around and saw Jiyong going our way.

“What the hell?” Bom asked. “You didn’t evens tay for like five minutes in there”

“Maybe he got scared” Seungri teased.

“It’s getting late” Jiyong answered. “I still need to walk Dara to her car”

“Seriously?” CL snorted. “What are you, a babysitter?”

I blushed. “I can walk to my car alone”

“Are you sure?” Jiyong asked.

“O-of course” I stammered. Me and my pride! Argh! Of course it’s not okay with me! Come on, insist that you’ll walk me to my car!

“She looks pale” Seungri noticed. “I can drive you home if you want”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll just. . . just go ahead”

“Okay” Bom said.

“Goodluck on your way up” CL snorted.

“I hope you won’t get lost” Seungri added.

“Take care” Youngbae joined. I managed to smile at Youngbae. At least he was polite. I turned to Kwon Jiyong but he just stood there, arms crossed on his chest.

“B-bye!” I waved at him then turned to leave. Aigoo! I feel so stupid for coming here! I haven’t even gotten the answer to my question. And I don’t really want to ask him in front of his friends, especially in front of Bom and CL. They seemed. . . hostile.

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