this was the second time he’d ever left someone else other than himself in care of his hands, whether they were already torn apart or on their way to be. but it was remarkably funny, though, that he could easily tell those two times apart from the other. this time it was much more aggressive and a little rough around the edges, though he could understand that she were no professional and that his time was quickly running out with each heavy tick tok on the clock—the total contrary of the first time, as the stranger was much more hesitant and gentle around someone like him ( who seemed like they could snap and bite at any second), where they had all the time in the world to pick out the small pieces of glass which still remained from the fight and wash away the blood that stained and dried everywhere.
why was he such a huge, violent pain in the ass to deal with all the time anyway? it was always something, things that he really could not avoid after years of trying behind the curtains. of course, in the end he’d grown accustomed to it all, like the fresh scent of dripping blood, the stinging of the bruises on his body and the pulsing in his veins whenever the crowd roared in either anger or triumph along with him, his ears tingling from the unbearable feeling eating away at his tightening chest. he breathed out a sigh. life, oh life.
curling up the length of his now- free, half- wrapped up fingers, jiyoung then brought his entirely balled up fist upwards for his own eyes to see as he briefly focused on examining her handiwork, and couldn’t help but to crack a little smile at how tight she’d managed to wrap it all up for him through the process of his far away thoughts. it was fairly tight, but not uncomfortable at all which was good for protection during the first fight of the night, maybe. through the thrill and the rising tension after each win or loss, there was never any time to re-wrap or fix anything but his breath. so by the third round he would already be bare-fisted, bruised and bloody. and if he were a little luckier than usual, sporting a dislocated finger if not a little broken. superb, right? not really. those were one of the worst things that could ever happen to you in a fight besides an innocent broken nose.
“yeah, i have to change and get a little warm up. i believe they haven’t done the opening yet anyway, and i don’t start out either so i’ve got a little more time. i want you to find a good spot, where no one can really touch you and something of the sort, so you’d better get going before the place gets full soon.” once she’d finished and stood back to her feet, he followed right after to move back to his bag to grab for whatever he was going to grab at that very moment, as it was instantly forgotten the second her arms found their way around him and her hand tapped encouragingly at his behind, a great company to the words she’d spoken in between it all. good luck out there, and don’t get hurt too badly. jiyoung shook his head in attempt to hold back a grin, which resulted in a half-softened smile in return. as if.
“i know what you mean.” he hummed lowly with a slight nod of his head, loosely flinging his arms around her shoulders for a quick squeeze before she could pull back to find the door. “don’t get lost out there, remember what i had told you. plus, make sure to keep your eyes on me, and the thought of this being something actually real in your head. watch closely, yuaelgi.” retreating a quick step back from her, he brought up a hand and gently tapped two fingers at the very center of her forehead; once, twice, trice. this is real and you have been warned, there’s no turning back now. for neither of us. and he was going to make sure to keep his eyes off of her for as long as he could manage without getting distracted by those eyes, so he wouldn’t lose to the expected expression on her face. never.
“now out you go, angel. don’t forget i’ll be watching over you from beginning ‘til the end, so rest assured and watch me do what i do best.”
just like that—so simply he’d twisted and worded his actual thoughts into something more than less obvious to her, or so he’d hoped he’d done to keep her calm. if anything should happen to you, just call for me and i’ll forget about everything to come for you, and we both know what happens to anyone nearby when i get there. “meet me back here when it’s over. i’ll treat you to something sweet, maybe.”
once the door had finally shut closed behind him with a soft click, jiyoung instantly found his bag and began to dig for his shorts and his ankle supports, everything black in colour. it didn’t take too long to peel off the current pieces of clothing which clung to his body, and replace them with just what he’d retrieved from his bag at first. after everything was on, folded and put away into a zipped up backpack, he stood still for a moment to breathe in and out and stretch the tight wraps around his hands, then his arms with the regular amount of died out punches which he always threw at a nearby wall as a warm up accompanied with swift dodges, blocks and uppercuts, followed by firm kicks at all kinds of accurate angles he could come up with at that moment, focusing on a vaguely thought out opponent to thoroughly loosen all of himself up for better flexibility and agility later on, and hoping for yet another win tonight.
after a while that seemed to last longer than expected came a heavy knock on the wooden door of his room, and jiyoung knew it was time to go out to the front when the sound of a voice behind it had caught his half-deaf ears. quickly double-checking to make sure that everything was all set and neatly put away, he casually tossed a towel around his neck while pulling open the door to greet the elder man that soon came into view before him, his usual escort and former martial arts “teacher” figure. of course he did whine about him being late this time, though in the end still told him for how much he were fighting for tonight—how much money was bet onto his shoulders tonight. it was a lot.
“you already know how it goes, though, kid. don’t hold back. you’re tough.” and so with a hard pat of encouragement on the back, jiyoung was finally brought back and out into the familiar world which sat bright and solid behind the large metal doors, the rising jeers and cheers of the crowd dying out in his ears but humming aloud in his chest. hoisting up his chin and dropping his expression just like they liked it, he casually sauntered along the path of the red carpet which lead to the large ring in the middle of the arena. not once did he dare steal a glance along the crowds, though, silently dreading the moment of meeting her eyes in this place right before he’d let loose everything he’d been hiding underneath that hard surface of his shell all this time. i hope you are ready for this.
