The place had a certain buzz, that Kian could not quite explain.
The gym he had entered had several people training in one big open room.
Equipment was organized along the walls of the room, and a boxing ring was located in the middle, which was currently not being used by anyone.
He looked around curiously, letting out his breath, unsure when he had started to hold back his breathing as he side-eyed the people around him.
Concentration, dedication, fierce looks and build bodies were spread around the equipment inside the place.
He felt as if they were all giving him scoffing side glances, as he was painfully aware of his scrawny looks, sticking out like a sore thumb next to these people.
For a moment his eyes darted back to the entrance with the thought of running off, inwardly laughing at his stupidity, having thought he could even stand next to the others in the room.
Flashes of clenched fists and the bottom of shoes bringing pain to his body filled his mind.
He had not been able to fight back... again.
He clenched his teeth. No... He had to stay in this place he admitted to himself, he had to give this a try.
'Thud'
Kian looked up at the sound, turning his head toward the source.
A tall guy was landing a right punch on a worn-out sandbag, the guy then shifted his stance back to hit the sandbag again, repeatedly.
A determined expression was engraved on the guy's face, and Kian reflectively looked away as if he was afraid to be seen staring at the guy.
He glanced back for a moment, the view of the young male making him sigh as he could tell they were possibly about the same age.
Yet this guy would not go down easily if he was the one to be singled out and attacked by many.
'I need to be that size too', he thought.
His bruises had barely healed as he touched the area on the side that had been kicked, flinching from the dull pain under the skin.
He thought back to the same morning and the unsaid words between him and his father were throbbing in his throat.
Why had his dad just left a note for him?
The note had had the address for the place, and as soon as he had entered through the door, he had known why.
His dad must have thought he was weak, why else send him here to this place?
Kian agreed, it was a fact he was weak.
His dad was getting tired of seeing him coming home with bruises, and every time it happened his dad would speak less and less to him until he was not coming home until late in the evenings.
The last beating had been about a week ago, and Kian had been hospitalized.
His dad had come to the hospital to see him, to almost immediately taking off again without returning.
Kian looked back at the tall guy his age, following the hand that was repeatedly punching the bag.
1..2..3...' thud' 1..2..3...' thud'.
The movements were fluid, and he found himself staring again with a jealous scowl, clenching his fist around the small piece of paper in his pocket.
"Gather up!"
A loud voice was heard, calling out to him and others around him.
"Stand in line the Coach will see You now".
A big burly man dressed in black shorts and a somewhat too tight orange tank top, stood in front of the group, crossing his arms, giving them all a menacing look.
"Y..yes".
Kian replied fast and stood next to a few other people he hadn't seen before, noticing the nametag on the tight tank top towering before him, reading; Assistant Coach.
'He is the coach?'
He stared at the burly man but was then drawn to small 'clack' sounds approaching, and behind the big man, a short old man was walking towards the group with a cane.
Old was not an overstatement and Kian was reminded of the old man selling street food at the corner of the convenience store near his house.
was he around 70 years old?..'
Kian's thoughts trailed off as the Coach stood before them all.
"Wipe that stupid grin off your face, are you looking down on the Coach?"
A giant shadow enveloped his vision, and Kian looked up to see the Assistant Coach staring him down.
Before he could answer the old Coach placed a hand on the man's arm, which seemed to make him back off, and Kian looked at the small grandpa with admiration, blurting out "No.. not at all".
'If only I had that respect, I wouldn't even be here,' he thought, seeing the respectful look the assistant coach was giving the old man.
The big burly man backed down, stepping back behind the Coach, without another word.
"You are all here to sign up for Our boxing training program".
The Coach stared them down one by one and continued.
"For whatever reason, you have come here, by the end of the day most of you will most likely not be back".
Small clacks were heard as the old man walked back and forth in front of the line of guys, all new to the gym, just like Kian.
"We will consider anyone of you a member if you show up for training again tomorrow morning".
A loud 'slap' was heard, as seemingly from out of nowhere, the old man smacked a pile of papers into the stomach of the Assistant Coach behind him.
Kian widened his eyes, seeing the huge man bend over with a strained expression, but without complaining grabbed the pile of papers, and started calling out names.
When names were called, people in the group would step forward to greet him, almost like a military salute, which seemed to appease the man.
'That man looks like he is made up of several boulders...connecting, creating a human shape that is moving.'
Kian eyed the stomach where a 6 pack was outlined under the fabric and held back a whistle.
'I need that kind of build to win…'.
He grimaced and pinched the skin on his stomach, making him face reality.
It would take more than just a few pushups to change this body.
The thought of his friends' fists meeting the assistant coach's abs made him smile, maybe they would think twice before pointing Their fists at someone like him.
Kian let out a small chuckle imagining his former friends yelling at the bulldozer-like human, that was the assistant coach, bumping into him on purpose to then blame him for being in their way.
The thought made him shake his head slightly at his own stupidity for thinking it, he would get his own revenge one day.
'Don't they say the best revenge is living well?' He was reminding himself.
The reality was that they were no longer his friends, and he wouldn't want to be either.
The way they treated others had changed after getting into high school or was it after he had confided in them?
Kian received a name tag and stuck it to his shirt, briefly reminded of his skinny self, when feeling his chest underneath the cloth.
The soreness he felt from the fading bruises, was courtesy of his so-called friends.
He cursed to himself seeing the obvious difference between the applicants next to him, now finally paying attention to the 3 other people in line with him.
His frame was almost half the size as theirs, and he looked like his body would snap in half if someone hit him.
He swallowed the curses in his throat, afraid to be heard by others, and remembered he had already felt like he had been snapped in two before.
His body had been hit several times the last 6 months, by the same 5 people every time, all of them an impenetrable wall between him and his previous best friend.
He scowled, one day he would punch those condescending expressions off those people's faces.
'Fuck them. This is why I am here... I want to.. no I NEED to change..'.
His hand was clenched tight in his pocket again, but he steadily looked at the coach to pay attention to what was being said.
Kian glanced to his side seeing two guys around his age, but with visible trained bodies.
The third person in the row was only bigger than him because of his weight on him, which didn't seem to have an ounce of muscle to it.
"This is Your first day, so we will start with some light warm-up, everyone go change and meet up outside for roadwork"
The Coach scuffed and walked away with a knowing grin that made Kian think of a card player with a good hand, making him wonder if 'light warm up' would really be so light.
He started heading to the locker, following behind the rest of the group, carefully passing the people in the gym, that were already doing their own training.
Several of them stopped with what they were doing to cast the new group of trainees, obvious condescending smirks.
Without much of a thought, Kian glanced back at the guy by the punching bag, only seeing the back of the guy, hearing the loud 'thuds' of impact as the punches connected.