With a blank expression on his face, Rahul touched his cheek where a glaring red palm print was.
"…You… slapped me?" He asked in disbelief.
Siddharth raised his brows at his expression of disbelief.
"Is it that hard to believe?" He asked, but then realised hit him.
"Ah! I understand now. You believe yourself to be some hotshot who can never be touched by anyone, right? That's why it's difficult for you to believe you just got slapped. Am I right?"
Before Rahul could react to his words, Siddharth grinned devilishly at him. "Let me make you believe it, then."
Saying this, he raised his hand and slapped his other cheek.
Slap!
Rahul didn't react. He continued to look at him in a daze. The two spectators, however, flinched when the second slap landed.
"Fuck! This guy is crazy! Doesn't he know who he is slapping?" One of them said and took a step toward Siddharth, "Let's stop him before he brings disaster to himself."
His friend, however, grabbed his hand and stopped him.
"He has already brought disaster on himself. Let's hurry and get out of here. I don't want this madman to come after us just because we have witnessed him being humiliated." The guy said with an anxious look on his face.
Seeing his expression, the first guy grew fearful and then they left the gym in a hurry.
After leaving the gym, he asked, "Are those rumours about that guy true?"
"Of course, they are. If they were not, why do you think everyone calls him a madman and maintains a distance from him? Heck, many people have stopped coming at this time and some have stopped coming to this gym altogether because of him."
"Those who come, they never try to make a move on the receptionist or go against him no matter what. Because everyone who has done either has vanished without a trace, never to be seen again. So, you can imagine what will happen to the guy who dared to slap him." His friend said.
"Why don't people complain about him?" The first guy asked.
"Complain? To whom?"
"To police?"
"A few tried, but the police refused to file a complaint against him. They blamed some random crime on the accusers and threw them in jail. Apparently, he has some very strong connections."
…
Inside the gym…
Slap!
Another slap resounded. Siddharth didn't stop and continued to slap him.
Normally, when he got angry, he would control it or kick or punch a wall at most. But that was mostly because he couldn't afford to do anything else.
Now, however, he wasn't the same cowardly Siddharth of the past. Despite this, he wouldn't be this angry if Rahul had just dropped the matter after he punched him in the gut. But this fool had to threaten him with his life, which caused his anger to explode.
How would he not be angry when someone threaten to kill him? Especially just when his life finally got on the right track and things were getting better?
After slapping him four times, he raised his hand to give him the fifth slap, but just then he heard a familiar but panicked voice.
"Stop!"
He turned his neck around and saw Divya rushing over with a horrified look on his face.
When Siddharth called her to bring clothes for him, Rahul had just arrived at the gym and was talking to her. She had excused herself and came over.
She wanted to just give him his clothes and quickly return so Rahul wouldn't target Siddharth like he had done with others who had previously talked to her.
But she hadn't expected Siddharth to suddenly transform into a handsome hunk, which caught her off guard. Even worse, Siddharth started flirting with her, which made her flustered.
After she had run out and came to her sense, she realized Rahul had gone inside. She panicked and hurriedly checked the live CCTV footage. She was shocked and panicked beyond belief when she saw Siddharth slapping him.
She was a kind woman and didn't want Siddharth to suffer, so she hurriedly ran inside to stop him from beating Rahul more and making the situation even worse. However, she already knew things had already gone out of control.
"Please stop. Don't hit him." She begged, grabbing his raised hand and pulling him up.
Siddharth frowned and was about to ask why when he 'heard' her thought.
[Why did he hit him? Now life is in danger. What should I do? Do I have to give myself to Rahul so he would spare Mr. Siddharth's life?]
'Hm? My life is in danger?' Siddharth raised his brows and glanced down at Rahul. 'Is this guy really some hotshot?'
Rahul, who was in a daze until now, snapped back to his senses when he heard Divya's voice. When he registered, he had been slapped and humiliated. He became furious. And when he realised his crush, Divya, had seen his pitiful self and saw her hold Siddharth's hand, he lost his mind.
"BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!" He growled. Jumping to his feet, he lunged at Siddharth, punching toward his face. By the time he shouted the last word 'YOU', his fist was right in front of Siddharth.
'He got faster?!' Siddharth's pupils constricted and, on reflex, he moved his head to the side. But he was a bit late, and Rahul's knuckles grazed his right cheek. Just this graze was enough to split his skin open and draw out blood.
'Damn! He is stronger, too. Did he go easy on me previously?' Sid thought.
Swoosh!
Right after the punch and before Sid could retreat or retaliate, Rahul took a quick step forward and threw a knee at his groin.
A savage expression appeared on Sid's face. He flung Divya, who was standing there in a daze—still holding his hand—away. Bringing his both hands together, he put all his physical strength on his elbows and struck the incoming knee.
Bang!
The elbows collided with the knee and pushed it back. The collision also made the duo flinch in pain, but both ignored it.
Rahul twisted his upper body and threw an uppercut at Sid's chin. Sid, however, didn't try to defend or attack. Instead, he chose to dodge and retreat since he was currently on the back foot and would only suffer if this continued.
"Where are you running, you bastard?!" Rahul shouted and chased after him, wanting to capitalize on his advantage.
Swoosh!
He threw another punch at Sid's face and because Sid was retreating backwards, his centre of gravity was off, making him unable to dodge.
Seeing the Rahul's fist growing bigger in front of his face, Sid brought hands up to defend and clenched his teeth to endure the pain he knew he would surely feel when the powerful punch crashed into his arms.
Just then…
Thud!
A palm appeared in front of him and blocked the fist as though it didn't have any strength behind it at all.
"Calm down, you two." A nonchalant voice sounded.
Rahul, who had gone berserk, immediately stopped in his tracks and looked at the person standing beside Sid with an apprehensive look on his face.
---
Volume 1, Man of two worlds complete.
Next volume: The true world.