BANG
"YOU LOST EVERYTHING!?"
A bang, followed by a scream, echoed from inside the office. Tai Lung nearly splits the desk in front of him in half.
"Do you think money grows on trees? How did you manage this feat so quickly, if... you imbecile!" Enraged, the veins in his neck bulged beneath his skin and his face turned red.
Li couldn't lift his head, ashamed to meet the man's gaze.
"Father, I already told you; it was an accid…"
"I'm tired of your excuses! Something always happens, you ALWAYS have some justification, how is it never your fault?"
"But this time it really..." Li thought but didn't dare to speak.
At this point, he knew it wouldn't be good for him to insist on the matter. In fact, this time it really hadn't been entirely his fault, but how was he going to explain that to his father? He didn't even know exactly what had happened.
"I had a 'headache' while gambling and passed out. I got kicked out and woke up in a hospital with not a penny to my name..." he thought. "If I were in his place, I wouldn't believe a story like that either."
"I'm sorry, father..." he whispered, loud enough for the man to hear.
"I've understood, I've understood" he sighed "Now go to your room to rest, you have a fight in a few hours."
"About that…"
After what happened at the casino and in the hospital, Li began to have doubts about the fight. Although he had never fixed results, it's not like he had never done anything similar.
More than once, he had let himself take some hits. He lost a round or two to skew the odds. It's like when a team concedes a goal in a soccer match. The chance of them winning the match becomes much lower, causing the multiplier for the disadvantaged team to increase. So, if that team, for example, turns the game around and wins, the bettor earns much more.
Li never cared for betting on his fights; the feeling was different, as in this case the victory or defeat depended on him, which isn't the same thing, since the risk is much greater when the outcome isn't in his hands.
"Can't we do it like before? Maybe stage it a bit more?" Li suggested, knowing that, being something, he had done before, it wouldn't be too difficult to repeat.
"Stage it?" Tai Lung chuckled. "No way, kid, we're aiming for a complete defeat."
"What? A K.O.?" Li quickly showed his dissatisfaction with the idea, cutting the man off.
"But won't that make my professional life much harder? Father, I can't…"
"Jihan was interrupted by a large hand that grabbed his shirt and lifted him off the ground."
"Listen here, punk!"
Tai Lung's voice was different, cold. Fear crawled up Li's neck, freezing him.
"You'd better not try to screw me over! You're forgetting your position here."
A shiver ran down his spine; he had never seen Lung like that.
"I'm not your "daddy" or anything like that, you're mine! Everything you are, everything you have, comes from my pocket! I own you, punk. You'd better NOT try to screw me over!"
Releasing the collar of his shirt, Li, his legs failing him, fell to the ground.
"Things have changed now... you'll do as I say, when I say until you pay me back for everything you owe me, and only then will you be able to choose what you want to do or not, do we understand each other?"
"Y... Yes."
"Yes?"
" Yes, sir, I understand! " Li lowered his head.
"That's right..." he laughed "Although, with the way things are going, you'll only leave here in a decade or more! " Tai Lung gave a malicious smile. "Now get out of here! You have a long night ahead."
Li turned around and quickly left the office. Shortly after, the man picked up his phone and dialed a saved number.
"Hey, it's me."
"Mr. Lung, what do I owe the pleasure?" A robotic voice responded from the other end.
"I want to know if the proposal is still on the table…"
"Of course, but what happened? I thought you weren't willing to lose your "gem"."
"Well, I'm willing now. I don't think I owe an explanation."
"You don't. Very well, do you have any preference for the day?"
"After today, as soon as possible."
"Perfect. Good decision, Sir." The voice on the other end hung up after finishing speaking.
"If you want to blame someone, blame yourself, kid."
__________________________________________________________________
As Li left the office, he headed to the arena's storage room. Stepping through the door, he passed by the objects and equipment used for both training and other tasks. At the back of the room, there was an old bed and a desk.
Jihan didn't take long to decide to leave home, but he always cherished this place, this small corner where he had spent most of his life. He lay down and stared at the ceiling, not knowing what to do.
Since the night before, his thoughts had been becoming clearer. Whenever he thought about the pain he felt at the casino, his mind seemed to clear up; as if it knew the answers to all his pains... even if it didn't. It was more of a feeling than an idea... how should he take something from this?
"Maybe I should just give up and live the way I'm living now..."
KNOCK KNOCK
"Li, are you in there?"
"Jhin?" He immediately recognized the voice.
"Go away, I'm not in the mood for training now." Said Li. "And even less for listening to complaints from an old man who knows nothing"
Outside, Jhin chuckled.
"I don't eat and breathe training, kid, I just want to know how you are."
"I'm fine, you can leave now!"
"Come on, Li... don't be like that, can't you listen to the ramblings of this old bag of bones once in a while?"
Jihan took a deep breath and got up to open the door.
"What do you need?"
"Can I come in?" he asked, already entering the room."
"Sure...?"
"I heard you lost everything again."
"Listen, if you came here to humiliate me, you can leave, I don't need that now!" He complained. The old man just smiled."
"How many years do you think I have left, kid?"
"I don't know, a few?" Li joked, still not understanding where he was going with this.
"So, do you really think I would waste my time mocking some random kid? I'm better than that!"
"Not even worthy of being mocked?"
"What happened?"
Li fell silent.
"What's wrong, don't want to tell me?"
"You wouldn't believe me."
"You can try..." he replied, sitting in the desk chair and motioning for him to sit on the bed.
Jihan stared at him for a few seconds.
"He won't react worse than Tai Lung." He thought.
Detail by detail, he decided to tell him what had happened at the casino, winning, the sudden pain he felt, and waking up in a hospital.
Jhin listened attentively, without interrupting or changing expression at any moment.
"So?" the old man asked.
"So what?"
"I've seen you lose before" he replied "I know you; you wouldn't be like this if it was just that... so... what happened?"
Again, Li fell silent.
"You don't have to hold back, kid."
"I... I saw Seo-Yun…"
"Hm... the girl? And how is she?"
Every word seemed to grind a little of Jihan's spirit.
"She's fine... better than me."
"And what was it like to see her after so long?"
"Di...fficult... She really hates me…"
"With reason…"
"She seemed like she wanted to cry... she asked me if I had ever looked at myself in the mirror... I must really look horrible."
"And have you seen yourself?"
"No... I have no interest in finding out what it feels like to look into my own eyes."
Jhin took a deep breath and, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one and took a drag.
"Sic Parvis Magna" said the old man.
"Hm?" Li looked at him, not understanding.
"I used to sleep in this room, did you know that?"
Looking around, he shook his head. He had never noticed anything different about the room.
"Well... it was a really long time ago."
Jihan stared at him with eyes that seemed a little different.
"I've been here for longer than I can remember" he laughed. "Although I don't have a memory like yours." Jhin looked around his room, as if trying to remember something from a long time ago.
"You know I'm not good with monologues."
"You should be…"
Jhin fell silent for a few seconds before continuing.
"Your place isn't here, kid, did you know that?"
"What do you mean?"
The old man's eyes aligned with his.
"I mean, you have incredible talent, everything that's holding you back is this place... and yourself."
"Then why don't you leave here?" he asked.
Jhin laughed before replying.
"Kid, I'm already halfway to the grave, where else would I go? I wouldn't last a month out there."
"He seems so... sad." A reflective thought passed through Jihan's mind.
"But you, kid? You have a whole life ahead of you! You can go anywhere you want! Why do you insist on wasting your years in this dump?"
Li lowered his head.
"I never thought about it... I've been here for so long that leaving feels... wrong?"
"Well... When you're not fed love with a spoon... you learn to lick it off knives."
"I feel like I owe this place…"
" Li." Jhin reached out and grabbed his shoulders. " You owe nothing... or at least not for long."
"What do you mean?"
"Despite being old, my ears still hear well. Tai Lung wants you to lose the fight today, I took a measure about it."
"Jhin!? What did you do?"
Standing up, he replied:
"Relax, kid, I didn't do anything that will put you in danger... I just made a bet, don't you like that kind of thing?"
"A bet? On what?
"On your future... I had some money saved up; I've been saving it for the past few decades to get out of this place. So, just now, I bet everything on you in today's fight."
"What!? Why did you do that? You knew I would throw the fight today and still, did it? Have you lost your mind?"
"It's your decision!" Jhin cut him off, his eyes, now serious, staring into the boy's soul. "It's your decision, Li. Either you win and get out of here, or you lose on purpose and stay here forever... the choice is and always has been yours."
"A...and if I lose?"
"I really hope you don't lose, kid."
"Do you have any idea what he can do to you if he finds out?"
Jhin, walking towards the door, let out a light laugh.
"Well, at most I'll live a little less than I should... what harm would that do to an old man like me?" He replied, passing through the door.
Before closing it, he turned around.
"Sic Parvis Magna, Li. Greatness from small beginnings."
And he closed it, leaving him staring into nothingness.