In a corner of Hanoi, A child wandered vaguely along the street. His clothes were old and ragged. Suddenly, the boy's eyes was caught by a vibrant sight. They glowed and seduced by the scene.
Suprisingly, it was a martial arts lesson. The child decided to peep the lesson for a bit. Every strikes and kicks, every skills impressed him, They seemed... free, which were completely different from him, from his life.
Fascinated by the lesson, he watched continuously for 2 hours without realizing it until a man shouted:
"Today's lesson is over, see you next week"
The child felt disappointed because he couldn't watch the lesson anymore. He didn't want to wait a whole week to continue watching.
He tried reviewing what he had learned for two hours inside his head. His arms and legs started to move on their own.
Then, he threw a punch.
He smiled happily
Because he realized even him could throw a punch, even him could also be free.
At that the time, the child did not realize his gifted talent- Perfect copy, A talent that could shake this whole world.
---
Two boys stepped out from the dojo.
They saw a poor-looking child standing right in front of it, smiling brightly.
"Who are you?" one of the boys asked.
The child was startled and remained silent.
"How old are you?" the boy continued.
"I—I—I'm 7 years old," the child replied, trembling.
"So what are you doing here?" the other boy asked.
"I—I want to be like you guys."
"Be like us? What do you mean? Do you want to learn martial arts?"
The child nodded.
The two boys exchanged glances and laughed teasingly.
"If you want to learn, you can just tell your parents to sign you up."
"I... don't have parents" the child answered with his expression saddened.
The boys were surprised and immediately regretted what they had said.
Just then, another boy with a pair of purple eyes came out of the dojo.
"What's happening?" he asked.
"Oh, we just met a child, I think he was peeping at us this whole time" one of the boys replied.
The newcomer turned his gaze toward the child.
Then, the atmosphere shifted.
"Catch him". The boy said
The other boys were baffled by the boy's request.
"This is order"
Hearing the word "order" the two boys turned cold.
They dashed behind the child and caught his arms.
The child did not given a chance to reflex. He was pushed toward the purple-eyed boy.
The boy reached his arm, deciding to do something with the child.
"Do you really have to do this?" One of the two other boys asked.
The purple eyed boy stared at him, a dead stare.
The boy shivered and immediatly shut his mouth
"You won't understand it" Answering the boy.
He reached his arm again
...
...
...
Reng.
...
...
Reng Reng Reng.
...
...
Reng Reng Reng Reng
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
waking up from the nightmare, Thien Phuc lying on his bed, fully covered by his sweats.