After The Lecture ~ Minsung

28 Net

'in the end, the greatest lesson was: books make you clever, bruises make you real'

Minho took a sip from the glass filled with alcohol. He wasn't going to get drunk, but he couldn't bear the talk while being sober.

"Who are my eyes seeing? It's really you, Lee Minho." A scary-looking guy with a handsome face and scar on his cheek sat across from him. "I really doubted you'd show up."

"Good evening. Can we talk about the reason we're here?"

"Okay, okay, calm down. I know you want to be on Han's fight tomorrow very much. I don't know the reason, I don't ask about it. But you know... everything has its price. And getting a ticket for a quite famous fight with high betting isn't cheap."

"Money isn't the problem right now."

"I believe. For you, money never was the problem. I'm just not sure if I want money." He took the glass that was waiting for him and started twisting it around. "But I don't have any guarantee that you'll do me a favour when I ask you, and I don't trust you enough. I'm not a devil to sign a contract, and I won't risk your family with a gun because they're far more powerful... I'll take the money." He smiled.

His behaviour was always stressing Minho, and the excessive cheerfulness he displayed that day wasn't helping.

"How much?"

"10 million won."

Minho opened his eyes wide.

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. You decide if it's that important for you. You can't tell me you don't have that much money right now." He knew Minho too well. Of course he had this money in cash, even a little more, but he didn't expect to use actually this much.

He opened his bag and put the box on the table.

"It's in here. But how can you guarantee that they'll let me in tomorrow?"

"Here is your ticket." He put on the table a piece of paper.

"I'll give you half. The other half if it's real." Minho opened the box and took the piles of money into his sleeve to hide it from the people in the bar.

"It's sad how you don't trust me. And good, because I won't trust myself either. You'll see tomorrow that I'm not a scammer." He stood up and took the box. "Oh, and Minho." He was about to leave, but he turned to take a look at the boy again. "Next time we meet, choose a better drink. This one tastes cheap."

He left Minho with a piece of paper and 5 million won in the bag. But the hope started to grow in his chest.

📖

The ticket worked. Minho got inside the crowded place, which smelt like sweat and cigarettes. He looked around at all the people shouting who will win and trying to force their opinions.

He found a place with a good view, almost next to a ring with some pushing, and he hoped not to see his boyfriend pass out this evening.

"Sung, are you sure? It's really not a good idea." Felix still tried to stop Jisung, just like he did on past days.

"There's no going back now, Lix. You know it."

"And you know that there's no cure for Alzheimer's, Jisung." Seungmin narrowed his eyes, trying to stop Jisung from doing it in his own way.

"I don't care. I can do what I want, I can even destroy myself. None of your business." He finished putting on his boxing gloves and went to the crowd.

"It's an emotional decision, he'll regret it."

"We tried everything to stop him. We can't forbid him living. We can only hope he'll get out alive from this one." Hyunjin appeared from the darkness, hugging his boyfriend from behind.

The fight started, and the first blows fell. Both men were very quick, but it was obvious that Jisung's opponent was stronger than him. His only advantage was quicker reaction to impacts and faster self-defence, but he couldn't win with self-defence.

Minho was almost squeezed to the steel mesh, clenching his fists so hard he could feel his nails digging into the skin. It was hard for him to breathe, and it wasn't just because of the smoke from cigarettes.

The first round ended with Jisung's nose bleeding and the battered face of his opponent. They had a few minutes before the second round.

Fights like this usually lasted 3 rounds, but they could end faster. Of course, the longer the show is, the more emotional the audience gets and pays more money.

Jisung survived round 2, but he was clearly tired from the previous one. Minho was truly scared how the third round would turn out.

After minutes of a break, the judge, if you could call that person a judge, because he just took money for bets and signalled the next rounds, shouted, 'Start'.

The boy was immediately pinned to the mesh, right next to Minho, so Jisung could see him.

His mouth moved, and the moment of inattention cost him a hit in the jaw. Then the next one, blood, and the sound of hitting the skin. Minho's world started spinning, he tried to get into the ring, even though he knew there was no chance to stop the fight.

Jisung's friends from the backstage were worried by it too, so they ran to the steel mesh, but they could not enter inside.

"It's not your academic basement." A broad-shouldered man with dark hair and a beard didn't let Felix open the fighting cage.

"He will kill him! Stop it! Stop it right now!" He was beating the man's chest aggressively, seeing Jisung losing his consciousness in the corner of his eye.

His wrists were immobilised, just like the three other friends.

Jisung's world became darker than ever, the sounds slowly stopping bothering him and the blood on his face becoming insignificant.

📖

He opened his eyes, seeing white all around him.

He panicked after noticing the IV drip connected to his arm. He moved anxiously on his bed, but his whole body hurt.

"Sung? You're here again?" Minho stood from the chair quickly and walked to the bed.

"Shit. What happened that I ended up here?" He remembered and then cursed again. "I know it was dumb."

"Very dumb. I could scream at you right now, but the doctor said you could be still in shock."

"So... I was beaten to unconsciousness... Did I lose?"

"Is it everything you care about?"

"My reputation is quite important..." Jisung started, but Minho hit him in the head. "Hey! Since when are you this pugnacious? It's my feature."

"Since you almost died in front of my eyes."

"Fights are always connected with risk."

"You didn't have to do it. Will you finally stop Jisung? You told me to stop running away from my feelings. So do the same and tell me them. Tell me all of it."