Hell and Back (EXO x Reader)

The First Rule of Fight Club (Trial 27)

"Hold on, there are probably extras in the car." Kris said with a sigh, re-unlocking it and digging in the center console. Finally, he came up with one fabric and one paper. "Who wants what?"

"You can have the real one," Baekhyun offered. "Blue looks good on me, anyway." Taking the black fabric mask from Kris gratefully, he turned to check his car once more as she put it on. Although it had definitely been in the car a while, it faintly smelled of his cologne. He'd used the same one for years, so she could recognize it by now.

"Let's go." Suho directed, his own mask on as well as they headed towards the not-so-reputable staircase. They filed down two at a time, Sehun in the front. When they reached the bottom of the staircase, they were met by a large, well-built man obstructing the entryway.

"Excuse us..." Sehun said with an awkward laugh, trying to get through.

"What do you think you're doing?" The man asked in a rough tone, shifting to cover any gaps in his body-barricade.

"We're here to fight." He explained. "So if you could just-"

"All of you?" He asked, looking up at the line. "I don't remember that many people even being on the roster."

"Roster?" He asked. There was a roster? Well, shit, how were they supposed to get onto that.

"Um, yes. Are you sure you're in the right place, kids?"

"It's just him fighting." Suho pointed at Sehun, trying to get control over the situation. "The rest of us are just here to watch." Raising an eyebrow, the bouncer asked,

"You? You're gonna fight?" Sehun nodded, to which he shrugged. "What's your name?"

"Oh Sehun?" Grabbing a list off a table obscured by the wall, the man looked it over. After a few seconds his eyes widened just slightly, but he was quick to hide it. Looking back up to Sehun, he said, "Alright, you're on the list. If the rest of you are just watching, though, you'll have to buy tickets."

"Where do we do that?" Suho asked. He received a weird look- they were not blending in easily- but the bouncer told them he'd take the money right there. Reluctantly, each of them paid, following Sehun in. As they passed the man, he said,

"Competitors can go to the back room to get their gloves, unless you brought your own."

"Thank you." As they walked in, she looked around, astounded. She had never really been anywhere like this before. While in structure, it definitely looked like a parking deck, it was- no pun intended- decked out to no end. There were LED's and smoke machines everywhere, but it fit well with the aesthetic. It was less like a cheesy haunted house and more like a club that was too cool for you. There were crowds of people, makeshift bars, and the smell of many, many drugs, at least half of which the scents she didn't recognize.

"Hey, honey," she heard a voice to her right as she was walking, a man sauntering up to her. He was definitely older than her, but she couldn't tell by how much in the dim light. "You look new. Need someone to show you around?" Shoving him away by the shoulder, Kai answered for her.

"She's fine, thanks." Looking to Kai, then to her, then to the group as a whole, he laughed.

"Oh, you're one of those girls."

"What's that supposed to-" She started to ask, before Kai pulled her to his other side by the elbow.

"That's enough of that." And with that, he escorted her further into the deck with the rest of the group. In the center of the entire mess, there was a huge padded arena, much like one would see in boxing movies. There was a timer hanging on the wall, lit up at 1:34. It was counting down, leading up to something. Sehun split off to go to the back, slipping through the mess of bodies and out of sight. She wanted to follow him, but Kai was still holding onto her elbow. She was simply forced to watch as the clock counted... 3... 2... 1...