Previously...
"Have you forgotten what we learned in kung fu?" Cheng demanded. He'd admired Meiying from afar for years, never gathering enough courage to talk to her without instinctively retreating into his shell and spatting callous remarks. Then Dre comes along and sweeps her off her feet. To add insult to injury, he went and threw foul water all over us, ignoring our warnings, "No weakness, no pain, no mercy!"
"Seriously, Cheng, enough is enough!" Zhuang snapped, grabbing his arm
"Get out of my way!" Cheng snapped back, twisting his friend's arm just enough to get him to release his arm. Then he shoved him away. Zhuang looked surprised and slightly hurt at his rough actions, but he backed away. Cheng pushed his rising guilt to the back of his mind, mentally noting to himself to apologize to him later
Facing Dre again, Cheng danced forward and let out another punch, packed with all his frustrations and anger
His punch never made it to its intended target. There was a hand—old, judging by the wrinkles—holding onto his wrist
Slightly intimidated by the fact that someone had caught his punch when it was so fast, so packed full of power, Cheng looked up into the eyes of an old man. He had an aging face and wore a ratty set of blue pants and a matching, equally worn-out jacket. Cheng's eyes widened. It was a maintenance man
What had this world come to?
~First Person P.O.V~
"Go home," the old man—Mr. Han, according to his weathered nametag—said gruffly. All of a sudden, he curled Cheng's wrist inward, causing pain to shoot through his wrist and up his forearm. Cheng yelped in surprise and pain, but just as suddenly as he had twisted Cheng's wrist, Mr. Han grabbed the boy's elbow, folded his arm into his chest, and shoved Cheng back several feet
Me and Feng reached out to brace Cheng before he tripped over his own feet
The maintenance man paid no further heed to us as he bent down to check if Dre was alright
"Who is this guy?" I whispered, looking unsure for once in my life
Cheng just stared at the old man incredulously, shaking his wrist out a little
Sensing Feng and Qing step forward furiously, Cheng quickly threw his arms out to stop them from advancing further. He turned his head slightly, giving us a nod and assuring us wordlessly that he could handle it. Exchanging a look, Feng and Qing reluctantly stepped back
"You don't have to do this alone," I whispered, grabbing Cheng's elbow like a little child as I eyed Mr. Han cautiously
Cheng pulled his arm away, turning back to Mr. Han. Without answering, he glided forward silently and snapped his foot out, aiming for the side of the maintenance man's temple
The old man caught the kick in one hand without even looking. For a quick second, Cheng looked at us stunned. Feng, Qing, and Liang were staring back, equally speechless, while Zhuang and I were exchanging nervous looks
Mr. Han's grip on Cheng's ankle tightened and suddenly—too suddenly for Cheng to even think of reacting—he stood up, bringing the boy's leg up into a near split. Having yet to achieve his splits yet, pain shot through Cheng's legs, burning as his hamstrings threatened to tear
The only ones to have gained their splits already, me and Liang rushed forward to help, but Mr. Han's eyes already showed that he didn't have the heart to do that. Without so much as a grunt, the old man threw Cheng back with me, and Liang barely managing to catch him
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Always there | Cheng X Reader | A Karate kid fanfic
FanficFor years, you stood by him and his crush on Meiying out of a sense of duty as his best friend. You knew that Cheng, rough and raw, would undoubtedly shatter soft, fragile Meiying someday. You only hoped that when that day came, he would turn to you...
