"Lies leave bruises that will never fade away"
Fire Dragon is an underground fight club well known for their bloody fights and almost no rules. Earth "the shadow" Pirapat is Fire Dragon's best fighter. Having grown up in the club, it would be surpri...
— things may be exactly how they seem but that's a rare occasion —
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Mix knocked on the door of the flat just across the street from the Fire Dragon. Earth's wallet was heavy in his hand, cutting deep into his flesh. He shouldn't have picked the wallet up from the bench in the locker room. And he definitely shouldn't snoop around just to find out to whom the wallet belonged so that he could return it. The wallet was in the locker room of the Fire Dragon which meant that it had to belong to someone from the Fire Dragon Club! It was obvious, Mix! It was totally obvious! Maybe he should have left it there. Yeah, he definitely should have left it there. Earth would pick it up tomorrow. It wasn't nice to snoop around someone's personal stuff.
But Mix was an investigative journalist. That's what he did. He snooped around. So, why was his consciousness screaming at him that it was a bad idea?
When the door opened and revealed Earth's angry expression Mix finally understood why it was a bad idea to snoop around. He pissed Earth off. Or maybe the fact that he actually came to knock on his door was the pissing-off part of Mix's reckless actions, but hey... he was already here and it wouldn't be that bad to find out more about the best fighter in the club Mix was trying to investigate.
"You?" Earth asked and Mix could hear a burning annoyance behind Earth's voice.
Mix straightened his back and nodded in greeting, "hi."
"Where did you get my address?" still the same kind of boiling annoyance.
"I got something of yours," Mix raised his hand with Earth's wallet and gave Earth a polite smile. "I thought it would be better if I bring it to you in case you'll need it till tomorrow."
Earth snatched the wallet from Mix's hand and stepped outside so that Mix wouldn't see inside. "So you looked through my wallet just to find out who it belongs to and where that person lives so you can so graciously bring the wallet back to its owner? I left the wallet somewhere in the locker room, didn't I? Who else would leave their wallet in the fighting club's locker room if not someone who belongs there? Don't overstep the boundaries, Mix. You just got here. For all we know, you can be a filthy cop trying to ruin our club."
"Not a cop, but I do know a few. Is that a problem?" Mix tried to play it off cool. The more he would look like he didn't try to hide anything the less suspicious he would come off. He really didn't need anyone to be wary about him.
Earth chuckled in disbelief, "you do know a few. With every passing second I wonder more and more why did Narong think that hiring you was a good idea."
"Knowing cops doesn't mean I'm gonna run my mouth in front of them. Stop being so jumpy, okay? I would appreciate a 'thank you' instead."
"And I would appreciate it if you forget where I leave!" Earth was about to shut the door right in Mix's face, but Mix was faster, putting his foot into the door, he pushed in, letting himself inside.
"Nice place. Cosy."
Earth ran a hand through his hair, biting his bottom lip in frustration, "you have three seconds to leave!"
"Or what?" Mix looked at Earth, there was a challenging glint in his eyes, "are you gonna sucker-punch me?"
Mix barely finished his words before a staggering pain crushed his nose and made him take a couple of steps back from Earth.
"Yeah," Earth shrugged, suddenly looking too relaxed as if he just didn't deliver a harsh blow right to Mix's face, "looks like I just did."
"Bastard!" Mix growled, wiping the little blood from under his nose.
"Been called worse," Earth moved closer to Mix, looking straight into his eyes, "why are you here, Mix? Why are you at my place? Why did you join the Fire Dragon?"
"Haven't you paid attention? I'm the assistant trainer."
Earth clicked his tongue as he shook his head, "no, you are not. I know you total of a couple of hours, but I already can tell that you are lying! But whatever you got yourself in for, you should learn one thing; this is a fight club... we don't talk first, we punch first. The less you provoke us, the better for you. Allowing you in the club was a mistake, but you best believe I'm gonna keep an eye on you, assistant trainer. Now, if you excuse me," Earth grabbed Mix's elbow and dragged him out of the flat," I have important things to do, unlike someone."
✧✧✧
Well, the little trip to Earth's flat was... painful and reckless, but in some ways, it was fruitful as well. Earth's falt looked modest. Too modest considering how much money he was earning for every fight he won. Of course, Mix wasn't exactly sure how much money Earth was getting for every fight, but it had to be quite a lot considering that Earth was the best fighter of the Fire Dragon and the Fire Dragon was one of the best if not the best underground fighting club in Thailand. So, if Earth was the best fighter in the best fighting club then he should have enough money to repair a crack in a window, Mix noticed before Earth dragged him out of the living room, or change the sofa that definitely saw its better days ages ago. There were pills on the kitchen table, too many in fact. If they were Earth's there could be no way he could maintain to be the best of the best. So, if they weren't Earth's...
There weren't many photos around in Earth's flat, at least as far as Mix could notice, but from what he saw in all the pictures there was just Earth and one other man, looking like Earth's older version. His father most likely.
The moment Mix got back home he sat down on the sofa, grabbed a notepad and pen, he started scribbling things down. For now, Mix's theory was that Earth's father was probably ill and it was serious enough that Earth had to pay expensive medical bills that didn't leave him with enough sources to take care of the other things in his life. Mother didn't seem to be in the picture. Divorced? Dead? Not interested in her family? There were a lot of possibilities. Maybe Earth was left alone to take care of his father, which would explain why he became the best Fire Dragon fighter — "The Shadow" The better you are the more you get paid; simple equation.
The theory was simple and straightforward, and it also made a lot of sense, but it was also a theory that Mix put together just by being at Earth's place for a couple of minutes. Mix could be entirely wrong. Or he could be exactly right. And if he was right, he could use it to his own advantage. If Earth needed money maybe he would speak about some secrets of the club if Mix offered him some.
A frustrated groan left Mix's mouth as he closed the notepad and threw the pen on the table, "that's bullshit. That guy is too overprotective over his club."
✧✧✧
When Mix left Earth's flat Earth locked the door, grabbed a beer from a fridge and went to his father. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Earth patted his father's leg, hidden under a blanket and took a sip from his beer, "hey, dad. That new guy I told you about... he reminds me of someone."
To be continued...
P.S. Mix is smart but Earth isn't dumb either... 🤭
