"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...
— people will always wonder what happened in the past, but only those who were there will truly ever know —
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"It's been fifteen years since uncle K died. And you kept quiet all this time," Earth sighed, scooting a little closer to his father. "You were there, dad. You must know what happened... who did it. I just wish that you would say it all while you still could. I never understood how come, if uncle K was your best friend, I knew so little about him. He always came and went, never stayed long enough for me to get to know him better."
Earth chuckled, "heck, I don't even know his real name. Uncle K, that's who he always was to me. Just uncle K. And now, years later there's this guy, Mix, who is... I can't really put my finger on it, but for some reason, he is so strikingly similar to uncle K in some ways. Like in a way where he doesn't take 'no' for an answer." Earth gulped down the beer in a couple of seconds and looked at his father, "am I just imagining things or is there something going on, dad?
His dad blinked once... twice... but that was all the reaction Earth got from his father. That was the only reaction he could get from his father.
✧✧✧
27 YEARS AGO
"What got you so happy today?" Kla asked right after Kiet finished his fight. "For someone who just lost his fight you seem to be in a really good mood."
Kiet shrugged, wiping sweat from his face with a towel, "doesn't matter because... Sahaphap took his first steps this morning."
Kla smiled, patting his best friend on the shoulder, "that's great. Just a little bit more and you can bring him to play with Earth."
"No," Kiet immediately dismissed the idea. "You know that I don't want my wife nor my son anywhere near this place."
Kla sighed, stepping closer to Kiet, "I know I said this already but you really don't think that your wife and son would be the safest at the place where all your friends are?"
"I have only one friend," Kiet squeezed Kla's shoulder and went to the locker room.
PRESENT
The next day Mix came into the Fire Dragon around noon. He was supposed to officially meet trainer Joe and helped him prepare for the evening fight. Earth wasn't fighting, still giving his wrist a break, but that didn't mean that the show wouldn't be worth it even without its main attraction. The club had many good fighters and Mix was about to meet them all.
Mix was inside the ring when Joe came in. He was tall and built in a way that Mix was sure that, it would take one light punch and Mix wouldn't be standing anymore. But other than that, Joe didn't seem intimidating. He had a buzzcut, smile that was reaching all the way to his eyes, and a little angel tattooed on his forearm.
He smiled as he entered the ring, "nice to officially meet you, Mix. I'm Joe."
"Pleasure's all mine," Mix nodded in a greeting.
"So, I heard that some boys aren't really pleased to have you here as my assistant trainer," Joe started and Mix's stomach flipped. If Joe wouldn't be satisfied with Mix... Mix would be gone faster than he had arrived. After all, that was why Mix was there... 'to assist Joe.'
"I think that we just didn't get off on the right foot. I'm sure that after some time, it will be okay," Mix replied, trying to keep his expression as hopeful as possible.
"No, I don't think so. Those guys are always bothered by something," Joe laughed, nodding towards three men that were just walking towards them. He looked back at Mix, "just don't pay attention to them. Remember, you are not here to become their friend, you are here to help me train them. I mean, you can be their friend if you want to, but it's not your obligation."
Mix nodded, his shoulders getting a little more tense as the men got into the ring, eyeing him up and down like prey. Well, this is gonna be fun, Mix thought as he put on a smile, "I'm Mix, but I'm sure that you already know."
"Yeah, we heard," a guy with a nasty scar right above his right eyebrow said.
"Doesn't mean we like it," another guy, looking around Mix's age and twice as big as him, said.
"I'm Green, the guy with the scar is Red, and this grumpy man is—"
"Orange?" Mix guessed.
"— Eric," Green bit his lip to not start laughing.
Mix shrugged, "sorry, I thought that you three were going for a traffic light."
Green chuckled, looking at his friends, "I like him." He looked at Mix, "I like you. Don't mind them. They just love to be a pain in the ass 24/7."
"Okay," Joe clasped his hands, "now that we all know each other, how about you boys get ready? Start with some light punches, work on your combinations or something. I'll talk to my assistant first."
"This way," Joe got out of the ring and looked at Mix to follow him.
There were doors at the end of the corridor, leading underground to a dark but spacious room. Joe turned on a light. It wasn't too bright, but good enough so that Mix could see everything that was there.
Stacks upon stacks of water bottles in one corner were blending with shelves full of towels and boxing gloves in the other corner. In the middle of the room stood a small desk with nothing but a single mug on it.
"Um, is this a storage room?" Mix asked, watching as Joe swiftly went towards the corner full of water bottles.
"I like to call it my office," Joe corrected Mix, grabbing a water bottle and throwing it at Mix.
Mix thanked all his years of playing volleyball with his friends all the way back in high school for catching that bottle which came at him out of nowhere. He shot Joe a 'really man?' look and relaxed when he saw Joe grinning back at him.
"Come take these. We have to keep the boys hydrated. This is gonna be your job now. Whenever a training or a fight is supposed to start you just come here and bring everything that is needed; water bottles, towels..."
"Boxing gloves?"
"That only when it's needed."
"I must say," Mix started as he was picking up other water bottles, "I never knew that underground fighting clubs are this organized. Almost seems legit."
"Being illegal doesn't mean we can't be organised. Taking care of our fighters is the main reason why this club is the best of the best."
"When did this club start?" Mix asked. Joe seemed like he didn't mind talking which could be very helpful to Mix and his investigation. Mix figured that asking a couple of innocent questions couldn't hurt.
Joe was quiet for a second and then he replied, "thirty years ago, I think. I wasn't here back then so I don't know much."
"Who was the founder?"
"Founders," Joe corrected Mix and pointed at the wall full of photos hanging in old wooden frames, "there right in the middle... Narong, you know him already, then Earth's father and the last one is the guy I know only as K. He wasn't here anymore when I joined."
Mix squeezed the water bottles tighter to his body as he looked at the photo right in the middle of the wall... it was the same photo he had found in the attic. The man Joe knew only as K... was Mix's father.
