WOUNDED SECRETS ☆ EARTHMIX AU

✧eight: the sound of death✧

— it doesn't sound that scary when you are the one making the sound —

It was three weeks after Mix saw Earth at the cemetery when Joe ran into his basement 'office' all hyped up and smiling so brightly, looking as if he won a lottery and was ready to scream in Mix's face how he bought a house at the Bahamas and was leaving all of them losers here in the club!

But no, the lottery wasn't the reason for Joe's overly happy expression, Earth was.

"The Shadow fights tonight!" Joe shouted and gave Mix an excited hug as he walked around to get to his desk.

Mix turned on his heels and looked at Joe who was already holding a phone in his hand, ready to call someone, "but what about his wrist? He said he won't fight until it's good again."

"And it is," Joe said, his smile still so bright, Mix thought it was kinda adorable how excited Joe got. It almost felt as if they don't even need lights in the basement. Joe's smile was enough. "I admit it is kinda last minute decision on his part, but hey! it's the Shadow... we'll squeeze him into tonight's program and I'm sure that everyone will be more than happy to see him back."

"Happier than you?" Mix cocked his eyebrow, his own smile slowly creeping in.

"Is it too much? I'm smiling too much, right?" Joe groaned, his shoulders fell as he tried to hide his face behind a random book he picked up and held in front of his face upside down. "It's just that whenever Earth is fighting everything feels different. There's this electrifying atmosphere that takes everyone's breath away. He has it from his father." Joe put the book back down, his smile wavered, "too bad Kla's career ended so soon. But shit happens," Joe blinked fast a couple of times as if chasing away the bed memories and shrugged, "at least he has Earth to take care of him now."

Mix stood there, didn't say a word. He waited. Waited for Joe to realize that he had no idea what was Joe talking about. That he had no idea what happened to Earth's father but now he was more than intrigued to know. More than intrigued to find out if he was right with his assumptions a couple of weeks ago when he left Earth's flat. The assumptions that Earth's mother wasn't around, that something happened to Earth's father and now Earth had to do everything he could to be able to take care of his father. Morally, Mix wasn't close enough to really know the truth behind all his questions. He wasn't close enough to Earth to be included in things like this, but as an investigative journalist, Mix was curious, and even more as the investigative journalist who is working underground in the illegal fight club that Earth's father found with Mix's father who's murder was still unsolved. After all, Mix was in the club to find answers. So, if it meant that sometimes he had to get through really sensitive topics so be it. His father's murder was highly sensitive as well.

After more than a couple of seconds passed and Joe didn't say anything more to elaborate, Mix finally asked. "what exactly happened to Earht's father? I'm... I'm not familiar with the story."

A shadow of sadness flickered in Joe's eyes, but he shook his head, "I think this is something only Earth should tell you if he will feel like it."

Mix raised his hands in defence and smiled politely, "I didn't want to overstep. I'm sorry,"

"No, you didn't," Joe waved his hand in dismissal. "It's just not my place to tell you. If you want to know, try to ask Earth when he is in a good mood. For example, after tonight's fight."

"How do you know that he's gonna be in a good mood?" Mix chuckled.

Joe looked at him with surprise, "he's gonna win, of course!"

✧✧✧

Three weeks passed since Mix almost blew his cover at the cemetery. Three weeks since Mix found out that his father and Earth's mother were buried so incredibly close to each other. It was honestly ridiculous that Mix and Earth had never seen each other at the cemetery before. Mix thought about what would happen if he didn't notice Earth there when he was approaching his father's grave. How would he explain to Earth that he came to see the grave of a person that Earth most likely knew? Mix wondered how well did Earth know his father? Was it just a little? Or didn't Earth know more about Mix's father than Mix himself did? After all, Earth knew that Mix's father was part of an underground fight club, that he was one of its founders. That was something Mix never knew about his father. And he wondered how much more he had no idea about. Well, at least Mix was sure about the fact that Earth didn't know his father deeply enough to know that Mix was his son. This, strangely now, was a pretty big plus.

Over the last three weeks, Mix found out that the club had a pretty big VIP clientele. Every fight night the club was filled with politicians, businessmen, well-known and respected people in show business, Mix saw even some well-known athletes, but none of that was particularly disturbing to him. It was surprising but not disturbing, however, when he started seeing around people from organised crime such as the mafia, things started to be more serious for Mix, more real. If Mafians were regular visitors of the Fire Dragon then things with his father all those years ago might have gone wrong in a way more different ways imaginable.

But it didn't have to be like that. Maybe Mafia was just a new addition to the club. And maybe all those mafia guys were truly just interested in the fights. However, since then, since Mix spotted those men clothed in carefully tailored suits, an odore of death and cigarettes around them and stone-cold expressions on their faces, Mix couldn't help himself. He felt on edge every fighting night. During his career, Mix wrote a couple of articles about Thailand's mafia, especially the one in Bangkok, and he wasn't exactly proud of the fact that if he wanted to he could name half of the mafia faces he saw in the Fire Dragon every week, and provide a list of multiple capital crimes they committed. All those fighting nights he had to hope that all that knowledge was only one-sided and that the mafia had no idea who he was because if they did, then Mix would truly have a problem. And maybe as grave as his father had had.

✧✧✧

One second everything was electrifying, just like Joe said it would be. The Shadow won his first match after coming back from his short hiatus, and everyone was happy. Including Mix. 

But then...

Mix ran out of the club from the back door. Bend over, hands on his knees, he was breathing deeply, the chilly air of the night spread over his burning skin. His ears were still ringing with that sharp sound. God, Mix hated that sound. The sound of a gun going off. He hated it when he had to be the one firing the gun and he hated it when it was someone else firing it at him. And even though this time it wasn't him nor it was aimed at him, the gun still went off, and it was the mafia, killing someone not even five meters away from him. As if it was nothing. As if that boy didn't have the majority of his life still in front of him. He couldn't be more than twenty years old. His only mistake was that he came tonight. That he came to watch the fighting night. That he came to watch the return of the Shadow.

If this could happen so easily here now to that young boy maybe it happened so easily to his father, too, all those years ago.

"Fuck."

There was a hand placed in between Mix's shoulder blades and for a moment Mix froze in place, thinking that this was it. The mafia got to him, too. But then the person spoke.

"Are you okay?"

Earth.

To be continued...

P.S. The next chapter... EarthMix will get closer 👀