Sett and K'Sante managed to sneak me out of the house that morning. I was given juice and a granola bar for breakfast. Alune gave me clothes to wear to the gym, in place of Kayn's T-shirt and shorts.
Sett wrapped my hands carefully. "We're going to start with basic punches." He explained.
"We need to see what we are working with," K'Sante informed me as he put the target pads on his hands.
Sett helped me into the ring and stood in front of K'Sante. "When you punch, cross over like this." He slowly demonstrated, his right hand hitting the left pad. "I'll call out either right or left. That's the hand I want you to punch with."
"Ready?" K'Sante asked as took a wide stance.
Nodding, I stood how Sett showed me. Sett would bark orders and my hands responded instantly. Every punch carried the negative emotions that'd been looming in me over the past week or so.
"She hits almost as hard as he does," K'Sante informed Sett with excitement.
"Right!" Sett called out.
My right punch connected to the pad with force. "One of the bouncers at the club taught me how to punch after he had to wrestle a drunk idiot off of the stage," I explained as sweat beaded on my forehead.
"Left!" Sett shouted.
"That dangerous there?" K'Sante asked as I threw a left hook.
"Right!" Sett barked.
My right fist swung as hard as it could. "The clubs aren't the dangerous things," I said as I landed the punch.
"Right!" Sett repeated.
Throwing my right hook again, I growled. "Customers though..." My hit landed solidly. "Those are your biggest concerns."
"Get a drink," Sett ordered. "Makes sense though. Some people act like consequences don't apply to them."
"Like when you punch that journalist?" K'Sante asked Sett, chuckling.
"He deserved it." Sett and I replied in unison.
Sitting in the corner of the boxing ring, I grabbed my water. "Getting felt up by creeps wasn't completely uncommon at that job." I shrugged as I leaned back against the post, sipping my water.
"Some people have no respect." Sett groaned.
"Sounds like being an idol in a way." K'Sante sighed.
"Or any kind of entertainer," Sett added.
I nodded as I twisted the cap back on my water bottle. "Only there for their entertainment," I said, thinking back on all of the bullshit I'd experienced.
Sett leaned against the ropes, looking down at me. "Been seeing you two on the news." He chuckled. "I thought Kayn knew better than to go to..."
"He did it on purpose." I cut Sett off. "Wanted to make a statement or something."
K'Sante hung his head and sighed. "He needs to be careful." He looked at me as he spoke. "Since we debuted he's had to avoid solo media coverage as much as possible. He had already been labeled as a washout by his old group. They wanted it to be true, to drag him down."
"I know." I let out a heavy breath. "He's stronger than that though." Our conversation about Kayn's parents ran through my head.
"Alright," Sett said as he pushed himself off of the ropes, "break time is over."
~~~~
"Look what I found at the store," Ezreal said as he held up a magazine with Kayn and me on the cover.
"How?" I gasped as I took the magazine. "It's barely been twenty-four hours."
"The magazine had probably already been put together," K'Sante answered. "It's not too hard to throw in an article last minute."
Yone nodded as he sliced pork for the fried rice we'd be having. "Especially if the topic is catching a lot of attention." He added.
Kayn took a copy from Ezreal's bag. He flipped through it with me, likely checking that they didn't twist our words. The photos turned out immaculate. Each one took my breath.
"Seems like they did us justice," Kayn said with a smirk.
"I like this one." K'Sante pointed to our first photo with the chair.
Aphelios signed something before Kayn translated. "He says the photos look nice."
"The honesty here is a little..." Sett started with raised brows. "Well, it's the right way to have handled this."
"Leaves no room for doubt." Yone backed us up.
"Ez," I said as I looked at Ezreal.
He pulled out a few copies and handed over the bag he'd been holding. "There's four copies in there for you two. I got one for everyone and two extras." He chirped with a smile.
I took the bag with a smile and sat on the couch. Though it was a small victory, the article felt rewarding. I pulled out my phone to check my emails. The photographer from the day before had sent me our photos.
Mika,
I stayed up all night finishing these. It was a great pleasure to work with the two of you. I've never had a shoot go so smoothly. These photos speak more than words ever could about your relationship. Enjoy the article!
Scrolling through the photos, I smiled to myself. Kayn joined me on the couch. Together we looked at the images, stopping to comment on little things.
"We could get that one printed and hang it in the living room," Kayn spoke with a smile.
"That would look nice." I agreed happily. "Where do you plan on putting the one that you have in your room?" I asked as the thought came to my head.
"Are you saying I should move in?" He asked with a smirk.
"Why not?" Ezreal butted in. "You practically live there already."
"Besides, we'll keep your room open for occasions like last night," Sett added.
Kayn thought for a moment. "Everything here could be packed up pretty easily." He paused a thought showing on his face. "Except for my desk."
"I can move that for you." Sett offered.
"You can have the spare room as an office if you'd like." I offered. "Or there's room in my office."
"Sharing an office doesn't sound bad," Kayn replied. "Fine," he agreed as he stood, "let's go pack."
