Fragments of a Soul

Confrontation

During the last few days, James learnt a lot about Taesoo. He wouldn't lie to himself. He liked Taesoo a lot. Maybe even loved him. He hadn't been this close to anyone in his entire life.

But seeing Taesoo fighting like the other kings of the first generation made James sad. Taesoo had a gentle nature around him, but he was brutal while fighting.

The worst thing was that Taesoo never even thought or realised that what he had been doing is wrong and it would have consequences. James knew he didn't have much time.

He knew that Charles Choi planned to stop the war going on the streets. So, James decided to confront Taesoo about this. He needed to stop Taesoo before the matter went out of his hands.

~~~

It was a quiet evening. The world outside seemed peaceful—an ordinary night. But inside the small, dimly lit apartment that James and Taesoo had started spending time in, there was tension hanging thick in the air.

James was sitting on the couch, his fingers tapping nervously on the armrest. He had been pacing around the apartment since he had got there, trying to figure out the right words to say.

His heart was heavy, and there was a tight knot in his chest, one that had been building ever since he'd learned more about what Taesoo had been involved in lately.

Taesoo, however, was sitting across from him, calm and at ease, though there was an underlying restlessness to his posture. He had just finished cleaning his hands, a habit he'd developed after a fight. His knuckles were bruised, but it didn't seem to faze him at all.

He had no idea about what James wanted to tell him, but he could feel that James was anxious. The air between them was tense.

"Taesoo," James finally broke the silence, his voice soft but firm. "I need to talk to you about something. Something serious."

Taesoo looked over at him, his gaze neutral, though his attention was now fully on James. There was a flicker of something in his eyes, maybe curiosity or wariness, James couldn't tell. But Taesoo didn't speak, waiting for James to continue.

James inhaled deeply, his thoughts swirling. "You can't keep doing this. You can't keep fighting like this and hurting people."

Taesoo's expression hardened slightly, but he didn't interrupt. He just let James speak, though the shift in his body language told James that he had already heard this kind of thing before.

"I've been hearing things," James continued, his voice becoming more insistent. "The people you're fighting—some of them are getting hurt badly. Worse than before. It's not just street fights anymore. You're creating war, Taesoo. People are getting caught in the crossfire."

For a moment, Taesoo didn't respond. His fingers curled into fists at his sides, but his face remained emotionless. He was listening, but there was a distance in his gaze that told James he hadn't fully internalized what James was saying.

"I don't care about them," Taesoo said finally, his voice low, almost too casual. "I fight because I have to. I'm not going to stop just because people get hurt. It's the world we live in. It's how it works. Survival of the strongest."

James' heart sank, a wave of frustration sweeping over him. He stood up from the couch, pacing back and forth. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to control the surge of emotions threatening to break through.

"That's not how it works, Taesoo!" James's voice was sharper now. "You can't just keep using violence as an excuse. You're not just fighting to survive anymore, you're causing destruction. You're creating a war out there. People are getting hurt. They're getting killed. And you're doing nothing about it."

Taesoo's jaw tightened. "You think I don't know that?" he snapped, rising to his feet in one swift motion, the suddenness of it making James take a step back. "You think I don't see what happens? But that's the way things are. If I don't fight, if I don't stay strong, then I'll just be another casualty in this world."

James shook his head, his chest tight with emotion. "I'm not asking you to stop fighting. But you don't need to fight like this. You don't need to keep proving yourself with bloodshed."

"Stop?" Taesoo's voice was cold now, his eyes narrowing with a hard edge. "I can't stop, James. It's the only thing I'm good at. It's the only thing I've ever known. You think I can just quit; walk away from everything I've built? You think it's that easy?"

"I'm not asking you to quit everything!" James shot back, his voice shaking now. "I'm asking you to stop hurting people. You don't have to be that guy anymore. You're more than just a fighter, Taesoo."

Taesoo's lips curled into a bitter smile, but there was no warmth in it. "What do you know about me? About what I've had to do to survive? You think because we've had some good times together, because we've been having fun, that it changes everything? That it makes all the pain and fighting go away?"

James stood there, his chest heaving as he looked at Taesoo. His voice dropped to a quieter, more vulnerable tone. "I don't expect you to change overnight, but I care about you, Taesoo. And I can't keep standing by and watching you destroy yourself. Watching you destroy everyone else."

For a moment, the words hung between them, mixed with painful honesty. Taesoo didn't say anything right away. His eyes were distant, staring at the floor as if lost in thought. The tension in the room thickened, and for the first time, James saw the weight in Taesoo's expression—the burden he carried, one that was suffocating him.

"I've been in this fight my whole life," Taesoo finally muttered, his voice almost a whisper. "You don't just stop being a fighter. You don't just put down the gloves and walk away. Not without consequences."

James felt a pang of helplessness in his chest, but he didn't back down. He took a step closer, his eyes softening with understanding.

"I'm not asking you to walk away from everything, Taesoo. But you don't have to keep fighting the way you are. You don't have to keep hurting people just to survive."

Taesoo met his gaze then, his eyes dark, filled with an anger that wasn't directed at James, but something deeper—something he was unwilling to face.

"I can't," Taesoo said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm not built for anything else."

James' heart ached, the distance between them growing even wider. "You don't have to be built for violence, Taesoo. You're already stronger than that. You don't need to destroy to be strong."

But Taesoo didn't respond. He stood there, his fists clenched, eyes burning with something James couldn't quite place—stubbornness, fear, perhaps even shame. But whatever it was, it kept him rooted in the fight.

The silence stretched out between them, thick and uncomfortable. James wanted to reach out, to hold him, to convince him that there was a way out, that they could both build something different together. But Taesoo's walls had gone up again, stronger than ever, and James knew there was nothing he could say that would break through to him right now.

Instead, James let out a shaky breath and turned toward the door, his heart heavy. "I can't keep watching you do this," he said quietly, the pain in his voice unmistakable. "I can't be a part of this if you don't want to change."

Taesoo's eyes followed him, but he didn't speak, his silence more telling than any words he could've said. The moment felt like it was slipping through James' fingers, like something that could've been could never quite be, not as long as Taesoo kept holding on to this life of violence.

"I hope you figure it out, Taesoo," James added softly, before stepping out of the apartment, leaving the door ajar behind him.

And in the silence that followed, Taesoo stood there alone, the weight of his choices pressing down on him.