Payback

Training Session

Jungkook looked at me with an expressionless face for about five seconds before he put down the papers he had in his hands. He took off his glasses and set them down on top of the papers and the folded his hands on the papers as he looked up at me.

"What makes you think that I want to teach you anything other than to do as you're told?"

"Because that's not enough." I said in a low, demanding voice. "If you want me to pay off my father's debt, I have to figure out how to survive, first. If you want me around long enough to pay it off, then you need to do more than just order me around."

Jungkook seemed to listen to my words since he didn't spit back an insult this time. He thought for a moment while I hovered over the desk.

"What made you realize this?" His voice was a little bit softer this time, but I could tell that he was still annoyed.

"Yesterday after a customer assaulted me, Yoongi said that I need to deal with those kinds of people without making a scene. And after the shooting last night and seeing a bunch of dead bodies today, I realized that I need to learn how to not end up dead."

"So why did you come to me?"

I remembered seeing him working out in the gym. His hard muscles flexed as he lifted weights and he had so much control over his body movements. Plus, the others didn't seem to know as much about fighting as Jungkook might. Jimin didn't seem like a fighter, Yoongi, Taehyung, and Hoseok might know some moves, but they probably don't fight enough to be able to teach me. Namjoon is the fucking head honcho of this ring, so I didn't want to bother him, and forget about Jin. Jin still hates my guts and he's been avoiding me a lot lately, so I don't even want to bother.

I shrugged. "I think that out of everyone in the house, you might know more about fighting than anyone else."

Jungkook seemed to be contemplating my words. He didn't speak for a few seconds as he thought. He finally looked back up at me.

"Do you have any experience at all?"

I shrugged, thinking back to my middle school and high school days when I learned some sword fighting. I took the sword-fighting classes for six years until my junior year in high school. I almost forgot about that time, but right now I felt glad that my father made me take those lessons. I nodded.

"I learned some sword-fighting for four years when I was in middle school. I only remember a little bit, but then again, I don't have a sword so that doesn't do me too much good."

Jungkook's face suddenly lightened up and he smiled for the first time. I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head.

"Is there a reason why you're smiling right now?"

Jungkook reached down for something on the floor next to him and stood up from his chair.

"You haven't done it in a while, but since you learned it for four years I'm sure that it will come back to you in a second."

Jungkook walked around the desk and over to me. He held a long wooden stick in his hands. I would have questioned why he had it there, but by now I knew that everyone must have weapons stashed on or near them at all times. He handed me the stick, which I took from his steady hands.

It felt kind of familiar from the time I first learned the basics of sword fighting. I only held the stick in my hand for a few seconds before I saw a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye. It happened so fast that I didn't have enough time to react fast enough. I felt a strong fist hit my ribcage and I shouted in surprise. I doubled over in pain, but I was only given a couple of seconds before I saw Jungkook move again. This time he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side where I landed on the back of the couch. My side hit the back of the couch and I almost fell to the floor when I saw Jungkook take a step toward me. He reached out to grab me, but I remembered that I still have the stick in my hand. I swung my had out in front of me and hit Jungkook's arm with the stick.

Jungkook let out a small groan of pain as he took a step back and shook out his arm. I stood up from leaning against the couch and I saw the smile was back on Jungkook's face.

"Good. But you have to be quicker. I'm going easy on you."

Is he going easy on me? I felt the pain in my side from the punch and from being hurled into the couch. I saw him come at me again, and suddenly I felt like I was back in training. He was faster this time, but I managed to dodge half of his attacks. The more we fought, the more I remembered from my classes. We fought for about thirty minutes before I finally managed to block most of his attacks. Although I managed to improve in such a short amount of time, I knew that Jungkook was holding back. This isn't his full wrath.

I've been out of shape for a while, so I found myself getting tired sooner than I thought I would. When I reached the end of my strength, Jungkook grabbed my arm and threw me onto the floor. The stick fell out of my hand as I rolled and landed on my back. I lay there panting and staring up at the ceiling. Jungkook's footsteps sounded on the floor as he walked over to me. He crouched down next to me and looked down into my sweaty, exhausted face. He looked a little bit disappointed, but then again what did he expect after quitting for eight years?

"Maybe before we do any fighting you should build your endurance up. You will lose every fight without stamina."

His voice was low, but not threatening. He just smiled once more before he stood back up and walked away. I slowly sat up and watched as Jungkook walked over to his desk. The large desk was attached to what looked like a large china cabinet. Jungkook opened one of the drawers on the bottom and pulled out a towel. He threw it onto the couch where my bag still lay and kicked the drawer closed.

"I was going to have you clean the bedrooms today, but it seems like you changed my mind."

Jungkook sat down in the chair that he was sitting in when I came in. He put his glasses back on and picked up his pen. He didn't look at me as he spoke.

"I may have a better use for your skills besides restaurant and nightclub work."

I slowly stood up, wincing as I felt the pain from being kicked, punched, and thrown around so much.

"Yeah? What do you have in mind?" I asked as I made my way over to the couch.

"Well, Do you have a problem with killing people?"

My hand that reached for the towel suddenly stopped. Is he considering making me an assassin or something? I looked over at him and saw that he was looking up at me through his glasses. I hesitated, thinking about when I saw the dead man last night and the bodies that I saw this afternoon. I haven't been around death so much before. Am I capable of killing someone?

My hesitation gave Jungkook his answer.

"I don't know." I said, looking back at the towel and picking it up.

"Akio."

I turned my head to look back at Jungkook, whose face was serious.

"I will train with you whenever I can. I will give you a month to decide. In the meantime, you need to decide if you are capable of killing someone. You will still need to do the work that we assign you, but your answer in a month will determine the kind of work you receive. Assassins get paid more, but it's dangerous work. Make sure you think this through."

I nodded and reached for my bag.

"I'll think about it." I said as I pulled the bag onto my shoulder.

Jungkook nodded and pointed toward the door with the pen in his hand. "There's a bathroom with a shower just down the hallway. Wash up and go downstairs to the lounge. You'll be working there tonight."

I nodded and walked over to the door. Before I walked out I looked back to see Jungkook writing something on a piece of paper.

"Thanks, Jungkook."

Jungkook looked up at me for a second. I gave him a little smile before he looked back down at his papers. I walked out of the office and closed the door behind me before walking down the hallway. Right before I reached the bathroom door, I saw Jimin poke his head out from his office.

"Is everything OK?" he asked, with a concerned look on his face.

I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I just applied for a new job."