Bring Around the Pain

ONE

The night was still and silent as he made his way down the poorly illuminated road. No one cared about this part of town - only those who had no place better to be stuck around, and it was only recently that he had become a part of them.

The worn soles of his sneakers pounded against the dusty pavement, startling the population of rats scouring the overloaded bins for food. All his life he had been warned to avoid the very place he was heading to now, and he clenched his hands into fists to prevent them from shaking. He had made a decision and was going to stick to it. Kihun was many things, but a fluke was not one of them.

He kept his hood up and his eyes trained on his path. It would probably be a good idea to survey his surroundings from time to time - it was, after all, the neighbourhood with the highest crime rate in the country - but his solid build and scowling face were, for the moment at least, enough to keep any potential attackers at bay.

Two blocks he ran relentlessly, not even breaking into a sweat. The streets were eerily empty; at this time of night, while the 'upstanding' members of society were fast asleep in their beds, those who rarely saw eye to eye with the law usually came out to play. Not tonight - there was something big happening, and Kihun was on his way to it now.

One more corner and he was there. A sign flickered in a graffitied doorway, informing him that the place was once called The Cinder Block but he doubted anything was left of the old establishment. He pushed open the dented metal door - an indication that a fight had taken place there who knows how long ago - and trudged down the stairs in almost pure darkness. Reaching the bottom, he was faced with a bouncer who made his own person look like a basket of kittens. Uttering the phrase that he had gone to great lengths to procure granted him entry and with a nod that said 'Nice doing business with you', he stepped into the packed room.

A hundred faces turned to scrutinise the newcomer; some he recognised, most he did not. He searched the room, only caring about one group of people. There they were, the kings of the underground, Bring Around the Pain, otherwise known as B.A.P.

They weren't around most of the time - they only came back two to three times a year - but when they did, you could expect something big to happen. While (most) people in this part of town rejoiced, everyone else made sure all their doors were locked and their homes secure.

Word on the street was that this year, they were looking for some fresh meat to mould into the next leaders to keep the hierarchy in place while they were off maintaining their business elsewhere. That meant that they would be staying for longer than the usual couple of weeks - training was going to last a few months at the very least. Everyone who lived by their laws had come out tonight to see if there was any truth to this rumour, from the wannabe Gs to the dons of the drug cartels whose empires could almost match up to the power and influence of B.A.P's local hold.

The six in power scanned the newcomer in reserved curiosity. He was a fresh face in a sea full of people they had grown up with, and they were immediately suspicious of him. In a neighbourhood like this, everyone had ulterior motives - for all they knew, he could be a hired gun employed to get close to them and take them out. A background check would later be ordered to make sure he wasn't a (big) threat.

"Welcome, brothers and sisters." Kihun recognised the speaker as BYG, the fearsome leader of the band. He had a deep authoritative voice that made you sit up and listen, and with that one greeting, he held his audience captive to his words. "You are all gathered here today because you have heard, I'm sure, that we have some important business to take care of while we're here in town.

"B.A.P started out small, in a community that was disorderly, dysfunctional, and in dire need of a system of some kind. As time wore on and we built up our reputation, people grew to respect us and we managed to implement a chain of respect around here.