3000 Stars

Temper

To register in the tournaments now, you had to pass a test showing you knew the rules. Taehyung felt slightly guilty running through drills, but he did his best to brush it off, focusing on getting it right. His false-false name, X, drew no strange looks. He did get one person who asked if he had chosen it for the meaning of the roman numeral, ten, but he decided to ignore it.

People were so strange.

His first few fights were easy. He finished them all in an afternoon. They were rookies, people whose accounts had blown up in the first two or three days of their creation. He felt no guilt in defeating them, but he felt no excitement either. It was just an attempt to move up.

And move up he did.

The first ranks were easy. A defeat of one newbie could move him as much as one hundred places up the ranks. It was once he got within the thousands that things became harder and he found himself locked out of the arena for the day for 'health concerns'.

He had coughed on the field after being punched in the stomach. That was it.

Taehyung shoved his hands in his pockets, turning his hack off as he left the train station. He saw a figure standing ahead of him and froze, waiting, but relaxed when they ran up. It was just Jungkook.

"Hyung!" Jungkook said. "Why're you out so late?"

Taehyung shrugged, continuing toward the station exit.

"Was that the arena train?" Jungkook asked.

Taehyung ignored him.

"Hyung!"

Taehyung sighed, shaking his head. "Go away, Kook."

"Why?"

"I don't wanna talk to you right now," Taehyung said, glancing back.

"Will you fight me, then?" Jungkook asked.

"No!"

Taehyung's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, shaking himself when he saw the unknown number. Not again. He shoved it back in his jacket, shaking his head, and broke into a run, leaving Jungkook inside the station. He ran the rest of the way home and straight up to his bedroom, ignoring his mother's call to him from the kitchen. Once he was safely inside his room, he opened the text.

***-***-****: Im right behind you stupid

***-***-****: Why did you run

***-***-****: I just want to fight you.

Taehyung's breath caught in his throat. Behind him? The mystery number had been behind him? But only Jungkook was behind him. The station was empty otherwise. It couldn't have been Jungkook, could it? No. Jungkook was too friendly. He would never message someone like this. Never.

...Right?

Taehyung swallowed. This was bad. If Jungkook knew who he was, he could rat him out to Yoongi in seconds. But how could he go about confirming who Jungkook was without exposing himself? What if Jungkook was innocent? The mystery challenger could have gotten off the train behind him and waited for his schoolmate to run up to him. There was no guarantee this was correct.

But what if it was? What would he do? How could he keep Jungkook from giving him away?

T: Who are you?

***-***-****: I'll tell you if you'll fight me

T: That's not fair.

***-***-****: lifes not fair

***-***-****: fight me

T: No

***-***-****: why

T: Because I don't want to

***-***-****: why

T: I just don't

***-***-****: my name isnt enough???

T: No.

***-***-****: how about your identity

T: what.

***-***-****: Fight me

***-***-****: I wont tell anyone who u are and u get to know who i am

T: that's blackmail.

***-***-****: who cares

***-***-****: i just want to fight you

***-***-**** meet me at the old fight club you went to before

T: No.

***-***-****: Not the one Zen took u to

***-***-****: the old one

***-***-****: or I'll tell Yoongi

T: how many of my friends do you know?

***-***-****: Yoongi is your friend? I thought you were rivals

T: We are.

T: Stop dodging the question. How do you know them?

***-***-****: u lost ur touch V

***-***-****: ull know when u see me

***-***-****: promise

***-***-****: i just want one fight

Taehyung sighed. One fight. It seemed like such an easy promise. Just one fight and this person would leave him alone.

It was too good to be true.

But the alternative was having Yoongi know who he was.

Besides, he didn't have to wear his hack when he fought this idiot.

T: Fine. I'll fight you.

***-***-****: finally

***-***-****: fight club after school

***-***-****: cant wait

Taehyung rolled his eyes and left the conversation, opening his app. He didn't want to think about anything. He stared at his last picture and noted the small red dot by the 10-K symbol, indicating he had earned the stars within an hour. It was as good as he was going to get.

He would make sure this challenger never challenged him again.