3000 Stars

Old-Fashioned

The old fight club was dilapidated and run down. The scanner flickered feebly as Taehyung entered, trying and failing to process his data. He knew the fight would be off the records. This club was too old and broken down to have the coverage necessary to hold them to the rules.

It made him more tense. He didn't like this. Was the mystery challenger trying to stage something?

"You came!"

Taehyung's shoulders slumped. "Jungkook?" he said.

"What?" Jungkook asked, hopping down from a piece of rubble. "This is so cool! I've wanted to fight you for so long!"

"Why?" Taehyung asked.

"Why?" Jungkook said. "Why? Hyung, you were the top fighter of the first generation! Of course I'd want to fight you!"

Taehyung nodded, sighing. "Even after the videos?"

"Vid... oh," Jungkook said. Taehyung watched his face fall. "That... was I giving you flashbacks, hyung? I didn't mean to."

Taehyung took a deep breath, crossing his arms. "You should have considered giving me your name, then," he said.

Jungkook fumbled with his phone for a few moments, looking away. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "Can we still fight?"

"Why here?"

Jungkook swallowed. "Uhhh... for effect?"

"Are you lying to me?" Taehyung asked in disbelief.

"No!" Jungkook said. "No, hyung, no, I'm just nervous. You're a really good fighter, and I really wanted to test myself against you, and now you're here and I'm rethinking a lot of things but--"

"Fine," Taehyung said. "Let's just fight, then."

To his relief, Jungkook didn't waste any more words. Energy buzzed up around him, and Taehyung called up a shield just in time to block the first shot.

Jungkook's power shattered the shield. Taehyung moved out of the way of another blast, running for the shattered playing field, but another blast forced him to crouch in place, calling up a shield to deflect the shrapnel as it blew everywhere.

He felt like an idiot. If he had kept refusing to answer Jungkook, could Jungkook have done any real damage? He had no proof of who Taehyung was. Taehyung knew it. He had essentially confirmed Jungkook's hunch when he arrived at the battlefield without his hack on. He was so stupid.

He scrambled to his feet, forming a spear of energy as he went and throwing it in Jungkook's general direction. Jungkook yelped, cursing, but Taehyung was already on the move, dashing toward the field. It didn't matter where they fought, but Taehyund found solace in the idea of having an actual arena, though he nearly twisted his ankle trying to get there.

Jungkook followed him, shooting blasts of energy. Taehyung deflected them, but Jungkook just sent more. Taehyung groaned, got down on one knee, and let his shield fall, calling up another spear of energy in each hand and throwing them at Jungkook. They pierced through a wave of energy but failed to hit Jungkook, who instead sent another blast at Taehyung, knocking him back. His head hit a protruding shard of the arena and began to throb, but he just rolled out of the way, forming another shield and shouting in frustration when Jungkook shattered it. How long would Jungkook's energy last? What was his strategy? Was he just trying to wear him down? Taehyung stood, wobbling, and ran toward Jungkook, but another blast of energy knocked him down, washing over his skin. It was warm, uncomfortably so. Taehyung lunged to his feet again and Jungkook tackled him, knocking him back into the arena floor. They rolled over each other, powers forgotten as each struggled for purchase. Taehyung got his hands around Jungkook's neck and pinned him down, wrapping one leg around Jungkook's to keep him from flailing. Jungkook gasped, yanking at his hands, but Taehyung held on, watching. When Jungkook started to relax, he relaxed as well, letting go when Jungkook didn't move.

"Do you yeild?" Taehyung asked.

"What?" Jungkook said, blinking stupidly at him.

"Yield," Taehyung said. "Yield now or I'll do it again."

"Alright," Jungkook mumbled.

Taehyung nodded, but didn't get off Jungkook. Instead he gave him one last slap to the face.

"Next time pick an arena with actual coverage, stupid."

"Sorry," Jungkook groaned.

"And don't you dare post about this fight," Taehyung added.

"Got it," Jungkook said. "Can you get off me now?"

"One last thing," Taehyung said.

"What?" Jungkook asked. His eyes had cleared, and he looked apprehensive.

"You owe me a burger," Taehyung said. 

Remind me never to look at 'what depressed people want to tell their loved ones' again. I can be strong for a lot of things, but I can't look at that stuff. I will love who I love, but for my own mental safety, sometimes I can't do what they want, and knowing that makes it hurt worse. 

One of them literally said that seeing someone hurt because they are hurting hurts them more. I feel it, I understand it, but fxck, stuff like that really damages my ability to go forward with my life. I admit to always wanting to please people, and being strong for others is one of those things that I do so naturally I sometimes forget to take care of myself. 

That's why I'm grateful for Wattpad, and for readers like you. I can be real here, and even if I can't gather the courage to contact you when I'm feeling down, I know you're there, that you're reading and voting, and even that is a small support. 

So, to balance how blegh I'm feeling now, I can sit here and know that I posted another chapter. I've made four submissions to magazines online. I'm going to work for a bit, and then I go to meet a kid for a potential job. I can do this. 

Thank you for helping me do this.