Chapter XCV - He’s My Champion

“I asked, what did you say?” Kyung asked, holding the axe over his shoulder. “You think this is funny, Moon?”

“Funny?” She chuckled, slowly walking up to Arthur’s side, gently shoving the brutes off him. “Why do you think I’m joking?”

“He’s not part of our faction, and he owes us an immense amount of money.”

Kyung snapped his fingers to which the man that came in with him took out a Cuban cigar and handed it to him, lighting it up for him as well.

“When we made that bet, you never specified that the fighter has to be one of us.”

Holding the cigar up to his lips, Kyung rolled it between his fingers and drew back on it until smoke filled his mouth. Stepping up to Moon, he exhaled a thick cloud directly in his sister’s face, causing her to cough.

“Nobody likes a smartass,” he said, coldly staring into her eyes.

“Scared?” she taunted, clearing the smoke with her hand.

“Keep your petty taunts to yourself, Moon.” He inhaled again before blowing it back at her face, forcing her to take a step back as she couldn’t endure her airways being flooded. “An outsider fighting for you? You’ll be the laughing stock, and that reflects on us too.”

“Then you shouldn't forbid me to fight.” She coughed one last time, regaining her composure.

“And here I thought you’ve grown up a bit, kiddo.”

Kyung’s clicking tongue drew Arthur’s attention as he cast a cold gaze at her older brother.

“You’re just scared cuz you know I’d win.” Moon clenched her fist.

“Who knows, but a boss shouldn’t get involved in such business. Besides, if you want to prove that you’re worthy of being followed, don’t come crying to me as soon as you realize that nobody’s on your side.”

“You made our faction into a joke. . .” Moon lowered her voice, dropping her gaze to the ground as she couldn’t bring herself to look at her brother’s face. “No wonder father never taught you anything.”

“What did you say to me?!” He dropped the cigar and grabbed Moon by the collar of her shirt while still holding the axe. “Do you think you’re better than me just because our father kept spoiling you?”

“Petty taunts, huh?” She chuckled in her brother’s face, smugly grinning despite the danger.

“Listen here, you little. . .” He wanted to insult her but held back as he took a deep breath. “The old man’s dead, and now I run the place. Be thankful I even accepted your bet.”

“Not much of a bet when you know nobody’s willing to go against you out of fear that they might lose.”

“Maybe you should start being afraid as well.” He shoved her back, lowering his axe. “Cigar, now!”

His right-hand man rushed over, giving him a new one, but as he went to light it up, it kept failing to spark. Annoyed, Kyung yanked the lighter out of his hand and lit it himself before tossing it back to him.

“Moon.” The mood around him changed as soon as he lowered his tone. “You want to take this seriously? Then let me ask you this. What do I get out of it?”

“What?” She looked him dead in the eye.

“If this kid wins by any chance, I lose my position, but there’s nothing in it for me if I win.”

“What do you want?” Moon asked, crossing her arms as she watched a grin appear on Kyung’s face.

“If you lose, you’ll fall in line. There won’t be a next year. You’ll listen to my commands as everyone else, and the money father left you will be transferred to me. Don’t worry. You’ll still get some from me depending on how well you behave.”

“That’s absurd! We’re talking about-”

“I’m aware of how much our old man gave you. Did you think I wouldn’t get angry once I found out you got most of it?” Kyung glanced at the axe, rotating it by the handle before looking back at Moon. “You’ll also stop working at that dump you love hanging out in and start working at the club.”

“You want to whore me out?!” Her eyes went wide from shock. “Do you not even see me as your sister?”

“Who said anything about whoring you out?”

“Don’t you think I don’t know what goes on around there!”

“Will discuss that when you lose.”

“Bastard. . .” She mumbled, biting on her lower lip until it bled.

“Do we have a deal?”

“You’re crazy! Who’d accept such a deal?”

“You’re right. . . I almost forgot the most important part. You’ll get a tattoo of my choice that you must never remove, and don’t worry. . . I’ll make sure you regret it.” Moon looked stunned by how demanding his wager was. “Don’t look at me like that. You probably promised him to forgive his debt if he fought for you, so it’s not just my position you’re getting by winning.”

Moon went silent, averting her gaze as she struggled to gamble everything on a kid she hardly knew.

“Do it,” Arthur whispered for the first time.

She was taken by surprise, looking back at him only to see callous eyes.

Moon swallowed what little spit she had in her mouth, hesitantly looking back at her brother. “Then I have some terms as well.”

“Let’s hear them.” He sounded surprisingly understanding.

“Two months. We’ll do the fight in two months, and you’ll keep your hands off Arthur’s family. You must also have someone from our faction fighting him so no outsiders, and you must tell me who he’ll be fighting within the next two weeks.”

“You make it sound easy to move the competition.”

“I’m sure Oppa of all people can make it happen.”

“Then how about we just host the fight ourselves and forget competing against each other in the tournament? Besides, that’d show unity among us.”

“I don’t care,” Moon said, looking determined to win. “Do we have a deal?”

“Deal.” Kyung extended his hand, which Moon accepted. “I should mention that if either of us decides to ditch the fight beforehand, then they automatically lose.”

“Remember, you can’t put a finger on Arthur and his family.”

“Yes, yes. . .” He chuckled, breaking away from the handshake. “Well, that settles it.”

“Good,” she said, turning to Arthur. “Let’s get-”

“Arthur, was it?” Kyung called out to him. “How would you like to be debt free?”

“What?” Moon turned to him as Arthur watched her eyes go wide.

“Think about it,” he said, walking over to Arthur, who still speechlessly watched everything unfold on his knees. “If you fight for her and win, you’ll get to be a free man, but you could also accept a bit of a beating and walk away debt-free guaranteed. I’d be willing to even pay you a bit extra for the trouble.”

“This wasn’t part of the agreement!” Moon protested, but Kyung just smugly smirked back.

“What do you mean? I’m not harming him, am I?” He turned back to Arthur. “Why leave things to chance when you can guarantee your family’s safety? After all, it was Moon’s selfish plan to drag you into a fight for her personal gain.”

Arthur stared at him blankly as an offer that no man would’ve refused given the circumstances. He was given a way out without risking anything other than his pride and considering the amount of money Kyung was getting from Moon, it made what he offered Arthur trivial, or so he believed.

“To think you’d stoop so low. . .” Moon ridiculed him. “Arthur, you can’t trust him.”

“She’s not even making a counteroffer,” Kyung pointed out.

“I-”

“It doesn’t matter,” Arthur’s soft-spoken voice cut off Moon. “I don’t need more money.”

Kyung smirked, saying, “I knew you were a reasonab-”

“It’s your fault.” Arthur gazed into Kyung’s eyes. “It’s your fault my grandfather might die. It's your fault my girlfriend worries if I’ll get back to her. It’s your fault that my sister cries and struggles to smile. It’s your fault that I’m. . . exhausted.”

“You can’t blame me for that,” Kyung lowered his tone, displeased that Arthur sounded as if he was about to refuse him. “Think carefully about what you’ll say next as I won’t offer you a way out a second time. You could save your family effortlessly.”

“It’s fine. Nothing will change if I refuse your offer,” Arthur said without breaking eye contact.

“Suit yourself,” he said, standing back up. “You’ve signed your own death.”

“Get away from him.” Moon got in between them, helping Arthur back to his feet. “From now on, don’t even get to talk to him.”

Kyung burst into laughter, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Don’t worry. I was just trying to save him some trouble while you helplessly wait for two months to pass. Oh, and by the way. . . I don’t mind telling you now who’ll be fighitng him. Su-jin.” Moon’s hands flopped lifelessly as if she was deprived of all hope. “He’s getting out next week, so initially I wanted to surprise you at the tournament.”

“It doesn’t matter who it is,” Arthur said calmly, placing his hand on Moon’s shoulder for the first time. While they had a rough start and Moon had a vastly different personality to him, he still preferred her over Kyung. “As long as you keep your promise.”

“I admire the confidence, but. . .” He looked at his watch. “I have other business to attend to. Don’t even think about not showing up.”

Kyung and Arhur stared each other down before they parted ways.

* * *

“You plan on saying anything?” Arthur asked Moon who had been sitting on the cold warehouse floor for the past ten minutes looking depressed.

“You should’ve taken his deal. . .” Moon mumbled, letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Why?” Arthur looked at her, contemplating if he should just turn around and leave since their meeting had ended and Irene was still watiing for him back home.

Arthur - The meeting ended, but I’m on the other part of town so it might take a bit to get home. I’ll tell you everything in person.

“To be honest, I knew that if we excluded my brother and me from our group, you would’ve been able to win. But Su-jin is a different story. To think I so foolishly accepted without knowing the whole story.”

“Sounded like you didn’t think things through when coming up with this plan,” Arthur said, rubbing salt on the wound.

“I had no time to prepare. Do you really think I’d want someone I don’t know fighting for me?” Moon said, glancing up at Arthur finally. “I believed it was a stroke of luck when I found out you were Ryung’s grandson, but it turned out to be a poison apple.”

“Let me guess, Su-jin has Qi?”

“Yeah. . . He’s a cold blooded killer that got arrested for brutally murdering ten men six years ago. I’m not sure why they’re letting him out of jail since he was sentenced for life and considered for capital punishment. However, Oppa wouldn’t lie about that, so maybe they arranged for him to temporarily get out.”

“Sounds like your group has a lot of influence.”

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t pry, but since we’re in the same boat, I guess I can tell you that much.” She fidgeted her fingers. “Yeah. Our father was close with lots of politicians and now Oppa. . . I mean Kyung is going around ruining everything.”

“Are you switching to caling him by his first name?”

“Would your sister still call you Oppa if you tried selling her to other men for profit? Besides, he made it obvious he doesn’t care about me in the slightest.”

“You okay?” Arthur asked, feeling a bit sympathetic, despite their poor relationship.

“Do I look like a damzel in distress to you? Save that for someone who can’t handle themselves.” Moon huffed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m only bothered because we never really had a chance. Now I’ll have to figure out a way to deal with his bullshit.”

“Why did you delay the fight?”

“I wanted to know what he’d pull so I had enough time to prepare you. I’ve only seen you fight against some highschoolers and we exchanged like two missed punches, so I was hoping that maybe I could teach you a thing or two.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Arthur chortled, unable to hold it in anymore.

“You shouldn’t be laughing about this. He might actually kill you.”

“What realm is he?”

“Realm?” Moon looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You know. . . his cultivation level?” He tried putting in terms based on how Don presented game characters.

“No idea what you’re talking about.” She looked at him as if he were sprouting gibberish.

“Wait. . . Who taught you about Qi?” He said, but a message notification stole his attention. “Sorry.”

Get a cab, I have money on me. - Irene

He wasn’t sure if she wanted him to get home as soon as possible, or if she just didn’t want Moon to give him a ride back.

“Blondie?” Moon asked, smirking as she tilted her head back.

“She has a name you know. . .” Arthur locking his phone.

“You should get back to her,” Moon said, slowly getting back up. “Give me your phone.”

“Why?” Arthur asked, handing it to her.

“Why else? I need your number so we can stay in touch.” After she was done exchanging contact information, she returned the phone to him and tapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll talk later. I need time to think of a strategy.”

“Is he stronger than you?”

“Su-jin? Not sure, I’ve never fought him before.”

“So when will I see you?”

“Damn, you have a lot of questions. . .” She chuckled. “Miss me already?”

“Hardly.”

“Sure, sure. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

“Think I’ll take a cab.”

“Blondie must be pissed after what I pulled, eh? That’s what she gets for purposefully making out in front of me. Anyway, I’ll keep in touch and we’ll do a spar so I can see the level you’re at.”

“I don’t have time for that,” Arthur expressed, knowing he has to take care of Ryung.

“Good thing I call the shots,” Moon said before starting to walk off. “Cya later, pretty boy.”

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.