A Trial of
Strength
~Day
Three~
The following morning, Jin and Law had agreed to
continue their act. And just before they entered the training ground, Law made
a gesture for Jin to listen closely.
“Now, I want you to listen, Jin! When we go in there, you pay as little
attention to Hwoarang as you possibly can. Treat him as though he doesn’t
exist, and I’ll check for any signs of him feeling for you. Remember to stay in
character!”
“Stay in character?” Jin chuckled, “You really do
belong on stage, and not in some figthers’ ring.”
“No flattering, Jin. Go on, and I’ll be there in a minute. I have to get into my act you know!”
“Yeah, yeah ... my ex-love, or whatever you’re supposed to be...”
Law smiled, waving a gesture with both of his hands,
a wordless way of saying: “Shoo, shoo.” and Jin strengthened himself with a
deep breath, and marched into the huge hall.
In the corner of the big painted ring on the center
of the floor, stood Hwoarang, stretchig his aching leg. But...
If he didn’t care about me... Why did he want me to stay the night, then? He winced at the thought that followed. Because he wanted Law to walk in on us, you
fool! Couldn’t you figure that out on
your own?
Hwoarang silently shook his head, and went back to
stretching his ankle, still trying to recover from the fiery blast of
Yoshimitsu’s sword. Why did he tend to my wounds, so full with
care... And...and.. the kiss in the locker rom... I couldn’t have just imagined
it!!! It was so...
Suddenly, there was a loud bolt of force at the
entrance, and Hwoarang’s eyes immediately went to where the sound came
from. Jin! his heart took a leap of hope at the sight, but quickly, he
regretted ever even looking in Jin’s direction. He didn’t even notice me..!
Jin went past Hwoarang, at least a good 20 steps
from him, without even glancing at him.
Of course... After what you did to
him, why would he even look at you?
Makes perfect sense...Jin went straight to one of the punching bags, and
started, almost instantly, punching and kicking like it was all he lived for.
For every kick, he let out a shout filled with adrenalin, and likewise for
every punch. Soon, there followed
another sound at the doors, and once again Hwoarang
turned
to the entrance. He saw in a glance, that so were the other fighters, too. Even Jin looked in the direction of the
two doors, and his face was blank, his eyes void of emotion.
One of the doors opened, and in came Law, seemingly
feeling better after having his nose tended to, but still bothered by the big
bruise that spread all the way up to his left eye. But as soon as he turned to walk further into the hall, he
winced, his eyes went wide open, and his hands twitched. He looked like a
scared animal, running out of places to hide. Hwoarang turned to where Law’s
eyes were focused, and he saw Jin.
With a face that seemed to be cut out of stone, he
stood firmly, his arms crossed into an uninviting pose. How
can you do this to him, Jin! How could you turn him into this scared, wounded
creature? he turned to watch Law’s next move, and as he did, he saw that
Law had already started walking... up to where he was standing. He walked
right past Hwoarang, without even uttering the slightest word, but Hwoarang shuddered
from the pure coldness emanating from him.
Goosebumps
formed on his arms, and the hairs on his neck stood on end. He hesitantly
followed the form of Law with his eyes, and shuddered. He
really must despise me...
The day went on as good as it could under the
circumstances; the fighters preparing themselves for the tournament never
ceased pushing themselves to their very limit. And neither did Jin. He tried
his best not to let his eyes wander to the redheaded beauty that set his heart
afire, but still, he sometimes failed.
He couldn’t help but notice the slightly down-and-low expression written
on Hwoarang’s face, but he still told himself; I must be imagining...
Every once in a while, Law would send a reminding
look his way, and he’d get back, as Law had put it, ‘into character’.
How are we
ever gonna pull this off? he tried to think his way into Law’s mind, but he knew it was as
futile as digging through concrete. And just what is the plan!?
He sighed silently. I can’t take this anymore...
He picked
up his jacket, lying on the floor, and started walking to the exit. He glanced
a look at Law, for advice in what to do, and Law urged him on with a nod.
“Go on, if
you want to.” he mouthed his
silent reply, only for Jin to see, and take part of. Jin made an almost invisible nod, and exited the training ground.
If only, he had known that Hwoarang had been
watching him in silent longing... Longing to just run up to him and wrap his
arms around him, not caring who was there to see, only so he could feel that
warmth again. If only... If only there was a way for him to take back what he
had done, to take back what he had said...
Hwoarang shook his head heavily, wiping his brow.
His hand felt so cold against his skin, so unlike the warm hands of Jin on his
face. Oh, Jin.. How could you ever forgive me? the thoughts echoed
through his head, as well as Jin’s words, so full with accusation, so full with
the bitterness of broken promises. ‘But
what about last night?...B-but what about the things you told me?... Led to
think!? I wasn’t led to think anything... You told me...!!!’ Hwoarang made a grunt at the bitter voice
ringing in his ears, and he finished the sentence, every word stabbing his
heart, making it all so much harder to stand.
I told him was
in love with him....
‘...Why not
last night?....... So I wouldn’t be able to make a scene...’
He could see Jin’s face before him, the way it
changed from pure joy at his presence, to the glints of pain hidden well in
those golden brown eyes. No. Hwoarang told himself, as honest as
he could manage to be. ...So I wouldn’t
take it all back and break down into your arms, so I wouldn’t ....“So I
wouldn’t what..!?” he whispered,
grunting curses to himself, reaching down to take his duffel bag, deciding his
leg had had enough of physical torture for the day.
Later that night, a knock came to sound
on Jin’s hotel room door. “Who is it?”
he asked, not bothering to rush to the door at the mere sound of the knock.
“It’s me, Law.”
Jin’s lips formed the unmistakable word of a silent
‘Oh.’, and he went to open the locked door.
“Sorry to’ve kept you waiting..” he said, and Law’s kind features lit up
with the flash of a grin.
“It’s not like I’ve been left out in the cold, now,
is it?”
“Come on in.” Jin offered, and Law eagerly took him
up on his offer.
“Much obliged, Jin. Much obliged, indeed.”
Jin’s eyebrow’s creased, and he turned to Law after
closing the door.
“Why the so very cheerful mood, Law? I thought you
wouldn’t be so excited only over the tournament.”
“Well I am!” Law spun around, and smiled at the not
too happy Jin. Now it was Law’s turn to frown.
“...hey. What’s the matter? Why so low-spirited?”
“Nothing...”
“Aw, come on, Jin. Tell me, what’s on your mind?”
Jin sighed, and motioned for Law to take a seat at
the small table by the so-called bookshelf.
He did so, and Jin joined him, saying: “How do you suppose we’re gonna get away
with this... this fraud?”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it by such a colourful
name... But, you do have a point.”
“Of course I do! Now not only people know what I am,
but now they think I’m a bastard too!”
“Well, what are you, Jin? I hope you won’t answer by
some name-calling, like you did yesterday..” Law’s eyebrows were raised in two
arches, “Hmm?”
Jin huffed, and tried to avoid the question by
asking one himself. “So, Law... What
brings you here?”
“No, no! You won’t fool me Jin! Now, please answer
my question, and then I’ll answer yours.” Law nodded, as if to encourage Jin to
speak his mind.
Jin was silent for many moments, and then he finally
spoke, wearily: “What I am, I cannot
tell you... For I don’t know it even myself..”
Law’s eyebrows creased at this mysterious
statement. “What... What do you mean,
Jin?”
Jin devoided his eyes, and when he spoke, he was
whispering: “Sometimes... when I look at myself in the mirror, I can’t even
recognize my face... I don’t know anymore Law... I don’t know who or what I am, not since...” he went quiet, and looked up at Law from
under lowered eyelids.
“Since what?” Law asked, he too whispering now, as
if not to disturb the tension of what was to be said.
“...Since.. Once..when I went to wash my face one
morning, and I looked myself in the mirror... I couldn’t recognize the face
that looked back at me! It had this eerie glow to the skin, and the eyes, they
were crimson, I swear they were!” Jin
truly appeared to be quite in fear of what he had seen, but Law found no way to
understand, to comprehend what Jin had just tried to tell him.
“Your eyes were crimson!?”
“No! I mean... Yes, but ...” he went silent, so Law
picked up where Jin left off.
“...do you mean ...it wasn’t ...you, who looked back from the mirror?”
Jin nodded, running a hand through the hair on the
side of his head. “It was so weird...
it just all of a sudden wasn’t me... with black streaks running from my temples
to the center of my forehead... where there was a red orb shining...”
Law’s face went stunned beyond description, his eyes
stretched wide open, his chin almost
hanging to the floor, and his eyebrows creased, raised in a wide bow above his
eyes. “A.. red orb...glowing..in the
center of your forehead...?”
“You don’t believe me?” Jin’s voice sounded so
disappointed, and Law saw the hurt glowing in his eyes. “You don’t, do you...” Jin noted, and got
up, only to start pacing the room, not knowing what to do. Law still sat down
in the chair, without the slightest idea of what to say to the younger man.
“I believe you...” he started, “It’s just... I don’t
know how to understand it... Do you.. Do you mean the mark of an ogre?”
“What?” Jin stopped in his tracks, confusedly
looking at the man sitting down.
“The mark of an ogre... You know... Did it look like
some sort of sign or something?”
“You think I’m an ogre!?”
“No... That’s not what I said, Jin..” Law got up,
and put his hands up in front of himself, as if to calm Jin down. It didn’t work, though.
“That is sooo
what you said!! You think I’m turning into some monster!”
“No.. calm yourself down, Jin! There’s no use in
getting so worked up... I’m sure there’s some rational explanation to all of
this...”
“The HELL there is!! You don’t understand!” Jin gave
up an unintentional sigh, “...Now, Hwoarang will never want me.... He won’t
think I’m any more worth than the dirt I walk on...”
Law smiled at Jin, who now seemed to be a lost boy,
more than anything. “No. I do not think
that’s the case. Didn’t you see the way he looked at you today, the way he shot
glances at you ever so often?”
“Yeah. He looked like he could’ve beaten me into a
smear on the floor for what I supposedly ‘did
to you’...”
“That’s not what I saw...”
“Oh?” Jin ‘hmph’ed and crossed his arms at Law,
“Well, do tell... Exactly what did you see?”
Law’s lips were drawn to the side of his face, and
his eyebrows almost crumpled over his nose, “I saw .....”
“Yes?”
“Oh, give me a minute, will you!” Law wavered at Jin
to have some patience, “I have to put this into the right set of words, you
see.”
“Oh, so you don’t think I’m capable of understanding
it otherwise? You don’t have to belittle me just because...”
“Aha!” Law snapped his fingers, totally oblivious to
Jin’s ravings, “I got it! He looked at you, with such longing in his eyes, that
if he could have, he would have ...”
“What!? What would he have done?”
Law went silent, thumping his feet silently into the
floor, trying to put the feeling he had so bluntly seen in Hwoarang’s eyes into
words: “He... He looked...sad. As if...
As if he longed for you to make him smile…longed to be close to you. He looked
cold, as if you were the only one able to make him warm again.”
Jin’s eyes went to the floor, and only now did Law
notice his shoulders were trembling.
When he spoke after a long moment of silence, his voice was merely a
whisper: “I... I couldn’t.. make anyone warm....” Jin’s voice trembled, and Law
realized, he was on the verge of crying. He took one step closer, and put a
hand on Jin’s shoulder.
“Hey! I never figured you to be such a sensitive
one... Come on now, don’t cry!”
Jin slumped forward, as if his own weight was to
much for his legs, and Law caught him, just as Jin’s arms wrapped themselves
around his neck. There came a sound of utter anguish from his throat, as he
cried out all his fear and pain. He clung to Law’s shirt, as if it was the only
thing that kept him from going to pieces.
“Hush now... Don’t you cry, Jin, you have no reason to..” Law stroke the
soft black hair at the base of Jin’s neck, trying to comfort him as best he
could.
Jin
couldn’t make anything but incoherent noises, as he found his throat too sore
to speak. He clawed at the white shirt that Law was wearing, and soaked it with
salty trails of tears. “Don’t cry,
please Jin! I’m trying to help you here, and you start crying from the obvious
love Hwoarang feels for you! Now, what sort of manners are that?” he knew he
wasn’t being too funny, even though he was trying to cheer Jin up. So, he
continued, much more seriously.
“...tell you what.. Let’s go talk to Hwoarang! ...you know, let him know
what’s really goin’ on, hmm?”
Jin shook his head, still holding on to Law: “He will never understand! And even if he
does, he’ll still think I’m some son-of-a..”
“Nuh-uh! Don’t lable yourself with such foul words,
Jin. I don’t think you should underestimate Hwoarang like that.. Now wipe those
tears away, and we’ll go talk to him. If it helps, I’ll explain it to him, and
then the two of you can take it from there. How does that sound?” Jin took a deep breath, and then nodded,
backing away from his hold on Law. “Good.” Law replied the nod, and showed for
Jin to take the lead, “You first.”
“But I don’t even know which room number...”
“Don’t worry! I already checked at the reception,
just in case.” Law flashed a wide smile, and urged Jin on out into the
corridor.
A
moment or two later, there was a knock on Hwoarang’s hotel room door. “Hang on a sec!” Hwoarang called, getting
his legs out of the lotus position he was currently sitting in, as he was
reading a book on the bed. He put the book away, and went to open the door.
What he saw almost made him jump backwards; a widely smiling Law, and an
uncomfortable-looking Jin, a blush staining his cheeks in a bright red tone.
This was the total opposite of what he would have suspected even when his
imagination where at its wildest.
“Uhm... Hi?” he said, trying not to look too struck
by lightning.
“May we come in?” Law asked, still smiling that wide
grin, Jin still looking as uncomfortable, and just as blushingly embarassed.
“Uh...Mhmm..” Hwoarang nodded, at a loss of words,
showing the two men to enter freely. Totally bemused, Hwoarang showed for the
two men to have a seat, and so they did, Jin more reluctant to do so, than Law.
And since neither Jin nor Hwoarang showed any sign of starting the
conversation, Law found it to be his task. After all, he was the one who had
come up with the so called plan in the first place.
“Hwoarang.” he smiled, trying to immerge trust in
Hwoarang, “There’s something we have to talk about, you, me and Jin. Though I
have to say, it concerns the two of you, more than me...”
Hwoarang nodded: “I know.. You want me to give you
my word, I won’t go chase after Jin, right?” Hwoarang said, looking straight at
Law. Jin’s face immediately changed
into something more looking like fear than discomfort, but Law quickly
retorted.
“No. Not quite, but almost, I might say..” he gave
up a small smile, almost a nervous one, “I don’t know quite how to tell you
this, but, there were never really anything going on between me and Jin...See?”
Hwoarang frowned, his lips slightly
separated , as if he was going to speak, only to forget how to form the words.
His eyes went from Law, to Jin, who sat blushing, uneager to meet his glare.
“You were... never...!” he turned back to Law, and
then again to Jin, now fury holding him in its hands. “You tricked me!!! You thought this little scheme would change
everything, huh?! Did you, Jin?! Did you think I would cut you some slack in
the tournament, or what!?” Jin sat
silent, still reluctant to say anything, even if it was to defend himself. He
almost seemed to diminish in size where he sat, all submissive and silent.
“But, Hwoarang...” Law continued, trying to get
Hwoarang’s attention away from the so uncomfortable Jin, “You really shouldn’t
blame Jin. It was my idea in the first place, and even then, Jin hardly knew
what I was doing.”
Hwoarang
almost laughed.
“Oh! So you think, that only because you’re all
protective, I’m like, gonna change my mind? Only for your sake, Law?” he went
silent for a second, seemingly unable to go on, “It’s not like what happened
between me and Jin actually matters, now does it?” he turned back to face Jin
again, “Or do we hold different opinions in that subject?” he demanded an
answer, and Jin found he couldn’t. At least, he couldn’t tell Hwoarang right in
the face that it did matter to him.
He got up, and went for the door, Law watching him leave, his mouth hanging
open.
“Jin! Wait! You can’t leave like that, not now!” he
ran after the fleeing Jin, and
Hwoarang hurried to close the door, locking it. With
a little turn, he kicked the door with his good leg.
Those bastards! They fooled
me, thinking I’m some dumb-assed... he found himself unable to stand still, his
thoughts going places he’d much rather preferred them not to. It never meant ANYTHING!! I don’t need him! That fucker!! You can just go to hell,
Jin! “GO TO HELL!!!” he went back
into the room, grabbed the book from the nightstand, and threw it into the door
with all the force he had the strength to.
He slumped down on the bed, and rested his head on
his hands. Almost without sound, he cursed.
“Fuck
you! Go to hell....” Shit! Bloody... Oh
geezh, what have I done!