Seungho was surprised to see Jiyoon had joined the group.
"Are you sure?"
"Why are you surprised?! Besides you are the one who called off my invitation." She puffed her cheeks and twisted her lips in disapproval.
Seungho didn't say anything. He felt guilty. When she snuffed and turned to talk to Lee Dongchul and Yoon Taeil, Seungho said "I am glad you came."
Maybe she hadn't heard him, but her face was glowing talking to the others. A calming warmth filled Seungho.
"Where are our seats?" asked Jiyoon looking around.
Minjae snapped his fingers to grab everyone's attention. "Before we sit down…so, we have only one rule tonight," Minjae spoke with a serious tone, looking at each of them deeply into their eyes.
His voice lowered, "if a brawl breaks out, everyone leaves on their own. Tonight, you are responsible only for your own safety. Don't look for anyone. Don't try to save anyone, you won't be able to. These are hunters. Oh believe me! they are savage and they will rip you apart."
Minjae paused, letting the message sink in. His expression hard. "Agreed?" it wasn't a question, but an order.
Everyone remained silent, nodding, the dreadful thought didn't let them speak.
Minjae relaxed and smiled, turned and headed towards the seats. The others followed. The mood immediately switched. It was like they had just got permission to enjoy the evening.
Their seats were up high on the galleries circling around the perimeter of the arena.
The bustling of people chatting and laughing, as they passed by, caught on Seungho.
"I haven't been this excited in I don't know how long." Lowering his shoulders. Suddenly, his face flushed, his hand held his mouth shut.
Minjae laughed and pushed Seungho to sit in the middle, in between Jiyoon and him, to his left.
Sitting to Minjae's right, Yoon Taeil looked at Seungho from the corner of his eyes.
Clunk...clunk...clunk.
Jiyoon "that's so loud!" putting her hands to cover her ears.
Seungho looked around alarmed "what's that sound?!"
The doors were being locked to enclose the sound. Seungho chest tightened.
"What is this place exactly?" asked Seungho, a hint of worry in his voice. He grabbed onto the seat in between his legs being slightly thrust forward. The seats mechanically inclined to let the audience have the best view down into the arena. People held their breaths, tension awaiting to erupt.
"This is the old Enclosure Center...do you remember the accident years ago, after the hunters first appeared? It was all over the news." said Minjae.
Minjae was talking about the accident in the city center that left a huge hole in the ground next to Gyeongbokgung.
Seungho remembered, and also remembered news never talked about what had happened afterwards, besides that there was a hole.
"UEC built this place in a rush, in this abandoned entertainment park."
That was right, it happened after UEC had been just established.
"Ahhh, yes, right here?"
"yes, right here." Minjae continued "and later built a larger and better facility for training on the other side of the city, in the old Incheon International Airport. The airport had moved onto the floating platform in front of Songdo-dong..." he lifted one of his eyebrows.
'Enclosure Center'? The word hunter doesn't even show up in the title...
"Why didn't they tear it apart? I mean, why leave it like this?" Seungho looked around and noticed the uniform surface of solid walls in contrast with the cheap plastic seating, taken from the rides just outside.
"Because this thing…" said Minjae rolling his finger indicating the building "can sustain a nuclear blast."
"yeah, it is made in one piece, and cannot be knocked down!" added Yoon Taeil interjecting and removing himself from the conversation just as quickly.
The floor in the middle of the arena opened and revealed a space underneath, the fighting pit. A roaring boast of cheers from the audience.
The hunters entered from one corner opposite where Seungho's group seated. Three jumped down into the pit. Their weight slamming into the floor generating a loud thump.
The bright lights added flair to the sparkling noise of excitement from the crowd greeting the hunters.
However the hunters looked consumed and ragged, probably by their mana. They stood there waiting for something.
That's when it struck Seungho. The fights took place in the very building UEC had built and could certainly keep an eye on...?
A nudge distracted Seungho from his thoughts.
"What's with that face? Are you not liking it??" asked Minjae with a smile turning into a smirk, captivated by the powerful vibes rising into the seats from the fight.
"Ah, yes!" Seungho replied. He felt his face cranked up.
Right! I am here to change my patterns! To change my future! I need to pay attention to what is going on here, right now.
Seungho closed his fists and shook them down with decision. Then brought them up and started cheering although he didn't know for whom yet. It didn't matter.
In the gallery among the other hunters looking jittery, an individual looked very calm. He was different. His built unusually large for a person.
He stood up. He wore a sleek shirt and pants with a high waist held by a belt. Like he was out of a 1940s movie.
He didn't speak. He waved his hand signaling the beginning of the fight like requiring an orchestra to begin playing. Total obedience.
Seungho's jaw dropped in awe for such commanding presence. Then he looked down.
The three silhouettes revealed their true forms...ready to attack one another.
Jiyoon stared at the hunters in the arena with curiosity, at their bodies. She knew the crowd's cheers and agitation covered for her. She grabbed the back of the seat in front of her and scrutinized unapologetically.
"Why are hunters fighting each other, isn't it illegal?" Jiyoon shouted comfortably over the noise, bending her head to the side, like the question had just occurred to her.
"I have read online that some hunters don't adapt well to their powers and end up growing abnormal bodies." Lee Dongchul sitting next to Jiyoon casually cheered loudly, then continued "Some are still hunters and make good money with it, though...I think they want to rip bodies more than monsters."
Seungho thought the last part must be wrong, the scene in front of him made it unlikely, about the money. And preferring to rip bodies…? Could it be part of a show? Or worse, could they feel their only way out is to fight to survive?
"Oh, yes, I heard something similar, something about accumulating excess mana causes it. Perhaps human bodies were not built for that..." interjected Jiyoon, nodding as if what she was saying was an indisputable fact.
Seungho didn't comment on any of it.
An explosion, a hunter had slammed his fist to the floor so powerfully, the response was an explosion.
The floor didn't break though. It was just the sound of the air, the sudden change in pressure.
It caught everyone's attention, like it meant to do.
The first fight had just started.
Yoon Taeil nudged Jiyoon with the tips of his fingers, his arm stretched from his seat, signaling to give him money. He was taking bets. She took money carefully folded out of her pocket and gave it to Taeil without counting it. He signaled Seungho too. Seungho hesitated. Yoon Taeil signaled again, with a quick movement of his fingers and waited.
"They're ex-hunters, you know" Yoon Taeil added yelling. "Defective. Bodies can't handle the power. They fight for scraps. Percentages [presumably of bets]."
Defective. The word hung in the air as the combatants below moved with alarming, ragged grace. Seungho felt a pang of something ugly—not pity, but recognition.
Seungho thought for a second that Yoon Taeil was smiling, a subtle grin.
Shouting and whistling from spectators steadily grew louder, pouring their rage from everyday life out. Seungho realized he couldn't feel their rage. Didn't he deserve to fail?
Quickly the atmosphere was moving from electrifying to stings of anxiety. Seungho inhaled it immediately recognizing it.
"I am going to look for my friend." Said Minjae to his ear "Seungho come with me."
Seungho obeyed.
Yoon Taeil followed them with his eyes and a serious expression, suddenly quiet, in stark contrast to Jiyoon's excited bouncing.
Squeezed by the crowd, Minjae and Seungho had to push to get through to the wall and then walk rubbing their shoulders against it. The place was packed. Seungho regretted not having took note of exits when they just arrived.
Suddenly Minjae grabbed Seungho by the arm. He winked and pulled Seungho through a small door.
They exited the main auditorium into a dark corridor. Seungho touched the wall, it was rough, he could feel its thickness, so thick it was numb, nothing could escape it.
following Minjae's voice right in front of him.
Soon another door, into a lighted room, clean. Seungho's steps hesitated, his heart swelling…
Hyperfocus, finally.
There were other people talking in whispers.
It was true, the walls kept the noise on the other side from leaking. His ears were ringing. The silence shock Seungho, like coming from another world.
They turned at the same time to look at who had just entered. Their eyes red and sharp. Seungho instinctively hid behind Minjae, even though there was nothing to worry about. He trusted Minjae.
Minjae lifted his hand and waved at someone standing at the back, someonethat Seungho couldn't see.
Up close, Minjae's friend Kang Doyoon's body was well-built. One could see it even through his stylish clothing. Seungho repressed a comment right on the tip of his tongue, about how stylish all these people dealing with hunters were. He didn't want to make it obvious he didn't know how to fit in. He always ended up saying something others didn't like.
Seungho heard someone sniffing him. He didn't look. He hoped that if he waited long enough the guy would just drop it.
I am so close. Focus on your goal.
The guy left.
Kang Doyoon drank many drops at once, many more than what was good for any human. Seungho unconsciously stared.
"It's ok. He has been taking it for a long time." Said Minjae reassuring Seungho, waving his hand to dismiss the scene. The hair on Kang Doyoon's neck and arms visibly stood up, electrified. An exhale of pleasure.
"He likes to fight with hunters, although dangerous, he can defend himself." Minjae added with a sense of pride as if were talking about himself.
A smell in the room suddenly hit Seungho's nose, invigorating him. That is when Seungho sensed the scars on Kang Doyoon's body. What Minjae said was true. Exciting? The scars didn't scare Seungho, but he still felt the pain.
Minjae finally introduced Seungho to Kang Doyoon who glared at Seungho, scanning Seungho's body with his eyes with surgical precision. Seungho felt naked but let him all the same. He wanted the hyperfocus.
He clearly saw something that nor Seungho nor Minjae could see. Kang Doyoon said a word Seungho didn't catch and signaled someone else behind him, presumably his assistant, with his chin.
It was the guy from before. Seungho felt relieved. He hated catching people's attention, it had only brought him problems so far.
"We are in for a treat. This blood is premium!" Minjae whispered in Seungho's ear rolling his Rs, and gave a serious look to Seungho followed by a wink. It was safe to take them.
Finally.
Seungho opened his mouth diligently, closed his eyes, and let the "administrator" drop two drops, perhaps three. As soon as one drop touched his tongue, the world went all black for a second and then snapped into hyper-focused clarity.
It was like the world had just zoomed in and he could not possibly miss a beat. He inhaled and within it he found silence, his brain processing every thought in hyper-detail.
A sensory overload, he now could feel the world, sharp breaths from the people around him, the sweat on someone's skin near the door, the smell, the noises of punches and the bodies moving fast, people cheering loudly, slapping their hands together, across down the hall they had come from, although it was impossible in theory.
Seungho felt electricity in the air. Most importantly the fog in his brain evaporated. He was now in control.
He felt delighted, an energy boost sparked from his tailbone all the way up to his head, literally lifting him taller. He was pumped with energy, anything seemed possible now. And faintly familiar.
Minjae exhaled exhilarated after his turn in taking the drops. His sigh of pleasure sounded like an animal digging into a prey. It took him a couple of minutes for his words to make sense again. "Sorry about that" Minjae said with a smile of someone who has just touched the moon.
On their way back to their seats, now they pushed people aside like it was nothing, as if the other people were toys. Nobody complained.
Seungho felt good about himself.
Someone bumped into him, he felt it this time. It was a hunter, no wonder. The hunter growled in disapproval. Seungho didn't understand why. Why is he here among the audience?
"Watch out," whispered Minjae "these hunters are overzealous, if you know what I mean."
Seungho didn't know what he meant, but he was feeling too good to bother, he didn't want a negative spark to ruin his new-found joy. On one thing his instinct was right, it was a spark of something.
F**k I am different!
He squeezed his hands into fists and smiled.
The ex-hunter had already disappeared. Minjae and Seungho continued on their way to their seats.
It wasn't just that. Something was calling him, from far far away, but it was getting closer. He didn't know what it meant. He looked around, now like he was really seeing the place, bare, for the first time.
Seungho liked the feeling of power. He stood next to Jiyoon feeling confident he could kiss her if she wanted him to.
Jiyoon sensed the change. She looked at him. This time he looked straight at her, no flinching. For a moment they didn't move.
That aggressive vibe from the place wasn't bad at all, to the contrary, it was exciting.
Dongchul raised his arms cheering for a punch a hunter landed. Jiyoon lost balance grabbed Seungho's sleeve. He promptly held her firmly. She looked at him, her eyes sparkled. He started pulling her close. He no longer cared who was watching him or his thoughts.
"I…" she whispered.