Disclaimer: Do I have to bother? Nah…
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Julia lay with her eyes shut, the only sound to be heard the fizzing of the bubbles she soaked in, and the quiet whirring of the extraction fan. Though the steaming bath helped relax her tired body, it did little for her troubled mind, and her thoughts were dark and sombre. Rolling onto her front, she stretched, dunking her head under the water. Lifting it out again, she gulped down great mouthfuls of air, sweeping back the soaking mass of hair that hung heavily over her face. Turning over again, she let herself slide limply into the bath, the water filling her ears and lapping around the edges of her face, trickling between her lips. Opening her eyes, she stared lifelessly at the ceiling tiles, observing the stains left by generations of grubby students.
She couldn't wait till she could move out of here. She couldn't stand student accommodation and yearned for the day she could afford her own place, with a real kitchen and her own bedroom, so she wouldn't have to share with anyone anymore. Unless, of course, she met a man she wished to share with. Her thoughts drifted wistfully back to Hwoarang, and she felt the despair that had been nestling in her heart rise again. "I'll just have to wait for the next tournament…" she whispered, allowing herself the small luxury of this glimmer of hope. The thought that she would see him again, and that everything would be ok was the only thing that kept her from breaking down completely.
The sound of the door opening in the next room and a series bangs and bumps indicated that Julia's roommate Hayley had arrived home. The sound of giggling told Julia that she had brought someone with her. Hearing the creaking of bedsprings and more giggling and murmuring, Julia groaned inwardly. Not wanting to be subjecting to the sound of Hayley and her boyfriend's boisterous lovemaking yet again, especially in her current state of mind, she drummed her fist on the wall. "Keep it down in there!" she shouted, irritably.
The giggling promptly stopped. "Jules, is that you?" Hayley called through, before suddenly barging her way into the bathroom. Julia sank back under the bubbles quickly, giving her roommate an annoyed glare. "I didn't think you were coming back for another couple of days," her friend continued.
"No, I just got back a few hours ago," Julia sighed.
"Well how did it go? You'll have to tell me everything!" Hayley enthused, as her boyfriend Matt appeared behind her, slinking his arm around her waist and leering at Julia over her shoulder.
Julia rolled her eyes at them. "Do you mind? I'm trying to have a bath here!"
"Oh!" Hayley said blinking as though she'd only just noticed. "We'll get out of here," she said grumpily. "We can go to your place, right, Matt?" she asked, turning to him.
"Uh, sure," he said, dragging his eyes away from Julia, who was trying to maintain the bubble coverage over her breasts before his eyes popped out of their sockets.
The pair turned and left, closing the door behind them. Once she'd heard that they'd exited the bedroom, Julia sighed deeply, relaxing back into her bath again and reminiscing about how Hwoarang had interrupted her shower not so long ago. She really had to remember to lock the door. "Where did you go, Hwoarang? Why…?" she breathed sadly, dragging her fingers aimlessly through the bubbles, leaving sad little tracks in the water.
***
The Korean youth stood hunched over, breathing hard and gripping his knees to keep himself on his feet, trying to hide the way his legs were shaking. As the other youth came in to deliver another blow he moved to block it, but his defence was weak and his arm was knocked to the side, quickly followed by a hard blow to the stomach, knocking him to the grimy street gutter.
"Looks like you lose!" the Hong Kong thug sneered, grinning wickedly and raking his fingers through his greasy locks.
"No!" the redhead gasped, struggling to get to his feet, and wincing as he placed weight on a damaged leg.
His effort was met by a flurry of mocking laughter from the small gang of street punks surrounding him. "Give up while you still can, fool!" his tormentor snarled, kicking a cloud of dirt in his direction.
Still heaving for breath, the Korean fixed him with a fierce stare through bright red strands of hair, now matted with dirt and sweat. "Double or nothing," he stated coldly, the tremble in his voice barely noticeable under his harsh tone.
The Hong Kong youth exchanged an amused glance with his companions, before turning to the battered Korean and cracking his knuckles cockily. "Some people just want to die!" he jeered, advancing towards his victim.
Hwoarang just kept his eyes focused on his opponent, watching his every move, a wicked grin slowly forming on his lips.
The street thug didn't know what hit him, but it hit him again three more times in the face, sending him reeling back. In a haze of bright red hair and taut, glistening muscles the Korean launched himself into the air and over the top of the startled youth following his initial kicks with a hard blow to the back of his head. Knocked to his knees, the Hong Kong boy turned to look at this new opponent, dancing lightly on his feet, his movements fluid and controlled, no apparent evidence of his previous wounds. The Korean circled him, a predatory look in his eyes. Having waited for his prey to get to its feet, he struck again, this time with a crippling kick to the side of the knee and a brutal series of punches to the face, finishing it with a final, painful kick to the head. The youth crumpled to the ground, his blood smearing in the dirt.
The Korean turned to his victim's friends, anticipating a revenge attack. The punks looked at each other, then back at the fiery redhead. After a quick scrabble in their pockets, they dumped his winnings at his feet grudgingly, before taking their leave.
"Ah, too easy…" Hwoarang muttered to himself. "Now I've got some real business to attend to. Have to make things right."
Hwoarang held up a rather suspect looking morsel of food from his noodles and thought again that he needed to work on his Cantonese. That said, he had managed to get what he'd really been after, and the curious noodles were just an extra. Tossing the empty packet on the ground, he pushed his way out of the busy market place and swung his backpack, complete with new purchases, off his shoulder, swinging it by his side as he made his way towards the harbour.
Approaching the bay, a group of soldiers at the boarding points of all the cargo ships caught his eye, and he altered his course to skirt round the edge of the harbour. There was a bridge that led across a waterway and around the back of several of the boats. Hopefully he'd be able to get far enough before the soldiers spotted him.
A sharp shout from behind him alerted him to the fact that this wouldn't be the case. Looking over his shoulder, he saw one of the army officers waving in his direction, and a group of heavily armed soldiers running towards him. In a flash, Hwoarang turned and ran, full speed in the opposite direction. Skidding around the corner onto the bridge, he was faced by a group of soldiers reaching the other end of the bridge. As he ran to the middle of the structure, the other soldiers arrived at the bridge, and he turned to see that he was trapped. Leaping up onto the railing, Hwoarang peered desperately into the murky, polluted water of the harbour, churning and frothy from the noisy engines of the ships. He prayed his swimming would be up to it, as he heard one of the soldiers shouting to him. "Sergeant! Climb down from the railing and put your hands in the air, or we will be forced to shoot!" the man barked at him. Turning to face the men, Hwoarang raised his hands above his head, looking down over his shoulder at the water and back up at the army officer, smiling.
"Sergeant!" the officer growled in warning, raising his gun at the AWOL Korean. As Hwoarang turned, preparing to dive into the harbour depths, a shot rang out. Hwoarang cried out in pain as blood spattered from his thigh and he toppled ungracefully from the bridge, plunging into the water.
Running to the railing, several of the soldiers peered over it, searching for the fallen youth. "There!" one of them shouted, pointing to the back of one of the ships. The churning white froth from the turning propellers of the boat was turning a deep red, as scraps of material floated ominously to the surface.
One of the younger soldiers lent over the bridge, spewing into the already defiled water. The commanding officer gave him a disapproving look. "File a report with central command, and keep a small unit here for a week, to see if the body turns up. I always hate it when it ends like this, such a waste…" he said, shaking his head in disappointment, as the group of soldiers withdrew from the bridge, already radioing in the events to other officers.
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A/n: I know it's a bit shorter than usual, but that's just the way I had to write this bit. And if you don't like my cliff-hangers, tough, because I do! Besides, they're earning me some spankings… ^_~
