It took Fon a while to figure out why everyone is so loyal to the Wo Hop To. He had assumed it was the brainwashing. From his limited knowledge of these things, the Triad operates like a cult. Discontented and destitute people come for money or support or because they can't go to the police. It starts off small, with shows of faith and trust. Bring this there and don't look inside the bag. Go tell this person they owe money, and smash their window if they refuse. Come with me as I intimidate this person. Point a gun at someone for me. Pull the trigger.
Before people know it, they're in too deep to get out. If they even want to get out. The deeper in they get, the higher the rewards. More money, attractive people, drugs, and most addictive of all: power. Giving anyone power can go badly; giving people used to feeling powerless the ability to do whatever they want to those suddenly beneath them? Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It was a favorite phrase of his before sister.
Sifu is one of the few who had no other options and now regrets joining. He's never spoken of it, but Fon can tell. It's in his eyes, as he teaches teenagers the most effective ways to cause pain and death with their bare hands.
Fon and Mei had the misfortune of being born inside the 'cult.' They nearly grew up believing the Mountain Master is one step from divine, and that following him is only right. If Fon didn't have the before, they would likely be as blindly loyal as the rest of their peers. They would know nothing else. But Fon remembers growing up in a family where arguments were won with sass and sarcasm. In a school where he learned about bias and perspective. In a country where the only thing everyone could agree on was the right to speak their mind. The Wo Hop To tried to create blind loyalty and all they got was the façade.
The Triad thinks they've broken him. He's played their game for so long; even he's started to believe it. Because, in a way, they do control him. As long as Mei is here, they have him. Eighteen years old; he's been killing for them for fourteen years, and has been their soldier for eight. Fon's the same age he was when he was diagnosed before. His life is just beginning at the same age it was ending. But he is still trapped by forces outside his control.
Mei isn't a child anymore. She could take care of herself well enough if they ran. Now, Fon is the problem. He's too valuable and well-known for the Wo Hop To to let him go. If Fon was to leave, they would stop at nothing to get him back. They wouldn't be able to bring him by force, so they would go after Mei. So Fon will stay and play the good soldier.
Since Fon is now considered an adult, the Triad has started to actually pay him for his 'services.' And it turns out to be a massive amount of money. [Should he ask for back pay? They won't take it well, but the lashing would be worth the looks on their faces.] He puts all half the money in a bank associated with Mafia Land. Only he and Mei can touch it. He gives the rest directly to Mei. Smiles at her and calls it her 'escape fund,' like it's a joke.
Others things changed once Fon officially reached adulthood, though he is embarrassed to admit it took a while to notice. He rarely interacted with people not Mei or Sifu, and when he did it was usually in spars. Suddenly, girls his age were coming up to him in the dojo or the kitchen and talking to him. It freaks him out. The only times members of the Triad talk to him are to tell him what to do or assist him with a task. It's been so long since he's socially interacted with new people (bantering in a fight doesn't count). When they start touching him, he really freaks out.
At first it's just standing a bit too close and brushing against him as they walk past. Then they reach for his arm and try to hold on to him. Tracing hands down his arms or brushing against his chest. A few of the braver ones try to play with his hair. It's the same way his mother behaves around his father(? Sperm donor? Fon isn't quite sure what to call the Deputy Mountain Master). By the time he realizes they are trying to seduce him, Fon is so paranoid about an assassination attempt, that he's started taking back to back missions. Honestly, Fon would have preferred dodging people trying to kill him. With the creepy medic, he broke fingers until the pervert got the point. These girls are under orders though. Anyone that could tie Fon to their family would have a powerful Flame user at their beck and call and any potential children would likely have some fraction of his potential.
It wouldn't be fair to the poor girls being used as bartering chips to harm them for following orders. There is no good way to get them to stop, so Fon does what he always does. He ignores it and pretends he doesn't understand what they're trying to get him to do. Mei and Sifu help by giving him excuses to get away when he's not on missions. Dodging their hands and attempts to get him alone, have the benefit of increasing his stealth and subtlety. But even with all the crazy, horrible situations he's been in here, this is still the most uncomfortable.
The avoidance strategy seems to be working though. He's overheard several conspirators wondering if he's a late bloomer or just not interested in girls. A fourteen year old shouldn't look as grown up as Mei does when she sits him down and asks if they can have a talk. The conversation that follows just reminds Fon about how much he loves his sister.
They go on a mission to get out of the Triad for the conversation. Then, she tells him that she loves him no matter what. She tells him she will do whatever it takes to keep him safe. Then, blunt, straightforward person that she is, she asks two questions.
Are you at all interested in girls?
Do you want to leave?
It takes him a while to answer. He tries not to think too much about the things that upset him. Eventually, Fon explains that he's never put much thought into dating or sex. He's always had higher priorities (even before). Maybe someday he'd like someone to come home to, but not someone he'd have to worry about. Not another person he'd have to worry about keeping safe. (He doesn't say that part out loud, but Mei hears it anyway.)
As for leaving the Triad, he tells her he doesn't see how it would be an option. So long as people he cares about are within the Wo Hop To, they hold his leash.
Mei tells him that she could run with him. That she's not a child anymore. It doesn't matter, he says. He explains to her that it isn't so bad. That he can tolerate anything they do to him so long as she's safe. (They both know the Wo Hop To would do anything to keep him, including hurt Mei.)
Mei promises that she will become powerful enough he won't have to worry anymore.
Fon says that he's always going to worry about her and that he'd rather have her free than be free himself.
