Chapter IV: Out And About

A/N: I own Tekken...in another life.

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" Care for a bite?"

Hwoarang was jolted out of his thoughts just in time to register his surroundings: Baek was skilfully manoeuvering the bike down the narrow streets of Chinatown. Hwoarang gritted his teeth. Baek Do San had rescued him from the asylum mere minutes ago; what was he playing at now, bringing him so close to where it had all happened?

But Hwoarang's hunger outweighed his misgivings. " Uh-huh," he replied, not caring where they stopped to eat.

They eventually pulled over in front of a quiet Chinese restaurant. In contrast, the club beside it was overflowing with people, and the blast of the music issuing from it was deafening.

" Hello there, mister," Hwoarang said as Baek made to enter the restaurant. " You can't just leave this thing lying around here," he indicated the bike. " This is Chinatown, in case you haven't noticed."

" Blessed as I am with extraordinary powers of perception, I did indeed notice," Baek replied, barely sparing Hwoarang a backward glance. Hwoarang blinked; he had never met anyone who could match him in wit and sarcasm the way Baek did. Shrugging the whole thing off, he followed his new master inside.

The interior was small and dimlit, though it completely muffled the noise outside. Baek and Hwoarang occupied a table at the far corner. When their orders arrived, Hwoarang ravenously devoured his food, ignoring the look of distaste Baek kept giving him.

" The way you eat is completely lacking in manners," Baek began with great disapproval.

Hwoarang's mouth was packed to the point of explosion. He swallowed with difficulty and replied," I s'ppose staring at people while they're eating's ' lacking in manners' too. No, wait; staring at people at all is considered 'lacking in manners'" He grinned at Baek's outraged look. " Gotcha, now we're even!"

A silence fell between the two, during which Baek sipped his tea and carefully studied his young charge.

"So," Hwoarang suddenly put his chopsticks down and lounged in his seat. " What are your big plans for me?"

"There are several, the first of which is to raise you to the level of sophistication adequate for a human being."

Hwoarang took a moment to process this. He could not think of a good enough comeback. " Man, you like to hear yourself talk, don't you?"

Baek grimaced and threw out his hands in mock frustration. " I rest my case." He then paid the check and they left.

Outside, the great din had not ceased; in fact the party seemed to be getting even rowdier. Hwoarang was not surprised; it was barely nine o'clock yet. He noticed that Baek had stopped dead, his eyes fixed on the spot where he had parked his bike. Hwoarang followed his gaze. "Umm, I'll try not to say ' I told you so' ," he said, grimacing at the sight of two punks from the club nearby retching all over Baek's bike.

" You two!" Baek called out, and his voice had a dangerous edge to it." You had better clean this mess this instant!"

They looked up, and one of them said in a slurred voice," Beat it, Gramps!"

" Whoa, I'd watch it if I were you," Hwoarang said, taking a step forward.

The other punk staggered drunkenly and squinted at him." Hey, isn't Red here one of 'em crack boys who got screwed down in Sing? I heard those triads are lookin' for his ass all over the place."

Hwoarang blinked, startled, but soon gathered his wits for a quick comeback. " Hey, punk," he taunted," how many fingers do you see?" He then flipped his middle finger up at the two drunks.

" Why you little-" Hwoarang smirked at their reaction, not caring what Baek would think.

" What the hell is going on here?" Everyone turned at the sound of this new, deeper voice. Hwoarang gulped. It belonged to Meat Carver, one of the most notorious gangsters in Chinatown. He was way over six feet tall and was toying with his infamous lethal blade.

Baek boldly stepped up to him." Your two underlings here need to repair the damage they caused."

The man spat at Baek's feet. " I don't think so, old man."

And suddenly, the place was teeming with gangsters cracking their knuckles. Hwoarang ducked out of the way and watched the brawl.

He was not sure what happened next, but he saw Baek unleash a vicious combo of lightning fast kicks, and then the gangsters were falling like bowling pins. Meat Carver charged Baek, but the latter dodged nimbly to one side and kicked the weapon out of his opponent's grasp, then, probably due to Meat Carver's collossal size, Baek resorted to to shoving his knee hard into the man's groin as a means of ending the fight. The man doubled over with an agonized cry.

" Well I hope you've had enough," Baek began with folded arms. " You there," he nodded towards two punks who were clumsily struggling to their feet." Have my bike cleaned while I talk things over with your superior here."

Hwoarang was ignored as the punks proceeded to do Baek's bidding and Baek himself retreated into a corner with the still-in-pain Meat Carver. Hwoarang vaguely wondered what Baek wanted to discuss with him.

Fifteen minutes later, they were good to go.

" Hmm, who knew they'd give it such a good shine?" Baek wondered.

" I'm famous now, aren't I?" Hwoarang asked." I mean, those punks knew me right away, and they were drunk and stoned as hell. Do you reckon what they said about the triads looking for me's true?"

"Take no notice of what they said. As you've bluntly put it, they were as drunk and stoned as hell."

"You fight real good, by the way... for a grumpy old man."

" Why thank you, and who knows, you might find yourself on the receiving end of one of my grander moves if you do not keep your tongue in check, young man."

Ouch, that hurt...

Shopping Mall

"Well," Baek said, glancing at his watch." Since these places stay open late into the night, I suggest you go purchase what you need, and shed this terrible outfit of yours. I won't be coming along; I have to place a few calls. Come find me when you're done." He handed Hwoarang a credit card.

Hwoarang did not waste this golden opportunity to get back at Baek. By the time he had emerged from the last shop, he was carrying an assortment of shopping bags and bills. He handed the bills to Baek, who gaped at them , and then at the products of Hwoarang's shopping spree.

" I think I specifically told you to get only what you NEED, not buy the whole place out!"

" True, and you said that what I needed was some ' sophistication', so I went and bought some hot Tees and Jeans, real cool Nikes trainers, several pairs just in case, other sportswear and accessories, and... gee, can't seem to remember the rest! But hey, check this out: A Hugo-Boss wallet!" He laughed at the incredulous look on Baek's face." Don't worry; it's a fake; good one though. It smells like real leather; not like the cheap ones you get in Chinatown! So, um, there goes my 'sophistication', but so does your cash, I guess!"

Baek did not know whether to laugh at Hwoarang's wit or strangle him for his cheek. He managed a tight smile.

" You've proved your point."

A/N: okay, that was looong, but funny, if I do say so myself. I can imagine Hwoarang driving Baek nuts!