“Serve you right!” He shouted. “Don’t underestimate a rchant!”
He raised his fists in satisfaction. He was about to walk back inside when he was careless enough to step on his own fuel and fell on his back!
He was now lying on the floor. His whole body was so dirty like never before. This was the first ti that a rchant like him had to do anything so reckless like this.
“Sh*t! I’ll definitely demand a raise from you after this, Na!”
----------------
“Achooo!”
The sneeze was so loud it echoed everywhere. The boy rubbed his nose, feeling surprised. He was not even sick and what was that sneeze for?!
“Who talked about ?”
He muttered and rubbed his nose.
Wisana let out a long sigh. He glanced at the boy under a blanket not so far next to him. There was a bonfire in the middle to keep them warm and protect them from the monsters.
“Shin, are you still awake?”
He tried calling the man. Seeing the man he called so still, he sighed softly.
“You can still sleep so soundly in a place like this. How chill.” He complained and turned the other way.
“Why? You want to tuck you in?”
A hoarse voice sounded. Wisana halted.
“What? If you’re still awake, you should have answered!” Wisana said.
“I was asleep until your sneeze woke everyone in the ten-kiloter radius up.”
“That’s too much.”
Wisana threw a stone at the quiet man (with a foul mouth). Even though Shin’s eyes were closed, he could still grab it so easily.
“You should sleep, Vincent. We have sothing big waiting for us tomorrow. Let your body rest.”
“Huh! Only putting myself under this blanket is enough.” Wisana argued.
“I an your brain,” Shin said. “You’ve been fighting for a long ti and you won’t even want to let your brain rest? You’ll go crazy.”
“Why? Are you worried about , baby?”
Hearing that sissy tone, Shin could only sigh. His lavender eyes were forced open since he wanted to turn around and look at the other guy.
“I don’t want a dead weight, that’s it.”
“Wow, my baby’s so stubborn.” Wisana smiled. “Girls don’t like stubborn guys, I tell you. I’ll laugh my ass off when Nam finally realizes this.”
“I think you’ve talked too much today, Vincent.”
His voice was even harsher than a rough rock, making the annoying man smile even more. The more ti he spent with this guy, the more he knew of his weak points. This was entertaining!
“Stop ranting and go to sleep. Don’t make repeat it, understood?”
He gave his order and put his arm on his head as if he was trying to let it go. Seeing that, Wisana scoffed. Then, he lay down in the sa manner as Shin.
“Don’t worry. I’m fine.” He grinned. “To tell you the truth, my mom’s even worse than Baron.”
Shin flashed a glance at Wisana. He did not say anything verbally, but his eyes were screaming “Continue.”
“Had Nam even told you that our mom won a gold dal Taekwondo player in the Olympics?”
Shin shook his head.
“I don’t know if she wants her son to be as strong as that or not, but I’ve been training so hard since I can rember.” He shrugged. “Since I was five, I’ve been wearing training gears and punching sand bags. Sotis, I also had to fight soone almost a zodiac cycle older than .”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Shin asked.
To tell the truth, it did not surprise Shin. He knew so five-year-old kids who were trained in music and sports so hard that they were even better than adults.
“It wouldn’t be if I wasn’t trained 5-10 hours a day, or maybe around the clock without resting if she felt like it. My body was almost torn apart. Sotis, I got punched by older kids until I couldn’t feel anything. Instead of stopping it, my mom just watched being in pain without even saying anything.”
Shin raised his eyebrows.
“Really?” Shin asked.
“Oh, there’s more. I grew up differently. Other kids get toys, do things they want to do, and are pampered by their parents. Those are just dreams for .” He bead.
“As far as I learn from Waree, you seem pretty close to your mom?”
Shin asked. He had heard that Wisana always smiled happily whenever he was on the phone with his mom. It was not like soone who was abused and traumatized.
“There’s no reason to hate mom.” Wisana shrugged. “I think it was quite fun. I may be worn out, but a year later, everyone thought that my mom had been feeding with dinosaur milk because I was so big. When I was six, I got used to the training. It couldn’t do anything to anymore. The older kids started to quit the training because I hit them too hard. No one wanted to ss with ever again. Then, my training got a lot lighter. At the ti, my mom was pregnant with Naat, my sister. However...”
Wisana looked up as if he was reminiscing. Shin saw that his face was a little pale.
“Why?” He asked.
“When I was twelve, my body was strong enough to endure so much more. That was the real hell.” He got goosebumps. “From then on, I’ve been my mom’s personal sand bag. Even though the training was not as hard as before because she said that I’ve learned a lot already, every ti I fought her, it was always who lost. You don’t want to count how many tis I have been knocked out. I should have my na on the Guinness Book.”
He scratched his head. Shin did not want to believe it. If Wisana was knocked out every day, he started to wonder how he was still alive to this day.
“And what about your dad? He didn’t try to stop her?” Shin asked.
“Ahhh, of course, he did try. Nothing can stop my mom when she wants sothing, even with a gun on her head. She would have dodged the bullet and kicked that guy in the balls, even. She just had to stare at Pa and he was a complete mute.”
Wisana smiled happily as if it was a funny story. He went quiet for a while to think about sothing.
“I don’t know. Maybe I got too used to it. And it’s already too late when I realized it.” The amber eyes clearly dimd. “She did not only teach the martial arts, but she also taught about educational stuff, how to behave in society, and even philosophy about this world. It’s actually pretty funny to know that I had to go through this stuff since when I was five without even realizing that I’ve gradually beco a monster in people’s eyes.”
Shin pushed himself up and looked at Wisana. His eyes looked softer than he had ever seen before.
“I’ve always been better than anyone. No one in my class could ever co close. It may sound funny to you, but it was normal for . I got perfect grades, won youth Taekwondo matches, and even invented a new rose specie. Think about it, I only had to search on the internet, and I could grow them.”
“Are you telling that you’re a genius?” Shin narrowed his eyes.
“And do you think I look like one?” Hearing this, the quiet man went speechless. “No, right? I’m not a clever man. I’m actually pretty dull, even. Unlike May and Angie, the girls are a real deal.”
He laughed before he put his arm on his forehead.
“People have been giving a weird look ever since I was young. I didn’t even have friends my age. The adults didn’t want to co near . The word ‘genius’ is so far-fetched for , Shin. You know what they called ?”
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