CHAPTER 20

Watching Baek in action was an experience in itself. With the way the crowd was cheering for him I understood that he was pretty well known here but the stakes were still 50-50 because his contender for the night had an equally big fanclub.

The contender in context was slightly taller than Baek, more buff than him, and definitely not Korean He could’ve been an American or a Russian or European, I wasn’t able to make out because his face was heavily painted with tribal face tattoo designs. Tattoos running along the length of both of his arms, one of them stood out to me, a huge sword with dripping blood. I know I should be worried about Baek but some how I had this gut feeling that he was going to be fine.

The match began in a very normal fashion, both of them circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first strike. Surprisingly it was Baek, usually in our practice fights he let me make a move first.

He punched the tattooed man square in the jaw, once, twice and then the third time before the guy could gather himself and retaliate. He managed to push Baek off and then move towards him menacingly but Baek was quicker, he side stepped the guy and then pushed him roughly into the side of the cage multiple times before kicking the back of his knees and then finally twisting his hand at his back while keeping a choke hold on him with his knees.

The tattooed fighter didn’t stand a chance, he crumpled to the floor and Baek was declared as the winner. It was a short fight, maybe fifteen minutes long at the most but definitely worth every minute.

I was ecstatic. I felt immense joy from watching my friend and a brother figure in his element, winning. I was so far gone up in my happiness that I didn’t notice the guy even once.

This guy sneaked up on me and decided it would be a good idea to have his hands in my pants, more specifically on my ass. The minute I felt his hands on me I harshly shrugged them off and turned around to face the pervert. He was almost the same as Baek in terms of height and body, slightly long brown hair pulled into a man-bun and a stupid smirk plastered on his face.

To my utmost horror Gorilla wasn’t beside me, he had been separated from me by the dispersing crowd. They were leaving because the next and last match for the night wasn’t going to happen for another hour.

The guy tried to get close and touch me again but I swatted his hands away and told him in a stern voice to leave me alone. Apparently he did not understand me at all and had the guts to harshly grope me and started taking me away with him.

The hell was going on? Why wasn't anyone stopping him? Was this man wanting to Rape me? Where was Baek when I needed him? I struggled to get out of his hold but he was pretty strong and for some reason thought I was playing hard to get or something.

I had to something, I had to protect myself from this advantage taking bastard.

Turning around sharply in his grip I managed to twist his right hand behind his back and then without missing a beat I punched him, hard, right on his stomach. He fell down on his knees wheezing and what I could unmistakably understand cursing me. And so I did the only thing that felt logical to me, I kicked him in his side with a good enough force to have bruised him.

This was like déjà vu. I had just knocked a man down, there was pin drop silence followed by a deafening roar. That’s when I focused on the crowd, I could see Baek, he had dollar bills in his hand and his expression was one filled with immense shock at first which gradually turned to an expression full of worry.

Worry for me.

When I looked back at the spot where the fallen guy should’ve been there I got the reason for his worry.

The guy was no longer on the ground but was standing right in front of me, his face seething with rage. He was probably ready to pounce on me and butcher me but Baek came in between us, standing in front of me protectively.

He started having a conversation with the guy and what parts I could catch gave me a slight understanding of the situation. Apparently this guy who’s name I now knew was Venom was someone important here and had mistook me for a prostitute and so he decided it was okay for him to do whatever he wants with me as and when he pleases.

Somehow I could sense that no matter what Baek said or reasoned, the tension in the air wasn’t going down, it was only increasing. Some more words were exchanged and then Baek took me away to a corner. His expression was grim, his hands were shaking and I knew that something was very wrong and bothering him immensely.

“That man Venom, his dad has stakes in lot of entertainment companies here, he is very big and very powerful man. When I told him that you are here as potential fighter he......

He doesn’t believe me. You hurt his ego in front of all these people. Now he wants to hurt you so they can be scared of him” Baek said.

Oh god. What have I gotten myself into?

I had promised Baek that I would stay out of trouble but what else was I supposed to do right? That man was trying to pull me away to some corner and sexually exploit me. I just did what I had to do to safeguard my dignity and body and I am sure as hell not apologizing for that. If he wants to hurt me he can try all he wants, but I won’t back down without a fight.

"Set it up Baek. If its a fight he wants I'm ready for it."