The following day, after school, he headed through the public lifts of Blim Square to arrive on Floor 27, where he headed straight to the street where Mr Dae-Ho lived.
Arriving at his door, he remained stood there.
Did he even live here anymore? His street looked just as how he remembered, being terribly narrow and with the murky water puddles along its centre.
Even his cube looked to be exactly the same, but would he even let him in?
After all this time, he’d only be heading back to ask him a favour.
Without a second choice, Leo forced himself to knock on the door before falling back to await a reply.
A few seconds passed and there was no movement, but he soon saw a man approach the door. It was him. He arrived at the peephole to give the outside a glance as Leo could see, and almost froze upon looking there.
A few more seconds passed, and Leo was hoping that he would open. However, his face fell back from the door and there didn’t seem to be any movement near the door. It was a stupid idea to think that he’d answer. He’d basically just isolated himself away from him for so long, he didn’t even know if that was him behind the door.
Just as he was about to leave, the door creeped open. He remained stood there, and the Mr Dae-Ho that he used to know so well was there.
“Leo?” Mr dae-Ho asked, almost stunned to see him here.
“It is me.” Leo said, before awkwardly chuckling and scratching the back of his head.
After a short second, Mr Dae-Ho’s face almost lit up as he signalled for him to enter.
There were a few awkward seconds of silence, before the old man signalled for him to take a seat on one of his cube’s sofas. His apartment room was a little more spacious than Leo’s, stretching further from the door to allow for two sofas and a larger bed at the furthest wall.
He did live on a lower floor, which did mean better facilities as well. More reliable water and lighting, better TV signals. It was also a joy to come down here as a kid, to enjoy these things as if they were Leo’s own.
“It’s been a long while kiddo, I didn’t even know if you’d still be up in this stack!” The man said.
His voice was raspier and weaker than Leo had remembered – it really had been a long time. However, he still possessed that clearer, posher tone from his time outside of the apartment cities.
Just like Leo, he had learned to act like those on the outside, to fit in better with the posher individuals that made a living out in the normal world.
“I am, sadly. It’s tough, though, as usual but I’m still kicking.” Leo replied, chuckling before looking down toward the coffee table ahead of him.
He tried to put up this veil of confidence, of strength, but it felt like it would crumble at any second. The thoughts of his struggles just continued to weigh him down.
“Of course, but there’s always a way out of here. Just keep on fighting and working harder than those around you, and the gods shall bless you with freedom. You’ve heard me say those words a thousand times, so I won’t bore you with them-,”
“No.. No… it’s fine. Thank you, I actually really needed to hear those words right now.” Leo replied, cutting him off.
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As a kid, he never really listened to his preaches of staying on the straight path, not getting into trouble and things like that. I mean, why would he? He was so young, he didn’t really understand those things yet.
However, as he grew older, he started to see the things that Mr Dae-Ho would talk about out in the world. As his parents passed and he had to take up so many responsibilities, his eyes opened to reality and the struggles of it.
His eyes were still drifted, looking at the coffee table as the thoughts rushed through his mind. Mr Dae-Ho could tell he was troubled, and Leo didn’t even notice that he was repeatedly tapping his right foot on the ground.
“What’s the matter? I can see that something’s troubling you. Get it off your chest, kid.” Mr Dae Ho said, leaning forward in his sofa.
Leo sighed before slouching back in the sofa, looking straight ahead with Mr Dae-Ho to his right.
A brief silence passed before everything came flooding out.
“To be honest with you, everything’s going terribly right now. I’ve gotten into so many situations in such a short amount of time and now it’s really starting to dawn on me.” Leo blurted out, before wiping his already sweating face.
“What’s happened?”
“Well, there’s a guy at school, that just keeps and keeps picking on me. When I’m at my lowest, he just carries on running his mouth!” Leo said, getting frustrated just as he thought back to him.
Kam.
“Last week, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I fought back, and shoved him. He’s way bigger than me and so he beat me up good and then-,” Leo said, before cutting himself off.
He couldn’t tell him about his powers, could he? No, he had to keep this a secret. He had no clue why he could slow time but what he did know is that it would put an immediate target on his back if he revealed this ability of his.
“Well, I got in trouble for starting it. I’m just so worried about what him and his father could do, they could pull anything.”
“How come?” Mr Dae-Ho asked, confused about his final statement.
Leo was confused for a brief moment before being hit by the realisation.
“Oh right, you don’t know. His name is Kam Sung-Jin. His father is Ryo Sung-Jin.”
“Ryo Sung-Jin?!” He blurted out, before entering a coughing fit.
Leo stood up in reflex, before standing there awkwardly as he didn’t know what to do.
“Do you need something, how can I help?” He asked with worry.
“It’s alright, kid, it’s alright. Just a dry throat.” He replied, lightly coughing after.
Leo slumped back into his seat, before continuing his story.
“Yeah, and I know how those guys work. He can dump anything on me, take me to court, get me out the school, just anything. Also, my Oga’s said that he’ll cut off my water and electricity in a little over 2 weeks if I don’t pay my debt, which I literally can’t do.” He finished off.
Mr Dae-Ho’s eyebrows lifted, just taking in what he had said. It was clear he was in a bad situation, and he couldn’t just lie to him and say things were alright. Leo was used to his positive, motivating words and so, his silence spoke volumes.
“I won’t lie to you, Leo, that’s a really bad situation you’ve gotten in. They say that Ryo’s got child labour in his firms, I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
“However.” Mr Dae-Ho continued.
“That isn’t a reason to stop. I know you have it in you to find a way. There’s always a way, keep fighting, just keep on fighting. If worst comes to worst, come down here, you’re welcome whenever.” Mr Dae-Ho.
Upon hearing these warm comments, Leo just felt bad for not talking to him for so long. Even if he wanted to appease his parents’ wishes, they didn’t know Mr Dae-Ho like he knew him. He clearly was a nice soul, a great person to be around. He had grown from the dark past he had, and clearly wasn’t that same person anymore.
“Actually, I think there might be one way out for me. I’m pretty decent at fighting, and I was wondering if you could get me into any underground arenas or something for me to fight there.” Leo said, feeling relieved to get those words off his chest.
Mr Dae-Ho raised his eyebrows again with surprise, before turning away for a few seconds. He remained silent, and Leo could tell that he was in deep thought. He let him remain that way, as he needed answers and felt it’d be rude to disturb him.
“That’s not a world you want to go into kid. I got out of there, your parents never wanted you to go down that route and they were right to tell you to do so.” Mr Dae-Ho said, before rubbing his forehead, deep in thought.
“But…” He said, before readjusting his position on his sofa.
“I know desperation when I see it. Sometimes, there isn’t another option out here.”
“To answer your question, I do know how to get you in there, but I must warn you it’s damn dangerous. You can die in there.” Mr Dae-Ho furthered.
“I know but I have no choice.” Leo replied with conviction.
His reply came quickly, and Mr Dae-Ho felt the certainty in his words.
“Alright then. There’s a league I know about.”
