Meilin's eyes were bloodshot, she couldn't cry, that's not something she was allowed to do at this time.
She can't become even more of a sorry state than she already was, she just can't!
She was not like that nor did she want to become like that.
She got up and brought a basin full of water and sat there clearing away his sweats with a clean cloth drenched in water after wringing it, it was the least she could do....she wasn't aware of what he was going through but she knew that all she could do now was to stay by him and be there for him, always.....whenever he wanted her to be there.
..........
When he turned 5, his mother gave him a small snow-white Pomeranian.
It was very very cute, she said it was a gift from his father, although he still hadn't seen him, it was probably because he was busy, right?
This was the first time he got something from his father, he was really happy about it and hence, took extra care of it.
In between the gruesome and hard training, he was going through for the past year, the dog that he named "Yun" as it was white and soft like the clouds, became a saving grace to him.
Whenever he came home, Yun would always be waiting for him, with his twinkling eyes staring at the door, he would jump on to him once he entered the door and then a small dog and another small boy would be rolling on the floor, one licking the other's wounds and the other giggling....it was the best time of his day.
He had yet to meet his father but the practice and training he had to go through for reasons unknown, had already started.
Before this, the air felt suffocating when he came back, watching those eyes of his mother, his heart always felt stuffy, but now, with Yun around, it added a little light to his days.
........
The time went by like this for a year.....
He remembers he was 6 back then, he was made to fight with men who were triple his size, it wasn't anything friendly, every punch was packed with intent to kill....he was just a child but had to go through it, he had to survive. His body was being trained since he was four, but it's a fact that no matter the training the muscles and bones of 6 years old can't compare to that of 23-35-year-old buff men, right?
Without any dog blood, he suffered, suffered a lot, even he wasn't sure why his parents turned a blind eye to this, were all parents in the world like this
As days went by, his eyes were losing their twinkle and only shined when Yun came to him, even the care his mother showed was becoming unbearable so much so that, he was having dark, very dark thoughts...he knew he was turning into a monster, someone he wasn't meant to become.
That day was going on as usual but suddenly at about noon, the underground training center received the news that their boss was coming, everyone became tense...the air became heavy to breathe.
Xuan knew he had to survive, as the days passed by his survival instinct were honed to a level of perfection, these days he used his small body and agility to make his sparring partner unable to fight, his hits were sharper, he used a single blow and put all the power his body could hold onto that one shot, he was becoming what you would call "One-Blow-Kill" Fighter, adding the fact that his eyes always tended to become cold and extremely dark while doing so, many were actually scared of this little bomb because those who fought with him had an instinct that, that wasn't his full power and that...he was actually trying his best not to kill them, he was controlling himself to a certain extent.
That day too, he was taking a break.
The bruises on his body had lessened a lot, it was a fact that he was close to becoming a killing machine without any emotion but he still held onto that last line of reason, he didn't want to become a killer so he held back....everything around him was turning dark just like that punishment room he despised, he had a mass of hatred building up inside his heart and was even his heart still alive? He wasn't sure anymore.
A child his age should be playing and taking his first step into primary school but here he was, on the verge of losing himself forever into the darkness that had become his world.
After his break was over, instead of going for the next bout he was asked to go to the main hall.
His heart stopped, he had inadvertently known what it meant to go to the main hall, he didn't want to know about it, but a month ago he saw something he shouldn't have in that room.
...................