DISCLAIMER: Me don’t own Tekken, k?
Faded Rivalry
Chapter 3 - Persuading A Tiger
Hwoarang slowly opened his eyes and quickly shut them. Groaning, he turned over and attempted to open his eyes again. This time a most unfamiliar sight greeted him. /Okay, where am I again? Oh fuck…Jin’s place./ Cursing to himself, Hwoarang attempted to stand up and made his way to the door as quietly as he could without causing too much pain to his head. But it was all in vain as his foot got caught under the carpet and began falling headlong to the floor.
“Shiiiiiiit!”
In the kitchen, Jin immediately dropped his knife when he heard Hwoarang yell out in the living room. Without thinking, he ran out of the kitchen, knife still in hand. He quickly located Hwoarang gripping the side of his head and cursing in a language foreign to him while struggling to stand up. Jin grinned to himself as he resisted laughing. /What did this klutz do this time?/
Hwoarang gripped his head and cursed in Korean. /Now why’d I do that? At this rate, I’m going to kill myself if I keep this up!/ Hwoarang smirked to himself as he amused himself for a moment. /Ha, I could see it now. Headlining: “Blood Talon Killed Because He Stupidly Hit His Head Repeatedly on a Table” Now that’ll be a laugh…/ The pain in Hwoarang’s head subsided to dull banging and he looked up only to see Jin stare at him holding a knife in his hand. /Oh my God, he’s gonna kill me and eat me for dinner! I never thought of Kazama being the cannibal type, but then again, why not?!/
“Stop! I didn’t do anything! Isn’t there a better way to settle this?! Don’t eat me!!”
Hwoarang exclaimed before quickly closing his mouth and thinking for a moment. /Holy shit! Did I just say what I think I just said?!/ He noticed Jin’s puzzled expression and groaned inwardly. /Oh damn, I did…where the hell did that come from?! I must be going crazy. Jin’s my rival…but he isn’t a freaking cannibal!!…At least, I don’t think he is…/ Hwoarang looked at Jin questionably and as did Jin.
/Did he just tell me not to eat him?/ Jin thought completely confused. /Man, does he really think that lowly of me?/ Jin looked at his hand and glanced at the knife before blinking in realization. /Oh! I see where he got that idea…but…he can’t really think that I would actually kill him would he?/ Jin eyed Hwoarang carefully.
“Umm…Hwoarang…are you alright?”
Hwoarang looked at him. “Uhh…yeah, sorry…I don’t know where that came from!” he exclaimed nervously. /I am such an idiot./
Jin nodded slowly as he tried to hide his bewilderment. “Umm…yeah. I was just making dinner. Are you hungry?” he asked. Hwoarang stared at the floor thoughtfully. /Come to think of it…I am actually hungry./
“Uhh…a little…” he admitted slowly.
“Good, cause I was already making something for you already. Why don’t you…uhh…wait and read something?”
The Korean nodded sheepishly. “Sure.” /I can’t believe he’s still being so nice to me even after I told him not to eat me…eat me! Damn, this bump affected me even more than I thought!/
Jin headed back to the kitchen and continued chopping the onions. /That sure was strange…the fact that he thought I was going to eat him…/ he thought amusedly.
Meanwhile in the living room, Hwoarang was debating on either staying at Jin’s house or making a run back to his place. The Korean youth had already proved himself to be a fool and wasn’t too content on embarrassing himself even further. But then the other half of him argued with him.
/You can’t leave him. He’s been so nice to you and the least you could do is stay for dinner!/
/Oh, shut the fuck up!/
Hwoarang blinked slowly before trying to calm himself down. Arguing with oneself must be a sure sign of insanity. Hwoarang rolled his eyes at the thought. In that case, he was insane from day one. Of course Jin was actually a very good host and Hwoarang couldn’t help but feel…
“Fuck!” he exclaimed as he hastily grabbed the nearest book and opened it. He did not like Kazama. He was just feeling grateful towards him, that’s it. Nodding along with that thought, he read the first line of the book. “Denial: a refusal to comply with or satisfy a request,” Hwoarang recited aloud before cursing in Korean and slamming the book against the wall. He got up from the couch and noted that he was still wearing his very dirty sweat pants and ripped tee shirt. /Damn, I’d give anything for a shower./ The redhead looked at his clothes disgustedly.
“Hey Hwoarang?”
“Yeah?” Hwoarang replied, looking up to see Jin staring at him from the kitchen doorway.
The Japanese fighter pointed to Hwoarang’s clothes with a hint of grin. “Do you want to take a shower? I could lend you some clothes,” he suggested.
Hwoarang blinked several times. /What is he? A fucking mind reader?/ “That would be good,” he remarked slowly while scrutinizing Jin with all his might, as if trying to figure out if he was psychic. The Japanese youth remained oblivious, though.
“The bathroom is the last room down the hall. I’ll leave you some clothes,” he replied.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Finding the bathroom was relatively easy and Hwoarang and went in while examining the furnishings critically. Hey, nice bathroom. It contained a large bath with a shower and the tiled walls were white and the ceiling a relaxing tan color. The Korean boy eyed the bath
/Bath or shower, Hwoarang?/
Hwoarang looked at the tub. /I think I’ll just stick to shower. Baths take too much time to prepare./ Hwoarang shed his clothes and turned on the shower. /Ahh…warm water…this is just what I needed…/ Hwoarang closed his eyes and let the water run down his face.
“Hey Hwoarang? Can I come in?”
Hwoarang opened his eyes. “Yeah.”
Jin opened the door and dropped some clothes on the toilet seat without a single glance at the figure behind the fogged glass. /I’m not some peeping Tom after all./ “Here, I left some clothes for you here.”
“K, thanks.”
Jin smiled. “Sure.” He left the room and closed the door. /I’ve never heard Hwoarang say thanks so many times in just one hour./
While Jin finished making the dinner, Hwoarang was having a dilemma in the bathroom.
/Ugh…is this even a shirt?/
Hwoarang picked up and loose black shirt that went all the way down to his knees and the sleeves went down to his elbows. When he put on the pants he found that he could have easily fitted another pair of legs in them. Staring at himself in the mirror, Hwoarang shook his head in dismay.
“I know Kazama isn’t this big. He must have fucked around with the washing machine or something…” he muttered to himself before heading out the door.
/At least they’re comfortable./ That was his only consolation.
Jin looked at Hwoarang when he entered the kitchen. He nearly drooled over the sight of the Korean youth. His hair was wet and in clumps and his face held a distinctly blushed tone probably due from the heat of the water. /Damn…he looks hot after a shower…/
Hwoarang noticed Jin staring at him and crossed his arms. “What are you looking at Kazama?” he snapped. /He better not be staring because of his overly ridiculous outfit he gave me…/
Jin blushed slightly and shook his head nervously. “Oh…nothing.”
Hwoarang stared at the Japanese boy in amusement. /He looks cute all nervous like that… Fuck!/
Jin noticed Hwoarang’s scrutiny gaze and became even more nervous. “Umm…plate?” he asked quickly holding up a glass plate.
Hwoarang nodded. “Yeah, sure,” he replied, taking the plate from Jin’s hands before dumping piles of food on it. He sat down across from Jin and began eating. “Not bad Jin…not bad at all,” complimented Hwoarang chewing the food approvingly.
Jin smiled at the compliment. “Thanks.”
“Where’d you learn to cook?”
Jin looked at his food. “My…mother…” he murmured, trying in vain to cover up his pain in mentioning her.
Hwoarang looked at him sadly. “Oh…sorry,” he offered. /Hmm…at least you got to know your mother, Kazama./
Jin closed his eyes and smiled slightly at the redhead. “Nah, it’s okay. So…how’s your head?” he inquired politely.
Hwoarang stared at him for a moment before tilting his head side to side. “Well I still have this killer headache and I keep walking to the right for some bizarre reason, but otherwise, I’m fine,” he replied with a grin.
“How many fingers.”
“Uhh…well…why do I have to do this anyway?” Hwoarang quickly stuffed more food into his mouth. He saw Jin’s hand blurrily and the amount of fingers kept jumping from two to four then back to two and then to six. If he focused harder, it just made everything worse.
Jin stared at him intently. “Answer. Now. How. Many. Fingers?” he repeated sternly. He held four fingers and threw Hwoarang a firm look. The latter looked frustrated.
“Uhh…” he squinted a bit, “…eight?” /Now how in the world would he manage to do that when in one hand you only have five fingers?? Think before you talk. Hwoarang, you dolt!/
Jin lowered his hand. “No, four,” he answered calmly before resuming in his eating quietly. Hwoarang frowned deeply before chuckling amusedly.
“Oh. Do you have any aspirin?”
“I ran out months ago.”
Hwoarang sighed. “Oh,” he said again. /Aghh…now how am I going to get home? I’ll probably be seeing double of everything! Heck I see two Jin’s right now! …Oh…scary thought…/ “Ah well, I guess going home will be a harder task than I thought…” he murmured to himself. Jin raised an eyebrow.
“Eh? You think you’re going home alone? I don’t think so,” he commanded. Hwoarang looked flabbergasted before turning to glare at the Japanese boy.
“What are you my mother?” he asked scornfully. Jin remained unperturbed.
“Who knows what might happen when you get home? You’re still dizzy and seeing double of everything. It’s a real risk you know,” he replied slowly and patiently as if speaking to a child.
Hwoarang glared at him and flicked his hand at him. “Hey, I might be seeing double of everything but I still know what and where everything is!” he retorted indignantly. Jin raised an eyebrow.
“Oh?” he asked challengingly. /We’ll see soon enough./
“Yeah!” /Somehow I think this is a bad idea./
The Japanese youth stood up and walked over to the counter and took out a knife from a drawer and held it up a few feet away from Hwoarang. “Fine, what’s this?” he inquired with a slight smile at the Korean’s obvious stress.
/Not this again…great what the hell is that?! Oh God…I don’t know! It looks like a stick…wait no! It’s a fork!/ “A fork.”
“No!! It’s a knife,” Jin replied triumphantly. He lowered the knife and placed it back safely in the drawer before turning to face Hwoarang, who looked exasperated.
/Hn, yeah, of course…why didn’t I think of that???/ Hwoarang pouted slightly.
“And you think I’m going to let you go home?! Even if I walked you home, when you’re by yourself, who’s going to be there when you faint or something?” laughed Jin, though there was an evident amount of sincerity in his tone.
Hwoarang looked disappointedly at his now empty plate. /He’s right. I don’t exactly feel all peachy to go home let alone try to take care of myself…/ “Then where will I go?” he asked aloud. Jin stood up and gathered up his and Hwoarang’s plates before placing them into the sink.
“You’ll stay here, with me.”
Hwoarang stared at Jin dumbly. The fact that he had said it so simply, so without a care, completely baffled him. Not to mention the idea caused an unpleasant shudder up his spine. “Y-you’re kidding, right?” he asked softly.
Jin eyed Hwoarang. “No, I’m not,” he replied flatly.
“I…”
The Japanese fighter laughed at him. “C’mon Hwoarang! Don’t act like it’s the worst thing in the world that could happen to you!” he exclaimed cheerfully while staring at the fuming redhead, who was glaring at him. He then laughed even harder when he realized Hwoarang was glaring at the refrigerator instead of him. /He’s just too cute when he’s mad like that…/ “Try to think logically, Hwoarang. I have an extra room where you can stay and you don’t have to worry about people staring at you strangely if you went out by yourself,” he persuaded.
A look of disdain was sprawled on Hwoarang’s face as he stared at the floor thoughtfully. /Damn, I know he’s right…but how can I sleep over at my rival’s house?! It’s just…but then again…I really want to!! Ahh!! What am I going to do?!/ The redhead clicked his tongue in disgust at the fickleness of his mind.
Jin watched him for a moment before smiling. “Alright, you’re staying. And that’s that,” he announced loudly, startling Hwoarang out of his reverie.
“You’re ordering me around…?”
Jin smirked. “Well you can’t do anything about it and it’s for your best,” he chided playfully. Hwoarang watched Jin’s eyes for a moment before turning to silence again.
/Why does he care so much about my safety? Could he…?/
At the sudden silence from the redhead, Jin began to panic slightly. /Damn…why’d I say that?! I just hope he doesn’t figure out that I like him…/ A small frown appeared on his face at the thought of Hwoarang running away from him in utter disgust and terror. /I don’t think I could deal with that./
Hwoarang gazed at Jin’s form again and laughed mentally. /Ha! Jin Kazama like me?! That’s just totally unbelievable! He’s probably just really nice./ Sighing, he finally looked at Jin straight in the eye—or at least as straight as he could with his vision still on the fritz. “Fine Jin…I’ll stay here…for the time being,” he gave in with a look of fear at his own words.
Jin grinned slightly and clapped his hands. “Okay then!” he exclaimed.
/Lord…don’t make me regret this…/ Hwoarang smiled back hopelessly.
~*~
TBC
Wow…do I still have any reviewers with me?? Oh boy, I know I’ve been a bad writer leaving this alone for such a very, very, very long time. Many thanks to Jade queen of the Damned for giving me the push to continue. Love ya! And to everyone else…yes, this story is still alive!!!
Minor note: Yeah, the thoughts are now encased with //. Damn Ff.net allows only a certain amount of the text in italics. Arrg. Otherwise, that’s about it with the formatting.