𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗞𝗘 [ UNDER HEAVY REVISION ]

AWAKE : FOURTY FOUR

Y/n's POV

I watch, horrified, as Heechul enters the boxing ring. Seungri, already inside, throws a sneer at him.

"We can't let this happen," I tell Mina. Her stony gaze is fixed on Heechul. "Mina, we need to stop them."

Heechul has a plan. He will try to call off the duel before it starts by surrendering. Considering Sgt. Park's love for violence, I doubt that it will work.

"Let's see how well your muscles have developed in a week of training," Seungri teases, cracking his knuckles. Seeing him like that, with a grin on his face, my hatred for him doubles.

Sgt. Park lets out a smile before speaking. "Final pair, begin your demonstration."

Seungri lets out a triumphant grin, his body positioning to prepare an attack for Heechul. But before he can take a step, my friend whips his head towards Sgt. Park.

"I surrender," Heechul says, his voice cracking on the last syllable. "I accept defeat. Seungri wins."

Sgt. Park's smile disappears. She turns towards her partner and whispers something to him. The room is deathly quiet, waiting for the next thing that's going to happen.

"Coward," Seungri spits. I have the sudden urge to get inside the boxing ring and strangle him. Finally, after nearly two minutes, Sgt. Park straightens and fixes her gaze on Heechul.

"This activity helps us to gauge your skills and the things that you've learned during our training. Simply surrendering without even lifting a finger is unacceptable."

Heechul swallows.

"She's not going to let him out," Mina says, steel in her voice. "They will still continue the duel, even though they know that Heechul can't defeat Seungri."

Holy shit. This can't happen. We have to do something to stop this. I won't let anything bad happen to that boy. He's like a brother to me now.

I consider getting in Sgt. Park's face and demanding that she stop the duel right now, but Mina's hand is suddenly on my arm. She fixes her gaze on me.

"Don't do anything stupid, Y/n," she says, as if she'd read my mind.

"What do you want me to do?" I ask, frustrated. "We have to do something to save him."

"Do you think Sgt. Park will stop the duel just because you told her to? She already made up her mind. We can't do anything about this."

"But—"

She cuts me off. "He can do what we did earlier. He can take a few blows, and then surrender. Just like you did."

But we both know that that won't be the case with Heechul and Seungri. Mina agreed on my plan earlier to fake the duel. Seungri, on the other hand, surely won't let that happen. He likes to see how much Heechul can bleed.

He's a complete asshole.

I let out a huge breath to calm myself. Then I watch, helpless, as the duel begins. Heechul's grunt echoes across the room as Seungri's fist connects with his gut. Heechul tries to punch Seungri in the face, but Seungri intercepts the blow and punches him.

I fight the urge to look away as blood wells from Heechul's broken nose.

"That's all you've got?" Seungri taunts, kicking Heechul's right leg. He collapses on his knees. "Come on, give me a good fight!"

Heechul tries to stand up, but Seungri gives him another kick in the chest. His body slams on the floor with a sickening thud.

"Surrender," I whisper. "Please, Heechul. Surrender."