The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

9| Maybe

Jennie's bad mood never lasted for long—it was a way of life now, to live constantly on the edge, with bills to pay every other day and desperately clinging on to every paycheck like a lifeline.

Because in essence it was.

Flare ups happened when she was feeling particularly pressed for time, and she inevitably lashed out on Lisa—reprimanding her sister for being lax, for not trying harder, for taking her opponents for granted, for getting too big-headed, for wasting time...

Jennie frowned deeply, lost in thought as she rubbed her arms for warmth.

The AC was still down, she had no time to check it or phone the repair man. He wouldn't be happy to see her anyway, Jennie was positive she had some bill of his on her desk.

She hated being behind on her payments but they were rather tight at the moment. Her shift at the diner paid a paltry wage compared to what Lisa could have brought home from the last match...

Boxing matches at the Slammer were cut-throat and competitive, living up to the excellent reputation for the exciting female fights the organisers of the place hosted. 

The burgeoning sport had snowballed in recent years, with a surprisingly dedicated following that surprised Jennie—she hadn't been aware that Koreans would be so keen on watching women fight in the ring.

Maybe guys got a kick out of it, while the closeted lesbians could openly swoon over the fighters.

The Slammer was at the forefront of promoting the sport in Seoul. Their activities garnered the attention and interest of many business stake- holders, allowing for money to flow freely to sponsor and host such events.

Thus, the organisers at the Slammer rewarded their winners handsomely for the shows they put up. The arena was always sold out.

On average, for each fight Lisa won, she'd earn double what Jennie earned working at the diner for a month.

Since she was also one of the handful of regular fixtures at the matches, the organisers had also worked out a basic salary for her so even when she lost, there was still some money she could bring to the table.

Then of course you had to factor in the generous bonuses—Lisa had once managed to get her hands on the Silver royalties. 

Jennie never experienced such a thrill again.

They had had enough money to pamper themselves for a day at a spa (they even took Somi with them), bought fancy clothes to be able to venture out to a gourmet restaurant, spent a day at an arcade wilding around, and paid off all the bills. 

Jennie smiled now, remembering how excited Lisa was that they were finally able to buy Somi a proper Christmas present—they had gotten her a collector's edition of a book series that the younger girl had been wanting to buy for two and a half years.

It had cost a small fortune, but seeing Somi hug Lisa so tightly that Lisa turned purple in the face was worth it.

Jennie took out her workdiary. On the first page was the table illustrating the bonuses up for grabs with each set of matches won. It was a habit (or torture) of hers to daydream about the things she could do with the prize money.

Four matches, that's Silver Royalties.

Win eight consecutive matches, that's Gold Royalties.

Twelve matches, that's Diamond Royalties.

Any further than that was rumoured to be the unattainable Platinum Royalties.