CHAPTER 13: FISTFIGHT

It didn’t take long for him to realize I was sitting right across from him. As our eyes locked, I immediately narrowed mine into a lethal glare.

That son of a bitch. Did he really think I’d just forget what he did to me? Now that he’s right in front of me, he better prepare himself.

I watched as he pulled off his face mask.

"Yo, glad you could make it, Keith," Stephen greeted him.

"I forced him," the guy named Alejandro answered.

"How’d you manage that?"

"I let him use my name to order stuff on Shopee again."

Marcus, sitting next to him, let out a chuckle. "Man, the perks of being famous, huh?"

Keith didn't give him any reaction. His eyes stayed glued to me—or rather, our gazes remained fiercely locked. His brows were furrowed, looking like he absolutely hated whatever he was staring at.

I gave him the exact same energy, throwing back a look of pure disgust. The nerve of this guy to glare at me after what he pulled. He’s so dead.

"Hey, Keith, do you know him?" Stephen asked, pointing a thumb at me.

The bastard across from me shook his head. "No," he replied, brief and blunt.

"Woah, really?"

"This is Neo," Stephen added. "You two are in the same boat—he doesn't remember any of us either."

"No..." I interjected.

They all turned to look at me.

"I know him."

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Really? Alright then, what's his name?"

"Juan," I said with total confidence.

Instead of confirming it, the room erupted into roaring laughter. I stared at them, completely thrown off. "What?"

Alejandro slapped Keith's back. "Guess you got a name change, man! Why didn't you inform us?"

"Bro, it's Yuan, not Juan," Marcus corrected, still laughing. "His name is Yuan Keith Yukihira. But hey, close enough."

A sly grin crept onto my face. So all this time, I’ve been mispronouncing his name.

"Wait, how do you remember him, but not us?" Jeno asked, sounding offended. "Are we really that forgettable?"

"I just know him. I remember him from high school," I replied smoothly.

Well, he didn't remember me, so we naturally ended up beating the living daylights out of each other.

"Why?" Stephen asked, genuinely baffled.

"Why what?"

"Why do you remember him, but not any of us?"

I just arched an eyebrow at him. "How should I know?"

"Well, at least the whole gang's here now. That's awesome," Marcus said, clapping his hands together.

"No, we're not," the guy on the end chimed in—the same arrogant jerk who had been looking down on me earlier. Just hearing his voice made my blood pressure spike again. "Helios isn't here."

"Oh right, where is he anyway?"

"Korea. He has a match today," Marcus

answered. "Honestly, it's for the best. At least we don't have to deal with any weird vibes tonight."

"You're just jealous because he plays way better than you," Jeno ribbed.

"What?! Why would I be jealous of that manipulator?"

I rolled my head back and stretched my neck, completely bored out of my mind by their chatter. Whoever this Helios guy was, he sounded like another massive headache I didn't care to know.

"Didn't you tell him Neo was coming?"

My ears instantly perked up. Why the hell was my name brought up? What's the connection here?

"I didn't even know Neo was showing up, alright?" Marcus grumbled, glancing my way.

"Hey Neo, do you remember Helios?"

"No. Who is he?"

"Keep it that way. Don't even bother trying to remember him, it'll just ruin your day," Marcus advised.

Jeno immediately slapped the back of Marcus's head. "You idiot, you're literally just jealous."

"I am not!" Marcus snorted. "Too bad, Neo. You won't get to see your favorite little sidekick."

Man... I have zero clue what these morons are talking about.

Realizing I couldn't care less about their conversation, I decided to head downstairs.

Without bothering to say goodbye, I walked straight out the room. The second I stepped into the living area, I clamped a hand over my nose to block out the suffocating storm of pheromones coming from the wild party below.

Once I made it through the crowd, I headed straight for the main exit. The security guards saw me coming and opened the heavy gates.

Stepping outside, I finally took a long, deep breath of clean air. And then I pulled a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket, slipped a stick between my lips, and flicked my lighter.

Taking a deep drag to settle my nerves, I exhaled a cloud of smoke into the night air. I stood outside the gate for a few minutes, torn over whether I should just bounce or go back inside.

I was genuinely worried that Stephen wouldn't pay me if I walked out early. I had literally sacrificed my work shift for this crap.

Seriously, Neo? You're still thinking about the money? You're just gonna let those assholes look down on you? my conscience screamed at me. I shook my head, trying to drown out the internal voice.

My thoughts were cut short by the loud creak of the iron gate opening. I whipped my head around and saw the very man I had been cursing out stepping through the entrance.

I stared as he walked out. The moment his eyes landed on me, he froze. He pulled off his face mask and swept his gaze over me, his face wearing that same annoyed, perpetually pissed-at-the-world expression.

When our eyes locked, my hands curled into tight fists without hesitation. As he took a step toward me, I exhaled a thick cloud of cigarette smoke right into his face.

He winced, his features twisting in disgust.

"Hey," he called out, his forehead creasing.

I just raised an eyebrow. "Hey. How's the local sexual harasser doing? Did you sleep well after what you did?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

His scowl deepened. He clenched his jaw tight. "What the hell do you mean?"

I gritted my teeth. "Oh, really? You suddenly don't remember what you did to me?"

"Hey, maybe you did something to me," he shot back, his voice rising. "I woke up in my own bed with a swollen, bruised face. You did something to me!"

My fists tightened even more. Memories of how furious I was at his actions flooded back in an instant. And now he had the nerve to spin it like I was the bad guy?

"You really don't remember how you got that bruise on your face?" I sneered.

I saw his jaw flex as he bit back his anger. Seeing him act like the victim only fueled the rage burning inside me. What a complete jerk!

"What happened after I passed out?! What did you do to me?!" he demanded.

I took another long drag from my cigarette, blew the smoke into the air, and pulled it from my lips. "You really don't remember how you violated my personal space?!" I barked at him. "Whatever I did to your face, you completely deserved it!"

My blood boiled even hotter when his expression didn't change at all—not a single trace of remorse or guilt on his stupidly handsome face.

"You think I'm gonna believe a word out of your mouth? For all I know, you took advantage of me while I was unconscious," he accused, his tone sharp and accusatory. "And when I woke up, all the cash in my wallet was gone. I know for a fact you stole it."

I jammed the cigarette back into my mouth and took another drag. I thought this night couldn't possibly get any worse, but here was this bastard, standing right in front of me, throwing wild accusations when he was the one who crossed the line.

He was pushing every single one of my buttons and actually, I was a hair away from committing actual murder.

I locked eyes with him as he took a slow, intimidating step closer. "Can you throw that cigarette away? You're talking to a person, do you have any manners?" he asked mockingly.

I kept the cigarette clamped between my teeth and shoved my hands into my pockets.

"Manners? A guy like you doesn't deserve man—"

Before I could finish, his hand shot out, snatched the cigarette right out of my mouth, and tossed it onto the ground.

This absolute bastard!

I stepped up to him, grabbed him aggressively by the collar, and pulled him down to my eye level. "Are you out of your mind?! Talk about no manners!"

He just glared back, completely unfazed by my grip. "Get out of my face. You smell terrible."

That was it. The absolute final straw. Something snapped in my brain, and a wave of pure, unadulterated fury took over.

Images of what happened at his condo flashed through my mind—how he had practically pinned me down and told me I smelled good.

And now, he had the audacity to act all high and mighty, telling me I smelled bad after attacking me in his own home?

I didn't hold back. I threw a full-force right hook straight into his jaw, sending him crashing onto the pavement.

He stumbled up, clutching his lip as a trickle of blood ran down his chin. I didn't feel a single drop of regret 'cause he deserved every ounce of my rage.

He slowly stood up, glaring daggers at me. "You jerk! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he roared.

He lunged toward me, but I dropped low and delivered a sharp slide kick to his stomach, sending him crashing back onto the ground.

He let out a heavy groan, clutching his midsection in pain. I watched as his jaw clenched tightly, his eyes practically screaming murder.

I casually raised my middle finger at him. "You deserved that, asshole!" I spat out.

I turned my back on him, preparing to head back inside, when a sudden leg swept out from behind me. My feet slipped out, and I slammed hard onto the concrete floor.

I scrambled to my feet instantly and turned around—just in time to catch a fist straight to my face, sending my head snapping to the side.

I wasn't about to lose. I reeled back and threw a punch right back at his jaw..He tried to swing at me again, but I dodged his hook and landed a solid blow right to his ribs.

"Fuck!" he grunted out.

"Fuck you!" I screamed back.

We threw ourselves into a full-blown brawl, completely ignoring the bruises forming and the blood dripping down our faces.

"Motherfucker!" I yelled.

I had a tight grip on his collar, winding up another punch, when a loud voice suddenly shattered the chaotic noise.

"HEY! STOP GUYS!"

It was Stephen.

I threw one last death glare at Yuan before violently shoving him away by his collar.

I turned around to see Stephen jogging toward us, flanked by Jeno and Marcus.

"Damn, didn't realize you guys were out here enjoying yourselves," Jeno chimed in sarcastically. "Enjoying beating each other to death, that is."

"Why didn't you invite us to the fight? Man, it's not fair that you two get to have all the fun—OW!" Marcus yelled, clutching the back of his neck after Stephen smacked him. "Ow! That actually hurt!"

"Shut up, both of you," Stephen snapped. He turned to me, looking utterly bewildered. "Neo, my guy... what the hell is this? Why are you two trying to murder each other?"

I glanced back at the bastard I was just fighting and shot him another glare. He was doing the exact same thing, wiping the blood off his lip with the back of his hand.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Is that what it looks like to you? Trying to kill each other?"

All three of them nodded in unison.

The corner of my lips tugged into a dark smile. "You're mistaken. We're just exchanging friendly greetings."

The three of them exchanged awkward, hesitant smiles, their eyes darting back and forth between the two of us.

Stephen walked up to me and slung a heavy arm over my shoulder. "Alright, let's head back inside."

"No, I'm leaving," I said bluntly.

He shook his head immediately. "No way, come back inside! We haven't even had any fun yet." He squeezed my shoulder firmly. "Plus, we need to clean up those wounds."

I shook my head, completely set on my decision

"I'm heading home."

"Remember the money?" Stephen whispered smoothly.

I froze, then immediately pivoted. "I'm heading back inside to the second floor."

I heard him chuckle softly under his breath.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the bastard I just fought turn around and walk back into the mansion first, with the other two following close behind him.

I watched his retreating back, my blood still boiling. Just you wait, you jerk. We’re far from done.