The air inside the basement was thick with smoke, sweat and the loud cheers of men and women who were pouring every bit of their money into a gamble. Shui had followed him because she knew Cai and Ru Yi's broken relationship bothered him. So she has followed him on a whim, still unsure of what she wanted to do.
And now she watched as Lin stepped into the ring surrounded by concrete walls and a crowd that smelled of cheap beer and danger. She had never seen him like this - no crisply ironed shirt, no calm poise he usually held and no smile that hid what he was thinking.
His black t-shirt clung to his body and his knuckles were wrapped tight with white tape, the veins in his forearms bulging visibly.
The announcer called his name in a muffled shout, "Hou Lin in the ring!"
