"Damn! The ramyeon has gotten this expensive?" Austin was shocked when he saw the price tag on the packet.
He was shopping in the local supermarket and picking up some things that he had not bought in a long time. so long that he didn’t even remember when was the last time he even saw a packet of ramyeon, or the chocolate bar, ice cream and the various packets of chips he had in the basket.
He was a young man in his late twenties, a good physique with well built muscles, speaking of his fitness and discipline. But his hair and beard had grown long and disheveled, and the dark bags under his eyes were screaming of his anxiety and how deprived of sleep he was.
He was in his track suit, jumper and the rubber sandals, as he was not far from his place and it was the local supermarket he visited often.
"Out of toilet paper again Mr. Austin?" the young girl at the counter teased him as he placed the basket on the counter for billing.
"Haha! You’re speaking as if I shit numerous times in a day." he laughed at her words. Speaking in a complaining tone.
"You refilled it two times this month when half the days are still left." She said as both of them laughed.
"No! no! I’m getting something else this time." He pulled out one item after another from the basket and placed it on the counter.
The young girl’s eyes opened wide in shock. She moved her gaze away from the packets and looked at him in surprise.
"H-How...how come you’re buying all these things?"
He chuckled seeing her shocked expression.
"It’s my cheat day today. I’ll be having a feast with all these things today." He said with a smile.
"Oh, wait. I forgot something." He immediately rushed to fridge and bought a bottle of soju and placed it on the counter.
The girl was even more shocked now. The last few months that she had worked here, this man had never bought a single junk food item, and he treated alcohol as if it was his greatest enemy in life.
"Give me a packet of cigarette too." He said pointing at the packets arranged behind her back.
This time even the young boy at the side counter turned his head in shock. The two of them froze in place. She pinched her cheeks to see if this was a dream, getting a laugh from Austin in response.
She sighed helplessly, realizing this was not a dream.
"Are you really Mr. Austin?" she asked skeptically.
Austin just laughed and didn’t say anything.
BOOM!! CLAP!! RUMBLE!!!!
Black clouds started gathering above as loud thunders kept resounding.
"I think it’s gonna rain. You should hurry, or I’ll be drowned by the rain." Austin said with a smile.
She nodded and immediately started scanning the barcodes of the packets.
"Your total is 18.65 dollars." She said placing all the things in a bag and passing it towards him.
He pulled two ten dollar bills out of his pocket and gave it to her.
"Keep the change." He said with a smile, took the bag and moved towards the door.
Seeing the rain about to fall, he pulled his hood up and rushed out of the shop.
"What happened to him? He’s not even taking the change today?" the boy from the side counter asked.
"Don’t know. But something is definitely wrong with him today!" she said looking at Austin’s retreating back through the glass door of the shop.
The two of them were showing such adverse reactions as they knew Austin well. He was a retired MMA fighter turned trainer and had recently opened his own gym in the neighborhood a few months back.
He was a very strict and disciplined man in regards to his diet and training. Junk food, alcohol and smoking were the greatest enemy of his life and he didn’t even spare them a glance.
"Are the rumors true though? He might be anxiety eating right now." the young man asked skeptically.
"Who knows? But he’s definitely going through a rough patch in life right now." she said with a sad expression on her face.
Austin ran along the sidewalk as the downpour was hard and he was soaked completely.
He stopped in front of a single story building sandwiched between the two huge multistoried ones. It was the property he had inherited from his late master and opened his gym, ’THE FIGHT LAB’.
Rain kept drenching him, but he stood motionless, Taking a long hard glance at the board above with the name of his gym.
A deep sigh escaped him. Removing his gaze, he moved inside. He passed through the dark hall with the cage ring, the weights, sandbags and everything, and moved towards the back, opening the back door, moved out, walked along the soft grass towards the small room where he stayed and was his small cozy home.
He pushed the worn out door, opening with a creaking noise. The room was a mess, unwashed clothes sprawled all over. Dust had formed a layer on the floor. holes had formed on his stained mattress on the ground. The rice cooker was wide open with fungus growing on the leftover rice inside, making it unbearable to breathe the air.
On the small round table were a pile of payment due notices. The majority of them being loan repayment notice from the bank. The electricity was cut off as he had not paid them in months. How could he, when he was somehow scraping off with the leftover money from the loan.
Putting the packet down over the notice letters, he moved towards the framed picture of his master on the wall. He burned two incense sticks and placed it in front of the picture, clasped his hands and bowed.
"Thank you for taking care of me for all these years master. But I can’t go on anymore. I give up now. I’ll be coming to you soon."