"What is it?"

Viki stepped closer.

"If you participate..."

His voice became serious.

"...you fight without getting injured again."

Azaan smiled.

"And if I do?"

Viki narrowed his eyes.

"If you get hurt again, I won't stay quiet."

For a moment, Azaan simply looked at him.

Then a warm smile spread across his face.

"Deal."

Viki shook his head helplessly.

Even now, he couldn't understand why Azaan made him worry this much.

But one thing was certain.

More than the tournament...

More than the trophy...

All he wanted was for Azaan to return safely.

As he stepped onto the arena, only one sentence echoed in his mind

"Don't get hurt."

It was Viki's voice.

The final match began.

The entire arena was filled with excitement.

Students cheered loudly as the two finalists stepped into the ring.

Standing near the sidelines, Viki watched silently.

His arms were crossed, but his eyes never left Azaan.

Azaan noticed.

And because of that, he forced himself to smile.

"Don't worry, sir," he thought. "I'll keep my promise."

The referee raised his hand.

"Begin!"

The match started immediately.

From the very first second, Azaan knew this would be his toughest fight of the day.

His injured leg felt heavier with every movement.

Each step sent pain shooting through his body.

But he ignored it.

No matter how much it hurt, he refused to let it show.

Especially not in front of Viki.

Across the arena, his opponent quickly noticed something was wrong.

Azaan's movements weren't as smooth as before.

His reactions were slightly slower.

The opponent smirked.

He had found a weakness.

The fight continued.

Point after point.

Attack after attack.

The audience watched in complete silence.

Then suddenly—

The opponent launched a powerful strike directly toward Azaan's injured side.

The impact sent a sharp wave of pain through his body.

Azaan almost lost his balance.

His vision blurred for a second.

The pain was unbearable.

But somehow...

He managed to stay standing.

On the sidelines, Viki's expression darkened.

Something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

But before he could figure it out, Azaan straightened himself again.

A small smile appeared on his face.

As if nothing had happened.

Viki frowned.

Meanwhile, Azaan was struggling.

His entire body was screaming at him to stop.

Every movement hurt.

Every breath hurt.

But he remembered the promise he had made.

"Trust me, sir."

Those words echoed inside his mind.

He couldn't give up now.

Not after coming this far.

Not after seeing how much Viki believed in him.

With renewed determination, Azaan continued fighting.

The crowd erupted as both fighters exchanged attacks.

The match became more intense with every passing second.

Finally—

Azaan saw an opening.

It lasted only a moment.

But it was enough.

Without hesitation, he used everything he had left and delivered one final move.

The arena fell silent.

Then—

The referee stepped forward.

He raised Azaan's hand.

"Winner!"

For a moment, Azaan couldn't believe it.

Then the entire arena exploded with cheers.

He had done it.

He had won.

Students rushed forward, celebrating loudly.

Sam nearly tackled him in excitement.

"You actually did it!"

Azaan laughed.

Or at least, he tried to.

The pain was becoming unbearable now.

But he forced himself to hide it.

His eyes immediately searched for one person.

Viki.

The moment he found him, a smile appeared on his face.

Ignoring the pain, Azaan slowly walked toward him.

His leg felt like it would give out at any moment.

But he kept going.

Finally, he stopped in front of Viki.

A bright smile appeared on his face.

"Sir..."

Viki looked at him.

Azaan lifted the trophy slightly.

"I won."

His smile widened.

"Just like I promised."

For a brief moment, Viki said nothing.

Azaan felt relieved.

Good.

Viki hadn't noticed.

He still thought everything was fine.

But what Azaan didn't realize was that Viki wasn't looking at the trophy.

He wasn't even looking at Azaan's smile.

His eyes had already fallen to Azaan's injured leg.

And the worried expression slowly appearing on Viki's face said only one think.

He knew something was wrong.

Without saying anything, Viki grabbed Azaan's wrist.

"Come with me."

"W-What?"

Before Azaan could react, Viki started walking toward one of the empty rooms near the medical center.

The moment they entered, Viki closed the door behind them.

Azaan's heartbeat instantly became faster.

The room was completely quiet.

Before he could say anything, Viki suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him backward.

Azaan fell onto the bed behind him.

His eyes widened in shock.

"S-Sir?!"

Viki stepped closer.

Azaan could hear his own heartbeat pounding inside his chest.

Viki slowly leaned forward.

"Sir... Sir... what are you doing?" Azaan asked nervously.

Viki frowned.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

Azaan immediately looked away.

His face had already turned red.

Viki sighed and knelt down in front of him.

Only then did Azaan notice the first-aid box in Viki's hand.

"You can barely walk."

Viki carefully lifted Azaan's injured leg onto the bed.

"And yet you still pushed yourself through the entire final match."

The anger in his voice wasn't anger at all.

It was worry.

Pure worry.

Azaan stared at him silently.

For the first time, he realized how concerned Viki had been throughout the tournament.

"You scared me today."

The words slipped out of Viki's mouth before he could stop them.

Both of them froze.

For a moment, the room became completely silent.

Neither of them spoke.

Neither of them looked away.

Viki was still holding Azaan's injured leg carefully while Azaan sat quietly on the bed.

Finally, Viki broke the silence.

"Why?"

Azaan blinked.

"What?"

Viki slowly stood up.

His eyes remained fixed on Azaan.

"Why did you push yourself this far?"

Azaan remained silent.

Viki took a deep breath.

"The doctor told you not to fight."

His voice was calm.

But Azaan could hear the frustration hidden beneath it.

"You could barely walk."

Viki looked away for a second before continuing.

"You were in pain during the entire match."

Azaan's eyes widened slightly.

So Viki had noticed.

Of course he had.

"You kept smiling and pretending everything was fine."

Viki's voice softened.

"Why would you put yourself through all that?"

The room became quiet again.

Azaan lowered his gaze.

A small smile appeared on his lips.

Not the confident smile he showed everyone else.

A soft one.

A genuine one.

After a few seconds, he finally spoke.

"Because I wanted to win."

Viki frowned.

"That's not the real reason."

Azaan laughed softly.

Even now, Viki could see right through him.

Slowly, Azaan lifted his head.

Their eyes met.

For a moment, neither of them looked away.

Then Azaan smiled gently.

"Because of you, sir."

Viki froze.

The words hit him completely off guard.

Azaan continued before he could interrupt.

"When everyone told me to win..."

Azaan looked down at his injured leg.

"...you were the only person who was worried about me."

His voice became softer.

"You trusted me."

Viki couldn't say anything.

Azaan smiled again.

"And when you asked me not to get hurt..."

He paused.

"That became the only thing I could think about during the match."

The room fell silent once more.

Viki stood there completely still.

For the first time that day...

He didn't know what to say.

And for some reason, his heart was beating much faster than before.