A young man rushed out of the lift and knocked on one of the doors while catching his breath. The door opened. It was a young man with blonde hair. He raised a brow and smirked, "Sir, are you a stripper? Cause I don't think I ordered the 7-11 cashier package."
"Shut up…" Lance pushed past him, taking off his work uniform at the same time. He greeted the people in the living room briefly before going into one of the rooms. A few seconds later, he came out wearing an oversized Man. Utd jersey.
"Hey, that's my favourite t-shirt!" Kenji protested when he saw the number 7. "You didn't even shower!"
"That's on you for setting up the game 15 minutes after my shift. If it's not because you used your birthday wish on this, I wouldn't even have come. The very least you could do was give me an hour to clean up."
"Hey," Kenji shrugged. "If you didn't reject my invitation so often, I wouldn't have to use my precious birthday wish on this. You only give me 1 per year! And do you know how hard it is to set up a game night when you have so many work shifts?"
He then looked at the girls in the room and murmured, "And apparently the girls need to sleep early to remain youthful, so the game can't be too long."
"Given that they both look prettier than you, I'd say they are on the right track." Lance took a seat at the table after saying hi to the girls.
One of the girls sighed as she glanced at the boys. "You guys are like an old married couple who fight all the time. Should I be worried?"
Lance and Kenji glanced at each other and shuddered dramatically. "No!" said both in unison.
"So, did you study the tutorial I sent you? You are the only first timer here," Kenji asked as he gave everyone their chips. "I feel bad taking other people's first time. At least make it harder for me."
Lance sighed and glanced at the girl who spoke up earlier, "How do you stand him, Amara? For your mental health, please just break up with him. Mila and I will be on your side no matter what."
"He's rich," Amara shrugged.
"Hey!" Kenji protested. "You need to add on the handsome part."
Amara ignored him and looked at Lance. "I have his wallet, so if you need any money, just let me know."
"Don't worry about it," Lance reassured Amara that his feelings weren't hurt. He then glanced at Kenji before taking out a $100 bill and placing it into the pile of money in the middle of the table. "Remember that? That's from last week's assignments."
The other girl gasped, "Is that how you got an A, Kenji? That's cheating!"
Kenji glanced at his stepsister. "Hey, he needs money, I need an easy A for math. It's just business."
"Lance! My Dad bought him a new computer because of that A."
"Oh…" Lance sighed. "I knew I should have charged him more."
"Lance!" Mila protested.
Lance waved dismissively. "It's only 10% of his finals. Come, let's start playing."
Mila sighed and gave up. Lance had been a hustler, doing odd jobs here and there, since the first time they met in primary school, so she couldn't expect anything else from him.
—
At Everwood Primary, a young girl was crying as she walked towards her classroom. A group of boisterous boys ran past her, shouting nonsense as they threw a small ball around. Suddenly, one of them stopped and shouted back, "You guys go ahead."
He tapped the girl's shoulder and asked, "Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
The young girl glanced at the scruffy looking boy all over. His uniform was old, and one of his arms was in a cast, and when she saw his smiling face, she cried even harder.
The young boy panicked. He scratched the back of his head and thought for a moment before saying, "Did someone pick on you? I can help you take revenge, if you want. Just tell me his name."
The girl sniffed and wiped off her tears. "Kenji Nakamura… From Class A."
"Oh, I know Kenji. What did he do to you?" he said as he wiped off her tears. "Don't cry. You are prettier when you smile."
"Kenji drew weird pictures in my Science textbook and told Mr. Smith that I did it. Mr. Smith scolded me for it."
The young boy smiled. He patted her head and said, "Oh… That's a small matter. I'll teach him a lesson for you. What's your name?"
"Mila."
"I'm Lance." He pulled his sleeves up and showed off his little biceps. With a boyish grin, he added, "I might be small, but I'm strong. I'll make sure Kenji doesn't bully you anymore."
Mila thought, Lance, the hustler?
She had heard about him – the new scholarship kid who would do anything for money.
"Do I have to pay you?" Mila asked softly.
Lance thought for a moment before a cheeky smile appeared on his face. "Well, I don't like it when girls cry. How about a smile as payment?"
When he saw her face turn red, he laughed. "I'm joking. Consider it a free service."
—
Back to the present,
Mila shook her head and looked at the two young men, who were laughing over something stupid. She never knew what happened back then, only that Kenji went home with a big bruised eye. Her stepbrother never mentioned what happened, neither did Lance, and she definitely wouldn't have expected these two to become best friends either.
A while later…
Lance stared at the cards in his hand, his fingers stiff as though the glossy edges were laced with electricity. 9 ♠️ 9 ♣️. A pair. Not bad, but nothing extraordinary. Around the table, the buzz of laughter and low conversation hummed in the room, but to Lance, it all faded into a muted blur.
"You're staring too hard," Mila whispered beside him, nudging his shoulder. "It's a friendly game, not an interrogation."
Friendly? Lance wasn't so sure. He shot Kenji with a dirty look. This guy has been taking my money the whole night!
Across the table, Kenji smirked as he stacked his ever-growing pile of chips, a predator surveying his prey. "C'mon, aren't you a math genius?" he teased. "Make a move. Or are you just going to fold all night?"
Lance clenched his jaw. His instincts screamed at him to fold and cut his losses. After all, this was the first time he'd ever played poker. What chance did he have against someone like Kenji, who grew up playing every card game under the sun?
But there was something about the game that tugged at him—an unspoken language in the flicker of Mila's eyes, the tapping of Kenji's fingers on the table, the faint hesitation in Amara's voice when she raised. Every action told a story, and Lance was beginning to realize this wasn't just a game of chance.
He glanced at the community cards on the table: K♥️, 9♦️, and K♠️. He had hit a full house.
Wait… Full House is higher than Flush… and lower than 4 of a Kind… Lance thought as he stared at the board.
"Raise," he murmured after a while, sliding a third of his chips into the pot.
Mila's eyes widened. "Lance, are you sure—"
"Let him play," Kenji interrupted, his grin widening. "The kid's got guts."
The betting continued, with Mila folding and Amara cautiously calling. When it was Kenji's turn, he raised, doubling Lance's bet.
"I'll call," Lance said, trying to keep his voice steady.
Kenji's eyes gleamed. "Interesting."
The dealer flipped over the fourth card: 8♥️. Lance's heart raced.
He clenched his fists under the table to keep his nervousness from showing.
"I'll check," he said, forcing his face into a mask of indifference.
Kenji leaned back in his chair, tapping his temple. "What are you hiding, genius? Bluffing already? I'll raise." He pushed a stack of chips forward, enough to make everyone else at the table groan.
Lance thought, I have a full house. What could he have? Kings? I can't fold here.
"I'll call," Lance said, after some time.
The river card came: 2♣️.
"Raise," he said, putting in half of his remaining chips.
Kenji studied him, his smirk replaced by a frown. "All in," he said, shoving the rest of his chips forward.
The room went silent. Mila shot Lance a worried glance, but he didn't meet her eyes.
Lance did a little thinking. He only raised 2bb preflop. This idiot doesn't take small risks if he knows he can win. That means it's likely he's holding a Kx card instead of KK. It's definitely not K2. That's out of his range– Then again, he's an idiot, and a very rich one at that.
Tapping his finger on the table, he glanced at Kenji. Assuming he's not being an idiot today with K2… K9? K8? If it's K9, he wouldn't have been raising there and then. Since I have two 9s, it's unlikely he would have a K9. If he wanted to keep me in the hand longer with the best hand, he would have called instead of a re-raise. He wasn't sure of his hand. K8? Possible, but unlikely.
After some deliberation, he called.
Kenji laughed and flipped his cards – K♦️10♠️. His grin returned. "Sorry, buddy. Trips with a 10 kicker. Better luck next time."
Lance slapped Kenji's hand away from the chips as he turned over his cards. "Full House, Goldilocks. Keep your hairy paws away from my money."
The room erupted into chaos. Mila grabbed his arm, half in disbelief and half in delight. Kenji's jaw dropped as he stared at the cards, then at Lance, as though seeing him for the first time.
"Holy crap," Kenji muttered. "You hustled me."
"I didn't," Lance said, unable to hide his grin. "I just…figured it out."
It wasn't just luck. It was logic, deduction, and reading his opponent. And given the fact that they had known each other since childhood, Lance knew all the tells – Kenji wouldn't have stopped talking shit if he knew he could win for sure.
As he arranged the chips in front of him, Lance realized that poker was quite fun.
The room buzzed with post-game chatter as Lance calculated the money he had won. "$900…" He glanced at Kenji and smirked, "Thanks for the majority of it."
Mila leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms with a grin that could light up the dim room.
"Not bad for your first game," she teased, her tone warm and playful. "You might actually have a knack for this."
Kenji, however, was less amused. He slouched in his chair, arms folded, and stared at the cards as though they'd betrayed him. "Beginner's luck," he muttered, though a trace of admiration lingered in his voice.
Amara, the quietest of the group, chimed in, "It wasn't just luck – this guy did beat all of us in everything."
Lance shrugged and smirked at his best friend.
"Hey, I still beat you in Go, so don't get too cocky," Kenji scoffed, finally cracking a smile as he reached over to fist bump Lance. "But I gotta say, you played me this time, and I don't know whether to be mad or impressed."
"Both," Mila quipped, standing up to stretch her arms. "But seriously, Lance, if you're into this, you should check out online poker. We all play online every now and then, and it's more fun when you don't have to see Kenji's scowling mug across the table."
Kenji threw a handful of chips at her in annoyance.
Lance blinked. He had known that his friends were all poker fans but he had never joined them for any games since, to him, poker was just another form of gambling.
Kenji said, perking up, "If you are afraid of losing, there are platforms where you can play for free or with small stakes. Heck, just join those freerolls! Some people actually win some serious money with freerolls."
He then leaned back in his chair and smirked, "If you call me Daddy, I'll throw in a couple hundred bucks for you to play with."
Everyone gave him a "shut your mouth up" look.
"Ignore my brother," Mila said as she pulled out her phone. "Here you go," she said after typing something on her phone. "Natural8. We all play on this site. It's beginner-friendly and has a bunch of resources for people starting out."
She turned the screen toward Lance, showing a clean, professional-looking interface with promotions for tournaments and a banner that read "Asia's Largest Online Poker Site."
Lance hesitated. The idea intrigued him, but a pang of caution tugged at his chest. Money was tight—too tight to risk on a game.
He thought about the piles of unpaid bills at home, as well as all the medical bills that he had to clear.
Sensing his reluctance, Mila leaned closer. "They've got free-to-play tables. No risk, just practice."
Kenji grinned. "And if you like it, we could pool some cash for small-stakes games. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the next poker prodigy."
"Prodigy?" Lance said, raising an eyebrow. He liked the idea.
"You've got the brain for it," Amara pointed out. "And if you combine that with some psychology…" She glanced at Mila. "You could go far. Think about it. Instead of spending so many hours working on those side jobs, you could earn money right at home. Aren't you always thinking about your mother? This way, you get to spend more time with her… And someone else."
Lance and Kenji didn't notice the scowl that Mila gave Amara.
The seed was planted.
That night, Lance sat at his desk, playing with the deck of old UNO cards in his hand, shuffling them with one hand. Many things raced through his mind, but after a while, without even looking at it, he flicked a card from one hand to another.
"+4 Wild," he murmured before glancing at the card he caught and smiled.