Jian stood in front of his house, unmoving. There were two shoes at the gate: one new Nike white sneakers of his dear brother and one tattered old shoes of his grandma.
"So the devil is home... should I go in now? I asked Grandpa to join me in the afternoon. If I go in, she will start to beat me instantly."
He was not sure if he could handle all that beating for a long time. Decisively, he turned back and walked over to a nearby park and settled on the swing. His plan was very simple: anger his grandma so much that she would beat him bloody and have his grandpa witness it. Because the old lady was cautious. If the old man was around, she would not lay a hand on him. He had to be very time-conscious as well.
"Look what we have here..." a slightly contagious voice said to his right.
Jian glanced back to meet the malicious face of Nansich. 'Oh, fuck... I didn't anticipate this move...' If he got caught in his clutches, he was not sure what Nansich would do to him. He hurriedly jumped off the swing and ran.
"Stop, you bastard!" Nansich ran after him. Jian chuckled loudly. This game of cat and mouse was kind of fun.
"Don't stop!" Nansich sounded panicked and grabbed a hold of his shirt, pulling him to a stop.
"Honkkkkk! Honkkkk!" a loud honk pulled him out of his panicked state. Just a few inches from them, a car had come to a hurried stop. Jian paled. He had unknowingly run into the road. If the car hadn't stopped in time, he would have been roadkill.
"Fucker, why do you always run into the road? Didn't anyone teach you to look left and right?" Nansich shouted, grabbing him by his collar.
Jian gritted his teeth. "Then you should stop chasing after me." He pushed him away forcefully, but that guy's grip on his wrist was strong. Gritting his teeth, he was ready to throw down with him when, all of a sudden, a looming figure stood behind him, casting a shadow over Nanashock's face.
Visibly, he saw Nanashock's face pale. "What are you doing?" a soft somber voice whispered.
"I... we are friends..."
'What?" Frowning, Jian glanced up. The sun was right above that person's head, acting as a shadow on his face. He was not able to make out his expression, but he could guess how it was by his pale white hair that framed his face. 'It's that guy from the construction site.'
The taller foreigner reached out and gripped Nansich's hand in what seemed like a steel grip. "Ahh! What are you doing? Let go!" He hurriedly let go of Jian's hand in surprise.
Jian quickly backed away. "I remember, I saw you last time as well, chasing after them at night with your 'friends'? Is this what youngsters do nowadays, hmm? Chase each other to the road..." he taunted Nansich's arm to his back.
"Aghh!! Fucker, what is your problem! Let go!!"
The white-haired man slammed the bully to the car hood with a grin. "My problem is... I keep seeing you bullying people. Don't you want to know what it feels like to be bullied? Shall I show you?"
Jian watched this with his mouth agape. 'Whoa... turns out it was his car that night too. I almost got hit by him twice... yikes, I can understand his anger...'
Nansich glared up at him. "We are friends. We were playing around, that's all!"
"Is that so?" The white-haired man's eyes finally fell on him. His piercing pale green eyes peered at him unblinking. For a second, Jian forgot how to breathe. His heart pounded loudly in his ears.
"Is what he said true?" the man repeated again, this time in a softer tone.
Jian just blinked at him.
"Fuck, Jian, tell him the truth! I was only trying to apologize to you! You are the one who kept running into the road!" Nansich screamed.
This really pulled him out of his dazed state. Jian blinked hurriedly and massaged his brows. "I... I'm just familiar with him," he whispered.
"Hmm, is that so?" The white-haired man let go of Nansich with a cold glare. Nansich didn't wait even a second. He took off and disappeared around the corner, leaving Jian and the stranger alone.
Jian took a deep breath. "Thank you... and sorry for the inconvenience."
To be honest, he was so used to living in a dystopian world where no traffic existed. Plus, his small rural town did not have many cars to begin with. So he ran into the road, causing this mishap.
"Hmm..." The man walked up to him and suddenly reached out to his wrist.
Stunned, Jian backed away, hiding his hand behind his back. "I... I should get going now."
"Wait." The man grabbed the corner of his sleeve tightly. "I'll drop you."
"No need," he smiled regretfully. "My house is close by."
"What if he comes back?"
Jian paused. If Nansich did come back to attack him, his whole plan for the day would be ruined. The man opened the door for him. "Please."
Hesitating a bit, Jian got in the passenger seat. It was a branded car that he could not recognize. But he knew it cost a fortune from the way the interior was designed.
"Where's your house?"
"Oh, you can drop me off at the train station."
"Why?" The man raised a well-shaped brow.
Jian bit his lips. "I don't want to go back to my house right now," he whispered his thoughts out loud.