"Zain! Zain! Where are you?" A small desperate voice echoed through the palace's walls and the large garden. The boy with neatly done red hair, kept crying as he rubbed off the tears from his deep forest green eyes.
"Zain! Please, don't go! Don't leave me alone! Please....." he plead over and over again.
"Edous, baby. Please don't go out at night." His mother requested as he walked to her shivering son.
He quickly hugged her as she knelt down to him. "Mommy. Where is Zain? Please ask him not to go...." he begged as he continued crying in her arms.
"Baby, please stop crying." she hugged him tight but was not able to reassure him at all.
Hiding behind the bush, a boy with grey hair held his own voice as he cried hearing his name being called so desperately over and over again.
"Zain!" "Zain!" "Zain!"
"Zain!" "Zain! Wake up!!" The door was banged louder each time and Zain gasped out of his dreams.
Realizing the reality, he got out of the bed quickly and opened the door in surprise. "Larri?"
The guy with black hair and blue eyes looked down at him and sighed. Zain was definitely not a morning person; he realized the past 4 months of knowing him.
"You need to wake up early, Zain. You know we have to open the store, right."
Sleepy Zain only nodded while scratching his untidy ash haired head and rubbing his brown eyes.
Zain yawned as he finished thanking another costumer. Even though the grocery store was very small and congested, it did sell well due to the fact that it was in a red flagged area where no one with the right mind ever wanted to be. Well build-up machos with tattoos and scars, smoking, drinking, fighting on the streets, was a common sight there. It was like all the people with the worst background lived there. It wasn't a place for a normal human being but was perfect for Zain who was running away from all those clean areas where he could easily be found. He made sure to mingle himself with the people here as soon as possible so that he could have a peaceful stay here. He didn't need a well-built body or tattoos. All he needed to do was to be able to offer something to them. That was exactly what he was doing right now by working on a grocery store at such an unlikely area because everyone here had to live and for that they had to eat.
Zain stretched both his arms and relaxed his muscles. His sleep wasn't finished apparently with all those dreams that kept coming to him.
"Zain seems tired." Zain looked to his side at the old man sitting on the counter, smoking a cigar, counting down his money, "Did you get enough sleep?" he asked.
"Yes. I did?" Zain lied with a smile. He had never really had enough sleep in his entire life.
"Even though it's only been a month since you came here, you still got used to the atmosphere really well." the old man nodded to himself.
Zain laughed nervously.
"Zain must've probably seen worst in the palace." Larri came in from the door behind the stall carrying a bag of what seemed like tomatoes.
"Ohh.. I've heard they have some really terrifying training sessions for the soldiers. Have you ever seen them? " The old man finally looked up after putting the cash in the drawer under the table. Zain shook his head trying to forget the insightful scenes himself.
"Zain , why did you leave that place anyway? I bet they were paying you way more than this small store and that too in a place like this." The old man looked directly into his trembling red eyes.
Zain's literally ran in relief as a customer called for them. He was way more hesitant to tell them than being found out own its own.
He felt Larri swiftly walking to his side as he handed out the carry bag to the customer. He was too used to it to even flinch when his name was called.
"Hey, Zain. Are you alright?"
Zain looked up at him and smiled sweetly, "Yes.", he answered.
A deep sigh left Larri as he asked for the 10th time, "Zain. I know it's hard. Why are you doing this? Why did you come to a place like this? Why- ". There was a sudden pause at it made Zain fell nervous. "Or. Did you do something? Are you hiding from someone?" 'Why was this man always quick to catch up things?', he wondered.
He felt his sweaty palms shiver. "No. It's not like that-"
"Who is it? Who are you running away from?" Larri asked pushing Zain further to the edge.
Zain couldn't think anymore. Though he had quite a fierce attitude and confidence he still was hesitant at lying to people; that's why he kept running instead. Running from his past, his present and also the one who is meant to be his future.
"Zain?"
Zain took a deep sigh as he turned away from Larri. "I...-"
"Zain. Was it?" A lean man around his 40s walked up to the front of the shop.
"Yes. What would you like?" Zain was quick to answer as he felt a troubled expression on the man's face. He quickly started pointing out the vegetables and fruits as a normal shopkeeper would but the man still looked confused as he kept exchanging glances from the vegetables to Zain back and forth.
Larri walked back inside as he heard the shop owner call for him.
"I think I will get some of those." The man finally spoke pointing at the cucumbers on the corner, distracting Zain from his thoughts. He nodded and bent down to pick them up for him. He felt an intense stare as he looked for fresh cucumbers but decided to shove it off since he experienced them a lot throughout his stay in this place.
"No. Wait." Zain looked up, confused at the man.
"I think I'll take potatoes instead." He tilted his head as the man still seemed confused somehow. After that the man started choosing other vegetables and then kept changing it to other. Even after an hour he only choose four vegetables; potatoes, tomato, cucumber and garlics. He still kept looking but at the same time won't help himself and asked Zain to pick up all that he chooses and keep back all that he rejected. 'Is this man really that indecisive?', he thought though couldn't ask.
A strike of light passed Zain's vision as he felt his heart beating faster, his breath unsteadied and palms started sweating. 'Where?' he though as he turned his head around to all direction. He looked down at the red string attached to his little finger as it vibrated in the mid-air. 'Why?'
He was too distracted to notice the man closing up. A shiver went down his spine as he felt a hand on his lower back. Startled, he jumped away from the man and narrowed his eyes. To his horror an unexpected sinister smile came across the man's face.
"I must admit that you have a very beautiful body." The man said as if looking through his clothes. Subconsciously he covered his body with his arms as he felt his face heating up. 'What's the hell wrong with this person?'
"I've been looking at you for more than an hour now and I'm sure now that you are the body that I'd wanna keep." The giggles that followed made Zain tremble.
"Get away you pervert!" he shouted stepping backwards himself.
The sudden pause in the action of the man made Zain regret his words for a moment.
"Pervert?....", the man finally looked up at him with his twitching eyeball, "Yes you can call me that." With that he suddenly grabbed Zain's arms and stated pulling him towards him.
Resisting, Zain kept shouting to let go but that man was stronger than he expected moreover, "Do you know who I am?"
"I don't care! Just let me go you freak!"
"If I want, I can kill your whole family, you know." He declared proudly to which Zain could only click his tongue.
"What's going on?" Zain felt really relieved when Larri rushed out hearing all the shouts. He looked at him with hope in his eyes but was in shock when he saw how Larri froze still on the doorframe, at the sight of the man.
"Larri! Help me!" he called but felt Larri hesitate. 'Why?'. He looked back at the man who still kept hold onto his arms. He pulled himself back only to trip over a box and fell on a basket of potatoes.
The man laughed louder than before. By now the whole neighbors started gathering around the shop but no-one dared to help him at all.
'Is he that powerful?' he wondered through his struggle to get back up. Before he was back on both his legs his hands were pulled gain forcefully and was dragged along, "You are coming with me." He declared.
"No. He's not."
Zain's heart started beating faster as he heard those deep mesmerizing voice and felt those warm hands on his wrist that he longed to forget even though he knew that was impossible. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion as he saw the confusion on the man's face, shock on the crowd's face and finally lifting up his head, the face of the man with deep forest green eyes staring right back at him, red hair so bright in the sunlight that it almost seemed like it was on fire, with broad shoulder and fine muscles standing bold even in front of the crowd full of macho men . He was so close to his heart, mind but never the body. And he had to keep it that way. He pulled himself back to reality and pulled away his eyes.
"What do you mean?" the man shouted in annoyed as he looked up but was caught in his words as he saw the dreadful stare of the man looking so mightier than him.
"Isn't that Edous?" the crowd started gossiping, "What? No way!" "Why is he here?" "What really?" "Is that the fierce prince."
"You are the filthy Mayor of this town I suppose." Edous spoke gaining everyone's attention all over again.
The man left Zain's hand as he shivered standing beside Edous. 'Mayor? No wonder everyone else was afraid of him.' Zain thought pulling his hand back to himself only to remember another grip was still held tight. He looked up at Edous who still stayed calm with his command.
"Hearing you using your position in such a filthy way, my dad would surely be disappointed. So, let me make his work easier." A smile made its way to his serious face.
Still holding Zain by his side, he clenched his fist and with a swift yet powerful swing he landed a punch right on the mayor's face sending him flying across the street.
"You are resigned from your position this very moment!" He declared to everyone's amusement.
"You can't pass order just like that. Not until your father approves." Zain reminded in a small voice trying not to focus on the excited feelings he just felt.
"Yes. I can." A smile so proud came across his face looking down at him, made him look like a king itself, "Colen."
'Colen? Why is he here?' Zain recognized the name right away and searched in the crowd before he finally showed up to the Prince's side.
His light brown eyes as calm as ever under his bangs of neatly done black hair, wearing a blue snow carves white dress like any other Ministers of the court.
"Make sure you pass the order to the court by this evening itself. No approval needed from Father because I made this decision. Understood."
"Yes. Young lord.", was the only thing he said and ever did.
"Let me go! Why did you come here?" Zain asked as he was pulled along by the Prince leaving everyone behind.
"If I had known you would end up in such a filthy place then I wouldn't have ever let you go out a step from the Palace." Edous said walking further to the main street.
Zain looked up at Colen who followed them without a sing word, "Why did you come here, Colen?"
"Young Lord wanted to searc-"
"I was on a petrol in this area and saw you. That's it." Edous cut off knowing Colen was more honest than he should have been to others, especially Zain.
"Don't lie!", Zain shouted and Edous knew he was never gonna get away with his lies, especially from Zain, "You are still not allowed to do petrols own your own."
"Then why were you here?" Edous reversed the question insteaed, "Was this why you suddenly asked to leave the Palace without telling me? To work in a filthy place like this?"
"I needed to survive out here, you know. For that I needed to earn."
"You were surviving good enough in the Palace too."
'No. I wasn't. Not with you around.'
"I wanted to explore. I couldn't stand being a free-lancer in someone else's home forever. I wanted to be independent."
"Then why work in a place like that. Were all the criminals settle."
'Because it would have been harder for you to find me there.' "It's because..... because..." Edous waited patiently looking down at him, "because.... I just liked it. That's it!" and Zain couldn't handle being in Edous sight for so long. He tried pulling his hands from Edous grip but instead it tightened further as Edous pulled him closer to him.
"Then come work at the palace itself. I swear I will make it filthy enough for your liking." He said with his deep voice almost like a command.
Zain couldn't say a word under his intimate presence and only nodded his head to make this suffering end fast but only to regret it later.
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