"Ladies and gentlemen, our last item."
The sudden suspense and anticipation for the last 'item' killed the buzzing chatters around the underground bidding hall, making all pair of lascivious eyes turn sharply towards the front stage.
From behind the slowly parting curtain, two burly men were seen dragging what looked like chains, with a leather collar on its end circling a white neck.
"Woah, what a beauty..."
"Look at that fair skin and innocent face... seems like he's untouched."
"I wonder how tight he's down there..."
"He's going to make a perfect doll in bed!"
Amidst the weak cries and writhing voice escaping his red lips, the spectators— his potential future owners— hissed to their sides drooling in lust.
"Since this is our exclusive collection, we will open the bid at ten millions!"
[6 hours ago]
The sky grew darker as he closed the fence of the kindergarten where he worked, heavy sighs escaped his rosy lips as he stepped on the path that had begun to be covered in heavy snow.
Today he had to work late into the afternoon, and maybe he should find another job besides being a teacher.
Living in an urban area was not easy for him who came from a mediocre family, not to mention the burden that he had to shoulder even though he never enjoyed a penny of the million dollars debt charged under his name.
Lost in his own thoughts, the petite and skinny kindergarten teacher Ersya Reins didn't even realize that he had lost his way.
Once he snapped out of his reverie, he found himself standing facing a dead end alley full of piles of junk.
"Wait, where am I—ugh… What a stupid brain!" He scolded himself and was about to turn around.
However, his pair of bright blue irises accidentally caught a red pool under his feet.
Ersya gasped at the sight, and flinched in shock when he heard a sound like a falling object coming from the end of a dark alley in front of him.
The dim lighting there didn't help at all, he started to step back with a stiff motion and a frightened look.
What really happened at the end of that alley? Was it too much to think that what looked like a pool of fresh blood and the sound just now were from an injured cat or dog?
But what if it was… a person?
Ersya's face, which had been flat ever since, began to frown sharply. He cursed his own curiosity which made him follow the red trail on the ground and the direction of the loud thud came from.
He accidentally stepped on something lying not far from there, the sharp glint of the object made Ersya realize that it was a knife.
Without thinking, he picked up the knife and shuddered at the sight of the blade bathed in blood.
He swallowed his own saliva and asked in his mind, 'What just happened here?'
Not far from where he stopped, a pair of legs could be seen sticking out from behind a pile of cardboard.
Ersya couldn't help but bulge his eyes in shock again, his breath slowly turning shaky.
But the whisper in his heart was stronger than his fear.
How surprised he was when be caught the sight of a man sitting limp with his head down and his body covered in wounds.
One of his arms wrapped around his stomach while the other seemed to lay lifeless with an open palm and a smartphone with a cracked screen on his loosened grip.
"Wha… Who is th—?!"
Ersya slapped his mouth tightly by reflex, not realizing that doing so made the traces of blood on the knife he held stain the white scarf that was wrapped around his neck.
He then lowered his body and approached the dying figure before him.
"A..Are you still alive…?" He stammered. But the man in front of him didn't answer.
He brought his face closer and saw the faint blood flowing from the man's temple. For a moment his fear subsided after he saw the faint puffs of steam escaping the man's lips.
But then his fear returned, and this time bigger than before when he smelled the rancid smell of blood seeping through the fingers of the unknown man he had found.
His instincts told him that he had to help this person he accidentally found in a quiet alley.
But when he took off his white scarf and was about to use it to press the wound on the man's stomach, a question suddenly appeared in his mind and made him freeze.
'What if he is a bad person? What if he ends up like this for committing a crime?'
Ersya wanted to give up his intention to help the injured man, but his heart refused to listen.
His eyes were full of reflections of a figure in a white shirt and a gray vest.
'But what if he's just a victim?'
His compassion did not let him leave the place. And he immediately agreed, because how could he possibly abandon someone who was mortally injured like this?
Ersya then ventured to raise the man's hand and put his scarf over the wound that was still bleeding fresh blood.
He pressed it firmly while saying in a low tone, "Please endure it…!"
Feeling the pressure on his wound, a weak moan came from the man's lips, then one of his eyelids slowly opened.
"I… I don't know what happened to you, b-but please hang on!"
He could faintly hear the soft voice, the pain he was enduring made his vision blur. But then he felt something.
His golden bead glanced at a hand perched on the wound on his stomach. Somehow, he felt the stab wound was not as painful as before.
He turned his gaze slowly, tracing the arm that was pressing a white scarf that had turned red from absorbing the blood flowing from his body.
From behind his still blurry vision the man could feel sincerity emanating from the worried face in front of him.
Without realizing it, his cold hand moved on its own to cup the other hand that was pressing against his wound.
This warmth...
For some reason, his heart felt so light when his hand touched the hand that was slightly smaller than his.
He had never felt anything like this before.
But what surprised him the most was…
'Why do I feel like I know you?'
He felt so familiar with the figure in front of him. He was very sure that he had never met someone with a face as bright as a spring like him, and yet the man couldn't help but feel a sudden deja vu.
'Who are you...?'
The question hung as his vision darkened and he fell back unconscious.
Panic enveloped Ersya's heart when he caught the man passing out.
Just as he was about to take his cell phone out of his pocket for help, the sound of several cars stopping in front of the alley caught his attention.
"Young Master's last location is here! Quickly find him and— Hey!!!"
Ersya reflexively raised his hand that was holding the cellphone and blocked the light that was shot at him.
Shortly after that he heard footsteps running towards him with a cocking gun.
"Who are you?!!"
A gun complete with silencer stopped right in front of Ersya's face at the same time the question came.
"I don't know anything, I just found him here!" Ersya tried to make his voice firm despite the rippling fears that spread on his eyes.
"Daniel, what's the situation over there?" A voice came from the earpiece, rendering the man with a sharp fang slipping out of his lips to still point his gun at Ersya's face.
"I've found the Young Master, but we've got a witness here," he reported as he scanned the surroundings until they stopped at a knife beside where Ersya was kneeling.
"Captain, what's your order?" Daniel made a gesture for his men to immediately move their boss from there.
For some reason, he felt nervous and not as brave when he faced the man in front of him.
Meanwhile, Ersya could only stare worriedly at the wounded figure who was brought out of the scene.
Now, only he and the hitman are left.
Ersya felt his breathing quickened as he sank into fear. His knees were starting to feel cold after sitting on the snow floor for a long time.
But when he saw the wounded man was about to disappear from his sight, his blood stained hands reached out by itself without him realizing it.
"Wait… Alb—!"
Wait. What did he want to say just now?
No, that's not it. More precisely…
Whose name did he want to shout out?
"Argh!"
Ersya suddenly felt a sharp sting in his head. He held the right side of his temple as a flash of unknown memory forced its way into his mind.
'I will definitely find you…'
'Wherever you are, I will always find my way to you. So promise me…'
Unknown memories showing a faceless figure kissing his hand and embracing his body flashed like lightning inside his head.
Ersya's lips were still hanging agape, his vision suddenly blurred as he stared at his blood stained hands.
Ignoring the gun that was pointed at him, Ersya stood with trembling legs. His thoughts were completely with the man whom they had laid at the back seat of a black sedan.
The sting in his head hurt even more when Ersya tried to fight the instinct that demanded him to stay with the wounded man he didn't even know.
However, an order came to the person who blocked his path from going after the man he shed his tears for.
"Finish him!"