'An Hour Later!'
Kai asked, tilting his head slightly in Aylin's direction, "Ready? You remember everything, right?"
Aylin nervously dusted her oversized robe as she muttered awkwardly, "Y-yeah!"
"Great! I will be with you. Don't worry."
It was almost late afternoon. The gate of the Blossom Palace just opened to invite their precious customers and within such a little time, a long queue of elegant and wealthy men was formed in front of the palace to enter the pleasure castle of Arcelia Kingdom. Each of them was lavishly dressed.
But, instead of waiting in the queue, Kai led Aylin towards the Vip door, weaving their way through the crowds.
Aylin was in a daze to notice that. The area of the Blossom palace was the most glimmering part of the whole red light area. It was almost evening as the sun was slowly leaning towards the horizon and a reddish hue began to paint the sky skillfully. The neon lights of the streets began to turn on one by one and the cacophony of the customers and passersby was increasing with every passing second.
A piece of soft music like the previous night but louder and more soothing was lingering in the air along with that intoxicating feminine scent of flowers.
Tugging a sleeve of Kai's robe, Aylin murmured from behind in a low and nervous tone, "Where are you going? The queue is on the opposite side."
Without turning his head, Kai answered in brief, "There is another door to enter inside."
"Huh? What did you say?"
Kai's voice was so vague and their surroundings were so noisy that Aylin barely managed to hear anything. She asked in confusion, hastily taking a few steps closer in Kai's direction, reducing the distance between them.
But, her foot caught in her oversized robe and she stumbled and fell on Kai, colliding with a bulky passerby. Kai also stopped abruptly and managed to catch Aylin before she would trip on her face. The passerby also halted. He was a middle-aged, bulky guy with a bottle of liquor in his hand.
Glaring at Aylin, he threatened in his wobbly and deep voice, "How dare you push me? Do you know who I am?"
Turning to him, Aylin instantly bowed as she mumbled in an apologetic tone, "I- I am sorry, Sir. I didn't-"
"What? You are telling me that you didn't notice me? How dare you lie to me?"
The man growled at Aylin, cutting her in the middle. A foul and strong scent of alcohol was coming from him. While growling, he began to walk in their direction but all of a sudden, Kai wrapped one of his around Aylin's waist and pulled her closer to him.
Pushing Aylin behind him, Kai took a step forward and asked in his low and nonchalant voice, "Yes? He didn't notice you and has already apologised to you. Now leave, Sir. It was totally an intentional mistake."
But, the man was too drunk to understand him.
Taking a few more unstable steps towards them, he growled again in his wobbly and threatening tone, "You PUNK! How dare you order me?"
"I am apologising for the mistake, Sir. Let's end it."
"End! Let me teach you some lesson first."
He raised one of his bulky arms and threw a sudden punch, aiming at Kai's face. But, before the punch could land on his face, he dodged it and grabbed his heavy arm. Kai folded it behind the man's back nonchalantly as if he was playing with a doll.
Taking a step forward and leaning forward, Kai whispered in his calm yet mischievous voice, applying more strength on his folded arm, "Sir, you better behave well. I don't wanna use violence here, in front of so many beautiful ladies. Please, let us go."
"YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!"
But, the drunkard began to scream at the top of his voice instead of stepping back. He began to curse Kai while struggling to set himself free from his grip. His words were so loud and vulgar that Kai clicked his tongue annoyedly.
It was mayhem.
His nonchalant and calm expression was turning gloomier but suddenly he felt a soft and gentle touch on his free hand. Aylin gently pulled his hand from behind as she whispered from behind in a nervous and worried tone, "Kai, guards are coming in our direction. What will we do now? What if they kick us out of here?"
Kai also turned his head in that direction, following Aylin's gaze. Then only, he noticed that not only the guards were coming toward them, but they also attracted the attention of all the passersby as they all circled to enjoy the show.
Two approaching guards shouted in their harsh voices, addressing the crowd, "SCRAM! YOU BEGGARS! HOW DARE YOU ALL GATHER IN FRONT OF THE BLOSSOM PALACE! SCRAM RIGHT NOW!"
The cacophony of the people around them increased instantly as the crowd began to move aside. Some of them left in fear of the guards hastily while others only took a few steps backwards. But, even after noticing the guards, Kai was reluctant to let go of that drunken bulky man. He was still holding his arm, folding it painfully as his expression clouded with anger. And that man was screaming and whining in pain while cursing both Aylin and Kai.
Grabbing his hand softly, Aylin tried to calm Kai down as she whispered again helplessly, "Kai, let him go, please. Or, the guards…"
"No way, this bastard needs a lesson. How dare he blame an innocent person!"
"Kai, please!"
The drunkard rambled from the other side, interrupting their conversation, "Yes yes! Listen to that punk and hide into your mother's hole, stinky rat!"
Instantly, Kai's eyes glimmered with furious anger as he sharply pulled his hand from Aylin's grip as he clenched his fingers into a tight fist and his punch directly landed on the jaw of that drunkard. The punch was so strong that blood spurted out from his nose and mouth instantly.
It was so sudden that not only the drunkard but the whole crowd along with the guards became silent for a second. They didn't expect that a little teen boy could have that much strength in his slender hands. But, Kai didn't stop with one punch, he kept on punching his nose, face, and jawline until the guy fell to the ground.
Blood was gushing out from his broken nose. Even a few of his teeth were broken and he was in no place to speak or protest or at least, protect himself from Kai. While punching, Kai was constantly growling, "How! How dare you mention my mother! Bastard!" He repeated with contempt.
"Ugh! Ack!"
Even Aylin closed her eyes in fear as she took a step back from Kai. Kai's cheerful face totally changed as if his face was a glowing mask of rage. But, those two guards hastily ran toward him to stop the fight.
Each of them holding one of Kai's hands pulled him away from the drunk passerby. The passerby was already on the verge of fainting, closing his eyes. Blood was covering his swollen face and rolling down from the corner of his mouth too. Kai's hand was also covered with blood as he was breathing furiously, glaring at the man.
While dragging him away from the crowd, one of the guards asked in a puzzled yet strict voice, "Who are you, Kid? Why the hell are you causing trouble during the business hours?"
But, the other guard answered instead of Kai, "Why are you asking so many questions? Just throw him out of here?"
"LET. ME. GO!"
Kai growled in a furious tone, jerking his hands away from their grips.
(A/N- Kai has an anger issue and he can't control his temper. This chapter was specifically to highlight that. On the other side, Aylin is still a naive and helpless kid to act instantly.
They both are in their growing phase right now.)