"Gracia, Gracia! Are you listening?"
Gracia felt an ear tugging and his wandering mind immediately returned.
He heard Louis's nagging voice just sighed, "Never mind, I'll probably can't change your mind straight away"
"I'll accompany you everywhere from now on", Louis resolutely decided by himself.
"Ugh, please don't"
Louis ignored Gracia's whining tone and said, "We have all the time we need anyway. I'll straighten your mindset one way or another"
[…...Lou..i...s...]
"Another thing is you don't need to cover for me ya' know?", Louis tidies up Gracia's messy hair, "I'm also a man, I can take a beating or two"
"...One or two made no difference to me", Gracia muttered.
Gracia spoke in a gloomy voice "And if someone spotted a bruise on you, who knows what kinds of rumors will fly around at school? One is already enough"
"Gra-"
"Thanks for treating my wounds, I'll be off or else I will be late for school and they will cook up another gossip of me"
Gracia left the room not wanting to hear any more of pity or consolation words. They were useless to him anyway.
Louis let down his raised hand and just quietly looked at the back of Gracia, which felt like he was running away from him.
Though, his back was straight and unwavering.... nevertheless, it felt like he was shouldering all the sins of the world onto him.
Only a repressed sigh can be heard in this suddenly vacant room.
Gracia got back to his room, quickly did his toiletries, and shoved his crumbled textbooks in his bag messily.
He passed away Louis's room, and living room, his father long gone. He's probably already off to work.
He casually shoved the beer cans near the doorsteps with his shoes and went outside.
Outside of the door was a buzzing scene, pedestrians talking on their phones, cars honking, roaring engines of motorbikes, people swearing derogatory words to each other. They each had their own lives.
No one paid any attention to a dirty insignificant boy with golden locks.
It was obvious that the world was filled with liveliness and vivacity...and yet-
Warm sunlight hit Gracia's face.
At that moment in time, all of a sudden, he felt like he was the only one real of this world.
His whole body was obviously bathed in dazzling golden light, but he still feels cold, so so cold.
It was as if the chilliness had long settled deep inside his spine, inside his nerves, inside his bone marrow.
Gracia's hands on his school bag tightened, he raised his hoodie and hid his sunny hair. His whole being screaming gloom and rejection.
He walked towards the bus stop at a particularly neither fast pace nor slow one. The whole time, his sight was on the pavement. Not bothering to look up even when he bumped into people.
As if.... These people simply didn't exist in his mind.
After arriving and waiting a few minutes for the bus with a lot of citizens that needed to take the same bus as him in agonizing silence, the bus soon arrived.
He was clearly in the near front yet; these impatient people pushed him to the side to get on the bus first.
He soon became the last to get on the bus. He hesitated for a bit. But due to the driver's visibly impatient face and urging him to get on faster, he soon stepped forward.
He put the money in the box and walked near the bus exist. He can only stand like other unfortunate people, there's no seat for him anymore. At least, he can go down faster from the hellhole if he stands near the exit.
He grabbed the pole and put earbuds in his ears to block off the sound and closed his eyes.
The bus soon started and the passengers swayed in rhythm with the bus.
Due to the pushing and shoving, his hoodie soon become undone, and his face and blonde hair were revealed in a short time.
He wanted to cover them up again but he found himself in a dilemma. He cannot raise his available hand. There are just too many people violating his personal space.
Gracia frowned and looked at himself in a mirror window.
His face has green, purple-ish bruises and he has an undeniable bandage on his neck. It wasn't difficult to guess what was under it.
His injured lips, large black eye bags, his frigid face...no matter how you looked at it, he looked like a lawless young adult.
It should be fine.
It might have just made him stand out a little more than normal.
His eyes turned away from the window. Just as he closed his eyes, he suddenly felt a touch behind his back.
His whole body tensed and he immediately opened his eyes. He looked in the mirror window, it was an office lady with a nice figure.
She looked strict yet kind with a beautiful smile decorating her face.
Just as he was about to brush it off as a misunderstanding, his eyes and hers met in the mirror.
He saw the lady's red lips' smirk widen as he flinched in pain.
She started foundling his buttocks, and with each touch, her long nails dug deeper inside his flesh which drew out his whimpers.
She chuckled in satisfaction, and she sensually bent down near Gracia's ear.
One moment she softly teased his ear with her tongue, the next, she harshly bit down the tip of the ear.
Only when she could taste the delicious metallic flavor in her mouth did she draw back in satisfaction.
She straightened her back and harshly grabbed Gracia's face, "You want this, don't you boy?", they locked their eyes in the mirror.
Gracia glared at her and shakily said, "Fuck off!"
"What a feisty little boy, I like it~", she purred, "But you have no choice even if you don't want it anyway"
"Or would you like to ask help from these gentlemen who are watching us?", her tone laced with contempt and repulsion.
Gracia's eyes met with the crowd around him.
They were all watching him as if his suffering was just an entertainment for them. Some openly and some secretly, their eyes filled with scorn, disgust, or lust.
They were watching him as if he was the one at fault, as if he was the lucky one, as if he was...
Gracia's eyes dimmed and they were soon filled with resentment and animosity.
Why is it always him...
His fingernails clenched deep inside his palm, leaving red nail marks. If only those people didn't exist...If only he didn't exist...
Gracia's eye colors were deepening slowly and gradually; soon they changed from ruby red color to blood-red.
It doesn't matter if they, if he dies, right?
Just as they were about to turn from pitch blood red to obsidian, he heard a cell phone ringtone. It was Louis's.
Right, he cannot die. He can't die before Louis. If he were gone, a lot of people would bully Louis.
He was so innocent; how could he taint Louis just for his momentary selfishness.
The almost pitch-black color completely turned back to normal in an instant.
But the current situation hasn't improved yet.
He can't move.
He can't answer Louis' call.
He was still getting molested by a pervert.
His face changed colors as he could feel her hands tugging his pants.
Suddenly, the bus stopped at an abrupt end. His body swayed in front due to the motion. Luckily, she pulled her hand out of his pants at the last moment.
Unassuming passengers murmured in confusion because of the abrupt stop.
As for Gracia, as soon as his body stabilized, he continuously clicked on the exit button and ran off immediately once the door opened.
He ran and ran and ran, and didn't look back. Only after he reached the alleyway near his college did he stop.
He crouched down near the trash can and gasped for breath and dry heave till his stomach churned. He still hasn't eaten today's breakfast, and yesterday or another day for that matter.
He has no content left to vomit. Even so, Gracia still felt like throwing up. He covered his mouth with trembling hands and took a few deep breaths.
In....Out
In....Out
In....Out
In a dark alleyway that has been abandoned by the government, by society lived homeless people, outcasts, criminals. And yet, this student's presence strangely complements the place.
Gracia sat down on the dirty ground, his back laying on the moist and smelly wall. He took out the plastic water bottle from his school bag and tossed his bag not far away from him.
He screwed open the plastic cap and accurately tossed the plastic towards the trash can, but it bounced off due to the overfill of garbage waste.
He continuously drank till only half the water was left.
Water droplets rolled down from the corner of his lips towards his Adam apple. Soon, the bandage became wet and it gradually soaked in water and blood.
In a short time, the bandage completely soaked up the liquid, and the color changed into brilliant crimson.
Gracia poured down the remaining water left of the bottle on his hair. His whole upper body was completely soaked but due to the dark color of the clothes, it wasn't noticeable.
He then flung away the plastic waste towards the trash can with great force, and it knocked down the can, spilling smelly and dirty waste on the already filthy ground.
Some thugs got spooked by the noise and looked towards the racket only to see a tender youth fresh out of his mother's womb.
They smirked and sauntered towards the unwelcome fella, but they suddenly stopped in their track.
Their eyes widened, looking at the person in front of them- no! That thing is no longer a person! Monster! It's a monster!
All the fugitives present looked at this thing with fear and trepidation.
They seem to see the boy's eyes turned into a bottomless black hole, sucking away any reflection and light in front of him.
No! It wasn't just that! His whole eyes sockets were covered by black threads! They're still wiggling and squirming!
The youth's whole aura was surrounded by bloodlust and hatred.
.
.
But the person directly involved doesn't seem to notice. Instead, his mind was lost in the past.