"What are you doing?" asks the middle-aged man. His tone is ice cold whilst his eyes can pierce through a stone. His cheeks are bright red and he reeks of alcohol.
The woman just silently packed her clothes into the bag. Her eyes are already swollen from crying. Bruises can also be seen on her face and other parts of her body.
As she ignored him, the man grabbed her arm harshly. "I ask you what are you doing?" He shouted, glaring at her.
Tears began to flow again from the woman's tired eyes. "I'm leaving. I can't live with you anymore. If I stay here any longer, I will die from your assaults. This is not the life I wanted. This is not the life you promised to me."
She takes her bag and leaves the room. The drunk man scoffs. "So your solution is to leave me? What about your son? What will happen to him? Are you going to leave him here?" The woman stopped at the front door to see a little boy innocently staring at her, holding his favorite teddy bear.
The woman knelt, caress the little man's face, and kissed him on the forehead. "Son, I'll be back. I promise you, I'll be back for you."
"Where are you going, mom? When are you coming back?" asks the innocent boy.
The question surprised the woman. Where is she going? She doesn't know. When will she come back? She still doesn't know. "I don't know," she replied. "But mom promise you that mom will come again to take you. All right." She kissed the boy on the forehead one more time, longer than the first, before she left the house.
Soul stares at her mother's back. I am waiting for you to come back, Mom. So don't take too long, okay? Her silhouette begins to fade until nothing can be seen.
The moon lights up the dark alley near the convenience store. Kissing wildly in a public place, Soul clenches his fists and lunges toward the two people.
"How dare you," he said, continuing to punch the man who was a few inches taller than him. Due to his lack of strength, his punches aren't that painful. Hot liquid dripped from his red eyes and wet his cheeks. "How dare you. Why did you do this to me? Why do you have to do this to me? Why...?" he sobbed.
The man three years older than him gets annoyed and pushes him away. Bang! Soul falls to the ground. "Annoying." The man says, frowning his brow. The girl next to him rolled his eyes and smirked at the person crying on the ground.
"Why?" Soul asks again. Squeezing out his remaining strength, he manages to stand up. "What did I do wrong for you to do this to me?" His eyes shifted to his lover. If those round black spheres could speak, they would already be begging the man to choose him.
The man sneers. "You, yourself, are the mistake here. If I don't desperately need money I won't asks you to be my lover." His words are as sharp as a knife. "Now that I'm done with you. Don't ever come to see me. I don't want to look at your disgusting face."
"Do you think my boyfriend likes you? Unfortunately, he is into real girls and not fake ones," laughed the girl who kept clinging to him.
"Come on. Let's not ruin our date merely for someone." The man he loves leaves him in the middle of a dark alley with the woman he cheated on. The two people left as if nothing had happened, leaving Soul with his broken heart.
The previous wound that is about to heal was cut by a knife again and this time it is deeper than the last one. It bleeds so much he barely can't breathe. The pain suffocates him.
Soul awoke in amazement. He turned to the right side to shut off his alarm before sitting down. He took a deep breath, then wiped the hot fluid from his eyes onto his cheeks. Dreaming of his past makes him cry every time he wakes up. "Another painful dream from the past, huh," he said with a faint smile. Though he is smiling, his eyes are still in pain.
Soul gets out of his bed and heads towards the bathroom to shower and prepare to go to university. He rents a small studio near the campus and works part-time in the school library and a nearby coffee shop to support his studies.
After his mom left them, his father found a new wife. However, his newfound family does not accept him. His stepmother hated him and his stepsister was always got jealous of him even though she had everything and he had nothing. So, his father decided to let him live in his grandmother's house, the old woman lived alone so it'll be better if she have someone to accompany her. His grandmother welcomes him wholeheartedly and with open arms. With her, he feels loved and at home.
After he graduated from high school, he decided to work instead of going to college, but his grandmother insisted him to continue his study. The old woman doesn't have much money to send him to school, yet she still finds a way for Soul to attend high school as his father rarely visits him, or we can say he got abandoned by his alcoholic father too. Though her body aches from working she still sells fish and meat at the market. Soul helps him as soon as he gets home from school and every weekend. For him, it's the only way to thank his grandmother, and graduating from college will be his gift to her.
"Ai Soul!" shouts the young man, running towards him while waving his hand.
Soul smiled at his friend who rushed towards him. Panting, he wraps his arm around his friend's shoulder and grasps some air. "Do you really need to run?" asks the smaller of the two.
When his friend, Zone, calmed down, he looks at him into his eyes. Worried and concerned is what it speaks. "Why? Is there something wrong?" Soul asks, his smile still on his face.
Zone is reluctant to speak. Should I tell him or not? But if I don't, the two will meet eventually, and his ugly sister will start causing him trouble, and my very sweet friend won't be able to fight back. He must be prepared for an upcoming storm. "When I arrived here earlier, I saw your stepsister."
Curved lips gradually disappear and begin to straighten. Seeing his reaction, Zone blamed himself for being talkative. "I knew you would react that way. I shouldn't have told you. I'm sorry."
Soul shakes his head. "It's okay. Whether you told me or not, we still see each other. I mean, we study at the same university."
Zone pouts whilst nodding. "Right. That's what I thought too." Soul giggles at his answer. He thinks he is cute. "Besides if she's going to bully you, I'll protect you. So you don't need to be afraid, I'm here. Spoiled brats like him won't work on me." He said proudly and honestly.
"Then, I'm counting on you, Phi Zone." Soul said mockingly. The two laugh at each other's words.
"Enough, okay. We haven't registered our name in our faculty." Says Soul.
"Yeah yeah." The two walk inside the campus ground. "I hope your monkey stepsister is not one of our classmates, otherwise there will always be a war in our classroom."
"Don't tell me you're going to start a war?" Asks Soul, knowing his friend isn't that kind of person. "It depends on her attitude." Answers Zone.