"This doesn't seem like 'solitary' confinement…" Jeremy looked blankly at the cafeteria which was bustling with chatter and activity. Something that was supposed to be the opposite of 'solitary'.
Here, solitary confinement actually meant confinement in a cell of single occupancy. There were no rules regarding the prohibition of human interactions, work, or anything else.
Hell, they all had to gather together compulsorily in the cafeteria 2 times a day and also do some daily tasks to help the country's labor. It was annoying, but Jeremy wasn't complaining. He felt it was at least better than getting bored alone with nothing to do.
Jeremy was currently holding a plate in his hand and moving in a queue, receiving their food from the helpers. It was some kind of a semi-liquid rice gruel which was lightly salted.
When Jeremy's turn came, the helper scowled looking at him, and dumped half a spoon of gruel on his plate.
Seeing Jeremy's glare, the helper scoffed and slapped Jeremy's shoulder with the spoon, "Move over, pig. We don't have the duty to fatten up the pigs uselessly."
Jeremy's thick skin didn't let the spoon cause any pain to him, but his white clothes received a stain. One thing about Jeremy was, he loved being clean a little too much. He always wore ironed and perfect clothes, kept his room clean, and most of all, hated stains.
So in a nutshell, he had an OCD regarding cleanliness.
Jeremy grabbed the hot spoon by the thicker end, pried it from the helper's hand, and smacked it on his head, causing the metallic spoon to bend after hitting the helper's hard skull.
'Looks like this fat isn't all useless.' Jeremy smiled in satisfaction. A little bit of blood had sprayed out of the helper's wound but not a single drop landed on Jeremy. Causing such an injury from a blunt spoon, without any momentum to build up the strike, and also holding back from hitting too hard was quite impressive. Jeremy hadn't expected the strength of his fat body to be this good.
"YOU BASTARD-" the helper's friend who was serving close to the one who got hit, raged and tried to attack Jeremy, but Jeremy already expected this and moved away with his gruel bowl.
"What is going on here?" quickly, a few guards came to solve the dispute.
"That piggy hit my brother with a spoon!!" the friend cried.
"It was self-defense, sir." Jeremy showed the gruel stains on his shirt.
"Who the f*ck hits someone on the head in self-defense?!" guard 1 brandished his baton and looked at Jeremy as if he was looking at dead meat.
"You went too far." guard 2, looking more sensible, nodded to his partner's words.
"Kill me for it." Jeremy smiled and looked at the gun holstered on the guard's waist.
"…" guard 2 sighed, knowing better than to argue with these depressive and aggressive f*cks. "Your sentence has been increased by 4 days. Don't do this again." He turned to his partner, "Take Cok to the meds."
'Tsk, 4 more days wasted.' Jeremy rolled his eyes and turned around, walking to the friend of the helper he just hit. Jeremy stared the guy into his eyes, creeping the poor dude out.
"What?" he asked to Jeremy.
"You are forgetting something."
"Don't act smart, pig. Fuck off while I am still being nice."
"Oh? What if I don't?" Jeremy smirked.
"Heh, you think you are a big shot because you caught Cok off-guard?"
"Cok… damn his parents really did him dirty…" Jeremy laughed at the other helper's name, "No wonder he was being a dick, it's in his name!"
Cok, who was being taken to the infirmary to treat his wounds, felt like crying when he heard everyone in the cafeteria laugh at the poor guy. 'Luke… You are dead!!!'
Since everyone had their name and room number on their chest, of course, they found out who Luke was. A pathetic, fat, ugly coward who was brought in under the case of suicide.
Since everyone who attempted or thought of suicide was looked down upon, the case with Jeremy was no different. They began to gossip and whisper how Jeremy was acting high and mighty, while in reality, he was a p*ssy.
"Why are you still standing in the line, pig?!" the friend barked.
"Fill the bowl to the full." Jeremy gave a stern glare to the friend, who dumped another half spoonful of gruel in Jeremy's bowl.
"Go die of overeating, fat bastard!" the friend pushed Jeremy away and went back to doing his duty.
Jeremy also found a nice seat and sat down, eating the bland gruel which was quite tasteless and flavorless. Another boy was sitting next to Jeremy with a glum look on his face, he was twirling his spoon in his gruel without eating it.
"Hey Kiosk, I am Luke. Can you tell me how you tried to commit suicide?" Jeremy smiled at the boy beside him and asked casually as if he was asking about his health.
"…" Kiosk gave a dead stare to Jeremy and then sighed, "Poison."
"You are still alive." Jeremy squinted his eyebrows.
"Nah, I am dead." Kiosk looked annoyed at Jeremy's insensitive questions.
"Great. Teach me too. I want to die."
"…Poison wouldn't work. Aria can neutralize every known poison."
Jeremy sighed, although he expected that, he was disappointed nonetheless. Was there no way to escape than to wait for his lifespan to end? Of course, he can try to decrease his lifespan by indulging in smoking, drinking, drugs, and many more unhealthy habits. But that would be slow too, and slow death was more painful.
"…What is your reason behind attempting suicide?" Kiosk asked in a low voice.
'Aww, a shy cutie!' Jeremy chuckled in his mind while maintaining his poker face outside, "Bullies, studies, money, looks, peer pressure, family, basically whole life sucks."
"I see…" Kiosk went silent, looking at Jeremy with a sad look, "I did because my parents died… I was left all alone… our relatives betrayed us too…"
"Lame." Jeremy scoffed after hearing Kiosk's reasoning.
"What?"
"I said, lame." Jeremy repeated in a cold voice, "You think your parents dying some difficulties means you should die? Bastard, life isn't that cheap! You are handsome and fit, you can make yourself a better life than you had before."
"Who are you to lecture on the value of life, f*cker?!" suddenly, a kick landed on Jeremy's shoulder and threw him off his seat. Since Jeremy was caught off-guard, he wasn't able to guard against the fast kick.
A group of youngsters had surrounded Jeremy, standing tall while Jeremy was on the ground. In the middle stood a handsome, lean man. He looked about 20 years old, and standing next to him was the helper and his friend. They sure brought some annoying friends with them.
'I hope one of you can kill me~ I am counting on you~' Jeremy wiped the gruel off his lips and dusted his clothes with a maniacal grin.