It was only his second day and Juno finds himself in the same unfavorable situation—surrounded by Miguel's cruel friends in the very same alley from yesterday.
AGH—!
Juno groans as he holds the throbbing spot in his leg after one of Miguel's boys kicked him hard on the shin.
"I told you there was a 50% interest, didn't I?"
"You didn't say there was one..." Juno replies weakly—as he wobbles while trying to get up from the ground.
"I did. Check his bag for any sorts of cash. Maybe something we can sell. Take his phone if it's good." Miguel orders his friends as they pull Juno's backpack off of him without hesitation.
When Juno tries to stop them from taking his backpack, Miguel puts his foot over Juno's head—pressing his head down to kiss the dirty and rough concrete floor.
"Oh! What's this?! An antique? This phone is f*cking five years old, hahaha!"
Everyone's heads whip towards his backpack as one of them carelessly snatches an old Samsung phone from his bag's front pocket, still connected to an earphone that used to be white, but now turning yellow.
"What are you listening to here? 2012 songs?"
"You f*cker..." Juno's eyes widen—his rage becoming evident in his voice.
"Miguel, this guy really is flat-broke. We can't even find anything to sell in his bag. His wallet is empty too, all he's got is his train card!" The group laugh at Juno—mocking the poor boy quite literally under Miguel's foot.
"Sigh... Really, this guy..." Miguel squeezes the bridge of his nose as he condescendingly snickers at Juno's struggles.
Miguel kicks him in the abdomen again—sending Juno rolling until his back hits the hard concrete wall—making a dull and hard sound accompanied by him the sound of air exiting his body.
Just as Miguel was about to kick Juno again—a voice calls out to him.
"Stop!!!"
Their heads snap to the entrance of the alley and there stood Jian with a determined look on his face.
"You want money from him, right? I'll pay for his too." Jian sounds like someone who ran a marathon—probably from the school ATM to this alley right here.
The group doesn't say anything as a greedy smile form on their faces.
.
.
.
"Why'd you cover for me? I had money under my socks—I just hid it. I was going to endure taking a beating."
Right now, Juno and Jian were at a convenience store near the university—sharing a hot instant meal as they talk.
"Why? No reason in particular. Do prefer to get beaten up?"
"No. Unless you want me to pay you back with a higher price."
"Don't worry, I won't ask even for a single peso."
"I'm not planning to pay, anyways."
Then a moment of silence falls between them as Juno reaches for something in his pocket. But then—his heart stops beating for a moment when he can't feel the very thing he was looking for—his five year old phone.
"My phone..."
"Huh?"
"It's not here..." Juno's voice starts to crack slightly.
"M-Maybe it's in your main compartment—"
"Those f*ckers..."
"You think they took it...?"
.
.
.
Through Jian's connection with a friend—Juno and Jian were able to track Miguel and his group down to a bar fifteen minutes away from the school.
In the midst of Miguel and his friends leisurely drinking and chatting with some girls who came from another part of the big city—they suddenly hear a phone ringing with an old busted speaker.
One of them rambles through their things and sees Juno's phone ringing. They couldn't help but smile, knowing Juno has come to get his phone. The reason they took his phone was for an opportunity to make even more money.
"Miguel, the newbie's here to get his phone." One of them whispers to Miguel while he was talking to a girl.
"Just as planned, right?" Miguel proudly laughs as he answers the call. "Heyyy, Juno! You know what to bring. I'll message you the amount after I do my calculations."
"You f*cker... I'm right outside."
Outside?
"You're joking, right?"
He wasn't. As soon as Miguel and his entourage walks out of the bar, going to the back alley—they find Juno arguing with Jian.
"I don't need your money! Just get out of here." Juno pushes Jian away who was trying to stop him from confronting Miguel.
"You two? I didn't expect you to be the best of buddies after what happened earlier. Did he buy you like a servant? How much does he pay—" Miguel loses his arrogant sneer when Juno smacks him across the face with a half-filled 32 oz thermal flask.
"Are you crazy?!" Miguel's friends catches the unconscious Miguel before he hits the ground.
"Give me the phone."
Juno's aggressive and loud footsteps showed how angry he was, and his eyes told the bullies he had the intent of hurting them as he grips the handle of his flask tightly.
"Give it back!" Juno shouts at them—full of fiery rage as he raised his flask above his head—ready to hit them.
"Okay, okay, okay! T-Take it!"
One of them trembles as they reach for Juno's phone in his pocket before tossing it towards Juno—miserably too short to reach it him, and the phone ends up hitting the ground.
While Juno inspects the tossed phone—looking at the cracks that appeared from one corner,spreading in a radial pattern—Miguel's goons pulls their unconscious ring leader back to the bar.
"Ah, these pieces of sh*t..." Juno quickly got back up on his feet again—preparing to follow after them—but Jian pulls Juno away before he steps another foot closer to them.
"Stop it, Juno! It'll only get you into even more trouble if you enter a crowded place and beat someone with a stainless steel tumbler."
Seeing the rationality behind Jian's words—Juno pushes his hand off of his shoulders.
"What a violent guy..."
As Jian stands there, he couldn't help but watch Juno walk past him with eyes still full of resentment against the group as a painful memory flashes in his mind.
"Inflicting pain... only brings more pain, huh...?"