I think you killed him," a girl said, her back pressed against the wall.
"Shut up," the boy snapped.
He bent to his knees, his hand moving forward.
Thwap!
"Hey!" the girl shouted.
"Hey!"get up."
"you better stop playing dead or I'll finish you for real."
His eyes fluttered open slowly, his vision blurry. Pain flared through his body.
He groaned, tried to move. A foot slammed into his side. He began coughing violently as his lungs filled with air. His chest ached like it was being hammered.
Familiar voices and figures hovered above him.
So, this is hell.
And the first shit I see are these damn bastards, he thought to himself.
Hell yeah, you're in hell, a voice said.
Laughter followed behind it mockingly.
Then someone yanked him by his collar and pulled him up. His legs barely standing.
"Listen, you bastard," the voice sneered, "If I don't see you here tomorrow by this time after the exams, then consider yourself gone."
Then he dropped him hard to the ground.
A familiar metallic taste lingered on his tongue.
"Let him go!" a voice yelled from a distance.
"Let him go, that's enough!" she said, her eyes fierce as she approached them.
He opened his eyes slowly, catching sight of the person in front of him.
What is Mu Lin doing in hell with me?
"No need to overreact, babe. We were just about leaving."li chan said a mocking smile playing on his lip
"You are lucky I'm not in the mood to fight today, I would've crushed that ugly face of yours," she yelled as they turned and left.
Immediately, she dropped to her knees beside him, her hands hovering over him like she didn't know where it was safe to touch.
"tia...tia wake up," she muttered.
"Let's get you to the clinic, okay?"
Without waiting for a response, she pulled him up and placed his arm over her shoulder to support his weight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the infirmary....
"What are you doing here? It's class period," a nurse asked, her back faced to them.
"Aunty, I think he's badly hurt," Mu Lin said, bringing him in.
The nurse turned to look at them. "Oh, it's him again. Take him over there." She pointed to a bed in the corner. "Go back to class. You can come check up on him," she added.
Mu Lin was about to protest before she heard the bell for another class.
"Yes, Aunty. Please take care of him," she said, leaving immediately.
Then the nurse started cleaning and dressing his wounds.
"Don't you think it's time for you to stop letting them have their way with you? Look at you. Your condition is bad. Didn't you come to the infirmary yesterday with bruises on your body? If it happens again, I have no choice but to report this to the authorities."
"Yesterday?" he thought, but I…
Before he could process things further, he hissed from a sharp stinging sensation.
Soon after, the nurse finished and told him to rest for a while before going back to class. But he ignored her and slipped away when she wasn't watching.
He walked out of school, dragging his messed-up body alone. Each step hurt more than the last.
"What the hell is happening? Everything seems like before…"
He walked out of the school gates alone, dragging his battered body behind him.
Every step hurt more than the last.
What the hell is happening?
The noise of the street felt too louder.
His vision blurred for a second, then snapped back into place.
He stopped walking.
His hands were shaking.
"Get it together," he muttered. None of this is real.
Then his legs moved again, passing through the street and neighborhood, coming to a stop in front of a decent-looking duplex. A stronger sense of familiarity hit him.
He recognized it as where he and his mother used to live during his high school years.
His hands moved forward without warning, pushing the small black iron gate open.
He stepped inside, warm memories flooding in.
He walked into the house gently. Nothing had changed.
The furniture. The TV. The quiet warmth he remembered.
Everything was the same.
"But… we moved out years ago," he muttered.
His feet carried him down the hallway.
He stopped in front of a door and turned the handle.
Trash filled the room. Piled clothes. Old papers. Books.
It was his room.
He swallowed and stepped inside, his heart racing harder with each step.
The long mirror stood far in the corner, where it had always been.
His hands trembled as he approached it.
Stopping right in front, his body turned sideways—then slowly, he faced it.
His eyes widened at the figure staring back at him.
"This… can't be real," he thought lips parted slightly eyes widened.
His knees gave out.
"But I was—"