Kon

A young boy sat on the bench, his face to the sky. His right leg was placed on the bench he was sitting on, while the left was on the floor.

From the uniform he was putting on, you could already tell that he was a student.

His white shirt, neatly tucked into his black trousers, made him look well-kept and neat.

He sported a buzz cut, with enough hair in the centre of his head to cover one part of his face.

The green, mesmerising eyes of the boy made him look so out of this world as he gazed up at the sun. He was like a model posing for either a photographer or an artist.

The pose and all that made him look so breathtaking and innocent. He looked, to any passerby, like someone who had no cares in the world. But that was far from the truth. Kon was lost in thought.

Currently, he was calculating how to get the required amount before the end of that day, and he had not yet been successful in that.

The three jobs he shuffled through weren't enough to pay the debts. And he needed to add more.

But the problem was his schoolwork.

There was no way a person like him could get through school without studying. And he didn't want to be a dropout.

One thing Kon cherished was his education. He didn't joke with it.

"Hi!" Lin, his friend since childhood, smiled when he saw Kon sitting on the bench, waiting for him.

Lin was a slender kid with brown, messy hair that didn't seem to obey his orders. And that caused him to always have his hand on his face, removing the stray hair that threatened to block his sight. Dressed in the same uniform as Kon, Lin seemed different.

Not only because of how worn his shirt was, but how indecent he was.

He was the opposite of Kon, who was every mother's wish for a son.

Lin, on the other hand, was the one parents warned their children of. No one wanted to associate with him.

"You took your time, didn't you?" Kon stood from the bench and slung his backpack on his shoulders.

"Mrs Clay asked me to get some things for her. I would have been back earlier had it not been for her."

Lin grinned in a way he thought was cute. But in truth, it was damn creepy. Anyone could see that. However, Kon was too much of a darling to tell him about that.

"And here come your everyday excuses. Will there be a day when you won't have excuse after excuse?" Kon darkly frowned at him.

Lin might have been his only friend for years now, but there were days when he got this urge to bash Lin's head into the sink.

"I'm sorry, okay? I know I shouldn't have an excuse, but trust me when I say it wasn't my fault." Lin said in a not-so-apologetic way.

"It's not always your fault." Kon gave him a once-over, for the first time since he arrived.

"What's with your clothes? Don't tell me you had a run-in with the Tigers?" Kon raised a brow at him.

"No." Lin nervously scratched his hair as he thought about his earliest clash with the Tigers.

The Tigers were the notorious blood gang of the school. Those boys were the most merciless bullies the school had ever had. And with the backing of the Leopard mafia gang in the city, no one ever dared to question their actions.

"Don't lie to me, Lin." Kon narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Tell me, what did they do this time?"

"Nothing much." Lin shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"No big deal? And you are looking this way?

I know you are rough and all that, but never to this extent."

"It's no big deal. Chill a bit, will you?" Lin pouted.

"Only when you tell me what happened between you and the Tigers."

Kon clenched his hands into fists as he tried to restrain his anger.

He hadn't been a well-behaved boy who didn't want to clash with others. But—

"It's nothing." Lin nervously laughed. "Let's go home. It's already getting late. Don't you have work tonight?"

"I have." Kon decided not to pursue the matter.

It seemed his friend was eager to drop it. So, he did what he asked. He dropped the matter.

"Yeah, I just need to head home to get ready."

But Kon didn't feel like going home. It was the same thing every time. There was no change in it at all.

"You can come over to mine, then. Mother isn't around, so you are free to stay there for the night," Lin grinned.

"Really?" Kon's face brightened at his friend's words.

He seemed as if he were at the top of his world right now.

"Why would I lie?"

Lin, who already knew that his friend hated going home, was eager to offer him a place.

Even if it was for the night. It made a difference. At least, it would minimise the amount of time Kon would spend with his mother.

"Let's go then."

Kon smiled, having already forgotten about the Tigers. And that made Lin exhale in relief.

He didn't want his friend to be in any trouble of any sort.

Kon prided himself on his clean record, and Lin was not eager to cause a stain on the white robe.

"Did he return?"

"No. But she brought several others. Had to hit one when he drunkenly entered my room thinking he was going to get a free lay."

Kon clenched his hands into fists as he thought back to the night before.

Tired from the overtime he worked at the bar, he was ready to crash and get some sleep. But that stupid motherf*cker had to interrupt his rest.

So, he showed him a good time. With his fists, of

course.

His mother got angry with him, but he didn't let that get to him. At least the fool learned his lesson.