Juwan stood still as he watched Lovely flee the scene, making sure that she's no longer visible before turning back to face the people that had hurt her.
His eyes looked around at the scene, his presence and silence was suffocating to the other people that was there to hurt Lovely.
"Ugh, my chin... what ha--"
Before the guy that crumpled on the ground fully recover, he immediately got hit by a kick in the head, knocking him out.
Juwan's cold gaze focused on the girl at the back with the phone on her hand. He took a step forward, walking slowly towards her.
"W-what are you--?"
The guys who were there froze, they don't know what to do. They know that they should protect the girl they're with but their legs aren't moving as Juwan gets closer and closer.
The girl tried to run away but Juwan already got her by the hair as he pulls her towards him. His eyes are cold and dangerous.
"Let go of me!" The girl shouted.
Juwan smacked her in the face, surprising her as the pain follows the initial shock of being slapped. Juwan smacked her again, his cold demeanor contrasting the violence he's showing.
"H-How dare you hit me!" The girl said as she gripped his arm.
But Juwan didn't even flinched. He dragged her upwards, his grip on her hair was strong that the girl felt like her scalp is about to be ripped off.
He smashed her face downwards to the ground and pulling her by the hair up again. The girl's nose bled as she finally realized how dire her situation is.
The man holding her by the hair wouldn't hesitate to hurt her more and she doesn't know if he'll stop. Suddenly, her face got smashed on the ground again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Juwan didn't stop. His actions were filled with anger but his mind is calm. The only thing important to him right now is to inflict pain to these people.
He let go of the girl's hair, kicking her in the face as she flops on the ground. He looked at the guys who watched and froze on the spot.
"Tell me, arm or leg?" He asked them.
The guys don't know why he suddenly asked that but they know full well that they're next if they don't answer.
"A-arm." One of them said as Juwan looked at them, his eyes cold.
He walked towards the guy that's on the ground, grabbing his arm before stepping on it as it bends in an unnatural way until... crack.
The guys realized what they've done as their friend woke up from the pain as he screams in pain. Juwan looked up at the 3 guys in front of him, walking towards them.
"Ha--!" Juwan chuckled at the reactions of the 3 guys infront of him.
He wondered why they're so scared when they're here to hurt someone in the first place. He smiled, a mischievous idea came to his mind.
"What are you waiting for? Go on, land a hit." Juwan said as he stood there, tapping his jaw.
The 3 guys hesitated first, wondering if it's a trap. One of them got closer but Juwan stood still.
The one who went closer threw a punch as it goes straight to Juwan's jaw. He threw another one as Juwan stayed in the same spot.
The other guys lets out a nervous laugh as they all started hitting Juwan. But Juwan didn't fight back, just letting himself get hit by their fists, legs, knees, and elbows.
As soon as the guys started gassing out, Juwan spits the blood out of his mouth. His face bruised due to their fists, his cheek got cut from an elbow, and his jacket all messy from being pulled.
Yet he acts as if it didn't hurt one bit.
"You done?" He asked, grabbing his shoulder as he stretched his neck.
Suddenly, he rushed in instantaneously and punched one of them on the gut as the guy fall to his knees, puking on the ground
The other 2 guys raised their fists, wanting to protect themselves. Then the realization hits, they couldn't feel their knuckles anymore, as if they kept punching something hard like metal that now their hands aren't cooperating with them.
"I know that look." Juwan said with a menacing smile on his face, surprising the both of them since he was already behind them.
Juwan punched one of them as they blocked... only for his arm to give out with how heavy Juwan's fist is. Before he even could raise his guard again, he's already knocked out by another punch.
"Fuck you!" The last guy said.
The last guy threw a punch as Juwan casually dodged it, throwing an uppercut underneath the guy's arm, making the hit seem invisible as the guy fall on the ground.
He looked at the girl who just recovered, walking towards her as she panics, hyperventilating as she tries to stand up, to crawl away, anything she can do to run away.
But Juwan stomped the back of her knees as she screamed in pain. He grabbed her hair as he drags her towards the tree, smashing her face to it's trunk, wiping her face off it.
"P-please! Let me go! Please!" The girl pleaded, crying as Juwan lets her go.
"No." Juwan uttered, punching her in the face and body as she fainted.
The boy took a deep breath as he walked away, leaving the victims of his cruelty on the ground while he wipes the blood off of his hand on his clothes as he left the scene.
.
.
(Juwan's POV.)
.
[Passive skill: Heart of the Ram.] The system said as I almost started healing.
"Don't." I said to myself, thinking that the system would hear me.
[You are wounded. Are you sure you want to turn off the passive skill?]
"Yeah, don't use it for now." I said as the passive skill turned off.
I don't want what happened earlier to look like it was just a one sided fight so I let myself get beaten up. It would've been a waste of time doing that if my skill just healed it.
And another good reason to keep these injuries is to make Lovely Aerin worry about me.
I kept walking as I checked my phone.
My anger started to fade as my mind clears. I closed my eyes, sighing as I realized that I should've been more brutal with them.
But it's over now so I should focus on the plot and prepare for Act III and IV. I may not know the main storyline of the plot but I sure know damn well where to find and farm levelling materials.
"Right-- so the Ark Krystals appeared on the Bloodhunt warp--."
"Juwan?!"
Suddenly, my train of thought got cut off as I heard someone call out to me.
I looked up as I saw Sonaia, she looked like she's in a panic. She dropped her bag as she ran towards me.
"What happened to you?!" She said, her hands are fidgeting, not knowing what to do as she looks at me.
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked when her eyes widened as she looked at my face.
I looked down and saw that my shirt is bloodied, I forgot that I wiped off those guys blood on my shirt. Her eyes are filled with worry and panic as she pulls out her phone.
"A-ambulance! I have to call an ambulance!"
"No! You don't have to, I'm fine." I told her, trying to make sure that I properly hide what happened back there.
"What do you mean I don't have to?! What the fuck happened in the first place?!" She shouted at me, her fingers are shaking to even type on the hologram thingy of her phone.
I grabbed her shoulder, gently shaking her as she looked at me.
"Calm down. I'm okay, really." I said as her face contorts to anger.
"How can you be okay?! You're all bloodied up, your face is full of bruises and your cheek have a cut! That's not okay at all Juwan!" She said, grabbing me by the collar.
"Damn, I didn't really think you'd care about a creep like me." I said, making a self deprecating joke since she does call me a creep.
"Shut the fuck up, jerk! You think I won't care if I saw someone in this bad of a state?!" She said, grabbing my hand.
"Come with me!" She continued as she drags me with her, grabbing her bag before going back inside the school building.
We reached the infirmary. She made me sit down as she grabbed cotton and alcohol as she sat me down in front of her.
"Stay still." She said, her eyes about to tear up.
"Wow, you're crying?" I asked her, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.
"Well sorry for worrying, stupid jerk." She said, putting more pressure on the cotton as she press it on the cut on my cheek.
I didn't react that much as she just wiped her eyes. I can see that she started to calm down more.
"So, what happened?" She asked.
"Nothing." I replied as her forehead contorts.
"Don't you 'nothing' me, Jackass! You're this badly hurt and you're telling me that it's nothing?!" She said as she punched my chest.
"Ah-- sorry!" She said as she realized that she just punched someone that's 'badly injured'.
"It's fine, it's fine. But really, nothing happened."
She stayed silent, her eyebrow frowning as she glared at me.
"Why do you wanna know anyways?" I asked her as she slams down the cotton on the desk.
"Because I just saw my friend walking earlier with all this bruises and blood, and you're telling me it's nothing?" She replied, pointing at me as she pokes my chest with her finger.
"Oh-- you see me as your friend?" I asked smugly.
"..."
"Shut the fuck up." She said after that momentary silence.
She puts some patches on my face and a bandaid on my cut as she sighs. Her eyes naturally looked down on her hands as I admire her way of patching me up.
"...Some girl tried to attack Lovely." I told her. She looks so sad so I gave in and told her anyways--.
"Haeh?" She made a weird sound as she looked up at me.
"She called some guys with her and I saw one of them grabbing Lovely by the hair, she was screaming." I continued as her eyes turned serious.
"I couldn't stay still after seeing that and helped her. She got away safely." I told her as her eyes widen in shock.
"And you stayed there to... fight?" She asked, leaning in closer to me as the worry in her eyes became more prominent.
"I won." I said, raising my hand to show a peace sign.
She closed her eyes, lets out a sigh and then pinched my ear as she pulls it.
"You reckless dumbass!" She said as if scolding me.
"How many of them did you fought, huh?!" She asked, still pinching my ears.
"F-four dudes! Ow ow ow!" I said as she basically shaked my head from my ear.
"You fought four people by yourself?! Why didn't you asked for help?!"
"I-it's fine! Besides, no one will care if I get hurt!" I said jokingly.
That's a lie. I literally made sure not to heal my wounds so that I could make Lovely care about me more.
"I do."
Hmm?
"What's with the confused look?" She asked me.
"N-no, it's just-- what did you say again?"
She sighed.
"I said I do. I care about you. Even though you're an asshat, you're still a friend of mine." She said as she let go of my ear.
"Even Vely will worry once she saw you in this state." She continued, pulling out a water bottle from her bag
"That's--"
She looked at me, her eyes unwavering as if she's challenging me to deny her own claims.
"Haa... thanks." I told her as she smiles.
"You're welcome." She said as she flicks my forehead.
"Now tell me your parents numbers so I can inform them what happened, you can't just go home like that after all." She said as she pulled out her phone, the hologram popping out of it as she swipes around.
"Ah but--!"
"No buts! It'd be fine to tell your parents, trust me." She cuts me off, her eyes focused on her phone as she's serious about calling my parents for me.
I stayed silent for a bit. God this is gonna be awkward.
"...I have no parents." I told her as she looked up at me.
"I--I see, I'm sorry. Then any guardians?" She asked as she scratched her cheek.
"Nope, none." I replied to her as her expression turned into worry.
"What?! How about any uncles, aunts, atleast any grandparents--??" She asked, her eyes becoming more worried.
"They didn't want to take me in. No one did." I said as I chuckled.
Sonaia stopped talking for a bit as her eyes looked so distraught.
"Then is there anyone that lives with you--?"
"I live alone." I told her as she covered her mouth.
Her face looked so worried as she looked at me. It's obvious that she's lost in her thoughts as the holographic thing on her phone dies down with how long she was thinking.
"It's fine." I told her, snapping her out of her train of thought as she saw me stand up.
"W-wait!" Suddenly, she stood up, grabbing me by my jacket.
"Is-- is the reason why you feel so..." She asked, her hand gripping my arm tightly but the words doesn't leave her mouth.
"Nevermind... sorry." She said as she lets go of me.
I feel like she's misunderstanding something... but at the same time it's kinda funny to not clear up anything since I don't know what she's thinking.
"It's okay." I told her.
"Also, thanks for worrying about me." She looked at me as she realized that I have a smug look on my face.
"I-- fucking hate you, I swear to God." She said, chuckling as she stopped thinking about whatever that's worrying her.
I left the infirmary, going straight home.
.
.
(Sonaia's POV.)
.
"I'm unlovable."
Juwan's words kept repeating on my head ever since yesterday. The way that creep's face looked when he told me that, it keeps bothering me.
I get that people sometimes say self deprecating stuffs as jokes for their friends but... his was different. God I hate that it stuck in my head.
And now he got into a fight. His shirt was so bloodied, his face got so many bruises and the worst part is that he's acting as if it doesn't bother him.
"Seriously, I don't know if he's trying to act cool or what." I told myself as I sit down on a cafe.
But what if he's not acting cool at all? What if it doesn't bother him because he thinks that...
"No one will care if I get hurt!" His words popped up on my head.
I took a sip on my drink, my heart slightly aching as my mind connects the dots. Someone who lives alone, shunned out by the relatives that's supposed to be helping him out.
He said those words then he laughed as if that's an accepted fact, that no one will worry about his well-being.
"Gahhh! Why am I so agitated by this?!" I asked myself as I grabbed my head.
He's just a creep! Someone who's trying to get Vely's attention! Someone who's--!
"I'm unlovable."
...Someone who didn't receive enough love in his life.
The memories of these past few days popped up in my head. His actions towards his friends, towards others, towards me, towards Vely, and towards life.
I hate that everything's clicking, like puzzle pieces falling in perfectly.
I can't take him off my mind.
"Haa..." I took a sip on my drink again, resting my head on the cushion of the cafe's seat.
He fought four guys all by himself, not caring how much he gets hurt just to protect the girl he likes.
...
"I'm feeling a little jealous." I uttered to myself as I realized what I just said.
Why the fuck would I--?! GAAHHHHH! I HATE HIM SERIOUSLY!
But still, it doesn't change the fact that he got hurt that badly for Vely. He did all that, knowing that she likes someone else.
I took another sip off my drink, not realizing that it's already empty. Seriously, why am I so stressed by this.
His expression from that time at the arcade appeared on my mind again.
"I'm unlovable."
Those word echoed on my head.
"If..."
If...Just what if.
While Vely hasn't realized his feelings towards her....
What if I..
What if I show him how it feels to be loved?