Another One?

Lugging a half- unconscious being behind him in one hand and clutching a heavy suitcase in another under the blazing sun was not a very easy thing to do. Moisture trickled down his forehead, and his clothes, slick with perspiration, clung disgustingly to his body. Coupled with the relentless sun frying his back, Lukas couldn't help but curse harshly under his breath. Yes. At that moment, Lukas was feeling unbelievably frustrated.

At some unknown point, their original mob had spotted them again and began to chase them once more. With the added pressure of the thug-like people, Lukas felt suffocated. Just as he considered tossing the boy into the group to ease his load, the boy groaned and jolted awake. Taking note of his bearings, the boy quickly realised the situation. Seeing the mob behind them, he tugged on Lukas's shirt to get his attention.

"I know a route that will lose them. We can go through the forest and escape to downtown."

Lukas grunted in reply and suddenly changed directions. Tingting noticed and quickly followed. To the three's relief, a mass of green soon came in sight. Fueling themselves with hope, Lukas and Tingting dashed into the forest and nimbly jumped over tree roots, dodged large plants, and steadily made their way through the thick evergreen.

"We've lost them!" The mysterious boy called out to the other two and they both stopped abruptly. Lukas scanned his surroundings and only when he was certain that there was nobody following them did he relax. He leaned against a tree and shakily took out a lollipop. Just standing upright was tiring for him. His legs shook as if it were made from jelly and his head pounded.

Meanwhile, Tingting had immediately collapsed to the ground as soon as she heard that they were safe. She seriously couldn't take it any more. As a girl, she should have conducted herself better but she couldn't care less. She let out a long, loud groan and kicked off her socks and sneakers. Her feet were red and some of her nails were bruised. It looked unsightly.

The boy, who was mercilessly dumped onto the dirt, observed his benefactors. Seeing their worn out expressions, he couldn't help but let out a laugh. His laugh was bright and could be described as warm and hearty. Lukas shot a disgruntled glare at the boy, immediately making him shut up.

Tingting also couldn't help but moan slightly. She regretted her reckless actions back then. Now that she thought about it, Lukas would be rather upset with her right now wouldn't he? She peeked up at his profile and sighed in relief. He was too preoccupied with relieving his sore muscles to care about the previous incident.

She suddenly felt a piercing stare focused on her. She searched for its source and her large doe eyes ended up looking straight into the boy's soft maroon eyes. She blanked out for a moment before regaining her composure. 'Ah... that's right. We still don't know each other do we?...' With that thought, she crawled over to where he sat and held out her hand.

"I'm Tingting. What's your name?" Her voice was sweet to the ears and the boy smiled unconsciously.

"I'm Michael." He held her hand and shook it.

"Mi-Michael?" Tingting had some difficulty pronouncing his name.

"You can call me Mike for short. By the way..." Mike's gaze shifted to Lukas.

Lukas just stood there savoring the sweet taste of his lollipop. He felt uncomfortable under Mike's gaze and wondered what he wanted. 'Don't tell me he wants a lolly as well. There aren't much more left...' Seeing that Mike's attention was still fixed onto him, Lukas sighed and scratched his head. He removed his weight on the tree and went to the other two. He stopped in front of Mike and knelt down.

"Lukas. Take it." Lukas shoved a lollipop into Mike's hands and unwrapped another one for himself.

Mike froze for a moment before cracking into a wide grin. He took the lollipop and put it into his mouth. Tingting watched the exchange silently and giggled. She removed her cap and let her hair spill down. She needed fresh air. She lay back on the ground, not caring about the dirt and sighed contently. Tingting listened to the birds' chirps as they flew in the sky. She was soon lulled to sleep by the birdsong and dozed off on the spot.

Meanwhile, Lukas had been staring intensely at Mike for the past several minutes. Disregarding all the blood and bruises on his face, Mike was quite good-looking. He had a tall, lean stature. His hair, in dreadlocks, were tied into a single ponytail making him look quite fresh. His eyes were lively and he gave off a friendly-guy vibe. Yes... He looked like quite a good person... Mike squirmed under Lukas's stare and when he couldn't handle it anymore he finally questioned Lukas.

"Umm... Is there something on my face?..." Mike faltered at the sudden twitch in Lukas's facial expression.

"Yeah..." Lukas trailed off. There were many things he would like to say about the state of Mike's face but the most pressing one was-

"Your head's bleeding."

Mike gaped in shock and pressed one rough hand onto his forehead. Feeling something gooey, he hesitantly looked at the palm of his hand.

Vivid red blood stained his palm. He suddenly became aware of the stinging pain on his body.

"Your arm too..."

As Mike was wearing a short-sleeved black shirt, it was easy to see the long, deep gash on his arm. It was bleeding profusely and droplets of red fell to the ground, dampening it with crimson.

Mike looked back at his hand, then at his arm. Then, soundlessly...

He fainted.