Chapter 38 - Abandoned

'This bastard! He is so dead!!' he clenched his palm ready to throw a fist but all of a sudden there was a weird ringing in his ears.

"Beep.. beep..... beep..."

This beeping he was very familiar.

'What the... why...'

{'System 101 initiating.

Target character's emotions exceeded the threshold.

Activating emergency system protocol!}

The system voice robotically said in his mind.

'What protocol? What protocol dude?! What are you talking about!. I'm system 101. I'm here then. Who is controlling the system!?'

A warm breath suddenly swept his face. He glanced up to see Altren looking at him weirdly.

'Fuck he is still here,' he pushed him away and wiped his mouth. "What the heck was that?!"

"Jeez chill.. I didn't even kiss you." Altren laughed it off gently caressing his lips..

Standing at the edge of the alleyway, Aaron saw everything and froze in shock. He could not believe what he was seeing....

Altren was actually kissing Kang...

And Kang seemed to have enjoyed it....

From his angle he could make out Kang's tiptoes and how he was slightly gripping on his shoulders. Kang did not even fight it; he was blushing softly as he was talking to Altren.

The sight alone infuriated him to no limit.

'Is that why that stupid kid was so annoying today... Jesus... why.. why Kang. Why does he have to do this...' he walked back to his car completely dejected.

"Sir? His assistant cheerfully popped his head out. "We still have time. I have cleared two hours of your schedule so that you can romance the person of your dreams,"

"Cancel that... just cancel everything. I don't have the mood to work anymore," he dully sat on the back seat. His eyes still lingered on the alleyway.

A second later, Kang ran out, followed by a smirking Altren.

'Fuck I can't see that face anymore.'

"Drive! Now!"

"y-yes..." his assistant drove away swiftly.

Even after they were out of sight, the scene he saw was still running through his mind in repeat.

'Just why... don't I deserve some happiness. Why is my destiny so fucked up?."

"Sir a-are you okay? You don't look good,"

"Take me home. My head is killing me..." the headache that has been plaguing him for ages returned with a fury. This time he could make out a few visions..

Small snippets of images flashed in front of his eyes.

It was all about a man similar to Zhu Kang...

The lighting went bright and he saw himself chasing after Kang who was dressed fully in grey.... he looked like he was running for his life...

'System ID 101..... A rogue...fugitive soul.... Kai, capture him....alive...open the portal....' multiple voices echoed in his mind.

The words whispered in his brain like a non-stop mantra. He could not make it stop....His head started to pound badly. His stomach was rolling in pain. "s-stop.. stop the car.."

As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, he rushed out of the door puking his stomach's contents.

"Sir! Oh my god, should I call an ambulance...sir! sir..."

Aaron shook his head. "J-just take me home... I need to go...."

His assistant reluctantly drove him home.

Right after reaching home Aaron dashed to his room like a mad man.

'Everything I thought was wrong... he was not my destiny....he was not...'

His legs led him to his secret room hidden behind his closet. Walking in, he stepped on papers that he had stuck on recently.

The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling were filled with all the information he had searched all his years.

"All for what? It was never a call for a soul mate or my destiny... it was a fucking goose chase! Catch the fugitive? Are you kidding me! why.. why didn't I see all these back then? why now?" his dull eyes focused on the only panting in the paper-filled room.

With his mediocre skills, he was only able to paint this one. it was not that accurate at all. The Zhu Kang in this looked much older and looked tired and dull and lifeless in grey clothes. Only his brown eyes were sparkling with life.

His finger gently caressed his eyes. "I was just deluding myself...you were not meant to be mine.... you were never mine..."

He picked it up and smashed it into pieces. "All useless!" he tore the papers, the reports everything...

"It was all a fucking waste of time!"

That moment in his life he realized that he really wasted all this time thinking searching and pining over a person that was not even his.

"It ends today..." he picked up all the paper and burned it in a small controlled fire outside his villa.

That was exactly the first thing Altren saw as he entered the house. looking at his uncle's dejected back he somehow felt slightly pitiful but the thought that he saved his friend from a lot of trouble made him cheerful.

"Uncle~" Altren entered with a bright smile. "toasting some marshmallows?"

"...." he did not even glance back.

"Uncle? Is everything oka...."

"Pack your bags and leave,"

"w-what....." he pulled at his shoulders.

His uncle turned around with a cold callous look on his face. "I don't wish to repeat myself. pack your things and leave."

"Uncle... Aaron, are you upset because of Kang. It was just a p..."

Aaron walked away without even giving him the time to explain.

"Aaron wait, man, hey, it was not real."

His uncle froze with a scornful smile on his face. "yeah.. Nothing was real. It was all in my mind! I learned everything today. Nothing is what it seems.... pack your bags and leave. The sight of your face makes me want to puke," he scoffed and walked away.

Altren just stood there shell-shocked. He knew his uncle would be upset, but he had never seen him in this state before.

It was as if... he was completely rejecting him from his life.

"Aaron! Aaron wait... I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, okay. It was just a joke. I was only trying to protect Kang from our hero lives. Y-you know we are always in danger. I don't want to lose my only friend. So I did something stupid.. Aaron... uncle look at me..." he grabbed onto his arms and was dragging alongside him. "Aaron... please."

Aaron shrugged his arm away and left the villa without even shoes on.

Kneeling on the ground all he could see was the retreating back of his uncle. "uncle... uncle wait..Please I'm sorry. I'm sorry.. It was wrong of me to do so. Please.. come back... don't leave me... not you too... please don't abandon me..."

He flew away without taking a look back.

For days he waited... hoping he would come back, eat his cereal, as usual, listen to his boring music, watch his favorite show...

But his uncle never returned.

Never picked up his calls.

At that moment, Altren knew..... he was completely abandoned.