The morning sun crept reluctantly through the dusty windows of the high school classroom, casting a cold, bleak light over Jow’s desk.
Throughout the entire duration of the lectures, Jow sat with his spine completely rigid, his ears ringing with a heavy, suffocating silence.
He kept his eyes fixed firmly on his notebook, his trembling fingers tightly gripping his pen as he waited for the inevitable storm to strike.
After yesterday’s horrific announcement regarding Mr.
Clark’s sudden termination, a dark shadow of fear had enveloped the entire institution.
Not a single student dared to whisper in Jow’s direction, and the remaining teachers completely ignored his existence, terrified of drawing the wrath of the powerful corporate dynasty that ruled the academy.
Jow felt utterly isolated, a fragile ghost trapped inside a fortress of wealth and cold cruelty.From the very back bench, Teng remained remarkably quiet.
He didn’t toss any crumpled trash today, nor did he order his arrogant gang to corner Jow during the brief class intervals.
Instead, Teng just sat in absolute silence, his dark, calculating eyes locked onto Jow’s slender frame with a piercing, unyielding intensity.
A chilling smirk played continuously at the edge of his handsome lips, a visual testament to the twisted conversation he had shared with his older brother last night.
Teng was deliberately practicing a cruel form of psychological warfare, knowing that his complete silence was far more terrifying to Jow’s fragile heart than any physical threat.
He watched with a sinister satisfaction as Jow’s pale shoulders visibly tensed every single time the classroom door opened, enjoying the absolute power he held over the innocent transfer student’s sanity.When the final school bell finally rang at 4:30 PM, signifying the end of the classes, the room emptied out within a matter of minutes.
Jow let out a shaky, trembling breath, his heart hammering violently against his ribs as he checked his old wristwatch.
He only had twenty-five minutes to report to ‘The Daily Fresh’ supermarket for his urgent night shift logging duties.
However, just as Jow packed his heavy backpack and stood up to leave, the homeroom teacher unexpectedly called him to the front desk.
“Jow, I need you to neatly arrange these heavy history folders in the staff library before you leave the campus today,” the teacher said in a cold, unsympathetic voice, tossing a large stack of papers onto the table before walking out.
Jow wanted to refuse, his mind screaming about his part-time job, but his humble and polite nature forced him to respectfully and accept the task.By the time Jow completed the exhausting task and walked back into the long, empty school corridor, it was already past 5:00 PM.
The bright afternoon sun had completely vanished, replaced by the long, bloody red shadows of the approaching evening twilight.
The entire building was dead silent, the heavy echoes of his own worn-out shoes rebounding against the bare concrete walls.
A sudden, cold breeze swept through the shattered windows of the empty hallway, making Jow shiver violently inside his fresh white uniform shirt.
He held his backpack straps tightly, his pale face flushed with extreme panic as he practically rushed toward the rear emergency exit, desperately praying that Mr.
Harris wouldn’t fire him for being dangerously late to the supermarket loading dock.Jow walked swiftly down the narrow stairwell leading to the isolated rear exit, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground.
He was so consumed by his intense anxiety about his job that he failed to notice a tall silhouette waiting motionless in the deep, dark shadows beneath the concrete staircase.
As Jow stepped onto the bottom floor, a sudden, heavy footstep resonated right behind him.
Before Jow could even blink away his confusion or turn his head around, a large, powerful hand clamped forcefully over his mouth from behind.
Jow’s large, innocent eyes widened with an absolute, paralyzing terror as the unmistakable scent of a strong chemical fluid hit his senses.
He tried to scream, but the sound was completely muffled against the rough leather glove, a terrifyingly familiar, solid chest locking him in an unbreakable grip.Jow’s fragile frame fought violently against the suffocating restraint, his weak hands scratching frantically at the heavy arms that held him pinned.
But his resistance was entirely useless against the raw, overwhelming strength of his captor.
Within a matter of seconds, the strong chemical completely filled Jow’s lungs, making his head spin into a dark, chaotic vortex.
His vision blurred severely, the bloody red shadows of the corridor twisting into a terrifying black void.
The heavy backpack slipped from his weak fingers, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
Jow’s knees buckled completely, his soft spirit breaking under the sudden attack as his entire body turned completely limp, his head dropping helplessly backward against the hard shoulder of the boy who held him.Teng adjusted his grip on Jow’s completely unconscious, fragile frame, lifting him into his strong arms with a terrifying ease.
He didn’t carry him out of the building.
Instead, he navigated through the pitch-black corridors toward an isolated, abandoned basement room of the old school wing—a place where no student or teacher ever ventured.
Teng roughly threw Jow onto a heavy wooden chair placed in the center of the damp room.
Using a thick, rough nylon rope, Teng began to bind Jow’s slender wrists and ankles to the chair, pulling the knots with a systematic, brutal tightness that dug deeply into the boy’s fair skin.
Once he was completely satisfied that his prey was securely trapped and unable to move a single inch, Teng stepped back into the cold shadows, crossing his arms as he patiently waited for the chemical to wear off.Almost an entire hour passed in agonizing silence before Jow’s long eyelashes finally fluttered, his heavy eyelids slowly cracking open.
His mind was a chaotic, blurred fog, his lungs still burning from the harsh chemical fluid.
As his vision gradually cleared under the dim, flickering bulb of the ceiling, the very first thing his eyes locked onto was Teng standing right in front of him, staring down with a chilling, satisfied smirk.
Jow tried to move his hands, but the painful friction of the tight ropes instantly reminded him of his horrific reality.
Instead of crying or begging for mercy this time, a profound wave of intense irritation and pure exhaustion washed over Jow’s fragile features.
He glared directly into Teng’s dark eyes, his voice trembling but laced with a sharp, resentful tone.
“Teng…
why are you doing this to me?
What did I ever do to harm you?
Why can’t you just leave me alone?”Teng’s dark eyes flared with a dangerous, toxic anger at Jow’s defiant look.
He took a slow, menacing step forward, the heavy thud of his leather boots echoing like a death knell in the quiet room.
“What did you do?” Teng growled, his voice dropping into a sinister, low hiss as he leaned down until his face was just inches away from Jow’s pale cheek.
“Because of your pathetic, innocent act, that old history teacher actually dared to raise his voice against me.
He dared to look down on my family’s authority because of a penniless trash like you!
I have already dealt with that old man permanently, his entire life is ruined.
And now…
it’s your turn to pay the real price.” Jow’s heart dropped completely into his stomach, his innocent eyes widening with horror as the sheer scale of Teng’s cold ruthlessness hit his sanity.Teng didn’t wait for another word.
Reaching onto the dusty side table, his long fingers wrapped around a heavy, solid wooden rod that was lying in the corner of the abandoned room.
He stood towering over the bound boy, his handsome features completely consumed by a dark, possessive madness.
With a swift, brutal movement, Teng raised the heavy object and brought it down forcefully against Jow’s slender frame, delivering a heavy, crushing blow.
A sharp, agonized cry of intense pain ripped from Jow’s pale lips, his entire body convulsing violently against the rough nylon ropes as a fresh wave of absolute darkness threatened to swallow his vision once again.
Teng didn’t look back at his weeping prey.
He carelessly tossed the rod onto the floor, turned on his heel, and walked out of the room, slamming the heavy iron door shut and locking it from the outside, leaving the beautiful, broken transfer student alone in the suffocating darkness of his living hell.It was nearly 8:00 PM by the time Jow managed to clumsily untie the painful nylon knots with his bleeding fingers and drag his broken, aching body back to his small house.
The night darkness had fully enveloped the neighborhood as he pushed open the front door, his face ghost-white and his slender frame shivering from the lingering physical trauma of the heavy blow.
His frail, elderly grandmother was waiting anxiously in the living room, her weak hands gripping her walking stick tightly.
The moment she saw Jow’s pale face and his new uniform ruined with dust and tears, her old eyes filled with maternal worry.
“Oh, my precious boy, what happened to you?
Why are you so late?Are you hurt?” she asked, her voice trembling weakly.
Jow’s heart ached intensely, but knowing her weak heart could never survive the horrific truth, he forced a soft, beautiful smile onto his pale lips, gently squeezing her fragile hands.
“It’s nothing, Grandma.
There was just an extra mandatory lecture at school, and I tripped on the stairs while rushing out.
Don’t worry at all, I am completely fine,” he lied softly, completely brushing the terrifying ordeal away to protect her peace.”He locked himself in the bathroom, staring at the fresh bruises under the bright light, completely unaware that his stolen backpack was currently sitting on Teng’s desk, with his daily schedule neatly laid out under the hunter’s eyes.”