The sounds of birds flapping their wings is heard after a loud dull noise.

Along with the leaves being pulled by gravity, blood splashes staining the sandy ground.

Yellowhead looks confuse while staring at his bloody right hand where a silver knife is embedded deeply.

“aaAAaaAAhhHhHH~!”

Then he screams while clutching his hand.

“Mark!”

Al shouts while struggling to get up.

“Uh?? Wait, MARK?!!”

Lyn sounds confused.

“Mark!”

Mae sounds pleasantly surprised.

Eli-chan helps Rose to stand up.

Then she jumps towards me to launch a roundhouse kick towards my face.

I tilt my body slightly.

“Why did you dodged?!”

“Because it will hurt.”

She pouts her lips angrily with menacing look but with teary eyes.

“You...”

She's trembling.

“You're a bastard..”

“Did you get scared?”

“N-No!!”

She punches me but I grab her arm pulling her close to me.

“I'm sorry. It's because I have a trust in you.”

Rose reddens with wide eyes open.

Fufufufu.

“And I'm confident no one will die.”

I glance at Eli-chan who smiles back at me.

I walk towards Yellowhead who is currently glaring at me.

He tries to reach out for the gun he dropped but I kick the sand onto his face.

“aaaAAgh~! My eyes!! Motherfucker!”

I squat down and wave my hand at his face.

“Good evening Yellowhead. How's your injury?”

He punches me but well of course I dodge.

“Fuck you. Stay away from me or you'll regret it.”

He's still acting tough. Admirable.

“Don't be afraid. We won't harm you.”

“Huh?”

He looks confuse. He probably thinks we'll hurt him.

“Wait.”

Then he looks like as if he just realized something.

“So you do know me? You know I have a close ties with the ‘Viper Gang’?”

I don't know you.

“What?! You're a member of that gang?!”

Al screams suddenly.

“Al, you know them?”

“You don't know? They're the leading gang in Naga City. I heard they're affiliated with the ruling underworld syndicate in the Philippines. Rumor says that they have many government officials and business tycoons currying favor with them for protection. And they have many criminals and hooligan under them.”

You know this as well?

“Ha! You really do know them! For your information, I'm ‘Boss Screw's’ sworn brother.”

Al frowns.

“Mark, let's go! This guy is a bad news!”

“Oh why?”

“God! Boss screw is the Viper Gang's leader's younger brother: ‘Sir Viper’. And I heard he is a terrifying man! He's cold-blooded Mark! We can't mess with them!”

Aren't you exaggerating way too much?

“Hahahaha! Now you know fear. If you apologize and become my lackey, I can put up a good word for you to Sir Viper. He listens to my advise you know. But of course, you need to make those girls join us. You know what I mean.”

And he now acts more arrogantly.

“Ew! You wish!”

Rose wants to hit Yellowhead but Al holds her arm.

“Don't!”

“What?! Are you seriously scared of this guy?! They're nothing to the police!”

“But we're nothing to them. Police authority are restricted by the law but this guys are lawless. It's better to not get involved with them.”

“Fuck! You nailed it!”

He snorts proudly.

“You're right. Before the police could help you, you're already coldly floating in Naga River. Besides, those idiot police are nothing compared to the Viper Gang! If you hurt me, they'll hunt you down and give you painful death! Even your family and friends would die horribly with you! So try to harm me if you can idiots! Hahahahahaha!”

He laughs.

Rose is shaken and even Mae is visibly worried by that.

*Crack!*

“Aaaaaaah!!”

I punch his nose.

“Why did you hit me?!”

“You desire for it didn't you?”

He clasps his bleeding nose

“Agh~ Okay okay— hahahaha just you wait! I already called them earlier. I'll play with you later!”

Al grab my shoulder.

“Let's run!"

Hmm... Okay then.

So we start running away while listening to Yellowhead's words of seeing us off.

“Run all you want! That's all you can do! We will make sure to make you suffer until you die! You hear me?! Run or we'll kill you all!!”

So edgy.

—Ten or so minutes later.

“W-wa..wait... haah~! Stop..!”

Lyn who is being held by Mae-chan sits on the road refusing to run any further.

We've been running for ten minutes straight in full speed so it's no surprise that she's tired and panting. In fact, it's admirable that she could endure until now given that she's pretty much drugged.

I've been observing her and waiting for the time she will collapse but she didn't. Although we only ran for approximately .7 kilometers, it's still exhausting.

As expected of someone from a military family. She's tough.

Lyn isn't the only one exhausted though. Rose who just fought, and Mae-chan are clearly tired as well.

Al is pretty much still alright if you ignore his bruises, bloody arm, and pale saturation. It looks like he is losing blood.

“Al. You should patch your wounds first.”

“Ah? Hah~ Oh.. okay. I am tired as well anyway.”

“Rose, can you please let Lyn drink your carbonated drink?”

“O-okay.. wait.. Ah! Oh no, our bags!”

“Don't worry. I and Eli-chan brought it with us.”

Eli-chan passes Rose's bag to her. Then Rose takes a can of soft drinks then she passes it to Mae. And Mae give it to Lyn.

“Here Lyn. Drink some.”

“Why do I even need to... hah.. to drink this..? I'm not in the mood..”

“Just drink it. You need glucose.”

“What...? And... haah.... are we gonna be fine standing by here though?”

“It's fine. Don't worry about it and focus in resting.”

“He's right Lyn. Besides, the police station is close by.”

“I agree with Mae! That bastard is just being cocky!”

You were clearly shaken back then though.

“They're not!”

Al comes to us then he sits on the road side.

“What do you mean?”

“Viper gang has most gangs in Naga city under them. Sir Viper is a horrifying man and I heard he is a brute who's thirsty for power.”

“So what? Are they in control of the government? Duh.”

“Stop being arrogant! You just don't know anything!”

“Huh?! How dare you! You only know of this because you're a muscle brain idiot!”

“Hey!! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“Why are you shouting at me?!”

I stretch my arm out to stop them.

“Alright. Calm down. It's already nighttime. The residence are perhaps sleeping already. We should just listen to Al first my dear Rose.”

“Why are you siding with him?! And don't think that I already forgot what you did.”

“I did nothing.”

“Precisely!”

“Well well, it's fine. Everything turned alright in the end—”

*Swish~*

*Thud!*

I was about to duck my head but Eli-chan have taken a move first to block Rose' kick for me.

“Get out of the way Elizabeth! He needs to be taught a lesson.”

“I can't do that. I'll protect Mark no matter what.”

“What?! What's so good about him?!”

“Oh hell, calm down okay. Let's listen to Al first.”

She gnashes her teeth before humphing away.

“Err, anyway, I already said this earlier but law enforcers are restricted by the law. Before they could take actions, we're doomed.”

“Your father is from military right? So let's just ask for help can't we?”

“NO!”

When Al was about to answer Mae's question, Lyn screamed.

“What's wrong?”

“Well uh, dad will be mad for sure and I'll be grounded.”

“Of course he would be mad! It's already late and you're still somewhere. Why did you even come there?!”

“Nica invited me. We had a small celebration.”

“Huh? Is it Nica's birthday?”

“No idiot!”

“What is it then?”

“Keep this a secret okay?”

“What the...? Okay okay!”

“You guys as well.”

Mae-chan and Rose nod their heads.

“Mark!”

“Huh? Oh yeah okay.”

She coughs and lowers her voice while leaning forward.

“Nica has a boyfriend.”

“What?!”

“Why do you sound so surprised? Don't be rude!”

“Well... Err.. Who is it?”

“I don't know. It's a guy she met in RPW after all.”

“What the fuck!”

“‘RPW’?’

That sounds familiar but I can't recall where or when I heard of it.

“You don't know? RPW is an abbreviation for ‘role play world’. The name describe itself already. It's a world in Facebook where people act or assume certain characters and have a life in that world. Having a brother, sister, mother, father, and even boyfriend and girlfriend is a thing there. There are also battle role play where people fight against each other. Those role plays usually happens in a group chat.”

“Ah I see. In short, RPW is a virtual illusionary customizable fake world where many asocial and interpersonally troubled love-sick individuals are gathering to satisfy their unfulfilled desires in the real world. Okay. Got it.”

Joke aside, it's strange that they rather commit into a fragile relationship which could crumble anytime than a harder but more solid relationship in the real world.

Although I understand that there are those who just really can't find love or are troubled in reality in terms of social interaction, it's still better to find those love in the real world.

Because a love that is formed in a computer data will always remain in a data. Unless you go offline and meet your partner in reality and start building your love in this world, you shouldn't take a role play relationship seriously.

Rather, use RPW as another medium to search for potential partners then once you find them, go out and meet them. Because the truth is, being unable to touch your ‘love’ one will always make you feel uncertain and always have the sense of incompleteness.

I'm not saying it's impossible to have a good relationship in RPW. Point is, you still need to meet each other and cultivate love in reality. Otherwise, don't immediately assume your RP partner as your lifetime partner in the real world.

“No! I didn't say that! Do I look like someone with trouble in socializing? I am only RPying for fun!”

“True. But I didn't mention any name though. And you have an RP account?”

“Pf course I have. It's for fun you know.”

I see.

“Anyway, Nica shouldn't take her relationship with him too seriously. She'll get hurt if that guy is just actually roleplaying.”

“While I can't guarantee that you're wrong, I am pretty sure that that guy is serious. Besides, most RPiers are just RPying now to search for love. And I interacted with him and he seems true and kind.”

Fumufumu. That's a red flag.

“We can't do anything if Nica is happy with it. Let's just be with her by then.”

“Drinks is on me.”

“Mark, Al! What the hell! Why are you talking like as if it's given she'll be brokenhearted?!”

“Won't she?”

“No....?”

Lyn sighs. She doesn't sound convince as well.

She then hugs Al's arm.

“So, uhm, can you keep it a secret for me?”

“You almost got raped so no!”

Wait that's right! She almost got assaulted yet Lyn acts like as if nothing happened.

“Please! Please! Please! Pretty please~?”

“No!”

“Uh, ah. I'll wash the dishes for one week!”

“.......”

“One week....? Please~?”

“Fuck. Okay! One month! But don't do this ever again!”

Bloody hell. Is that your only worth, Lyn?

“Yay! As expected of my beloved twin brother! So kind!”

Al ignores her. He stands up patting his clothes.

“Anyway, we should go because who knows if those guys are looking for us.”

Al supports Lyn before turning around to leave.

Lyn wave her hand.

“Bye bye everyone. Thank you very much. I'll treat you all to lunch tomorrow! Mae, chat with me later!”

I stop Al.

“Wait. You won't be sending Mae-chan home?”

“But Lyn needs to go home fast.”

“Well—”

Mae-chan tugs my clothes.

“It's fine Mark-kun. It's fine.”

“Where do you live Mae?”

Rose suddenly asks.

“Uh, Bula.”

“I'll send you home. I called back my driver. Damn it though. I thought I'll be commuting by public vehicle today!”

“We can just do it again in the future.”

“Humph.”

Ugh. She's still mad.

“No please. Don't mind me. I can go home by myself.”

“Oh really? What are you gonna do? Walk? There's no more jeepney to send you there this late. And it's dangerous!”

“But—”

“Stop! Just let me send you home!”

Rose pulls her away.

“Wait uh. Good night Mark-kun hehe, and nice meeting you again.”

I block Rose.

“I need to talk with Mae-chan.”

“What?

I just stare at her.

“Humph. Hurry up because I want to take a bath already.”

“Heh, are you trying to seduce me?”

“W-W-What are you talking about?!”

She blushes and tries to kick me but I dodge her.

“Grrr..”

After that, she walks towards Eli-chan and grumbles at her.

I face Mae-chan.

“What is it Mark-kun?”

“Fuu~”

“..........”

“I'll be direct. Did something happen between you and Al?”

“......”

She's silent for a few seconds.

“You noticed huh. Uh, it's nothing. There's nothing actually. Everything... It all just stopped.”

Mae-chan looks dejected.

“What do you mean by ‘stop’? Did your relationship stop progressing?”

“Kind of. I guess it's actually deteriorating.”

“......”

“Al used to be so sweet. He chats me every day and night. Even if we were put into a long distance relationship, he still didn't stop. He actually became more sweet. He comforts me everytime I had a hard time in Manila. You know, being separated from your... your friends is really hard. Video call and online chat with Al is what complemented those. Although, Lyn and Nica are there as well, but having Al is.. it's different. It's a special feelings I can't put into words.”

Mae-chan then widens her eyes and she shakes her head vigorously.

“I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me.”

I don't care about it at all.

“Then what happened?”

She didn't speak immediately but just stare at me.

“I don't know. As I said, it just stopped. It's not instantaneous, but he gradually stopped.”

“.......”

“It all started when we're halfway in grade 8 or perhaps, even earlier than that. His messages lessened and his time for me decreased. I thought he was just busy so I didn't think too much about it. However, he started to seemingly gotten tired of me— tired of us. He even got mad at me when I tried to ask for his little time.”

I see.

“So I was happy when I can finally come back here. I was excited. I thought everything would return to normal. But now it seems to be a no more than a wishful thinking. He didn't even saw my message that I'm coming back until three days later. And he seemed not excited or whatsoever when he saw me. And worse, it seems like he's distancing himself from me. I.... I don't know anymore.”

“Then what do you desire? Give up?”

“No!”

Her shout attracts the attention of Rose and Eli-chan but they ignore it.

“N-No... I.... I won't give up just like that. I want to rekindle our romance!”

She then looks like as if she realizes something.

“I am sorry... I didn't mean to—”

“Stop it fufufufu. It's been a long time. I no longer have any feelings for you Mae. Besides, I'm already taken.”

I can see Mae-chan's eyes becoming watery while gradually opening wide.

“Don't misunderstand okay. I didn't mean it in a bad way.”

“........”

“I'll help you get what you desire.”

“Eh? What?”

“Rekindling the romance between you and Al and help you two progress your relationship.”

“But why?”

“What? We're at least friends aren't we?”

“........”

“........”

We're both silent.

“Thank you.”

She looks apologetic but she's smiling.

“No worries. Let's go now.”

“Mm. Goodnight Mark-kun.”

"Good night Mae-chan.”

I wave at Rose. She comes forward with Eli-chan.

“Done? Humph! We're leaving now.”

“God night my dear Rose. Take care.”

Rose ignores me but pulls Mae-chan away instead.

“Don't be mad anymore. I'll treat you somewhere!”

“..........”

“Fufufufufu.”

I turn to Eli-chan.

“Let's go as well Eli-chan. It's late.”