Golden.

That was the only word that came to Cheek’s mind when looking at the man.

Golden hair and golden eyes.

He wore a simple white cloak and had a silver cross on his neck.

Yet, his gaze was the thing that really caught Cheek’s attention.

It was pure, innocent. Like no filth could enter the man’s eyes.

It made Cheek uncomfortable. There was this sense of dissonance with the man’s appearance.

Perhaps it was worse because of how many children he had interacted with, but for Cheek, it felt like he was in front of a baby.

Well, as much as one could be when in a grown man’s body.

Turning his gaze away, the golden man picked up the slate, and…

…vanished.

No flashing light show, no fancy movements, he was just… gone.

Blankly staring at where the man was, Cheek’s mind couldn’t follow.

…he had gone through too much bullshit today, when would it end?

Placing his hand in a supporting position, Cheek prepared himself to stand up, yet before he could, he slipped.

And fell through the ground.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Getting up front wherever he was, Cheek was drenched.

Not in sweat, well, he was, but he had somehow ended up in the public bathhouse.

Shaking the water out of his hair, Cheek took a look around.

There weren’t many people there, if he wasn’t wrong, it should be quite late in the night.

Didn’t stop the ones that were from staring at him, though.

On one hand, no it wasn’t normal to be fully dressed in a bathhouse, on the other, they were all women.

‘Aren’t these bathhouses supposed to be mixed?’ He thought, sure, the clothes were a problem, but what else could it be?

Looking around again, he soon found the answer.

The water around him was disgusting.

What should have been transparent was now brown and murky.

Deliberating for a moment, Cheek quickly came to a decision.

‘Awkward exit, go!’

Trudging out of the bath, he made his way towards the exit, not looking back.

No reason stirring trouble where it wasn’t needed, right?

——————————————————————————————————————————

Having made it out of the bathhouse, Cheek assessed where he had ended up.

‘Judging from the look of things, middle-class, maybe?’

It was hard to tell, it was still dark out. The only sources of light were candles lit haphazardly all around.

Staring at one of them, Cheek snatched it, going on his merry way without looking back.

‘It would have burnt out by the end of the night anyway’ He thought, flimsily justifying his theft.

Searching around for a bit, the still-wet young man tried to find a determining location.

He knew his way around the city quite well, problem was, that mostly applied to the slums.

Still, he was glad he had not ended up in the noble district, that would have been a nightmare.

Getting off by being imprisoned would have been the least he could have hoped for.

‘Execution is more likely.’

Furrowing his brow, Cheek saw a source of light getting brighter in the distance.

He hoped he was wrong about what it was…

Taking one last glance around, Cheek blew out the candle he was holding.

*Fushh*

If it was what he thought it was, taking risks wasn’t worth it.

He could handle thugs and riffraffs, but a properly armed guard? That would be pushing it.

Ducking into the nearest alley, Cheek silenced his steps as much as he could, yet didn’t stop moving.

If he hid there and got caught unaware, he wasn’t confident in not being seen.

Reaching the end of the alley, Cheek made a sharp turn left, hoping the water that was dripping all over wouldn’t give him away.

Stopping and leaning his ear against the wall, he could hear hurried footsteps.

‘Maybe running away wasn’t the best idea.’

Although, he wasn’t sure how a guard would have reacted at his appearance, wet, dirty and right out of the slums.

It was best he didn’t take chances.

While thinking of this, Cheek had already started moving, the buildings surrounding him were getting smaller and smaller.

It was a good sign, at the very least, he would be getting into districts he knew more.

‘Also, more dangerous ones’

Feeling the wind brushing past him, cold seeped into Cheek’s bones.

He was drenched, dammit!

It was night too, he wasn’t sure about spending a night away from home in such conditions.

Above all else, his stomach was an empty pit.

‘Fuck, there is a lot against me isn’t there?’

Clearing his thoughts, Cheek felt the adrenaline pumping into his body lessen.

Usually, he wouldn’t have felt it more than some fatigue pilling up, but as he was now…

Vision blurring, Cheek felt lightheaded.

Tripping on his own legs, he reflexively put his hands in front of him.

Feeling sweat drip down his brown, Cheek gasped for air.

It felt like nothing was entering his lungs; yet he was breathing like a panting dog!

Strangely, it reminded him of times when he was younger, whether what flashed by his head was Noah or Cheek, he didn’t know.

The image in his mind was split, one was in a much more modern setting, while the other seemed more olden, rustic.

He stood in a hallway, his mother had, indeed, packed a lunch for him, but it was an old lunch she had frozen some time ago.

One look at it and he knew he it wasn’t good. It was mouldy, covered in yellow patches.

He wouldn’t eat for today, he thought.

At least the snacks are good, he consoled himself.

Still, he hoped he could at least get a good night of sleep this time.

It wasn’t too much, to ask for, was it?

The image then spun, like someone had rolled a wheel.

This time, he stood in a house, it wasn’t the best. His family could barely afford it, but it was his home, and he had lived here most of his life.

Oddly, his parents were arguing today. It wasn’t the fact that they were arguing that he found odd.

Rather, it was the fact that they did so in broad daylight. Usually, it happened at night.

Either way, it wasn’t like it could damage their reputation anymore, their family was already known to be unstable.

Turning away from the argument, even as he felt his heart clench, he figured he could spend his time better.

He could hear her crying from here, after all.

And there was light.

Cheek’s vision slowly cleared up, yet he didn’t need it to feel the tears slipping down his face.

He stood there dazedly, not a thought forming in his mind.

Standing up, he didn’t think of anything more, simply mindlessly making his way home.

Today had been a very mixed day.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Turning another corner, Cheek found himself back at the usual market place.

Somehow, he felt relief at seeing it.

A very underwhelming sense of relief compared to the mess of emotions that were taxing on his mind.

Each step he took made his body feel heavier.

‘I’m gonna pass out soon’ He thought, he had never passed out in his life, but there was a first for everything. Even if said thing was undesirable.

…

Barely two meters away from his house, he saw black spots appearing in his vision.

The ones that appeared when you stared at a bright light for a while.

Except, it wasn’t caused by light.

Raising his arm to move away the curtain, Cheek could barely feel the texture of the cloth.

He felt disconnected like he was watching everything through a TV.

Barely a step inside, he tripped over his own foot and stumbled his way into the bedroom.

He was so, SO tired!

…he also felt redundant, he was complaining a lot, wasn’t he?

In his mind’s eye, his hammock didn’t even appear within his vision. Perhaps it was subconsciously dismissed as something that would take too much effort?

Cheek didn’t care, he couldn’t muster the strength to do shit.

And so, with another burst of lightheadedness, he fell right next to his sister.

…on a mattress as hard as old bread.

Luckily, he couldn’t feel the pain in his unconscious state.

——————————————————————————————————————————

*Slap!*

With the coming of that sound, Cheek’s head was sent to the right of where it was, digging into the bed.

Groaning, Cheek tried to ignore his now stinging cheek in favour of sleep.

Of course, the administrator of his pain wouldn’t let such a thing go so easily.

*Pak!* *Pak!*

This time, it was more than enough to shake his mind of its dreary state.

Eyes snapping open, the first thing that Cheek saw was the upset face of his sister.

“Ah…”

“I’m sorry.” He immediately apologized, knowing how he must have worried her.

Those slaps were the least he deserved.

“Will you do it again?” His sister asked, her tone betraying nothing.

Even then, Cheek knew what she truly felt, and that stabbed a knife through his heart.

“I-”

“If you will, then don’t apologize, Elisia will not accept any apologies.

“Elisia only wants a warning, that’s…

“…all Elisia asks.” She finished, a tear dripping down her cheek.

It had, well and truly, been a 24 hours of many emotions.

I have no excuses, except, I was, maybe, a bit lazy.