Kris instantly became intrigued. In a matter of seconds, a hundred possibilities flowed through Kris's mind. "Has Soju killed someone before? Has he wanted to?" These are the questions that Kris began to ask himself. "Of course," Kris replied, waiting on Mayr's explanation intently.
"I had a friend named Ento Mayr." Mayr said as if telling a story. "Mayr grew up in a poverty-stricken town called Jakent. It was practically a lawless area. Aside from the people who lived there, the only people who went to Jakent went to conduct shady business. All the houses were run down and would barely qualify as "shelters", Mayr's house was no different. His house had a ceiling that was so leaky that it not being present would not make much of a difference. There were also several holes in the rotten wooden walls. Mayr would usually only get 1 meal a day because that's all his financial situation would allow for."
"Sounds like your friend had it pretty rough." Kris added.
"I suppose," Mayr replied, "but he was happy. Mayr never knew a father, but he loved his mother and older brother and they loved him back. Mayr's mother loved him and always told him that his soft nature is what was the most beautiful thing about him. Although she didn't have anything of her own, she would prioritize her children's happiness over her own. Mayr older brother was also very dependable. Despite the environment calling him to do wrong, he stayed on an upstanding path. He started working at a young age to help his mother support the family as well. He even had a sweet girlfriend who would always lift their moods when she would come around to their house. Mayr really looked up to his older brother and strived to be just like him. They were a happy family, but they didn't have much, and Mayr wanted to change that. His dream was to make so much money that his mother and brother could live a comfortable and easy life without having to work."
Kris was pulled in by the story because it was similar to his life before the passing of his father. He looked at Mayr with intrigue, waiting for Mayr to continue, but Mayr paused for a moment.
"Well, what happened after?" Kris questioned. Mayr simply stared at the floor with a sorrowful and frustrated expression.
"That was until everything went wrong." Mayr said with sadness in his voice. "Because he started doing hard labour jobs at such a young age, Mayr's brother began having bad joint and back pain by the time he was 22. To ease this pain, Mayr's brother began buying marijuana from drug dealers. Apparently, they were just sellers for an organized crime faction that operated in Jakent. Marijuana was illegal, so getting it was expensive. It cost money that Mayr's brother didn't have, but he had become addicted. He believed that he would die from pain if he did not have it. So, he kept buying without having the money to pay. The dealers were having no more of it. One day they cornered Mayr's brother when he was with his girlfriend and they demanded money on the spot, but Mayr's brother didn't have the money to pay them."
Mayr paused again and his voice began to shake. "So those bastards beat him to a pulp and raped his girlfriend in front of him. He laid there, screaming and squirming while being held down, unable to do anything as the woman he loved screamed and clawed, hoping that someone would help. After the dealers left, Mayr's brother and his girlfriend were both broken, both physically and mentally. They had cursed their fate so much, so they went to the nearest building, and committed suicide together. Mayr was just 15 when this happened."
Shock took over Kris's body when he heard this. He walked alongside Mayr, waiting for him to continue.
"When Mayr heard the details, he wasn't filled with sadness, sorrow or loneliness." Mayr continued, "He was consumed with rage. An untamable fire blazed within him, but there was nothing he could do. He knew that if he tried something, there was a possibility that he would be killed, leaving his mother alone in this world. His mother on the other hand, was consumed by the sorrow of losing her elder child. Anyone would go insane when hearing what he went through, but she kept it together like the strong woman she was. She knew her younger child still depended on her, so she bottled her emotions and continued supporting the family. Mayr saw her struggle with finances, but every time he would try to work and help out, she would get angry with him. In her mind, it was her weakness that forced her son to start working, which led to his untimely demise. Over the next three years, without being able to work and not having family to keep him company, Mayr spent most of his time in the streets, getting into fights and learning how street people act. At the root of it, Mayr was just finding a way to channel his anger, and that came in the form of fighting anyone that looked at him funny. The rage he felt would not be quelled over the next three years, and the only way he could think of to quell it was not a viable option. However, when Mayr turned 18, his mother collapsed from overwork and soon passed away. Now there was nothing holding Mayr back. All he was left with was his rage. He blamed those dealers for taking his family and his dream from him. Mayr then did the only thing that he believed would quell his anger. He kidnapped and bound those dealers in a secluded area and tortured them for 5 days, killing them in the process. He hoped that this would remedy his anger."
Kris looked at Mayr with intrigue, "did it?"
"You know what," Mayr replied, "it did. All of his anger left when those men died, but what he found was that this did not make him feel anything positive. All the sadness and loneliness that he thought didn't exist was simply being covered by a thick veil of fury. Once that fury left, all that Mayr was left with was sadness and loneliness. He was no longer the soft child that his mother loved so much, and this filled him with grief. With that being said, Mayr did not regret what he did. If anyone was deserving of being tortured and killed, it was those scumbags."
"So, what are you saying that I should do?" Kris asked. Mayr stopped and put his right hand on Kris's left shoulder reassuringly. "I'm saying the same thing I said before," replied Mayr, "If you want to go through with this because you think that it will make you feel better, then forget about it. But if you want to do it to let your inner rage out where it deserves to be let out, then I will stick by you one hundred percent. We're more than acquaintances now, you're my brother."
Kris became overwhelmed with emotion when he heard this. He had thought that he lost his family, but what he failed to recognize is that he made a new one along the way.
"Thank you, Soju!" Kris said, teary-eyed. "Alright, enough of that," Mayr replied in an uplifting tone, "Let's get home."
The two began walking in silence. After about 5 minutes, Mayr began getting messages on his phone. The messages were from Nesh. The first message was a video, followed by a message that read "he got out."
