Again

The clouds drew a curtain over the bright sun, and the midday heat cooled to a more comfortable temperature.

Two boys walked, one lively, one expressionless, seemingly on the way to school.

"Today, make sure you wait in the classroom after lessons end."

The lively boy winked at his friend.

"What are you up to now?"

The apathetic boy sighed quietly. This classmate of his was always bringing him different kinds of trouble.

"You doubt me so much?"

The boy shut his eyes as his friend began to mumble all kinds of nonsense.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, three men were trailing them, their pace gradually increasing.

"Now!"

"What?!"

"!"

The men lunged at the apathetic boy and kicked the other aside.

"Hey!"

The apathetic boy frowned and tried to reach his friend's side. At that moment, something hard smashed the back of his head, and his vision flashed.

Not expecting such an attack, the boy could only crumple to the ground helplessly.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was his friend calling out to him desperately.

. . .

Nothing but the dull light of evening creeped into the darkness. Surrounded by the endless black, the boy's head throbbed with a dull pain. Reflexively, he tried to raise his hands only to find that he was unable to move.

Judging from the lack of feeling in his limbs, he must have been bound for a long time. At least the culprits had the decency to place him on a chair, rather than dumping him on the dirty floor.

"I thought they'd have learned their lesson by now..."

'No matter what they do to me, he won't give them anything.'

The boy stopped struggling and sat still instead, listening for any movement outside.

He soon heard what he was waiting for.

There was the sound of footsteps from multiple people. One in front, two behind. Bodyguards?

Just what kind of high profile person had kidnapped him this time?

The footsteps stopped just outside his room. He heard the clanging of keys and the doorknob turned slowly.

The door swung open, cutting off the boy's train of thoughts.

Light flooded the room, forcing him to squint. After adjusting to the light, his dark brown eyes widened as he took in his surroundings.

A white wall covered in drawings, a small desk littered with scrunched balls of paper, paint drops and eraser shavings, a small bed tucked away in the corner, along with a few other notable pieces of furniture, this was most definitely-

'My room.'

Finally, the figure in front coughed lightly.

The boy's attention was immediately drawn towards him.

The man stood tall at the doorway, one hand tightly clenched into a fist. Two men stood behind him, neither looking directly at the boy.

A quick glance made the boy smirk, twisting his good facial-features. He certainly didn't expect this. Curling his lips back into a snarl, the boy spat, in a low voice.

"I was wondering which fool tied me up."

He glared darkly at the man in front of him.

"So it was you."