Our life

Tingting ended up sick for the remainder of the day so as punishment, Mike was put in charge of curing her back to her lively state.

They had all slept in a single, large bedroom. As the bed was taken by Tingting, the boys were forced to sleep on the dusty floor.

Squawking of the crows had woken them up late in the morning. After Lukas and Mike washed up, they set out to scavenge for food.

The other day was a misstep. A miscalculation. He had been a fool to not be on guard against him, even if he was a companion. For now. Yesterday was on the top of his list of things he would be better off forgetting.

Stepping outside the mansion door, Lukas was hit with a wave of déjà vu. It reminded him of the time he left 'that' place forever. He shook himself out of that line of thinking and waited for Mike to come out. A cool breeze stroked his face and tousled his golden hair. Today, he had discarded his backpack and wore a pair of denim shorts and a simple, white t-shirt. His overall look was pretty casual.

Yawning, Mike stepped out of the mansion, his face decorated with dark circles and weariness. It had been a rough night for him. Tingting took advantage of her sickness and Mike's guilt to get revenge. It was unfair for her to suffer alone, right?

He too had chosen to keep his attire simple. He wore black tracksuit bottoms and a short-sleeved, black t-shirt. A cap sat on his head, shielding him from the dazzling sun. If Lukas radiated a 'casual' air, Mike gave off more of a laid-back, cool vibe.

"Urgh... I think I'm sick too." Mike rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"You deserve it. Let's go."

"Yes sir..."

...

Noon was approaching when they finally arrived at the market. Mike cursed quietly under his breath, too soft for Lukas to hear.

"Hey, Lukas, it's not good to be here at this sort of time so... Let's just grab some fruits or something. That ok?"

"Sure."

"Cool. Wait for me here ok? I'll be back soon."

"Ok. Do you have money?"

"Money? You think I have that sort of thing? No man, just watch. I'll show you how you survive around these areas. "

Mike winked and ran off into the bustling crowd of people. Lukas raised his arm to stop him but it was too late.

"Ah, but... I have the money here..."

The words that were swallowed by the wind never reached Mike's ears. Lukas let his outstretched arm drop back to his side and waited for Mike to come back. The market was busy and a lot of arguments over prices broke out in all directions. Nobody seemed to care much for the stalls selling clothes and accessories. It seemed that everybody's main priority was food... Lukas watched in interest as he saw a few stall-owners hurriedly gather their things and leave for home. To close up during midday, wasn't that asking for losing profits? Perplexingly, nobody seemed to comment on their unusual behaviour. In fact, many others followed suit and left in a hurry. Their faces holding subtle traces of wariness and... panic?

'That's strange.'

Lukas didn't have to wait for long. Holding an armful of apples, Mike squeezed his way through the thinning crowd and sprinted to Lukas, his face glistening with pride. His ponytail seemed to wag about with all the movement. Indeed, his expression right now practically screamed, 'I'm amazing! Praise me, respect me!'

Out of breath and panting quite hard from the thrill, Mike handed some of his load to Lukas and beamed happily.

"I did it! That stall-man was quite wary of me but in the end, I did it!"

Lukas stared at the apples in his arm blankly.

"You couldn't have... stolen it?"

"Listen dude, steal is a strong word. Don't make me sound like a villain ok? To create a world full of peace and happiness, we as human beings should learn to share right?"

"I see... What did you mean when you said the stall-man was wary of you?"

"Oh him? At first he didn't spare me a glance, but 'cause I stood really close to his stall, I think he started to get suspicious. Luckily, a customer pulled his attention away from me. That was my chance. I scooped up all the good looking ones and sneaked away. Ha! With all those people, he'll never know I took some from him. "

"Yeah, sure... Sorry to break it to you but..."

Lukas pointed at the space behind him.

"He's coming after you."

"...WHAT?"

"He's coming after you."

Pause

"Eeeeeeeeeeh?!"

Mike turned his head stiffly to find the stall-man running after him. With a knife. A big one. One that was meant for slaughtering animals. In this situation... would he be the big, juicy piggy?...

Another pause

"RUN!"

Even as he said this, Mike was already a little spot in the distance. Lukas's heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw how the stall-man swung the knife around madly. The stall-man's attention became focused on Lukas who had yet to escape.

"You! You're his friend aren't you!" Spittle flew from the man's mouth as he accused Lukas of being an accomplice.

Though Lukas knew it was useless, he still shook his head frantically in denial. The stall-man's eyes bulged from their sockets.

"Liar! Stay right there! I'm going to make mincemeat out of you!"

Lukas didn't need to think twice. He turned on his heel and ran. It seemed like ever since he had left his home, he had been put into various situations which demanded him to flee. The world was a truly frightening place wasn't it?...

...

"Idiot! You couldn't even do your job properly and left me to deal with that person! Like this, aren't you just useless?!"

Annoyed was not enough to describe how Lukas was feeling. It was a mixture of wanting to throttle Mike but not having the energy to do it.

Mike patted his back, blissfully unaware of how that action infuriated Lukas even more.

"It's fine, it's fine, and besides," Mike frowned slightly. "Nobody dares to come out after noon. Not unless they've got problems in their head." Mike's gaze darkened and the air around him turned glum.

"Anyway," Mike forced a toothy grin. "It all worked out in the end right?"

Lukas could tell that there was something going on. He, however, prided himself on being able to read the mood and didn't probe further. Instead, he decided to tease Mike. For revenge. Nothing else. It wasn't like he found it amusing or anything...

Lukas put his hand in his pocket and took out a candy. Something light fluttered to the floor at the same time. Lukas sucked on the lolly, hiding his sly smile.

"Dude, do you always have one of those on you? Oh wait, something fell from your pocket...?!"

"What's wrong?" Lukas tried his best to look nonchalant as he questioned the shocked Mike.

"This... There's no mistaking it. This is... Money?!"

"Oh that? I had it in my pocket all along."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, it's been here all along."

"Aargh! What did I go through all that trouble for?!"

Holding his head in his hands, Mike dropped to the the floor and howled in grief. This person seriously couldn't stop mocking him could he?

Lukas watched in unconcealed amusement. It seemed that today was turning out to be quite a good one.