1 Arlan

In the slums of Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, everyone lived in extreme poverty. People who live here are those with ordinary backgrounds and they could barely eat three times a day. Some with worse living conditions could only eat twice a day at most. To summarize the lives of everyone in this neighborhood in one word, pathetic.

***

Inside a dilapidated room of a rundown three-story apartment, a young man in his early twenties was preparing for work. He was wearing a plain white shirt and cheap black trousers which he had bought from a thrift shop.

This man's name is Arlan Dominic Roa. Most of his friends call him Arlan. He was quite tall for an Asian man with his height that was about six foot two. Coupled with his lean muscular body and above-average face, he would always get second looks every time he walks out of the street. After all, the average height of adult men in his country was only around five foot five.

Arlan checked the time on his cheap imitation wristwatch and his face immediately fell. "Oh no! I will be late for work! My boss might deduct my salary!" Since he was only a contractual worker in a construction company, he didn't have a proper salary and he didn't even have the most basic benefit that a worker should have. His salary was always paid in cash at the end of his shift and the person responsible for giving it is the supervisor of his team, a middle-aged man called Jackson.

Arlan quickly grabbed his steel-toe shoes and put them on at his fastest speed. He didn't even bother to comb his hair. He grabbed his hard hat and bag before he stepped out of his apartment.

"Arlan, be careful! You might bump into someone!" Warned one of his neighbors.

There were a lot of people walking in the narrow alleyway, but when they saw the tall figure of Arlan running in his steel-toe shoes, everyone quickly made their way for him.

Arlan didn't have his own car. He didn't even own a motorcycle or a bike. He was the very definition of a broke person. He had to walk for about ten to fifteen minutes to arrive at the bus stop. Luckily for him, the construction company where he was working was just two kilometers away.

When he arrived at the bus stop, he noticed that a bus was already there. He jogged towards the bus and heaved a sigh of relief after he had finally taken a seat. He then checked the time and calculated it in his mind. "I should be able to arrive on time." He muttered with a hopeful voice. He could only blame himself for waking up late.

It was still early in the morning and he was fortunate that there wasn't a heavy traffic. He paid the bus fare and alighted right away.

He checked the time again and smiled joyfully. "I'm not late yet! Hahaha!"

He entered the construction company building with a relieved smile on his face. When he arrived at the team office, he saw the supervisor of their team, Jackson, looking at him from head to foot. "You're just right on time. Follow me to my office." He muttered in a cold voice.

For some reason, Arlan felt inexplicably nervous when he heard the tone of his supervisor's voice. He followed Jackson silently and when they arrived in the latter's office, the man looked back at him and said. "Sit down."

Gulp.

Arlan gulped nervously as he took a seat. "Sir, did I do something wrong?" He asked while looking at Jackson.

The middle-aged man snorted as he handed him a piece of paper. "Read it."

Arlan took the paper from him and read its contents. It was written in English and he could barely understand it since he was only a high school graduate. However, from the few words that he could understand, he realized that the construction company was terminating his contract.

"Sir, why is the company terminating me? I don't remember doing something wrong!" Arlan felt indignant. He has been working tirelessly in the construction company for more than a year, but they were suddenly terminating him. It made him furious.

The pot-bellied Jackson slammed the table as he shouted. "Do you really think that we wouldn't know what you did?! You were secretly embezzling the funds of our team! You are lucky that the boss is magnanimous enough to let you leave without paying for the money you stole! Now pack your stuff and scram out of my office!"

Hearing this, Arlan grew even more furious. "What do you mean?! I'm not even the person responsible for holding the team's fund. How could I steal it?! You're the only one who keeps hold of our fund so you should know more about this!" At this moment, he knew that he had become a scapegoat for this greedy supervisor.

Jackson stood up and pointed his finger at Arlan as he shouted in disdain. "Who do you think you are to accuse me?! You're just a f*cking nobody! Leave my office if you don't want me to call the security!"

Arlan's eyes turned red from rage. He really wanted to destroy this greedy fat pig, but doing that would only make him end up behind bars.

"What are you glaring at?! Do you want to punch me? Come on! Hit me! Don't be scared! Hahaha!" Jackson laughed mockingly as he moved his head closer to Arlan. He was purposely provoking this guy so that he could get rid of him using the law.

Arlan stood up from his seat. His towering height intimidated Jackson, making him unconsciously take a step back.

"I'll remember this!" Arlan muttered coldly before he left the office. He didn't even bother to claim his separation fee.

He exited the company building with heavy strides.

After going out of the building, Arlan slammed his hard hat on the ground and stomped on it with his steel-toe shoes.

"Damn that bloody pig!" He roared angrily. His loud shouting attracted the attention of the other workers, but he didn't care about this. He just wanted to vent his anger.