1 The clap

"So, tell me, boys, what the hell are you doing in my office again!"

"I am sorry sir, but it is Nolamine's fault, it is always his fault."

"No sir, it is Son-join's fault. He is the one that slapped me for no apparent reason."

"Precisely why it is his fault we are here, sir. Since I slapped him, he was supposed to slap me back before anyone stopped us. Now he is making me seem like the bully when he started all this with his god damn eyes!"

"SHUT UPPPP!!!"

A man in an office screamed at two boys who had been giving him headaches ever since he met them. They had been in his office more times than he could count. There was no need to guess where they were. Outside of the door that led to the man's office was a sign that read 'Principal's office'.

The principal was a middle-aged man who would always wear a ragged old brown suit that seemed to have seen better days. He had a decent face but the stress from his job had made him look older than his age. Some would tell you that the two boys sitting in his office had a huge contribution to that. The top of his head had no hair and was so shinny that one would fry an egg on it during a hot summer's day.

The boys sitting on the other side of the desk where Nolamine and Son-join. Two students who have been friends ever since they were young. They were both fourteen years old.

Nolamine was considered the handsome of the two and was taller. He had black hair that was well maintained and had blue eyes. His eyes were what everyone who saw him would take note of as they were bluer than normal and seemed to possess some mystery to them. He had a handsome face that looked manly but innocent, making him seem approachable. Regardless of his name, he was South Korean.

Son-join, was just a bit shorter than him and had an innocent-looking face. He wore glasses that always seem to want to fall off and you would see him pushing them up every now and then like he was a professor. Nolamine thought he did that just to act cool and fool others into thinking that he was smart. His hair was black, but there was nothing else striking about him. He was not your typical South Korean but you still could not pick him out from a crowd.

One thing everyone agreed upon was that he was the one always putting Nolamine in trouble and one thing Nolamine knew was that he would always get him back for it. The two were best friends and it showed. That is why even though they were in the principals' office because Son-join had clapped Nolamine for some reason, the principal was annoyed because knowing them, that was them playing a joke on each other or something similar.

A few minutes earlier, during their lunchtime, the two where in the school's sports ground eating their lunch and talking about sweet nothing.

"Hey, do you think that big lizard that shoots stink breath out of its mouth has an ass?"

Son-join asked while eating his noodles.

"What the hell man, I am eating."

Nolamine said as he put down his homemade burger. Looking at his action with the corner of his eye, Son-join smiled inwardly, his smile so devilish such that you would think a demon had just possessed him.

"I guess I'll finish that for you then."

He said as he instantly put down his noodles and took Nolamine's burger.

"You ass!"

Nolamine screamed. It was too late, his lunch was stolen.

"Speaking of asses, you still haven't answered my question."

Hearing him talking about asses while he ate his burger made Nolamine want to start training as a shinobi, so he could disappear from his sight during lunch and eat in peace.

"You mean godz...."

He did not finish his sentence as Son-join interrupted him. This is how their conversations typically went.

"Yeah... who else could it be?"

"Man... I swear.... anyway, he is a lizard. Every lizard must, at the end of the day excrete...."

"Nah... I'm sure he doesn't have. That is why he shoots that shit out of his mouth..."

"Wait, what?"

"I am saying he excrete...."

"Wait, wait, wait.... what?"

Nolamine's mind could not compute Son-join's idiocracy.

"I am saying..."

"Just stop man, or else you will infect me with your idiocracy."

"Well then... tell me Mr. Know It All... have you ever seen his..."

"You know what... How are we even friends? I never pictured myself ever talking about lizard's asses with you while eating...."

"Well, my friend... the world is a big place. We still have many mysteries to talk about, like if women do really go to the..."

At that point, Son-join was talking to himself. Nolamine was looking at a girl who was walking by with her friends. They had happened to look at each other as she passed and the girl had made the mistake of looking at him straight into his eyes. She was so captivated such that she turned around, not taking her eyes off of him as she passed.

"Pha!"

Nolamine's cheek went red in an instant. He had received a clap from Son-join that was piping hot and that seemed to carry the sun with it.

"What the..."

"You were enchanted, so I brought you back to Earth. Besides, you were eying my dream girl, so much so that I had to do something. That is not cool bro."

"So, you hit me because Ara was looking at me or because she is your dream girl?"

"Well, both."

"You inglorious bastard, you have never ever hit me before and I know that you hit me because the girls would look at me instead of you. You have been wanting to clap me ever since we started high school."

"Well, yes!"

"You idiot, you do not even deny it?"

"You know what, just hit me back with your weak ass hands and we will be done with all this."

"Fuck, no. This is the first time you have ever hit me. I'll do something to ensure it will never happen again.

"What?"

"Yes"

"Nolamine, if you do not hit me right now, I swear I will punch some sense into you.... hit me god damn it!"

"Hahaha, go ahead, punch me."

Son-join pushed up his glasses as he could not believe that he had got the chance of a lifetime. He swung his fist back with so much intent so to punch him into orbit.

He knew it was his only chance to beat up the only friend he had, who also made him invisible to the other girls and since he knew that Nolamine never went back on his word, him saying that he was going to do something meant that it was going to be something horrible.

He let go the mother of all punches but it never reached Nolamine. A teacher had seen everything and had gone to stop them, grabbing his hand when he had pulled it back, holding back a glorious punch that would never be.

'Fuck, that was my only chance. God, why do you hate me? How many times have I prayed for this day?'

Son-join thought as they were sent to the principal's office. They were punished and made to clean the indoor sports grounds after the other students finished practicing. They finished late and arrived at their neighborhood when the sun was down. Nolamine was quiet, not saying a word as they walked home.

"Come on man. Take it as punishment for being less good-looking than me. What you are is a sin to all men. We will be finishing school and I still have no girlfriend. You know it's not due to my voice being taken away from me by sinister forces that have it in for me when I approached a girl but because... well, it is just because of you, ok..."

Nolamine still kept quiet. They reached the junction where they would separate from each other as they lived in different streets of the same neighborhood. Nolamine started laughing like an evil villain.

"Come on man. Why are you laughing?"

"Wahohohoho"

He tried his best at an evil laugh as he left him standing there while Son-join looked at him as he fixed his glasses. He knew Son-join was scared of what he was going to do. Not knowing was eating at him.

"Tyranny!"

He screamed with a cry-filled voice as he saw Nolamine's silhouette disappear in the distance.

Nolamine lived in an apartment with his auntie who was never at home. She would pop in now and again to check on him but would never stay that long. Because of her job, she would travel a lot. When he arrived, it was already late.

He walked up the stairs of his apartment building. As he reached the apartment right before his, the door opened. He was surprised because no one had lived there for a while and the door screeched when it was opened.

He got chills all over his body when he saw the person that was on the other side of the door. It was a wrinkled old woman who looked like her soul would live her at any moment. Her hair was grey and much of it had fallen off.

She wore black clothes and had a lot of jewelry on her left hand that had intricate writings on them. They looked like masterpieces that would sell for a lot of money.

She was holding dice with the same hand and twirling them round and round. Nolamine noticed there were two of them, one black and one white. He also noticed that she seemed to be European.

She smiled when she saw him, which did more than creep him out. Her mouth was all black. The dark atmosphere was not helping as it was like he just stepped into a horror movie. He walked as quickly as he could and passed her but she came out of her apartment, looking at him as he struggled to open his apartment door.

After dropping the keys twice because of his nerves getting the better of him, he managed to open it. During the whole time he was struggling with the door, the woman was looking at him like she was studying him as she slowly bent her neck sideways.

Nolamine quickly closed the door as he breathed heavily. He did not know why, but he was scared of her. It was not because of her appearance, but it was because of her eyes. Just like her hair, they were grey and had the same kind of mystery to them just like his, only terrifying and luring him in.

He calmed down as he thought he was overreacting. That was until he heard them.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock!"

His heart almost jumped out of his chest and left him while his stomach sunk in on itself.