Should have known

Thud.

The sound of the outer shell of the suitcase closing reverberated throughout the room. Clothes stacked one up the other clumsily. If his mother were to see this she would lose her mind. But who cares now.

He picked up the large suitcase that had all the materials he used for all his time in this mansion. And slowly walked towards the door.

As he walked out the wooden door he turned back to take another glance at the room that had sheltered him for the past two years. The same room that felt so foreign to him when he first arrived now was hard to leave it behind.

The man inhaled deeply to steady his wavering heart and stinging eyes. The pain wasn't for leaving behind this room of his, rather, it was something else. Failure. Somewhere in his heart, he felt that he failed his parents and his sibling.

For the past house, he pondered over what he can do to improve this situation or even if he can somehow save himself. Unfortunately, he was unable to come up with any ideas and he gave up in the end, letting his fate play. There was nothing he could do, not after his only supporter gave up on him.

He returned his focus to the hallway ahead and began to walk. The servants' quarters weren't quite extravagant. There weren't any enhancements, just plain because it was just a building that was constructed decades ago to help the servants accommodate their new environment. no decorations or anything and even the hallway was small. So small that the man could hear all the chatters and whispers from his fellow servants. And their giggles and condescending eyes.

Even the ones that would shiver at the sight of him were standing, glaring, and snickering from the side. At this point, he wished the hallway were a bit broader and the walls to be more thick.

"Oh, he really was fired. Guess it wasn't all talks"

"Serves him right"

As his veins began to protrude from beneath his wrinkled shirt, he gasped and gripped the handle of his bag more tightly. Talking behind his back was the only thing they could do. Everyone treated him so kindly while he was on the head maid's side. Just one incident was enough to turn their backs on him.

This was all real. Even if he returned to his village, nothing would have changed. What would he do now? What would be the right thing to do now?

In an effort to leave that location as quickly as possible, he picked up the pace. Everything was getting too overwhelming for him, he needed to get out of his place.

Grasping the weight on his hands more tightly he walked swiftly on his feet. He tried to muffle out those whispers and chatter of voices mocking and pitying him. After what felt like eternity he was out of the servant's quarters.

He let the weight down. Despite his assumption, his suitcase ended up being a little heavier. He briefly huffed while attempting to catch his breath. After a little while, he got to his feet and stood up, wiping his face with his sleeves. He seemed to have calmed down a bit.

Before he could pick up his bags once more, he noticed a very recognizable face close to the exit. They appeared a little on edge and were fumbling with their fingers.

The man's face formed a smile as he called his former colleague, "Mike".

The individual jumped up a little startled by his name being suddenly called. To communicate his position, the man waved his hands at his friend Mike.

Mike was surprised for a second before forming a lopsided smile upon spotting his friend.

The person waved back, still tense, saying, "Hey, Fred."

Fred moved swiftly in his direction. "What are you doing here?" Fred asked Mark, happy to have someone to talk to after being isolated for so long.

"Oh, I see you have packed everything, good. Here I have something for you" In a flash, Mark handed him something packed in a clean cloth.

"What's this?" Curious, Fred enquired.

"Just returning the favor for helping me that time" Mark replied.

"However, I told you not to return anything" Fred added, losing his earlier smile. He was aware of the motive behind his friend returning his favor from a long time ago.

Mark appeared to be anticipating his response. Mark scanned his surroundings for people and then said, "Look with this we have no debt left for each other. You gave me the money and I returned it back to you. So now we are equal. And that's why we don't have to talk to each other any more…". He scratched his neck, unsure of how to continue without hurting his old friend. "Please don't contact me anymore"

Mark was about to leave before Fred spoke again. "Mark, what do you mean? We've been buddies for a very long time."

"Listen, Fred, you are my good friend but now if someone sees me talking with you I might be in trouble like you. And you know I have disabled parents to take care of. So please don't make it hard for me anymore and goodbye". He then quickly turned and went away without pausing to look back at his old friend, who was standing there looking perplexed.

What happened just now? And just like that, his old friend broke up their long-term friendship?

His hand clenched tightly around the wrapped clothing item he was holding. His eyes then traveled to the packed item. Money he thought, at least it was better than nothing.

He placed the wrapped object in this bag before walking out the door to the exit.

His mind was racing with different thoughts. Why? What? How?

As he was lost in this thought his eyes fell on someone. A girl crouched down towards a bush, admiring a flower. Her baby blue eyes stared longingly at those blossoms. Her face slightly blushed as her eyes adoringly looked at the flower on the branch of the bush, as the light wind swayed her beautiful black hair into the wind.

"If you are that useful, do the job you have been given instead of harassing this new maid and others".

His eyes widened. "And this time it wouldn't go unpunished."

A light bulb went off in his head. He should have known. Should have known.

Wasn't it easy to tell who did all of this?