Pandora Box 1

"How fuck did you get into my house?"

"Eh? Aren't I supposed to answer the question?" He tilted his head, looking confused, before pointing to the broken window behind his back.

Great, now I have to install a replacement window because of this crazy home intruder. I might have to return to the conversation about Pete replacing our glass window with a metal one.

"Question one, how much money do you owe me?"

"I think there must be a misunderstanding. I didn't remember borrowing any money from you, sir. You must have gotten the wrong person," I tried calming down my nerves by laughing to myself, thinking this white-haired idiot should have known that he got the wrong person and moved away with his life.

He mimics a wrong buzzer sound, "That's wrong, but lucky for you! You still have two questions left. If you got three questions wrong, I'd cut you in half."

"Question two, How much did you know about the group, Midnight?" The man with a katana smirked at me as he slowly dragged down the blade. I could dangerously feel the sharpness poking through my skin.

"I don't know about Midnight person you are talking about! I don't have any idea what you're talking about at all! Just get off me!" I seized his tanned wrist with both hands as I tried to pull away from the blade.

"Fucking asshole! Get off me!"

"Tch, quite a stubborn one,"

He pushed me against the floor; he crouched next to me and yanked my hair so that I was forced to look at his eyes. Ashen eyes darkened with irritation that I could feel my face penetrated simply by his stare.

"You are quite a sneaky rat, aren't you? How long are you going to keep acting like this? You haven't answered any of my calls and messages. It's heartbreaking for me that you ignored me, so it would make sense that I cut you, right?"

"Last question, how much did you tell them? Everything? Snooping around and running away like a bunch of lowlifes."

"I already told you many times dickhead. I don't know what you're talking about!" Gosh, this sicko must have a hearing problem.

"Lies after lies spewing in your mouth. Just say your prayers and goodbyes now."

So.

A lot of things could go wrong. I could just dash into my room and grab my emergency gun in my drawer, but I'm not sure if I could get it out alive or my stamina can handle it with all the dodging and sprinting. I could go for the other plan. I mean, it worked with Winter. Why not do it again? Simple, easy, and efficient. You are such a genius, Ryan!

I raised my knee and aimed it at his junk, but the white-haired man managed to dodge it by grabbing my ankle. He huffed at me. He must be so proud of himself. I grinned as I curbed my hands into a fist and punched him hard in the face. I cheered myself for the victory and tried to run away.

But I know the universe chose to wake up and give me a big middle finger when I can sense cold hands wrapping around my healed ankle. I looked and saw the bastard lying on the floor with his face resembling a demonic enraged face. I would love to use that face as a mask on Halloween.

"...You just ruined my face...Damn, my boss is going to fucking kill me.." He slowly got up and smiled at me. "Stay there while I cut yo--"

I watched Pete strike the white-haired man at the back of his head with a frying pan. He was panting and sweating a lot. He must have run around upstairs with a duffel bag on his shoulder.

"Pete! Didn't I tell you to hide on the rooftop!"

"Less talking, more running, Mr. Ryan."

I grumbled and held Pete's hands. "We better have a long talk about this young man."

I could have sworn I heard Pete saying something, but I was too occupied running away from our house as a madman had chased us.

I decided to go to the nearest coffee shop to hide. The place is bustling with people. Since it's rush hour, many people take a break in the neutral zone. The coffee place is the typical standard coffee shop that you could imagine. But this place is well-known for having good-looking employees. So most customers don't bother with the coffee and gawk at the waiters and waitresses. The best way was to act normal as I confidently strutted the place. Everyone is whispering and looking our way. Is this where people finally find out my manly sex appeal?

"Why is everyone looking weirdly at us, Mr. Ryan," Pete commented, but I chose to ignore it and head toward the cashier with classiness. Pete doesn't seem to understand how everyone is amazed by my handsomeness. What if they hired me? I couldn't possibly do that to myself! Unless they gave me loads of cash.

"Hello sir, Welcome to Brew and Chill. How may I he-Ryan! is that you??" I examined the cashier's face. He was wearing a white shirt with a light blue that matched the beret hat. His mocha-colored hair is styled neatly, pale blue eyes twinkle in recognition and worry. He gives off that handsome gentleman aura that every woman in the city would fall for. This is one of the few people I recognize in this city: Victor.

"𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘏𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!"

"Wait. Why do you look like a bear has mauled you??" Victor questioned. He looked dumbfounded as he darted at my face and hair back in forth.

"...It's a long story, Victor..." I looked around and inspected the whole premise for a sign of a crazy white-haired man. I sighed in relief and turned to Victor.

"Well...What is then? Whatever happens, I'll help you." He said in a soothing tone. When it comes to crazy good-looking guys who either like you or want to kill you, Victor is different. He is opposite to those weirdos I met lately. Kind, caring, considerate, good-looking, and did I forget to mention he's also filthy rich despite working in this crappy place? Victor is a breath of fresh air.

"A crazy guy just entered my house and told me to answer his three questions, he said to me if I answer it wrong, he'll cut me in half, also keeps asking about this midnight group and then he suddenly went crazy and tried to 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑩 me! So what I did was I punched his face like 𝑩𝑨𝑴𝑴!" I imitated the cartoonish sound effect while Victor looked at me like I was demented as I tried to explain the situation.

He then glanced at Pete for an answer. "Pete, what happened to you two?"

"...I don't know a deranged man with a sword was threatening Mr. Ryan because he is not answering his calls and messages."

"Wait, something is wrong with this explanation, Pete,"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't mention about me being cool at all."

"The guy must have been feeling left out being you left him on read, Mr. Ryan."

"Pete, I don't know that weirdo, okay."

"Are you sure he is not just some crazy ex-boyfriend that tried to get you back but ended up almost stabbing you twice?"

"I TOLD YOU I'M NOT GAY, PETE!"

"He said he felt heartbroken."

"That's not exactly what he is implying! The guy just tried to gut me with his sword!"

Victor started laughing, a deep, hearty laugh. "You guys are always with good with your jokes!" Pete and I watched as Victor laughed for 30 seconds.

Victor wiped his tears. "What have you guys been up to? I'm kinda busy right now," He then pointing the furious customers behind our backs. I turned around saw everyone behind glaring at me for keeping the line for too long.

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 5 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵? 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘬𝘪𝘥!"

"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯!"

What the hell? This is a coffee shop, not some meet and greet. I don't know why Victor is still working in a crappy coffee shop when he can be an A-list celebrity and live in the wealthiest zone in the city.

"I don't have enough money, Victor. Can you give me one slice of choco moose and also one hot choco for Pete as well?"

- -

Victor ended up giving us food for free, much to his kindness and ignoring Pete's jabbing words for calling out my actions shameless. We ended up sitting at the back of the cafe, where there was no sign of a single soul here. Pete sipped his hot cocoa as he watched me with a deadpan face as I devoured the cake like a caveman. We decide to wait for Victor till his shift ends, hoping my words move the empathy of his heart and persuade him to crash his place for one night since we didn't know if the white-haired bastard was still there or that suspicious black hoodie man that Pete mentioned.

I stared at Pete, who was giving me the 'Are you an adult' look. "I was hungry, Pete." He shook off his head and quietly sipped his drink.

"Come on, Pete, don't look at me like that. We knew Victor for so long I'm sure he'll help out his pitiful friend." I know Victor from someone who used to be our friend. Since both of us are introverted. My friend is the one who does all the talking. Though we do greet each other, maybe a few hi's and that, Victor and I ended up standing in front of each other, till one of us has to leave. It was awkward at first, but then when that friend left the city, Victor was the one who comforted me. So we started talking about our likes and hobbies, and we became closer, and I started to become comfortable with him.

Though I meant becoming comfortable with him, I started pranking him along with Pete. Victor would shrug it off and chuckle. But it became dangerous that I was afraid that an alien invasion would arrive one day, and Victor would just laugh about it and tell me my pranks had become high budget. Now that my life is in danger, my friend still thinks I was joking!

Victor finally showed up. He is sporting a blue suit with brown oxford shoes. Victor doesn't have the beret hat anymore, showing his silky mocha hair and eyes that remind me of a clear sky when Victor saw us. Despite working for 8 hours, he still looked like he had come out from the shower, and isn't that kind of cheating?

"Ryan, Pete!" Victor greeted us, choosing to sit next to me, and brought more free food with us! Gosh, if only I could marry Victor right now. I joked to Pete once if I marry Victor, would he accept Victor as his second father. He said no. I asked why. He told me that Victor is too good for a broke loser like me. This kid is being way too rude to his father. Who raised this bratty child anyway.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? Life is just moving too fast for me." Victor expressed and sipped his mug of coffee.

"What have you guys been up to?.. What's with the duffle bag Pete?" Victor glanced at the bag next to Pete.

Pete looked at me, and I sighed, and I cracked my knuckles and looked at Victor with sincerity. "...Victor...I-"

I felt time go slow motion, and in the corner of my eyes, I saw the crazy bastard enter the shop. I can feel the bustling sound of people stopping as their eyes trailed down to the katana he is holding. His clothes and white hair were disheveled. Uh-Oh, his smile sends chills to everyone's spine.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮-𝘮-𝘮𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘢!"

"...𝘚𝘪𝘳 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘺, 𝘸-𝘸-𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥-𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘪𝘳?"

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘦.."

"Move out my way, scums." The white-haired growled, and everyone dispersed like a cloud as he prowled his way in like a predator. And I could feel everyone's pressure in the air as he scanned the shop until it landed on our table.

"Oh, It must be my lucky day! I found the lucky boy and his friends!"

I caught Victor and Pete by their collar as I pushed them on the floor. The crazy bastard just threw his sword at us, but it ended up shattering the window behind us as tiny glass particles landed in our clothes. I shield Pete's eyes with my back as I hug his body tightly. Good thing Victor got lucky.

"Shit." I cursed as I shifted my glance at Victor, who looked at the crazy nutjob who threw a sword at us. "Vic, give me the bathroom keys."

"...What?"

"Give. Me. The. Keys. Now" Despite his confusion and reluctance, he still gave me the keys. Bless his soul.

"What exactly is going on, Ryan?!"

"I don't either! That's the crazy thing!"

"Is this one of your pranks?!"

"It's not a prank, Victor!"

"Mr. Ryan, I think we should run now...He's coming." Pete points at the guy who is marching toward us with a wide grin.

"I'll try to distract him, Ryan," Victor declared and looked at us with determination. I don't know what just happened, but Victor seems cool right now. I don't know how I should react, but Pete is already tugging my sleeves. I ran towards the men's bathroom, but I couldn't help but look back at Victor.

I saw Victor trying to chitchat to the white-haired man, but he was kicked in the stomach. Ouch. I better pray for Victor's abs.

Pete and I entered the bathroom, locked the door, and threw the keys in one of the bathroom stools. Good thing there's no one around. I heard a loud banging on the door.

"Open the door right now."

"NOT A CHANCE!" I shouted.

"Mr. Ryan..."

"Don't worry about him, Pete. We'll be fine," I reassure and point the awning window above him. It was a small white window. Perfect for us to escape.

His eyes flicker toward the window. He nodded at me and started climbing onto the window. The banging started getting more rackety as Pete finally escaped.

"Please hurry up, Mr. Ryan."

"Tch, you do leave me no choice, do you?" The white-haired man said as I gasped when a sword punctured right through the door. The blade penetrates the wooden doorway until it creates a hole. Tanned hands start to rip the door steadily. Shit! I need to get out of here!

I climb through the window. When I was about to get out, I felt half of my body was stuck. My lower rear back, especially my butt, is glued to the spot. I tried squirming, but I ended up looking like a penguin who had just learned how to swim.

"Mr. Ryan, hurry up! "Pete urges as he grabs both of my hands and pulls me by force. I watched Pete's struggle as he put his foot on the wall and tugged me again. I can feel my body stretched like a rubber band. I relaxed and thought about my life until I heard the doorknob moving at the back. The panic and anxiety drive enough for me to wiggle my way out and collide into Pete.

I sigh in relief. "I thought I was gonna die," Pete nodded at me. Well, that's not reassuring, but I'll take it.

"I can show you many times to die." We both turned to look at the window and saw the white-haired man's wide smirked. We didn't waste any more time as Pete, and I ran as fast as possible.

"How do we get out of here?!" Pete yelled, and at the corner of my eyes, that white-haired smashed one more window and is heading towards us at a quicker pace. I guess the guy just ended up destroying everything like a lunatic.

"We are gonna be alright," I reassure Pete. I have no idea where we are running right now in the middle of the street while being chased by an unhinged man with a sword. We bump into a few people. I even saw the granny from the bakery shop wave at me.

"Excuse me!"

"Oops, My bad!"

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!"

I got even worse when that white-haired started swinging his sword at us. He might have destroyed a newspaper stand, a payphone and even recklessly cut some people along the way.

"CAN YOU STOP DOING THAT!"

"What?" The man answered.

"CUTTING PEOPLE, YOU FUCKING LUNATIC!"

"They aren't dead yet. I rather kill you more than anything else here." THIS BATSHIT PSYCHO!

"STAY AWAY, YOU FUCKING WEIRDO! I DON'T EVEN KNOW! WHY DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!?!"

"I'm just doing my Job, Tch. This game is taking too long."

.. job? Does it mean this man is not just some crazy home intruder but, in fact, a hitman?!! Did someone just hire someone to kill? Wait, what's going on? Did I do something wrong??

"Mr. Ryan, this way." Pete grabbed me by the sleeve and dragged me into this dark alleyway. This is what you expect in the alley in the neutral zone. Filthy, smelly, and even there's blood on it. People knew that killing someone in the neutral zone was taboo. The mafias are the ones who dispose of the dead bodies across all zones in the city. Suppose you broke one of the few rules here. The mafia monarch will proceed to punish you depending on your crimes. After the 3rd world war, no police or government people followed simply because there was no one else in the first place. The mafia monarch is who has the highest authority in this city.

I looked and saw everyone in the alley smirking at us. Homeless people that you have seen sleeping in the street. I have never been in this alley before, and Pete simply guiding me here like he memorized this place makes me worried. Ugh, you can even smell faint blood in here. I'm 100% percent sure that someone died before.

"...You sure you know your way in this city, Pete" I nervously glance at people around us. That bastard is still chasing, but I'm starting to get scared that someone will jump on and hurt Pete.

"I...I used to sleep in this place...Not long ago before you picked me up."

I felt myself getting emotional as I looked at Pete's redden ear as he tightly held my hand. Despite being so mature early, He's still a kid.

Maybe I should buy those lucky charm bracelets because of the touching moment we had just interrupted when we arrived at a dead end. Pete and I are huffing and sucking the air in the area. The man chasing us also got tired.

"..Fuck." He panted as he slumped over the wall. The three of us rested for a while before the white-haired recovered and pointed his blade at us.

"You can't escape from me now. Your luck just ran out!" He raised his blade as Pete and I closed our eyes and waited for our impending fate until a phone suddenly rang.

"..What the--" The man grabbed his phone from his breast pocket and declined the call. The man raised his sword at us until the phone rang for the second time. We watched closely as the man answered his phone.

"What the fuck do you want, Rin?" The white-haired man hissed at the 'Rin' person on his phone. Pete and I looked at each other before turning to the guy.

"...Rin. You better have a good reason for interrupting my enjoyment, or I'll slice you in half." There was a moment of silence while I thought that maybe it was an excellent time to escape, but I didn't want to try and risk it right now.

"𝘞𝘏𝘈𝘛? Do you mean I got the wrong person?!.. So the bastard already escaped the city? You got me the wrong address??.... What do you mean 𝘐 was the one who got the address wrong?." The man grabbed a piece of paper in his pocket and read it aloud. "Avenue 1, Lotus Town, Block 3. Holy shit! This is avenue 11. I thought this place was Avenue 1," The man grumbled as the guy looked at the CCTV at the corner.

"... I messed up. So? What's the big deal anyway?.... So you're saying I should bring them over? Like what for? Play dress-up games and have tea parties? Is that what you Rin?... Wait...Anthony told you to do this?"

"You guys knew Anthony?!" I shouted. The white-haired guy turned around and looked fixedly. His eyes were telling something that I almost didn't understand. It's as if he was suspicious of me.

"Sure, I'll do it. Yeah...I already said it. I'm hanging up." He ended the call and turned to look towards Pete and me. He withdrew the sword that was pointing towards our face and smiled coyly.

"A small world, isn't it?" The white-haired lit up a cigarette and said. "Let's say we forget about the past and start a journey together."

His face twisted into a devilish smile. "Greetings, kind strangers. My name is Shion." He then proceeds to blow the smoke right through my face.

I punched Shion in the face once again.