Chapter 9 : Incident in the bus

As soon as the bell rang, I hurriedly packed my bag before leaving the classroom. I just got a message from the manager to come early today, so I needed to hurry.

By the time I arrived at the bus station, I hopped on the first bus and sat on the available seat nearest to the door. This was to ensure the fastest access should I need to dash out. I glanced at the time on my phone. If there was no accident, I'd make it in 15 minutes.

Gazing outside the window, the sky was dark with a rumbling sound. It looked like it was going to rain. Thank goodness I had my umbrella inside my bag.

I was going to take a quick nap when an old lady came inside the bus. By now, the bus was already crowded. I glanced around, but no one showed any intention to give the old lady their seat, so I took the initiative.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. Please take a seat here."

The old lady looked tired, but her face softened as she thanked me. "Thank you, young lady. I am sorry you have to stand on the crowded bus."

"No problem, Ma'am," I said as I made way for the old lady. However, as soon as I left the seat, a middle-aged man with a wrinkled suit brushed past me and took the seat.

I managed to stop myself before bumping into the old lady, but I unintentionally collided with few others in the way. They glared at me but fortunately didn't say anything.

"Are you alright, young lady?" asked the old lady with a worried expression.

I smiled reassuringly at her. "Yes, I am alright Ma'am."

My gaze shifted to the rude man. He looked like he just got off from work and was drunk. His face flushed red, with a wrinkled shirt, and worn-out shoes. No matter how sick a man was, the elderly took precedence, right?

"Excuse me, but I was going to give the seat to this granny."

The man looked annoyed. He flicked his hand like he was trying to swat a bug. "Is there your name on this seat? It isn't your seat in the first place, so the first one to snag it can have it. Now get lost."

"No, sir. Of course, I know the seat isn't mine. But, it's not yours either. There are rules to give the elderly, disabled people, or pregnant women a priority when using public transportation, so please let this granny take this one." I said as I pointed at the rules posted on the window.

"Such a loudmouth. Then why aren't you asking the other passenger? Why must you single me out and pester me? You also think I am easy, huh?!"

This man had already lost his reasoning to alcohol. I couldn't talk sense with him. But if I gave up, this old lady would need to stand throughout her trip. My heart aches just by imagining if Grandpa was the one who needed to go through that.

"Sir, please understand. I was not trying to pester you with a bad intention, I just--"

"Shut up! Stop bothering me!" said the man as he swung his arm to swatted me away.

With the bus being crowded, I couldn't avoid it. I unconsciously closed my eyes, expecting an impact to hit me, but it never came.

I opened my eyes cautiously and saw a big hand stopped the man's arm from hurting me. The person who blocked the man's attack is a tall young man with olive-colored skin. His eyes flashed with annoyance as he gave the man a cold look.

"Snatching a seat reserved by a high school girl for an old woman, turning a blind eye to the rules, and even try to put your hand on the said school girl. What a fine adult you are, mister," he said as he smiled mockingly.

The man's expression darkened as he screamed out loud. "Impertinent! Youngsters these days don't have any manners. They thought they are so great they can push people around. They didn't respect older people at all!"

The young man snickered. "I don't know what grudge you have against the youngster, but I don't think you, out of all people, have the right to speak about manners."

"That's right! You are blabbering about respect to older people, but snatched a seat of a woman older than you. Shameless!" A middle-aged woman shouted at the man angrily.

"Who are you to act high and mighty? You need to be a respectable adult first if you want to be respected!"

"You even want to hit a girl. If you are drunk then take a taxi home! Don't be a nuisance to other people!"

It seemed our conflict garnered the attention of all passengers, and everybody now looked at the middle-aged man indignantly while giving him a piece of their mind.

The old lady beside me also looked at him angrily as she held my hand tightly. "It's fine if you don't want to give up your seat, but why are you screaming and attacking this young lady? Compared to you, these youngsters are more respectable!"

"What? You old hag!" The man raised his other hand and wanted to attack the old lady. Reflexively, I put my body in front of the old lady, fully prepared to take the beating when the young man's hand chopped down the man's hand hard.

While the man groaned in pain, the young man pulled the man out of his seat by grabbing on his tie. "Mister, I think your noble self is unsuitable for taking a bus. How about you getting down and taking a taxi? Ah, just so you know, this is not advice, this is a warning," he said as his eyes glimmered dangerously.

Scared by the young man's menacing aura, the man pressed on the emergency stop button frantically and scurried off the moment the bus stopped. After a series of incidents, it was finally peaceful again inside the bus.

"Young man, thank you so much for standing up for this old woman," said the old lady as she held the young man's hand.

The young man just smiled sheepishly. "You're welcome, Ma'am. I am just doing what I should do."

Now that I looked closely, I realized that this young man had a masculine face with a sharp jawline. His dark brown eyes were deep and mesmerizing. His black hair looked a little messy, it gave a rowdy feeling to his vibe. He wore a black leather jacket with a white well-pressed shirt underneath it. Hidden beneath his clothes, I bet he had a firm and well-toned body.

"Hey little girl, you like what you see?" said the young man as he looked at me smugly. "It's fine if you want to keep looking, I don't have anything to be ashamed of."

I was not used to males since I rarely interacted with them, so I couldn't help but flushed at his teasing. Not to mention, I was also embarrassed he caught me checking him out.

The old lady who was already seated looked up at us with a smile, "Ah, being young. How wonderful."

I didn't know what to say so I pretended to be interested in my shoes. A few moments later, it came to me that I hadn't thanked the young man for his help. I looked to the side and found the young man was busy fiddling with his phone.

"Um, thank you for your help earlier."

The young man's eyes met mine for a second before returned to his phone as he nodded at me. "It's fine. I don't like that man anyway. Nevertheless, you shouldn't be so reckless next time. He clearly wasn't in his right mind."

"But..."

"I know. I didn't tell you to let him be, but you should seek help in that situation. You are lucky to have me around this time, but you may not be so lucky next time."

I fell silent while listening to him. I knew he was right, but I was used to handling everything alone. In my eyes, people were always cold and indifferent. They noticed me struggling, they knew I was suffering, but they pretended not to see.

This man too. If he knows who I am, I doubt he'd come to my rescue.

I shook my head, trying to chase away that thought from my mind. I looked back at the young man while giving him a polite smile, "Thank you for your advice. I'd do so next time."

Not long after that, the bus stopped at my destined station. I bid the old lady and the young man farewell before making my way out of the bus.