Heartbreak Club | s.yx ✓

Chapter 17

That Friday evening, I was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria watching the news on TV. Normally, I wouldn't be watching the news, but I was curious just like many of the students in here because they were talking to Roy. I was just curious to hear what he was going to say, wanting to know if he would reveal more than what he revealed in the article or not.

He was dressed smartly in a black checked suit and was sitting opposite the usual pretty blonde interviewer on a round table. If I didn't know Roy, I'd think he's some serious scholar.

'What I'm saying is, it was a big case but it doesn't seem to make much sense and nobody cares,' Roy explained, 'Vivi went missing as a minor, and still there was no proper investigation to bring out the real truth. And when you hear the firsthand story from the people who were there, the story still doesn't make sense. I feel like justice wasn't done.'

'Have you ever heard the story from people who were actually there?' the interviewer asked him.

'Certainly,' Roy nodded, and I was just hoping he wasn't going to give Yaxuan's story as evidence. 'But of course I can't mention the person because they would rather keep their identity secret.'

'Tell us about the holes you've noticed in this story.'

Well, I had heard of these "holes" for the longest time, so I wasn't going to listen to this part of the interview. I grabbed my bag and got up from my seat, ready to leave the cafeteria. Yaxuan was nowhere to be seen, probably because he didn't want to hear any news about his sister.

I walked out of the school campus and made my way on the sidewalk, now making my way to the hostel. The streets were quite dark that evening, but still illuminated by the street lamps and shops. Most people in each shop were watching the news and listening to Roy's interview, he was sure going to be popular.

I put my hands in my hoodie pockets as I reached the emptier part of the street that led to our hostels. It was a place Roy wouldn't let me walk alone during evenings, but it wasn't like I had any choice in this case. Besides, nothing had ever happened to anyone on this road anyway.

As I continued to walk, I heard footsteps behind me. My heart skipped a beat, but it was silly for me to conclude that this person would be someone dangerous. I slightly turned my head over my shoulder, only to notice that the person behind me was a young man in a hoodie with his face covered.

Whether I was right or wrong, this person scared me. But it could have been anyone minding their own business.

I decided to quicken my pace. And just when I started to walk much more quickly, the man behind me quickened his pace as well.

Now I knew that this was a much more threatening situation than I thought. The road was almost empty and I was probably not going to be able to escape if something happened, so I quickly grabbed my cellphone from my pocket and speed dialed 911. Usually I would have called Roy, but he was busy with his live interview.

'911 how may we help you?' the operator on the other end asked me.

'A guy is following me, he looks pretty suspicious.' I answered lowly.

As I slowed down, I could see that he wasn't slowing down. Even if I could run, I was very sure he would outrun me, so I decided I would use some of the skills I learned in self-defense class when he came too close to me.

'Okay ma'am, could you please tell us your location?' the operator asked me.

'Ok I'm at...' I started, but I couldn't finish my statement because the person was now in close proximity with me and grabbed my arm which was not holding the cellphone. Instinctively, I dropped the cellphone and used my free arm to give him a knifehand strike.

But seeming to be someone who had some martial arts background as well, the person was quick enough to grab my hand before it struck him. He pulled me towards him and turned me around, maneuvering me quickly so that he held my body against his while I faced forward. His grip wasn't exactly painful, but it was enough to make me feel uncomfortable and restrained.

'Let go!' I grunted, disguising my fear.

Suddenly, the person laughed. 'Scared much?' he asked me. His voice sounded too familiar for it to not be someone I knew.

The person let me go, and I slowly turned around to him. He removed his hoodie from his face and I was filled with shock for a moment.

'Junlin?' I asked him. 'What was that for!? Why would you do that!?'

'Why would I do what?' Junlin asked me with a confused look. 'You almost hit me so what did you expect me to do?'

'Why would you walk up to me like that!?' I punched his shoulder in annoyance as I slowly calmed down, even though I could still hear my heart beating quickly in my ears. 'and dressed like that!?'

'Dressed like what? I always dress like this.' Junlin shrugged his shoulders, making it a point that this was the usual hoodie he always wore, the one with an eagle at the back.

'Well couldn't you at least say that "hey it's Junlin" before walking towards me like some freak!?' I asked as I picked up my cellphone from the concrete ground, thankful that it was in a phone case or it would have broken.

'So if I said I'm Junlin would you have stopped? Seems like you don't want to talk to me nowadays?' he shrugged and chuckled again. 'I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you like that. And it's cool 'cause I've never seen you this scared.'

I ignored him and checked the 911 call, the operator seemed to still be on the line. I put it to my ear and explained to her how it was nothing, and how the person clearly enjoyed seeing me scared even though he had insisted that it was not his intention. After a few more questions from her to make sure I was telling the truth and wasn't pushed to say that by the predator, I hang up the cellphone.

'What do you want?' I finally asked Junlin once I put the cellphone in my pocket. 'I really need to go back to my hostel right now, it's getting late.'

Junlin nodded. 'Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something really important. What's your brother up to?'

'It's none of your business Junlin, and if it's something to do with my brother, I suggest you ask him yourself.' I started walking ahead of him, leaving him behind.

'I'm not saying this because I care about your brother, but you'll probably be concerned if something happens to your brother.' Junlin started following behind me. 'You have to tell him to stop or else he's going to find himself in a terrible mess.'

I didn't answer. Even though his words made me curious, Junlin was the last person I wanted to hear advice from.

'You're not listening?' he asked.

'Why should I?' I stopped and turned around to him. 'Junlin, you and I had a terrible breakup. And now you expect me to just listen to your advice as if we're friends? Or we're cool? We're not cool.'

Junlin stayed silent for a while. 'But we had a mutual breakup. There wasn't any fighting or arguing, why are you acting as if I just broke your heart and walked away? I even tried to comfort you.'

'I don't wanna talk about this! Just go.' I quickly said and started walking away from the scene.

'Fine, well if you won't listen to me for yourself, at least do it for your brother!' Junlin shouted to me, standing where he had initially stopped as I continued to walk. 'I'm telling you it's dangerous, he shouldn't get involved in that world!'

Even though a part of me was curious and wanted to ask Junlin about what he was talking about and how he happened to know all of this, I still did not want to speak to him. Speaking to him was the last thing I wanted, because he was still the last person I wanted to see.

I turned around again a while later, seeing that Junlin was still standing there with his hands in his pocket watching me go. For some reason, it made everything feel a bit more eerie. Whatever he was talking about must have been important if he was willing to go to these lengths.

But I didn't care, I was already mad at Roy to care about what he was up to. I decided to shake the thoughts away.