𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙀𝙮𝙚𝙨 [ 𝘼𝙐 𝙕𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙘𝙝𝙞 ]

10: Fears

Zhongli rested his head on the wood of the door once he closed it. He had barely slept, and Ajax's sudden swoon left him stunned. He let out a long breath, rubbing his temple. Luckily he could be absent from work for a few days, he trusted his workers and knew that no one would blame him for missing a short period of time.

The brunette headed for the kitchen, where behind the door was a broom and a shovel. Zhongli collected the pieces of glass that had been scattered throughout the apartment, along with the empty cans and bottles. He dumped the trash in the bucket and left the utensils in their place. The redhead had been eating what he left in front of the door for two weeks, Zhongli opened the pantry, finding the tapers empty, but there was no sign of food. He frowned, closing the closet and turning to open the refrigerator: empty.

It actually made a bit of sense. All the containers he had collected should have been in the fridge before, and with that amount they could barely fit food. The brunette sighed, he would take advantage of the fact that he was sleeping to go buy him food.

—

"What do you think of this?!" The young man kicked him in the stomach, emptying his lungs, spitting air. He coughed as he writhed on the ground, his face covered in scratches and tears. The teenagers surrounded him, laughing and continuing to kick him.

Why did he have to mess with them? He covered his head with his thin arms, willing them to fill up quickly and leave him alone.

No one was going to help him, they were in an empty area of the park, there were no people. And even if there were people, who would want to help a bully? This is what he deserved, for once he was the one taking the blows and not the other way around. He closed his eyes tightly, while he felt that they continued to beat him.

"Ajax!" The caller opened one eye, watching as a child somewhat older than him pushed the attacker away from him and stood in front of him, crouching down. "Are you okay!?"

He was terrified, the group of thugs were much older than them. The redhead nodded, as he sat down on the floor.

"Have you come to save him?" One of them scoffed. "Set aside, or you will also receive."

"No!" He pulled Ajax into his arms, shielding him from the elders. "Aren't you ashamed to hit a small child!" He received a strong punch on the face, however he did not let go of the redhead, he only held him closer to him, trembling as the tears began to accumulate in his eyes.

"Let me go, you have nothing to do here!" Ajax begged him, looking up into the boy's eyes. He shook his head.

"If something happened to you, your brother would never forgive me, and neither would I!

"Have you finished talking?" The leader of the group appeared, holding a baseball bat in his hands. The two children froze in place. "Separate them."

The others obeyed, it didn't take long for them to undo the embrace and hold them away from each other. Ajax kept wiggling, trying to free his arms from the older's grip. His brother's friend yelled at him, ordering him to be still.

The redhead received a slap, stopping his movements and rendering him almost unconscious.

"Ajax!!" The other boy yelled, moving a step forward as he was held by both arms.

"Ajax?" The leader stepped in front of the nominee, still holding the bat. "I see, so this was the one who beat up my brother."

He raised the bat in the direction of the redhead, the other boy managed to get out of the grip, running towards them. The dry sound of a blow caused silence, followed by another. Ajax watched as his brother's friend collapsed on the floor, painting the concrete with blood.